en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 10:55:15 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 203924693 After her rollicking standalone Dual Memory,Sue Burke returns to her Semiosis series and the world of Pax in Usurpation, which combines the thrill of M. Night Shyamalan¡¯s The Happening with the eco-empowerment of VanderMeer¡¯s Dead Astronauts.
Steveland, the dominant sentient lifeform of Pax, has clandestinely sent some of its progeny to Earth. To explore, to spread, to report back.
Since their germination, Earth has been a powder keg. Human rebellion, robot uprisings, and global pandemics have created chaos, distrust, and deaths.
As more and more conflicts break out across Earth, Stevland's children work in the background, in an attempt to control human behavior and perhaps, bring peace to the planet. Stevland took control of Pax. Earth shouldn¡¯t be too difficult¡­]]> 240 Sue Burke 1250809185 Rita 4 I miss Pax and Stevland. 4.05 2024
author: Sue Burke
name: Rita
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
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I miss Pax and Stevland.
]]> 199798006
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can¡¯t believe the killer deal they¡¯ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they¡¯re working in the house one day, there¡¯s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family¡¯s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can¡¯t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family¡ªor is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel ¡°is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it¡± (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).]]> 312 Marcus Kliewer 1982198788 Rita 0 currently-reading 3.66 2024
author: Marcus Kliewer
name: Rita
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 203956643 A diabolical collection of stories featuring achingly human characters whose lives intertwine with ghosts, goblins, and the macabre, by ¡°one of Latin America¡¯s most exciting authors¡± (Silvia Moreno-Garcia)

On the shores of this river, all the birds that fly, drink, perch on branches, and disturb siestas with the demonic squawking of the possessed¡ªall those birds were once women.

Welcome to Argentina and the fascinating, frightening, fantastical imagination of Mariana Enriquez. In twelve spellbinding new stories, Enriquez writes about ordinary people, especially women, whose lives turn inside out when they encounter terror, the surreal, and the supernatural. A neighborhood nuisanced by ghosts, a family whose faces melt away, a faded hotel haunted by a girl who dissolved in the water tank on the roof, a riverbank populated by birds that used to be women¡ªthese and other tales illuminate the shadows of contemporary life, where the line between good and evil no longer exists.

Lyrical and hypnotic, heart-stopping and deeply moving, Enriquez¡¯s stories never fail to enthrall, entertain, and leave us shaken. Translated by the award-winning Megan McDowell, A Sunny Place for Shady People showcases Enriquez¡¯s unique blend of the literary and the horrific, and underscores why Kazuo Ishiguro, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, calls her ¡°the most exciting discovery I¡¯ve made in fiction for some time.¡±]]> 257 Mariana Enr¨ªquez 0593733258 Rita 0 currently-reading 3.79 2024
author: Mariana Enr¨ªquez
name: Rita
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 204316949 From dealing with your mean teenage daughter to rebelling against the latest diet trend, America¡¯s newest standup sensation packs a hilarious punch with her real talk about what it¡¯s like to be a regular woman today. For a long time, no one pulling the strings in the comedy world thought that an over-fifty woman from rural Tennessee could make it in the industry. But Leanne Morgan has defied the odds, reaching millions with her musings on menopause, Weight Watchers, and her opposites-attract relationship with her husband, Chuck. In her charming, Southern-accented voice, Morgan brings readers inside her quest to find her calling after so many years trying to figure out what that meant. Along the way, she discusses everything from growing up as a butcher¡¯s daughter, to her strategy for landing a husband with health insurance, to the glories of aging and the comfort of wearing big old grannie panties. Equal parts warm and hilarious,?this book is a must-read by one of comedy¡¯s rising stars¡ªreminding you that every time life leaves you asking, ¡°What in the world?¡±, something good is going to come out of it someday.]]> 240 Leanne Morgan 0593594398 Rita 0 currently-reading 4.35
author: Leanne Morgan
name: Rita
average rating: 4.35
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 17893439 You Should Have Known, a book in which she castigates women for not valuing their intuition and calls upon them to examine their first impressions of men for signs of serious trouble later on. But weeks before the book is published, a chasm opens in her own life: a violent death, a missing husband, and, in the place of a man Grace thought she knew, only a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster and horrified by the ways in which she has failed to heed her own advice, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and herself.]]> 439 Jean Hanff Korelitz 1455599492 Rita 3 3.38 2014
author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
name: Rita
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/22
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:
I think Jonathan fell a little flat compared to the author's other villains.
]]> 43263202 The sequel to Sue Burke's sweeping SF epic debut, Semiosis, continues in Interference as the colonists and a team from Earth confront a new and more implacable intelligence.

Over two hundred years after the first colonists landed on Pax, a new set of explorers arrives from Earth on what they claim is a temporary scientific mission.

But the Earthlings misunderstand the nature of the Pax settlement and its real leader. Even as Stevland attempts to protect his human tools, a more insidious enemy than the Earthlings makes itself known.

Stevland is not the apex species.

Semiosis duology
Semiosis
Interference]]> 320 Sue Burke 1250317843 Rita 4 #TeamStevland 3.89 2019
author: Sue Burke
name: Rita
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/13
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves:
review:
#TeamStevland
]]> 49127739
The world has witnessed three step functions in technological mechanization, electrification, and computerization. These industrial revolutions led to massive increases in productivity and thus the need for fewer workers. With each of these technological breakthroughs, the power balance between companies and workers shifted heavily to companies. The abuses of that power by companies instigated employee unrest and sometimes even armed uprisings. Counterbalancing forces rose to constrain companies¡¯ power, eventually prompting unions, regulation, and the social safety net to bring stability to the relationship.

As we enter the fourth great leap forward in technology with robots and AI, we face the first services revolution. The power balance will again shift massively to companies as new technologies drive productivity increases in the service industry, much as the last three industrial revolutions transformed manufacturing. What lessons can we learn from the past three industrial revolutions and the current state of the labor market? How will we renegotiate the social contract to ensure fairness for workers, set clear rules for companies, and provide stability for society? What is the future of work?

The book also includes The Future of Work Prize competition, where the following twenty thought leaders in the world of work wrote essays on their vision of the world in 2040. The contributor that is most correct in 2040 will be awarded the $10 million Future of Work Prize. Contributors

Andrew Stern - President Emeritus, Service Employees International Union

Barry Asin - President, Staffing Industry Analysts

Bruce Morton - Head of Strategy, Allegis Global Solutions

Carl Camden - Former CEO, Kelly Services

Cindy Olson - Former CHRO, Enron

Daniel Pianko - Managing Partner, Achieve Partners

David Fano - CEO, Teal

Deborah Borg - CHRO, Bunge

Gene Holtzman - Founder, Talent Tech Labs

Gene Zaino - Founder, MBO Partners

Holly Paul - CHRO, FTI Consulting

Ian Ziskin - Former CHRO, Northrop Grumman

Jane Oates - President, WorkingNation

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. - President, Society for Human Resource Management

Kim Seymour - CHRO, WW (formerly Weight Watchers)

Marcus Sawyerr - CEO, Yoss

Michael Bertolino - Senior Partner, E&Y

Michael Johnson - Former CHRO, UPS

Michelle Greenstreet - Former CHRO, Various

William Weissman - Partner, Littler Mendelson]]> 240 Jeff Wald 1642934356 Rita 4 3.72
author: Jeff Wald
name: Rita
average rating: 3.72
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:
Interesting analysis of how we got here and what might happen next. Definitely experiencing much of these problems at my job. How we organize ourselves is almost more important than what we're doing at this point. We're so interdependent it's like the global economy in every company.
]]> 203578763 The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write a universally lauded bestseller?

But when Anna publishes her book and indulges in her own literary acclaim, she begins to receive excerpts of a novel she never expected to see again, a novel that should no longer exist. Something has gone wrong, and someone out there knows far too much about her late brother, her late husband, and possibly about Anna herself. What does this person want, and what are they prepared to do? She has come too far and worked too hard to lose what she values most: the sole and uncontested right to her own story¡ªand she is, by any standard, a master storyteller.]]> 304 Jean Hanff Korelitz 1250875471 Rita 4 3.59 2024
author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
name: Rita
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:
I think this was actually better than the first book. Or maybe I just loved Anna.
]]> 35018907 In this character driven novel of first contact by debut author Sue Burke, human survival hinges on an bizarre alliance.

Only mutual communication can forge an alliance with the planet's sentient species and prove that mammals are more than tools.

Forced to land on a planet they aren't prepared for, human colonists rely on their limited resources to survive. The planet provides a lush but inexplicable landscape--trees offer edible, addictive fruit one day and poison the next, while the ruins of an alien race are found entwined in the roots of a strange plant. Conflicts between generations arise as they struggle to understand one another and grapple with an unknowable alien intellect.]]> 333 Sue Burke 076539135X Rita 4 3.85 2018
author: Sue Burke
name: Rita
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/28
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves:
review:
Tulips are stupid and plants are born aggressive.
]]> 213395480 From the acclaimed author of Mrs. March comes the riveting tale of a bloodthirsty governess who learns the true meaning of vengeance.

Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess¡ªshe¡¯ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate¡¯s dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family¡ªMr. Pounds can¡¯t keep his eyes off Winifred¡¯s chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband¡¯s wandering gaze. Compounded with her disdain for the entitled Pounds children, Winifred finds herself struggling at every turn to stifle the violent compulsions of her past. French tutoring and needlework are one way to pass the time, as is admiring the ugly portraits in the gallery . . . and creeping across the moonlit lawns. . . .

Patience. Winifred must have patience, for Christmas is coming, and she has very special gifts planned for the dear souls of Ensor House. Brimming with sardonic wit and culminating in a shocking conclusion, Victorian Psycho plunges readers into the chilling mind of an iconic new literary psychopath.]]> 208 Virginia Feito 1631498630 Rita 5 3.62 2025
author: Virginia Feito
name: Rita
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
Buying this. Humor = dark and twisty. "She didn't fit on the shelf."
]]> 214331246 When you¡¯ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch¡¯s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He¡¯s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who¡¯s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he¡¯s been set up to fail. But there¡¯s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 Rita 5 4.62 2025
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Rita
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
Lot of dots connected between the original series and Songbirds and Snakes. Thoughts: Why do we tolerate it?
]]> 36101240 From comedian and actor Sebastian Maniscalco¡ªstar of the film About My Father with Robert DeNiro¡ªan inspiring, honest, uproarious collection of essays tracing his career from playing boxing rings and bowling alleys to reaching the pinnacles of comedy success.At twenty-four, Sebastian Maniscalco arrived in LA with a suitcase and saved up minimum wages. He knew no one and nothing about standup comedy, but he was determined to go for it anyway.Two decades later, he¡¯s on the Forbes¡¯ list of highest earning comedians, selling out arenas, and starring in numerous hit comedy specials including Why Would You Do That? and Is It Me?.Stay Hungry tells the story of the twenty years in between. On the way from clueless rube to standup superstar, Seb was booed off stages; survived on tips and stolen food; got advice from mentors Andrew Dice Clay, Vince Vaughn, Tony Danza, and Jerry Seinfeld; fell in love; and stayed true to his Italian-immigrant roots. The one code that always kept him stay hungry, keep focused, never give up, and one day, you¡¯ll make it.]]> 306 Sebastian Maniscalco 1501115995 Rita 2 3.92
author: Sebastian Maniscalco
name: Rita
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves:
review:
I love you, Sebastian. This is not a good book.
]]> 54981009
As Hannah¡¯s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen¡¯s boss, as a U.S. marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn¡¯t who he said he was. Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen¡¯s true identity¡ªand why he really disappeared.]]> 307 Laura Dave 1501171348 Rita 3 3.78 2021
author: Laura Dave
name: Rita
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:
The ending didn't hold water for me.
]]> 29366421 Add value with every decision using a simple yet powerful framework Few things are as valuable in business, and in life, as the ability to make good decisions. Can you imagine how much more rewarding your life and your business would be if every decision you made were the best it could be? Decision Quality empowers you to make the best possible choice and get more of what you truly want from every decision.

Dr. Carl Spetzler is a leader in the field of decision science and has worked with organizations across industries to improve their decision-making capabilities. He and his co-authors, all experienced consultants and educators in this field, show you how to frame a problem or opportunity, create a set of attractive alternatives, identify relevant uncertain information, clarify the values that are important in the decision, apply tools of analysis, and develop buy-in among stakeholders. Their straightforward approach is elegantly simple, yet practical and powerful. It can be applied to all types of decisions.

Our business and our personal lives are marked by a stream of decisions. Some are small. Some are large. Some are life-altering or strategic. How well we make those decisions truly matters. This book gives you a framework and thinking tools that will help you to improve the odds of getting more of what you value from every choice. You will

The six requirements for decision quality, and how to apply them The difference between a good decision and a good outcome Why a decision can only be as good as the best of the available alternatives Methods for making both "significant" and strategic decisions The mental traps that undermine decision quality and how to avoid them How to deal with uncertainty¡ªa factor in every important choice How to judge the quality of a decision at the time you're making it How organizations have benefited from building quality into their decisions. Many people are satisfied with 'good enough' when making important decisions. This book provides a method that will take you and your co-workers beyond 'good enough' to true Decision Quality.]]> 252 Carl Spetzler Rita 3 Dry but helpful 3.94 2016
author: Carl Spetzler
name: Rita
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves:
review:
Dry but helpful
]]> 57693172
Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she¡¯s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren't really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?

In a debut novel that has already been optioned for a limited series by actress Emma Stone and sold to a dozen countries around the world, Stacy Willingham has created an unforgettable character in a spellbinding thriller that will appeal equally to fans of Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.]]> 357 Stacy Willingham 1250803829 Rita 3 3.96 2022
author: Stacy Willingham
name: Rita
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves:
review:
Good twists, but the descriptions and pacing were a little slow in the beginning.
]]> 13125749
The setting is Alexandria, Mississippi, where one Mother¡¯s Day a little boy named Robin Cleve Dufresnes was found hanging from a tree in his parents¡¯ yard. Twelve years later Robin¡¯s murder is still unsolved and his family remains devastated. So it is that Robin¡¯s sister Harriet¡ªunnervingly bright, insufferably determined, and unduly influenced by the fiction of Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson--sets out to unmask his killer. Aided only by her worshipful friend Hely, Harriet crosses her town¡¯s rigid lines of race and caste and burrows deep into her family¡¯s history of loss.]]> 642 Donna Tartt Rita 0 currently-reading 3.73 2002
author: Donna Tartt
name: Rita
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 101145468 From the bestselling author of Fight Club comes a hilarious horror satire about a family of professional killers responsible for the most atrocious events in history and the young brothers that are destined to take over.Meet Otto and Cecil. Two brothers growing up privileged in the Welsh countryside. They enjoy watching nature shows, playing with their pet pony, impersonating their Grandfather...and killing the help. Murder is the family business after all. Downton Abbey, this is not. However, it¡¯s not so easy to continue the family legacy with the constant stream of threats and distractions seemingly leaping from the hedgerow. First there is the matter of the veritable cavalcade of escaped convicts that keep showing up at their door. Not to mention the debaucherous new tutor who has a penchant for speaking in Greek and dismembering sex dolls. Then there¡¯s Mummy¡¯s burgeoning opioid addiction. And who knows where Daddy is. He just vanished one day after he and Mummy took a walk in the so called ¡°Ghost Forest.¡± With Grandfather putting pressure on Otto to step up, it becomes clear that this will all end in only two a nuclear apocalypse or just another day among the creeping thistle and tree peonies. And in a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk, either are equally possible.]]> 256 Chuck Palahniuk 1668021412 Rita 2 3.09 2023
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Rita
average rating: 3.09
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:
If you wanted the book to be about addiction, just say it.
]]> 198530925
They were just friends. Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh¡¯s porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha¡ªShiloh would go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change.

Well, Shiloh did go to college, and Cary did join the Navy. And yet, somehow, everything changed.

Now Shiloh¡¯s thirty-three, and it¡¯s been fourteen years since she talked to Cary. She¡¯s been married and divorced. She has two kids. And she¡¯s back living in the same house she grew up in. Her life is nothing like she planned.

When she¡¯s invited to an old friend¡¯s wedding, all Shiloh can think about is whether Cary will be there¡ªand whether she hopes he will be. Would Cary even want to talk to her? After everything?

The answer is yes. And yes. And yes.

Slow Dance is the story of two kids who fell in love before they knew enough about love to recognize it. Two friends who lost everything. Two adults who just feel lost.

It¡¯s the story of Shiloh and Cary, who everyone thought would end up together, trying to find their way back to the start.]]> 400 Rainbow Rowell 0063380196 Rita 3 3.63 2024
author: Rainbow Rowell
name: Rita
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 55315487 Jean Hanff Korelitz¡¯s The Plot is a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he¡¯s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what¡¯s left of his self-respect; he hasn¡¯t written¡ªlet alone published¡ªanything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn¡¯t need Jake¡¯s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker¡¯s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that¡ªa story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker¡¯s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his ¡°sure thing¡± of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?]]> 320 Jean Hanff Korelitz 125079076X Rita 4 3.75 2021
author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
name: Rita
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:
Good twist but the pacing was slow at the beginning for a book called "The Plot."
]]> 128029
With the passing of time comes Taliban rule over Afghanistan, the streets of Kabul loud with the sound of gunfire and bombs, life a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear, the women's endurance tested beyond their worst imaginings. Yet love can move people to act in unexpected ways, lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism. In the end it is love that triumphs over death and destruction.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a portrait of a wounded country and a story of family and friendship, of an unforgiving time, an unlikely bond, and an indestructible love.]]> 372 Khaled Hosseini 1594489505 Rita 0 currently-reading 4.44 2007
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Rita
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: currently-reading
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¡ªfacing 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¡ªwith 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 Rita 4 Very satisfying ending! 4.15 2014
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Rita
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/09/05
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves:
review:
Very satisfying ending!
]]> 198509143
Hazel Davis is drifting: she¡¯s stalled in her career, living in a city she hates, and less successful than her younger sister @evelyn, a lifestyle influencer. Evie came of age on the family YouTube channel after a viral video when she was five. Ten years older and spotlight-averse, Hazel managed to dodge the family business¡ªso although she can barely afford her apartment, at least she made her own way.

Evie is eighteen now, with a multimillion-dollar career, but Hazel is still protective of her little sister and skeptical of the way everyone seems to want a piece of her: Evie¡¯s followers, her YouTuber boyfriend and influencer frenemies, and their opportunistic mother. So when Evie disappears one day during an unsettling live stream that cuts out midsentence, Hazel is horrified to have her worst instincts proven right.

As theories about Evie¡¯s disappearance tear through the internet, inspiring hashtags, Reddit threads, and podcast episodes, Hazel throws herself into the darkest parts of her sister¡¯s world to untangle the truth. After all, Hazel knows Evie better than anyone else . . . doesn¡¯t she?]]> 336 Olivia Muenter 1683694015 Rita 4 Nice twist! 3.38 2024
author: Olivia Muenter
name: Rita
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves:
review:
Nice twist!
]]> 12287209
Or you'll get what you wish for.]]> 56 Hugh Howey Rita 5 top-shelf 4.14 2012
author: Hugh Howey
name: Rita
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/26
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: top-shelf
review:
Second time through while watching Silo and Below Deck. The truth hurts!
]]> 13127496 221 Jennifer Garvey Berger 080477823X Rita 2 Couldn't get into it. 4.12 2011
author: Jennifer Garvey Berger
name: Rita
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:
Couldn't get into it.
]]> 35458733 When newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge, what greets her is far from the life of wealth and privilege she was expecting . . .

When Elsie married handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge, she believed she was destined for a life of luxury. But with her husband dead just weeks after their marriage, her new servants resentful, and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie has only her husband's awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked door, beyond which is a painted wooden figure ¡ªa silent companion ¡ª-that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself. The residents of The Bridge are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition--that is, until she notices the figure's eyes following her.

A Victorian ghost story that evokes a most unsettling kind of fear, this is a tale that creeps its way through the consciousness in ways you least expect--much like the silent companions themselves.]]> 305 Laura Purcell 014313163X Rita 3 3.86 2017
author: Laura Purcell
name: Rita
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:
A little too much magical realism.
]]> 213924056
Why is Miami¡­Miami? What does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do Ivy League schools care so much about sports? What is the Magic Third, and what does it mean for racial harmony? In this provocative new work, Malcolm Gladwell returns for the first time in twenty-five years to the subject of social epidemics and tipping points, this time with the aim of explaining the dark side of contagious phenomena.

Through a series of riveting stories, Gladwell traces the rise of a new and troubling form of social engineering. He takes us to the streets of Los Angeles to meet the world¡¯s most successful bank robbers, rediscovers a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world, visits the site of a historic experiment on a tiny cul-de-sac in northern California, and offers an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell¡¯s most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of modern world. It¡¯s time we took tipping points seriously.]]> 346 Malcolm Gladwell 031658147X Rita 4 4.27 2024
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Rita
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves:
review:
COVID and Oxy, explained. And now I know the magic number of influence.
]]> 176443112 The author of Good Neighbors, ¡°one of the creepiest, most unnerving deconstructions of American suburbia I¡¯ve ever read,¡± (NPR), returns with a cunning, out-of-the-box satirical thriller about a family¡¯s odyssey into an exclusive enclave for the wealthy that might not be as ideal as it seems.

You¡¯ll be safe here. That¡¯s what the greasy tour guide tells the Farmer-Bowens when they visit Plymouth Valley, a walled-off company town with clean air, pantries that never go empty, and blue-ribbon schools. On a very trial basis, the company offers to hire Linda Farmer¡¯s husband, a numbers genius, and relocate her whole family to this bucolic paradise for the .0001%. Though Linda will have to sacrifice her medical career back home, the family jumps at the opportunity. They¡¯d be crazy not to take it. With the outside world literally falling apart, this might be the Farmer-Bowens last chance.

But fitting in takes work. The pampered locals distrust outsiders, cruelly snubbing Linda, Russell, and their teen twins. And the residents fervently adhere to a group of customs and beliefs called Hollow . . . but what exactly is Hollow?

It¡¯s Linda who brokers acceptance by volunteering her medical skills to the most powerful people in town with their pet charity, ActHollow. In the months afterward, everything seems fine. Sure, Russell starts hyperventilating through a paper bag in the middle of the night, and the kids have drifted like bridgeless islands, but living here¡¯s worth sacrificing their family¡¯s closeness, isn¡¯t it? At least they¡¯ll survive. The trouble is, the locals never say what they think. They seem scared. And Hollow¡¯s ominous culminating event, the Plymouth Valley Winter Festival, is coming.

Linda¡¯s warned by her husband and her powerful new friends to stop asking questions. But the more she learns, the more frightened she becomes. Should the Farmer-Bowens be fighting to stay, or fighting to get out?

Sarah Langan¡¯s latest novel A Better World is gleefully ruthless in its dissection of wealth, power, and privilege, timely in its depiction of a self-destructing world¡ªand it is a prescient warning to us all.

Sarah Langan, a Columbia MFA graduate and three-time recipient of the Bram Stoker Award, is the author of several novels including A Better World and Good Neighbors. She grew up on Long Island and she currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughters.]]> 368 Sarah Langan 1982191066 Rita 4 3.57 2024
author: Sarah Langan
name: Rita
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
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That's one way to reverse climate change.
]]> 59796816 623 U.S. Department of the Army Rita 5 4.20
author: U.S. Department of the Army
name: Rita
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 203164397 Behavioral scientist Alison Fragale offers powerful new insights and a practical playbook for women to advance in any workplace, full of tips, tricks, and strategies to help secure that elusive corner office.

Over decades of research, speaking engagements, and mentorship, psychologist and professor Alison Fragale encountered recurring questions from high powered and early career women: How do women thread the needle of kindness and competence in the workplace? How can women earn credit for their accomplishments, negotiate better, and navigate complex office politics without losing the goodwill of their peers?

Fragale investigated and determined that many women's workplace issues boil down to the perception of others. No degree, title, or paycheck will raise a woman's workplace stature unless it also affects how other people respect and regard her. Acknowledging this roadblock, Fragale pulls back the curtain on how we can change how others see us by developing our standing as a "likeable badass." By cultivating perceptions of warmth and assertiveness, women can achieve the kind of reputation that leads to a seat at the table and a fulfilling career path.

Likeable Badass is equal parts behavioral science and life hacks, weaving together rigorous research with actionable advice and impactful stories from a diverse array of women. This is a warm, heartening book written for women of all stripes, as well as their allies, who want evidence-based, practical strategies for success, served with a side of inspiration and humor.]]> 256 Alison Fragale 0385549148 Rita 3 4.32
author: Alison Fragale
name: Rita
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves:
review:
Not a lot here that is new, but a great reminder and engaging stories.
]]> 42202089 Shortlisted for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize and a Best Book of the Year according to Real Simple, the Globe and Mail, and the CBC, this follows the love story of two people who are at once mere weeks and many years apart.

In this novel America is in the grip of a deadly flu pandemic. When Frank catches the virus, his girlfriend Polly will do whatever it takes to save him¡ªeven if it means risking everything. When she finds out there¡¯s a company that has invented time travel, she agrees to a radical contract: if she signs up for a one-way-trip into the future to work as a bonded laborer, the company will pay for the life-saving treatment Frank needs. Polly promises to meet Frank again in Galveston, Texas, where she will arrive in twelve years.

But when Polly is re-routed an extra five years into the future, Frank is nowhere to be found. Alone in a transformed and divided America, with no status and no money, Polly must navigate a new life and find a way to locate Frank, to determine if he is alive, and if their love has endured.

An Ocean of Minutes is a gorgeous and heartbreaking story that paints an intimate portrait of endurance and complexity of human relationships and the cost of holding onto the past¡ªand the price of letting it go.]]> 336 Thea Lim Rita 5 3.40 2018
author: Thea Lim
name: Rita
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves:
review:
So much more than what it seems. The pain of a real human love story. One of my faves of 2024. Bought a physical copy to add to my top shelf, which is my highest compliment.
]]> 55777544 ¡°Were we gangsters? No. But did we know how to start a fire?¡±

In 1980, a wealthy businessman named Carl Fletcher is kidnapped from his driveway, brutalized, and held for ransom. He is returned to his wife and kids less than a week later, only slightly the worse, and the family moves on with their lives, resuming their prized places in the saga of the American dream, comforted in the realization that though their money may have been what endangered them, it is also what assured them their safety.

But now, nearly forty years later, it¡¯s clear that perhaps nobody ever got over anything, after all. Carl has spent the ensuing years secretly seeking closure to the matter of his kidnapping, while his wife, Ruth, has spent her potential protecting her husband¡¯s emotional health. Their three grown children aren¡¯t doing much better: Nathan¡¯s chronic fear won¡¯t allow him to advance at his law firm; Beamer, a Hollywood screenwriter, will consume anything¡ªsubstance, foodstuff, women¡ªin order to numb his own perpetual terror; and Jenny has spent her life so bent on proving that she¡¯s not a product of her family¡¯s pathology that she has come to define it. As they hover at the delicate precipice of a different kind of survival, they learn that the family fortune has dwindled to just about nothing, and they must face desperate questions about how much their wealth has played a part in both their lives¡¯ successes and failures.

Long Island Compromise spans the entirety of one family¡¯s history, winding through decades and generations, all the way to the outrageous present, and confronting the mainstays of American Jewish life: tradition, the pursuit of success, the terror of history, fear of the future, old wives¡¯ tales, evil eyes, ambition, achievement, boredom, dybbuks, inheritance, pyramid schemes, right-wing capitalists, beta-blockers, psychics, and the mostly unspoken love and shared experience that unite a family forever.]]> 464 Taffy Brodesser-Akner 0593133498 Rita 5 3.72 2024
author: Taffy Brodesser-Akner
name: Rita
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves:
review:
These characters were all horrible in positively delightful ways. The writing was on point and the audio book reader sounded equally excited and surprised inappropriately. Ah, rich people.
]]> 42178610 A thrilling Victorian gothic horror tale about a young seamstress who claims her needle and thread have the power to kill

Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy, and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor, and awaiting trial for murder.

When Dorothea's charitable work brings her to Oakgate Prison, she is delighted by the chance to explore her fascination with phrenology and test her hypothesis that the shape of a person's skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes. But when she meets one of the prisoners, the teenaged seamstress Ruth, she is faced with another strange idea: that it is possible to kill with a needle and thread--because Ruth attributes her crimes to a supernatural power inherent in her stitches.

The story Ruth has to tell of her deadly creations--of bitterness and betrayal, of death and dresses--will shake Dorothea's belief in rationality, and the power of redemption. Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer? The Poison Thread is a spine-tingling, sinister read about the evil that lurks behind the facade of innocence.]]> 351 Laura Purcell 0143134051 Rita 5 4.09 2018
author: Laura Purcell
name: Rita
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves:
review:
Fascinating! Great characters, totally unexpected twist ending.
]]> 12844430
Narrated by the author.]]> 9 Jenny Lawson 1611760852 Rita 5 3.95 2012
author: Jenny Lawson
name: Rita
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2012/04/23
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 16131077 The girl who wouldn't die hunts the killer who shouldn't exist.

"The future is not as loud as war, but it is relentless. It has a terrible fury all its own."

Harper Curtis is a killer who stepped out of the past. Kirby Mazrachi is the girl who was never meant to have a future.

Kirby is the last shining girl, one of the bright young women, burning with potential, whose lives Harper is destined to snuff out after he stumbles on a House in Depression-era Chicago that opens onto other times.

At the urging of the House, Harper inserts himself into the lives of the shining girls, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He's the ultimate hunter, vanishing into another time after each murder, untraceable¡ªuntil one of his victims survives.

Determined to bring her would-be killer to justice, Kirby joins the Chicago Sun-Times to work with the ex-homicide reporter Dan Velasquez, who covered her case. Soon Kirby finds herself closing in on the impossible truth. . . .

The Shining Girls is a masterful twist on the serial killer tale: a violent quantum leap featuring a memorable and appealing heroine in pursuit of a deadly criminal.]]> 368 Lauren Beukes 0316216852 Rita 4 3.53 2013
author: Lauren Beukes
name: Rita
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:
Was hard to follow at the beginning as all the characters and time jumped around, but at the end I was at the edge of my seat.
]]> 57988917 That was just the beginning.

When five strangers are abandoned on an island without any idea where they are or whom to trust, their nightmarish new reality begins to unfold.

Someone is lying.
Someone is hiding a terrible secret.
They¡¯d all do anything to get home¡­ Wouldn¡¯t they?

As the group struggles to uncover the truth about their mysterious whereabouts, only one thing is certain: every choice they make on the island will affect the others.

And when they uncover a strange note with a chilling revelation, the group begins to question everything they thought they knew. If they want to make it off the island alive, they¡¯ll have to discover who brought them there and why¡­before it¡¯s too late.]]> 265 Kiersten Modglin Rita 0 4.00 2021
author: Kiersten Modglin
name: Rita
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 55711617
That¡¯s not the only thing that¡¯s getting carved up, though ¨C this, Jade knows, is the start of a slasher. But what kind? Who¡¯s wearing the mask? Jade¡¯s got an encyclopedic recall of every horror movie on the shelf, but¡­ will that help her survive? Can she get a final girl trained enough to stop all this from happening? Does she even want to?

Isn¡¯t a slasher exactly what her hometown deserves?

This new novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones, called ¡°one of our most talented living writers¡± by Tommy Orange, explores the changing landscape of the West through his distinct voice of sharp humor and prophetic violence.

Go up the mountain to Proofrock. See if you¡¯ve got what it takes ¨C see if your heart, too, might be a chainsaw.]]> 405 Stephen Graham Jones 1982137630 Rita 4 3.52 2021
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: Rita
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:
Really good writing and likable if utterly bizarre characters.
]]> 56268810 Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg¨C¨Ctaking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career¨C¨Cand, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can't stay buried forever.

Moving between the trio's adolescent years and the present day, The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside¨C¨Call culminating in a twist you won't see coming, with magnetic characters you won't soon forget.]]> 304 Rachel Kapelke-Dale 1250274230 Rita 3 The dancing part was good. 3.41 2021
author: Rachel Kapelke-Dale
name: Rita
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:
The dancing part was good.
]]> 56484743 It¡¯s what she prides herself on.

So, when she realizes her marriage is at its breaking point, she makes a decision to repair it, no matter the cost. Approaching her husband to propose the arrangement is supposed to be the hard part, but Peter agrees to the salacious plan almost immediately.

The rules are simple:
They will each date someone new once a week.
They will never discuss what happens on the dates.

Soon, though, the rules are broken, turning terrible mistakes into unspeakable consequences.

When the only person they can count on to keep their darkest secret is each other, new questions and deceits surface. Can they truly trust the person they share a life with, or will the vicious lies that have mounted over the years destroy everything they¡¯ve built?

Once, Peter and Ainsley vowed to stand together forever, but as they push boundaries of deception, suspicion, and temptation, each begins to wonder if ¡¯til death do us part may come sooner than they¡¯d intended.]]> 228 Kiersten Modglin Rita 0 to-read 4.09 2021
author: Kiersten Modglin
name: Rita
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 123430981 From the critically acclaimed author of Black Widows comes a thriller set in a remote rehab clinic on the Pacific Northwest coast, in which the death of a woman inside prompts her sister to enter the clinic as a patient in order to find the truth. Perfect for fans of Stacy Willingham and Tarryn Fisher!

Meg works for a casino in LA, catching cheaters and popping a few too many pain pills to cope, following a far different path than her sister Haley, a famous actress. But suddenly reports surface of Haley dying at the remote rehab facility where she had been forced to go to get her addictions under control.

There are whispers of suicide, but Meg can't believe it. She decides that the best way to find out what happened to her sister is to check in herself ¨C to investigate what really happened from the inside.

Battling her own addictions and figuring out the truth will be much more difficult than she imagined, far away from friends, family ¨C and anyone who could help her.]]> 448 Cate Quinn 1728293987 Rita 4 3.50 2024
author: Cate Quinn
name: Rita
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
shelves:
review:
Good twist. All the characters are unlikable, but jn an entertaining way.
]]> 52210985 The Shining, it might look like this deliciously unsettling horror novel from the acclaimed author of Baby Teeth.

A mother must protect her family from the unnatural forces threatening their new and improved life in a rural farmhouse.

The Bennett family - artist parents and two precocious children - are leaving their familiar urban surroundings for a new home in far upstate New York. They're an hour from the nearest city, a mile from the nearest house, and everyone has their own room for the very first time. Shaw, the father, even gets his own painting studio, now that he and his wife Orla, a retired dancer, have agreed that it's his turn to pursue his passion.

But none of the Bennetts expect what lies waiting in the lovely woods, where secrets run dark and deep. Orla must finally find a way to communicate with - not just resist - this unknown entity that is coming to her family, calling to them from the land, in the earth, beneath the trees... and in their minds.]]> 354 Zoje Stage 031645849X Rita 4 3.08 2020
author: Zoje Stage
name: Rita
average rating: 3.08
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:
So many nightmares for a mother all in one cottage!
]]> 29939268
Jeremy works at the counter of Video Hut in Nevada, Iowa. It¡¯s a small town¡ªthe first ¡°a¡± in the name is pronounced ay¡ªsmack in the center of the state. This is the late 1990s, pre-DVD, and the Hollywood Video in Ames poses an existential threat to Video Hut. But there are regular customers, a predictable rush in the late afternoon. It¡¯s good enough for Jeremy: It¡¯s a job; it¡¯s quiet and regular; he gets to watch movies; he likes the owner, Sarah Jane; it gets him out of the house, where he and his dad try to avoid missing Mom, who died six years ago in a car wreck.

But when Stephanie Parsons, a local schoolteacher, comes in to return her copy of Targets, starring Boris Karloff¡ªan old movie, one Jeremy himself had ordered for the store¡ªshe has an odd complaint: ¡°There¡¯s something on it,¡± she says, but doesn¡¯t elaborate. Two days later, Lindsey Redinius brings back She¡¯s All That, a new release, and complains that there¡¯s something wrong with it: ¡°There¡¯s another movie on this tape.¡±

So Jeremy takes a look. And indeed, in the middle of the movie the screen blinks dark for a moment and She¡¯s All That is replaced by a black-and-white scene, shot in a barn, with only the faint sounds of someone breathing. Four minutes later, She¡¯s All That is back. But there is something profoundly disturbing about that scene; Jeremy¡¯s compelled to watch it three or four times. The scenes recorded onto Targets are similar, undoubtedly created by the same hand. Creepy. And the barn looks a lot like a barn just outside of town.

Jeremy doesn¡¯t want to be curious. In truth, it freaks him out, deeply. This has gone far enough, maybe too far already. But Stephanie is pushing, and once Sarah Jane takes a look and becomes obsessed, there¡¯s no more ignoring the disturbing scenes on the videos. And all of a sudden, what had once been the placid, regular old Iowa fields and farmhouses now feels haunted and threatening, imbued with loss and instability and profound foreboding. For Jeremy, and all those around him, life will never be the same . . .]]> 214 John Darnielle 0374282102 Rita 4 3.18 2017
author: John Darnielle
name: Rita
average rating: 3.18
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves:
review:
I'm still not sure I understand it, but I like it a lot. Gorgeous sentences and a strong grip on what it means to be a native Iowan.
]]> 29430791
But shortly after they arrive, things begin to turn ominous. There are stirrings in the woods and over the treetops¡ªand, above all else, the brooding shape of a monolith known as the Black Rock casts its terrible pall.

Paranoia and distrust soon grip the settlement. Escape routes are gradually cut off as events spiral toward madness. Hell¡ªor the closest thing to it¡ªinvades Little Heaven. All present here are now forced to take a stand and fight back, but whatever has set its dark eye on Little Heaven is marshaling its powers¡ªand it wants them all...]]> 486 Nick Cutter 1501104217 Rita 3 3.80 2017
author: Nick Cutter
name: Rita
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves:
review:
Reminded me a little if Dr. Sleep.
]]> 35410511
She¡¯s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He¡¯s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she¡¯ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good.

Meet Suzette.

She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna¡¯s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette's husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there¡¯s something seriously wrong, and that maybe home isn¡¯t the best place for their baby girl after all.]]> 304 Zoje Stage 1250170753 Rita 3 That was not an ending. 3.56 2018
author: Zoje Stage
name: Rita
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/16
date added: 2024/10/16
shelves:
review:
That was not an ending.
]]> 49011 126 Angela Carter 014017821X Rita 5 3.96 1979
author: Angela Carter
name: Rita
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/13
date added: 2024/10/13
shelves:
review:
Beautiful sentences. Made me think of it days later.
]]> 44492287 Book five in Frank Herbert's magnificent Dune Chronicles--one of the most significant sagas in the history of literary science fiction.

Leto Atreides, the God Emperor of Dune, is dead. In the fifteen hundred years since his passing, the Empire has fallen into ruin. The great Scattering saw millions abandon the crumbling civilization and spread out beyond the reaches of known space. The planet Arrakis-now called Rakis-has reverted to its desert climate, and its great sandworms are dying.

Now, the Lost Ones are returning home in pursuit of power. And as factions vie for control over the remnants of the Empire, a girl named Sheeana rises to prominence in the wastelands of Rakis, sending religious fervor throughout the galaxy. For she possesses the abilities of the Fremen sandriders-fulfilling a prophecy foretold by the late God Emperor...

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 669 Frank Herbert 0593098269 Rita 3 3.84 1984
author: Frank Herbert
name: Rita
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1984
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 44439416
The desert planet Arrakis, called Dune, has been destroyed. The remnants of the Old Empire have been consumed by the violent matriarchal cult known as the Honored Matres. Only one faction remains a viable threat to their total conquest--the Bene Gesserit, heirs to Dune's power.

Under the leadership of Mother Superior Darwi Odrade, the Bene Gesserit have colonized a green world on the planet Chapterhouse and are turning it into a desert, mile by scorched mile. And once they've mastered breeding sandworms, the Sisterhood will control the production of the greatest commodity in the known galaxy--the spice melange. But their true weapon remains a man who has lived countless lifetimes--a man who served under the God Emperor Paul Muad'Dib....]]> 609 Frank Herbert 0593098277 Rita 3 3.83 1985
author: Frank Herbert
name: Rita
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1985
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:
Read all six books of Dune. It all comes down to religion in the end.
]]> 59947696
It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the window, she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger.

She doesn¡¯t know who the victim is, or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life, and Todd¡¯s, have been shattered.

After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up¡­ it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet¡ªand there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning, when Jen wakes, she is further back in the past, first weeks, then years, before the murder. And Jen realizes that somewhere in the past lies the trigger for Todd¡¯s terrible crime¡­and it is her mission to find it, and prevent it from taking place.]]> 416 Gillian McAllister 0063252341 Rita 4 3.95 2022
author: Gillian McAllister
name: Rita
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves:
review:
Good pacing and an interesting concept
]]> 20454562 312 Rita Arens 0985656271 Rita 0 3.83 2013
author: Rita Arens
name: Rita
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 11719567
"A wholly believable world shaped by duty, small pleasures, and fateful choices."¡ª O, The Oprah Magazine

Forced by illness to leave behind a successful life in New York, literary icon Flannery O'Connor has returned to her family farm in the small town of Milledgeville, Georgia. With her health and time both limited, all she wants is to be left alone to write.

But Flannery's plans are soon upended by Melvin Whiteson, a banker from Manhattan who has recently married the town belle. Melvin is at loose ends with his new life; though he has every opportunity, he's not sure where to begin. Flannery knows exactly what she wants, but is running out of time. Through their unusual and clandestine friendship, both will come to reflect on the decisions they have made and the paths they have chosen.

Literary history and fiction gracefully intersect in this emotionally charged novel of small town Southern life, which asks us all to consider how we can live our lives to the fullest.]]> 335 Ann Napolitano 1101516925 Rita 4 4.24 2011
author: Ann Napolitano
name: Rita
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 199798953 Harkening to Agatha Christie¡¯s classic And Then There Were None, this high-tension and ingenious thriller follows five couples trapped on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them.

Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she¡¯s pretty sure they won¡¯t extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren¡¯t going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, The Perfect Couple, she decides to try out with him. A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla find herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples¡ªBayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana¡ªin order to win a cash prize.

But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real¡ªand the stakes are life or death.

A fast-paced, spellbinding thriller rife with intrigue and characters that feel so true to life, this novel proves yet again that Ruth Ware is the queen of psychological suspense.]]> 385 Ruth Ware 1668025590 Rita 4 3.60 2024
author: Ruth Ware
name: Rita
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves:
review:
Great plot and character development
]]> 12712435 302 Maggie Shipstead 0307599469 Rita 4 Here for Livia. 3.03 2012
author: Maggie Shipstead
name: Rita
average rating: 3.03
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/09
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:
Here for Livia.
]]> 63068853 A Wall Street Journal Bestseller

Pulitzer Prize???¨Cwinning and New York Times bestselling financial journalist Gretchen Morgenson and financial policy analyst Joshua Rosner investigate the insidious world of private equity in this ¡°masterpiece of investigative journalism¡± (Christopher Leonard, bestselling author of Kochland)¡ªrevealing how it puts our entire economy and us at risk.

Much has been written about the widening gulf between rich and poor and how our style of capitalism has failed to provide a living wage for so many Americans. But nothing has fully detailed the outsized role a small cohort of elite financiers has played in this inequality. Pulitzer Prize?¨Cwinning journalist and bestselling author Gretchen Morgenson, with coauthor Joshua Rosner, unmask the small group of celebrated Wall Street financiers, and their government enablers, who use excessive debt and dubious practices to undermine our nation¡¯s economy for their own private equity.

These Are the Plunderers traces the thirty-year history of corporate takeovers in America and private equity¡¯s increasing dominance. Morgenson and Rosner investigate some of the biggest names in private equity, exposing how they buy companies, load them with debt, and then bleed them of assets and profits. All while prosecutors and regulators stand idly by.

The authors show how companies absorbed by private equity have worse outcomes for everyone but the employees are more likely to lose their jobs or their benefits; companies are more likely to go bankrupt; patients are more likely to have higher healthcare costs; residents of nursing homes are more likely to die faster; towns struggle when private equity buys their main businesses, crippling the local economy; and school teachers, firefighters, medical technicians, and other public workers are more likely to have lower returns on their pensions because of the fees private equity extracts from their investments. In other we are all worse off because of private equity.

These Are the Plunderers is a ¡°meticulous and devastating takedown of a powerful force in Western capitalism¡± (Brad Stone, bestselling author of Amazon Unbound) that exposes the greed and pillaging in private equity, revealing the many ways these billionaires have bled the economy, and, in turn, us.]]> 391 Gretchen Morgenson 1982191309 Rita 3 Good content but dry 3.66
author: Gretchen Morgenson
name: Rita
average rating: 3.66
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves:
review:
Good content but dry
]]> 11299 147 Haruki Murakami Rita 4 3.81 2000
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Rita
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/20
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves:
review:
I love a short story writer who compares short stories to a slide rule. And owns the form.
]]> 58988174 From New York Times best-selling author Maggie Shipstead, an irresistible collection of short stories--her first--that showcases her sparkling humor, irrepressible intelligence, and glorious affinity for the short form.

In this collection of dazzling stories, Maggie Shipstead's prowess in short fiction is on full display for the first time. Diving into eclectic and vivid settings, from an Olympic village to a deathbed in Paris to a Pacific atoll, and illuminating a cast of indelible characters, Shipstead traverses ordinary and unusual realities with cunning, compassion, and wit.

In "Acknowledgments," a male novelist reminisces bitterly on the woman who inspired his first novel, attempting to make peace with his humiliations before the book goes to print. In "The Cowboy Tango," spanning decades in the open country of Montana, a triangle of love and self-preservation plays out among an aging rancher called the Otter, his nephew, and a young woman named Sammy who works the horses. In "La Moretta," a couple's honeymoon in the hills of Romania builds ominously into a moment of shattering tragedy. In the title story, a former child actress breaks with her life in a religious cult, narrating with mesmerizing candor a story of vulnerability, loss, and the surrealism of fame. You Have a Friend in 10A is sophisticated, gripping, and hilarious, with knockout after knockout: a collection to seal Shipstead's reputation as a versatile master of fiction.]]> 272 Maggie Shipstead 0525656995 Rita 5 3.40 2022
author: Maggie Shipstead
name: Rita
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves:
review:
I cannot stop thinking about these stories.
]]> 11093132 320 Jacob Grimm Rita 0 to-read 4.14 1812
author: Jacob Grimm
name: Rita
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1812
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 44439415
Millennia have passed on Arrakis, and the once-desert planet is green with life. Leto Atreides, the son of the world's savior, the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, is still alive but far from human. To preserve humanity's future, he sacrificed his own by merging with a sandworm, granting him near immortality as God Emperor of Dune for the past thirty-five hundred years.

Leto's rule is not a benevolent one. His transformation has made not only his appearance but his morality inhuman. A rebellion, led by Siona, a member of the Atreides family, has risen to oppose the despot's rule. But Siona is unaware that Leto's vision of a Golden Path for humanity requires her to fulfill a destiny she never wanted--or could possibly conceive....

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 587 Frank Herbert 0593098250 Rita 3 That was weird. What's next? 3.91 1981
author: Frank Herbert
name: Rita
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/28
date added: 2024/07/28
shelves:
review:
That was weird. What's next?
]]> 44492286
The Children of Dune are twin siblings Leto and Ghanima Atreides, whose father, the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, disappeared in the desert wastelands of Arrakis nine years ago. Like their father, the twins possess supernormal abilities--making them valuable to their manipulative aunt Alia, who rules the Empire in the name of House Atreides.

Facing treason and rebellion on two fronts, Alia's rule is not absolute. The displaced House Corrino is plotting to regain the throne while the fanatical Fremen are being provoked into open revolt by the enigmatic figure known only as The Preacher. Alia believes that by obtaining the secrets of the twins' prophetic visions, she can maintain control over her dynasty.

But Leto and Ghanima have their own plans for their visions--and their destinies....

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 609 Frank Herbert 0593098242 Rita 4 3.96 1976
author: Frank Herbert
name: Rita
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/24
shelves:
review:
Getting more interesting again. Forging on to book four.
]]> 61251242 Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend's sudden, mysterious death, and has since spent her life trying to forget, sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed....

Maya was a high school senior when her best friend, Aubrey, mysteriously dropped dead in front of the enigmatic man named Frank whom they'd been spending time with all summer.

Seven years later, Maya lives in Boston with a loving boyfriend and is kicking the secret addiction that has allowed her to cope with what happened years ago, the gaps in her memories, and the lost time that she can't account for. But her past comes rushing back when she comes across a recent YouTube video in which a young woman suddenly keels over and dies in a diner while sitting across from none other than Frank. Plunged into the trauma that has defined her life, Maya heads to her Berkshires hometown to relive that fateful summer--the influence Frank once had on her and the obsessive jealousy that nearly destroyed her friendship with Aubrey.

At her mother's house, she excavates fragments of her past and notices hidden messages in her deceased Guatemalan father's book that didn't stand out to her earlier. To save herself, she must understand a story written before she was born, but time keeps running out, and soon, all roads are leading back to Frank's cabin....

Utterly unique and captivating, The House in the Pines keeps you guessing about whether we can ever fully confront the past and return home.]]> 321 Ana Reyes 0593186710 Rita 3 3.05 2023
author: Ana Reyes
name: Rita
average rating: 3.05
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/24
shelves:
review:
Couldn't wrap my head around the weapon.
]]> 201242757 From legendary storyteller and master of short fiction Stephen King comes an extraordinary new collection of twelve short stories, many never-before-published, and some of his best EVER.

¡°You like it darker? Fine, so do I,¡± writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life¡ªboth metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck, and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. King writes to feel ¡°the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind,¡± and in You Like It Darker, readers will feel that exhilaration too, again and again.

¡°Two Talented Bastids¡± explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills. In ¡°Danny Coughlin¡¯s Bad Dream,¡± a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny¡¯s most catastrophically. In ¡°Rattlesnakes,¡± a sequel to Cujo, a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance¡ªwith major strings attached. In ¡°The Dreamers,¡± a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored. ¡°The Answer Man¡± asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.

King¡¯s ability to surprise, amaze, and bring us both terror and solace remains unsurpassed. Each of these stories holds its own thrills, joys, and mysteries; each feels iconic. You like it darker? You got it.]]> 512 Stephen King 1668037718 Rita 4 4.16 2024
author: Stephen King
name: Rita
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/19
shelves:
review:
Favorites "Two Talented Bastids," "Rattlesnakes," and "The Answer Man." TE story - would've loved a deeper dive, because it's an awesome concept.
]]> 61424779 Wish you were here?
Think again . . .

Maggie, Liz, Helena & Joni. Old friends bound by history, adventures, old secrets.

And now, bound by murder.

They lace up their hiking boots for the adventure of a lifetime in the Norwegian wilderness: a place of towering mountains, glass-like lakes, log cabins and forests stolen from a fairytale.

It¡¯s the perfect place to lose yourself ¨C until a broken body is found at the bottom of a ravine.

Somewhere out there, someone knows exactly why a woman has died. And in this deep, dark wilderness, there¡¯s a killer on the trail . . .]]> 384 Lucy Clarke 0008462429 Rita 3 3.66 2023
author: Lucy Clarke
name: Rita
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves:
review:
Some of the flashback sequences were distracting. Just didn't like as much as her others. Still a solidly paced book.
]]> 59838811 You are the next step in human evolution.

At first, Logan Ramsay isn¡¯t sure if anything¡¯s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep.

But before long, he can¡¯t deny it: Something¡¯s happening to his brain. To his body. He¡¯s starting to see the world, and those around him¡ªeven those he loves most¡ªin whole new ways.

The truth is, Logan¡¯s genome has been hacked. And there¡¯s a reason he¡¯s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.

Worse still, what¡¯s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large¡ªat a terrifying cost.

Because of his new abilities, Logan¡¯s the one person in the world capable of stopping what¡¯s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he¡¯ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.

And even as he¡¯s fighting, he can¡¯t help wondering: what if humanity¡¯s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?

Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man¡¯s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity¡ªand our boundless potential.]]> 352 Blake Crouch 0593157532 Rita 0 to-read 3.77 2022
author: Blake Crouch
name: Rita
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60666845 Two couples, two close friends, one missing husband¡­

Jake Hayes is missing. This much is certain. At first, his wife, Nina, thinks he is blowing off steam at a friend¡¯s house after their heated fight the night before. But then a day goes by. Two days. Five. And Jake is still nowhere to be found.

Lily Scott, Nina¡¯s friend and coworker, thinks she may have been the last to see Jake before he went missing. After Lily confesses everything to her husband, Christian, the two decide that nobody can find out what happened leading up to Jake¡¯s disappearance, especially not Nina. But Nina is out there looking for her husband, and she won¡¯t stop until the truth is discovered.]]> 320 Mary Kubica 0778333116 Rita 2 3.51 2023
author: Mary Kubica
name: Rita
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/31
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves:
review:
I couldn't like any of the characters and found the descriptions of every little action drug the pacing.
]]> 58733693 Remarkably Bright Creatures, an exploration of friendship, reckoning, and hope, tracing a widow's unlikely connection with a giant Pacific octopus.

After Tova Sullivan's husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she's been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago.

Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn't dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors--until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova's son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it's too late.

Shelby Van Pelt's debut novel is a gentle reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.]]> 368 Shelby Van Pelt 0063204150 Rita 5 4.35 2022
author: Shelby Van Pelt
name: Rita
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/31
date added: 2024/05/31
shelves:
review:
Ripped through this in two days in the beach. Cried. So good - fantastic debut!
]]> 20527133 Superintelligence asks the questions: what happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life.

The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful¡ªpossibly beyond our control. As the fate of the gorillas now depends more on humans than on the species itself, so would the fate of humankind depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence.

But we have one advantage: we get to make the first move. Will it be possible to construct a seed Artificial Intelligence, to engineer initial conditions so as to make an intelligence explosion survivable? How could one achieve a controlled detonation?]]> 352 Nick Bostrom 0199678111 Rita 0 to-read 3.86 2014
author: Nick Bostrom
name: Rita
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 44492285
Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known--and feared--as the man christened Muad'Dib. As Emperor of the Known Universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremens, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne--and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence.

And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family's dynasty...

Includes an introduction by Brian Herbert]]> 336 Frank Herbert 0593098234 Rita 2 What happened? 3.89 1969
author: Frank Herbert
name: Rita
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1969
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/13
date added: 2024/05/13
shelves:
review:
What happened?
]]> 16131 812 Ron Chernow 0802138292 Rita 4 3.93 1990
author: Ron Chernow
name: Rita
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/08
date added: 2024/05/08
shelves:
review:
This book is a beast. It's the WAR AND PEACE of American banking, following the Morgans and their banks through more than a century and a half and four generations. It really helped me understand the various aspects of financing as well as being entertaining.
]]> 36025434 The culmination of New York Times bestselling author and respected psychologist Rick Hanson's work, this is a scientifically grounded program for developing the 12 inner strengths for being resilient no matter what life throws at you.

Rick Hanson is known for his trademark blend of neuroscience, positive psychology, and contemplative practices. And now he's showing the way to build the very foundation of well-being: Resilience. Today, people feel rattled by political and economic forces, and realize that they need to be able to rely on their own inner guidance systems in order to stay happy and calm. Not simply about weathering negative experiences, Resilient's groundbreaking program shows you how to harness the power of positive experiences in order to build an unshakeable core.

In this succinct guide to lasting happiness, Dr. Hanson has distilled 40 years of clinical work and teaching into the tools that actually work. Each of these 12 tools grows a key inner strength for resilience, allowing you to enter a positive cycle in which resilience creates a sense of well-being, which creates even more resilience, and so on. Developed from his incredibly popular online course called The Foundations of Well-Being, this essential book offers everything you need to shore up these powerful inner strengths. In his inimitable friendly, warm, straightforward tone, Dr. Hanson shares stories, support, and simple thoughts and actions that lead to deeply rooted change. Here is the groundwork that will allow you to meet life with a whole heart.]]> 304 Rick Hanson 0451498844 Rita 4 3.77 2018
author: Rick Hanson
name: Rita
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/29
date added: 2024/04/29
shelves:
review:
Goes along with what I learned in therapy!
]]> 44767458
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul¡¯s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad¡¯Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind¡¯s most ancient and unattainable dream.]]> 658 Frank Herbert 059309932X Rita 3 4.33 1965
author: Frank Herbert
name: Rita
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1965
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
review:
A for world-building. C for character development. C for writing. A for ability to get multiple film recreations. Will forge on out of curiosity since this is a wildly popular series.
]]> 13720564 448 David Kantor 0470903430 Rita 4 3.96 2012
author: David Kantor
name: Rita
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/01
shelves:
review:
This is not a normal book. It's a textbook. I studied it like college.
]]> 59893737 A chilling horror anthology of 18 stories about the terrifying fears of isolation, from the modern masters of horror.

Featuring Tim Lebbon, Paul Tremblay, Joe R. Lansdale, M.R. Carey, Ken Liu and many more.

Lost in the wilderness, or shunned from society, it remains one of our deepest held fears. This horror anthology calls on leading horror writers to confront the dark moments, the challenges that we must face alone: hikers lost in the woods; astronauts adrift in the silence of deep space; the quiet voice trapped in a crowd; the prisoner, with no hope of escape. Experience the chilling terrors of Isolation.

Featuring Paul Tremblay, Joe R. Lansdale, Ken Liu, M.R. Carey, Jonathan Maberry, Tim Lebbon, Lisa Tuttle, Michael Marshall Smith, Ramsey Campbell,
Nina Allan, Laird Barron, Angela Slatter, John Langan, Mark Morris, Alison Littlewood, Brian Evenson, Lynda Rucker and Chikodili Emelumadu.]]> 400 M.R. Carey 1803360682 Rita 4 3.38 2022
author: M.R. Carey
name: Rita
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/01
shelves:
review:
Three of these stories have stayed with me for weeks.
]]> 13054604 This is an alternate cover edition of ASIN B005PRJT9Q.*

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and forever, and they discover how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill.]]> 578 Donna Tartt Rita 2 3.99 1992
author: Donna Tartt
name: Rita
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1992
rating: 2
read at: 2023/12/26
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves:
review:
They created their own insurmountable problems; they were careless people. Favorite phrase: "to make it seem something more, in short, than my own fatal tendency to try to make interesting people good."
]]> 36679186 In this game, even winning can be deadly...

Amy Whey is proud of her ordinary life and the simple pleasures that come with it¡ªteaching diving lessons, baking cookies for new neighbors, helping her best friend, Charlotte, run their local book club. Her greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son. And, of course, the steadfast and supportive Charlotte. But Amy¡¯s sweet, uncomplicated life begins to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Roux arrives on her doorstep one book club night.

Sultry and magnetic, Roux beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it¡¯s naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way¡ªa she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.

When they¡¯re alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn¡¯t give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she¡¯s going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another.

To protect herself and her family and save the life she¡¯s built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can¡¯t beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins.

A diabolically entertaining tale of betrayal, deception, temptation, and love filled with dark twists leavened by Joshilyn Jackson¡¯s trademark humor, Never Have I Ever explores what happens when the transgressions of our past come back with a vengeance.]]> 352 Joshilyn Jackson Rita 0 to-read 3.69 2019
author: Joshilyn Jackson
name: Rita
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61885043 All of us knew him. One of us killed him...

Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man's severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women ¡ª the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him ¡ª has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she did not. In order to protect each other, they must figure out who is responsible, all while staying one step ahead of the police.

Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman's secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer.

A dark and nuanced portrait of love, loyalty, and manipulation, Speak of the Devil explores the roles in which women are cast in the lives of terrible men...and the fallout when they refuse to stay silent for one moment longer.]]> 304 Rose Wilding 1250886937 Rita 0 to-read 3.50 2023
author: Rose Wilding
name: Rita
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 13623012
Full of intrigue and emotion, The Prisoner of Heaven is a majestic novel in which the threads of The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game converge under the spell of literature and bring us toward the enigma of the mystery hidden at the heart of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a collection of lost treasures known only to its few initiates and the very core of Carlos Ruiz Zaf¨®n's enchanting fictional world.]]> 278 Carlos Ruiz Zaf¨®n 0062206281 Rita 0 to-read 4.08 2011
author: Carlos Ruiz Zaf¨®n
name: Rita
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59575941
Their secret destination: Ouray, a small town in Colorado that would become one of the last outposts of civilization. Because the sleepwalking epidemic was only the first in a chain of events that led to the end of the world--and the birth of a new one.

The survivors, sleepwalkers and shepherds alike, have a dream of rebuilding human society. Among them are Benji, the scientist struggling through grief to lead the town; Marcy, the former police officer who wants only to look after the people she loves; and Shana, the teenage girl who became the first shepherd--and an unlikely hero whose courage will be needed again.

Because the people of Ouray are not the only survivors, and the world they are building is fragile. The forces of cruelty and brutality are amassing under the leadership of self-proclaimed president Ed Creel. And in the very heart of Ouray, the most powerful survivor of all is plotting its own vision for the new world: Black Swan, the A.I. who imagined the apocalypse.

Against these threats, Benji, Marcy, Shana, and the rest have only one hope: one another. Because the only way to survive the end of the world is together.]]> 816 Chuck Wendig 0593158776 Rita 5 4.17 2022
author: Chuck Wendig
name: Rita
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/25
date added: 2024/02/25
shelves:
review:
When the AI experiment gets really scary.
]]> 203663496 Gypsy-Rose Blanchard discovered that her whole life was a lie. After eight-and-a-half years of incarceration, she can finally tell you the truth¡ªwith this exclusive collection of interview transcripts and journal entries, plus her own illustrations and photos.

While incarcerated for her role in her mother¡¯s death, Gypsy saw her story told by others again and again in the media, from news reports and podcasts to TV series like The Act (Hulu). Now, granted early parole and preparing to start a new life, she¡¯s free to speak directly to her supporters and the world.

Falsely told that she suffered from debilitating, chronic illnesses, Gypsy grew up enduring physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her mother Dee Dee, including unnecessary medication and surgery. But her desperate attempts to escape a lifetime of isolation led Gypsy into the grip of another abuser, ultimately resulting in her mother¡¯s murder.

Released is Gypsy¡¯s frank, unflinching, and deeply personal reflection on her past, present, and hoped-for future, and includes:


? Exclusive interviews with Gypsy recorded during her time in prison
? Gypsy¡¯s contemplative writing on trust and betrayal, love and freedom, self-worth and identity, prison life, her marriage, and other personal issues
? Personal photos, drawings, and other memories from years past

Created with writers Melissa Moore and Michele Matrisciani, Released is a declaration of Gypsy¡¯s resolve to turn her pain into perseverance, take accountability for her actions, and help others escape the trap that circumscribed her life for so long.]]> 200 Gypsy-Rose Blanchard Rita 2 Rushed out 3.48 2024
author: Gypsy-Rose Blanchard
name: Rita
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/02/06
date added: 2024/02/06
shelves:
review:
Rushed out
]]> 3587176 Carrie out of the waste paper basket, King has written more than 50 books, selling 300 million copies worldwide. But who is the man behind those tales of horror, grief, and the supernatural? Where do these ideas come from? And what drives him to keep writing at a breakneck pace after a thirty year career?

His impoverished childhood in rural Maine hardly spelled out the likelihood of a blossoming literary career. At the age of four he saw a neighbouring boy get hit by a freight train. At 13, he was sent to his grandmother's room to wake her but instead found her cold, lifeless body. However, his local Bookmobile which visited every week allowed him to take out Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft and he ran through the classics of horror.

King's unflagging work ethic and a ceaseless flow of ideas put him on the path to success. It came in a flash, and the side effects of sudden stardom and seemingly unlimited wealth soon threatened to destroy his work and, worse, his life. But he survived and has since continued to write at a level of originality few authors could ever hope to match.

Here, for the first time, is the ultimate biography of this prolific and widely-loved writer. From King's childhood to becoming a successful writer, the author has interviewed friends, relatives and stars who know him. She follows the effects of abandonment by his father at an early age ('We were ashamed not to have a father'), and his mom giving him a nickel for every story he wrote.

Haunted Heart is the story of one of the greatest horror writers, and his trials both as a young boy and, now 61, an ageing citizen. It covers everything from his love of buying scratch cards to the real-life stories and events that have provided the backdrop to many of his novels. A treat for all fans.]]> 320 Lisa Rogak 0312377320 Rita 4 4.18 2009
author: Lisa Rogak
name: Rita
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/27
date added: 2024/01/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 10603
Uno de los grandes cl¨¢sicos de Stephen King, el gran maestro actual de la literatura de terror.]]> 432 Stephen King 0307348245 Rita 3 3.79 1981
author: Stephen King
name: Rita
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/22
date added: 2024/01/22
shelves:
review:
Don't know that I've ever read. All one long chapter and I wanted to see what that did for pacing.
]]> 58065033 390 Bonnie Garmus Rita 4 4.23 2022
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: Rita
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/12
date added: 2024/01/12
shelves:
review:
Children, set the table. Your mother needs a minute.
]]> 40605223 Now a Netflix original movie, this deeply scary and intensely unnerving novel follows a couple in the midst of a twisted unraveling of the darkest unease. You will be scared. But you won¡¯t know why¡­

I¡¯m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It¡¯s always there. Always.

Jake once said, ¡°Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can¡¯t fake a thought.¡±

And here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking: I don¡¯t want to be here.

In this smart and intense literary suspense novel, Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, I¡¯m Thinking of Ending Things pulls you in from the very first page¡­and never lets you go.]]> 241 Iain Reid Rita 0 3.53 2016
author: Iain Reid
name: Rita
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/08
shelves:
review:
Properly creepy. Didn¡¯t see the twist coming.
]]> 50358031
Amanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they've rented for the week. But with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken. Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and - with nowhere else to turn - they have come to the country in search of shelter.

But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple - and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilisation, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?]]> 241 Rumaan Alam 0062667637 Rita 5 3.13 2020
author: Rumaan Alam
name: Rita
average rating: 3.13
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/02
date added: 2024/01/02
shelves:
review:
The last sentence is everything.
]]> 95884
In Words That Work , Luntz offers a behind-the-scenes look at how the tactical use of words and phrases affects what we buy, who we vote for, and even what we believe in. With chapters like "The Ten Rules of Successful Communication" and "The 21 Words and Phrases for the 21st Century," he examines how choosing the right words is essential.

Nobody is in a better position to explain than Frank He has used his knowledge of words to help more than two dozen Fortune 500 companies grow. Hell tell us why Rupert Murdoch's six-billion-dollar decision to buy DirectTV was smart because satellite was more cutting edge than "digital cable," and why pharmaceutical companies transitioned their message from "treatment" to "prevention" and "wellness."

If you ever wanted to learn how to talk your way out of a traffic ticket or talk your way into a raise, this book's for you.]]> 350 Frank Luntz 1401302599 Rita 3 3.61 2006
author: Frank Luntz
name: Rita
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2023/12/10
date added: 2023/12/10
shelves:
review:
I found it difficult to find the right way to reference this book.
]]> 84525 America's most sought-after executive coach shows how to climb the last few rungs of the ladder The corporate world is filled with executives, men and women who have worked hard for years to reach the upper levels of management. They're intelligent, skilled, and even charismatic. But only a handful of them will ever reach the pinnacle--and as executive coach Marshall Goldsmith shows in this book, subtle nuances make all the difference. These are small "transactional flaws" performed by one person against another (as simple as not saying thank you enough), which lead to negative perceptions that can hold any executive back. Using Goldsmith's straightforward, jargon-free advice, it's amazingly easy behavior to change. Executives who hire Goldsmith for one-on-one coaching pay $250,000 for the privilege. With this book, his help is available for 1/10,000th of the price.]]> 256 Marshall Goldsmith 1781251568 Rita 4 3.94 2006
author: Marshall Goldsmith
name: Rita
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/04
date added: 2023/12/04
shelves:
review:
I would love to meet the people he coached.
]]> 62919765 Ruth Ware returns with this adrenaline-fueled thriller about a woman in a race against time to clear her name and find her husband¡¯s murderer.

Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect¡ªher.

Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer.]]> 356 Ruth Ware 1982155299 Rita 4 This would be a great movie. 3.59 2023
author: Ruth Ware
name: Rita
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/25
date added: 2023/11/25
shelves:
review:
This would be a great movie.
]]> 3450744 From the winner of the 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics, Richard H. Thaler, and Cass R. Sunstein: a revelatory look at how we make decisions

New York Times bestseller
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Economist and the Financial Times

Every day we make choices¡ªabout what to buy or eat, about financial investments or our children¡¯s health and education, even about the causes we champion or the planet itself. Unfortunately, we often choose poorly. Nudge is about how we make these choices and how we can make better ones. Using dozens of eye-opening examples and drawing on decades of behavioral science research, Nobel Prize winner Richard H. Thaler and Harvard Law School professor Cass R. Sunstein show that no choice is ever presented to us in a neutral way, and that we are all susceptible to biases that can lead us to make bad decisions. But by knowing how people think, we can use sensible ¡°choice architecture¡± to nudge people toward the best decisions for ourselves, our families, and our society, without restricting our freedom of choice.]]> 260 Richard H. Thaler 014311526X Rita 3 3.86 2008
author: Richard H. Thaler
name: Rita
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/19
date added: 2023/11/19
shelves:
review:
Great science reported very drily
]]> 18052969 Lean In and Why Women Should Rule the World, the authors of the bestselling Womenomics provide an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence¡ªand learning how to achieve it¡ªfor women of all ages and at all stages of their career.

Working women today are better educated and more well qualified than ever before. Yet men still predominate in the corporate world. In The Confidence Code, Claire Shipman and Katty Kay argue that the key reason is confidence.

Combining cutting-edge research in genetics, gender, behavior, and cognition¡ªwith examples from their own lives and those of other successful women in politics, media, and business¡ªKay and Shipman go beyond admonishing women to "lean in."Instead, they offer the inspiration and practical advice women need to close the gap and achieve the careers they want and deserve.?]]> 272 Katty Kay 0062230646 Rita 3 3.69 2014
author: Katty Kay
name: Rita
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/19
date added: 2023/11/19
shelves:
review:
Lot of research I've read before.
]]> 59891634 ?
In? SMART The Power of Saying More with Less , ? Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz teach readers how to say more with less in virtually any format. They also share communications lessons learned from their decades of experience in media, business and communications.
?]]> 224 Jim Vandehei 1523516976 Rita 5 3.91 2022
author: Jim Vandehei
name: Rita
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/09
date added: 2023/11/09
shelves:
review:
I am a writer and needed the reminder!
]]> 60784359
A year on, Kim Gillespie¡¯s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.

Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems.

Between Falk¡¯s closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he¡¯s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.

An outstanding novel, a brilliant mystery and a heart-pounding read from the author of The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man and The Survivors.]]> 356 Jane Harper 1250235359 Rita 0 to-read 3.96 2022
author: Jane Harper
name: Rita
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 18176747
In The Hard Thing About Hard Things, Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of Silicon Valley's most respected and experienced entrepreneurs, draws on his own story of founding, running, selling, buying, managing, and investing in technology companies to offer essential advice and practical wisdom for navigating the toughest problems business schools don't cover. His blog has garnered a devoted following of millions of readers who have come to rely on him to help them run their businesses. A lifelong rap fan, Horowitz amplifies business lessons with lyrics from his favorite songs and tells it straight about everything from firing friends to poaching competitors, from cultivating and sustaining a CEO mentality to knowing the right time to cash in.

His advice is grounded in anecdotes from his own hard-earned rise¡ªfrom cofounding the early cloud service provider Loudcloud to building the phenomenally successful Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm, both with fellow tech superstar Marc Andreessen (inventor of Mosaic, the Internet's first popular Web browser). This is no polished victory lap; he analyzes issues with no easy answers through his trials, including demoting (or firing) a loyal friend;
whether you should incorporate titles and promotions, and how to handle them;
if it's OK to hire people from your friend's company; how to manage your own psychology, while the whole company is relying on you; what to do when smart people are bad employees; why Andreessen Horowitz prefers founder CEOs, and how to become one; whether you should sell your company, and how to do it.

Filled with Horowitz's trademark humor and straight talk, and drawing from his personal and often humbling experiences, The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for veteran entrepreneurs as well as those aspiring to their own new ventures.]]> 304 Ben Horowitz 0062273205 Rita 4 4.20 2014
author: Ben Horowitz
name: Rita
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/23
date added: 2023/10/23
shelves:
review:
Lots of wisdom here. Glad I didn't work for him back in the day.
]]> 49583709
With her soft brown hair, lithe figure and big, wondering eyes, Constance Chatterley is possessed of a certain vitality. Yet she is deeply unhappy; married to an invalid, she is almost as inwardly paralyzed as her husband Clifford is paralyzed below the waist. It is not until she finds refuge in the arms of Mellors the game-keeper, a solitary man of a class apart, that she feels regenerated. Together they move from an outer world of chaos towards an inner world of fulfillment.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700?titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the?series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date?translations by award-winning translators.]]> 400 D.H. Lawrence 014303961X Rita 5 top-shelf 3.48 1928
author: D.H. Lawrence
name: Rita
average rating: 3.48
book published: 1928
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/10/18
shelves: top-shelf
review:

]]> 65916344 Holly Gibney, one of Stephen King¡¯s most compelling and ingeniously resourceful characters, returns in this thrilling novel to solve the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town.

¡°Sometimes the universe throws you a rope.¡± ¡ª BILL HODGES

Stephen King¡¯s Holly marks the triumphant return of beloved King character Holly Gibney. Readers have witnessed Holly¡¯s gradual transformation from a shy (but also brave and ethical) recluse in Mr. Mercedes to Bill Hodges¡¯s partner in Finders Keepers to a full-fledged, smart, and occasionally tough private detective in The Outsider. In King¡¯s new novel, Holly is on her own, and up against a pair of unimaginably depraved and brilliantly disguised adversaries.

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl¡¯s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down.

Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie¡¯s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless.

Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.]]> 449 Stephen King 1668016133 Rita 2 4.01 2023
author: Stephen King
name: Rita
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2023/10/11
date added: 2023/10/11
shelves:
review:
I guess I've never identified enough with Holly to have her carry a whole book.
]]> 61273863
Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn¡¯t dampen her excitement.

But when the attendees arrive, Roza drops a bombshell¡ªthey must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex buckles down and tries to ignore the strange happenings at the estate, including Roza¡¯s erratic behavior, Wren¡¯s cruel mind games, and the alleged haunting of the mansion itself. But when one of the writers vanishes during a snowstorm, Alex realizes that something very sinister is afoot. With the clock running out, she must discover the truth¡ªor suffer the same fate.]]> 313 Julia Bartz 1982199458 Rita 4 3.41 2023
author: Julia Bartz
name: Rita
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/11
date added: 2023/10/11
shelves:
review:
Seriously crazy plot and book within a book. In a weird way got me back to my own novel-in-progress.
]]> 61053829
But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent ?aws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn't as much of an outsider at Granby as she'd thought¡ªif, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.]]> 438 Rebecca Makkai 0593490142 Rita 3 3.57 2023
author: Rebecca Makkai
name: Rita
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/04
date added: 2023/10/04
shelves:
review:
It's the one where it ends exactly the way you hoped it wouldn't. That is the point, but I was still disappointed.
]]> 13129925
To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they¡¯ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

A traditional haunted house story in a thoroughly contemporary setting, Horrorst?r is designed to retain its luster and natural appearance for a lifetime of use. Pleasingly proportioned with generous French flaps and a softcover binding, Horrorst?r delivers the psychological terror you need in the elegant package you deserve.

Designed by Andie Reid, cover photography by Christine Ferrara.]]> 248 Grady Hendrix 1594745269 Rita 2 3.64 2014
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Rita
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2023/09/28
date added: 2023/09/28
shelves:
review:
Interesting concept but would've bombed without the format.
]]> 56783258 When everything is lost, it¡¯s our stories that survive.

How do we weather the end of things? Cloud Cuckoo Land brings together an unforgettable cast of dreamers and outsiders from past, present and future to offer a vision of survival against all odds.

Constantinople, 1453:
An orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy with a love for animals risk everything on opposite sides of a city wall to protect the people they love.

Idaho, 2020:
An impoverished, idealistic kid seeks revenge on a world that¡¯s crumbling around him. Can he go through with it when a gentle old man stands between him and his plans?

Unknown, Sometime in the Future:
With her tiny community in peril, Konstance is the last hope for the human race. To find a way forward, she must look to the oldest stories of all for guidance.

Bound together by a single ancient text, these tales interweave to form a tapestry of solace and resilience and a celebration of storytelling itself. Like its predecessor All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr¡¯s new novel is a tale of hope and of profound human connection.]]> 626 Anthony Doerr 1982168439 Rita 5 4.24 2021
author: Anthony Doerr
name: Rita
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/27
date added: 2023/09/27
shelves:
review:
The stories pull us through all of it.
]]> 138346840 A candid, intensely funny memoir of ambition, gender, and a grueling decade inside Amazon.com, from the author of Nothing Good Can Come from This.

¡°A unique and brilliant book.¡± ¡ªOliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks

What would you sacrifice for your career? All your free time? Your sense of self-worth? Your sanity?

In 2006, Kristi Coulter left her cozy but dull job for a promising new position at the fast-growing Amazon.com, but she never expected the soul-crushing pressure that would come with it.

In no time she found the challenge and excitement she¡¯d been craving¡ªalong with seven-day workweeks, lifeboat exercises, widespread burnout, and a culture driven largely by fear. But the chase, the visibility, and, let¡¯s face it, the stock options proved intoxicating, and so, for twelve years, she stayed¡ªuntil she no longer recognized the face in the mirror or the mission she¡¯d signed up for.

Unsparing, absurd, and wickedly funny, Exit Interview is a rare journey inside the crucible that is Amazon. It is an intimate, surprisingly relatable look at the work life of a driven woman in a world that loves the idea of female ambition but balks at the reality.]]> 385 Kristi Coulter 0374600910 Rita 4 4.30
author: Kristi Coulter
name: Rita
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/27
date added: 2023/09/27
shelves:
review:
I think I should find it terrifying how much I identified with the work side of her story. Well written with a healthy dose of humor and humanity.
]]> 68783
Kaysen's memoir encompasses horror and razor-edged perception while providing vivid portraits of her fellow patients and their keepers. It is a brilliant evocation of a "parallel universe" set within the kaleidoscopically shifting landscape of the late sixties. Girl, Interrupted is a clear-sighted, unflinching documnet that gives lasting and specific dimension to our definitions of sane and insane, mental illness and recovery.]]> 169 Susanna Kaysen 0679746048 Rita 5 3.95 1993
author: Susanna Kaysen
name: Rita
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/13
date added: 2023/09/13
shelves:
review:
I would've been committed in 1967 when I was 18.
]]> 60194162 "Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose."

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.]]> 560 Barbara Kingsolver 0063251922 Rita 5 4.46 2022
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Rita
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/09
date added: 2023/09/09
shelves:
review:
I need to read David Copperfield yo see how close it is. I was extremely invested in these characters and the writing was excellent..
]]> 49878332

Elena Fairchild is a teacher at one of the state's elite schools. When her nine-year-old daughter bombs a monthly test and her Q score drops to a disastrously low level, she is immediately forced to leave her top school for a federal institution hundreds of miles away. As a teacher, Elena thought she understood the tiered educational system, but as a mother whose child is now gone, Elena's perspective is changed forever. She just wants her daughter back.

And she will do the unthinkable to make it happen.]]> 321 Christina Dalcher 0440000831 Rita 3 3.72 2020
author: Christina Dalcher
name: Rita
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/28
date added: 2023/08/28
shelves:
review:
Fascinating premise - a little overplayed
]]> 60584005 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide¡­

Jess needs a fresh start. She¡¯s broke and alone, and she¡¯s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn¡¯t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn¡¯t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up ¨C to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? ¨C he¡¯s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother¡¯s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben¡¯s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it¡¯s starting to look like it¡¯s Ben¡¯s future that¡¯s in question.

The socialite ¨C The nice guy ¨C The alcoholic ¨C The girl on the verge ¨C The concierge

Everyone¡¯s a neighbor. Everyone¡¯s a suspect. And everyone knows something they¡¯re not telling.]]> 360 Lucy Foley Rita 3 I wanted to kill Mimi. 3.63 2022
author: Lucy Foley
name: Rita
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/23
date added: 2023/08/23
shelves:
review:
I wanted to kill Mimi.
]]>