Eitanli/goodreads huggingface dataset:
Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
by Daron Acemoğlu
Genres: Economics, Nonfiction, Politics, History, Business, Political Science, Sociology
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.08

Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine? Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are? Simply, no. None of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Otherwise, how to explain why Botswana has become one of the fastest growing countries in the world, while other African nations, such as Zimbabwe, the Congo, and Sierra Leone, are mired in poverty and violence? Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclusively show that it is man-made political and economic institutions that underlie economic success (or lack of it). Korea, to take just one of their fascinating examples, is a remarkably homogeneous nation, yet the people of North Korea are among the poorest on earth while their brothers and sisters in South Korea are among the richest. The south forged a society that created incentives, rewarded innovation, and allowed everyone to participate in economic opportunities. The economic success thus spurred was sustained because the government became accountable and responsive to citizens and the great mass of people. Sadly, the people of the north have endured decades of famine, political repression, and very different economic institutions—with no end in sight. The differences between the Koreas is due to the politics that created these completely different institutional trajectories. Based on fifteen years of original research Acemoglu and Robinson marshall extraordinary historical evidence from the Roman Empire, the Mayan city-states, medieval Venice, the Soviet Union, Latin America, England, Europe, the United States, and Africa to build a new theory of political economy with great relevance for the big questions of today, including:    - China has built an authoritarian growth machine. Will it continue to grow at such high speed and overwhelm the West?    - Are America’s best days behind it? Are we moving from a virtuous circle in which efforts by elites to aggrandize power are resisted to a vicious one that enriches and empowers a small minority?    - What is the most effective way to help move billions of people from the rut of poverty to prosperity? More philanthropy from the wealthy nations of the West? Or learning the hard-won lessons of Acemoglu and Robinson’s breakthrough ideas on the interplay between inclusive political and economic institutions? Why Nations Fail will change the way you look at—and understand—the world.
Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5)
by Richelle Mead
Genres: Young Adult, Vampires, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.33

Salvation has its price . . .The words stunned Adrian for a moment, but he kept going. "You're lying. What you're describing is impossible. There's no way to save a Strigoi. When they're gone, they're gone. They're dead. Undead. Forever."Robert's next words weren't directed at Adrian. They were spoken to me. "That which is dead doesn't always stay dead...."After a long and heartbreaking journey to Siberia, Dimitri’s birthplace, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa Dragomir. It's graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives outside the academy’s cold iron gates to finally begin. But even with the intrigue and excitement of court life looming, Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri. He’s out there, somewhere.She failed to kill him when she had the chance, and now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won't join him, he won't rest until he has silenced her . . . forever.But Rose can't forget what she learned on her journey—whispers of a magic too impossible and terrifying to comprehend. A magic inextricably tied to Lissa that could hold the answer to all of Rose's prayers, but not without devastating consequences. Now Rose will have to decide what—and who—matters most to her. And in the end, is true love really worth the price?Fall in love with Rose and Dimitri all over again in Spirit Bound, the eagerly awaited fifth novel in Richelle Mead's enthralling Vampire Academy series.
Ragtime
by E.L. Doctorow
Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Classics, Novels, Literature, Historical, American
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.89

Published in 1975, Ragtime changed our very concept of what a novel could be. An extraordinary tapestry, Ragtime captures the spirit of America in the era between the turn of the century & the First World War. The story opens in 1906 in New Rochelle, NY, at the home of an affluent American family. One lazy Sunday afternoon, the famous escape artist Harry Houdini swerves his car into a telephone pole outside their house. Almost magically, the line between fantasy & historical fact, between real & imaginary characters, disappears. Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, J.P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud & Emiliano Zapata slip in & out of the tale, crossing paths with Doctorow's imagined family & other fictional characters, including an immigrant peddler & a ragtime musician from Harlem whose insistence on a point of justice drives him to revolutionary violence.
Awoken
by Timothy   Miller
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.15

Fourteen-year-old Michael Stevens has never been ordinary; no orphan who hears music coming from rocks considers himself a typical teenager. But life gets a lot more complicated when two-foot-tall, albino, doll-like men sneak into his room one night, transforming the harmless music into a frightening ability he cannot control. Soon, strangers in black suits begin to ask unsettling questions while unnatural animals with mismatched eyes haunt the streets. They are hunting, and not just Michael: anyone he cares about is in danger. With the help of a mysterious drifter, an annoying girl he's accidentally mutated, and one of those creepy doll men, Michael finds himself in the middle of a war that could forever change the world he knows - reconstructing the very definition of humanity.
Letters From Your Soul
by Victor Noble
Genres: Spirituality, Poetry, Nonfiction
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.32

Like dewdrops from a silent night, writings in Letters from your Soul are distinctly brilliant, and, resonate with our sense of beauty and wonder. They contain the condensed wisdom of years of soul-searching before Victor’s awakening, and years of compassionate attempts since, by him, to remind others of their own journey towards self-realisation. The messages are relevant to anyone who has ever pondered about existence and the possibilities of improving this life-experience, the only thing that truly belongs to us.The style of writing interweaves between storytelling, conversation and prose-poetry. The uniqueness of these expressions of timeless truths lies in the fact that throughout his spiritual search, and, the years following his awakening, Victor continues to remain in the chaos of an average urban life. And, for this reason, his messages act as a perfect bridge between the unworldly and worldly quests of human mind, giving immense hope to finding a life full of freedom, joy and love by remaining exactly where we are.---From back cover: Your journey didn't begin when you were born, or, even when you thought you have arrived; Your journey begins, when you stop, and look for new eyes, to see you. Your journey didn't begin, when you fulfilled your dreams; Your journey begins, when you reject dreams that you bought in your sleep. Your journey didn't begin, when you were told that you have made it; Your journey begins when you reject the notion 'what you have become, is the best you can be'. Your journey awaits for a path never travelled before. Start making your path from here; and start walking towards a new 'you' now. Beauty, Wonder, and Faith; you will find them all, on your way.Readings in the Letters from your soul are filled with sparks to ignite a flame of self-renewal, but, the readiness to burn, and, be new, needs to come from within you.
Out
by Natsuo Kirino
Genres: Fiction, Japan, Thriller, Mystery, Japanese Literature, Crime, Horror
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.95

Natsuo Kirino's novel tells a story of random violence in the staid Tokyo suburbs, as a young mother who works a night shift making boxed lunches brutally strangles her deadbeat husband and then seeks the help of her co-workers to dispose of the body and cover up her crime.The ringleader of this cover-up, Masako Katori, emerges as the emotional heart of Out and as one of the shrewdest, most clear-eyed creations in recent fiction. Masako's own search for a way out of the straitjacket of a dead-end life leads her, too, to take drastic action.The complex yet riveting narrative seamlessly combines a convincing glimpse into the grimy world of Japan's yakuza with a brilliant portrayal of the psychology of a violent crime and the ensuing game of cat-and-mouse between seasoned detectives and a group of determined but inexperienced criminals. Kirino has mastered a Thelma and Louise kind of graveyard humor that illuminates her stunning evocation of the pressures and prejudices that drive women to extreme deeds and the friendship that bolsters them in the aftermath.
The Lover
by Marguerite Duras
Genres: Fiction, Classics, France, Romance, French Literature, Literature, Historical Fiction
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.73

Set against the backdrop of French colonial Vietnam, The Lover reveals the intimacies and intricacies of a clandestine romance between a pubescent girl from a financially strapped French family and an older, wealthy Chinese-Vietnamese man.
The Law
by Bastiat Frederic
Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Economics, Nonfiction, Law, Classics, History
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.35

How is it that the law enforcer itself does not have to keep the law? How is it that the law permits the state to lawfully engage in actions which, if undertaken by individuals, would land them in jail? These are among the most intriguing issues in political and economic philosophy. More specifically, the problem of law that itself violates law is an insurmountable conundrum of all statist philosophies. The problem has never been discussed so profoundly and passionately as in this essay by Frederic Bastiat from 1850. The essay might have been written today. It applies in ever way to our own time, which is precisely why so many people credit this one essay for showing them the light of liberty. Bastiat's essay here is timeless because applies whenever and wherever the state assumes unto itself different rules and different laws from that by which it expects other people to live. And so we have this legendary essay, written in a white heat against the lead
The Witches: Salem, 1692
by Stacy Schiff
Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical, Witches, Audiobook, American History, Religion
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.24

Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff, author of the #1 bestseller Cleopatra, provides an electrifying, fresh view of the Salem witch trials.The panic began early in 1692, over an exceptionally raw Massachusetts winter, when a minister's niece began to writhe and roar. It spread quickly, confounding the most educated men and prominent politicians in the colony. Neighbors accused neighbors, husbands accused wives, parents and children one another. It ended less than a year later, but not before nineteen men and women had been hanged and an elderly man crushed to death. Speaking loudly and emphatically, adolescent girls stood at the center of the crisis. Along with suffrage and Prohibition, the Salem witch trials represent one of the few moments when women played the central role in American history. Drawing masterfully on the archives, Stacy Schiff introduces us to the strains on a Puritan adolescent's life and to the authorities whose delicate agendas were at risk. She illuminates the demands of a rigorous faith, the vulnerability of settlements adrift from the mother country, perched--at a politically tumultuous time--on the edge of what a visitor termed a "remote, rocky, barren, bushy, wild-woody wilderness." With devastating clarity, the textures and tension of colonial life emerge; hidden patterns subtly, startlingly detach themselves from the darkness. Schiff brings early American anxieties to the fore to align them brilliantly with our own. In an era of religious provocations, crowdsourcing, and invisible enemies, this enthralling story makes more sense than ever.The Witches is Schiff's riveting account of a seminal episode, a primal American mystery unveiled--in crackling detail and lyrical prose--by one of our most acclaimed historians.
False Step
by Victoria Helen Stone
Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Adult
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.61

Stay calm, keep smiling, and watch your step. In this marriage of secrets and lies, nothing is what it seems.For days, all of Denver, Colorado, has worried over the fate of a missing child, little Tanner Holcomb. Then, a miracle: handsome, athletic Johnny Bradley finds him, frightened but unharmed, on a hiking trail miles from his wealthy family’s mountain home.In a heartbeat, his rescuer goes from financially strapped fitness trainer to celebrated hero. The heat of the spotlight may prove too much for Johnny’s picture-perfect family, however. His wife, Veronica, despises the pressure of the sudden fame, afraid that secrets and bitter resentments of her marriage may come to light. And she’s willing to do anything to keep them hidden.But when a shocking revelation exposes an even darker side to Tanner’s disappearance, Veronica realizes that nothing in her life can be trusted. And everything should be feared.
Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky
by Noam Chomsky
Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History, Economics, Political Science, Sociology
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.42

A major new collection from "arguably the most important intellectual alive" (The New York Times). Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the preeminent public intellectuals of the modern era. Over the past thirty years, broadly diverse audiences have gathered to attend his sold-out lectures. Now, in Understanding Power, Peter Mitchell and John Schoeffel have assembled the best of Chomsky's recent talks on the past, present, and future of the politics of power. In a series of enlightening and wide-ranging discussions, all published here for the first time, Chomsky radically reinterprets the events of the past three decades, covering topics from foreign policy during Vietnam to the decline of welfare under the Clinton administration. And as he elucidates the connection between America's imperialistic foreign policy and the decline of domestic social services, Chomsky also discerns the necessary steps to take toward social change. With an eye to political activism and the media's role in popular struggle, as well as U.S. foreign and domestic policy, Understanding Power offers a sweeping critique of the world around us and is definitive Chomsky. Characterized by Chomsky's accessible and informative style, this is the ideal book for those new to his work as well as for those who have been listening for years.
When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
by Pema Chödrön
Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Buddhism, Spirituality, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.28

The beautiful practicality of her teaching has made Pema Chödrön one of the most beloved of contemporary American spiritual authors among Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. A collection of talks she gave between 1987 and 1994, the book is a treasury of wisdom for going on living when we are overcome by pain and difficulties. Chödrön discusses: • Using painful emotions to cultivate wisdom, compassion, and courage • Communicating so as to encourage others to open up rather than shut down • Practices for reversing habitual patterns • Methods for working with chaotic situations • Ways for creating effective social action
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (Dirk Gently, #2)
by Douglas Adams
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Comedy, Science Fiction Fantasy
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.04

When a passenger check-in desk at London's Heathrow Airport disappears in a ball of orange flame, the explosion is deemed an act of God. But which god, wonders holistic detective Dirk Gently? What god would be hanging around Heathrow trying to catch the 3:37 to Oslo? And what has this to do with Dirk's latest--and late-- client, found only this morning with his head revolving atop the hit record "Hot Potato"? Amid the hostile attentions of a stray eagle and the trauma of a very dirty refrigerator, super-sleuth Dirk Gently will once again solve the mysteries of the universe...
Frankie the Ferret
by Kimberley   Paterson
Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, Drama, Contemporary, Animals
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.33

Do you have a pet? Maybe a dog, or a cat, or a gold fish? Lots of people do, but not many people have a pet like Frankie the Ferret. A lovable, mischievous, and comical little fellow, Frankie fills his family home with love and laughter, and his family wants to share that with you! Do you want to meet him? Then let’s go!
The House of the Scorpion (Matteo Alacran, #1)
by Nancy Farmer
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction, Fantasy, Teen, Adventure
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.08

With undertones of vampires, Frankenstein, dragons' hoards, and killing fields, Matt's story turns out to be an inspiring tale of friendship, survival, hope, and transcendence. A must-read for teenage fantasy fans.At his coming-of-age party, Matteo Alacrán asks El Patrón's bodyguard, "How old am I?...I know I don't have a birthday like humans, but I was born." "You were harvested," Tam Lin reminds him. "You were grown in that poor cow for nine months and then you were cut out of her." To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. A room full of chicken litter with roaches for friends and old chicken bones for toys is considered good enough for him. But for El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium—a strip of poppy fields lying between the U.S. and what was once called Mexico—Matt is a guarantee of eternal life. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself for Matt is himself. They share identical DNA.
An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)
by Diana Gabaldon
Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Fantasy, Time Travel, Historical, Historical Romance
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.44

A new Outlander novel — the seventh — from #1 National Bestselling author Diana Gabaldon.Readers have been waiting with bated breath for the seventh volume in bestselling author Diana Gabaldon’s epic Outlander saga — a masterpiece of historical fiction featuring Jamie and Claire, from one of the genre’s most popular and beloved authors.Jamie Fraser, erstwhile Jacobite and reluctant rebel, knows three things about the American rebellion: the Americans will win, unlikely as that seems in 1778; being on the winning side is no guarantee of survival; and he’d rather die than face his illegitimate son — a young lieutenant in the British Army — across the barrel of a gun. Fraser’s time-travelling wife, Claire, also knows a couple of things: that the Americans will win, but that the ultimate price of victory is a mystery. What she does believe is that the price won’t include Jamie’s life or happiness — not if she has anything to say.Claire’s grown daughter Brianna, and her husband, Roger, watch the unfolding of Brianna’s parents’ history — a past that may be sneaking up behind their own family.
Swan Song
by Robert McCammon
Genres: Horror, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Apocalyptic
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.29

An ancient evil roams the desolate landscape of an America ravaged by nuclear war. He is the Man with the Scarlet Eye, a malevolent force that feeds on the dark desires of the countless followers he has gathered into his service. His only desire is to find a special child named Swan—and destroy her. But those who would protect the girl are determined to fight for what is left of the world, and their souls. In a wasteland born of rage, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, the last survivors on earth have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil that will decide the fate of humanity....
The Twilight Saga
by Stephenie Meyer
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Vampires, Fiction, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.92

Stephenie Meyer holds you spellbound with her incredible New York Times bestselling Twilight Saga. Experience the entire series on audio with narrator Ilyana Kadushin and prepare to be amazed by the more than 60 hours of listening pleasure.Twilight (11 CDs):When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks, Washington, and meets the mysterious, alluring Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With his porcelain skin, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice, and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Up until now, he has managed to keep his true identity hidden, but Bella is determined to uncover his dark secret.New Moon (12 CDs):For Bella Swan, there is one thing more important than life Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella ever could have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning.Eclipse (13 CDs):As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob—knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf.Breaking Dawn (14 CDs):Twilight tempted the imagination. New Moon made readers thirsty for more. Eclipse turned the saga into a worldwide phenomenon. And now, the story that everyone has been waiting for....Breaking Dawn, the final installment in the #1 bestselling Twilight Saga, will take your breath away.