en-US Tue, 08 Apr 2025 09:23:21 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 58527303 Cutting ties with a toxic family member is a crucial step away from a legacy of dysfunction and toward healing and happiness. This compassionate guide will help you embrace your decision with a sense of pride, validation, and faith in yourself; and provides powerful tools for creating boundaries, coping with judgment, and overcoming self-doubt.

Do you have a toxic family member? Do you feel like cutting ties with this person—even as painful and scary as that may sound—would dramatically increase your well-being and improve your life? You're not alone. Severing ties with a family member can be devastating; and cutting this toxic person out of your life may bring up feelings of guilt and uncertainty—especially if you feel judged by others regarding your decision. Fortunately, you can free yourself from this toxic family member in a healthy, responsible, and liberating way.

In Adult Survivors of Toxic Family Members, psychologist and toxic-family survivor Sherrie Campbell offers effective strategies for setting strong boundaries after ending contact with a toxic family member, and provides powerful tools to help you heal from shame, self-doubt, and stigma. You'll find the validation you need to embrace your decision with pride and acknowledgement of your self-worth. You'll learn how to let go of negative thoughts and feelings. And finally, you'll develop the skills needed to rediscover self-care, self-love, self-reliance, and healthy loving relationships.

Whether you're ready to sever ties with a toxic family member, or already have, this book will help guide you, every step of the way.]]> 224 Sherrie Campbell 1684039282 Diana 5 4.30
author: Sherrie Campbell
name: Diana
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/08
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 214151202 “The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.��

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.]]> 320 Clare Leslie Hall 166807818X Diana 0 currently-reading 4.44 2025
author: Clare Leslie Hall
name: Diana
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 2
Harry has had enough. He is beginning to think he must do something, anything, to change his situation, when the summer holidays come to an end in a very dramatic fashion. What Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down...]]> 912 J.K. Rowling Diana 0 currently-reading 4.50 2003
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Diana
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 197156017 If you knew then what you know now, would you make the same choices? Imagine having a second chance with the one you never forgot.

From the author of the global breakout bestseller The Last Love Note comes the story of a young woman struggling to piece her life back together in the wake of a tragic accident, and the man who gives up everything to help her.

When Evie Hudson wakes in an unfamiliar hospital room, she thinks she’s fresh out of a teenage party with her best friend, Bree. Except, Bree isn’t around anymore and high school was years ago. Evie had just survived the crash that killed her husband, Oliver—whom she can't remember either. After suffering a traumatic loss of memory, she’s left to connect the dots. But how?

Drew, a promising photographer whose chance encounter with Evie unravels the elusive details of her marriage and her husband’s death. As Drew watches Evie stitch the story of her life together, secrets emerge that might shatter both of their worlds.

This tangled second-chance romance leads Evie to question every decision she ever made. This time around, she’s seeing all the things she missed–and the life she gets to choose...again.]]> 416 Emma Grey 195850646X Diana 0 currently-reading 4.01 2024
author: Emma Grey
name: Diana
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 62848145 As he continues showing me their incredible penthouse apartment, I have a terrible feeling about the woman behind closed doors. But I can't risk losing this job �� not if I want to keep my darkest secret safe . . .

It's hard to find an employer who doesn't ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want. It's almost perfect. But I still haven't met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I'm sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I'm doing laundry. And one day I can't help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything...

That's when I make a promise. After all, I've done this before. I can protect Mrs. Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe. Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It's simply a question of how far I'm willing to go...]]> 318 Freida McFadden 1837901317 Diana 4
Millie is back in The Housemaid's Secret employed as a housemaid for yet a different extremely wealthy couple. She's the same old Millie from before, making courageous choices one minute, then stupid choices the next!

I was just as enthralled with book 2 as I was with book 1 and I am enjoying this series. Onto book 3!]]> 4.22 2023
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diana
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:
After feeling a little disappointed by my last Freida McFadden book (The Crash) I was happy to find The Housemaid's Secret to be back on track with what I've come to expect from a McFadden thriller.

Millie is back in The Housemaid's Secret employed as a housemaid for yet a different extremely wealthy couple. She's the same old Millie from before, making courageous choices one minute, then stupid choices the next!

I was just as enthralled with book 2 as I was with book 1 and I am enjoying this series. Onto book 3!
]]> 216247502
Arriving at the University of Edinburgh for her first term, Pen knows her divorced parents back in Canada are hiding something from her. She believes she’ll find the answer here in Scotland, where an old friend of her father’s—now a famous writer known as Lord Lennox—lives. When she is invited to spend the weekend at Lord Lennox’s centuries-old estate with his enveloping, fascinating family, Pen begins to unravel her parents�� secret, just as she’s falling in love for the first time . . .

As Pen experiences the sharp shock of adulthood, she comes to rely on herself for the first time in her life. A rich and rewarding novel of campus life, of sexual awakening, and ultimately, of the many ways women can become mothers in this world, The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus asks to what extent we need to look back in order to move forward.]]> 384 Emma Knight 0593830458 Diana 2 3.41
author: Emma Knight
name: Diana
average rating: 3.41
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 216437557 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer comes a new playful yet deeply emotional contemporary romance.

There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong��

. . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be.

Only no amount of distance or time is nearly enough to forget that something between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life—and even a love—worth remembering.]]> 416 Abby Jimenez 0349442827 Diana 0 currently-reading 4.27 2025
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Diana
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 207611566 There’s power in a book��

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master�� (NPR).]]> 482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 Diana 4
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls does not actually have a whole lot of witchcraft in it. In fact, the book is mainly about the "wayward girls" which is a horrific occurrence in history. Teenaged, unwed, pregnant girls shipped off to a secret location to carry out their pregnancy and childbirth. After which the baby is sold to a wealthy couple and the wayward girls are then shipped back home and told to forget. Very dark.

Grady Hendrix was a new-to-me author whose short story blew me away a while back (Ankle Snatchers) and since then I had been intending to read his full-length books. I am now on book 3 with this one and I am seeing a recurring theme that I like and that is Hendrix's sense of humor. His sense of humor has been my absolute favorite thing about his books. To be able to tackle dark subject matter but also make me laugh at times throughout the book is something that seems challenging! I wouldn't classify Witchcraft for Wayward Girls as the typical horror type story but rather the kind that takes horror that already exists in real life to tell the story. Not only the wayward home situation but pregnancy and childbirth are used for the shock factor in this book as well. Be warned that there is an extremely graphic scene in this book detailing childbirth.

A particular part of this book was very moving and I found myself emotional while reading it. I was not expecting that at all and that is actually what pushed this up to a 4 star book for me.]]> 4.02 2025
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Diana
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:
I watched a short video where Grady Hendrix talks about writing Witchcraft for Wayward Girls and he says something along the lines of: "how you see witches says a lot to how comfortable you are with women having power." I found that to be a pretty powerful and true statement.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls does not actually have a whole lot of witchcraft in it. In fact, the book is mainly about the "wayward girls" which is a horrific occurrence in history. Teenaged, unwed, pregnant girls shipped off to a secret location to carry out their pregnancy and childbirth. After which the baby is sold to a wealthy couple and the wayward girls are then shipped back home and told to forget. Very dark.

Grady Hendrix was a new-to-me author whose short story blew me away a while back (Ankle Snatchers) and since then I had been intending to read his full-length books. I am now on book 3 with this one and I am seeing a recurring theme that I like and that is Hendrix's sense of humor. His sense of humor has been my absolute favorite thing about his books. To be able to tackle dark subject matter but also make me laugh at times throughout the book is something that seems challenging! I wouldn't classify Witchcraft for Wayward Girls as the typical horror type story but rather the kind that takes horror that already exists in real life to tell the story. Not only the wayward home situation but pregnancy and childbirth are used for the shock factor in this book as well. Be warned that there is an extremely graphic scene in this book detailing childbirth.

A particular part of this book was very moving and I found myself emotional while reading it. I was not expecting that at all and that is actually what pushed this up to a 4 star book for me.
]]> 62022 258 Walter Tevis 1400030609 Diana 4
Beth is a chess genius who learns the game at 8 years old in an orphanage. I know how to play chess but that is about the extent of my chess knowledge. The parts of the book detailing specific chess moves and strategies (such as the queen's gambit) were not something I could really identify with personally, but those sections are not overdone and the storyline was able to hold my interest throughout. It was fascinating to follow Beth's life, which revolves around chess from the moment she discovers its existence. This is a coming-of-age story as well as we witness Beth progress through adolescence and all the struggles that go along with it. Orphaned at age 8, her life is interesting to say the least.

A very well written book and now I look forward to seeing it played out on screen. Up next I plan to watch the Netflix series.]]> 4.14 1983
author: Walter Tevis
name: Diana
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/28
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves:
review:
"It's an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it; I can dominate it. And it's predictable. So, if I get hurt, I only have myself to blame."

Beth is a chess genius who learns the game at 8 years old in an orphanage. I know how to play chess but that is about the extent of my chess knowledge. The parts of the book detailing specific chess moves and strategies (such as the queen's gambit) were not something I could really identify with personally, but those sections are not overdone and the storyline was able to hold my interest throughout. It was fascinating to follow Beth's life, which revolves around chess from the moment she discovers its existence. This is a coming-of-age story as well as we witness Beth progress through adolescence and all the struggles that go along with it. Orphaned at age 8, her life is interesting to say the least.

A very well written book and now I look forward to seeing it played out on screen. Up next I plan to watch the Netflix series.
]]> 195945941 Whisper Network and Cutting Teeth.

The Strauss family is on knife’s edge. Sam is a resentful stay-at-home dad. Rachel feels the restlessness in her blood returning. Their children are getting out of hand. And a recent mudslide has forced the wolves out of the woods to look for food. As dusk falls and tensions rise, the family must come together to survive the night—from the threats outside and those within.

Chandler Baker’s 'Big Bad' is part of Creature Feature, a collection of devilishly creepy stories that tingle the spine and twist the mind. They can be read or listened to in one petrifying sitting.]]> 59 Chandler Baker 1662514891 Diana 5 five-stars
Chandler Baker’s smooth writing pulled me right into this slow building spooky story that even had me chuckling a few times. Complete with a fantastic ending, this book was a true treat. ]]> 3.75 2023
author: Chandler Baker
name: Diana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/31
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: five-stars
review:
Family drama of a different nature.

Chandler Baker’s smooth writing pulled me right into this slow building spooky story that even had me chuckling a few times. Complete with a fantastic ending, this book was a true treat.
]]> 213356021 From the author of The Lies Among Us comes a magical tale about mothers and daughters, choices and consequences, and the real meaning of home when every place feels like a cage.

Ten months. That’s the longest Elisa has stayed anyplace, constantly propelled by her fear that if she puts down roots, a family curse will turn her into a tree.

But she’s grown tired of flitting from town to town and in and out of relationships. When she discovers a small town in Massachusetts where mysterious forces make it impossible for the residents to leave, she hopes she can change her fate.

As Elisa learns about the town’s history, she understands more about the women in her family, who seem doomed to never get what they want. Now she believes she’s stuck, too—is that a patch of bark on her arm? But her neighbor’s collection of pet birds sings secrets that Elisa can almost understand—secrets she must unravel in order to be truly alive.]]> 335 Sarah Beth Durst 1662524110 Diana 3
“With my backpack and an unwarranted dose of hope, I step off the bus into a new life.��

In The Warbler, our main character, Elisa, is constantly moving and starting a “new�� life over and over. Seemingly, she does this not by choice but due to some type of curse. Just once, Elisa would like to know what it feels like to stay in one place instead of always saying goodbye to people she becomes attached to. The story moves along mainly through Elisa’s point of few but also rotates through Lori and Rose who are Elisa’s mother and grandmother. Through Lori and Rose’s chapters we get little clues that help push the story along as we try to make sense of Elisa’s curse.

The book Spellshop is what put Sarah Beth Durst on my radar. The Warbler, however, is a very different book. They are both magical realism but The Warbler is more subtle about it. You won’t run across any unicorns, centaurs or talking plants here in The Warbler. The writing is good but I was hoping for more of the magical prose I found in Spellshop. Nonetheless, The Warbler is a very unique story and I had a good time reading this book. I found the ending to be satisfying for the most part but I wanted a few more answers than what was provided.]]> 3.89 2025
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Diana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 Stars!

“With my backpack and an unwarranted dose of hope, I step off the bus into a new life.��

In The Warbler, our main character, Elisa, is constantly moving and starting a “new�� life over and over. Seemingly, she does this not by choice but due to some type of curse. Just once, Elisa would like to know what it feels like to stay in one place instead of always saying goodbye to people she becomes attached to. The story moves along mainly through Elisa’s point of few but also rotates through Lori and Rose who are Elisa’s mother and grandmother. Through Lori and Rose’s chapters we get little clues that help push the story along as we try to make sense of Elisa’s curse.

The book Spellshop is what put Sarah Beth Durst on my radar. The Warbler, however, is a very different book. They are both magical realism but The Warbler is more subtle about it. You won’t run across any unicorns, centaurs or talking plants here in The Warbler. The writing is good but I was hoping for more of the magical prose I found in Spellshop. Nonetheless, The Warbler is a very unique story and I had a good time reading this book. I found the ending to be satisfying for the most part but I wanted a few more answers than what was provided.
]]> 61273858 From the award-winning author of Yellow Wife, a daring and redemptive novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.]]> 384 Sadeqa Johnson 1982197366 Diana 3
The House of Eve is a historical romance following the lives of Ruby and Eleanor. Told in alternating chapters, I was equally invested in both Ruby’s and Eleanor’s story. Women did not have much of a say in things in the 1950’s �� add the fact that our main characters are black women and the challenge is even greater!

It was easy to get lost in this historical world Sadeqa Johnson created in The House of Eve. Her writing is engaging and flows along nicely. I especially enjoyed the Author’s Note at the end where she describes her reasoning for writing this particular story. ]]> 4.23 2023
author: Sadeqa Johnson
name: Diana
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 Stars!

The House of Eve is a historical romance following the lives of Ruby and Eleanor. Told in alternating chapters, I was equally invested in both Ruby’s and Eleanor’s story. Women did not have much of a say in things in the 1950’s �� add the fact that our main characters are black women and the challenge is even greater!

It was easy to get lost in this historical world Sadeqa Johnson created in The House of Eve. Her writing is engaging and flows along nicely. I especially enjoyed the Author’s Note at the end where she describes her reasoning for writing this particular story.
]]> 209499498 ‘There are a lot of shadows at Ravenswood, so you will need to be strong…��

The year is 1885 and a young woman is on the run, knowing if she’s caught, she’ll be hanged for murder. Moments from a safe haven, she collides with a gruff stranger, falling and breaking her ankle.

To her surprise, the man �� Marcus Greybourne �� convinces the local constable that she is his reclusive wife of ten years, Luna. He carries her back to the neglected and crumbling Ravenswood Hall, promising if she agrees to maintain this charade, he will keep her safe until her injuries have healed.

But the house is haunted by shadows and secrets. What’s more, the real Luna Greybourne is missing, without trace. Scratches and marks made by her around the house suggest witchcraft; and indeed Luna is known locally as the Ravenswood Witch; her reputation in tatters, like the wallpapers of the padlocked rooms she’d destroyed.

As strange happenings in the house continue, outside the screech of a raven echoes across oppressive woods that seem alive with dark magic. And the woman who is now pretending to be Luna can’t help but fear she’s escaped the noose for a far more terrible fate��

A completely compelling and unforgettable historical bookclub read �� fans of Jane Eyre, Weyward and The Binding will be utterly spellbound.]]> 354 Jenni Keer 1785139827 Diana 4
Witchy books have been calling to me quite a bit recently. Therefore, The Ravenswood Witch caught me by the title alone. Then the beautiful cover added to my need to read this as soon as possible.

My first experience with a Jenni Keer book did not disappoint. The Ravenswood Witch takes place in 1885 and immediately takes off running as our two main characters quite literally run into each other!

The time period as well as the setting made for an atmospheric and gothic story. In my opinion, The Ravenswood Witch has a bit of a cozy witchy vibe to it. Which I enjoyed very much. My favorite character is Bran, who is a bird. I always find myself drawn to the animal characters!]]> 3.82 2024
author: Jenni Keer
name: Diana
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves:
review:
“But it was her soul that weighed the most, for she’d sold it to the Devil��

Witchy books have been calling to me quite a bit recently. Therefore, The Ravenswood Witch caught me by the title alone. Then the beautiful cover added to my need to read this as soon as possible.

My first experience with a Jenni Keer book did not disappoint. The Ravenswood Witch takes place in 1885 and immediately takes off running as our two main characters quite literally run into each other!

The time period as well as the setting made for an atmospheric and gothic story. In my opinion, The Ravenswood Witch has a bit of a cozy witchy vibe to it. Which I enjoyed very much. My favorite character is Bran, who is a bird. I always find myself drawn to the animal characters!
]]> 211025407 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593712993.

An epic and intimate tale of one couple across sixty years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and exploring what it means to find home far from your homeland.

A single choice can define an entire life.

Haiwen is buying bananas at a 99 Ranch Market in Los Angeles when he looks up and sees Suchi, his Suchi, for the first time in sixty years. To recently widowed Haiwen it feels like a second chance, but Suchi has only survived by refusing to look back.

Suchi was seven when she first met Haiwen in their Shanghai neighborhood, drawn by the sound of his violin. Their childhood friendship blossomed into soul-deep love, but when Haiwen secretly enlisted in the Nationalist army in 1947 to save his brother from the draft, she was left with just his violin and a note: Forgive me.

Homeseeking follows the separated lovers through six decades of tumultuous Chinese history as war, famine, and opportunity take them separately to the song halls of Hong Kong, the military encampments of Taiwan, the bustling streets of New York, and sunny California, telling Haiwen’s story from the present to the past while tracing Suchi’s from her childhood to the present, meeting in the crucible of their lives. Throughout, Haiwen holds his memories close while Suchi forces herself to look only forward, neither losing sight of the home they hold in their hearts.

At once epic and intimate, Homeseeking is a story of family, sacrifice, and loyalty, and of the power of love to endure beyond distance, beyond time.]]> 512 Karissa Chen Diana 3
The writing in Homeseeking is beautiful:

“Light filtered through the clothes dangling on bamboo poles above her, offering uneven shade from the sun and casting fluttery shadows on her face.��

“A chorus of violins ushered Suchi into Howard’s life for the third and final time.��

We follow our main characters Suchi and Haiwen (Howard) throughout decades of their lives. They are actually school children when they first meet. Their heartbreaking tale is told in alternating perspective from each. Unfortunately for me, the jumping timelines were confusing and took away from my enjoyment of the story. I’m okay with multiple timelines but the random years seemed to have no rhyme or reason and caused lots of flipping back of pages to get my bearings.

Nonetheless this new-to-me author seems quite talented and I look forward to her future books.]]> 4.25 2025
author: Karissa Chen
name: Diana
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 Stars!

The writing in Homeseeking is beautiful:

“Light filtered through the clothes dangling on bamboo poles above her, offering uneven shade from the sun and casting fluttery shadows on her face.��

“A chorus of violins ushered Suchi into Howard’s life for the third and final time.��

We follow our main characters Suchi and Haiwen (Howard) throughout decades of their lives. They are actually school children when they first meet. Their heartbreaking tale is told in alternating perspective from each. Unfortunately for me, the jumping timelines were confusing and took away from my enjoyment of the story. I’m okay with multiple timelines but the random years seemed to have no rhyme or reason and caused lots of flipping back of pages to get my bearings.

Nonetheless this new-to-me author seems quite talented and I look forward to her future books.
]]> 38227753

Today, most doctors, dietitians, and even diabetes specialists consider type 2 diabetes to be a chronic and progressive disease—a life sentence with no possibility of parole. But the truth, as Dr. Fung reveals in this paradigm-shifting book, is that type 2 diabetes is reversible. Writing with clear, persuasive language, he explains why conventional treatments that rely on insulin or other blood-glucose-lowering drugs can actually exacerbate the problem, leading to significant weight gain and even heart disease. The only way to treat type 2 diabetes effectively, he argues, is proper dieting and intermittent fasting—not medication.]]> 327 Jason Fung 1771642661 Diana 4
Upon my husband being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I then began learning about the disease as often as I could.

"If we fail to remove the problems of too much sugar, too much insulin and ectopic fat, then the problem is chronic and progressive. When we treat the root cause, then type 2 diabetes, and indeed the entire metabolic syndrome, is a completely reversible disease."

The Diabetes Code makes a lot of sense to me. Jason Fung uses analogies to help explain the concepts he is trying to explain in this book as well as charts and graphs. However, if you read this, be prepared that most of this is a textbook style book that has a lot of information to take in. That is the reason it took me several months to finish this. I would read a chapter or 2 at a time and let the information sink in before moving on.

The last section of the book in which Jason Fung attempts to describe how one would go about reversing their diabetes feels a bit rushed compared to the earlier sections of the book. This is the section I would have wanted even more detail on as opposed to the previous medical heavy chapters. I still found this section helpful. I do have the accompanying Diabetes Code Cookbook that I am making my way through and I am hoping to learn even more information as I go through the Cookbook.]]> 4.49 2018
author: Jason Fung
name: Diana
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:
Knowledge is power.

Upon my husband being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I then began learning about the disease as often as I could.

"If we fail to remove the problems of too much sugar, too much insulin and ectopic fat, then the problem is chronic and progressive. When we treat the root cause, then type 2 diabetes, and indeed the entire metabolic syndrome, is a completely reversible disease."

The Diabetes Code makes a lot of sense to me. Jason Fung uses analogies to help explain the concepts he is trying to explain in this book as well as charts and graphs. However, if you read this, be prepared that most of this is a textbook style book that has a lot of information to take in. That is the reason it took me several months to finish this. I would read a chapter or 2 at a time and let the information sink in before moving on.

The last section of the book in which Jason Fung attempts to describe how one would go about reversing their diabetes feels a bit rushed compared to the earlier sections of the book. This is the section I would have wanted even more detail on as opposed to the previous medical heavy chapters. I still found this section helpful. I do have the accompanying Diabetes Code Cookbook that I am making my way through and I am hoping to learn even more information as I go through the Cookbook.
]]> 214037520 A woman who can’t remember her past encounters a mysterious stranger in a chilling novel of mounting psychological suspense by the authors of The Last Girl Left.

She wakes on the shore of a remote lake in the middle of the night, freezing and afraid. With no memory of who she is or how she got there, she stumbles frantically toward the lights of a house. The handsome stranger who lives there is shocked to see a woman on his doorstep and takes her in.

Trapped by a winter storm and cut off from the outside world, she starts to suspect that all is not right with the house on Gravewater Lake—or the man, who says his name is Gregg. Because there are whispers in the night, and phantom footsteps pace the halls. Is Gregg hiding a dark secret, or is she losing her mind?

As she struggles to remember her past and make sense of her present, she soon discovers that people are not always who they seem, and the truth might be more deadly than she could ever have imagined.]]> 359 A.M. Strong 1662518404 Diana 0 to-read 3.91 2025
author: A.M. Strong
name: Diana
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 31176969
Abby’s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries - and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?

Like an unholy hybrid of Beaches and The Exorcist, My best Friend's Exorcism blends teen angst, adolescent drama, unspeakable horrors, and a mix of '80s pop songs into a pulse-pounding supernatural thriller.]]> 10 Grady Hendrix 1504714490 Diana 4
As far as the horror aspect goes, it is not really a scary book (again, see the question of parody above); nonetheless, the horror elements are of my least favorite kind -- that is to say they are of the "gross" factor. I prefer my horror books to be scary in the "don't turn the lights off" kind of way as opposed to the "icky, vomit, snot" kind of way.

This story is about the friendship between 2 girls who meet in elementary school. To quote a recent comment from a ŷ������ friend (Ron): "This book nails the 80s." And it really and truly does. I loved the fact that the chapters are song titles. I love how often song lyrics are quoted throughout the book. I was very deeply into music as a child of the 80s and remembered these song lyrics right along with the characters when they came up. What fun! ]]> 3.68 2016
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Diana
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:
My Best Friend's Exorcism is a combination of nostalgia and comedy with a horror-ish plot of an exorcism. While reading, I was wondering if this book was supposed to be a parody mash-up of an 80s horror and an 80s coming of age movie. To be honest, I still don't really know if parody was the author's intent or not?

As far as the horror aspect goes, it is not really a scary book (again, see the question of parody above); nonetheless, the horror elements are of my least favorite kind -- that is to say they are of the "gross" factor. I prefer my horror books to be scary in the "don't turn the lights off" kind of way as opposed to the "icky, vomit, snot" kind of way.

This story is about the friendship between 2 girls who meet in elementary school. To quote a recent comment from a ŷ������ friend (Ron): "This book nails the 80s." And it really and truly does. I loved the fact that the chapters are song titles. I love how often song lyrics are quoted throughout the book. I was very deeply into music as a child of the 80s and remembered these song lyrics right along with the characters when they came up. What fun!
]]> 58684524
While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere�� ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

The New York Times bestselling author of Life's Too Short delivers a refreshingly modern fairy tale perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Emily Henry.]]> 389 Abby Jimenez 1538704374 Diana 5 five-stars
My first taste of Abby Jimenez was a short story and after loving that, I was excited to move on to a full-length book. Part of Your World ended up being a great choice for me!

Alexis and Daniel may be extremely compatible in some ways but in other ways they could not be more different. This story absolutely fits the bill for a very entertaining romcom. I laughed out loud several times and of course the love story is super sweet as it should be in a romcom.

What ended up pushing this romcom onto my 5 star shelf was the slightly unexpected ending. I do enjoy a predictable romance and expect it to be predictable so when a certain thing surprised me a bit at the end, I liked that even more. The other thing was [spoilers removed]

Onto book 2 of this series I go!]]> 4.26 2022
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Diana
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: five-stars
review:
“You know what's so dangerous about drowning?' I said, looking up at him. 'It's silent. So unless someone's paying close attention to you, no one saves you.��

My first taste of Abby Jimenez was a short story and after loving that, I was excited to move on to a full-length book. Part of Your World ended up being a great choice for me!

Alexis and Daniel may be extremely compatible in some ways but in other ways they could not be more different. This story absolutely fits the bill for a very entertaining romcom. I laughed out loud several times and of course the love story is super sweet as it should be in a romcom.

What ended up pushing this romcom onto my 5 star shelf was the slightly unexpected ending. I do enjoy a predictable romance and expect it to be predictable so when a certain thing surprised me a bit at the end, I liked that even more. The other thing was [spoilers removed]

Onto book 2 of this series I go!
]]> 213111930
There’s a madman dog beside me, and the hounds of memory ahead of us . . . It’s love and beasts and wild mistakes, and regret, but never to change things.

What happens when the Zusak family opens their home to three big, wild, street-hardened dogs—Reuben, more wolf than hound; Archer, blond, beautiful, destructive; and the rancorously smiling Frosty, who walks like a rolling thunderstorm?

The answer can only be chaos: There are street fights, park fights, public shamings, property damages, injuries, hospital visits, wellness checks, pure comedy, shocking tragedy, and carnage that must be read to be believed.

There is a reckoning of shortcomings and failure, a strengthening of will, but most important of all, an explosion of love—and the joy and recognition of family.

Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth) is a tender, motley, and exquisitely written memoir about the human need for both connection and disorder, a love letter to the animals who bring hilarity and beauty—but also the visceral truth of the natural world—straight to our doors and into our lives and change us forever.]]> 240 Markus Zusak 0063426072 Diana 3
Anyone who knows me, knows I will read all books dog.

Anyone who has lived with a dog can easily relate to the anecdotes Zusak lovingly shares in this memoir.

Anyone who has lost a dog can easily relate to the heartache that never goes away. In this sense, dogs are very much the angels they seem to be for us humans. ]]> 4.02 2024
author: Markus Zusak
name: Diana
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 Stars!

Anyone who knows me, knows I will read all books dog.

Anyone who has lived with a dog can easily relate to the anecdotes Zusak lovingly shares in this memoir.

Anyone who has lost a dog can easily relate to the heartache that never goes away. In this sense, dogs are very much the angels they seem to be for us humans.
]]> 36739755 Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura.

Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,�� she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction―many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual―and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal�� person excellently, more or less. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action��

A brilliant depiction of a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures we all feel to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.]]> 163 Sayaka Murata 0802128254 Diana 3
Very short book whose main character is - as you may have guessed - an employee in a convenience store in Japan. I found this while scrolling through my library's ebook selection and immediately loved the cover.

Convenience Store Woman is the kind of book that tugs on the heart strings a bit but it does it in that sneaky way where you are laughing at times, sad at times and it's not until you are finished that you realize it. ]]> 3.65 2016
author: Sayaka Murata
name: Diana
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 Stars!

Very short book whose main character is - as you may have guessed - an employee in a convenience store in Japan. I found this while scrolling through my library's ebook selection and immediately loved the cover.

Convenience Store Woman is the kind of book that tugs on the heart strings a bit but it does it in that sneaky way where you are laughing at times, sad at times and it's not until you are finished that you realize it.
]]> 17899948 Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling read that it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.]]> 449 Daphne du Maurier 0316323705 Diana 0 currently-reading 4.28 1938
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Diana
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1938
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 60018635 A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family--and a new love--changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....
]]> 318 Sangu Mandanna 059343935X Diana 4
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a whimsical, witchy, cozy book that made me happy.

Our main character, Mika, has been asked to help 3 very young witches, Rosetta, Terracotta and Altamira. The 3 girls have a lot to learn about their magic and Mika Moon (that name!), being a witch herself, has agreed to come to Nowhere House to help them. This story is funny, feelgood and sweet. I'm loving this cozy fantasy genre when I need something light and fun.]]> 4.05 2022
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Diana
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:
I give the cute cover and title 5 stars! (My reason for choosing this one!)

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is a whimsical, witchy, cozy book that made me happy.

Our main character, Mika, has been asked to help 3 very young witches, Rosetta, Terracotta and Altamira. The 3 girls have a lot to learn about their magic and Mika Moon (that name!), being a witch herself, has agreed to come to Nowhere House to help them. This story is funny, feelgood and sweet. I'm loving this cozy fantasy genre when I need something light and fun.
]]> 55196813
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it's too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.]]> 304 Nita Prose 0593356152 Diana 3
Molly is a maid at The Regency Grand hotel. It is implied that Molly is somewhere on the autistic spectrum and, as expected in a cozy mystery, she soon gets caught up in a murder investigation. From that point on, shenanigans ensue until the ending is tied up in a neat little bow.

I found The Maid to be a funny and somewhat endearing book. At times I found it a tad bit tiresome but for the most part an enjoyable read. ]]> 3.71 2022
author: Nita Prose
name: Diana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:
The Maid is a cozy mystery with several laugh-out-loud moments.

Molly is a maid at The Regency Grand hotel. It is implied that Molly is somewhere on the autistic spectrum and, as expected in a cozy mystery, she soon gets caught up in a murder investigation. From that point on, shenanigans ensue until the ending is tied up in a neat little bow.

I found The Maid to be a funny and somewhat endearing book. At times I found it a tad bit tiresome but for the most part an enjoyable read.
]]> 126919284
But to everyone’s surprise, Cam wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.

Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family—and the twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.

But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. As Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will—and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.]]> 294 Rachel Hawkins 1250280036 Diana 4
The Heiress is told through 3 perspectives: Cam, Jules, and Ruby. Cam and Jules are a married couple who are summoned to Ashby House after Ruby's death. Ruby's point of view comes through numerous letters she has written. Ruby's chapters are by far my favorite chapters. Ruby takes us back in time as she shares her life in great detail including a close look at all four of her marriages.

The Heiress is full of surprises! Through Cam, Jules, and Ruby's narration, we begin to learn that things are not always as they seem!]]> 3.80 2024
author: Rachel Hawkins
name: Diana
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:
Secrets galore!

The Heiress is told through 3 perspectives: Cam, Jules, and Ruby. Cam and Jules are a married couple who are summoned to Ashby House after Ruby's death. Ruby's point of view comes through numerous letters she has written. Ruby's chapters are by far my favorite chapters. Ruby takes us back in time as she shares her life in great detail including a close look at all four of her marriages.

The Heiress is full of surprises! Through Cam, Jules, and Ruby's narration, we begin to learn that things are not always as they seem!
]]> 13129925
To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.

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

Designed by Andie Reid, cover photography by Christine Ferrara.]]> 248 Grady Hendrix 1594745269 Diana 2 3.64 2014
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Diana
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves:
review:

]]> 211004123 The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible �� a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.]]> 306 Alice Feeney 125033778X Diana 3 3.65 2025
author: Alice Feeney
name: Diana
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:
A solid middle-of-the-road 3 star rating from me for Beautiful Ugly. It pains me because this author has been a steady 5 star author for me.
]]> 213243915 The #1 New York Times bestselling author, whose books so many love, brings us a fresh, contemporary story of a woman and her unruly blended family

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is . . . complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach about love, and what it actually means to be family.]]> 450 Jojo Moyes 1984879324 Diana 4
We All Live Here follows single mother, Lila, as she navigates her constantly shifting life. As expected from JoJo Moyes, this book has strong character development featuring some very colorful characters throughout a range of ages. The story is mainly narrated by Lila, but we do have a few random chapters narrated by Celie, her teenaged daughter.

We All Live Here is a touching story but also amusing! Jojo Moyes has a way of reminding us that we have no control over what life throws at us! ]]> 3.88 2025
author: Jojo Moyes
name: Diana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves:
review:
“There are periods of your life in which all that is really required is to keep putting one foot in front of the other.��

We All Live Here follows single mother, Lila, as she navigates her constantly shifting life. As expected from JoJo Moyes, this book has strong character development featuring some very colorful characters throughout a range of ages. The story is mainly narrated by Lila, but we do have a few random chapters narrated by Celie, her teenaged daughter.

We All Live Here is a touching story but also amusing! Jojo Moyes has a way of reminding us that we have no control over what life throws at us!
]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile�� humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die]]> 665 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 Diana 0 currently-reading 4.56 2023
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Diana
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 223199392 Two good neighbors make the best of a bad Valentine’s Day in a funny and improbably romantic short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer.

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and Charlotte and Seth are not looking for romance. Armed with emotional-support bear spray, Charlotte is in self-imposed isolation and on guard from men. Having a stalker can do that to a person’s nerves. Just across the hall and giving off woodsy vibes is Seth, a recently divorced arborist. As in today recently. Heights, he’s fine with. Trust? Not so much. But when disaster traps them one flight up and no way down, an outrageously precarious predicament forces a tree-loving guy and a rattled girl next door to embrace their captivity. Soon their defenses are breaking away. Considering how close they both are to the edge, Charlotte and Seth could be in danger of falling—in love.]]> 82 Abby Jimenez 1662529082 Diana 4
The above from chapter one of the very appropriately titled short story by Abby Jimenez: The Fall Risk. I was immediately invested in Charlotte and Seth’s story. You just never know with short stories, but this author did a great job of reeling me into this amusing and adorable story. Charlotte and Seth are thrust into a highly unusual situation and are challenged to make the best of it. This book has witty banter galore:

“But will she like my tree puns?��
“I’d be stumped if she didn’t.��
]]> 4.12 2025
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Diana
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:
“I peered down at my ankle. I was off the crutches now, but I was still wearing the boot. “Okay, good point,�� I said. “I guess I am a bit of a fall risk.��

The above from chapter one of the very appropriately titled short story by Abby Jimenez: The Fall Risk. I was immediately invested in Charlotte and Seth’s story. You just never know with short stories, but this author did a great job of reeling me into this amusing and adorable story. Charlotte and Seth are thrust into a highly unusual situation and are challenged to make the best of it. This book has witty banter galore:

“But will she like my tree puns?��
“I’d be stumped if she didn’t.��

]]> 211479192 A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets, and then embarks on a magical journey when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop, in this dreamlike and enchanting fantasy novel.

On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see a cozy ramen restaurant. And only the chosen ones—those who are lost—will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.

Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop’s new owner to find it ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen, and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike its other customers, for he offers help instead of seeking it.

Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice—by way of rain puddles, rides on paper cranes, the bridge between midnight and morning, and a night market in the clouds.

But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own—and risk making a choice that she will never be able to take back.]]> 384 Samantha Sotto Yambao 0593724992 Diana 3
“Losing your way is oftentimes the only way to find something you did not know you were looking for.��

A pawn shop where you can sell your regrets?? Yes please! The premise of Water Moon is so magical and unique. I was very (perhaps overly) excited to get into this book!

Our main character, Hana, is the new owner of said pawn shop, which has been passed down to her from her father. Unfortunately, her first day as the new owner is met with some unpleasant surprises and a pawnshop visitor - (a complete stranger!) actually offers to help! What follows is quite an adventure.

I absolutely loved the idea of this book but felt slightly let down by the execution. All in all, an entertaining and magical story. ]]> 3.82 2025
author: Samantha Sotto Yambao
name: Diana
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 Stars!

“Losing your way is oftentimes the only way to find something you did not know you were looking for.��

A pawn shop where you can sell your regrets?? Yes please! The premise of Water Moon is so magical and unique. I was very (perhaps overly) excited to get into this book!

Our main character, Hana, is the new owner of said pawn shop, which has been passed down to her from her father. Unfortunately, her first day as the new owner is met with some unpleasant surprises and a pawnshop visitor - (a complete stranger!) actually offers to help! What follows is quite an adventure.

I absolutely loved the idea of this book but felt slightly let down by the execution. All in all, an entertaining and magical story.
]]> 216223604 The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.
]]> 384 Freida McFadden 1464232989 Diana 2
I really enjoy reading this author's work, but The Crash just didn't work for me.

Looking forward to my next Freida McFadden book! ]]> 3.58 2025
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diana
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves:
review:
2-1/2 Stars!

I really enjoy reading this author's work, but The Crash just didn't work for me.

Looking forward to my next Freida McFadden book!
]]> 40097951
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.]]> 336 Alex Michaelides 1250301696 Diana 5 five-stars
I enjoyed the dual perspectives between Theo and Alicia. Since Alicia is silent, her chapters are actually diary entries. Theo is the psychologist trying to get Alicia to break her silence.

This book went a different direction than what I was expecting and it was great fun once the pieces of the puzzle began to come together. ]]> 4.18 2019
author: Alex Michaelides
name: Diana
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: five-stars
review:
Finally got around to seeing what all the hype was about surrounding this book. And now I understand! The awards The Silent Patient have received are well deserved.

I enjoyed the dual perspectives between Theo and Alicia. Since Alicia is silent, her chapters are actually diary entries. Theo is the psychologist trying to get Alicia to break her silence.

This book went a different direction than what I was expecting and it was great fun once the pieces of the puzzle began to come together.
]]> 50659467
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

From bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.]]> 419 Sarah J. Maas 1635575567 Diana 3 4.16 2015
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:

]]> 36373463
Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more acute.

As the big match approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up and their mutual contempt grows deeper. By the time the last game is finally played, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after all they’ve been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent.
]]> 448 Fredrik Backman 1501160796 Diana 5 five-stars

This is only my second Fredrik Backman book, the first being Beartown. Both of these books are stories I can see being made into movies that I would enjoy watching. I admit Us Against You had a bit of a slow start. I felt like there was a lot of recapping of the first book and it seemed like this new story wasn't going to get going. The thing about Backman's writing, though, is that it seems to sneak up on me and before I even realize it, I'm at the point where I'm completely sucked into this other world and can't put the book down.

This is the kind of thing Backman writes: "The complicated thing about good and bad people alike, is that most of us can be both at the same time." Then, I'm not only sucked into the world of Beartown but now I'm pondering details about real life as well. That seems to be Backman's way. To make us think about more than just the story he's written. And this seems to be something he is good at.

"Sometimes people have to be allowed to have something to live for in order to survive everything else."]]> 4.34 2017
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Diana
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: five-stars
review:
My second time through Us Against You was an enjoyable recap to prepare me for finally finishing this trilogy. Below is my original review from approximately 3 years ago:


This is only my second Fredrik Backman book, the first being Beartown. Both of these books are stories I can see being made into movies that I would enjoy watching. I admit Us Against You had a bit of a slow start. I felt like there was a lot of recapping of the first book and it seemed like this new story wasn't going to get going. The thing about Backman's writing, though, is that it seems to sneak up on me and before I even realize it, I'm at the point where I'm completely sucked into this other world and can't put the book down.

This is the kind of thing Backman writes: "The complicated thing about good and bad people alike, is that most of us can be both at the same time." Then, I'm not only sucked into the world of Beartown but now I'm pondering details about real life as well. That seems to be Backman's way. To make us think about more than just the story he's written. And this seems to be something he is good at.

"Sometimes people have to be allowed to have something to live for in order to survive everything else."
]]> 127280850
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.]]> 392 Emilia Hart 1250842727 Diana 3
This book was much heavier on the depressing side than I was expecting. Multiple possible triggers for some readers

The cover, however, gets 5 stars. ]]> 4.02 2023
author: Emilia Hart
name: Diana
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/24
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves:
review:
Weyward is a witchy magical story that follows 3 women. Three women who are very powerful, yet they are all in terrible circumstances. Terrible is an understatement in this case. An interesting thing is that the 3 women are each from a different time spanning across centuries. The story is told alternating through the 3 timelines in each or their voices. One immediately wonders how and if the 3 women are connected?

This book was much heavier on the depressing side than I was expecting. Multiple possible triggers for some readers

The cover, however, gets 5 stars.
]]> 58909880 The New York Times best-selling author of Final Girls and Survive the Night is back with his most unexpected thriller yet.

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving.

With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy surprises, Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake unveils more than one twist that will shock readers until the very last page.]]> 369 Riley Sager Diana 4
Our main character, Casey, is coping with some major life changes and she is turning to alcohol to numb herself. Of course, this makes others around her question her believability when she begins to see some alarming things happening in the house across the lake.

This was my first Riley Sager experience and I consider it a win. I'll be looking for more from this author.

[spoilers removed] ]]> 3.58 2022
author: Riley Sager
name: Diana
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:
The House Across the Lake is a book that started out for me as just a mediocre story with a plotline that I've read quite a few times already. However, I found it heading into a direction that was completely unexpected and I found myself enjoying it very much!

Our main character, Casey, is coping with some major life changes and she is turning to alcohol to numb herself. Of course, this makes others around her question her believability when she begins to see some alarming things happening in the house across the lake.

This was my first Riley Sager experience and I consider it a win. I'll be looking for more from this author.

[spoilers removed]
]]> 54119086 381 Debbie Macomber 0369700554 Diana 4 4.20 2001
author: Debbie Macomber
name: Diana
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/17
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves:
review:
Many, many, many years ago, I picked up a Debbie Macomber book solely from how cute the cover was and how unique the title seemed at the time. The title was a street address! I couldn’t tell you now which book it was but I can tell you it was a Cedar Cove series book! At the time I had no idea it was part of a series. I ended up loving the book and didn’t really feel like I had missed anything by not reading the book in the correct order. I decided at that point that somebody I should go back to the beginning of Cedar Cove and read the books in order. Well, better late than never!
]]> 199798006
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it�� (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).]]> 312 Marcus Kliewer 1982198788 Diana 4 3.67 2024
author: Marcus Kliewer
name: Diana
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves:
review:
What a fantastic debut! Marcus Kliewer is now on my radar for future reading. I also see that his ŷ������ photo features a dog and that always scores points with me!
]]> 366346 204 Rosewood Lane
Cedar Cove, Washington

Dear Listener,
If you've been to Cedar Cove before we've probably met. You can usually find me either at home or at the public library, where I work. I've lived in this town all my life and raised two daughters here. But my husband and I - well, about six months ago, he disappeared. Just…disappeared. Where's Dan? Why did he go? Who's he with? Will I ever find out?

My hometown, my family and friends, bring me comfort during this difficult time. Comfort and a sense of shelter. I'm continually reminded that life can and does go on. For instance, everyone's been discussing weddings and babies lately. Justine - the only daughter of my best friend, Olivia Lockhart - impulsively got married a little while ago. My own daughter Kelly recently had a baby. Unfortunately, she refuses to accept that Dan might not return to see his first grandchild. My older daughter, Maryellen, is more realistic. I think she's seeing a new man, but for some reason she won't tell me who it is.

Then there's Jack, who's been pursuing a romance with Olivia, and his son, Eric, and Eric's girlfriend, Shelly (I think she's pregnant), and Zach and Rosemary Cox, whose marriage is reputedly on the skids and…Well, just come on over and we'll talk!

Grace]]> 384 Debbie Macomber 0778322602 Diana 0 currently-reading 4.16 2002
author: Debbie Macomber
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 33413128
People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.]]> 432 Fredrik Backman Diana 5 five-stars I wanted a refresh on Beartown because I’ve never read book 3 in this series. This second time was every bit as good as my first read! Now for book 2 AND finally book 3! ]]> 4.27 2016
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Diana
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: five-stars
review:
UPDATE after reread January 10, 2025:
I wanted a refresh on Beartown because I’ve never read book 3 in this series. This second time was every bit as good as my first read! Now for book 2 AND finally book 3!
]]> 28094689 Includes the stories “The Body�� and “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption”—set in the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine A “hypnotic�� (The New York Times Book Review) collection of four novellas—including the inspirations behind the films Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption—from Stephen King, bound together by the changing of seasons, each taking on the theme of a journey with strikingly different tones and characters.This gripping collection begins with “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption,�� in which an unjustly imprisoned convict seeks a strange and startling revenge—the basis for the Best Picture Academy Award-nominee The Shawshank Redemption. Next is “Apt Pupil,�� the inspiration for the film of the same name about top high school student Todd Bowden and his obsession with the dark and deadly past of an older man in town. In “The Body,�� four rambunctious young boys plunge through the façade of a small town and come face-to-face with life, death, and intimations of their own mortality. This novella became the movie Stand By Me. Finally, a disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death in “The Breathing Method.�� “The wondrous readability of his work, as well as the instant sense of communication with his characters, are what make Stephen King the consummate storyteller that he is,�� hailed the Houston Chronicle about Different Seasons.]]> 687 Stephen King Diana 0 currently-reading 4.37 1982
author: Stephen King
name: Diana
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 212352846 The delightful new romantic series from the bestselling author of The Cornish Cream Tea novels. ‘Gorgeous…�� Woman
‘One of our favourite women’s fiction stars�� �� Heat
‘A warm and wonderful read�� �� Woman’s Own

In a beautiful seaside village, where enormous blue skies and golden sand dunes stretch into forever, somebody is opening an unexpected gift��

When an anonymous parcel turns up at the shop where Sophie works, she’s surprised to find a beautifully bound classic novel, one that eerily seems to chime with her own story.

Enigmatic Harry lives in a crumbling manor house, spending solitary days patching up leaks in the roof. The subject of unwelcome gossip in the village since his return from London, he prefers to keep to himself.

As Christmas draws near and the gifting season arrives, Sophie attempts to get to the bottom of her mysterious parcel. Finding herself being drawn into Harry’s orbit, they are both about to learn that good stories can take on a life of their own …]]> 380 Cressida McLaughlin 0008623813 Diana 0 to-read 4.11 2024
author: Cressida McLaughlin
name: Diana
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 201626978
A riveting, single-sitting read set over the course of eight hours, The Most is an epic story in one single day, masterly breaching the shimmering surface of a seemingly idyllic mid-century marriage, immersing us in the unspoken truth beneath.]]> 144 Jessica Anthony 0316576379 Diana 2 3.31 2024
author: Jessica Anthony
name: Diana
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 207298822
“Sharing food is one of the purest human acts.��

Food has always been an integral part of Stanley Tucci’s life: from stracciatella soup served in the shadow of the Pantheon, to marinara sauce cooked between scene rehearsals and costume fittings, to home-made pizza eaten with his children before bedtime.

Now, in What I Ate in One Year Tucci records twelve months of eating—in restaurants, kitchens, film sets, press junkets, at home and abroad, with friends, with family, with strangers, and occasionally just by himself.

Ranging from the mouth-wateringly memorable to the comfortingly domestic and to the infuriatingly inedible, the meals memorialised in this diary are a prism for him to reflect on the ways his life, and his family, are constantly evolving. Through food he marks—and mourns—the passing of time, the loss of loved ones, and steels himself for what is to come.

Whether it’s duck a l’orange eaten with fellow actors and cooked by singing Carmelite nuns, steaks barbequed at a gathering with friends, or meatballs made by his mother and son and shared at the table with three generations of his family, these meals give shape and add emotional richness to his days.

What I Ate in One Year is a funny, poignant, heartfelt, and deeply satisfying serving of memories and meals and an irresistible celebration of the profound role that food plays in all our lives.]]> 368 Stanley Tucci 1668055686 Diana 4
I chose the audio version which is read by the author and I think that was a good choice for me. I could see this maybe not holding my attention as well had I chosen the print version. The memoir reads much like diary entries with actual dates throughout the year where Tucci includes quite literally what he and sometimes his wife and kids ate on a particular day. There are, of course, other life happenings included with the diary entries. I enjoyed Tucci's anecdotes. I laughed a few times. The audio version allowed me to hear the passion in his voice for food and the joy he gets from preparing delicious foods. Side note: Tucci and I have STRONGLY disagreeing opinions about celebrating Halloween.

The biggest takeaway for me from this book was I realized how much I had gradually strayed away from spending time in the kitchen experimenting with new foods and recipes. What I Ate in One Year has inspired me to find my way back into my kitchen and explore cooking again. ]]> 3.86 2024
author: Stanley Tucci
name: Diana
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:
I admit that I didn't actually know Stanley Tucci's name until recently. His face is well known to me as I am really into movies and he has definitely starred in numerous movies including one of my favorites - The Devil Wears Prada. However, it wasn't until noticing this book that I put the name with the face. The title caught my attention and then looking closer I noticed that Tucci also has a few cookbooks. Being somewhat of a foodie, I was interested in this memoir.

I chose the audio version which is read by the author and I think that was a good choice for me. I could see this maybe not holding my attention as well had I chosen the print version. The memoir reads much like diary entries with actual dates throughout the year where Tucci includes quite literally what he and sometimes his wife and kids ate on a particular day. There are, of course, other life happenings included with the diary entries. I enjoyed Tucci's anecdotes. I laughed a few times. The audio version allowed me to hear the passion in his voice for food and the joy he gets from preparing delicious foods. Side note: Tucci and I have STRONGLY disagreeing opinions about celebrating Halloween.

The biggest takeaway for me from this book was I realized how much I had gradually strayed away from spending time in the kitchen experimenting with new foods and recipes. What I Ate in One Year has inspired me to find my way back into my kitchen and explore cooking again.
]]> 195342176 2024 on ŷ������ should make an interesting and varied catalogue of books to inspire other readers in 2025.

For those of you who don't like to add titles you haven't actually 'read', you can place 2024 on ŷ������ on an 'exclusive' shelf. Exclusive shelves don't have to be listed under 'to read', 'currently reading' or 'read'. To create one, go to 'edit bookshelves' on your 'My Books' page, create a shelf name such as 'review-of-the year' and tick the 'exclusive' box. Your previous and future 'reviews of the year' can be collected together on this dedicated shelf.

Concept created by Fionnuala Lirsdottir.
Description: Fionnuala Lirsdottir
Cover art: Paul Cézanne, The House with the Cracked Walls, 1892-1894
Cover choice and graphics by Jayson]]> Various Diana 5 year-in-review
This was a very good reading year for me. One of the ways the pandemic affected my life negatively was that it had a huge impact on my reading - I just had a really hard time getting back on track with my normal reading habits. It has taken this long for me to finally feel like myself again as far as reading is concerned. Hooray!

I read 99 books this year. There were 25 books that made my 5 star shelf:

The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
In the Dream House - Carmen Maria Machado
From Here to the Great Unknown - Lisa Marie Presley, Riley Keogh
The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie - Freida McFadden
Ushers - Joe Hill
William - Mason Coile
Incidents Around the House - Josh Malerman
The Last One at the Wedding - Jason Rekulak
Echo - Pam Munoz Ryan
The House that Horror Built - Christina Henry
The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennet
The Warm Hands of Ghosts - Katherine Arden
A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman
James - Percival Everett
Listen for the Lie - Amy Tintera
Let Her Be - Lisa Unger
The Fox Wife - Yangsze Choo
The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
Murder Road - Simone St. James
Rock Paper Scissors - Alice Feeney
The Book of Fire - Christy Lefteri
First Lie Wins - Ashley Elston
Verity - Colleen Hoover
The Last House on Needless Street - Catriona Ward
Fool Me Once - Harlan Coben

Five of those I added to my favorites shelf:

William - Mason Coile
The Warm Hands of Ghosts - Katherine Arden
The Fox Wife - Yangsze Choo
The Book of Fire - Christy Lefteri
The Last House on Needless Street - Catriona Ward

Thanks to all my ŷ������ friends who make reading even more fun! Cheers to you!]]> 4.15 2024
author: Various
name: Diana
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: year-in-review
review:
I laughed! I cried! I contemplated life!

This was a very good reading year for me. One of the ways the pandemic affected my life negatively was that it had a huge impact on my reading - I just had a really hard time getting back on track with my normal reading habits. It has taken this long for me to finally feel like myself again as far as reading is concerned. Hooray!

I read 99 books this year. There were 25 books that made my 5 star shelf:

The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk
In the Dream House - Carmen Maria Machado
From Here to the Great Unknown - Lisa Marie Presley, Riley Keogh
The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie - Freida McFadden
Ushers - Joe Hill
William - Mason Coile
Incidents Around the House - Josh Malerman
The Last One at the Wedding - Jason Rekulak
Echo - Pam Munoz Ryan
The House that Horror Built - Christina Henry
The Tainted Cup - Robert Jackson Bennet
The Warm Hands of Ghosts - Katherine Arden
A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman
James - Percival Everett
Listen for the Lie - Amy Tintera
Let Her Be - Lisa Unger
The Fox Wife - Yangsze Choo
The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
Murder Road - Simone St. James
Rock Paper Scissors - Alice Feeney
The Book of Fire - Christy Lefteri
First Lie Wins - Ashley Elston
Verity - Colleen Hoover
The Last House on Needless Street - Catriona Ward
Fool Me Once - Harlan Coben

Five of those I added to my favorites shelf:

William - Mason Coile
The Warm Hands of Ghosts - Katherine Arden
The Fox Wife - Yangsze Choo
The Book of Fire - Christy Lefteri
The Last House on Needless Street - Catriona Ward

Thanks to all my ŷ������ friends who make reading even more fun! Cheers to you!
]]> 206318178 From the author of the viral TikTok sensation, The Pumpkin Spice Café, comes the only spicy grumpy x sunshine Christmas romcom you need this year!

Kira North hates Christmas. Which is unfortunate since she just bought a Christmas tree farm in a town that’s too cute for its own good.

Bennett Ellis is on vacation in Dream Harbor taking a break from his life in California. And most importantly, taking a break from his latest run of disastrous dates.

After a run in with Kira in her fields, Ben has no intention of offering to help the grumpy owner set up her tree farm, despite the fact she’s clearly got no idea what she’s doing.

Kira knows she should stop being so stubborn, but her farm is not all cute and cozy like people always show on social media, it’s borderline dangerous with no heating, and she’d rather no one saw it.

But somehow fate finds Ben at Kira’s farm once more, and as Kira watches him swing an ax at the first tree, she finds herself appreciating his strength and questionning why she refused help in the first place..

The Christmas Tree Farm is a spicy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls with a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

�� grumpy x sunshine
�� small town
�� forced proximity
�� one bed]]> 369 Laurie Gilmore 0008610738 Diana 4
This is book 3 in the series and I really enjoyed spending more time in cutesy little Dream Harbor located somewhere in New England. It is cold and snowy in Dream Harbor and The Christmas Tree Farm is ready to be reopened by its new owner Kira. This is Kira and Bennet's story and it is an adorable one. I could easily see this (and the other Dream Harbor books) playing out on the Hallmark Channel. Kira and Bennet are both newcomers to Dream Harbor and it was fun reading their story as well as catching up a bit with the previous characters.

Happy Holidays to all and Happy Reading! ]]> 3.66 2024
author: Laurie Gilmore
name: Diana
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:
My 2024 "Hallmark Holiday Reading Time" is officially closed out with The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore. I am very happy with my final holiday book this season!

This is book 3 in the series and I really enjoyed spending more time in cutesy little Dream Harbor located somewhere in New England. It is cold and snowy in Dream Harbor and The Christmas Tree Farm is ready to be reopened by its new owner Kira. This is Kira and Bennet's story and it is an adorable one. I could easily see this (and the other Dream Harbor books) playing out on the Hallmark Channel. Kira and Bennet are both newcomers to Dream Harbor and it was fun reading their story as well as catching up a bit with the previous characters.

Happy Holidays to all and Happy Reading!
]]> 220506847
A Christmas mission��

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

An enchanting journey��

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

The start of a new chapter?

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

For fans of Josie Silver, Jill Mansell and the Queen of Christmas herself, a snow-swept love story to warm even the coldest winter’s day.]]> 127 Jenny Colgan 1662522576 Diana 3
Very fun title and cover that immediately drew me in! Jenny Colgan has created an adorable Christmas themed story. Mirren is running all over the place in search of her sick aunt's childhood memory of a book she desperately wants to see again! As expected (by the cover) Mirren meets a handsome and charming man whilst hunting for said book.

Christmas, romance, a book hunt...what's not to like here? Perfect short story to read in the midst of the holiday season!]]> 3.73 2024
author: Jenny Colgan
name: Diana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 Stars!

Very fun title and cover that immediately drew me in! Jenny Colgan has created an adorable Christmas themed story. Mirren is running all over the place in search of her sick aunt's childhood memory of a book she desperately wants to see again! As expected (by the cover) Mirren meets a handsome and charming man whilst hunting for said book.

Christmas, romance, a book hunt...what's not to like here? Perfect short story to read in the midst of the holiday season!
]]> 61149872 1) Treat all prisoners with respect.
2) Never reveal any personal information.
3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates.

But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary's most notorious and dangerous inmates. And they certainly don't know that Shane was Brooke's high school sweetheart―the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke's testimony was what put him there.

But Shane knows. And he will never forget.]]> 388 Freida McFadden Diana 4 Entertaining ��
Twists and turns ��
Main character making stupid decisions ��

And what has become my favorite thing about Freida McFadden books:
A shocking epilogue! ✅]]> 4.03 2022
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diana
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:
Fast-paced ��
Entertaining ��
Twists and turns ��
Main character making stupid decisions ��

And what has become my favorite thing about Freida McFadden books:
A shocking epilogue! ��
]]> 59808007
“A great day is upon us. He is coming. The world will be washed away.��

On the wind-battered isle of Altnaharra, off the wildest coast of Scotland, a clan prepares to bring about the end of the world and its imminent rebirth.

The Adder is coming and one of their number will inherit its powers. They all want the honor, but young Eve is willing to do anything for the distinction.

A reckoning beyond Eve’s imagination begins when Chief Inspector Black arrives to investigate a brutal murder and their sacred ceremony goes terribly wrong.

And soon all the secrets of Altnaharra will be uncovered.]]> 271 Catriona Ward 1250812658 Diana 3
Just as the cover implies, Little Eve has a gothic and mysterious feel to it. We jump right in with a gruesome scene right out of the gate. From that point on, the story is told in "before" and "after" timelines. I wasn't expecting this to be a slow burn type book but that it how I would describe it. I was pleased with the outcome, but it was a slower burn than I generally like in a mysterious, eerie, atmospheric book such as this.

I continue to stand with my first impression of Catriona Ward and will plan to read many more of her books. Her writing is simply beautiful and she is a talented storyteller!
]]> 3.69 2018
author: Catriona Ward
name: Diana
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:
Catriona Ward is a new-to-me author -- this is only the second book of hers I've read. I was blown away by her talent after reading "The Last House on Needless Street" At that point, I decided I would have to keep Catriona Ward on my radar. There is a chance I may have had unfairly high expectations for this book.

Just as the cover implies, Little Eve has a gothic and mysterious feel to it. We jump right in with a gruesome scene right out of the gate. From that point on, the story is told in "before" and "after" timelines. I wasn't expecting this to be a slow burn type book but that it how I would describe it. I was pleased with the outcome, but it was a slower burn than I generally like in a mysterious, eerie, atmospheric book such as this.

I continue to stand with my first impression of Catriona Ward and will plan to read many more of her books. Her writing is simply beautiful and she is a talented storyteller!

]]> 18693771 A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing.

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world's foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers' capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain's natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk's own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.]]> 464 Bessel van der Kolk 0670785938 Diana 5 five-stars
The Body Keeps the Score is overflowing with information about how various types of trauma affect both the mind and the body. Bessel van der Kolk does an amazing job of explaining the medical as well as emotional side of how trauma affects a person. How it can potentially and unknowingly affect behavior, thought process and just daily life in general. He also specifically addresses the differences between childhood trauma versus adulthood trauma as well as ongoing versus one-time trauma.

".....attachment researchers have shown that our earliest caregivers don’t only feed us, dress us, and comfort us when we are upset; they shape the way our rapidly growing brain perceives reality. Our interactions with our caregivers convey what is safe and what is dangerous: whom we can count on and who will let us down; what we need to do to get our needs met.��

I think it’s safe to say that anyone looking for any type of information about trauma and how it affects our entire bodies is likely to find that information in this extremely thorough book. Having said that, I also want to say that there are quite a few sections in this book that are a bit hard to read simply due to the subject matter surrounding various types of trauma.

“More than anything else, being able to feel safe with other people defines mental health;��
]]> 4.36 2014
author: Bessel van der Kolk
name: Diana
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: five-stars
review:
“Understanding why you feel a certain way does not change how you feel. But it can keep you from surrendering to intense reactions.��

The Body Keeps the Score is overflowing with information about how various types of trauma affect both the mind and the body. Bessel van der Kolk does an amazing job of explaining the medical as well as emotional side of how trauma affects a person. How it can potentially and unknowingly affect behavior, thought process and just daily life in general. He also specifically addresses the differences between childhood trauma versus adulthood trauma as well as ongoing versus one-time trauma.

".....attachment researchers have shown that our earliest caregivers don’t only feed us, dress us, and comfort us when we are upset; they shape the way our rapidly growing brain perceives reality. Our interactions with our caregivers convey what is safe and what is dangerous: whom we can count on and who will let us down; what we need to do to get our needs met.��

I think it’s safe to say that anyone looking for any type of information about trauma and how it affects our entire bodies is likely to find that information in this extremely thorough book. Having said that, I also want to say that there are quite a few sections in this book that are a bit hard to read simply due to the subject matter surrounding various types of trauma.

“More than anything else, being able to feel safe with other people defines mental health;��

]]> 222180242
"The Priest, the Boy and the Slug" is a fable deviously disguised as a fairy tale, with elements of horror, humor and magical realism, all blend in together in a hauntingly beautiful genre-defying story that can enchant youth and adults alike.]]> 22 Sirius Imnot Diana 4 4.19
author: Sirius Imnot
name: Diana
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:
Sometimes great things come in small packages
]]> 220267535
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK Born to an American myth and raised in the wilds of Graceland, Lisa Marie Presley tells her whole story for the first time in this raw, riveting, one-of-a-kind memoir faithfully completed by her daughter, Riley Keough.

In 2022, Lisa Marie Presley asked her daughter to help finally finish her long-gestating memoir.

A month later, Lisa Marie was dead, and the world would never know her story in her own words, never know the passionate, joyful, caring, and complicated woman that Riley loved and now grieved.

Riley got the tapes that her mother had recorded for the book, lay in her bed, and listened as Lisa Marie told story after story about smashing golf carts together in the yards of Graceland, about the unconditional love she felt from her father, about being upstairs, just the two of them. About getting dragged screaming out of the bathroom as she ran toward his body on the floor. About living in Los Angeles with her mother, getting sent to school after school, always kicked out, always in trouble. About her singular, lifelong relationship with Danny Keough, about being married to Michael Jackson, what they had in common. About motherhood. About deep addiction. About ever-present grief. Riley knew she had to fulfill her mother’s wish to reveal these memories, incandescent and painful, to the world.

To make her mother known.

This extraordinary book is written in both Lisa Marie’s and Riley’s voices, a mother and daughter communicating—from this world to the one beyond—as they try to heal each other. Profoundly moving and deeply revealing, From Here to the Great Unknown is a book like no other—the last words of the only child of an American icon.]]> 6 Lisa Marie Presley Diana 5 five-stars
I listened to the audio version and it was superb. The chapters that are Lisa Marie's point of view are narrated by Julia Roberts. Riley narrates her own point of view intertwined at the right moments throughout the book. There are also small sections of Lisa Marie's recorded voice sprinkled in here and there. Very well done audio. I think the last line of the book description sums up my desire to read this very well: "...the last words of the only child of an American icon." ]]> 4.31 2024
author: Lisa Marie Presley
name: Diana
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves: five-stars
review:
As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to read it. I actually was unaware that Lisa Marie had passed away so recently. I was even more surprised when I learned about Lisa Marie asking for Riley's help only months before her death. What a huge undertaking under such emotional circumstances!

I listened to the audio version and it was superb. The chapters that are Lisa Marie's point of view are narrated by Julia Roberts. Riley narrates her own point of view intertwined at the right moments throughout the book. There are also small sections of Lisa Marie's recorded voice sprinkled in here and there. Very well done audio. I think the last line of the book description sums up my desire to read this very well: "...the last words of the only child of an American icon."
]]> 196241667 From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller and viral TikTok phenomenon, The Pumpkin Spice Café, comes a brand new spicy romance set in Dream Harbor!

When a secret message turns up hidden in a book in the Cinnamon Bun Bookstore, Hazel can't understand it. As more secret codes appear between the pages, she decides to follow the trail of clues�� she just need someone to help her out.

Gorgeous and outgoing fisherman, Noah, is always up for an adventure. And a scavenger hunt sounds like a lot of fun. Even better that the cute bookseller he's been crushing on for months is the one who wants his help!

Hazel didn’t go looking for romance, but as the treasure hunt leads her and Noah around Dream Harbor, their undeniable chemistry might be just as hot as the fresh-out-of-the-oven cinnamon buns the bookstore sells��

The Cinnamon Bun Book Store is a cozy romantic mystery with a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:
�� opposites attract
�� small town
�� forced proximity
�� he falls first]]> 384 Laurie Gilmore Diana 4
I enjoyed this second book of the Dream Harbor series even more than book 1! The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore is Hazel and Noah's story and if you read The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, that would come as no surprise to you. Dream Harbor is a cozy small town with Hallmark movie vibes. Hazel works in the Cinnamon Bun Bookstore and Noah works in Dream Harbor giving boat tours or fishing trips. Or something. I forget exactly what but this cute love story has a bit of a scavenger hunt involved where Hazel keeps finding "clues" to follow. How fun for her!

Super sweet and cute, lighthearted story! Looking forward to Dream Harbor #3!]]> 3.67 2024
author: Laurie Gilmore
name: Diana
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:
4-1/2 Stars!

I enjoyed this second book of the Dream Harbor series even more than book 1! The Cinnamon Bun Bookstore is Hazel and Noah's story and if you read The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, that would come as no surprise to you. Dream Harbor is a cozy small town with Hallmark movie vibes. Hazel works in the Cinnamon Bun Bookstore and Noah works in Dream Harbor giving boat tours or fishing trips. Or something. I forget exactly what but this cute love story has a bit of a scavenger hunt involved where Hazel keeps finding "clues" to follow. How fun for her!

Super sweet and cute, lighthearted story! Looking forward to Dream Harbor #3!
]]> 217506549 368 Julie Clark 1464221286 Diana 0 to-read 4.25 2025
author: Julie Clark
name: Diana
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220389465 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey.

Evie Crowe is starting over in a strange town with her newborn, and men are the furthest thing from her mind. If only the quiet, hulking farmer, Luke Ward, would stop coming into the thrift shop and piquing her reluctant interest. Evie wants to stay single all the way—she can’t trust anything more than friends-with-holiday-benefits. But Luke is in it for the long haul. He’s fixed on making this a Christmas Evie will remember forever. If she gives him a chance.

Tessa Bailey’s Merry Ever After is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 59 Tessa Bailey 1662528736 Diana 1

Under the Mistletoe Collection

Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️
]]> 2.79 2024
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Diana
average rating: 2.79
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:
I absolutely loved Tessa Bailey’s Wreck the Halls last December but this short just didn’t work for me.


Under the Mistletoe Collection

Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️

]]> 220389090
All Evie Cruz wants for Christmas is a nap. And maybe some ornaments for her naked Christmas tree. And while she’s making a list, she wouldn’t mind unwrapping her sexy upstairs neighbor like a present. Luckily, the building’s Santa-themed party and a surprise sprig of mistletoe give her just the opening she needs to make all her wishes come true.

Alexis Daria’s Only Santas in the Building is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 65 Alexis Daria 1662529376 Diana 2
Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️
]]> 3.36 2024
author: Alexis Daria
name: Diana
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:
Under the Mistletoe Collection

Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️

]]> 220389457
When Everleigh Dangerfield’s baking disaster necessitates a call to 911, firefighter Griffin Brantley douses the flames in the kitchen, but the ones he stokes in Everleigh are an entirely different story. Unfortunately, Everleigh’s only visiting and doesn’t do casual hookups, no matter how smoldering the temptation. But Everleigh’s holiday mishaps have just begun. And Griffin is seemingly always on call. If Everleigh is game for a change of plans, he can give her the merriest Christmas of her life.

Alexandria Bellefleur’s Merriment and Mayhem is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 58 Alexandria Bellefleur 1662529341 Diana 2
Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️
]]> 3.28 2024
author: Alexandria Bellefleur
name: Diana
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:
Under the Mistletoe Collection

Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️

]]> 220389455
Nina and William are underpaid adjunct professors at the same university, where winter break is no break at all: ’tis the season to make extra money. When their holiday side hustle has them stranded by a blinding blizzard in the middle of nowhere, there’s nothing to do but cuddle up for warmth and play a game of Never Have I Ever to pass the time. But in the game of love, secrets never stay secret for long��

Olivia Dade’s All by My Elf is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 55 Olivia Dade 166252823X Diana 2
Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️
]]> 2.58 2024
author: Olivia Dade
name: Diana
average rating: 2.58
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:
Under the Mistletoe Collection

Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️

]]> 220389458 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.

All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.

Ali Hazelwood’s Cruel Winter with You is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 73 Ali Hazelwood 1662528396 Diana 2
Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️
]]> 3.68 2024
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Diana
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves:
review:
Under the Mistletoe Collection:

Cruel Winter With You - Ali Hazelwood: ⭐️⭐️
Merry Ever After - Tessa Bailey: ⭐️
All By My Elf - Olivia Dade: ⭐️⭐️
Merriment and Mayhem - Alexandria Bellefleur: ⭐️⭐️
Only Santas in the Building- Alexis Daria: ⭐️⭐️

]]> 217394492 In this stunningly twisty thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Harlan Coben, a secret from former Detective Sami Kierce’s college days comes back to haunt him. His memory is clear, but all these years later, the facts don’t add up…which is something he cannot ignore.

Sami Kierce, a young college grad backpacking in Spain with friends, wakes up one morning, covered in blood. There’s a knife in his hand. Beside him, the body of his girlfriend. Anna. Dead. He doesn’t know what happened. His screams drown out his thoughts—and then he runs.

Twenty-two years later, Kierce, now a private investigator, is a new father who’s working off his debts by doing low level surveillance jobs and teaching wannabe sleuths at a night school in New York City. One evening, he recognizes a familiar face at the back of the classroom. Anna. It’s unmistakably her. As soon as Kierce makes eye contact with her, she bolts. For Kierce there is no choice. He knows he must find this woman and solve the impossible mystery that has haunted his every waking moment since that terrible day.

His investigation will bring him face-to-face with his past—and prove, after all this time, he’s nobody’s fool.]]> 352 Harlan Coben 1538756358 Diana 0 to-read 4.18 2025
author: Harlan Coben
name: Diana
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55871651
The multimillion-copy New York Times bestselling author B.A. Paris returns to her heartland of gripping psychological suspense in The Therapist--a powerful tale of a house that holds a shocking secret.

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive��

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…]]> 11 B.A. Paris 1250802474 Diana 4
Alice is in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, Leo. So, when Leo asks her to move in with him, she is excited to close that distance and finally get to spend more time with him. Leo has already picked out the seemingly perfect house in a perfect neighborhood. But of course... is it perfect? Or are there some secrets... and maybe some strange incidents.... and some unusual behavior by some of the new neighbors.... hmm.... If you're familiar with B.A. Paris, you won't be surprised that these elements come into play. As a B.A. Paris fan, I was not disappointed! ]]> 3.40 2021
author: B.A. Paris
name: Diana
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:
B.A. Paris has done it again with a story that had my guesses all over the place and a main character who makes eye-rolling decisions! That's okay because sometimes that's how we get a great story.

Alice is in a long-distance relationship with her boyfriend, Leo. So, when Leo asks her to move in with him, she is excited to close that distance and finally get to spend more time with him. Leo has already picked out the seemingly perfect house in a perfect neighborhood. But of course... is it perfect? Or are there some secrets... and maybe some strange incidents.... and some unusual behavior by some of the new neighbors.... hmm.... If you're familiar with B.A. Paris, you won't be surprised that these elements come into play. As a B.A. Paris fan, I was not disappointed!
]]> 43317482 251 Carmen Maria Machado 1644450038 Diana 5 five-stars
“Clarity is an intoxicating drug, and you spent almost two years without it, believing you were losing your mind, believing you were the monster, and you want something black and white more than you’ve ever wanted anything in this world.�� ]]> 4.41 2019
author: Carmen Maria Machado
name: Diana
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: five-stars
review:
Heartbreaking on so many levels. Carmen Maria Machado has bared her soul in this emotional memoir. It can be hard to read about abuse, but the therapeutic and cathartic process of writing about one's personal abuse is extremely courageous. The sad reality that Machado reminds us about in this memoir is the fact that: "“Most types of domestic abuse are completely legal��

“Clarity is an intoxicating drug, and you spent almost two years without it, believing you were losing your mind, believing you were the monster, and you want something black and white more than you’ve ever wanted anything in this world.��
]]> 60556912
Every day I clean the Winchesters�� beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out�� and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of��

An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!]]> 329 Freida McFadden 1803144378 Diana 4
The Housemaid grabbed my attention from the get-go and although I didn't find this book as twisty as other Frieda McFadden books I've read, it was still a very good time with just the right amount of suspense. ]]> 4.31 2022
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diana
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:
In The Housemaid, our main character Millie is just starting her new job (as a housemaid) and before long we learn that Millie has a mysterious past. Her seemingly perfect dream job for a wealthy family also begins to seem like it may not be so perfectly dreamy after all. And then, of course, there's the handsome man of the house, which complicates things even more. You know, since he's married to the woman of the house, a.k.a. Millie's new boss. Hmmm. Then there's the Italian gardener who seems to be trying to warn Millie about something but his English isn't very good and Millie doesn't speak a lick of Italian -- although she keeps trying to but all she comes up with are Spanish words!

The Housemaid grabbed my attention from the get-go and although I didn't find this book as twisty as other Frieda McFadden books I've read, it was still a very good time with just the right amount of suspense.
]]> 219864139
In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten—aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon—shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table.��

Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.

From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of recipes and images from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.]]> Ina Garten Diana 3
Several years back, I was going through a pretty strong Food Network phase. I basically had it on all the time whether I was watching it or not. (I'm the kind of person who likes background noise.) I became familiar with several of the Food Network TV personalities and Ina Garten's show was one I enjoyed quite a bit. At the time I felt like it was different from the other shows with how relaxed it was. My memories of watching Barefoot Contessa episodes are something like this: We would actually see her go shopping for the ingredients at her local farmer's market and then go back to her kitchen and very casually prepare her meals. Everything was so relaxed and calm. I have a memory of there always being a point in the show where she would say "Jeffrey's coming for dinner..." (or lunch, or what have you) and sure enough, by the time the meal was prepared, Jeffrey would show up and eat the delicious meal Ina had prepared.

Be Ready When the Luck Happens is the perfect title for this book and the reason why is revealed near the end. I loved reading about Ina's journey that led her to the successful career she has now. I was surprised to learn that she had actually left a job at the White House to pursue the path food seemed to be calling to her. I was also surprised that my favorite part of this memoir ended up being Ina and Jeffrey's love story. So genuine. ]]> 4.26 2024
author: Ina Garten
name: Diana
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/22
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 Stars!

Several years back, I was going through a pretty strong Food Network phase. I basically had it on all the time whether I was watching it or not. (I'm the kind of person who likes background noise.) I became familiar with several of the Food Network TV personalities and Ina Garten's show was one I enjoyed quite a bit. At the time I felt like it was different from the other shows with how relaxed it was. My memories of watching Barefoot Contessa episodes are something like this: We would actually see her go shopping for the ingredients at her local farmer's market and then go back to her kitchen and very casually prepare her meals. Everything was so relaxed and calm. I have a memory of there always being a point in the show where she would say "Jeffrey's coming for dinner..." (or lunch, or what have you) and sure enough, by the time the meal was prepared, Jeffrey would show up and eat the delicious meal Ina had prepared.

Be Ready When the Luck Happens is the perfect title for this book and the reason why is revealed near the end. I loved reading about Ina's journey that led her to the successful career she has now. I was surprised to learn that she had actually left a job at the White House to pursue the path food seemed to be calling to her. I was also surprised that my favorite part of this memoir ended up being Ina and Jeffrey's love story. So genuine.
]]> 27281500 Eat Pray Love: the path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of.
��
Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels�� that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, ��embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 5 Elizabeth Gilbert Diana 2 3.94 2015
author: Elizabeth Gilbert
name: Diana
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/22
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 219876684 In a hilarious short story from New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, the absurdities of modern life cause one man’s solitary world to spin suddenly, and comically, out of control.

Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone?

Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.

Told in Fredrik Backman’s singular witty style with sharply drawn characters and relatable antics, The Answer Is No is a laugh-out-loud portrait of a man struggling to keep to himself in a world that won’t leave him alone.]]> 68 Fredrik Backman 1662526520 Diana 3
Upon finishing The Answer is No, I looked through my GR shelves and saw that I had rated all the other Frederick Backman books I’ve read so far as 5 stars. He is definitely a talented author and this short story was enjoyable but I think the reason it wasn’t a 5 star for me is because Backman’s humor seems to work better for me in his full length novels. Here is a sample from The Answer is No of his humor:

“Lucas opens the door with the defeated manner of a sausage that dressed itself up as a carrot to avoid being eaten by a bear, only to be found by a rabbit.��

That is a great line! But lines like that work better for me when they are spaced out over the course of few hundred pages as opposed to condensed into a short story. My personal favorite quote from The Answer is No:

“Because people aren’t supposed to be happy, they’re only supposed to want to be happy, because how otherwise are you supposed to be able to sell things to them? More than anything people are supposed to pretend to be happy on the internet so that other people are reminded of how unhappy they themselves are by comparison.�� ]]> 3.94 2024
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Diana
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/19
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 stars!

Upon finishing The Answer is No, I looked through my GR shelves and saw that I had rated all the other Frederick Backman books I’ve read so far as 5 stars. He is definitely a talented author and this short story was enjoyable but I think the reason it wasn’t a 5 star for me is because Backman’s humor seems to work better for me in his full length novels. Here is a sample from The Answer is No of his humor:

“Lucas opens the door with the defeated manner of a sausage that dressed itself up as a carrot to avoid being eaten by a bear, only to be found by a rabbit.��

That is a great line! But lines like that work better for me when they are spaced out over the course of few hundred pages as opposed to condensed into a short story. My personal favorite quote from The Answer is No:

“Because people aren’t supposed to be happy, they’re only supposed to want to be happy, because how otherwise are you supposed to be able to sell things to them? More than anything people are supposed to pretend to be happy on the internet so that other people are reminded of how unhappy they themselves are by comparison.��
]]> 216476388 My husband is dead.

I attended his funeral. I watched his casket be lowered six feet into the ground. (Actually, it may have been only five feet, but that still seems like more than enough.) And then we ate an array of finger sandwiches and deviled eggs and miniature beef wellingtons that cost more than my first car.

My point is, Grant is gone. And so are all his many, many deep, dark secrets which I never really ever bothered to ask him about. He is never coming back.

So why do I still see his face everywhere I go?

The Widow's Husband's Secret Lie is an utterly addictive, unputdownable, nail-biting, absolutely gripping psychological thriller novella with a shocking, breathtaking, heartstopping, spine-chilling twist that you won't see coming, will leave you stunned, and will literally have you picking your jaw up off the floor and bringing it to the nearest hospital for major facial reconstructive surgery.]]> 152 Freida McFadden Diana 5 five-stars 3.34 2024
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diana
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves: five-stars
review:
Who knew Freida McFadden had such a great sense of humor? I was laughing out loud through most of this satirical novella. I felt as though I was watching an SNL skit. Well done, Freida McFadden!
]]> 56389570 alternate cover edition of ASIN B08R6D3345

I don’t understand Americans.

Or, as we say in Scotland, I dinna understand ye eedjits.

And I definitely dinna understand the crazy mother-in-law of my cousin Declan. Who in their right mind names a wee dog Chuffy?

I’m stuck in New York after ma agent makes a bloody mess of an otherwise good endorsement contract for a sports towel company, and this crazy American holiday–Thanksgiving–is in two days.

The invitation to spend it in Mendon, Massachusetts, with the Jacoby family is about as appealing as rotten haggis. As far as I can tell, Thanksgiving is about stuffing yerself silly, watching pathetic American “football,�� while fighting with relatives ye only see once a year.

If I wanted that last one, I’d head back to Scotland, where we dinna need a holiday to be salty to each other.

Ma firm answer is nae.

Until I remember Amy is part of the family.

Suddenly, I’m available.

Eager, even. Perhaps she’ll pull ma wishbone. I hear that’s part of the Turkey Day festivities, aye?

What I canna admit, though, is how she pulls ma heartstrings, too.

Which shouldna feel better than the wishbone, but it does.

And here comes Amy's mother with another holiday tradition, this one a bit early.

A sprig o�� mistletoe, dangling right above Amy’s bonnie head.

Shopping for a Turkey features Scottish football player Hamish McCormick and Amy Jacoby as they navigate unusual cultural norms, new traditions, and the undeniable attraction between these two characters, who have appeared as supporting players in Julia Kent's New York Times-bestselling Shopping series. It's their turn to have their own all-new spinoff series. And to pull the wishbone. ;)]]> 192 Julia Kent Diana 1 4.06 2021
author: Julia Kent
name: Diana
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 200990731 Kate White Diana 3 3.29 2015
author: Kate White
name: Diana
average rating: 3.29
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 139391940 A spicy small-town romance and TikTok phenomenon, perfect for fans of Hannah Grace and Stephanie Archer.

When Jeanie's aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.

Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor's gossip at all costs. But Jeanie's arrival disrupts Logan's routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her.

Will Jeanie's happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won't fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes��

The Pumpkin Spice Café is a cozy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls, with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

�� grumpy x sunshine
�� small town
�� found family
�� spicy]]> 373 Laurie Gilmore 0008610665 Diana 4
My expectations for this book were 100% met. This read exactly as though I was watching a Hallmark autumn themed movie. I read while sipping pumpkin coffee wrapped up in a cozy blanket. ☕]]> 3.36 2023
author: Laurie Gilmore
name: Diana
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves:
review:
This was one of those times where I chose a book only because I loved the title. I love fall and I love pumpkin coffee so the title really spoke to me. Then when I looked closer at the cover, I found I loved that as well. The cover and title gave me Hallmark movie vibes and I love Hallmark movies.

My expectations for this book were 100% met. This read exactly as though I was watching a Hallmark autumn themed movie. I read while sipping pumpkin coffee wrapped up in a cozy blanket. ��
]]> 203657010 The Spellshop is a cottagecore cosy fantasy following a woman's unexpected journey through the low-stakes market of illegal spell-selling and the high-risk business of starting over . . .

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people, and as librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she hasn’t had to.

She and her assistant, Caz, a sentient spider plant, have spent most of the last eleven years sequestered among the empire’s precious spellbooks, protecting the magic for the city’s elite. But a revolution is brewing and when the library goes up in flames, she and Caz steal whatever books they can and flee to the faraway island where she grew up. She’s hoping to lay low and figure out a way to survive before the revolution comes looking for her. To her dismay, in addition to a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor, she finds the town in disarray.

The empire with its magic spellbooks has slowly been draining power from the island, something that Kiela is indirectly responsible for, and now she’s determined to find a way to make things right. Opening up a spell shop comes with its own risks—the consequence of sharing magic with commoners is death. And as Kiela comes to make a place for herself among the quirky townspeople, she realizes that in order to make a life for herself, she must break down the walls she has kept so high.

Perfect for fans of Travis Baldree and TJ Klune, The Spellshop is a romantic and cosy fantasy.]]> 12 Sarah Beth Durst 125035126X Diana 4
I've also never heard of this genre "cozy fantasy' before. I've read plenty of cozy mystery as well as fantasy books but this idea of a cozy fantasy is new to me and it was a very pleasant surprise!

Keila is a librarian whose only friend appears to be an "enchanted" spider plant named Caz. Keila and Caz are forced to flee from their library and end up traveling to Keila's childhood home where she hasn't visited for many years. Sarah Beth Durst has created a very vivid, magical world that I truly enjoyed spending time in.

It is my understanding that this is the going to be a series of books and if so, I am definitely continuing!]]> 3.88 2024
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Diana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves:
review:
This is the first time I've ever read a book where one of the main characters is a house plant. I have watched several movies repeatedly (Guardians of the Galaxy) where a main character (Groot) is a type of plant (I think). As it turns out, the plant in The Spellshop ended up being my favorite character!

I've also never heard of this genre "cozy fantasy' before. I've read plenty of cozy mystery as well as fantasy books but this idea of a cozy fantasy is new to me and it was a very pleasant surprise!

Keila is a librarian whose only friend appears to be an "enchanted" spider plant named Caz. Keila and Caz are forced to flee from their library and end up traveling to Keila's childhood home where she hasn't visited for many years. Sarah Beth Durst has created a very vivid, magical world that I truly enjoyed spending time in.

It is my understanding that this is the going to be a series of books and if so, I am definitely continuing!
]]> 219416694 Not human. Not machine. A being that's eerily prescient and hungry for revenge...Henry, a brilliant but agoraphobic robotics engineer, has achieved the crowning discovery of his he's created an artificially intelligent consciousness. He names the half-formed robot William and spends most of his hours studying it in his attic laboratory. But all is not right with William. The A.I. is filled with jealousy for humanity, for its capacity to love and create life. Henry is uneasy at first, then terrified when William develops an unsettling fixation on Henry's pregnant wife Lily. Left with no other choice, he is forced to terminate the A.I, but somehow William's consciousness survives. Henry and his wife wired their home to be the smartest of smart homes, a decision that may prove fatal since a vengeful William has now seized control of the house and its inhabitants. William is a lean, mean genre-bending novel that shifts seamlessly from psychological thriller and cyber-noir to haunted house horror and locked-box mystery. From the moment we meet Henry to the novel's surprising end, William will have readers on the edge of their seats, constantly asking themselves just what is going on? 'If reading with one hand over your mouth is your thing, this is the book for you' Gus Moreno, author of This Thing Between Us'From its first page all the way to its jaw-dropping ending, William had me hooked' Nick Cutter, author of The Troop and The Deep]]> Mason Coile 0593912292 Diana 5 five-stars, favorites
This book started off strong, had me worried about getting bored at one point in the middle, but then redeemed itself in the end. In fact, the ending totally blew me away. It more than made up for the mild case of blahs I experienced in the middle.

William is a combination of horror and suspense in a futuristic type setting. I wouldn't describe it as a very far away future as we see technological advances all the time. Our main characters Henry and Lily and very intelligent people whose home is essentially a "smart" home that responds to their voice commands. Kinda cool, but also weird and maybe scary, right?

I won't say anything else about the story itself. I will say that William is the kind of book that had me thinking about it long after finishing. And for me, those are always the best kind of books! ]]> 3.46 2024
author: Mason Coile
name: Diana
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves: five-stars, favorites
review:
Having finished this book last week, I now have time to sit down and gather my thoughts for a review. It wasn't until this moment that I noticed the cover actually spells William as W1ll1am and I think that's brilliant. Honestly, it makes me like the book even more than I already did. What a great tie-in to the AI type storyline.

This book started off strong, had me worried about getting bored at one point in the middle, but then redeemed itself in the end. In fact, the ending totally blew me away. It more than made up for the mild case of blahs I experienced in the middle.

William is a combination of horror and suspense in a futuristic type setting. I wouldn't describe it as a very far away future as we see technological advances all the time. Our main characters Henry and Lily and very intelligent people whose home is essentially a "smart" home that responds to their voice commands. Kinda cool, but also weird and maybe scary, right?

I won't say anything else about the story itself. I will say that William is the kind of book that had me thinking about it long after finishing. And for me, those are always the best kind of books!
]]> 218362004 A young man who has improbably escaped death twice reveals his secret in a spine-tingling short story by New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill.

Martin Lorensen is a twenty-three-year-old counselor for disturbed teenagers. He’s bright, compassionate, attractive, and outgoing. He’s also—and this is the most interesting thing—not dead. Martin has improbably survived not one but two deadly disasters that claimed dozens of lives. The kid is riding one hell of a lucky streak. Two federal agents think there is something darker at play. Now that they’ve arranged to interview Martin, they want answers. Martin is ready to share everything he knows. One thing is for certain: when it comes to escaping death, luck doesn’t figure into it at all.]]> 29 Joe Hill 1662527942 Diana 5 five-stars
I purposely chose to end my 2024 spooky season reading time with something by Joe Hill. Having only discovered his work a couple years back, he quickly became my favorite horror author. As I mentioned above, this was not scary, but I was not disappointed. That's because Joe Hill writes characters who jump off the page and presents his stories in an engaging way that has me turning pages well past my bedtime. ]]> 4.23 2024
author: Joe Hill
name: Diana
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves: five-stars
review:
To be clear: I would never categorize this book as horror. It is, however, a very good short story.

I purposely chose to end my 2024 spooky season reading time with something by Joe Hill. Having only discovered his work a couple years back, he quickly became my favorite horror author. As I mentioned above, this was not scary, but I was not disappointed. That's because Joe Hill writes characters who jump off the page and presents his stories in an engaging way that has me turning pages well past my bedtime.
]]> 202538427 He swears by his boundaries. But did he cross the line?

At 8 o' clock on a blustery, mid-January morning, Charles Bliss is summoned to the head of school' s office at Carrington Academy. Charles, a teacher at the elite Connecticut boarding school, is surprised by the unusual request, but when he arrives, no time is wasted. Charles learns that he has been accused of engaging in a romantic relationship with a student.

The student behind the accusation, Hayley Goodloe, is the daughter of a state senator, the granddaughter of an ex-governor, and an heiress to a massive fortune.

But Charles has long prided himself on keeping proper boundaries with his students. He insists he would never cross the line . . . or would he? Hayley' s diary makes it clear she had strong feelings for her teacher. Was it just an unrequited schoolgirl crush? Or was it something more?

When Hayley disappears under suspicious circumstances, a daunting pile of evidence points to Charles as the chief suspect. Charles swears he' s being framed. And it soon becomes apparent there' s only one way he can clear his name.

Find her.

Perfect for fans of Harlan Coben and Jodi Picoult]]> 421 Brad Parks 1608096254 Diana 0 to-read 3.94 2024
author: Brad Parks
name: Diana
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219580478 Listening Length: 9 hours and 20 minutes

She's looking for the perfect man. He's looking for the perfect victim.

Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She’s seen it men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can't shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.

Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.

Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.

Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim...

A dark story about obsession and the things we’ll do for love, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden proves that crimes of passion are often the bloodiest…]]> Freida McFadden Diana 4 1. In order to enjoy the plot, you should embrace a highly unlikely, unbelievable type storyline.
2. Be prepared for rolling your eyes at the stupid decisions the MC makes.

If you can accept the above, then you may have fun with this book. I sure did!

Our main character is a young, single New Yorker who is trying her best to meet her Mr. Right. She is using dating apps to accomplish this and as you may have guessed, this is not going very well. Freida's books make me laugh quite often and it is the dating scene in this book that has so many laughable moments!

After finishing, I went back to read the book description and although it doesn't exactly give away spoilers, I do think some of the fun would have been lost if I had read that summary first. I recommend going in blind.

Embrace the crazy plot, the stupid decisions and enjoy the twisty ride!
]]> 3.64 2024
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diana
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves:
review:
In case you are unfamiliar with Freida McFadden's work, here are some things you should know:
1. In order to enjoy the plot, you should embrace a highly unlikely, unbelievable type storyline.
2. Be prepared for rolling your eyes at the stupid decisions the MC makes.

If you can accept the above, then you may have fun with this book. I sure did!

Our main character is a young, single New Yorker who is trying her best to meet her Mr. Right. She is using dating apps to accomplish this and as you may have guessed, this is not going very well. Freida's books make me laugh quite often and it is the dating scene in this book that has so many laughable moments!

After finishing, I went back to read the book description and although it doesn't exactly give away spoilers, I do think some of the fun would have been lost if I had read that summary first. I recommend going in blind.

Embrace the crazy plot, the stupid decisions and enjoy the twisty ride!

]]> 175532363 The #1 New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author Gregg Olsen solves a murder among the Amish and reveals the conspiracy to keep it a secret in a heartbreaking and horrifying true-crime story.

In 1977, in an Ohio Amish community, pregnant wife and mother Ida Stutzman perished during a barn fire. The coroner’s natural causes. Ida’s husband, Eli, was never considered a suspect. But when he eventually rejected the faith and took his son, Danny, with him, murder followed.

What really happened to Ida? The dubious circumstances of the tragic blaze were willfully ignored and Eli’s shifting narratives disregarded. Could Eli’s subsequent cross-country journey of death—including that of his own son—have been prevented if just one person came forward with what they knew about the real Eli Stutzman?

The questions haunted Gregg Olsen and Ida’s brother Daniel Gingerich for decades. At Daniel’s urging, Olsen now returns to Amish Country and to Eli’s crimes first exposed in Olsen’s Abandoned Prayers, one of which has remained a mystery until now. With the help of aging witnesses and shocking long-buried letters, Olsen finally uncovers the disturbing truth—about Ida’s murder and the conspiracy of silence and secrets that kept it hidden for forty-five years.]]> 387 Gregg Olsen 1542016495 Diana 3 3.48 2023
author: Gregg Olsen
name: Diana
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 205140076
A chilling horror novel about a haunting told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,�� from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box
��
To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s��Mommy,��Daddo,��and Grandma Ruth.��But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?”����
��
When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the same question, over and over . . . Bela understands that unless she says yes, soon her family must pay.��
��
Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe but other incidents show cracks in her parents' marriage. The safety Bela relies on is on the brink of unraveling.����
��
But Other Mommy needs an answer.��
��
Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror told by the child Bela. A story about a family as haunted as their home.]]> 9 Josh Malerman 0593907175 Diana 5 five-stars
After finishing this book, I went back to read the description summary and I was quite surprised to read that our main character, Bela, is an 8-year-old girl! She came across to me as younger - maybe 5 or 6 years old. Anyway, Bela is our narrator throughout the book and I think that is why the fear level is so high for this story. There is something about the innocent perspective of our narrator clashing with our adult perspective as the reader. The audio narrator, Delanie Nicole Gill, does a superb job conveying fear and urgency to the listener.

This book takes childhood fears to the next level and reminds us of what it feels like to be afraid of the dark.
]]> 3.63 2024
author: Josh Malerman
name: Diana
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/24
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves: five-stars
review:
Bird Box was the first thing by Josh Malerman I ever read and I still remember being totally blown away by it. Whenever that happens, I tend to be reluctant to read other books by the same author for fear of feeling let down. In fact, it was quite some time before I picked up another Malerman. My fears came true, as I did feel slightly disappointed by his other work..... Until now. Incidents Around the House made me feel the same amount of terror I felt while reading Bird Box. I was almost immediately thrust into a constant state of tension, fear, and suspense. I still rank Bird Box as my favorite Malerman novel, but Incidents Around the House is now my second favorite of his and the only other Malerman I've rated as a 5-star book.

After finishing this book, I went back to read the description summary and I was quite surprised to read that our main character, Bela, is an 8-year-old girl! She came across to me as younger - maybe 5 or 6 years old. Anyway, Bela is our narrator throughout the book and I think that is why the fear level is so high for this story. There is something about the innocent perspective of our narrator clashing with our adult perspective as the reader. The audio narrator, Delanie Nicole Gill, does a superb job conveying fear and urgency to the listener.

This book takes childhood fears to the next level and reminds us of what it feels like to be afraid of the dark.

]]> 122998368 not how Claire Matchett expected to spend her vacation.

She thought this would be a break from the stresses of work and raising her young children. A chance to repair her damaged marriage. A week of hiking and hot tubs with two other couple friends. It sounded like heaven.

Then Claire’s minivan breaks down on a lonely dirt road. With no cell reception, the group has no choice but to hike the rest of the way to their hotel. But it turns out the woods aren’t as easy to navigate as they thought.

Hours later, they are lost. Hopelessly lost.

And as they navigate deeper into the woods, the members of their party are struck down mysteriously one by one. Has a wild animal been hunting them? Or is the hunter one of them?

But as more time passes, one thing becomes clear: Only one of them will return home alive.]]> 7 Freida McFadden Diana 4 3.47 2020
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diana
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/10/19
shelves:
review:
A group of friends lost in the woods, nightfall is approaching, no use of cell phones, and one by one they go missing. What's not to like here?
]]> 213673532
From the bestselling author of Hidden Pictures comes a breathtaking work of suspense about a father trying to save his daughter from a life-altering decision that will put everything he loves on the line.

Frank Szatowski is shocked when his daughter, Maggie, calls him for the first time in three years. He was convinced that their estrangement would become permanent. He’s even more surprised when she invites him to her upcoming wedding in New Hampshire. Frank is ecstatic, and determined to finally make things right.

He arrives to find that the wedding is at a private estate—very secluded, very luxurious, very much out of his league. It seems that Maggie failed to mention that she’s marrying Aidan Gardner, the son of a famous tech billionaire. Feeling desperately out of place, Frank focuses on reconnecting with Maggie and getting to know her new family. But it’s difficult: Aidan is withdrawn and evasive; Maggie doesn’t seem to have time for him; and he finds that the locals are disturbingly hostile to the Gardners. Frank needs to know more about this family his daughter is marrying into, but if he pushes too hard, he could lose Maggie forever.

An edge-of-your-seat thriller that delves deep into the heart of one family, The Last One at the Wedding is a work of brilliant suspense from a true modern master.]]> 11 Jason Rekulak Diana 5 five-stars
Our main character, Frank, is a down-to-earth type guy who works as a delivery driver. He raised his daughter on his own after his wife passed away at a young age. Maggie (daughter) is an adult at the start of this book. Maggie and Frank became estranged years earlier for reasons not explained until later in the story but to Frank's delight, Maggie has reached out to invite him to her wedding!

What follows is the perfect setting for a mysterious twisty wedding week with lots of surprises. Frank and the other guests head to a secluded location with weird rules set in place by the eccentric, wealthy family. Things just keep getting more and more odd. Run, Frank, Run! But alas, Frank cannot leave his daughter behind and delves deeper into the mysteries of his future in-laws. Good luck, Frank!]]> 3.60 2024
author: Jason Rekulak
name: Diana
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/17
shelves: five-stars
review:
The Last One at the Wedding is a suspenseful and mysterious book.

Our main character, Frank, is a down-to-earth type guy who works as a delivery driver. He raised his daughter on his own after his wife passed away at a young age. Maggie (daughter) is an adult at the start of this book. Maggie and Frank became estranged years earlier for reasons not explained until later in the story but to Frank's delight, Maggie has reached out to invite him to her wedding!

What follows is the perfect setting for a mysterious twisty wedding week with lots of surprises. Frank and the other guests head to a secluded location with weird rules set in place by the eccentric, wealthy family. Things just keep getting more and more odd. Run, Frank, Run! But alas, Frank cannot leave his daughter behind and delves deeper into the mysteries of his future in-laws. Good luck, Frank!
]]> 58724923 A wildly inventive spin on the supernatural thriller, about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets.

Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.

Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.]]> 372 Jason Rekulak 1250819342 Diana 0 to-read 4.12 2022
author: Jason Rekulak
name: Diana
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36505403 An Alabama boy’s innocence is shaken by murder and madness in the 1960s South in this novel by the New York Times–bestselling author of Swan Song.

It’s 1964 in idyllic Zephyr, Alabama. People either work for the paper mill up the Tecumseh River, or for the local dairy. It’s a simple life, but it stirs the impressionable imagination of twelve-year-old aspiring writer Cory Mackenson. He’s certain he’s sensed spirits whispering in the churchyard. He’s heard of the weird bootleggers who lurk in the dark outside of town. He’s seen a flood leave Main Street crawling with snakes. Cory thrills to all of it as only a young boy can.
��
Then one morning, while accompanying his father on his milk route, he sees a car careen off the road and slowly sink into fathomless Saxon’s Lake. His father dives into the icy water to rescue the driver, and finds a beaten corpse, naked and handcuffed to the steering wheel—a copper wire tightened around the stranger’s neck. In time, the townsfolk seem to forget all about the unsolved murder. But Cory and his father can’t.
��
Their search for the truth is a journey into a world where innocence and evil collide. What lies before them is the stuff of fear and awe, magic and madness, fantasy and reality. As Cory wades into the deep end of Zephyr and all its mysteries, he’ll discover that while the pleasures of childish things fade away, growing up can be a strange and beautiful ride.
��
“Strongly echoing the childhood-elegies of King and Bradbury, and every bit their equal,�� Boy’s Life, a winner of both the Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Awards, represents a brilliant blend of mystery and rich atmosphere, the finest work of one of today’s most accomplished writers (Kirkus Reviews).]]> 625 Robert McCammon Diana 0 to-read 4.47 1991
author: Robert McCammon
name: Diana
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62917571
From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and the Practical Magic series comes an enchanting novel about love, heartbreak, self-discovery, and the enduring magic of books.

One brilliant June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden, and books are considered evil. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?

Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.

As a girl Mia fell in love with a book. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: “A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.��

This is the story of one woman’s dream. For a little while it came true.]]> 8 Alice Hoffman 179715480X Diana 3
The first half or so of The Invisible Hour is about an unusual mother/daughter relationship. This part of the book had my full attention. However, the book takes a turn in which Nathanial Hawthorne becomes a main character. At this point, try as I might, I just couldn't muster the same amount of interest in the story. But as I said above, Alice Hoffman has a beautiful way with words and I look forward to reading other books by her in the future.
]]> 3.47 2023
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Diana
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/09
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves:
review:
Alice Hoffman has a beautiful way with words.

The first half or so of The Invisible Hour is about an unusual mother/daughter relationship. This part of the book had my full attention. However, the book takes a turn in which Nathanial Hawthorne becomes a main character. At this point, try as I might, I just couldn't muster the same amount of interest in the story. But as I said above, Alice Hoffman has a beautiful way with words and I look forward to reading other books by her in the future.

]]> 174670078 New York Times bestselling author Alyssa Cole.

Tiana Carter has just started college and is determined to make the most of it. She’s thrilled to be posting videos about dorm-room cooking and campus fashion for a small but loyal band of followers. When she dips into the online dating pool, her first swipe right raises a huge red flag. Tiana’s polite rejection is met with scorn, and now a group of self-proclaimed “high-value men�� are hell-bent on ruining her life.

Just a Girl is part of Obsession, a collection of compulsively readable short stories about people pushed to their extremes. So addictive you won’t be able to put them down—read or listen to each story in a single sitting.]]> 124 Alyssa Cole 1662512023 Diana 2 3.45 2023
author: Alyssa Cole
name: Diana
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/09
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 22749539
Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.

Richly imagined and masterfully crafted, Echo pushes the boundaries of genre, form, and storytelling innovation to create a wholly original novel that will resound in your heart long after the last note has been struck.]]> 597 Pam Muñoz Ryan 0439874025 Diana 5 five-stars
This book ended up being extra special to me because music is, and always has been, a big part of my life. If you feel the same way about music, you will likely enjoy this. As a bonus, the audio version of Echo really goes above and beyond by including lots of music! There is mostly harmonica music, but also cello, piano, singing and orchestra.

Pam Muñoz Ryan certainly is deserving of the award she received for this book. Quite a masterful storyteller! She has woven together different characters, timelines, locations and circumstances in a beautiful way and then brings everything full circle in a closing that had me thinking about Echo for some time after finishing. ]]> 4.35 2015
author: Pam Muñoz Ryan
name: Diana
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves: five-stars
review:
Echo is a children's novel which is a mix of historical and magical and gave me a fairy tale type vibe, especially at the beginning.

This book ended up being extra special to me because music is, and always has been, a big part of my life. If you feel the same way about music, you will likely enjoy this. As a bonus, the audio version of Echo really goes above and beyond by including lots of music! There is mostly harmonica music, but also cello, piano, singing and orchestra.

Pam Muñoz Ryan certainly is deserving of the award she received for this book. Quite a masterful storyteller! She has woven together different characters, timelines, locations and circumstances in a beautiful way and then brings everything full circle in a closing that had me thinking about Echo for some time after finishing.
]]> 174670217 40 Chris Bohjalian 1662515634 Diana 2 3.10 2023
author: Chris Bohjalian
name: Diana
average rating: 3.10
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 6149 Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.

Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.]]> 325 Toni Morrison Diana 0 to-read 3.96 1987
author: Toni Morrison
name: Diana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217172737 A single mother working in the gothic mansion of a reclusive horror director stumbles upon terrifying secrets.

Harry Adams loves horror movies,��so it’s no coincidence��that she accepted a job cleaning house for horror-movie director Javier Castillo. His forbidding gray-stone��Chicago��mansion,��Bright Horses, is filled from top to bottom with terrifying props and costumes as well as glittering awards from his career making movies that thrilled audiences—until family tragedy and scandal forced him to vanish from the industry.

Javier values discretion, and Harry always tries to keep the house immaculate, her head down, and her job safe. Then she hears noises from behind a locked door, noises that sound remarkably like a human voice calling for help. Harry knows not asking questions is a vital part of keeping her job, but she soon discovers that the house may be home to secrets she can’t ignore.]]> 9 Christina Henry 0593825802 Diana 5 five-stars Hooray 3.39 2024
author: Christina Henry
name: Diana
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/28
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: five-stars
review:
Hooray
]]> 174670261 41 Julie Clark 1662513763 Diana 2 3.65 2023
author: Julie Clark
name: Diana
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/24
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 174670822
Veronica and Ryan Hartley are the envy of Auburn Drive. When the exclusive neighborhood hosts its annual progressive dinner party, the couple’s perfection is on display. The neighbors are obsessed—entranced by the “it�� couple’s movie-star looks and smoldering gazes. But is the perfect pair too good to be true?

People Like Them is part of Obsession, a collection of compulsively readable short stories about people pushed to their extremes. So addictive you won’t be able to put them down—read or listen to each story in a single sitting.]]> 56 Minka Kent 1662515022 Diana 3
Great cover! Which also perfectly suits this short story about a neighborhood's annual progressive dinner party. We follow the thoughts of the wives as we travel from house to house. Each chapter reveals more interesting tidbits into the lives of the couples in this neighborhood, all leading to a very satisfying ending. ]]> 4.06 2023
author: Minka Kent
name: Diana
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/24
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 Stars

Great cover! Which also perfectly suits this short story about a neighborhood's annual progressive dinner party. We follow the thoughts of the wives as we travel from house to house. Each chapter reveals more interesting tidbits into the lives of the couples in this neighborhood, all leading to a very satisfying ending.
]]> 174670391 32 B.A. Paris 1662513534 Diana 4 Yikes 3.59 2023
author: B.A. Paris
name: Diana
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves:
review:
Yikes
]]> 174670253 27 Nita Prose Diana 3 3.14 2023
author: Nita Prose
name: Diana
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves:
review:
It's officially the start of my "Halloween Reading" time!
]]> 215041696 From the beloved author of We All Want Impossible Things, a moving, hilarious story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch, and learning to let go.

For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.

This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.

It's one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forc]]> 6 Catherine Newman Diana 3
Make no mistake: This book is about menopause.

However, it is also hilarious.

On the one hand, it is a very funny book, but on the other hand, it is very dominated by the menopausal symptoms of the main character. So..... ]]> 3.60 2024
author: Catherine Newman
name: Diana
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/17
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves:
review:
3-1/2 stars!

Make no mistake: This book is about menopause.

However, it is also hilarious.

On the one hand, it is a very funny book, but on the other hand, it is very dominated by the menopausal symptoms of the main character. So.....
]]> 202468422 From the Booker Prize finalist author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two rivers, all under the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time.

In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.

In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.

In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.

A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.��]]> 464 Elif Shafak 0593801717 Diana 0 to-read 4.39 2024
author: Elif Shafak
name: Diana
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 210244977 From the National Book Award–longlisted author of The Need comes an extraordinary novel about a wife and mother who—after losing her job to AI—undergoes a procedure that renders her undetectable to surveillance…but at what cost?

In a city addled by climate change and populated by intelligent robots called “hums,�� May loses her job to artificial intelligence. In a desperate bid to resolve her family’s debt and secure their future for another few months, she becomes a guinea pig in an experiment that alters her face so it cannot be recognized by surveillance.

Seeking some reprieve from her recent hardships and from her family’s addiction to their devices, she splurges on passes that allow them three nights�� respite inside the Botanical Garden: a rare green refuge where forests, streams, and animals flourish. But her insistence that her son, daughter, and husband leave their devices at home proves far more fraught than she anticipated, and the lush beauty of the Botanical Garden is not the balm she hoped it would be. When her children come under threat, May is forced to put her trust in a hum of uncertain motives as she works to restore the life of her family.

Written in taut, urgent prose, Hum is a work of speculative fiction that unflinchingly explores marriage, motherhood, and selfhood in a world compromised by global warming and dizzying technological advancement, a world of both dystopian and utopian possibilities. As New York Times bestselling author Jeff VanderMeer says, “Helen Phillips, in typical bravura fashion, has found a way to make visible uncomfortable truths about our present by interrogating the near-future.”]]> 0 Helen Phillips 179717455X Diana 4
It's the similarities in life currently that make the world in Hum so scary. The fact that we could seemingly be so close to the undesirable world in Hum with a lack of human connection, nature, fresh air, etc.

The ending to Hum is the kind of ending that gets you thinking. I love when a book does that. ]]> 3.42 2024
author: Helen Phillips
name: Diana
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/14
date added: 2024/09/14
shelves:
review:
This dystopian-ish type story is eerily very similar to what life is like right now. Kind of. I can easily see our current world heading into the direction portrayed in this book. Our main character, May, has thoughts like: "I wish he gazed into my eyes the way he does into his phone" in reference to her husband. (That is not a direct quote, I don't remember the exact line.)

It's the similarities in life currently that make the world in Hum so scary. The fact that we could seemingly be so close to the undesirable world in Hum with a lack of human connection, nature, fresh air, etc.

The ending to Hum is the kind of ending that gets you thinking. I love when a book does that.
]]> 204911494
Back in high school, everybody thought Shiloh and Cary would end up together . . . everybody but Shiloh and Cary.

They were just friends. Best friends. Allies. They spent entire summers sitting on Shiloh’s porch steps, dreaming about the future. They were both going to get out of north Omaha—Shiloh would go to college and become an actress, and Cary would join the Navy. They promised each other that their friendship would never change.

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

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

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

The answer is yes. And yes. And yes.

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

It’s the story of Shiloh and Cary, who everyone thought would end up together, trying to find their way back to the start.]]> 11 Rainbow Rowell 0063380226 Diana 2 3.64 2024
author: Rainbow Rowell
name: Diana
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/14
date added: 2024/09/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 20649900 180 Ellen DeGeneres Diana 4 3.22 2011
author: Ellen DeGeneres
name: Diana
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves:
review:
If you are familiar with and enjoy Ellen DeGeneres' humor, then this book will not disappoint. Audio version of Seriously... I'm Kidding highly recommended. Something about the comedic timing, the delivery and all that stuff they say about comedy makes this a great audio since Ellen narrates it herself. Short, fun, witty chapters. I often listen to audio while at work surrounded by coworkers and I couldn't help but laugh out loud several times while listening. :)
]]> 22551474 Short-listed for the Man Booker Prize��

“It was a beautiful, breezy, yellow-and-green afternoon. . .�� This is how Abby Whitshank always begins the story of how she fell in love with Red that day in July 1959. The Whitshanks are one of those families that radiate togetherness: an indefinable, enviable kind of specialness. But they are also like all families, in that the stories they tell themselves reveal only part of the picture. Abby and Red and their four grown children have accumulated not only tender moments, laughter, and celebrations, but also jealousies, disappointments, and carefully guarded secrets. From Red’s father and mother, newly arrived in Baltimore in the 1920s, to Abby and Red’s grandchildren carrying the family legacy boisterously into the twenty-first century, here are four generations of Whitshanks, their lives unfolding in and around the sprawling, lovingly worn Baltimore house that has always been their anchor.

Brimming with all the insight, humor, and generosity of spirit that are the hallmarks of Anne Tyler’s work, A Spool of Blue Thread tells a poignant yet unsentimental story in praise of family in all its emotional complexity. It is a novel to cherish.




From the Hardcover edition.]]> Anne Tyler 0553551043 Diana 3
I would describe this as a family drama type story that spans across generations of the Whitshank family. It was interesting enough, albeit slightly slow at time but I feel as though I must have enjoyed The Accidental Tourist more than A Spool of Blue Thread. To be fair, I don't often find family dramas to be among my favorites when it comes to books. This book was a good read but not one that would compel me to immediately devour more Anne Tyler books. Having said that, I do want to read her Pulitzer winning novel for sure and have added that to my list. ]]> 3.22 2015
author: Anne Tyler
name: Diana
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves:
review:
Many, many, many years ago I read Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist. This was back during my pre-ŷ������ days, so I wasn't able to look at my book review. That is one of the things I love about ŷ������. It's so nice to be able to go back and see how I felt about a book right after finishing. Although I don't really remember what happened in Accidental Tourist, I do remember that I enjoyed it and thought that I should more work by Anne Tyler. Well, it took me a very long time to do so! For whatever reason, I waited many years before picking up my second Anne Tyler book, A Spool of Blue Thread.

I would describe this as a family drama type story that spans across generations of the Whitshank family. It was interesting enough, albeit slightly slow at time but I feel as though I must have enjoyed The Accidental Tourist more than A Spool of Blue Thread. To be fair, I don't often find family dramas to be among my favorites when it comes to books. This book was a good read but not one that would compel me to immediately devour more Anne Tyler books. Having said that, I do want to read her Pulitzer winning novel for sure and have added that to my list.
]]> 208461639 Ungrieving, a memoir about family dysfunction and estrangement, religious doubt, and complex relationships, Jennifer Stolpa Flatt provides others with the book she needed but couldn’t find. The insights will resonate with those who have experienced family divisions or who support those who do, and those who struggle to let go of the relationships they wanted but never had.

After a lifetime of emotional abuse, verbal attacks, and controlling behaviors, including a four-year estrangement from a man she called “Daddy,�� despite not feeling the warmth the nickname implies, her father’s death left her struggling to make sense of their fractured relationship.

She felt both a sense of relief and a profound

I don’t miss him and I feel guilty admitting that.
Sometimes I do miss him. And that confuses me.

Through relatable and compelling stories and essays, Flatt places readers in key moments throughout her family’s journey, demonstrating how she, her sister, and her mom suffered as collateral damage due to her dad’s untreated depression. The memoir artfully weaves in passages from her dad’s journals, allowing her to explore his pain, his dreams, and his parenting choices.

Flatt also explores how Catholicism, changing her religious faith, music, mental illness, counseling, and feminism both united and separated her from her father.

Ungrieving challenges readers to think carefully about what we say to ourselves and what we say to others in moments of grief. Flatt’s journey also helps ease the guilt readers might feel around strained relationships, questioning religion, or mental health concerns as readers learn to see themselves and others as individuals, and not only in relationship to others.]]> 293 Jennifer Flatt Diana 2 4.00
author: Jennifer Flatt
name: Diana
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves:
review:

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Nothing could be more out of character, but after fifty-nine years of marriage, as her husband Bernard’s health declines, and her friends' lives become focused on their grandchildren—which Jenny never had—Jenny decides she wants a little something for herself. So she secretly applies to be a contestant on the prime-time TV show Britain Bakes.

Whisked into an unfamiliar world of cameras and timed challenges, Jenny delights in a new-found independence. But that independence, and the stress of the competition, starts to unearth memories buried decades ago. Chocolate teacakes remind her of a furtive errand involving a wedding ring; sugared doughnuts call up a stranger’s kind act; a simple cottage loaf brings back the moment her life changed forever.

With her baking star rising, Jenny struggles to keep a lid on that first secret—a long-concealed deceit that threatens to shatter the very foundations of her marriage. It’s the only time in six decades that she’s kept something from Bernard. By putting herself in the limelight, has Jenny created a recipe for disaster?]]> 384 Olivia Ford 0593656415 Diana 0 to-read 4.05 2024
author: Olivia Ford
name: Diana
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves: to-read
review:

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In Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.

Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

By an “endlessly inventive�� (Vulture) author with a “wicked sense of humor�� (NPR), The Tainted Cup mixes the charms of detective fiction with brilliant world-building to deliver a fiendishly clever mystery that’s at once instantly recognizable and thrillingly new.]]> 410 Robert Jackson Bennett 1984820729 Diana 5 five-stars
It didn't take long for this book to pull me in. It is fresh, fun and original. It is also shocking, gruesome and exciting. Our two main characters are Ana and Din who work together to try to solve a mystery. Ana is the head investigator who chooses Din to be her assistant. The interaction between Ana and Din is so entertaining and humorous! I am so excited to continue with this trilogy so I can spend more time with Ana and Din! ]]> 4.40 2024
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Diana
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves: five-stars
review:
I had zero expectations for this book. Had never read or even heard of this author. I chose this book purely because it was categorized as science fiction fantasy and I thought that sounded like a perfect match for my mood at the time.

It didn't take long for this book to pull me in. It is fresh, fun and original. It is also shocking, gruesome and exciting. Our two main characters are Ana and Din who work together to try to solve a mystery. Ana is the head investigator who chooses Din to be her assistant. The interaction between Ana and Din is so entertaining and humorous! I am so excited to continue with this trilogy so I can spend more time with Ana and Din!
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