Eitanli/goodreads huggingface dataset:
The Templar Legacy (Cotton Malone, #1)
by Steve Berry
Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Mystery Thriller, Suspense
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.83

The ancient order of the Knights Templar possessed untold wealth and absolute power over kings and popes . . . until the Inquisition, when they were wiped from the face of the earth, their hidden riches lost. But now two forces vying for the treasure have learned that it is not at all what they thought it was–and its true nature could change the modern world.Cotton Malone, one-time top operative for the U.S. Justice Department, is enjoying his quiet new life as an antiquarian book dealer in Copenhagen when an unexpected call to action reawakens his hair-trigger instincts–and plunges him back into the cloak-and-dagger world he thought he’d left behind.It begins with a violent robbery attempt on Cotton’s former supervisor, Stephanie Nelle, who’s far from home on a mission that has nothing to do with national security. Armed with vital clues to a series of centuries-old puzzles scattered across Europe, she means to crack a mystery that has tantalized scholars and fortune-hunters through the ages by finding the legendary cache of wealth and forbidden knowledge thought to have been lost forever when the order of the Knights Templar was exterminated in the fourteenth century. But she’s not alone. Competing for the historic prize–and desperate for the crucial information Stephanie possesses–is Raymond de Roquefort, a shadowy zealot with an army of assassins at his command.Welcome or not, Cotton seeks to even the odds in the perilous race. But the more he learns about the ancient conspiracy surrounding the Knights Templar, the more he realizes that even more than lives are at stake. At the end of a lethal game of conquest, rife with intrigue, treachery, and craven lust for power, lies a shattering discovery that could rock the civilized world–and, in the wrong hands, bring it to its knees.
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
by Grace Lin
Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Fiction, Childrens, Adventure, Young Adult, Dragons
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.30

In the valley of Fruitless Mountain, a young girl named Minli spends her days working hard in the fields and her nights listening to her father spin fantastic tales about the Jade Dragon and the Old Man of the Moon. Minli's mother, tired of their poor life, chides him for filling her head with nonsense. But Minli believes these enchanting stories and embarks on an extraordinary journey to find the Old Man of the Moon and ask him how her family can change their fortune. She encounters an assorted cast of characters and magical creatures along the way, including a dragon who accompanies her on her quest. Source: Jacket flap
Five on a Treasure Island (Famous Five, #1)
by Enid Blyton
Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Adventure, Mystery, Classics, Young Adult, Middle Grade
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.11

The very first Famous Five adventure, featuring Julian, Dick, Anne, not forgetting tomboy George and her beloved dog, Timmy! There's a shipwreck off Kirrin Island! But where is the treasure? The Famous Five are on the trail - looking for clues - but they're not alone! Someone else has got the same idea. Time is running out for the Famous Five, who will follow the clues and get to the treasure first?
Innocent Traitor
by Alison Weir
Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Tudor Period, British Literature, 16th Century, Adult
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.97

I am now a condemned traitor . . . I am to die when I have hardly begun to live.Historical expertise marries page-turning fiction in Alison Weir’s enthralling debut novel, breathing new life into one of the most significant and tumultuous periods of the English monarchy. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey–“the Nine Days’ Queen”–a fifteen-year-old girl who unwittingly finds herself at the center of the religious and civil unrest that nearly toppled the fabled House of Tudor during the sixteenth century.The child of a scheming father and a ruthless mother, for whom she is merely a pawn in a dynastic game with the highest stakes, Jane Grey was born during the harrowingly turbulent period between Anne Boleyn’s beheading and the demise of Jane’s infamous great-uncle, King Henry VIII. With the premature passing of Jane’s adolescent cousin, and Henry’s successor, King Edward VI, comes a struggle for supremacy fueled by political machinations and lethal religious fervor.Unabashedly honest and exceptionally intelligent, Jane possesses a sound strength of character beyond her years that equips her to weather the vicious storm. And though she has no ambitions to rule, preferring to immerse herself in books and religious studies, she is forced to accept the crown, and by so doing sets off a firestorm of intrigue, betrayal, and tragedy.Alison Weir uses her unmatched skills as a historian to enliven the many dynamic characters of this majestic drama. Along with Lady Jane Grey, Weir vividly renders her devious parents; her much-loved nanny; the benevolent Queen Katherine Parr; Jane’s ambitious cousins; the Catholic “Bloody” Mary, who will stop at nothing to seize the throne; and the protestant and future queen Elizabeth. Readers venture inside royal drawing rooms and bedchambers to witness the power-grabbing that swirls around Lady Jane Grey from the day of her birth to her unbearably poignant death. Innocent Traitor paints a complete and compelling portrait of this captivating young woman, a faithful servant of God whose short reign and brief life would make her a legend.“An impressive debut. Weir shows skill at plotting and maintaining tension, and she is clearly going to be a major player in the . . . historical fiction game.”–The Independent“Alison Weir is one of our greatest popular historians. In her first work of fiction . . . Weir manages her heroine’s voice brilliantly, respecting the past’s distance while conjuring a dignified and fiercely modern spirit.”–London Daily Mail
Dark Flame (The Immortals, #4)
by Alyson Noel
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Fiction, Supernatural, Paranormal Romance
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.73

In Alyson Noël’s most darkly seductive Immortals novel yet, Ever fights for control of her body, her soul—and the timeless true love she’s been chasing for centuries.Ever is trying to help Haven make the transition into life as an immortal. But with Haven drunk on her new powers and acting recklessly, she poses the ultimate threat—exposing their secret world to the outside. But Ever's struggle to keep the Immortals hidden only propels Haven closer to the enemy: Roman and his evil companions.At the same time, Ever delves deeper into dark magick to free Damen from Roman’s power. But when her spell backfires, it binds her to the one guy who’s hell-bent on her destruction. Now there’s a strange, foreign pulse coursing through her, and no matter what she does, she can’t stop thinking about Roman—and longing for his touch. As she struggles to resist the fiery attraction threatening to consume her, Roman is more than willing to take advantage of her weakened state... and Ever edges closer and closer to surrender.Frantic to break the spell before its too late, Ever turns to Jude for help, risking everything she knows and loves to save herself—and her future with Damen....
Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book
by Terry Jones
Genres: Fantasy, Art, Fiction, Humor, Childrens, Fairies, Picture Books
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.03

This is a reproduction of the diary of Lady Angelica Cottingham, which features pressed garden fairies. Or rather the psychic images of the fairies, who quickly turned it into a game, where they leapt between the closing pages in an effort to outdo each other to produce the most outrageous poses.
Dreaming the Serpent Spear (Boudica, #4)
by Manda Scott
Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Fantasy, British Literature, Ancient History, Historical Fantasy
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.40

The fourth and final novel in the magnificent saga of Britain’s warrior queen (Boudica – “Bringer of Victory” and the last defender of the Celtic culture) will capture readers’ hearts and minds, as Manda Scott brings the series to a stunning close.It is AD 60 and the flame of rebellion that has been smouldering for 20 years of Roman occupation has flared into a conflagration that will consume the land and all who live in it. There is no going back. Boudica has been flogged and her daughters raped, and her son has burned a Roman watchtower in an act of blatant insurgency. This is the time to act: the Roman governor has marched his legions west to destroy the druidic stronghold of Mona, leaving his capital and a vital seaport hopelessly undefended in the face of twenty-thousand warriors aching for vengeance. But to crush the legions for all time, Boudica must do more than lead her army in the greatest rebellion Britain has ever known. She must find healing for herself, for the land, and for Graine, her 8-year-old daughter, who has taken refuge on Mona.Is revenge worth it under any circumstances, or is the cost more than anyone can bear?Colchester is burning and London is lost without hope. Amidst fire and bloody revolution – a battle that will change the face and spirituality of a nation for centuries to come – Boudica and those around her must find what matters most, now and for ever.
Dreaming the Hound (Boudica, #3)
by Manda Scott
Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Fantasy, British Literature, Historical Fantasy, Novels
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.38

In a spellbinding novel of gods and men, myth and brutality, acclaimed author Manda Scott returns to her heralded saga of a world under siege. For here is the epic tale of Boudica, the legendary Celtic queen, and her embattled Eceni tribe—a bold new work of imaginative fiction that takes us on a thrilling journey into a clash between magic and mankind.

To the Eceni tribe of Britannia, nature is the ultimate god, and warriors are joined in battle by the voices and spirits of their ancestors. But the proud Eceni are running out of time. Nero’s army, long since out of patience with Britannia’s wild tribes, is becoming increasingly oppressive. And Boudica’s family is at the center of a gathering storm: Cunomar, Boudica’s son, who longs for the mettle to kill as fiercely as his mother… Graine, her young daughter, gifted with the power of dreamers, scarred forever by the horrors of war...and Boudica’s brother, born Bán of the Eceni, turned the traitor Valerius—a man caught between worlds: warrior and dreamer, Roman and Eceni.As conflict erupts between the tribes and their brutal invaders, Boudica is forced to make a bold sacrifice. Cloaking her identity, she will travel directly into the stronghold of an enemy who longs for her crucifixion. What happens next—in a brutal drama of betrayal, heroism, and sacrifice—will leave Boudica with no options but one: to raise and arm every warrior, every dreamer, every tribe…and push the invader and its legions back into the sea.From the thundering hooves of the Eceni’s great horses to mystical spirit quests of young warriors, from the politics of an empire to the passions of lovers, Dreaming the Hound takes us on a breathtaking journey of the imagination—at once brutal, fantastical, and utterly unforgettable.MAGNIFICENT PRAISE FOR MANDA SCOTT’S BOUDICA SAGA Dreaming the Hound“Extraordinary.” —Independent, UK“Brilliantly imaginative.”—Colchester Evening Gazette, UK“Dramatic…Vivid…Lyrical.”—Yorkshire Evening Post, UK“One of Britain’s most famous legends…is retold here with extraordinary immediacy.”—Our Time, UK“Irresistible…an excellent read.”—Diva, UKDreaming the Bull“Enthralling…Mesmerising…Creates a living past of battle feats, betrayals, heart-breaking loyalties and cruelties.”—Publishing News, UK“Thrilling…Readers will be swept away.” —Booklist, starred reviewDreaming the Eagle“A powerful novel about one of the most intriguing and mysterious women in history…Alive with the love, deceit, wisdom and heroics of humanity. Read it and enjoy!”—Jean M. Auel“The new Mary Renault…Intensely exciting, a tale of passion, courage and heroism against huge odds.”—Publishing News, UKFrom the Hardcover edition.
The Gnostic Gospels
by Elaine Pagels
Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, History, Spirituality, Christianity, Philosophy, Theology
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.93

The Gnostic Gospels is a landmark study of the long-buried roots of Christianity, a work of luminous scholarship and wide popular appeal. First published in 1979 to critical acclaim, winning the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Gnostic Gospels has continued to grow in reputation and influence over the past two decades. It is now widely recognized as one of the most brilliant and accessible histories of early Christian spirituality published in our time.In 1945 an Egyptian peasant unearthed what proved to be the Gnostic Gospels, thirteen papyrus volumes that expounded a radically different view of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ from that of the New Testament. In this spellbinding book, renowned religious scholar Elaine Pagels elucidates the mysteries and meanings of these sacred texts both in the world of the first Christians and in the context of Christianity today.With insight and passion, Pagels explores a remarkable range of recently discovered gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, to show how a variety of “Christianities” emerged at a time of extraordinary spiritual upheaval. Some Christians questioned the need for clergy and church doctrine, and taught that the divine could be discovered through spiritual search. Many others, like Buddhists and Hindus, sought enlightenment — and access to God — within. Such explorations raised questions: Was the resurrection to be understood symbolically and not literally? Was God to be envisioned only in masculine form, or feminine as well? Was martyrdom a necessary — or worthy — expression of faith? These early Christians dared to ask questions that orthodox Christians later suppressed — and their explorations led to profoundly different visions of Jesus and his message. Brilliant, provocative, and stunning in its implications, The Gnostic Gospels is a radical, eloquent reconsideration of the origins of the Christian faith.
Seven Brothers
by Aleksis Kivi
Genres: Classics, Finnish Literature, Fiction, Historical Fiction, School, 19th Century, Novels
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.35

Along with The Kalevala, Aleksis Kivi's Seven Brothers is Finland's most celebrated literary treasure. The crowning accomplishment of Finland's first literary genius, Seven Brothers remains "the greatest Finnish novel of all time", the classic among the classics in Finnish literature. Published in 1870, in the author's 36th year and two years before his untimely death, Seven Brothers laid the foundation for what Kai Laitinen later called "The Great Tradition in Finnish Prose". This tradition is characterized by realism, humor, respect for the common people, and depiction of nature as both friend and foe. Received at the time of publication by uncomprehending arbiters of literary taste, who still delighted in romantic approaches to literature, Seven Brothers fared poorly in early reviews. Posterity, however, has resurrected the reputation of Aleksis Kivi, and critics, scholars, and readers at large continue to praise the virtues of this trail-blazing, exceedingly rich novel.
Delight
by J.B. Priestley
Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Classics, Short Stories
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.12

J.B. Priestley first made his reputation in the literary world by virtue of his essays, especially short essays that captured the essence of a moment or a taste of magic; and his talents were never better displayed than in the collection entitled Delight. For here are more than 100 brief pieces that capture and record the moments of wonder and beauty that are found beneath the surface of everyday experience. Every essay bears that unique stamp of J.B. Priestley as he refers to the pleasures of music, theatre, travel, sport, playing games, childhood, etc. Delights like Reading Detective Stories in Bed, Trying New Blends of Tobacco, The Sound of a Football, Long Trousers… and even the delight of Not Going! Terrific stuff!Great Northern Books did fans of Priestley a great favor when they brought out a 60th anniversary edition in 2009, for the book had long been unavailable. The anniversary edition contains, too, an introduction by Priestley's son, Tom.
Home Front
by Kristin Hannah
Genres: Fiction, Chick Lit, Romance, Contemporary, Audiobook, War, Adult
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.19

In this powerhouse of a novel, Kristin Hannah explores the intimate landscape of a troubled marriage with this provocative and timely portrait of a husband and wife, in love and at war.All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost. . . .Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday life—children, careers, bills, chores—even as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then a deployment sends Jolene deep into harm's way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a solider, she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own—for everything that matters to his family.At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and ultimately, hope.
Atlas of the Islamic conquests Part I
by Ahmad Adil Kamal
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.85

History is a mirror of the past days and nights of nations and communities. Hence the history of Islam is not only a mirror of the fourteen centuries of the Muslim Ummah but it also signifies the best human civilization on the face of the earth. So a stark necessity arises to acquaint new generations of the Muslim Ummah with great intellectual and political leaders and renowned personalities along with such men of achievements and valiant heroes who defeated false forces in battlefields in order to propagate the true religion in those lands where darkness of paganism and ignorance prevailed. ‘Atlas of the Islamic Conquests’ has been prepared in view of the same lofty aim. In it events of consecutive days, months and years of major Islamic conquest conquests, starting from the period of the first Caliph Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleaed with him) to the reign of Ottoman Caliph Murad III, have been described, with four coloured maps and unique snaps, in such a manner that the reader goes along with them and comes across wonderful historical happenings and new secrets of history are disclosed to him. Make thorough study of ‘Atlas of the Islamic Conquests’ yourself and motivate your children, kith and kins and friends to study it. This unique atlas, having intrinsic and apparent beauty, is a masterpiece of history and research and a rich present for English readers.
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
by Ben Carson
Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Medical, Autobiography, Medicine, Christian
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.17

Gifted Hands by and about Ben Carson, M.D., is the inspiring story of an inner-city kid with poor grades and little motivation, who, at age thirty-three, became director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University Hospital. Gifted Hands will transplace you into the operating room to witness surgeries that made headlines around the world, and into the private mind of a compassionate, God-fearing physician who lives to help others. In 1987, Dr. Carson gained worldwide recognition for his part in the first successful separation of Siamese twins joined at the back of the head -- an extremely complex and delicate operation that was five months of planning and twenty-two hours of actual surgery, involving a surgical plan that Carson helped initiate. Gifted Hands reveals a man with humility, decency, compassion, courage, and sensitivity who serves as a role model for young people (and everyone else) in need of encouragement to attempt the seemingly impossible and to excel in whatever they attempt. Dr. Carson also describes the key role that his highly intelligent though relatively uneducated mother played in his metamorphosis from an unmotivated ghetto youngster into one of the most respected neurosurgeons in the world.
Fair and Tender Ladies
by Lee  Smith
Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Southern, Historical, Coming Of Age, Literary Fiction, Novels
Average rating on Goodreads: 4.18

"A TOUR DE FORCE"- Los Angeles Times"The story of Ivy Rowe, born near the turn of the century in the Virginia Mountain enclave of Sugar Fork, is told completely through letters that Ivy is forever writing family and friends...Lee Smith exhibits her own understanding and affection for the traditions of the Appalachians. She is at home with the down-home speech and ways of her characters. They come vividly to life, and none more so than Ivy, whose voice and heart and humor sustain Fair and Tender Ladies."- Philadelphia Inquirer"Because of Ivy's narrative ability and her zest for living, Fair and Tender Ladies opens for us like a flower with a gloriously unexpected center. There are unforgettable characters...Few readers will be dry-eyed as they watch this extraordinary woman disappear around that last bend in the road."-Chicago Tribune"These beautiful letters...display Ivy's soul up close, the way a just-caught firefly illuminates a jar. So real does she become that it is hard to believe that Ivy did not actually live to write her letters."-USA Today"This is about a moving a work of literature as has ever been written." ANNIE DILLARD Returning to Appalachia, Lee Smith, author of Oral History, creates an unforgettable heroine: Ivy Rowe. From girlhood to old age, Ivy nourishes her family with her passion, imagination, and strength.
The Dark
by John McGahern
Genres: Irish Literature, Fiction, Ireland, Banned Books, Literary Fiction, 20th Century, Literature
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.95

John McGahern's second novel, The Dark, confirmed and enhanced the reputation he gained with his first, The Barracks. The scene is set in rural Ireland and the central theme is adolescence, impelled forward by ambition and sexuality, guilty and uncontrollable, contorted and twisted by a puritanical and passionate religion and, above all, by a strange, powerful, ambiguous relationship between son and widower father. Against a background evoked with quiet, undemonstrative mastery, McGahern explores with precision and tenderness a situation superficially very ordinary but inwardly an agony of longing and despair.
Millennium People
by J.G. Ballard
Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Novels, British Literature, 21st Century, Dystopia, Thriller
Average rating on Goodreads: 3.37

Violent rebellion comes to London’s middle classes.				As he searches for the truth behind the Heathrow bomb that killed his ex-wife, psychologist David Markham infiltrates a shadowy protest group based in the comfortable Chelsea Marina. Led by a charismatic doctor, it aims to rouse the docile middle classes and to free them from the burdens of civic responsibility. Soon Markham is swept up in a campaign that spirals out of control – as the cornerstones of middle England become targets and growing panic grips the capital.				This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard’s works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Martin Amis, Ali Smith, Hari Kunzru and China Miéville) and brand-new cover designs.