en-US Sun, 02 Feb 2025 21:37:07 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 16068905 A coming-of-age tale of fanfiction, family, and first love.

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan.... But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she's really good at it. She and her twin, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it's what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fanfiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere. Cath's sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can't let go. She doesn't want to.

Now that they're going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn't want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She's got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend; a fiction-writing professor who thinks fanfiction is the end of the civilized world; a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... and she can't stop worrying about her dad, who's loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?]]> 483 Rainbow Rowell Kayla 0 3.93 2013
author: Rainbow Rowell
name: Kayla
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 53490148
But even in this happy kingdom, a monster lurks. Legend tells of a fearsome creature living far to the north in the Marshlands... the Ickabog. Some say it breathes fire, spits poison, and roars through the mist as it carries off wayward sheep and children alike. Some say it's just a myth...

And when that myth takes on a life of its own, casting a shadow over the kingdom, two children � best friends Bert and Daisy � embark on a great adventure to untangle the truth and find out where the real monster lies, bringing hope and happiness to Cornucopia once more.

Features full-colour illustrations by the young winners of The Ickabog competition.]]> 290 J.K. Rowling 1510202250 Kayla 0 3.88 2020
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Kayla
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/07
shelves: 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge, to-read
review:

]]> 29044 559 Donna Tartt 1400031702 Kayla 4 4.17 1992
author: Donna Tartt
name: Kayla
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/17
date added: 2022/11/17
shelves: 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 50164163
When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe's place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.

There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe's independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.]]> 433 Madeline Miller Kayla 5 4.32 2018
author: Madeline Miller
name: Kayla
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/06/17
date added: 2022/06/17
shelves: 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 36692478 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780525520375.

Tommy Orange's wondrous and shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize.

Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle's death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American--grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism.

Hailed as an instant classic, There There is at once poignant and unflinching, utterly contemporary and truly unforgettable.]]> 294 Tommy Orange Kayla 5 3.98 2018
author: Tommy Orange
name: Kayla
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2021/09/09
date added: 2021/09/09
shelves: 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 227443 a. lose 7 pounds
b. stop smoking
c. develop Inner Poise

"129 lbs. (how is it possible to put on 4 pounds in the middle of the night? Could flesh have somehow solidified becoming denser and heavier? Repulsive, horrifying notion), alcohol units 4 (excellent), cigarettes 21 (poor but will give up totally tomorrow), number of correct lottery numbers 2 (better, but nevertheless useless)..."

"Bridget Jones' Diary" is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget's permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement � a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult - and learn to program the VCR.

Over the course of the year, Bridget loses a total of 72 pounds but gains a total of 74. She remains, however, optimistic. Through it all, Bridget will have you helpless with laughter, and � like millions of readers the world round � you'll find yourself shouting, "Bridget Jones is me!"]]> 288 Helen Fielding 014028009X Kayla 3 3.81 1996
author: Helen Fielding
name: Kayla
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1996
rating: 3
read at: 2021/05/07
date added: 2021/05/07
shelves: 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 54505303 She gave him control in the bedroom. But is she losing control of her identity?

Dating Boston’s billionaire bachelor has opened up a new world for Skye Manning. Opportunities are suddenly everywhere, her new career is flourishing, and she experiences luxury she’s only seen in the pages of magazines. So why does she feel like she’s losing herself?

Braden Black never meant to fall for Skye, and he still tries to resist a relationship he knows he’s not wired for. But not only has Skye awoken something inside him—he’s stirring something dark and forbidden inside his Cinderella. Something even he can’t control…]]> 303 Helen Hardt 1682815552 Kayla 3 4.34 2021
author: Helen Hardt
name: Kayla
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/02/11
date added: 2021/02/11
shelves: 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 6469165
Alice is twenty-nine. She adores sleep, chocolate, and her ramshackle new house. She’s newly engaged to the wonderful Nick and is pregnant with her first baby.

There’s just one problem.
All that was ten years ago �

Alice has slipped in a step aerobics class, hit her head and lost a decade. Now she’s a grown-up, bossy mother of three in the middle of a nasty divorce and her beloved sister Elisabeth isn’t speaking to her. This is her life but not as she knows it.

Clearly Alice has made some terrible mistakes.
Just how much can happen in a decade?

Can she ever get back to the woman she used to be?]]> 487 Liane Moriarty 0141043768 Kayla 0 4.06 2010
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Kayla
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/12/30
shelves: to-read, 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 43822698 Be careful of the dark, dark wood�

Especially the woods surrounding the town of Fir Haven. Some say these woods are magical. Haunted, even.

Rumored to be a witch, only Nora Walker knows the truth. She and the Walker women before her have always shared a special connection with the woods. And it’s this special connection that leads Nora to Oliver Huntsman—the same boy who disappeared from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago—and in the middle of the worst snowstorm in years. He should be dead, but here he is alive, and left in the woods with no memory of the time he’d been missing.

But Nora can feel an uneasy shift in the woods at Oliver’s presence. And it’s not too long after that Nora realizes she has no choice but to unearth the truth behind how the boy she has come to care so deeply about survived his time in the forest, and what led him there in the first place. What Nora doesn’t know, though, is that Oliver has secrets of his own—secrets he’ll do anything to keep buried, because as it turns out, he wasn’t the only one to have gone missing on that fateful night all those weeks ago.

For as long as there have been fairy tales, we have been warned to fear what lies within the dark, dark woods and in Winterwood, New York Times bestselling author Shea Ernshaw, shows us why.

From New York Times bestselling author of The Wicked Deep comes a haunting romance perfect for fans of Practical Magic, where dark fairy tales and enchanted folklore collide after a boy, believed to be missing, emerges from the magical woods—and falls in love with the witch determined to unravel his secrets.]]> 323 Shea Ernshaw 1534439412 Kayla 0 3.81 2019
author: Shea Ernshaw
name: Kayla
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/12/30
shelves: to-read, 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 34077604
Cady Heron grew up home-schooled in Africa with scientist parents as her teachers, monkeys as her classmates and the African plains as her playground. But when her family moves to the suburbs of Illinois, she finds herself a stranger in a strange land: high school. With no prior research to guide her, Cady's forced to figure out North Shore High all on her own. Suddenly she finds herself sucked into Girl World as a new member of the social elite dubbed "The Plastics." Cady discovers that unlike the wild, Girl World doesn't have any rules--especially when you maybe, possibly, okay definitely, have a giant crush on their ruthless leader's ex-boyfriend. Turns out, life in high school might be even more brutal than a showdown on the Savannah.

Based on the screenplay by Tina Fey, this retelling of the cult classic film includes tons of extra, never-before-seen bonus content.]]> 283 Micol Ostow 1338087568 Kayla 0 3.85 2017
author: Micol Ostow
name: Kayla
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/12/30
shelves: to-read, 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 2924318 Home parallels the story told in Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilead. It is a moving and healing book about families, family secrets, and the passing of the generations, about love and death and faith.

Hundreds of thousands were enthralled by the luminous voice of John Ames in Gilead, Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel. Home is an entirely independent, deeply affecting novel that takes place concurrently in the same locale, this time in the household of Reverend Robert Boughton, Ames’s closest friend.

Glory Boughton, aged thirty-eight, has returned to Gilead to care for her dying father. Soon her brother, Jack—the prodigal son of the family, gone for twenty years—comes home too, looking for refuge and trying to make peace with a past littered with tormenting trouble and pain.

Jack is one of the great characters in recent literature. A bad boy from childhood, an alcoholic who cannot hold a job, he is perpetually at odds with his surroundings and with his traditionalist father, though he remains Boughton’s most beloved child. Brilliant, lovable, and wayward, Jack forges an intense bond with Glory and engages painfully with Ames, his godfather and namesake.

Home is a moving and healing book about families, family secrets, and the passing of the generations, about love and death and faith. It is Robinson’s greatest work, an unforgettable embodiment of the deepest and most universal emotions.]]> 325 Marilynne Robinson 0374299102 Kayla 0 4.04 2008
author: Marilynne Robinson
name: Kayla
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/12/30
shelves: to-read, 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
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]]> 53104610 An exhilarating new novel from a global superstar--a sexy, over-the-top psychological thriller that tells the story of the scorned wife of a billionaire and her delicious plot to get her revenge and bring him to his knees.

Faye has loved Jack since they were students at business school. Jack, the perpetual golden boy, grew up wealthy, unlike Faye, who has worked hard to bury a dark past. When Jack needs help launching a new company, Faye leaves school to support him, waitressing by day and working as his strategist by night. With the business soaring, Faye and Jack have a baby, and Faye finds herself at home, caring for their daughter, wealthier than she ever imagined, but more and more removed from the excitement of the business world. And none of the perks of wealth make up for the fact that Jack has begun to treat her coldly, undermining her intelligence and forgetting all she sacrificed for his success. When Faye discovers that he's having an affair, the polished facade of their life cracks wide open. Faye is alone, emotionally shattered, and financially devastated--but hell hath no fury like a woman with a violent past bent on vengeance. Jack is about to get exactly what he deserves--and so much more. In this splashy, electrifying story of sex, betrayal, and secrets, a woman's revenge is a brutal but beautiful thing.]]> 352 Camilla Läckberg 0525657975 Kayla 0 3.72 2019
author: Camilla Läckberg
name: Kayla
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/12/30
shelves: to-read, 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 42270835 Author of The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys sentenced to a hellish reform school in 1960s Florida.

Elwood Curtis has taken the words of Dr Martin Luther King to heart: he is as good as anyone. Abandoned by his parents, brought up by his loving, strict and clear-sighted grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But given the time and the place, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy his future, and so Elwood arrives at The Nickel Academy, which claims to provide 'physical, intellectual and moral training' which will equip its inmates to become 'honorable and honest men'.

In reality, the Nickel Academy is a chamber of horrors, where physical, emotional and sexual abuse is rife, where corrupt officials and tradesmen do a brisk trade in supplies intended for the school, and where any boy who resists is likely to disappear 'out back'. Stunned to find himself in this vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold on to Dr King's ringing assertion, 'Throw us in jail, and we will still love you.' But Elwood's fellow inmate and new friend Turner thinks Elwood is naive and worse; the world is crooked, and the only way to survive is to emulate the cruelty and cynicism of their oppressors.

The tension between Elwood's idealism and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision which will have decades-long repercussions.

Based on the history of a real reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped and destroyed the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative by a great American novelist whose work is essential to understanding the current reality of the United States.]]> 213 Colson Whitehead Kayla 0 4.25 2019
author: Colson Whitehead
name: Kayla
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2020/12/30
shelves: to-read, 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

]]> 34381254
Aster lives in the lowdeck slums of the HSS Matilda, a space vessel organized much like the antebellum South. For generations, Matilda has ferried the last of humanity to a mythical Promised Land. On its way, the ship’s leaders have imposed harsh moral restrictions and deep indignities on dark-skinned sharecroppers like Aster. Embroiled in a grudge with a brutal overseer, Aster learns there may be a way to improve her lot—if she’s willing to sow the seeds of civil war.]]> 351 Rivers Solomon 1617755885 Kayla 0 3.95 2017
author: Rivers Solomon
name: Kayla
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/12/30
shelves: to-read, pop-sugar-2020-reading-challenge, 2021-pop-sugar-reading-challenge
review:

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