Saturday, May 18, 2019

Book Haul: Dangerous Games




Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews. I get to show off all the books I’ve gotten recently. Here are five books about people in dangerous situations.

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Dangerous Games Book Haul





Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, And Other Confusions of Our Time by Michael Shermer




In this age of supposed scientific enlightenment, many people still believe in mind reading, past-life regression theory, New Age hokum, and alien abduction. A no-holds-barred assault on popular superstitions and prejudices, with more than 80,000 copies in print, Why People Believe Weird Things debunks these nonsensical claims and explores the very human reasons people find otherworldly phenomena, conspiracy theories, and cults so appealing.

Shermer, science historian and true crusader, also reveals the more dangerous side of such illogical thinking, including Holocaust denial, the recovered-memory movement, the satanic ritual abuse scare, and other modern crazes. Why People Believe Weird Things is an eye-opening resource for the most gullible among us and those who want to protect them.










The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle




The complete collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes tales, both long and short, compiled together.



















Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo




Yejide and Akin have been married since they met and fell in love at university. Though many expected Akin to take several wives, he and Yejide have always agreed: polygamy is not for them. But four years into their marriage—after consulting fertility doctors and healers, trying strange teas and unlikely cures—Yejide is still not pregnant. She assumes she still has time—until her family arrives on her doorstep with a young woman they introduce as Akin's second wife. Furious, shocked, and livid with jealousy, Yejide knows the only way to save her marriage is to get pregnant, which, finally, she does—but at a cost far greater than she could have dared to imagine.













If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio




Oliver Marks has just served ten years in jail—for a murder he may or may not have committed. On the day he's released, he's greeted by the man who put him in prison. Detective Colborne is retiring, but before he does, he wants to know what really happened a decade ago.

As one of seven young actors studying Shakespeare at an elite arts college, Oliver and his friends play the same roles onstage and off: hero, villain, tyrant, temptress, ingénue, extra. But when the casting changes, and the secondary characters usurp the stars, the plays spill dangerously over into life, and one of them is found dead. The rest face their greatest acting challenge yet: convincing the police, and themselves, that they are blameless.















Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss




In the north of England, far from the intrusions of cities but not far from civilization, Silvie and her family are living as if they are ancient Britons, surviving by the tools and knowledge of the Iron Age.

For two weeks, the length of her father's vacation, they join an anthropology course set to reenact life in simpler times. They are surrounded by forests of birch and rowan; they make stew from foraged roots and hunted rabbit. The students are fulfilling their coursework; Silvie's father is fulfilling his lifelong obsession. He has raised her on stories of early man, taken her to witness rare artifacts, recounted time and again their rituals and beliefs—particularly their sacrifices to the bog. Mixing with the students, Silvie begins to see, hear, and imagine another kind of life, one that might include going to university, traveling beyond England, choosing her own clothes and food, speaking her mind.

The ancient Britons built ghost walls to ward off enemy invaders, rude barricades of stakes topped with ancestral skulls. When the group builds one of their own, they find a spiritual connection to the past. What comes next but human sacrifice?
















Have you read any of these? What did you think?






24 comments:

  1. Great Haul! I have If We Were Villains and Ghost Wall sounds really intriguing!! Enjoy reading!! =)

    Kendra @ Kendra Loves Books

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  2. I have Stay With Me as well. It's one I hope to read sometime this year.

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  3. I haven't read any of these, sorry! Hope you enjoy them when you read them!

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  4. I've had If We Were Villains on my TBR for soooo long. I have both the e-arc and the paperback...and it sounds SO good. Hope you love them all!
    Natflix&Books

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  5. I haven't read any of these, but If We Were Villains and Ghost Wall sound right up my alley! I'm definitely going to have to check them out.

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  6. I havn’t read any of them, but that first one, “Why People Believe Weird Things” sounds good. If it can help me understand the 2016 election, I’d like to read it (let me know)

    www.thepulpitadnthepen.com

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  7. That Sherlock Holmes collection would be nice to have!

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  8. WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE WEIRD THINGS sounds fascinating. I read about the recovered-memory movement in the book (about memory--I read it as research for last year's NaNo project). It's really interesting.

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  9. The Sherlock Holmes collection looks so cool! I'm so intrigued by If We Were Villains! I hope it's good. Have a good week!
    Genesis @ Whispering Chapters

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  10. Stay With Me sounds interesting, as does Ghost Wall.

    Enjoy your haul!

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  11. The M.L. RIO book sounds good and so does Ghost Wall. Happy weekend!

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  12. I have read none of these, though I have heard of the Rio book. The pseudoscience one is intriguing. I hope they are all great.

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  13. I haven't read any of these, but Stay With Me sounds so interesting!

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  14. I have an eARC of Ghost Wall, but I haven't read it yet. 😱

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  15. Looks like a good haul that will keep you busy for a little while. I am definitely interested in the weird things one. Enjoy!

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  16. oh I want to read We Were Villains SO BADLY. It's on my tbr!!!

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  17. I've heard great things about We Were Villains. I found a cheap copy on Book Outlet some time ago. I also think The Complete Sherlock Holmes looks great. Wonderful haul!

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  18. That first one interests me. I don't get what's gong on int he world right now where we won't believe facts.

    Happy reading!

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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  19. That's a good stack of books! Ghost Wall is the one that intrigues me most. :)

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  20. I really need to read more Sherlock Holmes!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  21. I own a copy of The Complete Sherlock Holmes and have read it. Its lengthy but fun to slowly go through.

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  22. "What comes next but human sacrifice?" is a great tag line for a book. And I really do want to know why people believe weird things. The whole killer clown thing comes to mind--there was no way to convince my own kids, let alone my students, that it was not actually happening.

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  23. I'm so jealous you have the whole Sherlock Holmes collection!! :) Hope you enjoy!!

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