t's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 12 Apr 2025 00:35:34 -0700 60 t's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg At the End of the River Styx 195862008
In Portland, Bastian is grieving. He survived a car accident that took his mother and impulse-purchased a crumbling bookstore with the life insurance money.

But in sleep, death’s mark keeps dragging Bastian into Zan’s office. It shouldn’t be a problem to log his soul and forget he ever existed. But when Zan follows Bastian through his memories of grief and hope, Zan realizes that he is not ready for Bastian to die.

The boys borrow time hiding in the memories of the dead while the Ferryman hunts them, and Zan must decide if he’s willing to give up his chance at life to save Bastian―and Bastian must decide if he’s willing to keep living if it means losing Zan.]]> 384 Michelle Kulwicki t 0 to-read, queer 3.90 2024 At the End of the River Styx
author: Michelle Kulwicki
name: t
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read, queer
review:

]]> Kaikeyi 57127277 “I was born on the full moon under an auspicious constellation, the holiest of positions—much good it did me.�

So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on tales about the might and benevolence of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the worthy. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to the marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear.

Desperate for independence, she turns to the texts she once read with her mother and discovers a magic that is hers alone. With it, Kaikeyi transforms herself from an overlooked princess into a warrior, diplomat, and most favored queen.

But as the evil from her childhood stories threatens the cosmic order, the path she has forged clashes with the destiny the gods have chosen for her family. And Kaikeyi must decide if resistance is worth the destruction it will wreak—and what legacy she intends to leave behind.

The unforgettable tale of a woman determined to leave her mark in a world gods and men dictate the shape of things to come. "Patel's mesmerizing debut shines a brilliant light on the vilified queen from the Ramayana"
(Publishers Weekly, starred review).]]> 478 Vaishnavi Patel 0759557330 t 0 4.18 2022 Kaikeyi
author: Vaishnavi Patel
name: t
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: high-fantasy, currently-reading
review:

]]> The Sword of Kaigen 41886271 A son struggling to grasp his violent future,
A father blind to the danger that threatens them all.

When the winds of war reach their peninsula, will the Matsuda family have the strength to defend their empire? Or will they tear each other apart before the true enemies even reach their shores?

High on a mountainside at the edge of the Kaigenese Empire live the most powerful warriors in the world, superhumans capable of raising the sea and wielding blades of ice. For hundreds of years, the fighters of the Kusanagi Peninsula have held the Empire’s enemies at bay, earning their frozen spit of land the name ‘The Sword of Kaigen.�

Born into Kusanagi’s legendary Matsuda family, fourteen-year-old Mamoru has always known his purpose: to master his family’s fighting techniques and defend his homeland. But when an outsider arrives and pulls back the curtain on Kaigen’s alleged age of peace, Mamoru realizes that he might not have much time to become the fighter he was bred to be. Worse, the empire he was bred to defend may stand on a foundation of lies.

Misaki told herself that she left the passions of her youth behind when she married into the Matsuda house. Determined to be a good housewife and mother, she hid away her sword, along with everything from her days as a fighter in a faraway country. But with her growing son asking questions about the outside world, the threat of an impending invasion looming across the sea, and her frigid husband grating on her nerves, Misaki finds the fighter in her clawing its way back to the surface.]]> 651 M.L. Wang t 0 4.46 2019 The Sword of Kaigen
author: M.L. Wang
name: t
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: high-fantasy, asian-fantasy, currently-reading
review:

]]> Caraval (Caraval, #1) 27883214 A legendary competition.
A mesmerizing romance.
An unbreakable bond
between two sisters.

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . beware of getting swept too far away.]]> 407 Stephanie Garber 1250095255 t 3 3.97 2016 Caraval (Caraval, #1)
author: Stephanie Garber
name: t
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Blood Over Bright Haven 208430658 Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.

An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.

Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?

A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

(Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)]]> 430 M.L. Wang 0593873351 t 0 to-read 4.41 2023 Blood Over Bright Haven
author: M.L. Wang
name: t
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)]]> 60784546 After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again�

All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands � that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper � an unlikely magical connection forms.

Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?

An epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.]]> 357 Rebecca Ross 1250857430 t 4 low-fantasy, romance, ya 4.14 2023 Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)
author: Rebecca Ross
name: t
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves: low-fantasy, romance, ya
review:

]]> Never Let Me Go 6334
Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.

Never Let Me Go breaks through the boundaries of the literary novel. It is a gripping mystery, a beautiful love story, and also a scathing critique of human arrogance and a moral examination of how we treat the vulnerable and different in our society. In exploring the themes of memory and the impact of the past, Ishiguro takes on the idea of a possible future to create his most moving and powerful book to date.]]> 288 Kazuo Ishiguro 1400078776 t 0 3.85 2005 Never Let Me Go
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: t
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read, sci-fi, books-to-educate
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (ReVisioning American History, #3)]]> 20588662 The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples

Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire.

With growing support for movements such as the campaign to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples� Day and the Dakota Access Pipeline protest led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, An Indigenous Peoples� History of the United States is an essential resource providing historical threads that are crucial for understanding the present. In An Indigenous Peoples� History of the United States, Dunbar-Ortiz adroitly challenges the founding myth of the United States and shows how policy against the Indigenous peoples was colonialist and designed to seize the territories of the original inhabitants, displacing or eliminating them. And as Dunbar-Ortiz reveals, this policy was praised in popular culture, through writers like James Fenimore Cooper and Walt Whitman, and in the highest offices of government and the military. Shockingly, as the genocidal policy reached its zenith under President Andrew Jackson, its ruthlessness was best articulated by US Army general Thomas S. Jesup, who, in 1836, wrote of the Seminoles: “The country can be rid of them only by exterminating them.�

Spanning more than four hundred years, this classic bottom-up peoples� history radically reframes US history and explodes the silences that have haunted our national narrative.

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States is a 2015 PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature.]]> 320 Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz 080700040X t 0 to-read, books-to-educate 4.38 2014 An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (ReVisioning American History, #3)
author: Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
name: t
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read, books-to-educate
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)]]> 52397
Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.

When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.]]> 345 Octavia E. Butler 0446675504 t 0 4.21 1993 Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: t
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read, books-for-change, books-to-educate
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)]]> 59463840
“Identity politics� is everywhere, polarizing discourse from the campaign trail to the classroom and amplifying antagonisms in the media, both online and off. But the compulsively referenced phrase bears little resemblance to the concept as first introduced by the radical Black feminist Combahee River Collective. While the Collective articulated a political viewpoint grounded in their own position as Black lesbians with the explicit aim of building solidarity across lines of difference, identity politics is now frequently weaponized as a means of closing ranks around ever-narrower conceptions of group interests.

But the trouble, Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò deftly argues, is not with identity politics itself. Through a substantive engagement with the global Black radical tradition and a critical understanding of racial capitalism, Táíwò identifies the process by which a radical concept can be stripped of its political substance and liberatory potential by becoming the victim of elite capture—deployed by political, social, and economic elites in the service of their own interests.

Táíwò’s crucial intervention both elucidates this complex process and helps us move beyond a binary of “class� vs. “race.� By rejecting elitist identity politics in favor of a constructive politics of radical solidarity, he advances the possibility of organizing across our differences in the urgent struggle for a better world.]]> 157 Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò 1642596884 t 0 to-read, books-to-educate 3.99 2022 Elite Capture: How the Powerful Took Over Identity Politics (And Everything Else)
author: Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò
name: t
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read, books-to-educate
review:

]]> <![CDATA[American Rule: How a Nation Conquered the World but Failed Its People]]> 51164936
Recent years have brought a reckoning in America. As rampant political corruption, stark inequality, and violent bigotry have come to the fore, many have faced two vital How did we get here? And how do we move forward?

An honest look at the past—and how it’s been covered up—is the only way to find the answers. Americans in power have abused and subjugated others since the nation’s very beginning, and myths of America’s unique goodness have both enabled that injustice and buried the truth for generations. In American Rule , Jared Yates Sexton blends deep research with stunning storytelling, digging into each era of growth and change that led us here—and laying bare the foundational myths at the heart of the American imagination.

Stirring, unequivocal, and impossible to put down, American Rule tells the truth about what this nation has always been—and challenges us to forge a new path.]]> 368 Jared Yates Sexton 1524745715 t 0 to-read, books-to-educate 4.29 2020 American Rule: How a Nation Conquered the World but Failed Its People
author: Jared Yates Sexton
name: t
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read, books-to-educate
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America]]> 207567756 An investigation into the rise of the Christian right over the last half-century that lays out the grim vision Evangelicals are enforcing on our democracy.

All across America, a storm is gathering: from book bans in school libraries to anti-trans laws in state legislatures; firebombings of abortion clinics and protests against gay rights. The Christian Right, a cunning political force in America for more than half a century, has never been more powerful than it is right now—it propelled Donald Trump to power, and it won’t stop until it’s refashioned America in its own image.

In Wild Faith, critically acclaimed author Talia Lavin goes deep into what motivates the Christian Right, from its segregationist past to a future riddled with apocalyptic ideology.

Using primary sources and firsthand accounts, Lavin introduces you to “deliverance ministers� who carry out exorcisms by the hundreds; modern-day, self-proclaimed prophets and apostles; Christian militias, cults, zealots, and showmen; and the people in power who are aiding them to achieve their goals.

Along the way, she explores anti-abortion terrorists, the Christian Patriarchy movement, with its desire to place all women under absolute male control; the twisted theology that leads to rampant child abuse; and the ways conspiracy theorists and extremist Christians influence each other to mutual political benefit.

From school boards to the Supreme Court, Christian theocracy is ascendant in America—and only through exploring its motivations and impacts can we understand the crisis we face. In Wild Faith, Lavin fearlessly confronts whether our democracy can survive an organized, fervent theocratic movement, one that seeks to impose its religious beliefs on American citizens.]]> 304 Talia Lavin 0306829193 t 0 to-read, books-to-educate 4.25 Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America
author: Talia Lavin
name: t
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read, books-to-educate
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization]]> 206120253 Liberal civilisation is in crisis—now is a time of monstersThe rise of the new far-right has left the world grappling with a profound misunderstanding. While the spotlight often shines on the actions of charismatic leaders like Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, and Rodrigo Duterte, the true peril lies elsewhere. They are but the political manifestations of a potent force - disaster nationalism. This mass cultural phenomenon, propelled through the vast networks of social media and fueled by far-right influencers, emerges from a reservoir of societal despair, fear, and isolation.At its core, disaster nationalism fixates on images of catastrophe - the 'Great Replacement,' Satanic 'cabals' - as explanations for its discontent. It yearns for an 'end of days,' a reckoning, a 'storm' as the QAnon faithful call it, to bring an end to its suffering. This yearning is only heightened by the relentless onslaught of real-world disasters, from economic recessions to global pandemics and ecological collapse.Within this seething cauldron, we witness not only the surge of far-right political movements but also the sparks of individual and collective violence against perceived enemies, from 'lone wolf' killers to terrifying pogroms. Should a new fascism emerge, it will coalesce from these very elements. This is disaster nationalism.In Disaster Nationalism, Richard Seymour delves deep into this alarming phenomenon, dissecting its roots, its influencers, and the threats it poses. With meticulous analysis and compelling storytelling, this book offers a stark warning and a call to action. The battle against disaster nationalism is not just political; it is a struggle for our collective soul and the future of civilization itself.]]> 288 Richard Seymour 180429425X t 0 to-read, books-to-educate 4.10 Disaster Nationalism: The Downfall of Liberal Civilization
author: Richard Seymour
name: t
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/08
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century]]> 33917107
On November 9th, millions of Americans woke up to the impossible: the election of Donald Trump as president. Against all predictions, one of the most-disliked presidential candidates in history had swept the electoral college, elevating a man with open contempt for democratic norms and institutions to the height of power.

Timothy Snyder is one of the most celebrated historians of the Holocaust. In his books Bloodlands and Black Earth, he has carefully dissected the events and values that enabled the rise of Hitler and Stalin and the execution of their catastrophic policies. With Twenty Lessons, Snyder draws from the darkest hours of the twentieth century to provide hope for the twenty-first. As he writes, “Americans are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism and communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.�

Twenty Lessons is a call to arms and a guide to resistance, with invaluable ideas for how we can preserve our freedoms in the uncertain years to come.]]> 127 Timothy Snyder 0804190119 t 0 to-read, books-to-educate 4.24 2017 On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century
author: Timothy Snyder
name: t
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read, books-to-educate
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Color of Magic (Discworld, #1; Rincewind, #1)]]> 34497 228 Terry Pratchett 0060855924 t 0 dnf 4.04 1983 The Color of Magic (Discworld, #1; Rincewind, #1)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: t
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mexicans in the Making of America]]> 21878091 368 Neil Foley 0674048482 t 0 currently-reading 4.08 2014 Mexicans in the Making of America
author: Neil Foley
name: t
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Favorites 211399784 To the world, they were a scandal. To each other, an obsession.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER � An epic love story set in the sparkling, savage sphere of elite figure skating, starring a woman determined to carve her own path on and off the ice

“P Wuthering Heights and part Daisy Jones & The Six, this novel is as brilliantly choreographed as a gold medal performance and will keep you guessing until its last page.”—Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of By Any Other Name

She might not have a famous name, funding, or her family’s support, but Katarina Shaw has always known that she was destined to become an Olympic skater. When she meets Heath Rocha, a lonely kid stuck in the foster care system, their instant connection makes them a formidable duo on the ice. Clinging to skating—and each other—to escape their turbulent lives, Kat and Heath go from childhood sweethearts to champion ice dancers, captivating the world with their scorching chemistry, rebellious style, and roller-coaster relationship.

Until a shocking incident at the Olympic Games brings their partnership to a sudden end.

As the ten-year anniversary of their final skate approaches, an unauthorized documentary reignites the public obsession with Shaw and Rocha, claiming to uncover the “real story� through interviews with their closest friends and fiercest rivals. Kat wants nothing to do with the documentary, but she can’t stand the thought of someone else defining her legacy. So, after a decade of silence, she’s telling her story: from the childhood tragedies that created her all-consuming bond with Heath to the clash of desires that tore them apart. Sensational rumors have haunted their every step for years, but the truth may be even more shocking than the headlines.]]> 448 Layne Fargo 0593732049 t 0 to-read, romance 4.19 2025 The Favorites
author: Layne Fargo
name: t
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: to-read, romance
review:

]]> Open Throat 62039259 A lonely, lovable, queer mountain lion narrates this star-making fever dream of a novel.

A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Lonely and fascinated by humanity’s foibles, the lion spends their days protecting the welfare of a nearby homeless encampment, observing obnoxious hikers complain about their trauma, and, in quiet moments, grappling with the complexities of their gender identity, memories of a vicious father, and the indignities of sentience. “I have so much language in my brain,� our lion says, “and nowhere to put it.�

When a man-made fire engulfs the encampment, the lion is forced from the hills down into the city the hikers call “ellay.� As the lion confronts a carousel of temptations and threats, they take us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles and the toll of climate grief, while scrambling to avoid earthquakes, floods, and the noise of their own conflicted psyche. But even when salvation finally seems within reach, they are forced to face down the ultimate question: Do they want to eat a person, or become one?

In elegiac prose woven with humor, imagination, sensuality, and tragedy, Henry Hoke’s Open Throat is a marvel of storytelling, a universal journey through a wondrous and menacing world told by a lovable mountain lion. Both feral and vulnerable, profound and playful, Open Throat is a star-making novel that brings mythmaking to real life.]]> 160 Henry Hoke 037460987X t 0 to-read 4.02 2023 Open Throat
author: Henry Hoke
name: t
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The God and the Gumiho (Fate's Thread, #1)]]> 198563688 416 Sophie Kim 0593599667 t 0 to-read, asian-fantasy 4.05 2024 The God and the Gumiho (Fate's Thread, #1)
author: Sophie Kim
name: t
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read, asian-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Breath of the Dragon (Breathmarked, #1)]]> 211003924 The first novel in a sweeping YA fantasy duology based on characters and teachings created by Bruce Lee!

Sixteen-year-old Jun dreams of proving his worth as a warrior in the elite Guardian’s Tournament, held every six years to entrust the magical Scroll of Earth to a new protector. Eager to prove his skills, Jun hopes that a win will restore his father’s honor—righting a horrible mistake that caused their banishment from his home, mother, and twin brother.

But Jun’s father strictly forbids him from participating. There is no future in honing his skills as a warrior, especially considering Jun is not breathmarked, born with a patch of dragon scales and blessed with special abilities like his twin. Determined to be the next Guardian, Jun stows away in the wagon of Chang and his daughter, Ren, performers on their way to the capital where the tournament will take place.

As Jun competes, he quickly realizes he may be fighting for not just a better life, but the fate of the country itself.]]> 341 Shannon Lee 1250902673 t 0 to-read 3.98 2025 Breath of the Dragon (Breathmarked, #1)
author: Shannon Lee
name: t
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Kiss Her Once for Me 60321485 The author of The Charm Offensive returns with a festive romantic comedy about a woman who fakes an engagement with her landlord…only to fall for his sister.

One year ago, recent Portland transplant Ellie Oliver had her dream job in animation and a Christmas Eve meet-cute with a woman at a bookstore that led her to fall in love over the course of a single night. But after a betrayal the next morning and the loss of her job soon after, she finds herself adrift, alone, and desperate for money.

Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes a shocking, drunken plan: a marriage of convenience that will give him his recent inheritance and alleviate Ellie’s financial woes and isolation. They make a plan to spend the holidays together at his family cabin to keep up the ruse. But when Andrew introduces his new fiancée to his sister, Ellie is shocked to discover it’s Jack—the mysterious woman she fell for over the course of one magical Christmas Eve the year before. Now, Ellie must choose between the safety of a fake relationship and the risk of something real.

Perfect for fans of Written in the Stars and One Day in December, Kiss Her Once for Me is the queer holiday rom-com that you’ll want to cozy up with next to the fire.]]> 368 Alison Cochrun 1982191139 t 4 3.83 2022 Kiss Her Once for Me
author: Alison Cochrun
name: t
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> Ace of Spades 42603984
Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students' dark secrets to light.

Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can't escape the spotlight when his private photos go public. Head girl Chiamaka isn't afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power.

Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And they're planning much more than a high-school game...]]> 470 Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé 1474967531 t 5 4.15 2021 Ace of Spades
author: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
name: t
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet]]> 55655125 A deeply moving and insightful collection of personal essays from #1 bestselling author John Green, adapted from his critically acclaimed podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed.

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet--from the QWERTY keyboard and Staphylococcus aureus to the Taco Bell breakfast menu--on a five-star scale. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection that includes both beloved essays and all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 432 John Green 0593412427 t 0 to-read 4.31 2021 The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
author: John Green
name: t
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Old THOT Next Door 204209034 316 Quan Millz t 0 to-read 3.95 Old THOT Next Door
author: Quan Millz
name: t
average rating: 3.95
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Ariadne 54860614
When Theseus, the Prince of Athens, arrives to vanquish the beast, Ariadne sees in his green eyes not a threat but an escape. Defying the gods, betraying her family and country, and risking everything for love, Ariadne helps Theseus kill the Minotaur. But will Ariadne's decision ensure her happy ending? And what of Phaedra, the beloved younger sister she leaves behind?

Hypnotic, propulsive, and utterly transporting, Jennifer Saint's Ariadne forges a new epic, one that puts the forgotten women of Greek mythology back at the heart of the story, as they strive for a better world.]]> 308 Jennifer Saint 125077358X t 3 3.77 2021 Ariadne
author: Jennifer Saint
name: t
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, #1)]]> 824734
Where did the tree house come from?

Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark . . . or will they become a dinosaur's dinner?]]> 68 Mary Pope Osborne 0679824111 t 0 middle-grade, low-fantasy 3.97 1992 Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, #1)
author: Mary Pope Osborne
name: t
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: middle-grade, low-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Whispers of a World Breaker (Elmerïan Chronicles, #1)]]> 202896584 Aric’s job is simple; assist the elves as they moved dragon eggs across the kingdom.

When an orc raid leaves a dragon in peril and her egg vulnerable, the responsibility falls into Aric’s hands to complete the mission. But when the dragon hatches, Aric’s life is thrown into disarray.

Accused of being the world breaker of an old prophecy by the elves, sought after by the ever-growing orc clans as vengeance against the elves, and desired by the human kings and queens for power, Aric will stop at nothing to protect his new dragon. It may be the only thing that can turn the tides of the war.

Can Aric fight fate and save the world, or is he destined by the whispers of a world breaker?]]> 581 Corey Ratliff t 0 to-read, high-fantasy 4.23 Whispers of a World Breaker (Elmerïan Chronicles, #1)
author: Corey Ratliff
name: t
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: to-read, high-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Last Night at the Telegraph Club]]> 35224992 A story of love and duty set in San Francisco's Chinatown during the Red Scare.

“That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other.� And then Lily asked the question that had taken root in her, that was even now unfurling its leaves and demanding to be shown the sun: “Have you ever heard of such a thing?�

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.

America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.]]> 409 Malinda Lo 0525555250 t 4 romance, historical-fiction 4.21 2021 Last Night at the Telegraph Club
author: Malinda Lo
name: t
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: romance, historical-fiction
review:

]]> All This Could Be Different 59576064
But before long, trouble arrives. Painful secrets rear their heads; jobs go off the rails; evictions loom. Sneha struggles to be truly close and open with anybody, even as her friendships deepen, even as she throws herself headlong into a dizzying romance with Marina. It's then that Tig begins to draw up a radical solution to their problems, hoping to save them all.]]> 320 Sarah Thankam Mathews 0593489128 t 0 dnf 3.83 2022 All This Could Be Different
author: Sarah Thankam Mathews
name: t
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)]]> 58416952 At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.

AUDI. VIDE. TACE.

The Catenan Republic � the Hierarchy � may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.

I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus � what they call Will � to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.

I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.

But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.

And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.

To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy’s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.]]> 639 James Islington 1982141190 t 0 to-read 4.61 2023 The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)
author: James Islington
name: t
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy, #1)]]> 61612864
A girl has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust where nightmares stalk and no one goes.

The world has never even noticed them. That's about to change.

Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty, and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned.]]> 559 Mark Lawrence 0593437918 t 0 3.94 2023 The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy, #1)
author: Mark Lawrence
name: t
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: to-read, high-fantasy, priority
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School]]> 58842731 A debut novel about a queer Mexican American girl navigating Catholic school, while falling in love and learning to celebrate her true self.

Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she's gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way.

After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and, most importantly, don't fall in love. Granted, she's never been great at any of those things, but that's a problem for Future Yami.

The thing is, it's hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. So cute. Either way, Yami isn't going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she'll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?]]> 385 Sonora Reyes 006306023X t 5 4.27 2022 The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School
author: Sonora Reyes
name: t
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
review:

]]> Bloom 78627220 A sweet sapphic romance takes a deadly dark turn in this sharp-as-a-knife novella from the New York Times bestselling author.

Rosemary meets Ash at the farmers� market. Ash—precise, pretty, and practically perfect—sells bars of soap in delicate pastel colors, sprinkle-spackled cupcakes stacked on scalloped stands, beeswax candles, jelly jars of honey, and glossy green plants. Ro has never felt this way about another woman; with Ash, she wants to be her and have her in equal measure. But as her obsession with Ash consumes her, she may find she’s not the one doing the devouring…]]> 203 Delilah S. Dawson t 0 to-read, queer, sci-fi 3.82 2023 Bloom
author: Delilah S. Dawson
name: t
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read, queer, sci-fi
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Wish You All the Best (I Wish You All the Best, #1)]]> 41473872 An alternate cover edition for 9781338306125 can be found here.

When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, whom Ben has never even met. Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school.

But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life.

At turns heartbreaking and joyous, I Wish You All the Best is both a celebration of life, friendship, and love, and a shining example of hope in the face of adversity.]]> 329 Mason Deaver t 4 4.15 2019 I Wish You All the Best (I Wish You All the Best, #1)
author: Mason Deaver
name: t
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Loveless 42115981 It was all sinking in. I’d never had a crush on anyone. No boys, no girls, not a single person I had ever met. What did that mean?

Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush � but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day.

As she starts university with her best friends, Pip and Jason, in a whole new town far from home, Georgia’s ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare Society, her ‘teenage dream� is in sight.

But when her romance plan wreaks havoc amongst her friends, Georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her. With new terms thrown at her � asexual, aromantic � Georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever.

Is she destined to remain loveless? Or has she been looking for the wrong thing all along?

This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance.]]> 433 Alice Oseman 000824412X t 4 4.19 2020 Loveless
author: Alice Oseman
name: t
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]> Carmilla 60219169
Laura begins her tale by relating her childhood in a "picturesque and solitary" castle in the midst of an extensive forest in Styria, where she lives with her father, a wealthy English widower, retired from the Austrian Service. When she is six years old, Laura has a vision of a beautiful visitor in her bedchamber. She later claims to have been bitten on the chest, although no wounds are found on her. Carmilla, the title character, is the original prototype for a legion of female and lesbian vampires. Though Le Fanu portrays his vampire's sexuality with the circumspection that one would expect for his time, it is evident that lesbian attraction is the main dynamic between Carmilla and the narrator of the story. When compared to other literary vampires of the 19th century, Carmilla is a similar product of a culture with strict sexual mores and tangible religious fear. While Carmilla selected exclusively female victims, she only becomes emotionally involved with a few. Carmilla had nocturnal habits, but was not confined to the darkness. She had unearthly beauty and was able to change her form and to pass through solid walls. Her animal alter ego was a monstrous black cat, not a large dog as in Dracula. She did, however, sleep in a coffin. Carmilla works as a gothic horror story because her victims are portrayed as succumbing to a perverse and unholy temptation that has severe metaphysical consequences for them.

Some critics, among them William Veeder, suggest that Carmilla, notably in its outlandish use of narrative frames, was an important influence on Henry James' The Turn of the Screw.]]> 107 J. Sheridan Le Fanu 8828314648 t 0 thriller-horror, dnf 3.60 1872 Carmilla
author: J. Sheridan Le Fanu
name: t
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1872
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: thriller-horror, dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot, #2)]]> 40864030
They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers's new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

They're going to need to ask it a lot.]]> 152 Becky Chambers t 5 4.40 2022 A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot, #2)
author: Becky Chambers
name: t
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
review:

]]> Legend of the White Snake 122731864 A snake spirit transforms into a boy and must hide his true identity after falling for a headstrong prince in this lush, romantic retelling of the traditional Chinese folktale.

When Prince Xian was a boy, a white snake bit his mother and condemned her to a slow, painful death. The only known cure is an elusive spirit pearl—or an antidote created from the rare white snake itself. Desperate and determined, Xian travels to the city of Changle, where an oracle predicted he would find and capture a white snake.

Seven years ago, Zhen, a white snake in the West Lake, consumed a coveted spirit pearl, which gave him special powers—including the ability to change into human form.

In Changle, Xian encounters an enigmatic but beautiful stable boy named Zhen. The two are immediately drawn to each other, but Zhen soon realizes that he is the white snake Xian is hunting. As their feelings grow deeper, will the truth about Zhen’s identity tear them apart?


Coming October 15, 2024 from Quill Tree/HarperCollins (US) and Macmillan (UK)]]> 352 Sher Lee 0063327198 t 0 to-read, asian-fantasy 3.95 2024 Legend of the White Snake
author: Sher Lee
name: t
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: to-read, asian-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)]]> 40864002 ASIN B08H831J18 moved to the more recent edition

Centuries before, robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered, en masse into the wilderness, never to be seen again. They faded into myth and urban legend.

Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They will need to ask it a lot. Chambers' series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?]]> 151 Becky Chambers t 5 4.25 2021 A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)
author: Becky Chambers
name: t
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Heir (Heir Duology, #1) 206780522 An orphan.
An outcast.
A prince.

And a killer who will bring an empire to its knees.

Growing up in the Kegari slums, AIZ has seen her share of suffering. An old tragedy fuels her need for vengeance, but it is love of her people that propels her. Until one hotheaded mistake lands her in an inescapable prison, where the embers of her wrath ignite.

Banished from her people for an unforgivable crime, SIRSHA is a down-on-her-luck tracker who uses magic to trace her marks. Destitute, she agrees to hunt down a killer who has murdered children across the Martial Empire. All she has to do is carry out the job and get paid. But when a chance encounter leads to an unexpected attraction, Sirsha learns her mission might cost her far more than she's willing to give up.

QUIL is the crown prince of the Empire and nephew of a venerated empress, but he’s loath to take the throne when his aunt steps down. As the son of a reviled emperor, he, better than anyone, understands that power corrupts. When a vicious new enemy threatens the survival of the Empire, Quil must ask himself if he can rise above his tragic lineage and be the heir his people need.

Beloved storyteller Sabaa Tahir interweaves the lives of three young people as they grapple with power, treachery, love, and the devastating consequences of unchecked greed, on a journey that may cost them their lives―and their hearts. Literally.]]> 484 Sabaa Tahir 0593616944 t 0 to-read 4.25 2024 Heir (Heir Duology, #1)
author: Sabaa Tahir
name: t
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Cybernetic Tea Shop 28421799
Sal is a fully autonomous robot, the creation of which was declared illegal ages earlier due to ethical concerns. She is older than the law, however, at best out of place in society and at worst hated. Her old master is long dead, but she continues to run the tea shop her master had owned, lost in memories of the past, slowly breaking down, and aiming to fulfill her master's dream for the shop.

When Clara stops by Sal's shop for lunch, she doesn't expect to find a real robot there, let alone one who might need her help. But as they begin to spend time together and learn more about each other, they both start to wrestle with the concept of moving on...]]> 65 Meredith Katz t 4 4.5 rounded down 3.99 2016 The Cybernetic Tea Shop
author: Meredith Katz
name: t
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:
4.5 rounded down
]]> <![CDATA[The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1)]]> 53921926
The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom enriches itself and deprives its rivals, including Lara's homeland. So when she’s sent as a bride under the guise of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture its impenetrable defenses. And the defenses of its king.

Yet as she infiltrates her new home and gains a deeper understanding of the war to possess the bridge, Lara begins to question whether she’s the hero or the villain. And as her feelings for Aren transform from frosty hostility to fierce passion, Lara must choose which kingdom she’ll save� and which kingdom she’ll destroy.

Passionate and violent, The Bridge Kingdom is a seductive fantasy perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.]]> 356 Danielle L. Jensen t 3 4.02 2018 The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1)
author: Danielle L. Jensen
name: t
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida]]> 57224204
Ten years after his prize-winning novel Chinaman established him as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost authors, Shehan Karunatilaka is back with a “thrilling satire� (Economist) and rip-roaring state-of-the-nation epic that offers equal parts mordant wit and disturbing, profound truths.]]> 386 Shehan Karunatilaka 1908745908 t 0 to-read 3.89 2022 The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
author: Shehan Karunatilaka
name: t
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)]]> 41865
First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part might be - that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Deeply seductive and extraordinarily suspenseful, Twilight is a love story with bite.]]> 498 Stephenie Meyer 0316015849 t 2 3.66 2005 Twilight (The Twilight Saga, #1)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: t
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2005
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Forged by Blood (The Tainted Blood Duology, #1)]]> 63313283
In the midst of a tyrannical regime and political invasion, Dèmi just wants to avoid the suspicion of the nonmagical Ajes who occupy her ancestral homeland of Ife; to escape the King’s brutal genocide of her people—the darker-skinned, magic-wielding Oluso; and to live peacefully with her secretive mother while learning to control the terrifying blood magic that is her birthright.

But when Dèmi’s misplaced trust costs her mother’s life, survival gives way to vengeance. She bides her time until the devious Lord Ekwensi grants her the perfect opportunity—kidnap the Aje prince, Jonas, and bargain with his life to save the remaining Oluso. With the help of her reckless childhood friend Colin, Dèmi succeeds, but discovers that she and Jonas share more than deadly secrets; every moment tangles them further into a forbidden, unmistakable attraction, much to Colin’s—and Dèmi’s—distress.

The kidnapping is now a joint to return to the King, help get Lord Ekwensi on the council, and bolster the voice of the Oluso in a system designed to silence them. But the way is dangerous, Dèmi’s magic is growing yet uncertain, and it’s not clear if she can trust the two men at her side.

A tale of rebellion and redemption, race and class, love and trust and betrayal, Forged by Blood is epic fantasy at its finest, from an enthusiastic, emerging voice.]]> 400 Ehigbor Okosun 0063112620 t 0 to-read 3.46 2023 Forged by Blood (The Tainted Blood Duology, #1)
author: Ehigbor Okosun
name: t
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms]]> 54456929 As the true Descendant, I command to open
The door to Chidani; it shall be broken

Magic awaits those who seek the queen’s peace
And all the suffering you feel will cease

Those who open the histories will hear a sound
What was lost has finally been found.

Cameron Battle grew up readingThe Book of Chidani, cherishing stories about the fabled kingdom that cut itself off from the world to save the Igbo people from danger. Passed down over generations, the Book is Cameron’s only connection to his parents who disappeared one fateful night, two years ago.

Ever since, his grandmother has kept the Book locked away, but it calls to Cameron. When he and his best friends Zion and Aliyah decide to open it again, they are magically transported to Chidani. Instead of a land of beauty and wonder, they find a kingdom in extreme danger, as the Queen’s sister seeks to destroy the barrier between worlds. The people of Chidani have been waiting for the last Descendant to return and save them . . . is Cameron ready to be the hero they need?

Inspired by West African and Igbo history and mythology, this adventurous middle-grade fantasy debut perfect for fans of Aru Shah and Tristan Strong celebrates the triumphs and challenges of a boy finding his truth path to greatness.]]> 320 Jamar J. Perry t 0 4.16 2022 Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms
author: Jamar J. Perry
name: t
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves: to-read, high-fantasy, middle-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants]]> 17465709 Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.]]> 408 Robin Wall Kimmerer 1571313354 t 0 currently-reading 4.52 2013 Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
name: t
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Myth of Sisyphus 91950 The Myth of Sisyphus transformed twentieth-century philosophy with its impassioned argument for the value of life in a world without religious meaning.]]> 192 Albert Camus 0141182008 t 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.25 1942 The Myth of Sisyphus
author: Albert Camus
name: t
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1942
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cosmic Kiss (Galactic Gems #1)]]> 134093083 Stella is a rising star in her intergalactic troupe. Focused on her blooming career, she never expected to be blindsided by one handsome alien, let alone two.

Prince Zin and Chancellor Toras are determined to win their dazzling human over, even if they have to put their differences aside. The two sexy space hunks will do anything for Stella. Worship her, seduce her, charm her� and protect her from the mysterious poison spreading through the troupe.

A fateful encounter leads to an unforgettable cosmic kiss that puts this trio in the spotlight of love. Will Stella, Zin, and Toras follow their hearts and shoot for the stars?

Cosmic Kiss is book one in the Galactic Gems series. This alien romance has the following:

- Aliens that WORSHIP their woman
- Tentacles, magic, and other things ;)
- Fated Mates Love and fast burn
- Love triangle to a polyamorous relationship
- Swoony romance and delicious SPICE

Cosmic Kiss is book one in the Galactic Gems series. Each book will follow a different performer finding their alien love, spicy scenes, and lots of romance with a dash of mystery. They can be read as standalone, although there will be character cross-over. Follow Clio Evans on Instagram, Facebook, or Tiktok to stay up to date on monster-related shenanigans.]]> 216 Clio Evans t 0 dnf 3.87 2023 Cosmic Kiss (Galactic Gems #1)
author: Clio Evans
name: t
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> For the Wolf (Wilderwood, #1) 53418394 The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose—to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he'll return the world's captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can't control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can't hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn't learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood—and her world—whole.

The author has provided a list of content warnings here.]]> 437 Hannah F. Whitten 0316592781 t 0 dnf dnf at 30% 3.58 2021 For the Wolf (Wilderwood, #1)
author: Hannah F. Whitten
name: t
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves: dnf
review:
dnf at 30%
]]> <![CDATA[The Letters of Vincent van Gogh]]> 8149405 778 Vincent van Gogh 0141920440 t 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.24 1914 The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
author: Vincent van Gogh
name: t
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1914
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns, #1)]]> 15810910
Captain Marcus d’Ivoire, commander of one of the Vordanai empire’s colonial garrisons, was resigned to serving out his days in a sleepy, remote outpost. But that was before a rebellion upended his life. And once the powder smoke settled, he was left in charge of a demoralized force clinging tenuously to a small fortress at the edge of the desert.

To flee from her past, Winter Ihernglass masqueraded as a man and enlisted as a ranker in the Vordanai Colonials, hoping only to avoid notice. But when chance sees her promoted to command, she must win the hearts of her men and lead them into battle against impossible odds.

The fates of both these soldiers and all the men they lead depend on the newly arrived Colonel Janus bet Vhalnich, who has been sent by the ailing king to restore order. His military genius seems to know no bounds, and under his command, Marcus and Winter can feel the tide turning. But their allegiance will be tested as they begin to suspect that the enigmatic Janus’s ambitions extend beyond the battlefield and into the realm of the supernatural—a realm with the power to ignite a meteoric rise, reshape the known world, and change the lives of everyone in its path.]]> 513 Django Wexler 0451465105 t 0 to-read 4.03 2013 The Thousand Names (The Shadow Campaigns, #1)
author: Django Wexler
name: t
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Capital: Critique of Political Economy, Vol 1: The Process of Production of Capital]]> 1639201 1152 Karl Marx 039472657X t 0 to-read, books-for-change 4.27 1887 Capital: Critique of Political Economy, Vol 1: The Process of Production of Capital
author: Karl Marx
name: t
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1887
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read, books-for-change
review:

]]> <![CDATA[World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)]]> 17849112 Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world. When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans, where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

]]> 320 Susan Ee 1477867287 t 0 4.09 2013 World After (Penryn & the End of Days, #2)
author: Susan Ee
name: t
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> The Rose Code 53914938 The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.

1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of East-End London poverty, works the legendary code-breaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart.

1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter—the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger—and their true enemy...]]> 624 Kate Quinn 0062943472 t 0 to-read 4.42 2021 The Rose Code
author: Kate Quinn
name: t
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Many Daughters of Afong Moy]]> 59348307
As Washington’s former poet laureate, that’s how she describes channeling her dissociative episodes and mental health struggles into her art. But when her five-year-old daughter exhibits similar behavior and begins remembering things from the lives of their ancestors, Dorothy believes the past has truly come to haunt her. Fearing that her child is predestined to endure the same debilitating depression that has marked her own life, Dorothy seeks radical help.

Through an experimental treatment designed to mitigate inherited trauma, Dorothy intimately connects with past generations of women in her family: Faye Moy, a nurse in China serving with the Flying Tigers; Zoe Moy, a student in England at a famous school with no rules; Lai King Moy, a girl quarantined in San Francisco during a plague epidemic; Greta Moy, a tech executive with a unique dating app; and Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to set foot in America.

As painful recollections affect her present life, Dorothy discovers that trauma isn’t the only thing she’s inherited. A stranger is searching for her in each time period. A stranger who’s loved her through all of her genetic memories. Dorothy endeavors to break the cycle of pain and abandonment, to finally find peace for her daughter, and gain the love that has long been waiting, knowing she may pay the ultimate price.]]> 362 Jamie Ford 1982158212 t 0 to-read 3.84 2022 The Many Daughters of Afong Moy
author: Jamie Ford
name: t
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)]]> 31076583 229 Sarah J. Maas 168119631X t 0 3.77 2019 A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: t
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Kogitsune (Takamagahara Monogatari, #1)]]> 42902528
As Kogitsune's feelings for his human friend turn from friendship to something deeper, he will learn that love can be all consuming and heartbreaking.

‘Kogitsune� is a retelling of the famous Noh theater play ‘Kokaji�, a story about a swordsmith who requests the help of the Inari god to build a sword for emperor Ichijo (980-1011).]]> 40 Xia Xia Lake t 5 4.05 2018 Kogitsune (Takamagahara Monogatari, #1)
author: Xia Xia Lake
name: t
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/21
date added: 2024/06/21
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review:

]]> Your Blood and Bones 178803105 Kill the monsters when they’re found.

No matter who they used to be.

The girl with secret feathers in her skin and strange bones jutting out beneath her clothes is resigned to her fate. Her deformities mark her a monster and the stories say monsters must die.

When her family finds out and turns on her, a village boy saves her and leads her on a frantic escape. The girl believes her death has merely been delayed—until he mentions a cure.

With the world against them and the monstrous change progressing, they must cross water, forest, and field to chase the rumor that fuels their desperate hope. But is hope enough to keep them going?]]> 113 J. Patricia Anderson 1778288146 t 0 4.18 Your Blood and Bones
author: J. Patricia Anderson
name: t
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/20
shelves: to-read, high-fantasy, thriller-horror
review:

]]> And They Were Roommates 59603348 Oh my god, they were roommates . . . Young Royals meets To All The Boys I've Loved Before in this heartwarming and hilarious queer exes-to-lovers boarding school romance about two roommates, one secret and a lot of love letters.

When Charlie transfers from high school to Valentine Academy for Boys, love is the last thing on his mind. His plan is to survive the school year with perfect grades and no one discovering he's trans. Especially his new roommate Jasper - Sexiest Poet of the Year and the only boy to break Charlie's heart.

Miraculously, his ex-summer-camp romance doesn't recognise him, and the two boys make a deal: Jasper will request a new room if Charlie helps him deliver secret love letters between the boys at Valentine and the girls at its sister academy.

But as Jasper tutors him in the art of romance, will Charlie be able to keep himself from falling in love again?]]> 320 Page Powars 1444968378 t 0 to-read, queer, romance 4.44 2025 And They Were Roommates
author: Page Powars
name: t
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/14
shelves: to-read, queer, romance
review:

]]> The Stationery Shop of Tehran 51036155
Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.

Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.

A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?]]> 308 Marjan Kamali 147118918X t 0 to-read, historical-fiction 4.19 2019 The Stationery Shop of Tehran
author: Marjan Kamali
name: t
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/21
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> The Book of Queer Saints 60154598 206 Mae Murray t 0 4.14 2022 The Book of Queer Saints
author: Mae Murray
name: t
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/20
shelves: to-read, queer, thriller-horror
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed]]> 61418402 480 Dashka Slater 0374314349 t 0 4.25 2023 Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed
author: Dashka Slater
name: t
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/17
date added: 2024/03/17
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]]> 17125 The only English translation authorized by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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

This unexpurgated 1991 translation by H. T. Willetts is the only authorized edition available, and fully captures the power and beauty of the original Russian.]]> 182 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn t 5 re-read 3.98 1962 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
name: t
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1962
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/03/15
shelves: re-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Roadside Geology of Northern and Central California]]> 425309 369 David D. Alt 0878424091 t 0 to-read, geology 4.10 2000 Roadside Geology of Northern and Central California
author: David D. Alt
name: t
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/08
shelves: to-read, geology
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Geologic Story of Yosemite National Park]]> 3129561 84 N. King Huber 0939666499 t 0 to-read, geology 3.44 1989 The Geologic Story of Yosemite National Park
author: N. King Huber
name: t
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1989
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/08
shelves: to-read, geology
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)]]> 8855321
Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, the Scopuli, they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for—and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.

Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to the Scopuli and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.

Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations—and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.]]> 592 James S.A. Corey 1841499889 t 0 sci-fi, dnf @ 30% 4.30 2011 Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse, #1)
author: James S.A. Corey
name: t
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves: sci-fi, dnf
review:
@ 30%
]]> <![CDATA[A Tempest of Tea (Blood and Tea, #1)]]> 59406549 Why save the world when you can have tea?

On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone.

Calling on some of the city's most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the sinister, glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it.

From the New York Times—bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame comes the first book in a hotly anticipated fantasy duology teeming with romance and revenge, led by an orphan girl willing to do whatever it takes to save her self-made kingdom. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.]]> 338 Hafsah Faizal 0374389403 t 0 to-read, high-fantasy, ya 3.49 2024 A Tempest of Tea (Blood and Tea, #1)
author: Hafsah Faizal
name: t
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/03
shelves: to-read, high-fantasy, ya
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bones to the Wind (A Forging of Age, #1)]]> 60318233 A New Adult coming-of-age fantasy adventure.

Rasia is determined to destroy her old man’s record in the Forging, a trial each child must succeed to come of age. All Rasia needs to do is hunt down a gonda, hitch its tentacle ass to her windship, and haul it back home in record time. Easy. Or it would be if Rasia wasn’t stuck on the same team as Nico—a know-it-all, spoiled, grubworm who never does anything Rasia tells her to do.

Nico doesn’t care about Rasia’s egotistical dreams of glory. This is her brother’s last chance to pass the Forging or her father is going to banish him from the family. She needs to scour the desert to find whatever team the bones placed him on and help him kill a gonda before it kills him.

Too bad Nico and Rasia can’t get along to steer a windship straight.

BONES TO THE WIND is a coming-of-age sword and sorcery fantasy adventure. Action-packed and humorous, the novel includes strong female characters, LGBTQIA+ representation, and mature themes.]]> Tatiana Obey 9798985664 t 0 to-read 4.46 2022 Bones to the Wind (A Forging of Age, #1)
author: Tatiana Obey
name: t
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Then the Fish Swallowed Him 44557426 288 Amir Ahmadi Arian 0062946315 t 0 dnf 3.66 2020 Then the Fish Swallowed Him
author: Amir Ahmadi Arian
name: t
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/01
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> Half Moon Investigations 831893 Librarian's Note: For an alternate cover edition of the same ISBN, click here.

Fletcher Moon has never been like other kids. For one thing, he has had to suffer the humiliating nickname "Half Moon" because of his short stature. But the real reason Fletcher is different is that ever since he was a baby, he's had a nose for sniffing out mysteries. And after graduating at the top of his Internet class, he is officially certified as the youngest detective in the world. He even has a silver-plated detective's badge to prove it. Everything is going along fine until two things happen: a classmate hires him to solve a crime, and his prized badge is stolen. All signs point to the town's most notorious crime family, the Sharkeys.

As Fletcher follows the clues, evidence of a conspiracy begins to emerge. But before he can crack the case, Fletcher finds himself framed for a serious crime. To clear his name, he will have to pair up with the unlikeliest of allies and go on the run from the authorities. Fletcher has twelve hours to find the guilty party--or he is the guilty party.]]> 290 Eoin Colfer 0786849576 t 0 re-read 3.78 2006 Half Moon Investigations
author: Eoin Colfer
name: t
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/01
shelves: re-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Upon a Burning Throne (Burnt Empire Saga, #1)]]> 37570597 A new fantasy series inspired by the ancient Indian classic, The Mahabharata

In a world where demigods and demons walk among mortals, the Emperor of the vast Burnt Empire has died, leaving a turbulent realm without an emperor. Two young princes, Adri and Shvate, are in line to rule, but birthright does not guarantee inheritance: For any successor must sit upon the legendary Burning Throne and pass The Test of Fire. Imbued with dark sorceries, the throne is a crucible—one that incinerates the unworthy.

Adri and Shvate pass The Test and are declared heirs to the empire� but there is another with a claim to power, another who also survives: a girl from an outlying kingdom. When this girl, whose father is the powerful demonlord Jarsun, is denied her claim by the interim leaders, Jarsun declares war, vowing to tear the Burnt Empire apart—leaving the young princes Adri and Shvate to rule a shattered realm embroiled in rebellion and chaos....

Welcome to the Burnt Empire Saga
]]> 669 Ashok K. Banker 1328916286 t 4 3.45 2019 Upon a Burning Throne (Burnt Empire Saga, #1)
author: Ashok K. Banker
name: t
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/18
date added: 2024/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty, #1)]]> 18952341 640 Ken Liu 1481424270 t 0 to-read, asian-fantasy 3.77 2015 The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty, #1)
author: Ken Liu
name: t
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/18
shelves: to-read, asian-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story]]> 15654 The Stranger Beside Me defies our expectation that we would surely know if a monster lived among us, worked alongside of us, appeared as one of us. With a slow chill that intensifies with each heart-pounding page, Rule describes her dawning awareness that Ted Bundy, her sensitive coworker on a crisis hotline, was one of the most prolific serial killers in America. He would confess to killing at least thirty-six young women from coast to coast, and was eventually executed for three of those cases. Drawing from their correspondence that endured until shortly before Bundy's death, and striking a seamless balance between her deeply personal perspective and her role as a crime reporter on the hunt for a savage serial killer -- the brilliant and charismatic Bundy, the man she thought she knew -- Rule changed the course of true-crime literature with this unforgettable chronicle.]]> 548 Ann Rule 0451203267 t 0 to-read, thriller-horror 4.13 1980 The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story
author: Ann Rule
name: t
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/18
shelves: to-read, thriller-horror
review:

]]> Subcutanean 52691223
But something's wrong: the basement doesn't end. Blandly decorated halls stretch on for miles past peeling wallpaper, empty bedrooms, and countless stairwells always leading down. Soon they realize Downstairs is a snarled tangle of possibilities, more and more opening up the deeper they go. Something down there multiplies everything: architecture, emotions, even people.

Together they must navigate an increasingly dangerous labyrinth that peels back their friendship to raw and angry roots, filled with two-faced doppelgängers, treacherous architecture, and long-buried secrets. Most dangerous of all is Orion's consuming obsession: somewhere down there, is there a Niko who loves him back?

Subcutanean is a unique novel that changes with every printing. Each copy contains a unique telling of the story: no two are ever quite the same.]]> 232 Aaron A. Reed t 0 4.26 2020 Subcutanean
author: Aaron A. Reed
name: t
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/17
shelves: to-read, queer, thriller-horror
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods (Gods Beyond the Skies, #1)]]> 186872482
Heroes die, cowards live. Daughter of a conquered world, Ruying hates the invaders who descended from the heavens long before she was born and defeated the magic of her people with technologies unlike anything her world had ever seen.

Blessed by Death, born with the ability to pull the life right out of mortal bodies, Ruying shouldn’t have to fear these foreign invaders, but she does. Especially because she wants to keep herself and her family safe.

When Ruying’s Gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her an impossible deal: If she becomes his private assassin and eliminates his political rivals—whose deaths he swears would be for the good of both their worlds and would protect her people from further brutalization—her family will never starve or suffer harm again. But to accept this bargain, she must use the powers she has always feared, powers that will shave years off her own existence.

Can Ruying trust this prince, whose promises of a better world make her heart ache and whose smiles make her pulse beat faster? Are the evils of this agreement really in the service of a much greater good? Or will she betray her entire nation by protecting those she loves the most?]]> 368 Molly X. Chang 0593722248 t 0 to-read, asian-fantasy 3.40 2024 To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods (Gods Beyond the Skies, #1)
author: Molly X. Chang
name: t
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/10
shelves: to-read, asian-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World]]> 28256439 The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific processes behind the wonders of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group.

Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.]]> 272 Peter Wohlleben 1771642483 t 0 to-read, geo 4.06 2015 The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World
author: Peter Wohlleben
name: t
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/25
shelves: to-read, geo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History]]> 17910054
In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, The New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before. Interweaving research in half a dozen disciplines, descriptions of the fascinating species that have already been lost, and the history of extinction as a concept, Kolbert provides a moving and comprehensive account of the disappearances occurring before our very eyes. She shows that the sixth extinction is likely to be mankind's most lasting legacy, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.]]> 336 Elizabeth Kolbert 0805092994 t 0 to-read, geo 4.13 2014 The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
author: Elizabeth Kolbert
name: t
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/25
shelves: to-read, geo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Short History of Nearly Everything]]> 21 544 Bill Bryson 076790818X t 0 to-read, geo 4.21 2003 A Short History of Nearly Everything
author: Bill Bryson
name: t
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/25
shelves: to-read, geo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, #3)]]> 31817749
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.

Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.

For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.

The remarkable conclusion to the post-apocalyptic and highly acclaimed trilogy that began with the multi-award-nominated The Fifth Season.]]> 416 N.K. Jemisin t 0 dnf dnf @ 38% 4.32 2017 The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, #3)
author: N.K. Jemisin
name: t
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/02
shelves: dnf
review:
dnf @ 38%
]]> Ink Blood Sister Scribe 62854842 In this spellbinding debut novel, two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family's library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection--a tale of familial loyalty and betrayal, and the pursuit of magic and power.

For generations, the Kalotay family has guarded a collection of ancient and rare books. Books that let a person walk through walls or manipulate the elements--books of magic that half-sisters Joanna and Esther have been raised to revere and protect.

All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna's isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy. In the process, they'll uncover a world of magic far bigger and more dangerous than they ever imagined, and all the secrets their parents kept hidden; secrets that span centuries, continents, and even other libraries . . .]]> 416 Emma Törzs 0063253461 t 0 dnf dnf @ 15% 3.99 2023 Ink Blood Sister Scribe
author: Emma Törzs
name: t
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/31
shelves: dnf
review:
dnf @ 15%
]]> <![CDATA[The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi, #1)]]> 61294937 Shannon Chakraborty, the bestselling author of The City of Brass, spins a new trilogy of magic and mayhem on the high seas in this tale of pirates and sorcerers, forbidden artifacts and ancient mysteries, in one woman’s determined quest to seize a final chance at glory—and write her own legend.

Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.

But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family’s future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God’s will.

Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there’s more to this job, and the girl’s disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.]]> 483 Shannon Chakraborty t 4 4.25 2023 The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi, #1)
author: Shannon Chakraborty
name: t
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/13
date added: 2023/12/13
shelves:
review:

]]> Weyward 60654349 I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.]]> 329 Emilia Hart 125028080X t 0 4.03 2023 Weyward
author: Emilia Hart
name: t
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/13
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, low-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Christmas on the Thirteenth Floor]]> 59768229
He’s the biggest grinch that’s ever plagued the earth, and not even his pretty face or his Black card can make up for his crap personality.

I can write a book about all the ways I hate him and his alluring dominance that somehow attracts everyone, including me. But instead, I’ll settle for being a pain and continuing to defy him in any way possible while still keeping my job.

The only problem is that he likes to ruffle my feathers as much as I do his, so he’s forcing me to attend the annual Christmas party.

It was on the tip of my tongue to deny his demands, but instead, I found myself enjoying his order. I also like the way his eyes lock on me, following my every move.

They say it’s the season of giving� perhaps I should see what my boss has to offer.]]> 104 Lee Jacquot t 5 re-read 3.44 2021 Christmas on the Thirteenth Floor
author: Lee Jacquot
name: t
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/06/20
date added: 2023/12/11
shelves: re-read
review:

]]> In the Vanishers� Palace 41724928 Fromtheaward-winning author oftheDominion oftheFallen series comes a dark retelling ofBeautyandtheBeast.

In a ruined, devastated world, wheretheearth is poisonedandbeings of nightmares roamtheland...

A woman, betrayed, terrified, sold into indenture to pay her village's debtsandstruggling to survive in a spirit world.

A dragon, amongthelast of her kind, coldandaloof but desperately trying to make a difference.

When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one ofthelast dragons walkingtheearth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn's amusement.

But Vu Côn, it turns out, has a use for Yê she needs a scholar to tutor her two unruly children. She takes Yên back to her home, a vast, vertiginous palace-prison where every door can lead to death. Vu Côn seems sternandunbending, but asthedays pass Yên comes to see her kinderandcaring side. She finds herself dangerously attracted tothedragon who is her masterandjailer. Intheend, Yên will have to decide where her own happiness lies—andwhether it will survivetherevelation of Vu Côn’s dark, unspeakable secrets...]]> 145 Aliette de Bodard t 0 3.62 2018 In the Vanishers’ Palace
author: Aliette de Bodard
name: t
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/03
shelves: to-read, asian-fantasy, queer, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dark Lord of Derkholm (Derkholm, #1)]]> 47587
A humorous fantasy from Diana Wynne Jones. In a world next door to ours, the tourist industry is devastating the population by its desire to experience all the fantasy clichés - Dark Lords, impoverished villages, dragons etc.

The Head of the University resolves to shut the tours down; the only problem being the ruthless tour-master - and his all-powerful demons. To save them all, the incompetent wizard Derk is appointed as Dark Lord in the hope that he will ruin the tours, and sure enough proceeds to fail at everything due to his general uselessness. But can failing at everything lead to a win this time?]]> 328 Diana Wynne Jones 0575075368 t 4 4.12 1998 Dark Lord of Derkholm (Derkholm, #1)
author: Diana Wynne Jones
name: t
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/29
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Goblin Emperor (The Chronicles of Osreth, #1)]]> 17910048 A lush tale of deadly court intrigue and a modern classic of fantasy by Locus award winner and Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award finalist Katherine Addison

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three half brothers in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.

Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend . . . and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne–or his life.]]> 446 Katherine Addison 076532699X t 0 to-read, high-fantasy, ya 4.04 2014 The Goblin Emperor (The Chronicles of Osreth, #1)
author: Katherine Addison
name: t
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/26
shelves: to-read, high-fantasy, ya
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things]]> 60382883 A Children's Book Council Librarian Favorite of 2023!

Four seasons, four sisters, and four swoon-worthy love stories come together in this multi-POV YA rom-com set on an island off the coast of the Pacific Northwest.

The Singh sisters grew up helping their father navigate the bustle of the Songbird Inn. Nestled on dreamy and drizzly Orcas Island in the Pacific Northwest, the inn's always been warm and cozy and filled with interesting guests—the perfect home. But things are about to heat up now that the Songbird has been named the Most Romantic Inn in America.

Nidhi has everything planned out—until a storm brings a wayward tree crashing into her life one autumn . . . and along with it, an intriguing construction worker and a yearning for her motherland. Suddenly, she's questioning everything she thought she wanted.

Avani can't sit still. If she does, her grief for Pop, their dad's late husband, will overwhelm her. So she keeps moving as much as she can, planning an elaborate Winter Ball in Pop's memory. Until a blizzard traps her in a barn with the boy she accidentally stood up and has been actively avoiding ever since.

Sirisha loves seeing the world through her camera, but her shyness prevents her from stepping out from behind the lens. Talking to girls is such a struggle! When a pretty actress comes to the Songbird with her theater troupe, spring has sprung for Sirisha—if only she can find the words.

Rani is a hopeless romantic through and through. After gently nudging her sisters to open their hearts, she is convinced it's finally her turn to find love. When two potential suitors float in on a summer breeze, Rani is swept up in grandeur to match her wildest Bollywood dreams. But which boy is the one she's meant to be with?

Ultimately, the magic of the Songbird Inn leads the tight-knit Singh sisters to new passions and breathtaking kisses—and to unearth the truest versions of themselves.

Perfect for fans of Jenny Han's To All the Boys I've Loved Before , this sparkling YA rom-com celebrates sisterhood, family, and the love all around us.]]> 464 Maya Prasad 1368075800 t 0 to-read, romance, ya 3.88 2022 Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things
author: Maya Prasad
name: t
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/24
shelves: to-read, romance, ya
review:

]]> All Boys Aren’t Blue 44280883
Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.]]> 304 George M. Johnson 0374312710 t 0 non-fiction 4.19 2020 All Boys Aren’t Blue
author: George M. Johnson
name: t
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/24
date added: 2023/11/24
shelves: non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Throne of the Fallen (Prince of Sin, #1)]]> 73071451 Sinner. Villain. Wicked.

The Prince of Envy has never claimed to be a saint. But when a cryptic note arrives, signaling the beginning of a deadly game, he knows it will take more than a hint of sin to win and save his falling demon court. Riddles, hexed objects, anonymous players, nothing will stand in his way, though none of his meticulous plans prepare him for her, the frustrating artist who ignites his sin like no other�

Virtuous. Darling. Liar.

The trouble with scoundrels and blackguards is that they haven’t a modicum of honor, a fact Miss Camilla Antonius learns after one desperate mistake allows Waverly Green’s most notorious rake to blackmail her. To avoid a ruinous scandal, Camilla is forced to enter a devil’s bargain with Envy, little expecting his game will awaken her true nature...

Together, Envy and Camilla must embark on a perilous journey through the Underworld—from glittering demon courts to the sultry vampire realm and beyond—while trying to avoid the most dangerous trap of all: falling in love.]]> 612 Kerri Maniscalco 031655751X t 0 dnf dnf at 54% 4.00 2023 Throne of the Fallen (Prince of Sin, #1)
author: Kerri Maniscalco
name: t
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/20
shelves: dnf
review:
dnf at 54%
]]> <![CDATA[Lords of the Desert: Britain's Struggle with America to Dominate the Middle East]]> 36592392 An authoritative history of how the U.S. supplanted Great Britain as the preeminent power in the Middle East

We usually assume that Arab nationalism brought about the end of the British Empire in the Middle East-that Gamal Abdel Nasser and other Arab leaders led popular uprisings against colonial rule that forced the overstretched British from the region.

In Lords of the Desert, historian James Barr draws on newly declassified archives to argue instead that the United States was the driving force behind the British exit. Though the two nations were allies, they found themselves at odds over just about every question, from who owned Saudi Arabia's oil to who should control the Suez Canal. Encouraging and exploiting widespread opposition to the British, the U.S. intrigued its way to power-ultimately becoming as resented as the British had been. As Barr shows, it is impossible to understand the region today without first grappling with this little-known prehistory.]]> 416 James Barr 1471139794 t 0 to-read 3.99 2018 Lords of the Desert: Britain's Struggle with America to Dominate the Middle East
author: James Barr
name: t
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Covenant of Water 180357146 From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl—and future matriarch, Big Ammachi—will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.

A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.]]> 715 Abraham Verghese 0802162177 t 0 to-read, historical-fiction 4.34 2023 The Covenant of Water
author: Abraham Verghese
name: t
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/18
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Study in Drowning (A Study in Drowning, #1)]]> 75302266 Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.

But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.]]> 378 Ava Reid 0063211505 t 3 3.73 2023 A Study in Drowning (A Study in Drowning, #1)
author: Ava Reid
name: t
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/17
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Coup of Tea (Tea Princess Chronicles, #1)]]> 46163953
In hiding and exiled from power, Miyara finds her place running a tea shop in a struggling community that sits on the edge of a magical disaster zone. But there's more brewing under the surface of this city—hidden magic, and hidden machinations—that threaten all the people who've helped her make her own way.

Miyara may not be a princess anymore, but with a teapot in hand she'll risk her newfound freedom to discover a more meaningful kind of power.]]> 402 Casey Blair t 0 to-read, cozy 3.88 2017 A Coup of Tea (Tea Princess Chronicles, #1)
author: Casey Blair
name: t
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves: to-read, cozy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cursed Cocktails (Tales of Aedrea, #1)]]> 108266955 When life gives you lemons, squeeze them into a stiff drink and stir.

After twenty years defending the frozen north against some of the most dangerous threats in the nine kingdoms, Rhoren “Bloodbane� has finally earned his retirement. While the blood mage's service to the realm may have ended, burning veins and aching joints remain, and Rhoren soon learns that a warmer climate offers relief from his chronic pain.

And a chance at a fresh start.

In the warm and relaxing atmosphere of Eastborne, the umbral elf finds a new purpose and a sense of belonging. He may have left the frozen north behind, but he brings with him the skills and strength gained from a lifetime of defending the realm. Along with his most prized possession—a book of drink recipes inherited from his father.

Spilled cocktails may not carry the same weight as spilled blood, but opening a tavern brings a unique brand of challenges. With the right friends and a little bit of luck, he might just have a recipe for success.]]> 282 S.L. Rowland t 0 to-read, cozy 4.13 2023 Cursed Cocktails (Tales of Aedrea, #1)
author: S.L. Rowland
name: t
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/17
shelves: to-read, cozy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space Will Change Our World]]> 62675564 This isn’t science fiction. It’s astropolitics.
Humans are heading up and out, and we’re taking our power struggles with us. Soon, what happens in space will shape human history as much the mountains, rivers and seas have on Earth. It’s no coincidence that Russia, China and the USA are leading the way. The next fifty years will change the face of global politics.
In this gripping book, bestselling author Tim Marshall lays bare the new geopolitical realities to show how we got here and where we’re going, covering the new space race; great-power rivalry; technology; economics; war; and what it means for all of us down here on Earth. Written with all the insight and wit that have made Marshall the UK’s most popular writer on geopolitics, this is the essential read on power, politics and the future of humanity.]]> 256 Tim Marshall 1783966874 t 0 to-read, non-fiction 3.87 2023 The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space Will Change Our World
author: Tim Marshall
name: t
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/16
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Geography of Russia and Its Neighbors]]> 52925787
New to This Edition
*Separate chapter on Ukraine and Crimea, covering events through 2019.
*Timely topics--the political crisis in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol; the return of Putin as president; climate change and environmental degradation; economic slowdown; political shifts in the republics; the role of Russian-backed forces in Syria, Libya, and Central African Republic; changes in Russia–United States relations; and more.
*Thoroughly updated population, economic, and political data.
*80 new or updated figures, tables, and maps.

Pedagogical Features
*End-of-chapter review questions, suggested assignments, and in-class exercises.
*Within-chapter vignettes about Russian places, culture, and history.
*End-of-chapter internet resources and suggestions for further reading.
*Companion website with all figures and maps from the book, many in full color.]]> 518 Mikhail S. Blinnikov 1462544592 t 0 to-read, non-fiction 3.67 A Geography of Russia and Its Neighbors
author: Mikhail S. Blinnikov
name: t
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/16
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East]]> 12121296 352 James Barr 1847374530 t 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.06 2011 A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East
author: James Barr
name: t
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/16
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics]]> 25135194 Geography shapes not only our history, but where we're headed...

All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture.

If you've ever wondered why Putin is so obsessed with Crimea, why the USA was destined to become a global superpower, or why China's power base continues to expand ever outwards, the answers are all here.

In ten chapters and ten maps, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an essential insight into one of the major factors that determines world history.

It's time to put the 'geo' back into geopolitics.

Ten maps; ten chapters:

Russia * China * United States of America * Latin America * the Middle East * Africa * India and Pakistan * Europe * Japan and Korea * the Arctic]]> 256 Tim Marshall 1783961414 t 0 currently-reading 4.18 2015 Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics
author: Tim Marshall
name: t
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/16
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution]]> 75494215 THE REAL ORIGIN OF OUR SPECIES: a myth-busting, eye-opening landmark account of how humans evolved, offering a paradigm shift in our thinking about what the female body is, how it came to be, and how this evolution still shapes all our lives today.

How did the female body drive 200 million years of human evolution?
� Why do women live longer than men?
� Why are women more likely to get Alzheimer’s?
� Why do girls score better at every academic subject than boys until puberty, when suddenly their scores plummet?
� Is sexism useful for evolution?
� And why, seriously why, do women have to sweat through our sheets every night when we hit menopause?

These questions are producing some truly exciting science—and in Eve, with boundless curiosity and sharp wit, Cat Bohannon covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex: "We need a kind of user's manual for the female mammal. A no-nonsense, hard-hitting, seriously researched (but readable) account of what we are. How female bodies evolved, how they work, what it really means to biologically be a woman. Something that would rewrite the story of womanhood. This book is that story. We have to put the female body in the picture. If we don't, it's not just feminism that's compromised. Modern medicine, neurobiology, paleoanthropology, even evolutionary biology all take a hit when we ignore the fact that half of us have breasts. So it's time we talk about breasts. Breasts, and blood, and fat, and vaginas, and wombs—all of it. How they came to be and how we live with them now, no matter how weird or hilarious the truth is."

Eve is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it's an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Picking up where Sapiens left off, Eve will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens has become such a successful and dominant species.]]> 624 Cat Bohannon 0385350546 t 0 4.28 2023 Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution
author: Cat Bohannon
name: t
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/15
shelves: to-read, next-reads, non-fiction
review:

]]>