en-US Mon, 28 Apr 2025 15:30:49 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 50001160 The Iron Daughter includes the bonus content Guide to the Iron Fey.

Time doesn’t flow right in this place. If I ever get out, I might find that one hundred years have passed and all my family and friends are long dead.

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan Chase has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to Mab, the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan’s fledgling fey powers have been cut off. She’s stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

THE IRON FEY]]> 304 Julie Kagawa 1488075786 Jennifer 3 4.00 2010
author: Julie Kagawa
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves:
review:

]]> 39684405 An Amazon Charts bestseller.

A gripping novel about family secrets…and coming home for the first time.

Still grieving the loss of her wandering, free-spirited mother, Lucy Kincaid leaves Nashville for the faded town of Cape Hudson, Virginia. She goes to see the house she’s inherited—one she never knew existed, bequeathed to her by a woman she’s never even met. At the heart of this mystery is the hope that maybe—just maybe—this “Winter Cottage�� will answer the endless questions about her mother’s past…including the identity of her birth father.

Rather than the quaint Virginian bungalow Lucy expected, Winter Cottage is a grand old estate of many shadows—big enough to hold a century of secrets, passions, and betrayals. It also comes with a handsome and enigmatic stranger, a man next in line to claim Lucy’s inheritance.

Now, as Lucy sifts through the past, uncovering the legacy of secrets that Winter Cottage holds, she’ll come to discover as much about her family history as she does about herself. In searching, she could finally find the one thing she’s never really a home.]]> 348 Mary Ellen Taylor 1503958884 Jennifer 2 4.27 2018
author: Mary Ellen Taylor
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/26
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 211101904 A woman’s investigation into her sister’s death exposes the dark side of a secret life in a gripping novel of power, money, and murder by a Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

Sisters Nadia and Cass Brenner are heirs to Ocean House, a decades-old empire that builds superyachts for the rich and emirs, oligarchs, and titans of industry throughout America and Europe. They’re a next-generation success with the design of their soon-to-be-commissioned megayacht for a Chinese billionaire. But the sisters�� entrée into the coveted Asian market is tragically cut short when Cass falls from a fortieth-floor hotel window.

A Singapore detective rules suicide. Nadia’s been in the yacht business too long not to be suspicious. Especially when she discovers Cass’s involvement in dangerously illicit activities. Pulled into the same web of betrayal, lies, and secrets that trapped her sister, Nadia is on the most perilous mission of her life. Because uncovering the truth behind her sister’s death could tear the Brenner family apart—and it just might get her killed.

From Seattle to Austria to the South China Sea, Nadia must hold on to the one thing that can keep her safe. It’s the Brenner family Trust no one.]]> 371 Barbara Nickless 1662510004 Jennifer 3 4.06 2025
author: Barbara Nickless
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/16
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 214045137 Evie Woods 0008706697 Jennifer 2 4.35 2014
author: Evie Woods
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 210351928 “Everything I look for in a story �� strong and fascinating characters to root for, creative world building, suspense, a mysterious villain, and just enough romance to keep me wanting more.�� �� Jeff Wheeler, Wall Street Journal Bestselling author

Penny Barclay thought eating Faerie’s sacred fruit would keep the rebels from gaining the upper hand, but it all went sideways. Not only have the rebels found footing in Faerie and taken down the Mist, but Penny is under fire by the fae with their deep-rooted prejudices against mages. Even Aiden—or rather High King Aedon of Faerie—is rather put out with her. If she doesn’t prove herself quickly, she’ll find herself with more enemies in Faerie than just the rebellion.

With new attacks on every front, newly appointed High King Aedon is going to need a miracle to keep his kingdom together. Just as he was figuring out his new role, everything went awry. Now, not only must he get the warring Courts to see eye to eye, but he also has to convince his entire kingdom that Penelope is not the villain they paint her as. As the rebellion gains more and more traction, Aedon’s fight to keep the folk together is more imperative than ever.

As The Cartographer closes in, Penny and Aedon must unite the kingdom for good, or watch their people—mage and fae alike—perish at the brutal hands of the rebellion.]]> 607 Allison Anderson Jennifer 4 4.56
author: Allison Anderson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 129506116
Guilt dogs Prince Aiden’s every footstep. He can still hear Penelope’s screams in his dreams, see the flames devour Barclay Manor until it was nothing but ashes. But with a murderer on the loose in the capital, he can’t risk allowing his feelings to cloud his judgement, even if it means keeping Penelope Barclay far away from him. With Penelope now trapped in the capital, Aiden has to do whatever he can to make the city safe—even if that means running away from the mage girl with cinnamon hair and emerald eyes shadowing his every move.]]> 417 Allison Anderson Jennifer 4 4.53
author: Allison Anderson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.53
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 216648680
Laurel Flumen, a Daughter of Eritrea and one of the continent’s most skilled assassins, is about to complete the greatest mission she's ever been given. If she can assassinate Olympia’s Crown Prince, she will bring glory to her name and can leave the order she and her sister have been bound to their whole lives. However, it seems everywhere she goes, Lord Paulo MacGregor is waiting around the corner. If the man keeps her from completing her mission, the mission will be given to another and she will lose the one chance to finally escape her past.

Paulo and Laurel may be on opposite sides of the war, but if they can’t overcome their differences, there will be more than just Laurel’s future at risk. The future of Olympia itself is in both their hands.]]> 460 Allison Anderson Jennifer 4 4.55
author: Allison Anderson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 203361131
With a pack on her back and Aiden’s trusty dog at her side, Penny rushes headfirst into Faerie—the world she’d always dreamed of but never thought she’d see. At first, the magical kingdom is mystical and fantastic, but as Penny journeys deeper into the seasonal Courts, she discovers that some magic is not to be trifled with and her childhood fantasies were just that, fantasies. It will take all of Penny’s strength and ingenuity to find Aiden and bring him back to Olympia.

When Aiden wakes in a new world, all he can think of is getting back to Penelope and his family in Olympia. After the death of the High Queen at the hands of the rebellion, Aiden finds himself trapped by magic he doesn’t understand in a kingdom of fae that would rather fight one another than face the approaching enemy. Becoming High King of a folk he’d never even met may be the Goddess’s worst idea yet. But when he meets a family of fae that have insights to his past and his magic, he has to decide whether to embrace this new life or return to Penelope to find the life they promised each other.

Separated by enemies and friends alike, Penny and Aiden must adapt to this new kingdom and help the fae fight off the rebels or find themselves trapped in a land on the brink of destruction.
]]> 380 Allison Anderson Jennifer 4 4.55
author: Allison Anderson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 193273315 A nominee for the 17th Annual Whitney Awards in the YA Fantasy category.

Powerful plant mage and heir-apparent to the Duchy of Eleusion, Penny Barclay lives each day under two strict rules: Don’t shame the family’s magical heritage and don’t allow any man to turn her head.

While she knows her mother’s restrictive rules come from a place of love, Penny doesn’t always agree on how they should be followed—particularly with a rebellion threatening their way of life.

The rebels�� goal? For all magic wielders to be enslaved under those who have not received such a gift from the Goddess.

When whispers of a rebellion reach Penny’s ear, she knows she must do whatever it takes to uproot the rebels from her lands. And this is her chance to prove to her mother she can take on more than her mother believes she can. But Penny can’t possibly uncover the sinister plot on her own—not without her mother finding out and locking her away for the rest of her life.

When Lou, a handsome spy sent by the Crown to investigate the rebellion, arrives with the expertise she needs to accomplish her goals, Penny demands she be included in his mission to help Lou uncover the leader of the rebellion... even if it costs her everything, including the freedom she’s longed for.

A bewitching debut from a strong new voice in fantasy. The Spring Maiden is everything. Book one in The Cartographer’s War gives us a fierce, relatable heroine, forbidden love and a noble quest to root for.]]> 341 Allison Anderson Jennifer 4 4.16
author: Allison Anderson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 17308183

Praise for Liar & Spy:

A Junior Library Guild Selection - A New York Times Bestseller - An Indie Bestseller - Kirkus Reviews starred review - Publishers Weekly starred review - The Horn Book starred review - School Library Journal starred review - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starred review - Autumn 2012 Kids' Indie Next List -Nominated for the Best Fiction for Young Adults 2013 - Kirkus Reviews Best of Children's Books 2012 List - Publishers Weekly Best of Children's Fiction 2012 - School Library Journal Best of Children's Fiction 2012 List - The Horn Book 's Best of 2012 List -
Barnes & Noble Best Books of 2012 for Kids List - Amazon's Best of the Year, Middle Grade (3) - A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of 2012 - Holiday gift guides: Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times - NPR Outstanding "Backseat" Reads for Ages 9-14, NPR's Backseat Book Club - One of The Atlantic Wire's 25 favorite middle grade and young adult book covers of 2012 - The Wall Street Journal 's Best Children's Books of 2012 - The Chicago Public Library Best of the Best 2012 - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 2012 Blue Ribbons List]]> 208 Rebecca Stead 1849399735 Jennifer 5 3.78 2012
author: Rebecca Stead
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2013/03/17
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:
Georges is a typical middle school kid in a less typical situation. His family has sold their home and moved to a nearby apartment. He is making new friends at school and at his new apartment and things are a little up and down for him. There is also something else going on, but we don't know what until the end, and I'm not going to spoil it. A heartwarming story about being yourself and making your own rules - and keeping your parents in the loop. An excellent read. Highly recommended.
]]> 31142505 AND RODE INTO THE TUMULT OF WAR.


With a daunting desert spread out before her, Eleanor still believes she can return home and aid her people in defending Aemogen from the Imirillian invasion. But she finds there are impossibilities and bitter fates she cannot control.

Now that Eleanor is beyond his reach, Basaal must confront the demons of his father’s conquest. With the Emperor Shaamil’s decision to personally ensure victory, Basaal is swept into the war he’d tried so desperately to prevent.
]]> 364 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.57
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.57
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 29960057 SLEEPING IN ITS OWN EMBERS.��

Queen Eleanor’s gambit worked. Aemogen, for now, has been spared from the ruthless Imirillian army. But Eleanor is still a captive, and Prince Basaal is taking her into the North. As Eleanor is swept through the deserts of Imirillia to the magnificent city of Zarbadast, she begins to understand the contradictions Basaal must negotiate beneath the reign of the sadistic Emperor Shaamil.

Having returned home, Prince Basaal again finds himself at war with his own conscience. Under the scrutiny of his father, the pressure of his brothers, and a fierce loyalty to his own people, Basaal doubts his ability to fulfill his impossible promise to Aedon: to help Eleanor escape.

In a rich telling of culture, ritual, and choice, The Ruby Prince draws on the complexity of what honor means to both Eleanor and Basaal, who find themselves together, yet set against one another, in the enigmatic court of Zarbadast.
]]> 453 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.55 2016
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 28601010
Eleanor, the young queen of Aemogen, is confronted with the greatest threat her country has ever faced: surrender Aemogen’s sovereignty to the treacherous Imirillion Empire or endure a devastating and impossible war. Now she must decide if she will forfeit her people’s liberty or fight.

When Wil Traveler, the disenchanted Imirillion soldier, wanders into her country, Eleanor takes the gamble of asking him to train her ill-prepared men for war, despite suspecting he may be a spy.

Battling questions of war and conquest, Eleanor fights to protect her people as Wil challenges her way of life, all the while keeping the secrets of his violent past a mystery.]]> 373 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.34 2016
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 50246
Alternate cover is available here.]]> 329 Daphne du Maurier Jennifer 0 to-read 3.85 1969
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 11569862
When he was a young boy, Kasher's mother took him on a vacation to the West Coast. Well it was more like an abduction. Only not officially. She stole them away from their father and they moved to Oakland , California. That's where the real fun begins, in the war zone of Oakland Public Schools. He was more than just out of control-his mother walked him around on a leash, which he chewed through and ran away.

Those early years read like part Augusten Burroughs, part David Sedaris, with a touch of Jim Carrol...but a lot more Jewish. In fact, Kasher later spends time in a Brooklyn Hasidic community. Then came addiction...

Brutally honest and laugh-out-loud funny, Kasher's first literary endeavor finds humor in even the most horrifying situations.]]> 303 Moshe Kasher 0446584266 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.74 2012
author: Moshe Kasher
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 38096357 THE DEATH BLEAK - For centuries he has haunted the nations, taking the blood gain further than any before him.THE PYRE - His storied stronghold deep in the Forest of Naeethe.AND I, EMBER - Sent by the Lights to stop him from becoming the one thing that all nations fear the most.Readers have compared Beth Brower's books to Robin McKinley, Megan Whalen Turner, Brandon Sanderson, and Lloyd Alexander.]]> 546 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.57
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.57
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 16054217 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]> 561 Deborah Harkness 0670025593 Jennifer 0 paranormal
Things I liked: I liked the fast pace of the story, I liked seeing Diana become more confident in her powers and her ability to handle the situations she was in. I liked the introduction of additional characters (Fernando) and the [spoilers removed] I liked that Matthew worked to overcome his tendency to over-bearing pedantic and patriarchal behavior. I also generally liked the solutions to the problems, and the parallels to modern historical issues.

Things that bugged: The love triangle, which was introduced, referred to (awkward) occasionally, and unresolved. That really bugged. It also bugged me that every time the regular humans were told about creatures they were all just so accepting and unsurprised. Not one person went all googly eyed or passed out. Like, Oh? You're a witch with amazing powers and you married a 1500 year old vampire? Uh-huh. Always knew there was something about you... Right. Last, I liked Phoebe as a character, generally, but the constant frozen-like-a-bird-dog pointing out amazing and rare artifacts like that was a bigger deal than being in a house full of vampires stuff got a bit annoying. Last, I am not a molecular geneticist, but some of that science got a little dodgy. None of this bugged me enough to ruin the fun.

To sum up - an entertaining series, not without some weaknesses, but overall well done and fun reading. ]]> 4.15 2014
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2014/10/19
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: paranormal
review:
I found this third book in the series engaging and complex enough to hold my interest in spite of the introduction of the dreaded love triangle. I really thought I might make it through a paranormal trilogy without encountering a love triangle, but I was overoptimistic. Ah well. It did take me a good couple of chapters to adjust to being back in the present. Harkness did such a good job in [Shadow of Night] with immersing both her characters and the reader in the 16th century that I felt a bit of a jolt when [The Book of Life] began in the thick of the 21st century action.

Things I liked: I liked the fast pace of the story, I liked seeing Diana become more confident in her powers and her ability to handle the situations she was in. I liked the introduction of additional characters (Fernando) and the [spoilers removed] I liked that Matthew worked to overcome his tendency to over-bearing pedantic and patriarchal behavior. I also generally liked the solutions to the problems, and the parallels to modern historical issues.

Things that bugged: The love triangle, which was introduced, referred to (awkward) occasionally, and unresolved. That really bugged. It also bugged me that every time the regular humans were told about creatures they were all just so accepting and unsurprised. Not one person went all googly eyed or passed out. Like, Oh? You're a witch with amazing powers and you married a 1500 year old vampire? Uh-huh. Always knew there was something about you... Right. Last, I liked Phoebe as a character, generally, but the constant frozen-like-a-bird-dog pointing out amazing and rare artifacts like that was a bigger deal than being in a house full of vampires stuff got a bit annoying. Last, I am not a molecular geneticist, but some of that science got a little dodgy. None of this bugged me enough to ruin the fun.

To sum up - an entertaining series, not without some weaknesses, but overall well done and fun reading.
]]> 13597723
What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides—especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.

Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.]]> 308 Jennifer Lynn Barnes 1423168232 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.22 2013
author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218657112 She will fight for her sister’s happiness, but is she strong enough to claim her own?

One snowy Christmas Eve, Jasmine creates a magical night for her disappointed younger sister. Unsupervised by their strict parents, their escapades lead them to an unlikely new friend. But, time is against them and the magic of childhood is soon overrun by societal duties and parental expectations.

Poppy, vivacious and headstrong, makes her own life decisions. But her heart aches as she watches her older sister wilt at home.

Can Jasmine fight through her own world of loneliness to recreate the community and warmth of that magical Christmas Eve all those years ago?

This book is a part of The Christmas Chronicles, a collection of festive novellas filled with clean romance, chilly weather, and cozy adventures.


]]> 137 Emily Deady Jennifer 1 The storyline was decent.
The writing was stilted and overly formal. Needs some character and plot development and solid editing. ]]> 4.06
author: Emily Deady
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
review:
Not sure how this is a retelling of Snow White and Rose Red.
The storyline was decent.
The writing was stilted and overly formal. Needs some character and plot development and solid editing.
]]> 218439180 An ice slipper wasn’t the only thing left behind at midnight��

Noelle Frost only has one chance to reclaim the inheritance stolen from her after her father’s death. With her stepfamily plotting to win the prince’s heart during his bride competition to secure their own power, Noelle must infiltrate the royal ball to confront her stepmother and reclaim her birthright before time runs out. But in order to get close enough, she must compete for a crown she doesn’t want—and a prince she doesn’t love.

The real danger lies in her growing feelings for Jack, the prince’s enigmatic mage advisor. As their forbidden romance ignites, Jack becomes Noelle’s only ally in a world of treachery, with access to the records that could restore her to her rightful place as the heiress of the Frostwood estate. The closer Noelle gets to Jack, the more impossible their future seems.

As the competition heats up and the prince’s attention turns to Noelle, her stepmother offers a risky bargain that Noelle can’t turn down if she wants to protect Jack, even if it means leaving the castle forever. After all, if Noelle and Jack can never be together, does she have any reason to stay?

As midnight approaches, Noelle must decide if she can truly leave her heart behind.




This is a Cinderella retelling, filled with forbidden love, dog sleds, blackmail, and an illegal courtship set in a snowy kingdom. Perfect for a cozy Christmas read, fans of Melanie Cellier, Tara Grayce, and Deborah Grace White will love this no-spice romantic fantasy book.

This book is a part of The Christmas Chronicles, a collection of festive novellas filled with clean romance, chilly weather, and cozy adventure.]]> 218 Mary Mecham Jennifer 3 4.55
author: Mary Mecham
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.55
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 218443972 Can miracles come true even without shoes?

Evalie Makera is starving, but with only two coins left, there isn’t much hope that she’ll survive to see the Day of Giving. After her mother's sudden passing, their flower shop has withered, leaving Evalie with a roof over her head but nothing under it. In a world where everyone is born with a magical gift, Evalie’s ability to enhance an object’s beauty feels useless now that her life is void of her mother’s flower magic.
While her gift may be useless without flowers to enchant and sell, she’s still better off than the magicless shop boy down the street. Or, at least, she thinks so, until she spends her last coins on flower seeds instead of food. She’s going to waste away either way, so having one final flower to celebrate her mother’s life feels like a much more fulfilling end to her story. Until it’s not the end at all...
To Evalie’s surprise, the seed she plants before bed sprouts into a stunning bloom overnight. Is this her mother’s magic? Or is something else at play? It would be all too easy to sell the flower and run with the coins, but something about their sudden appearance doesn’t feel right... Maybe the shoeless new stranger in town knows something? What could possibly go wrong with such a beautiful miracle?

This book is a part of The Christmas Chronicles, a collection of festive novellas filled with clean romance, chilly weather, and cozy adventures]]> 220 Abigail Manning Jennifer 3 4.38
author: Abigail Manning
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 59058662 I took Treasure Island to church with me as a talisman.“What a lovely bible,�� Mrs. Tribly said.“Isn’t it just?�� I replied, hoping she would not ask me to read a favorite verse aloud.I do not believe the psalmist wrote,Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest,Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum.The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.Readers have compared Beth Brower's writing to Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, and Charlotte Bronte.]]> 265 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.77
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.77
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 63027990 There is bedlam, and there is delightful bedlam.
This afternoon touched on the second, much to my pleasure.

The Year is 1884 and Emma M. Lion has, at long last, gained her majority. Entering a golden age of friendship with Pierce, Islington, and Hawkes, Emma is confident she will manage whatever comes her way. It is The Season she must help Arabella secure a husband, while navigating the threat of Aunt Eugenia, the unflagging adoration of Charles Goddard, and the amusing unpredictability of St. Crispian’s. But the secrets of her trusted friends are what might very well bring about disaster.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Readers have compared The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion to Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse, L. M. Montgomery, and Jean Webster.]]> 249 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.79 2022
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.79
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 222021967 "Strange, considering it all now after a night's sleep, that I'd had no premonition of what awaited. That seems to be the nature of life, however. Things that ought to come with warnings rarely do."

The Year is 1884 and Emma M. Lion has, at long last, gained her majority. Entering a golden age of friendship with Pierce, Islington, and Hawkes, Emma is confident she will manage whatever comes her way. It is The Season she must help Arabella secure a husband, while navigating the threat of Aunt Eugenia, the unflagging adoration of Charles Goddard, and the amusing unpredictability of St. Crispian's. But the secrets of her trusted friends are what might very well bring about disaster.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.

Readers have compared Beth Brower's writing to Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, and L. M. Montgomery.]]> 353 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.78
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.78
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 56553921
The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighborhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of novella-length volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.]]> 208 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.75
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
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]]> 55138117 "It has been a day ordained by the fates, for how else could one explain the wholly cursed chain of events?" The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London Neighbourhood of St. Crispian's. But Emma's plan for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian's. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House. Readers have compared The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion to Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse, L. M. Montgomery, and Jean Webster.]]> 229 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.65
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
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]]> 48677941
The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.

Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be, which comprise a series of novella-length volumes. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.
]]> 162 Beth Brower Jennifer 4 4.59
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.59
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 49475884 From the bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners comes a novel about love, loss, and the beautiful mess of family.

Marnie MacGraw and Patrick Delaney have been in love for a few years now, enough to realize that they are imperfectly perfect together. Still, there are some things that maybe need a little attention. Marnie’s ebullient; he’s brooding. She thrives on change; he prefers stability. She sees marriage and parenthood in their future, but he can’t see beyond the shadow of an earlier tragedy.

Then an eight-year-old surprise from Patrick’s past shows up on their doorstep, cartwheeling into their lives and spinning things in all directions. While it’s not exactly the change she envisioned, it looks like instant family to Marnie. But Patrick, afraid of being hurt again, retreats further into himself. Suddenly, two very different pieces of a beautiful puzzle find it harder and harder to fit. How can Marnie trust in the magic of the universe when it seems to be doing its best to knock her off her feet?

But some love stories are worth waiting for. And what’s love without a little chaos anyway?]]> 385 Maddie Dawson 1542006473 Jennifer 3 4.18 2020
author: Maddie Dawson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
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]]> 48667408 “I’ve arrived in London without incident. There are few triumphs in my recent life, but I count this as one. My existence of the last three years has been nothing but incident.��The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s. Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House. Readers have compared The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion to Jane Austen, P. G. Wodehouse, L. M. Montgomery, and Jean Webster.]]> 121 Beth Brower Jennifer 5 4.33 2019
author: Beth Brower
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
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review:

]]> 48891324 Inspired by an astonishing true story from World War II, a young woman with a talent for forgery helps hundreds of Jewish children flee the Nazis in this unforgettable historical novel from the international bestselling author of the “epic and heart-wrenching World War II tale�� (Alyson Noel, #1 New York Times bestselling author) The Winemaker’s Wife.

Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books one morning when her eyes lock on a photograph in a magazine lying open nearby. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in sixty-five years—a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named Rémy, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and Rémy disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.]]> 396 Kristin Harmel 1982131918 Jennifer 5 4.58 2020
author: Kristin Harmel
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
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]]> 209771513 On the Galápagos Islands, the lives of two women—a century apart—converge in the most startling ways in a historical novel of desperate love, secrets, and deception by the author of My Last Continent.

After ten years away to build a family, Mallory returns to Floreana Island in the Galápagos, and to Gavin, the mentor with whom she had a long-ago affair. Their project is to build nests to revive the vulnerable penguin population. But Mallory doesn’t dare tell Gavin why she’s really come back. Then she discovers old journals hidden in a lava cave—confessions of another woman who needed to disappear.

In 1929, Dore Strauch left the life she knew to create a new one with the man she loved. On remote Floreana they’re beholden to no one but each other. Until the arrival of strangers, settlers in their paradise. Suddenly, Dore realizes that it’s no longer the refuge she imagined. And that amid the island’s fragile beauty, people can do the most terrible things.

A gripping reimagining of a true story, Floreana intertwines the emotional journeys of two women bound by dark secrets, the want of escape, and the lengths to which they’ll go to find their place in the world.]]> 261 Midge Raymond 1662522827 Jennifer 2 3.96 2024
author: Midge Raymond
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
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]]> 220506847
A Christmas mission��

Mirren’s beloved great-aunt Violet is seriously ill. Her one Christmas wish is to be reunited with a long-lost hand-illustrated book from her childhood, a challenge Mirren gladly accepts to give Violet some much-needed festive cheer.

An enchanting journey��

With no sign of the cherished volume online, Mirren falls into the fascinating world of rare books. From London to snowy Hay-on-Wye and Edinburgh’s cobbled streets, she chases leads from bookshop to bookshop—and bumps into mysterious, charming Theo, who, unbeknownst to her, is searching for the same book for reasons of his own��

The start of a new chapter?

As the two join forces to track the book down before time runs out for Violet, will Mirren find her Christmas miracle—and maybe even a kiss under the mistletoe�� ?

For fans of Josie Silver, Jill Mansell and the Queen of Christmas herself, a snow-swept love story to warm even the coldest winter’s day.]]> 127 Jenny Colgan 1662522576 Jennifer 4 3.73 2024
author: Jenny Colgan
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/11
date added: 2024/12/11
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]]> 62060274 absorvem o que os rodeia, e ela tem a capacidade de o sentir.
Quando encontra dois belos volumes que parecem nunca ter sido publicados, a descoberta rapidamente se transforma em obsessão.
Cada um deles contém uma acusação marcante, e os seus autores, Hemi e Belle, recontam lados opostos de um romance trágico.
Determinada a descobrir a verdade por trás desta infeliz história de amor, Ashlyn embarca num mistério literário feito de traições aparentemente imperdoáveis. Quanto mais descobre sobre os dois
amantes, mais perto chega de encerrar finalmente a dramática história de amor �� e os capítulos inacabados da sua própria vida.
Uma história dentro de outra história, e com um toque de realismo mágico, O eco dos livros antigos é um romance inesquecível e perfeito para todos os apaixonados pelos livros.]]> 431 Barbara Davis 1542038154 Jennifer 5 4.27 2023
author: Barbara Davis
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
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]]> 62367212
Unless, of course, you're Miss Farthington, and you've found yourself being pursued by a man as charming as he is clever. In that case you have something very important to lose. Namely, your heart.]]> 84 Maggie Dallen Jennifer 0 3.94 2023
author: Maggie Dallen
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
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]]> 205631928 ‘Take the key, my pet. I can’t ever go back. The last letter I had from Ireland was clear about that. But one day you may need a safe haven, and it’s the one thing I can give you. Ireland is in your blood, it will keep you safe.��

When Grace arrives tired, tearful and rain-soaked in Roone Bay, the little Irish village where her grandmother Caitlin grew up, she is overwhelmed with longing for Caitlin’s safe, warm arms. The crumbling wreck of Caitlin’s once-beautiful childhood cottage �� whose key Grace was given on her wedding day as a secret refuge if she ever needed it �� is not the fresh start she’d hoped for. But with her young daughter Olivia to look after and a painful past to hide from, Grace has to stay strong. Plucking up the courage to ask for help from her kind new neighbours �� including quietly rugged carpenter Sean Murphy �� Grace gets to work making the house habitable. Soon the view of the deep emerald sea has her captivated, Olivia is blossoming, and Sean makes her laugh in a way she’d forgotten she could�� As she learns more about her family history, with Sean by her side, Grace’s curiosity unearths only further mystery. What drove Caitlin away from Ireland, never to return? But when Grace uncovers a long-lost letter to Caitlin that reveals the heartbreaking truth, she is suddenly threatened by her own devastating secrets. Grace may have finally found a home for her little family. But when faced with everything she ran from, will the past tear her apart once more? Or will Grace find the strength to stand up for her daughter, her love for Sean, and her new life in Ireland?

This utterly heartbreaking, completely life-affirming story of a family secret that echoes down the generations is perfect for fans of Susanne O’Leary and Tricia O’Malley.]]> 294 Daisy O'Shea 1835250777 Jennifer 3 4.39
author: Daisy O'Shea
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/11
date added: 2024/11/11
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]]> 216326582 The sweeping hills and emerald hedgerows seem to dance in the pale Irish sun. Home after far too long, Ginny takes a deep breath and tries to shake off the past. She’s hidden the truth for years. And when Ruari looks at her, his long lashes shading his green eyes, she knows she can’t reveal it now. Her secret would destroy him, as much as it would her��

When Ginny Kingston returns to Ireland’s windswept Roone Bay after ten years of self-imposed exile, the last person she wants to run into is black-haired Ruari Savage. But there he is, glowering at her from the back of the tiny church hall, as she holds the townsfolk spell-bound throughout her lecture on Irish history.

The Kingstons and the Savages have been neighbours, farmers and bitter rivals for as long as anyone can remember. But, finally drawn home by work, Ginny is determined to discover the truth behind their family feud. And what happened to the first young lovers who tried to mend the rift over fifty years ago. For some strange reason, mechanic Ruari with his practical mind and strong hands, has offered to help��

Ruari’s aid, however, comes at a the truth about why Ginny herself left so suddenly. What he doesn’t know is that Ginny’s devastating secret might destroy their families�� new-found peace �� and any chance of happiness they have with each other �� forever��

Can Ginny and Ruari work together to heal old wounds? And will the secrets that have divided their families for generations ever come to light �� or tear them all apart?

This utterly gripping, heart-breaking, and transporting story of two Irish families finding forgiveness is perfect for fans of Susanne O’Leary, Kathleen McGurl and Tricia O’Malley.

What readers say about Daisy O��

��OMG! OMG!!�� Beautiful�� Absolutely gorgeous!!!�� Swept me away from the beginning to the end!!!�� I devoured it in one sitting!!!�� Gorgeous, heart-warming�� Clear your schedules and grab the tissues�� Stunning.�� Bookworm86, ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��The magic of Ireland!... Wonderful�� Will keep you enthralled to the last page.�� ŷ������ reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��Stunning�� Truly carried my heart away to Ireland�� It was an emotional journey I won’t forget and yes, I closed the book with a ‘sigh of satisfaction!’�� 5 stars�� I absolutely adored this novel.�� Cindy L. Spear, ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��This story has everything �� mystery, intrigue, true love, family, the kindness of strangers and hope�� An absolutely wonderful story that I look forward to recommending to my friends.�� NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��Beautiful�� I was totally immersed in this lovely, emotional read and a family's Irish legacy�� Just perfect.]]> 302 Daisy O'Shea 1835250815 Jennifer 3 4.52
author: Daisy O'Shea
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.52
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/11
date added: 2024/11/11
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]]> 212033926
When Boston-born Erin arrives in wind-tossed Roone Bay, she’s heart-sore, tired and lonely. Her marriage is over: she’s come to build a new life for herself on Ireland’s rugged southern coast. And to unravel the story behind the mysterious note in her family’s ancient Bible that has haunted her since childhood. But hazel-eyed former lifeboat volunteer Finn, the only local historian around, quietly refuses her pleas to help.

So Erin settles in to the town, with its whitewashed cottages and ruddy-cheeked fishermen, and begins her quest alone. Who was her ancestor, Nellie, and why did she leave Ireland for America? What happened to her missing child, Annie, and did Nellie ever see her again?

Just as Erin despairs ever uncovering the truth, one rain-soaked night she is rescued by Finn, who finally agrees to help. And by firelight and candlelight each evening, just as it would have been in her great-grandmother’s time, Finn and Erin grow closer as they share their stories.

But just as Erin wonders if Roone Bay could be her forever home, she makes a devastating discovery. Will she be able to face the truth, which changes everything she thought she knew about herself, her past, and her family’s Irish legacy? Or will she run, just as Nellie did all those years ago, and lose the best chance at happiness she’s ever had��?

This gorgeous, heart-breaking, totally immersive story of an Irish family’s legacy is perfect for fans of Susanne O’Leary, Kathleen McGurl and Tricia O’Malley.]]> 312 Daisy O'Shea 1835250793 Jennifer 3 4.45
author: Daisy O'Shea
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/10
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]]> 209345288
For years, Garrett Lark’s life centered around his own selfish interests. Cynicism fueled his departure off the straight and narrow into prodigal living. Then he met Martha, and the woman no one expected him to choose was the only one who motivated him to change. Now a successful hotel proprietor, he’s ready to declare his intentions and settle down.

When Martha appears on his doorstep begging for help he can’t provide, he seeks out an old friend at Sterling’s Theatrical, a wholesome family circus with a backstage more sinister than San Francisco’s lawless underbelly. Faced with the fire of past mistakes, the life he used to love could now cost him the love of his life.]]> 349 Kelsey Gietl Jennifer 3 4.75
author: Kelsey Gietl
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.75
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves:
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]]> 8496235
Declared “an incomparable expert at his game�� by The New York Times, Alan Furst outdoes even his own finest novels in this thrilling new book. With extraordinary authenticity, a superb cast of characters, and heart-stopping tension as it moves from Salonika to Paris to Berlin and back, Spies of the Balkans is a stunning novel about a man who risks everything to right—in many small ways—the world’s evil. From the Hardcover edition.]]> 288 Alan Furst 0679603700 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.16 2010
author: Alan Furst
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 5044387 Anna Karenina, Constance Garnett
The Cossacks, A Tale of 1852, Louise and Aylmer Maude
The Death of Ivan Ilych, Louise and Aylmer Maude
Hadji Murad, Louise and Aylmer Maude
Master and Man, Louise and Aylmer Maude
The Kreutzer Sonata, Benjamin R. Tucker
Resurrection; or, The Awakening, Louise Maude
War and Peace, Louise and Aylmer Maude
Childhood, C. J. Hogarth
Boyhood, C. J. Hogarth
Youth, C. J. Hogarth
Dramatic
The Cause of it All, Louise and Aylmer Maude
Fruits of Culture, Arthur Hopkins
Redemption, also known as The Man who was Dead, or, Reparation, or The Living Corpse, Arthur Hopkins
The Power of Darkness, Arthur Hopkins
The First Distiller
The Light Shines in Darkness, Louise and Aylmer Maude
Autobiographical
A Confession
A History of Yesterday, George Kline
Last Will and Testament
First Recollections

Albert, Louise and Aylmer Maude
The Candle, Benjamin R. Tucker
The Devil, Louise and Aylmer Maude
Fables for Children, Leo Wiener
Father Sergius, Louise and Aylmer Maude
The Godfather
The Great Bear, Rochelle S. Townsend
Katia also translated as Family Happiness
A Lost Opportunity, Benjamin R. Tucker
The Lot of a Wicked Court Servant
The Porcelain Doll
Recollections of a Billiard-marker, Nathan Haskell Dole
the Story of a Horse, Louise and Aylmer Maude
Three Parables, Nathan Haskell Dole
Two Hussars, Louise and Aylmer Maude
The Forged Coupon and Other Stories
- The Forged Coupon
- After The Dance
- Alyosha The Pot
- My Dream
- There Are No Guilty People
- The Young Tsar
Twenty-Three Tales ( Louise and Aylmer Maude) :
- God Sees the Truth, But Waits
- The Prisoner of the Caucasus
- The Bear Hunt
- What Men Live By
- A Spark Neglected Burns the House
- Two Old Men
- Where Love is, There God is Also
- Ivan The Fool
- Evil Allures, But Good Endures
- Little Girls Wiser Than Men; or, Wisdom of Children
- Ilyás
- The Three Hermits
- The Imp and the Crust
- How Much Land Does a Man Need?
- A Grain As Big As A Hen's Egg
- The Godson
- The Repentant Sinner
- The Empty Drum
- The Coffee-House of Surat
- Too Dear!
- Esarhaddon, King of Assyria
- Work, Death, and Sickness
- Three Questions

Bethink Yourselves!, V. Tchertkoff
Church and State, Nathan Haskell Dole
A Comparison of America and Europe, Louise and Aylmer Maude
The First Step, Louise and Aylmer Maude
The Gospel In Brief, Louise and Aylmer Maude
A Great Iniquity
The Kingdom of God Is Within You, Constance Garnett
Last Message to Mankind
A Letter to a Hindu
A Letter to Russian Liberals
The Moscow Census, Isabel F. Hapgood
My Religion, Huntington Smith
On Labor and Luxury, Isabel F. Hapgood
On the Significance of Science and Art, Isabel F. Hapgood
Patriotism and Government
The Slavery of Our Times
A Talk among Leisured People, Louise and Aylmer Maude
Thoughts Evoked by the Census of Moscow, Isabel F. Hapgood
Thou Shalt Not Kill
To the Tsar and His Assistants
To Women, Isabel F. Hapgood
To The Working People, Dana Estes
Walk in the Light While There Is Light
What I Believe, Constantine Popoff
What to Do?, Isabel F. Hapgood
What the Orthodox Religion Really Is
Why Do Men Stupefy Themselves, Aylmer Maud]]> 0 Leo Tolstoy 1605011568 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.45 1928
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.45
book published: 1928
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 3181564
She is an astute young Housekeeper, with a ten-year-old son, who is hired to care for him.

And every morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to each other anew, a strange and beautiful relationship blossoms between them. Though he cannot hold memories for long (his brain is like a tape that begins to erase itself every eighty minutes), the Professor’s mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past. And the numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her young son. The Professor is capable of discovering connections between the simplest of quantities--like the Housekeeper’s shoe size--and the universe at large, drawing their lives ever closer and more profoundly together, even as his memory slips away.

The Housekeeper and the Professor is an enchanting story about what it means to live in the present, and about the curious equations that can create a family.]]> 180 Yōko Ogawa 0312427808 Jennifer 0 4.04 2003
author: Yōko Ogawa
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 25566132
But when Bryony is caught in a snowstorm and takes refuge in an abandoned manor, she stumbles into a house full of dark enchantments. Is the Beast that lives there her captor, or a fellow prisoner? Is the house her enemy or her ally? And why are roses blooming out of season in the courtyard?

Armed only with gardening shears and her wits, Bryony must untangle the secrets of the house before she—or the Beast—are swallowed by them.
]]> 224 T. Kingfisher Jennifer 4 4.07 2015
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 81413808
Zoe always knew this day would come. After all, no one can live for ever. She may not be ready, but Zoe knows the importance of goodbye - and how much it hurts when left unsaid - so it's time to return to her grandmother's home in Italy one last time. Even if that means deceiving her mum, Ange.

Harriet doesn't know where she fits anymore. It's not in Cornwall with the new family her mum is building, and it's certainly not in the job she hates. The trip to Italy may not be the adventure Zoe and Harriet promised themselves, but Harriet is simply not being left behind.

Ange was doing fine. Well, she was coping. Like she has been for the past fourteen years because her daughter needed her. But since her mother's death, nothing has felt fine. Even her relationship with Zoe is cracking at the seams.

Then, the last person any of them expects to see suddenly turns up, and soon it seems the only way to move forward is to revisit the past . . .

Explore the sun-drenched Italian countryside in this hilarious and heart-warming novel about unconditional love, second chances and the importance of not taking life for granted.

'I wish I could read it for the first time all over again. The relationships between all the characters were so wonderful . . . everyone needs an Aunt Fanny in their lives!'
HOLLY McCULLOCH

'A beautiful, feel-good read with a charming cast of characters, idyllic locations and plenty of humour counterbalanced brilliantly with some thoughtful themes. I absolutely loved it'
DONNA ASHCROFT

'I read the brilliant Three Nights In Italy in two days, unable to put it down. And I'm now going back to reread Olivia's previous books because I can't let go...'
LUCY VINE

' Three Nights In Italy is tender, timely and deeply touching - you can feel the warmth of the sun on every single page . . . brilliantly funny and filled with love'
DAISY BUCHANAN

'A beautiful story about changing your life and taking chances. It had me wanting to hop on a plane to Italy immediately! Highly recommend!'
LORRAINE BROWN

'A charming feel-good book that you won't be able to put down. Olivia once again wins you over with her beautifully real and raw characters whose lives you can't help but get invested in! Loved it'
EMILY HOUGHTON

'It was such a fun, pacy read full of colourful characters that will stay with me beyond the page. A story of second chances and taking risks filled with warmth and humour - I loved it'
CAROLINE KHOURY

'Beirne consistently writes women and their complex, often messy, but tender relationships beautifully'
PERNILLE HUGHES]]> 0 Olivia Beirne Jennifer 2 4.05
author: Olivia Beirne
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
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]]> 25935854
Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding. Upon arrival, she discovers that not only was her betrothed married six times before, but his previous wives are all imprisoned in his enchanted castle. Determined not to share their same fate, Rhea asserts her desire for freedom. In answer, Lord Crevan gives Rhea a series of magical tasks to complete, with the threat “Come back before dawn, or else I’ll marry you.��

With time running out and each task more dangerous and bizarre than the last, Rhea must use her resourcefulness, compassion, and bravery to rally the other wives and defeat the sorcerer before he binds her to him forever.

Revised edition: This edition of The Seventh Bride includes editorial revisions.]]> 237 T. Kingfisher 150394767X Jennifer 3 3.94 2014
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 214128304
Isabel, the long-lost Gibson sister, is finally back home on Brinkley’s Island, Maine. With Sophie and Violet, her sister and her niece, she’s got the family bookstore—and with Johnny Lenox, she’s got something even more special.

But even as life settles, not everything is falling into place. Isabel and Johnny have set the date three times, baked three wedding cakes, invited the whole island to three parties, only to have each attempt at matrimony fall apart at the last minute. Disasters seem to be conspiring against their happy ending, and Isabel is starting to wonder if their love is meant to be.

When family history comes back to haunt the Gibson sisters, Isabel knows that if she wants to make it down the aisle with Johnny, first she and Sophie will have to face the pain of their past and their present, and decide what it means for their future.]]> 39 Alice Hoffman 1662522037 Jennifer 3 3.93 2024
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/06
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves:
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]]> 61286677 In this sequel novella to Sorcery of Thorns, Elisabeth, Nathaniel, and Silas must unravel the magical trap keeping them inside Thorn Manor in time for their Midwinter Ball!

Elisabeth Scrivener is finally settling into her new life with sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn. Now that their demon companion Silas has returned, so has scrutiny from nosy reporters hungry for gossip about the city's most powerful sorcerer and the librarian who stole his heart. But something strange is afoot at Thorn Manor: the estate's wards, which are meant to keep their home safe, are acting up and forcibly trapping the Manor's occupants inside. Surely it must be a coincidence that this happened just as Nathaniel and Elisabeth started getting closer to one another...

With no access to the outside world, Elisabeth, Nathaniel, and Silas - along with their new maid Mercy - will have to work together to discover the source of the magic behind the malfunctioning wards before they're due to host the city's Midwinter Ball. Not an easy task when the house is filled with unexpected secrets, and all Elisabeth can think about is kissing Nathaniel in peace. But when it becomes clear that the house, influenced by the magic of Nathaniel's ancestors, requires a price for its obedience, Elisabeth and Nathaniel will have to lean on their connection like never before to set things right.]]> 188 Margaret Rogerson Jennifer 4 4.15 2023
author: Margaret Rogerson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/06
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 41424
Beauty has never liked her nickname. She is thin and awkward; it is her two sisters who are the beautiful ones. But what she lacks in looks, she can perhaps make up for in courage.

When her father comes home with the tale of an enchanted castle in the forest and the terrible promise he had to make to the Beast who lives there, Beauty knows she must go to the castle, a prisoner of her own free will. Her father protests that he will not let her go, but she answers, "Cannot a Beast be tamed?"

Robin McKinley's beloved telling illuminates the unusual love story of a most unlikely couple, Beauty and the Beast.]]> 256 Robin McKinley 0064404773 Jennifer 5 4.05 1978
author: Robin McKinley
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1978
rating: 5
read at: 2014/09/25
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: fairy-tale, literature-new-old, youth-ya
review:
This is another read-aloud, this time with my daughter. I am having so much fun sharing some of my favorite books with her. One of the reasons I love this version of Beauty and the Beast is the down-to-earth practicality of the Beauty in this story. As a tween/teen I related to her way more than any of the Disney princesses.
]]> 207974153 48 Brandon Sanderson 1250843669 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.91 2024
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 56179343
The Stormlight Archive saga continues in Rhythm of War , the eagerly awaited sequel to Brandon Sanderson's #1 New York Times bestselling Oathbringer , from an epic fantasy writer at the top of his game.

After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage, and the threat of a betrayal by Dalinar’s crafty ally Taravangian looms over every strategic move.

Now, as new technological discoveries by Navani Kholin’s scholars begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.

At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition’s envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.

Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson

The Cosmere

The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Novella)
Oathbringer
Rhythm of War

The Mistborn trilogy
The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages

The Wax and Wayne series
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning

Collection
Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels
Elantris
Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
The Scrivener's Bones
The Knights of Crystallia
The Shattered Lens
The Dark Talent

The Rithmatist series
The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson

The Reckoners
Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity]]> 1231 Brandon Sanderson 1250757304 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.63 2020
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62325720 Based on the true story of the Cook sisters, who smuggled valuables out of 1930s Nazi Germany to finance a daring, secret operation to help Jews find hope for a new life in England.

British sisters Ida and Louise Cook enjoy their quiet, unassuming lives in south London. Ida writes romance novels, and Louise works as a secretary. In the evenings, the sisters indulge in their shared love for opera, saving their money to buy records and attend performances throughout England and Europe, becoming well-known by both performers and fellow opera lovers.

But when Hitler seizes power in 1933, he begins targeting and persecuting German Jews, passing laws that restrict their rights and their lives. The sisters continue their trips to the German opera houses, but soon, Jewish members of the opera community covertly approach the sisters, worried that they will be stripped of their wealth and forced to leave their homes and the country. Danger looms on the horizon, threatening to spill across all of Europe’s borders.

Ida and Louise vow to help, but how can two ordinary working-class women with limited means make a difference?

Together with their beloved opera community, the sisters devise a plan to personally escort Jewish refugees from Germany to England. The success of the plan hinges on Ida and Louise’s ability to smuggle contraband jewelry and furs beneath the watchful eyes of the SS soldiers guarding various checkpoints. But how many trips can they make before someone blows a whistle? Or before the final curtain falls on Germany’s borders?

The Opera Sisters is a riveting and inspiring novel of two unlikely heroines whose courage and compassion gave hope to many Jews desperate to escape Nazi persecution.]]> 395 Marianne Monson 1649331185 Jennifer 3 4.27
author: Marianne Monson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 201367834 She thought she knew her best friend…She was wrong.

The weatherworn cottage Clachan has always been Jo Wilding’s sanctuary, a blissful escape from her tumultuous home life. From the first summer Rachel invited her to join the Willoughby family in the wilds of Scotland, she fell in love with the sea air, sandy beach and Tristan, Rachel’s older brother��

All these years later, Clachan is where their most important occasions and conversations take place, so when Rachel organises a weekend there, Jo never suspects that this weekend will change everything. Because it turns out Rachel has been keeping a secret, a betrayal that plunges Jo into a past she’s spent years trying to forget.

Left to untangle the pieces of their past alone, Jo has to decide if there is such a thing as forgiveness when there is no one left to forgive?]]> 332 Anstey Harris Jennifer 3 4.03 2024
author: Anstey Harris
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 54479 252 Jules Verne 014044906X Jennifer 4 3.95 1872
author: Jules Verne
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1872
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 795034 To Green Angel Tower is the momentous tour-de-force finale of a ground-breaking series. Replete with war, deception, adventure, sorcery, and romance, To Green Angel Tower brings to a stunning and surprising conclusion Tad Williams' monumental tale of a magical conflict which fractures the very fabric of time and space, turning both humans and Sithi against those of their own blood.

As the evil minions of the undead Sithi Storm King prepare for the kingdom-shattering culmination of their dark sorceries and King Elias is drawn ever deeper into their nightmarish, spell-spun world, the loyal allies of Prince Josua desperately struggle to rally their forces at The Stone of Farewell. And with time running out, the remaining members of the now-devastated League of the Scroll have also gathered there to unravel mysteries from the forgotten past. For if the League can reclaim these age-old secrets of magic long-buried beneath the dusts of time, they may be able to reveal to Josua and his army the only means of striking down the unslayable foe.

But whether or not the League is successful in its quest, the call of battle will lead the valiant followers of Josua Lackhand across storm tossed seas brimming with bloodthirsty kilpa...through forests swarming with those both mind- and soul-lost... through ancient caverns built by legendary Dwarrows...to the haunted halls of Asu'a itself—the Sithi's greatest stronghold!]]> 815 Tad Williams 0886775981 Jennifer 4 fairy-tale, sci-fi-fantasy Good quest/adventure story 4.21 1993
author: Tad Williams
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2017/04/16
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: fairy-tale, sci-fi-fantasy
review:
Good quest/adventure story
]]> 7157547
Shetland Detective Jimmy Perez knows it will be a difficult homecoming when he returns to the Fair Isles to introduce his fiancée, Fran, to his parents. It’s a community where everyone knows each other, and strangers, while welcomed, are still viewed with a degree of mistrust.

Challenging to live on at the best of times, with the autumn storms raging, the island feels cut off from the rest of the world. Trapped, tension is high and tempers become frayed. Enough to drive someone to murder...

When a woman’s body is discovered at the renowned Fair Isles bird observatory, with feathers threaded through her hair, the islanders react with fear and anger. With no support from the mainland and only Fran to help him, Jimmy has to investigate the old-fashioned way. He soon realizes that this is no crime of passion—but a murder of cold and calculated intention.

With no way off the island until the storms abate, Jimmy knows he has to work quickly. There’s a killer on the island just waiting for the opportunity to strike again.]]> 368 Ann Cleeves 0230746659 Jennifer 4 mystery ]]> 4.03 2010
author: Ann Cleeves
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2012/11/04
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: mystery
review:
I AM SO FRUSTRATED! And I don't really want to talk about it. I really wish I hadn't read the end of this book. I am almost as upset as when Louise Penny sent Olivier to prison...ARGH!

]]> 545936 330 Lloyd C. Douglas 0395957745 Jennifer 5 3.84
author: Lloyd C. Douglas
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.84
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 46216736 Comforted by the gentle hum of the beehives at the bottom of the garden, Grace drains the last of her tea and walks slowly back towards the little hillside house she adores. Her marriage is over, but is it too late to start her life again?

Beekeeper Grace thought throwing out her cheating husband would be the hardest thing she ever did. But when she opens the door to a property developer one morning, it’s clear that keeping the beautiful home and garden �� her only sanctuary throughout her miserable marriage �� will be the greatest challenge of all��

Fleeing to her best friend at the flower farm next door, Grace blurts out all her problems, only to be overheard by Amos, a handsome, free-spirited visitor in bright red Doc Martens. Fascinated by Grace and her bees, Amos offers to stay in the village of Hope Corner, to help turn her home into a guest house in return for lessons on beekeeping.

As Grace shows Amos how to nurture a hive and harvest honeycomb without getting stung, he is charming but secretive. He never stays long in the same place after an incident in his past involving a mysterious woman named Maria. But as their eyes lock over a jar of homemade honey, Grace can’t help feeling that she’d really like him to stay��

Determined to dispel her growing suspicion that Amos is running from something serious, Grace goes in search of the truth about Maria. But when she finds it, will she still want Amos to put down roots in Hope Corner, and will they still have a house to return to? ]]> 286 Emma Davies 1786818442 Jennifer 4 4.11 2019
author: Emma Davies
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/05
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 198094740 395 Joan M. Griffin Jennifer 5 4.39 2023
author: Joan M. Griffin
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 202262337 An ancient machine holds the secrets of a distant world’s past for two intimate strangers in the latest romantic fantasy adventure by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.

Pell is an engineer and digger by trade—unearthing and repairing the fascinating artifacts left behind by the mysterious Ancients who once inhabited the sunbaked planet of Tampere. She’ll do anything to help the people of her village survive and to better understand the secrets of what came before.

Heartwood and Moseus are keepers of a forbidding tower near the village of Emgarden. Inside are the remnants of complex machines the likes of which Pell has never seen. Considering her affinity for Ancient tech, the keepers know Pell is their only hope of putting the pieces of these metal puzzles together and getting them running. The tower’s other riddle is Heartwood himself. He is an enigma, distant yet protective, to whom Pell is inexplicably drawn.

Pell’s restoration of this broken behemoth soon brings disturbing visions—and the discovery that her relationship to it could finally reveal the origins of the towers�� strange keepers and the unfathomable reason the truth has been hidden from her.]]> 299 Charlie N. Holmberg 1662516797 Jennifer 3 4.01 2024
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/05
date added: 2024/07/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 205395453 The ocean between them isn’t the only thing keeping them apart.Thanks to the machinations of the evil pirate and marauder, Uriah Smith, and Azazel’s cold-hearted leader, Lord Janus Auberon, an ocean now separates Sela from her beloved Caleb. When the unthinkable occurs, she despairs of life itself, until an act of unexpected kindness allows her to escape her captors.

Sela finds an unexpected ally in Prince Magnus Theodorus, who arrives on the island with a strange that his real identity not be revealed. Finding hope and healing along with the other members of the Remenant, Sela finally comes face to face with the Carver of Souls, learning the truth about the order of the Righteous, the lot, and Azazel itself.

Meanwhile, having been betrayed by the one person he thought he could always trust, Caleb fights desperately to get back to the one place to which he never expected to return. Struggling to forgive his brother for sins past and present, Caleb confronts the ugliness of Tucker’s—and his own—soul. When he is at last reunited with Sela, he fights to reclaim a bond she fears is lost.

Just when all seems restored, Caleb is offered a surprising a chance to take back what once belonged to him. What will Caleb choose? And what will his choice mean for those around him—not only for the brother who betrayed him, but the woman he loves and the newfound faith that means more to him than life itself?]]> 379 J.J. Fischer Jennifer 3 4.63
author: J.J. Fischer
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.63
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/18
date added: 2024/06/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 74803889 A mysterious manor house hides the keys to shocking family secrets—and rapidly fading portals to other worlds—in the richly woven opener to bestselling author Sarah Arthur’s young adult fantasy series.

“A fresh, delightful new tale for our wonder-hungry era.”—National Book Award nominee Mitali Perkins

When fourteen-year-old American Eva Joyce unexpectedly finds herself spending the summer at the mysterious manor house of the English grandmother she’s never met, she soon discovers that her family, the manor staff, and even the house itself are hiding secrets.

With odd things happening in the gardens at night, Eva embarks on a search for answers. Astonishingly, she learns that the Hall’s staff believe portals to other worlds exist—though hidden and steadily disappearing—and that Eva’s grandmother was once a queen in one of those worlds. But her grandmother’s heart is closed to the beauty and pain of the past. Now it’s up to Eva to discover what really happened—and to decide if it’s possible that her favorite childhood fairy tales are true. As she starts unraveling the dangerous secrets around the grandmother who is more than she appears, Eva begins to wonder if she, too, is more than she understood herself to be.]]> 386 Sarah Arthur 0593194462 Jennifer 4 3.94 2024
author: Sarah Arthur
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 20436958 In this classic adventure from Newbery Medalist Susan Cooper, two strangers embark on a quest for the sea that’s filled with mystery, fantasy, and danger.His name is West. Her name is Cally. They speak different languages and come from different countries thousands of miles apart, but they do not know that. What they do know are the tragedies that took their parents, then wrenched the two of them out of reality and into a strange and perilous world through which they must travel together, understanding only that they must reach the sea. Together, West and Cally embark upon a strange and sometimes terrifying quest, learning to survive and to love—and, at last, discovering the true secret of their journey.]]> 241 Susan Cooper Jennifer 4 4.16 1983
author: Susan Cooper
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/26
date added: 2024/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 86032590 From the bestselling author of Beyond the Moonlit Sea comes an atmospheric tale of how one woman’s search for the truth uncovers long-hidden secrets and rocks the very foundation of her world.

Scarlett Fontaine is a true Hollywood legend—a singer, actress, and beloved fashion icon. But Scarlett dies tragically at just thirty-six years old, leaving behind no children. Or so the story goes��

Gwen Hollingsworth is the curator at a museum dedicated to Scarlett’s life. She’s also sole heir to Scarlett’s fortune as a descendant of the star. But all is not well in Gwen’s world. She’s dealing with a messy marital separation and is struggling to move forward. So when Peter Miller, a biographer and photojournalist, comes to the museum with shocking claims about Scarlett—a life of exile in Alaska, a baby born in secret—Gwen’s whole world is turned upside down.Again.

Determined to uncover the truth, Gwen and Peter set out for Alaska together but soon find themselves on a path toward something far deeper and more meaningful than either of them ever expected.

A Storm of Infinite Beauty takes readers on a breathtaking journey from a lush vineyard in Nova Scotia to a rustic lodge in Alaska where old family secrets are revealed and the quest for true happiness begins.]]> 292 Julianne MacLean 1542036739 Jennifer 3 4.30 2023
author: Julianne MacLean
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/03
date added: 2024/05/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 200591165 The search for happiness turns a woman’s life upside down in a warm, quirky, and bighearted novel about the joys and chaos of finding love by the bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners.

After too many dates, thirtysomething Mimi Perkins is still single, unmoored, and longing for love. So when Ren Yardley—a handsome, divorced fellow drama teacher and single father—falls in love with her and proposes, she’s sure this is at last the good news her psychic predicted.

Soon after proposing, Ren receives the devastating news that his ex-wife has been in a debilitating car accident, prompting him to temporarily move back into his former home to care for her and his daughters. The unfailingly loyal Ren also wants to keep Mimi close, so she packs up her life in New York City and follows him to New Haven, Connecticut. There, she finds a job and unexpected community at a quirky local daycare. But as time goes by, it begins to seem that Ren and his estranged family might be slowly reuniting, and Mimi has to figure out what she’s willing to fight for and what she needs to let go of.

One thing is for she would have never guessed that her psychic was right after all. Life’s twists, turns, and disasters just might lead her to unexpected happiness.]]> 347 Maddie Dawson 1662515472 Jennifer 3 4.03 2024
author: Maddie Dawson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 59349618
Leo Grady knew mirages were a thing in the desert, but they’d barely left civilization when the silhouette of his greatest regret comes into focus in the flickering light of the campfire. Ready to leave the past behind him, Leo wants nothing more than to reconnect with his first and only love. Unfortunately, Lily Wilder is all business, drawing a clear line in the sand: it’s never going to happen.

But when the trip goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the group wonders if maybe the legend of the hidden treasure wasn’t a gimmick after all. There’s a chance to right the wrongs—of Duke’s past and their own—but only if Leo and Lily can confront their history and work together. Alone under the stars in the isolated and dangerous mazes of the Canyonlands, Leo and Lily must decide whether they’ll risk their lives and hearts on the treasure hunt of a lifetime.]]> 379 Christina Lauren Jennifer 1 3.79 2022
author: Christina Lauren
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 1
read at: 2024/04/18
date added: 2024/04/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 222576
With the final battle between the Light and the Dark soon approaching, Will sets out on a quest to call for aid. Hidden within the Welsh hills is a magical harp that he must use to wake the Sleepers - six noble riders who have slept for centuries.

But an illness has robbed Will of nearly all his knowledge of the Old Ones, and he is left only with a broken riddle to guide him in his task. As Will travels blindly through the hills, his journey will bring him face-to-face with the most powerful Lord of the Dark - the Grey King. The King holds the harp and Sleepers within his lands, and there has yet to be a force strong enough to tear them from his grasp...]]> 165 Susan Cooper 1416949674 Jennifer 5 4.16 1975
author: Susan Cooper
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at: 2013/03/03
date added: 2024/04/14
shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, youth-ya, mine
review:
My favorite of Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series. I love the setting, the bits of Welsh, the mythology. Great read.
]]> 24963 147 Susan Cooper 0689840349 Jennifer 5 sci-fi-fantasy 4.00 1974
author: Susan Cooper
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1974
rating: 5
read at: 1983/01/01
date added: 2024/04/14
shelves: sci-fi-fantasy
review:

]]> 210329 This night will be bad and tomorrow will be beyond imagining.

It's Midwinter's Eve, the day before Will's eleventh birthday. But there is an atmosphere of fear in the familiar countryside around him. This will be a birthday like no other. Will discovers that he has the power of the Old Ones, and that he must embark on a quest to vanquish the terrifyingly evil magic of the Dark.

The second novel in Susan Cooper's highly acclaimed Dark is Rising sequence.]]> 244 Susan Cooper 1416949658 Jennifer 5 4.04 1973
author: Susan Cooper
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1973
rating: 5
read at: 2013/01/28
date added: 2024/04/11
shelves: sci-fi-fantasy, mine, youth-ya
review:
This Newbery Honor book is one of my long-time favorites. It's set in England and is about the battle between good and evil and the people who fight it. A great mix of mythology and fantasy and a fun read.
]]> 13321000 Three siblings embark on an epic quest for a mythic grail in this first installment of Susan Cooper’s epic and award-winning The Dark Is Rising Sequence, now with a brand-new look!

All through time, the two great forces of Light and Dark have battled for control of the world. Now, after centuries of balance, the Dark is summoning its terrifying forces to rise once more…and three children find themselves caught in the conflict.

The Drew siblings—Simon, Jane, and Barney—are on a family holiday in Cornwall when they discover an ancient map in the attic of the house they are sharing with their Great Uncle Merry. They know immediately that the map is special but have no way of knowing how much. For the map leads to a a vital weapon for the Light’s fight against evil. In taking on the quest to find the grail, the Drews will have to race against the sinister human beings who serve the dreadful power of the dark—an adventure that puts their own lives in grave peril.]]> 260 Susan Cooper 144245895X Jennifer 5 3.99 1965
author: Susan Cooper
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1965
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/07
date added: 2024/04/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 125373512
Merritt Fernsby’s life has changed considerably since he inherited Whimbrel House. He’s engaged to Hulda Larkin, who opened his eyes to the uncanny. And he’s grown quite protective of his uncle Owein—several generations, and iterations, removed. Owein is presently inhabiting the body of a mixed-breed terrier when Merritt receives a missive from none other than Alexandrina Victoria, the Queen of England: I am interested in your dog.

It’s the queen’s duty to the peerage to keep British wizardry empowered. Her offer: England will find a human vessel for Owein, marry him into the royal family, and add this remarkable soul-shifter to its lineage. For Owein, a boy trapped in the body of a pup, it’s a dream come true. How can Merritt refuse? However, once they are in London and in consortium with a necromancer, the situation doesn’t feel right, both with their hosts and the house they inhabit. Owein is having nightmares. And Hulda’s premonitions warn of danger in Merritt’s future. Clearly, someone doesn’t want them in town.

But after two hundred years of being cursed to drift, Owein is determined to chart his own destiny. He’s ready to defy whatever chaos is coming. After all, Owein is the master of chaos, and with Merritt and Hulda’s love and magical support, he can overcome anything.]]> 299 Charlie N. Holmberg 1662508727 Jennifer 3 4.31 2024
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/06
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 196602272 Before Logan Barnes was hockey’s hottest bad boy, he was my brother’s best friend �� and my first crush. Oh, yeah—and the guy who ghosted me and broke my teenage heart.

Now Logan is back in Harvest Hollow, but not willingly. Recovering from an injury (and some bad press), he’s stuck playing for our minor league team.

Which means I’ll be working with him almost daily.

As the hockey team's social media manager, it’s my job to wrangle all the guys into filming TikTok trending videos. But Logan doesn’t want to be wrangled.

Turns out �� neither does my heart.

Because my old crush never died.

And when Logan becomes my accidental fake boyfriend, those old feelings flare hot enough to melt the ice.

But this is all totally one-sided. Totally fake. Isn't it?

No matter what signals he seems to be giving me or how real things start to feel, I know Logan’s not home for good.

I survived Logan leaving me once. But this time, I’m not so sure my heart will recover…]]> 334 Emma St. Clair Jennifer 3 3.95 2023
author: Emma St. Clair
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/31
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 63429926 From the New York Times–bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial new epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala and following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret.

The Covenant of Water is the long-awaited new novel by Abraham Verghese, the author of Cutting for Stone. Published in 2009, Cutting for Stone became a literary phenomenon, selling over 1.5 million copies in the United States alone and remaining on the New York Times bestseller list for over two years.

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on South India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. The family is part of a Christian community that traces itself to the time of the apostles, but times are shifting, and the matriarch of this family, known as Big Ammachi—literally “Big Mother”—will witness unthinkable changes at home and at large over the span of her extraordinary life. All of Verghese’s great gifts are on display in this new there are astonishing scenes of medical ingenuity, fantastic moments of humor, a surprising and deeply moving story, and characters imbued with the essence of life.

A shimmering evocation of a lost India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. It is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.]]> 802 Abraham Verghese Jennifer 5 4.58 2023
author: Abraham Verghese
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 17125 The only English translation authorized by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich stands as a classic of contemporary literature. The story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin's forced work camps, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the most extraordinary literary documents to have emerged from the Soviet Union and confirms Solzhenitsyn's stature as "a literary genius whose talent matches that of Dosotevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy"--Harrison Salisbury

This unexpurgated 1991 translation by H. T. Willetts is the only authorized edition available, and fully captures the power and beauty of the original Russian.]]> 182 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Jennifer 0 to-read 3.98 1962
author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 198332459 350 Abigail Shrier Jennifer 5 Being constantly focused on our feelings cripples us, and it cripples our kids. The Social-emotional learning being conducted in our schools is destabilizing our children and our families. Take back your families people. ]]> 3.98 2024
author: Abigail Shrier
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/10
date added: 2024/03/12
shelves:
review:
I highly recommend this book. Abigail Shrier does a fantastic job laying out real issues, that if we are being honest, all of us have noticed, and presenting well researched explanations and solutions. Having raised 3 children and on the first one having tried a variety of the problematic methods discussed in the book, with mostly poor results, I wholly agree with her assessment. Parents are the experts on their kids. The only people completely invested in their success. They should be the final word on what their kids need. (Please don’t get hung up on the outliers here. That’s not who is under discussion.)
Being constantly focused on our feelings cripples us, and it cripples our kids. The Social-emotional learning being conducted in our schools is destabilizing our children and our families. Take back your families people.
]]> 269894 A Simple Heart, also published as A Simple Soul.

In A Simple Heart, the poignant story that inspired Julian Barnes's Flaubert's Parrot, Felicite, a French housemaid, approaches a lifetime of servitude with human-scaled but angelic aplomb. No other author has imparted so much beauty and integrity to so modest an existence. Flaubert's "great saint" endures loss after loss by embracing the rich, true rhythms of life: the comfort of domesticity, the solace of the Church, and the depth of memory. This novella showcases Flaubert's perfectly honed realism: a delicate counterpoint of daily events with their psychological repercussions.]]> 68 Gustave Flaubert 0811213188 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.60 1877
author: Gustave Flaubert
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1877
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60396552 The fifth novel in the bestselling and award winning Graceling Realm series focuses on Hava, Queen Bitterblue's spy, and her harrowing journey back to Monsea after the events of 2021's Winterkeep.

In the immediate aftermath of the events of Winterkeep, Bitterblue and her entourage begin the journey back to Monsea with the only copies of the formulas for the zilphium weapon. Bitterblue must decide what she will do with her world-shaping power. But before they've even made it halfway home, storms drive their ship off course and then wrecking them in the ice far north of the Royal Continent. The survivors must make a harrowing trek across the ice in order to make it back to Monsea.

Seasparrow is told entirely from the point of view of Hava, Bitterblue's personal spy and secret half-sister. And while Bitterblue grapples with how to carry the responsibility of a weapon of mass destruction, Hava must decide what she will do with herself in the new world Bitterblue will make.]]> 624 Kristin Cashore 1984816683 Jennifer 3 4.25 2022
author: Kristin Cashore
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/18
date added: 2024/01/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 38890258 As Heard on NPR's This American  The New York Times bestselling book that celebrates ordinary delights in the world around us by one of America's most original and observant writers and the author of Inciting Joy, award-winning poet Ross Gay. Pre-order The Book of (More) Delights now, too!“Ross Gay’s eye lands upon wonder at every turn, bolstering my belief in the countless small miracles that surround us.�� —Tracy K. Smith, Pulitzer Prize winner and U.S. Poet Laureate The winner of the National Book Critics Award for Poetry offers up a spirited collection of short lyrical essays, written daily over a tumultuous year, reminding us of the purpose and pleasure of praising, extolling, and celebrating ordinary wonders. In The Book of Delights, one of today’s most original literary voices offers up a genre-defying volume of lyric essays written over one tumultuous year. The first nonfiction book from award-winning poet Ross Gay is a record of the small joys we often overlook in our busy lives. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical a friend’s unabashed use of air quotes, cradling a tomato seedling aboard an airplane, the silent nod of acknowledgment between the only two black people in a room. But Gay never dismisses the complexities, even the terrors, of living in America as a black man or the ecological and psychic violence of our consumer culture or the loss of those he loves. More than anything else, though, Gay celebrates the beauty of the natural world–his garden, the flowers peeking out of the sidewalk, the hypnotic movements of a praying mantis.The Book of Delights is about our shared bonds, and the rewards that come from a life closely observed. These remarkable pieces serve as a powerful and necessary reminder that we can, and should, stake out a space in our lives for delight.]]> 289 Ross Gay Jennifer 3 essays 4.09 2019
author: Ross Gay
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/06
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves: essays
review:
Some of the essays I liked, others not so much. Overall, thought provoking.
]]> 60916858
In her most provocative book yet, Dr. Naomi Wolf shows how these forces �� from Big Tech and Big Pharma to the CCP and our oligarchical elites �� seized upon two years of COVID-19 panic in sinister new ways, to not only undermine our Republic but to fundamentally reorient human relations.

Their target is humanity itself. Their end goal is to ensure that our pre-March 2020 world is gone forever. Irretrievable. To be replaced with a world in which all human endeavor-all human joy, all human fellowship, all human advancement, all human culture, all human song, all human drama, all worship, all surprise, all flirtation, all celebration-is behind a digital paywall. A world in which we will all have to ask technology's permission to be human.

But we, the people of the world, did not vote to abandon our old systems and destroy our old ways so absolutely they could never be recovered. And Wolf shows how, against overwhelming odds, we still might win.]]> 356 Naomi Wolf Jennifer 0 currently-reading 4.53
author: Naomi Wolf
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.53
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 789457 622 Joan Peters 0963624202 Jennifer 0 currently-reading 3.50 1984
author: Joan Peters
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1984
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 36679274
Kel is an orphan, stolen from the life he knew to become the Sword Catcher—the body double of a royal heir, Prince Conor Aurelian. He has been raised alongside the prince, trained in every aspect of combat and statecraft. He and Conor are as close as brothers, but Kel knows that his destiny is to die for Conor. No other future is possible.

Lin Caster is one of the Ashkar, a small community whose members still possess magical abilities. By law, they must live behind walls within the city, but Lin, a physician, ventures out to tend to the sick and dying of Castellane. Despite her skills, she cannot heal her best friend without access to forbidden knowledge.

After a failed assassination attempt brings Lin and Kel together, they are drawn into the web of the mysterious Ragpicker King, the criminal ruler of Castellane’s underworld. He offers them each what they want most; but as they descend into his world of intrigue and shadow, they discover a conspiracy of corruption that reaches from the darkest gutters of Castellane to the highest tower of its palaces.

As long-kept secrets begin to unravel, they must ask themselves: Is knowledge worth the price of betrayal? Can forbidden love bring down a kingdom? And will their discoveries plunge their nation into war—and the world into chaos?]]> 624 Cassandra Clare 0525619992 Jennifer 2 3.79 2023
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2023/12/17
date added: 2024/01/03
shelves:
review:
Pretty good story but way too much information about everyone’s sex life.
]]> 58402783 Pandemic lockdowns have Ruth Galloway feeling isolated from everyone but a new neighbor--until Nelson comes calling, investigating a decades-long string of murder-suicides that's looming ever closer. Three years after her late mother's death, Ruth is finally sorting through her things when she finds a curious relic: a decades-old photograph of Jean's Norfolk cottage with a peculiar inscription. Ruth returns to the cottage to uncover its meaning as Norfolk's first cases of COVID-19 make headlines, leaving her and Kate to shelter in place there. They struggle to stave off isolation by clapping for frontline workers each evening and befriending a kind neighbor, Zoe, from a distance. But when Nelson breaks quarantine to rush to Ruth's cottage and enlist her help in investigating a series of murder-suicides he has connected to an archeological discovery, he finds Zoe is hardly who she says she is. The further Nelson investigates these deaths, the closer they lead him to Ruth's friendly neighbor--until Ruth, Zoe, and Kate all go missing, and Nelson is left scrambling to find them before it's too late.]]> 374 Elly Griffiths Jennifer 3 4.46 2022
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/10
date added: 2023/12/10
shelves:
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]]> 53997118 There’s nothing Ruth Galloway hates more than amateur archaeologists, but when a group of them stumble upon Bronze Age artifacts alongside a dead body, she finds herself thrust into their midst—and into the crosshairs of a string of murders circling ever closer.

Ruth is back as head of archaeology at the University of North Norfolk when a group of local metal detectorists—the so-called Night Hawks—uncovers Bronze Age artifacts on the beach, alongside a recently deceased body, just washed ashore. Not long after, the same detectorists uncover a murder-suicide—a scientist and his wife found at their farmhouse, long thought to be haunted by the Black Shuck, a humongous black dog, a harbinger of death. The further DCI Nelson probes into both cases, the more intertwined they become, and the closer they circle to David Brown, the new lecturer Ruth has recently hired, who seems always to turn up wherever Ruth goes.]]> 352 Elly Griffiths 0358237017 Jennifer 3 4.47 2021
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/10
date added: 2023/12/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 42771121 "Dive in...if you are looking to be charmed and delighted." - Locus Return to the world of Clockwork Boys in this all-new novel from T. Kingfisher! Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle's estate... and, unfortunately, his relatives. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws... and the sword itself may prove to be the greatest threat of all...]]> 426 T. Kingfisher Jennifer 3 4.34 2018
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/07
date added: 2023/12/07
shelves:
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]]> 125360911 When a young woman hits rock bottom, she embarks on a positively Dickensian adventure in a witty and warmhearted novel about past regrets, old loves, new beginnings, and making up for lost time.

Avery Lawrence thought she had it all—a charming fiancé, a Broadway-themed star-studded engagement, and a picture-perfect life. But when her fraudster of a fiancé’s true identity is exposed and he’s hauled away in handcuffs, Avery’s world comes crashing down faster than the chandelier in Phantom of the Opera. Left stranded on Christmas Day outside the federal prison without her cell phone or wallet, Avery stumbles out of the cold and into the last phone booth in Manhattan. With nothing left to lose, Avery is directed by a mysterious voice on the line to the doorstep of the college boyfriend she thought she’d moved on from over six years ago.

When a second encounter with the phone booth leads Avery to a life-changing audition for Marley Is Dead, a new musical based on Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, Avery is blown away by the striking similarities between the show and her own life. Convinced the phone booth is somehow responsible for reuniting her with “the one that got away�� and reigniting her acting career, maybe she will finally have the chance to rewrite her future. But as she grapples with the ghosts of her past and the uncertainty of her present, Avery must decide whether to follow her heart or pursue her dream.]]> 286 Beth Merlin 1662516479 Jennifer 2 3.86 2024
author: Beth Merlin
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2023/12/06
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves:
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]]> 16233129
Until her daughter was born, forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway didn’t do Christmas, but now that Kate is a year old, she wants it to be special.

She must get a tree, shop for food, clean the house, buy presents, including one for her new boyfriend—who she isn’t even sure is her boyfriend—and remember to get the turkey out of the freezer.

But time is rushing by and the best-laid plans don’t always work out …]]> 55 Elly Griffiths 0544147774 Jennifer 3 3.70 2012
author: Elly Griffiths
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/05
date added: 2023/12/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 142054784 Senator Rand Paul was on to Anthony Fauci from the start. Wielding previously unimaginable power, Fauci misled the country about the origins of the Covid pandemic and shut down scientific dissent.

One of the few leaders who dared to challenge "America’s Doctor" was Senator Rand Paul, himself a physician. Deception is his indictment of the catastrophic failures of the public health bureaucracy during the pandemic.

Senator Paul presents the evidence
The Covid virus was likely the product of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab in China—research funded in part by the U.S. government. Taxpayer dollars for that research were deceptively funneled to Wuhan without the required regulatory review. Fauci and his scientific yes-men knew from day one about Covid’s origin and tried to cover it up.
Fauci and his allies ruthlessly attacked everyone—including highly qualified scientists—who threatened to reveal the truth about the pandemic.
Why? Hundreds of millions of dollars of grants and unreported royalties were at stake, and heads would roll if the truth got out.

It almost worked. At Fauci’s insistence, the government imposed needlessly extreme lockdowns on Americans at the cost of immense personal and economic destruction.

Covid-19 was deadly, but the real killer was the coverup, led by America’s most durable medical bureaucrat—a man for whom the truth was too often expendable.

Senator Paul makes a powerful case that funding dangerous bioengineering in a totalitarian country is madness. If we don’t heed this warning, the next pandemic could be far worse.]]> 540 Rand Paul 1684515149 Jennifer 4 4.54
author: Rand Paul
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.54
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/04
date added: 2023/12/04
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]]> 55752958 A previously published edition of ISBN 9781250254368 is here.

For seventeen-year-old Fable, the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home she has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one, and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn't who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they're going to stay alive.

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men. Fable takes you on a spectacular journey filled with romance, intrigue, and adventure.]]> 357 Adrienne Young 1250254361 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.07 2020
author: Adrienne Young
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 151907567
Home has always been a temporary arrangement for Samara Mansingh, a wayfaring wedding photographer and the daughter of a diplomat. When her father is uprooted once again, Samara needs a place to stay in Delhi. Next stop: the Khanna family. Samara’s memories of the Khannas are vague at best, but she doesn’t remember their home feeling so much like a war zone. And the last thing their surly eldest son, Sharav, wants is a houseguest eavesdropping on the chaos.

Sharav has a melodramatic sister pushing back on an arranged marriage, a withdrawn lead-singer brother who won’t sing, and a widowed mother hiding her grief in the garden. Sweeping into the household like a tornado, irrepressible Samara is a practically perfect distraction. She has a mind to help a girl find true love, push a young man to find his voice, and bring a lonely and loving widow out of mourning. Maybe Samara can even get on Sharav’s ruggedly handsome good side.

The only sure thing is that the Khanna family will never be the same again. Neither will Samara, who may finally find what she’s been missing her entire life: a home.]]> 280 Trisha Das 1662510195 Jennifer 3 4.13
author: Trisha Das
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/30
date added: 2023/11/30
shelves:
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]]> 65137920 The Keeper of Stories meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets.

‘The thing about books,�� she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.��

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found��

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder�� where nothing is as it seems.]]> 432 Evie Woods 0008609209 Jennifer 4 4.03 2023
author: Evie Woods
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/15
date added: 2023/11/15
shelves:
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]]> 123009515 In the luscious, dark sequel to One Dark Window, Elspeth must face the consequences of what she's wrought - perfect for readers of Hannah Whitten's For the Wolf and Alexis Henderson's The Year of the Witching.

Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders.

If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom.

And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth's head. The Nightmare. And he's not eager to share any longer.]]> 458 Rachel Gillig 0316312886 Jennifer 4 4.50 2023
author: Rachel Gillig
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/13
date added: 2023/11/13
shelves:
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]]> 59052866
But Lucius has never lifted a surgeon's scalpel. And as the war rages across the winter landscape, he finds himself falling in love with the woman from whom he must learn a brutal, makeshift medicine. Then one day, an unconscious soldier is brought in from the snow, his uniform stuffed with strange drawings. He seems beyond rescue, until Lucius makes a fateful decision that will change the lives of doctor, patient, and nurse forever.

From the gilded ballrooms of Imperial Vienna to the frozen forests of the Eastern Front; from hardscrabble operating rooms to battlefields thundering with Cossack cavalry, The Winter Soldier is the story of war and medicine, of family, of finding love in the sweeping tides of history, and finally, of the mistakes we make, and the precious opportunities to atone.]]> 337 Daniel Mason Jennifer 4 4.37 2018
author: Daniel Mason
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/30
date added: 2023/10/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 11118511 An ambitious and mesmerizing novel from the bestselling author of Rules of Magic. The Dovekeepers is “striking��.Hoffman grounds her expansive, intricately woven, and deepest new novel in biblical history, with a devotion and seriousness of purpose�� (Entertainment Weekly).

Nearly two thousand years ago, nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman’s novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path. Yael’s mother died in childbirth, and her father, an expert assassin, never forgave her for that death. Revka, a village baker’s wife, watched the murder of her daughter by Roman soldiers; she brings to Masada her young grandsons, rendered mute by what they have witnessed. Aziza is a warrior’s daughter, raised as a boy, a fearless rider and expert marksman who finds passion with a fellow soldier. Shirah, born in Alexandria, is wise in the ways of ancient magic and medicine, a woman with uncanny insight and power.

The lives of these four complex and fiercely independent women intersect in the desperate days of the siege. All are dovekeepers, and all are also keeping secrets—about who they are, where they come from, who fathered them, and whom they love.]]> 514 Alice Hoffman 1451617496 Jennifer 3 4.17 2011
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/27
date added: 2023/10/27
shelves:
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]]> 112985714
Mary Fawcett refines the healing recipes she’s inherited from generations of Fawcett women before her—an uncanny and moral calling to empathize with the sick. When witchfinder Matthew Hopkins arrives in her small village, stoking the fires of hate, he sees not healing but the devil at work. Mary’s benevolent skills have now cast her and her young brother under suspicion of witchery.

Soon, the husband of one of Mary’s patients is found murdered, his body carved with strange symbols. For Hopkins, it’s further evidence of dark arts. When the whispering village turns against her, Mary dares to trust a stranger: an enigmatic alchemist, scarred body and soul, who knows the dead man’s secrets.

As Hopkins’s fervor escalates, Mary must outsmart the devil himself to save her life and the lives of those she loves. Unfolding the true potential of her gifts could make Mary a more empowered adversary than a witchfinder ever feared.]]> 282 Jennifer Sherman Roberts 1662511752 Jennifer 2 3.78 2023
author: Jennifer Sherman Roberts
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2023/10/15
date added: 2023/10/17
shelves:
review:
This one never really got off the ground. The story was a bit disjointed and the backstory was unsatisfying. The villain was very poorly developed, and I couldn’t suspend belief enough to accept that plot twist. Billed as well researched historical fiction�� yeah�� not so much.
]]> 8130423 In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.]]> 361 Rick Riordan Jennifer 5 4.44 2008
author: Rick Riordan
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/10/16
shelves:
review:
I think they are getting better and better - when does the next one come out???
]]> 35807243
Edith Eger was sixteen years old when the Nazis came to her hometown in Hungary and took her Jewish family to an interment center and then to Auschwitz. Her parents were sent to the gas chamber by Joseph Mengele soon after they arrived at the camp. Hours later Mengele demanded that Edie dance a waltz to “The Blue Danube�� and rewarded her with a loaf of bread that she shared with her fellow prisoners. These women later helped save Edie’s life. Edie and her sister survived Auschwitz, were transferred to the Mauthausen and Gunskirchen camps in Austria, and managed to live until the American troops liberated the camps in 1945 and found Edie in a pile of dying bodies.

One of the few living Holocaust survivors to remember the horrors of the camps, Edie has chosen to forgive her captors and find joy in her life every day. Years after she was liberated from the concentration camps Edie went back to college to study psychology. She combines her clinical knowledge and her own experiences with trauma to help others who have experienced painful events large and small. Dr. Eger has counselled veterans suffering from PTSD, women who were abused, and many others who learned that they too, can choose to forgive, find resilience, and move forward. She lectures frequently on the power of love and healing.

The Choice weaves Eger’s personal story with case studies from her work as a psychologist. Her patients and their stories illustrate different phases of healing and show how people can choose to escape the prisons they construct in their minds and find freedom, regardless of circumstance. Eger’s story is an inspiration for everyone. And her message is powerful and important: “Your pain matters and is worth healing: you can choose to be joyful and free.�� She is eighty-nine years old and still dancing.]]> 321 Edith Eger 1501130811 Jennifer 5 4.70 2017
author: Edith Eger
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.70
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/12
date added: 2023/10/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 125931167 273 Amy Lea 1662511698 Jennifer 3 4.04 2023
author: Amy Lea
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/07
date added: 2023/10/07
shelves:
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]]> 56590186 This isn't the kind of fairytale where the princess marries a prince.
It's the one where she kills him.

Marra never wanted to be a hero.

As the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter, she escaped the traditional fate of princesses, to be married away for the sake of an uncaring throne. But her sister wasn’t so fortunate—and after years of silence, Marra is done watching her suffer at the hands of a powerful and abusive prince.

Seeking help for her rescue mission, Marra is offered the tools she needs, but only if she can complete three seemingly impossible tasks:
—build a dog of bones
—sew a cloak of nettles
—capture moonlight in a jar

But, as is the way in tales of princes and witches, doing the impossible is only the beginning.

Hero or not—now joined by a disgraced ex-knight, a reluctant fairy godmother, an enigmatic gravewitch and her fowl familiar—Marra might finally have the courage to save her sister, and topple a throne.]]> 259 T. Kingfisher Jennifer 4 4.26 2022
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/06
date added: 2023/10/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 62205547 From New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher, Thornhedge is the tale of a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways.

There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…]]> 114 T. Kingfisher Jennifer 5 4.21 2023
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/02
date added: 2023/10/02
shelves:
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]]> 63219182 An Instant New York Times Bestseller
A Today Read With Jenna Book Club Pick

"I dare you not to fall wildly in love with Grace...It's a book about love, about grace, about even when we fall from those we love we can always find our way home...You will laugh on the first page and you will keep laughing until you're crying on the last page."―Jenna Bush Hager, The Today Show's #ReadwithJenna

Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove . . . meet Amazing Grace Adams,the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink—who finally pushes back.

Grace Adams gave birth, blinked, and now suddenly she is forty-five, perimenopausal and stalled—the unhappiest age you can be, according to the Guardian. And today she’s really losing it. Stuck in traffic, she finally has had enough. To the astonishment of everyone, Grace gets out of her car and simply walks away.

Grace sets off across London, armed with a £200 cake, to win back her estranged teenage daughter on her sixteenth birthday. Because today is the day she’ll remind her daughter that no matter how far we fall, we can always get back up again. Because Grace Adams used to be amazing. Her husband thought so. Her daughter thought so. Even Grace thought so. But everyone seems to have forgotten. Grace is about to remind them . . . and, most important, remind herself.]]> 261 Fran Littlewood 1250857023 Jennifer 2 What. A. Train Wreck. 3.52 2023
author: Fran Littlewood
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2023/10/01
date added: 2023/10/01
shelves:
review:
What. A. Train Wreck.
]]> 63127235 For a young woman who wields the power of fear, humanity’s greatest enemy is her only hope in a new fairy-tale adventure by Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.

Seven years on the run from her abusive father, and with no hope of sanctuary among the dwindling pockets of human civilization, Lark is out of options. Her only leverage is a cursed power: she can thrust fear onto others, leaving all threats fleeing in terror. It’s a means of survival as she searches for a place to call home. If the campfire myths of her childhood are true, Lark’s sole chance for refuge could lie in Cagmar, the city of trolls—a brutal species and the sworn enemies of humanity.

Valuing combat prowess, the troll high council is intrigued. Lark could be much more useful than the low-caste humans who merely labor in Cagmar. Her gift makes her invaluable as a monster slayer to fight off the unspeakable creatures that torment the trolls�� hanging city, suspended from a bridge over an endless dark canyon.

Lark will do anything to make Cagmar her home, but her new role comes with a caveat: use her power against a troll, and she’ll be killed. Her loyalty is quickly put to the test when she draws the hatred of a powerful troll who loathes humankind. Still, she finds unexpected friendship in the city and, even more surprisingly, love. But if everything else doesn’t undo her, being caught in the arms of a troll surely will. Now in the fight of her life, Lark has a lot to learn—about her past, about trust and hope when all seems lost, and above all, about the extraordinary power of fear itself.]]> 344 Charlie N. Holmberg 1662508719 Jennifer 3 to-read, dystopian, youth-ya 3.96 2023
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/30
date added: 2023/09/30
shelves: to-read, dystopian, youth-ya
review:
This was just OK. I had a little trouble buying into the world.
]]> 60531406 #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson expands his Cosmere universe shared by The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn with a new standalone novel for everyone who loved The Princess Bride.

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?]]> 443 Brandon Sanderson Jennifer 4 sci-fi-fantasy Fun read. 4.35 2023
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/30
date added: 2023/09/30
shelves: sci-fi-fantasy
review:
Fun read.
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