rama's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 10 Apr 2025 00:24:11 -0700 60 rama's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan, #2)]]> 213618143 The brilliant detective Ana Dolabra may have finally met her match in the gripping sequel to The Tainted Cup—from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy.

In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, an impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remained locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are all under constant guard.

To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial investigator, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.

Before long, Ana’s discovered that they’re not investigating a disappearance, but a murder—and that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and who can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future.

Worse still, the killer seems to be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud. Here, the Empire's greatest minds dissect fallen Titans to harness the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the destruction would be terrible indeed—and the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.

Din has seen Ana solve impossible cases before. But this time, with the stakes higher than ever and Ana seemingly a step behind their adversary at every turn, he fears that his superior has finally met an enemy she can’t defeat.]]>
465 Robert Jackson Bennett 0593723821 rama 0 currently-reading 4.57 2025 A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan, #2)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: rama
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
The In-Between 195436024 The tender, sensual and moving new novel from the award-winning and bestselling author of The Slap and Damascus. A compelling contemporary love story between two middle-aged men, told with grace, heart and wisdom.

No life is simple, and no life is without sorrow. No life is perfect.

Two middle-aged men meet on an internet date. Each has been scarred by a previous relationship; each has his own compelling reasons for giving up on the idea of finding love.

But still they both turn up for the dinner, feel the spark and the possibility of something more. Feel the fear of failing again, of being hurt and humiliated and further annihilated by love.

How can they take the risk of falling in love again. How can they not?

A tender, affecting novel of love, of hope, of forgiveness by one of our most fearless and truthful interpreters of the human heart, the acclaimed bestselling author of�The Slap aԻ�Damascus.

Praise for Christos

'I've admired the risk and power of all his novels, but this might be the riskiest of all—so personal, so delicate and true—and I love it.' � Charlotte Wood on 7 1/2

'A scorching, mythic work with a heart of the sweetest intimacy.'� Helen Garner on 7 1/2

'The audacity of Tsiolkas is still a thrill. And, dare one say it, necessary.' � Nigel Featherstone on 7 1/2

'Tsiolkas has proved himself a heroic writer, ready to enter the fray and wrestle with intractable moral and political questions. A powerful parable of our times.' � The Saturday Paper on Damascus

'Every time I was 10 pages in a new book, I thought, "It's not Damascus", and put it aside for another day . . .' � Stephen Romei, Weekend Australian on Damascus

'I finished Barracuda on a moved, elated, immersed . . . This is the work of a superb writer who has completely mastered his craft but lost nothing of his fiery spirit in so doing. It is a big achievement.' � The Guardian

'Once in a while a novel comes along that reminds me why I love to The Slap is such a book . . . Tsiolkas throws open the window on society, picks apart its flaws, embraces its contradictions and recognises its beauty, all the time asking the reader, Whose side are you on? Honestly, one of the three or four truly great novels of the new millennium.' � John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

'The Slap is nothing short of a tour de force, and it confirms Christos Tsiolkas's reputation as one of the most significant contemporary storytellers at work today . . . Here is a novel of immense power and scope.' � Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn]]>
400 Christos Tsiolkas 1761188003 rama 2 3.66 2023 The In-Between
author: Christos Tsiolkas
name: rama
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves:
review:

]]>
God: A Human History 34101725
A imagem que, em crianças, associamos a Deus, pelo menos no seio das comunidades cristãs, é a de uma entidade semelhante em tudo ao Homem. Feuerbach diz que só um ser que compreende em si todo o humano pode satisfazer integralmente um ser humano. Foi esta dimensão de Deus que atraiu Aslan, ainda muito jovem, para o cristianismo.

A ideia de «Deus humanizado» (um ser humano com poderes de super-homem, ou uma versão divina de nós próprios) terá sido o conceito mais profundamente enraizado na nossa primeira consciência de Deus - aquele que mais modelou as nossas teorias iniciais sobre a natureza, o universo e o nosso papel neles.
Um livro que desafia radicalmente a maneira de pensar o divino.]]>
280 Reza Aslan 0553394738 rama 0 currently-reading 4.01 2017 God: A Human History
author: Reza Aslan
name: rama
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]>
Monte Cristo 31657734
****

Revenge at all cost!

A young sailor returns home from a dangerous voyage. His father and his sweetheart are waiting for him. But an act of jealous treachery changes his life forever!

An unexpected meeting changes everything and the man who was once an unknown sailor emerges as The Count of Monte Cristo, mysterious, rich, and powerful enough to take the ultimate revenge against his enemies.]]>
758 Alexandre Dumas 602424116X rama 5 4.63 1846 Monte Cristo
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: rama
average rating: 4.63
book published: 1846
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves:
review:

]]>
At the Lake 24740779
When Shane discovers that William can’t swim, he offers to teach him. William eagerly agrees, but an unexpected storm hits, and William finds himself caught in the water. Shane rushes to his rescue, and they barely make it to shore before lightning strikes the dock—close enough to damage Shane’s hearing.

The following summer, both boys return to the camp. Shane doesn’t let his hearing aids hold him back, while William has become a counselor-in-training. The attraction between them is undeniable, but how can they make it work? After camp ends, a week at William’s family home in the Hamptons will decide if the love that blossomed at the lake can survive in the real world.]]>
197 Geoff Laughton 1632168715 rama 2 3.82 2015 At the Lake
author: Geoff Laughton
name: rama
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Setting Sun 194740
The story is told through the eyes of Kazuko, the unmarried daughter of a widowed aristocrat. Her search for self meaning in a society devoid of use for her forms the crux of Dazai’s novel. It is a sad story, and structurally is a novel very much within the confines of the Japanese take on the novel in a way reminiscent of authors such as Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata � the social interactions are peripheral and understated, nuances must be drawn, and for readers more used to Western novelistic forms this comes across as being rather wishy-washy.

Kazuko’s mother falls ill, and due to their financial circumstances they are forced to take a cottage in the countryside. Her brother, who became addicted to opium during the war is missing. When he returns, Kazuko attempts to form a liaison with the novelist Uehara. This romantic displacement only furthers to deepen her alienation from society.]]>
175 Osamu Dazai 0811200329 rama 3 4.00 1947 The Setting Sun
author: Osamu Dazai
name: rama
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1947
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The God of Lost Words (Hell's Library, #3)]]> 56982188
Claire, the rakish Hero, the angel Rami, and the muse turned librarian Brevity have accomplished the impossible by discovering the true nature of unwritten books. But now that the secret is out, Hell will be coming for every wing of the library in its quest for power.]]>
353 A.J. Hackwith 1984806416 rama 3 4.14 2021 The God of Lost Words (Hell's Library, #3)
author: A.J. Hackwith
name: rama
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Archive of the Forgotten (Hell's Library, #2)]]> 50482961 In the second installment of this richly imagined fantasy adventure series, a new threat from within the Library could destroy those who depend upon it the most.

The Library of the Unwritten in Hell was saved from total devastation, but hundreds of potential books were destroyed. Former librarian Claire and Brevity the muse feel the loss of those stories, and are trying to adjust to their new roles within the Arcane Wing and Library, respectively. But when the remains of those books begin to leak a strange ink, Claire realizes that the Library has kept secrets from Hell--and from its own librarians.

Claire and Brevity are immediately at odds in their approach to the ink, and the potential power that it represents has not gone unnoticed. When a representative from the Muses Corps arrives at the Library to advise Brevity, the angel Rami and the erstwhile Hero hunt for answers in other realms. The true nature of the ink could fundamentally alter the afterlife for good or ill, but it entirely depends on who is left to hold the pen.]]>
352 A.J. Hackwith 1984806394 rama 4 3.80 2020 The Archive of the Forgotten (Hell's Library, #2)
author: A.J. Hackwith
name: rama
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Book That Broke the World (The Library Trilogy, #2)]]> 157031755 We fight for the people we love. We fight for the ideas we want to be true.

Evar and Livira stand side by side and yet far beyond each other's reach. Evar is forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover her book if she's to return to her life. While Evar's journey leads him outside into the vastness of a world he's never seen, Livira's destination lies deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.

And all the while, the library quietly weaves thread to thread, bringing the scattered elements of Livira's old life � friends and foe alike � back together beneath new skies.

Long ago, a lie was told, and with the passing years it has grown and spread, a small push leading to a chain of desperate consequences. Now, as one edifice topples into the next with ever-growing violence, it threatens to break the world. The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.

The Library Trilogy is about many things: adventure, discovery, and romance, but it's also a love letter to books and the places where they live. The focus is on one vast and timeless library, but the love expands to encompass smaller more personal collections, and bookshops of all shades too.]]>
384 Mark Lawrence 0008456763 rama 4 4.00 2024 The Book That Broke the World (The Library Trilogy, #2)
author: Mark Lawrence
name: rama
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:

]]>
You Should Have Left 32855689 From the internationally best-selling author of Measuring the World and F, an eerie and supernatural tale of a writer's emotional collapse

"It is fitting that I'm beginning a new notebook up here. New surroundings and new ideas, a new beginning. Fresh air."

These are the opening lines of the journal kept by the narrator of Daniel Kehlmann's spellbinding new novel: the record of the seven days that he, his wife, and his four-year-old daughter spend in a house they have rented in the mountains of Germany—a house that thwarts the expectations of his recollection and seems to defy the very laws of physics. The narrator is eager to finish a screenplay, entitled Marriage, for a sequel to the movie that launched his career, but something he cannot explain is undermining his convictions and confidence, a process he is recording in this account of the uncanny events that unfold as he tries to understand what, exactly, is happening around him—and in himself.]]>
113 Daniel Kehlmann 1101871989 rama 3 3.40 2016 You Should Have Left
author: Daniel Kehlmann
name: rama
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
A Certain Hunger 44294655
But there is something within Dorothy that's different from everyone else, and having suppressed it long enough, she starts to embrace what makes Dorothy uniquely, terrifyingly herself. Recounting her life from a seemingly idyllic farm-to-table childhood, the heights of her career, to the moment she plunges an ice pick into a man's neck on Fire Island, Dorothy Daniels show us what happens when a woman finally embraces her superiority.

A satire of early foodieism, a critique of how gender is defined, and a showcase of virtuoso storytelling, Chelsea G. Summers' A Certain Hunger introduces us to the food world's most charming psychopath and an exciting new voice in fiction.]]>
250 Chelsea G. Summers rama 3 3.73 2019 A Certain Hunger
author: Chelsea G. Summers
name: rama
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Whale Tattoo 60261868
When a giant sperm whale washes up on the local beach it tells Joe Gunner that death will follow him wherever he goes. Joe knows that the place he needs to go is back home.

Having stormed out two years ago, it won’t be easy, nor will returning to the haunted river beside the house where words ripple beneath the surface washing up all sorts of memories. Joe turns to his sister, Birdee, the only person who has ever listened. But she can't help him, she drowned two years ago. Then there’s Tim Fysh, local fisherman and long-time lover. But reviving their bond is bound to be trouble.

As the water settles and Joe learns the truth about the river, he finds that we all have the capability to hate, and that we can all make the choice not to.

Ransom’s fractured, distinctive prose highlights the beauty and brutality of his story, his extraordinarily vivid sense of place saturates the reader with the wet of the river, and the salty tang of the sea]]>
Jon Ransom rama 4 3.69 2022 The Whale Tattoo
author: Jon Ransom
name: rama
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/25
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:

]]>
Peter Darling 58170822
The only person who truly missed Peter is Captain James Hook, who is delighted to have his old rival back. But when a new war ignites between the Lost Boys and Hook’s pirates, the ensuing bloodshed becomes all too real � and Peter’s rivalry with Hook starts to blur into something far more complicated, sensual, and deadly.]]>
310 Austin Chant 1087818192 rama 3 4.09 2017 Peter Darling
author: Austin Chant
name: rama
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead]]> 51648276
A deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate. Whom do we deem sane? it asks. Who is worthy of a voice?

Duration: 11 hours 39 minutes.]]>
274 Olga Tokarczuk rama 4 3.93 2009 Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
author: Olga Tokarczuk
name: rama
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:

]]>
The President's Gardens 31117181
Abdullah loses twenty years to Iranian captivity before returning to learn the terrible truth of his birth. Tariq, the son of the local Sheik, avoids the army, and becomes a man of power and influence, able to help his friends but always careful to keep his own interests closest to his heart. Ibrahim loses a foot in the first Gulf War and his wife to cancer before taking on a menial job in the gardens of one of the president's many palaces - a job whose responsibilities will escalate beyond his wildest imaginings.

The multiple, multi-generational stories woven together in The President's Gardens are brought to life by a vivid and memorable cast of characters, and may remind the reader of The Kite-Runner, The Yellow Birds and One Hundred Years of Solitude. Epic in scope, moving, philosophical and true, it packs an ocean of wisdom in its 400 pages, and has much to impart about war and oppression, love and marriage, fathers and daughters, and what it means to live under a murderous, totalitarian regime.]]>
384 Muhsin Al-Ramli 0857056778 rama 4 4.08 2012 The President's Gardens
author: Muhsin Al-Ramli
name: rama
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:

]]>
Swimming in the Monsoon Sea 1443203 Othello and he is learning to type at Uncle Lucky’s tropical fish business. Then, like an unexpected monsoon, his cousin arrives from Canada and Amrith’s ordered life is storm-tossed. He finds himself falling in love with the Canadian boy. Othello, with its powerful theme of disastrous jealousy, is the backdrop to the drama in which Amrith finds himself immersed.

Shyam Selvadurai’s brilliant novels, Funny Boy and Cinnamon Gardens, have garnered him international acclaim. In this, his first young adult novel, he explores first love with clarity, humor and compassion.]]>
274 Shyam Selvadurai 0887768342 rama 3 3.74 2005 Swimming in the Monsoon Sea
author: Shyam Selvadurai
name: rama
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Reprieve 116731 464 Jean-Paul Sartre 0679740783 rama 3 3.95 1945 The Reprieve
author: Jean-Paul Sartre
name: rama
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1945
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Handmaid's Tale 34454589 320 Margaret Atwood 1328879941 rama 4 4.31 1985 The Handmaid's Tale
author: Margaret Atwood
name: rama
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Beggar Student 208511269 For fans of No Longer Human, Osamu Dazai’s darkly bewitching novel about the small redemptions of being a pathetic, miserable writer.

A fictional thirty-something writer named Osamu Dazai has just mailed his publisher a terrible manuscript, filling him with dread and shame. Shortly afterward, while moping around a park in suburban Tokyo, he spots a figure drowning in a nearby aqueduct.

He doesn’t want to become a witness to a suicide and eventually decides to flee the park. But as he is leaving, he trips over the boy who had been drowning, and the two begin an unlikely conversation that turns into an intellectual spat. Hoping to ingratiate himself with the boy―a high-school dropout―Dazai finds himself agreeing to perform that very night as the live narrator of a film screening in the boy’s stead�

So begins the madcap adventure of The Beggar Student, where there is glamor in destitution and glimmerings of truth in intellectual one-upmanship. Replete with settings straight out of the popular anime Bungo Stray Dogs and echoes of the themes in No Longer Human, this biting novella captures the infamous Japanese writer at his mordant best.]]>
96 Osamu Dazai 081123858X rama 4 3.75 1940 The Beggar Student
author: Osamu Dazai
name: rama
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1940
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves:
review:

]]>
Release 31194576
Time is running out though, because way across town a ghost as risen from the lake. Searching, yearning, she leaves a trail of destruction in her wake…]]>
287 Patrick Ness 1406377279 rama 2 3.65 2017 Release
author: Patrick Ness
name: rama
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]>
Dayspring 196044892
A singular, stunning debut that transcends and transfigures genre—at once a bold retelling of biblical tales and an unforgettable contemporary coming-of-age story, connected in collapsing time across millennia.

There are few love stories in the holy books. Love is what ruins. Love is what costs. Love is a flaming sword at our backs, a garden left to ruin and to wild.

In Dayspring, Anthony Oliveira brings to vibrant, glorious life the gospel according to the disciple Christ loved—his companion in the days before the crucifixion, the only instrument that remembers with fidelity his sound.

Sacred, profane, and rich with explicit desire and a poetic attention to form, Dayspring weaves electric and heart-wrenching stories of passion, grief, destruction, and survival into a narrative unmoored in space and time, one that re-examines and re-frames great and doomed figures from scripture and history, even as it casts its keen eye on the trials of modern life.

Seamlessly blending fiction, memoir, and verse in the exhilarating tradition of Anne Carson and Madeline Miller, Dayspring is an immersive, mesmerizing work, one that wrenches beauty from cataclysm and finds bliss in apocalypse.]]>
432 Anthony Oliveira 077100382X rama 3 4.11 2024 Dayspring
author: Anthony Oliveira
name: rama
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
Jude the Obscure 50798 310 Thomas Hardy 0486452433 rama 4 3.82 1895 Jude the Obscure
author: Thomas Hardy
name: rama
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1895
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves:
review:

]]>
Theresa 30137628
Berlatar kehidupan Prancis yang kumuh dengan lorong-lorong gelap tahun 1800-an, Emile Zola memotret kehidupan masyarakatnya lewat tokoh Theresa, Madame Raquin, Camillus, dan Laurent. Penuh dengan intrik, nafsu, dan keegoisan, Theresa mampu menampilkan kerapuhan manusia.]]>
279 Émile Zola 6024240546 rama 5 4.06 1867 Theresa
author: Émile Zola
name: rama
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1867
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Full Moon Coffee Shop (The Full Moon Coffee Shop, #1)]]> 202468425 Translated from the Japanese bestseller, this charming and magical novel, inspired by the myth of cats returning favors to those who care for them, reminds us that it’s never too late to follow our stars.

In Japan cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and seemingly appears at random to adrift young people at crucial junctions in their lives.

It’s also run by talking cats.

While customers at the Full Moon Coffee Shop partake in cakes, coffees, and teas, the cats also consult them on their star charts, offer cryptic wisdom, and let them know where their lives have veered off course—because every person who visits the shop has been feeling more than a little lost. And for a down-on-her-luck screenwriter, a romantically stuck movie director, a hopeful hairstylist, and a technologically challenged website designer, the feline guides will set them back on their fated paths. After all, there is a reason the shop appeared to each of them…]]>
240 Mai Mochizuki 0593726820 rama 3 3.61 2020 The Full Moon Coffee Shop (The Full Moon Coffee Shop, #1)
author: Mai Mochizuki
name: rama
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:

]]>
Project Hail Mary 54493401
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]>
476 Andy Weir 0593135202 rama 3 4.49 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: rama
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves:
review:

]]>
Neraka Dunia 5931713 166 Nur St. Iskandar 9796661780 rama 1 3.63 1937 Neraka Dunia
author: Nur St. Iskandar
name: rama
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1937
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:

]]>
The God Delusion 14743
With rigor and wit, Dawkins examines God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament, to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion, and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence.

The God Delusion makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just wrong, but potentially deadly. It also offers exhilarating insight into the advantages of atheism to the individual and society, not the least of which is a clearer, truer appreciation of the universe's wonders than any faith could ever muster.]]>
374 Richard Dawkins 0618680004 rama 4 3.89 2006 The God Delusion
author: Richard Dawkins
name: rama
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:

]]>
I Who Have Never Known Men 60811826 Deep underground, forty women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only a vague recollection of their lives before.


As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl—the fortieth prisoner—sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground.


Jacqueline Harpman was born in Etterbeek, Belgium, in 1929, and fled to Casablanca with her family during WWII. Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Harpman’s modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.]]>
184 Jacqueline Harpman 1945492600 rama 4 4.12 1995 I Who Have Never Known Men
author: Jacqueline Harpman
name: rama
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]>
Catatan Seorang Demonstran 1488085 menarik untuk dibaca. terlebih lagi lewat penggambarannya sebagai mahasiswa pada era orde lama, Gie dapat membawa kita menyelami kehidupan rakyat Indonesia sekitar tahun 1960-an.]]> 386 Soe Hok Gie 9793330333 rama 3 4.13 1983 Catatan Seorang Demonstran
author: Soe Hok Gie
name: rama
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1983
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:

]]>
Thornhedge 61884932 There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This ’t her story.

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

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…]]>
116 T. Kingfisher 1250244099 rama 3 3.95 2023 Thornhedge
author: T. Kingfisher
name: rama
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Library of the Unwritten (Hell's Library, #1)]]> 41961994 In the first book in a brilliant new fantasy series, books that aren't finished by their authors reside in the Library of the Unwritten in Hell, and it is up to the Librarian to track down any restless characters who emerge from those unfinished stories.

Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing—a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto.

But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong when the terrifyingly angelic Ramiel attacks them, convinced that they hold the Devil's Bible. The text of the Devil's Bible is a powerful weapon in the power struggle between Heaven and Hell, so it falls to the librarians to find a book with the power to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell ... and Earth.]]>
384 A.J. Hackwith 1984806386 rama 4 3.78 2019 The Library of the Unwritten (Hell's Library, #1)
author: A.J. Hackwith
name: rama
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Neverending Story 27712
The story begins with a lonely boy named Bastian and the strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica. Only a human can save this enchanted place by giving its ruler, the Childlike Empress, a new name. But the journey to her tower leads through lands of dragons, giants, monsters, and magic, and once Bastian begins his quest, he may never return. As he is drawn deeper into Fantastica, he must find the courage to face unspeakable foes and the mysteries of his own heart.

Readers, too, can travel to the wondrous, unforgettable world of Fantastica if they will just turn the page...]]>
396 Michael Ende 0525457585 rama 4
It is a childern story but i don’t know, it felt like not a childern at all. I feel like reading a Ghibli movie. Sense of to be loved, to be wanted, friendship, it’s all there.]]>
4.16 1979 The Neverending Story
author: Michael Ende
name: rama
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves:
review:
I just finished it. Oh gosh, it was such an amazing experience. It reminded me of Narnia, but it’s so much more adventurous! The character development, story, just such a shame it didn’t have a map. It would be so cool to have one.

It is a childern story but i don’t know, it felt like not a childern at all. I feel like reading a Ghibli movie. Sense of to be loved, to be wanted, friendship, it’s all there.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Royal Game and Other Stories]]> 59147 211 Stefan Zweig 0841914060 rama 4 4.23 1941 The Royal Game and Other Stories
author: Stefan Zweig
name: rama
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1941
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves:
review:

]]>
News of a Kidnapping 16251
From the highest corridors of government to the domain of the ruthless drug cartels, we watch the unfolding of a bizarre drama replete with fascinating characters Cesar Gaviria, the nation's cool and secretive president; Diana Turbay, a famous television journalist and magazine editor; three indomitable women who are imprisoned for miserable months in a small room with a light perpetually on; an eighty-two-year-old priest with a mission to bring the regime and the cartel to the negotiating table; and Escobar himself, the legendary drug baron who changes his bodyguards daily and maintains a private zoo with giraffes and hippos from Africa.

All of this takes place in a country where presidential candidates and cabinet officers are routinely assassinated; where police go into the Medellín slums to murder boys they think may be working for Escobar; but where brave and honest citizens are trying desperately to make democracy survive.

An international best-seller, News of a Kidnapping combines journalistic tenacity with the breathtaking language and perception that distinguish the writings of Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez. It draws us unto into a world that, like some phantasmagorical setting in a great Garcí­a Márquez novel, we can scarcely believe exists--but that continually shocks us with its cold, hard reality.]]>
291 Gabriel García Márquez 0140267832 rama 4 3.89 1996 News of a Kidnapping
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: rama
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves:
review:

]]>
Sang Guru Piano 29335871
Diterbitkan pertama kali pada 1983, Die Klavierspielerin kemudian difilmkan oleh Michael Haneke. FIlm ini memenangi tiga penghargaan utama dalam Festival Film Cannes 2001, termasuk di antaranya pemeran utama pria dan perempuan, masing-masing untuk Benoit Magimel dan Isabelle Heppert.]]>
297 Elfriede Jelinek 9799110815 rama 4 3.32 1983 Sang Guru Piano
author: Elfriede Jelinek
name: rama
average rating: 3.32
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Art of War: Annotated Edition (Alma Classics Evergreens)]]> 50884410
Favoured by countless great generals and military tacticians throughout history, over the last century the book has found a new lease of life, inspiring business leaders, politicians and sporting figures, and offering a profound understanding of such diverse topics as managing others and outwitting competitors.]]>
112 Sun Tzu 1847497462 rama 4 3.66 -400 The Art of War: Annotated Edition (Alma Classics Evergreens)
author: Sun Tzu
name: rama
average rating: 3.66
book published: -400
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Gambler 12857 The Gambler, Dostoevsky reaches the heights of drama with this stunning psychological portrait.]]> 188 Fyodor Dostoevsky rama 4 3.95 1866 The Gambler
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: rama
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1866
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Waves 46114 The Waves introduces six characters—three men and three women—who are grappling with the death of a beloved friend, Percival. Instead of describing their outward expressions of grief, Virginia Woolf draws her characters from the inside, revealing them through their thoughts and interior soliloquies. As their understanding of nature’s trials grows, the chorus of narrative voices blends together in miraculous harmony, remarking not only on the inevitable death of individuals but on the eternal connection of everyone. The novel that most epitomizes Virginia Woolf’s theories of fiction in the working form, The Waves is an amazing book very much ahead of its time. It is a poetic dreamscape, visual, experimental, and thrilling.]]> 297 Virginia Woolf 0156949601 rama 5 4.17 1931 The Waves
author: Virginia Woolf
name: rama
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1931
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves:
review:

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

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

Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty, and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned.]]>
559 Mark Lawrence 0593437918 rama 4 3.94 2023 The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy, #1)
author: Mark Lawrence
name: rama
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Between the Lines (Between the Lines, #1)]]> 12283261 And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.
A romantic and charming story, this companion novel to Off the Page will make every reader believe in the fantastical power of fairy tales.]]>
385 Jodi Picoult 1451635753 rama 3 3.58 2012 Between the Lines (Between the Lines, #1)
author: Jodi Picoult
name: rama
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves:
review:

]]>
Human Acts 30091914 A riveting, poetic, and fearless portrait of political unrest and the universal struggle for justice by the acclaimed author of The Vegetarian.

In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed.

The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho’s best friend, who meets his own fateful end, to an editor struggling against censorship; to a prisoner and a factory worker, both suffering from traumatic memories; and to Dong-ho's own grief-stricken mother, their collective heartbreak and acts of hope tell the tale of a brutalized people in search of a voice.

An award-winning, controversial bestseller, Human Acts is a timeless, pointillist portrait of a historic event with reverberations still being felt today, by turns tracing the harsh reality of oppression and the resounding, extraordinary poetry of humanity.]]>
218 Han Kang 1101906723 rama 4 4.26 2014 Human Acts
author: Han Kang
name: rama
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia, #7)]]> 84369 288 C.S. Lewis 0007202326 rama 4 4.03 1956 The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia, #7)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: rama
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1956
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
Home Is Where the Bodies Are 194020321
After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before.

While going through their parent’s belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.

Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.]]>
256 Jeneva Rose rama 3 3.77 2024 Home Is Where the Bodies Are
author: Jeneva Rose
name: rama
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves:
review:

]]>
And Then There Were None 16299
"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.]]>
264 Agatha Christie 0312330871 rama 3 4.28 1939 And Then There Were None
author: Agatha Christie
name: rama
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1939
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/15
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]>
Rumah Tangga yang Bahagia 6063415 A Happy Married Life terjemahan Margaret Wettlin.

Cetakan kedua.

Rumah Tangga yang Bahagia melukiskan percintaan antara seorang gadis dengan seorang lelaki yang jauh lebih tua. Dengan cermat digambarkan betapa halus pertumbuhan benih cinta dalam hati si gadis. Walaupun terpaksa menghadapi berbagai pertentangan dan kesalahpahaman, namun keagungan cintalah yang pada akhirnya berbuahkan kebahagiaan.]]>
168 Leo Tolstoy 9794193496 rama 3 3.66 1859 Rumah Tangga yang Bahagia
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: rama
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1859
rating: 3
read at: 2022/02/26
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia, #4)]]> 65641 Jill and Eustace must rescue the Prince from the evil Witch.

NARNIA...where owls are wise, where some of the giants like to snack on humans, where a prince is put under an evil spell...and where the adventure begins.

Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor...or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face to face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rillian is to be saved.]]>
243 C.S. Lewis rama 4 3.96 1953 The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia, #4)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: rama
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1953
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]>
What Belongs to You 22929602
What Belongs to You is a stunning debut novel of desire and its consequences. With lyric intensity and startling eroticism, Garth Greenwell has created an indelible story about the ways in which our pasts and cultures, our scars and shames can shape who we are and determine how we love.

Listening length: 6 hours, 11 minutes]]>
195 Garth Greenwell 0374288224 rama 3 3.79 2016 What Belongs to You
author: Garth Greenwell
name: rama
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves:
review:
Das erste Kapitel ist super, das zweite ist gut und das dritte ist unnötig.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3)]]> 140225
The Dawn Treader is the first ship Narnia has seen in centuries. King Caspian has built it for his voyage to find the seven lords, good men whom his evil uncle Miraz banished when he usurped the throne. The journey takes Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin Eustace to the Eastern Islands, beyond the Silver Sea, toward Aslan's country at the End of the World.]]>
248 C.S. Lewis 006112527X rama 3 4.10 1952 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: rama
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1952
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia, #2)]]> 121749
Narnia . . . where animals talk . . . where trees walk . . . where a battle is about to begin.

A prince denied his rightful throne gathers an army in a desperate attempt to rid his land of a false king. But in the end, it is a battle of honor between two men alone that will decide the fate of an entire world.

Prince Caspian is the fourth book in C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, a series that has become part of the canon of classic literature, drawing readers of all ages into a magical land with unforgettable characters for over fifty years. This is a stand-alone novel, but if you would like to see more of Lucy and Edmund’s adventures, read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the fifth book in The Chronicles of Narnia.]]>
240 C.S. Lewis 000720230X rama 3 3.99 1951 Prince Caspian (Chronicles of Narnia, #2)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: rama
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1951
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Tea Dragon Society (Tea Dragon, #1)]]> 34895950 Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons.

After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.]]>
71 Kay O'Neill 1620104415 rama 4 4.35 2017 The Tea Dragon Society (Tea Dragon, #1)
author: Kay O'Neill
name: rama
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon, #2)]]> 42369064 135 Kay O'Neill 1620106558 rama 3 4.40 2019 The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon, #2)
author: Kay O'Neill
name: rama
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia, #5)]]> 84119 The Horse and his Boy is a stirring and dramatic fantasy story that finds a young boy named Shasta on the run from his homeland with the talking horse, Bree. When the pair discover a deadly plot by the Calormen people to conquer the land of Narnia, the race is on to warn the inhabitants of the impending danger and to rescue them all from certain death.]]> 224 C.S. Lewis 0439861365 rama 4 3.92 1954 The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia, #5)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: rama
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1954
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Tea Dragon Tapestry (Tea Dragon, #3)]]> 51323376
Over a year after being entrusted with Ginseng's care, Greta still can't chase away the cloud of mourning that hangs over the timid Tea Dragon. As she struggles to create something spectacular enough to impress a master blacksmith in search of an apprentice, she questions the true meaning of crafting, and the true meaning of caring for someone in grief.

Meanwhile, Minette receives a surprise package from the monastery where she was once training to be a prophetess. Thrown into confusion about her path in life, the shy and reserved Minette finds that the more she opens her heart to others, the more clearly she can see what was always inside.

Told with the same care and charm as the previous installments of the Tea Dragon series, The Tea Dragon Tapestry welcomes old friends and new into a heartfelt story of purpose, love, and growth.]]>
135 Kay O'Neill 1620107740 rama 3 4.50 2021 The Tea Dragon Tapestry (Tea Dragon, #3)
author: Kay O'Neill
name: rama
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]>
If You Steal 23444753
Jason’s latest collection of full color comics indulges in his light and playful side, consisting of eleven wildly off-kilter stories that mix incongruous elements of pop culture and a variety of genres, pastiches and mash-ups in a delightful soupcon of graphic storytelling. Frida Kahlo is a hired killer. Santo, the Mexican wrestling film star, faces his ultimate challenge. The rise and fall of Chet Baker—told in six pages. Night of the Vampire Hunter. The last word on the JFK assassination conspiracies. A non-linear heist story that also somehow includes images by Magritte. A big bug story based on 1950s black-and-white films. And what would Van Morrison’s Moondance album look like if it was a horror comic? All as foretold by Nostradamus, of course. And all told by Jason, whose sly and elusive meanings are hidden beneath a beguilingly deadpan style. Full-color illustrations throughout]]>
208 Jason 1606998544 rama 3 3.60 2015 If You Steal
author: Jason
name: rama
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]>
Blossoms in Autumn 44066046 152 Zidrou rama 4 3.75 2018 Blossoms in Autumn
author: Zidrou
name: rama
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]>
Taproot 35833506 127 Keezy Young 1941302467 rama 2 3.85 2017 Taproot
author: Keezy Young
name: rama
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Psychology of Money 41881472 242 Morgan Housel 0857197681 rama 4 4.28 2020 The Psychology of Money
author: Morgan Housel
name: rama
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/11/22
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
My Policeman 13153370
But Tom has another life, another equally overpowering claim on his affections. Patrick, a curator at the Brighton Museum, is also besotted with his policeman, and opens Tom's eyes to a world previously unknown to him. But in an age when those of 'minority status' were condemned by society and the law, it is safer for this policeman to marry his teacher. The two lovers must share him, until one of them breaks and three lives are destroyed.

Unfolding through the dual narratives of Marion and Patrick, both writing about the man at the centre of their lives, this beautifully-told, painful, tragic story is revealed.It is a tale of wasted years, misguided love and thwarted hope, of how at a time when the country was on the verge of change so much was still impossible.

Bethan Roberts has produced an intense and exquisitely raw yet tender novel, which proves her to be one of our most exciting young writers.]]>
352 Bethan Roberts 0701185848 rama 4 4.00 2012 My Policeman
author: Bethan Roberts
name: rama
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/05
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Red Queen (Red Queen, #1) 22328546 This is a world divided by blood—red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance—Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.]]>
388 Victoria Aveyard 0062310631 rama 3 3.98 2015 Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)
author: Victoria Aveyard
name: rama
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Glass Sword (Red Queen, #2) 23174274 If there’s one thing Mare Barrow knows, it’s that she’s different.

Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.

But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.

Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

The electrifying next installment in the Red Queen series escalates the struggle between the growing rebel army and the blood-segregated world they’ve always known—and pits Mare against the darkness that has grown in her soul.]]>
444 Victoria Aveyard 0062310666 rama 3 3.79 2016 Glass Sword (Red Queen, #2)
author: Victoria Aveyard
name: rama
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
King's Cage (Red Queen, #3) 30226723
Mare Barrow is a prisoner, powerless without her lightning, tormented by her lethal mistakes. She lives at the mercy of a boy she once loved, a boy made of lies and betrayal. Now a king, Maven Calore continues weaving his dead mother's web in an attempt to maintain control over his country—and his prisoner.

As Mare bears the weight of Silent Stone in the palace, her once-ragtag band of newbloods and Reds continue organizing, training, and expanding. They prepare for war, no longer able to linger in the shadows. And Cal, the exiled prince with his own claim on Mare's heart, will stop at nothing to bring her back.

When blood turns on blood, and ability on ability, there may be no one left to put out the fire—leaving Norta as Mare knows it to burn all the way down.]]>
520 Victoria Aveyard 0062310712 rama 3 3.91 2017 King's Cage (Red Queen, #3)
author: Victoria Aveyard
name: rama
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
War Storm (Red Queen, #4) 27188596 Victory comes at a price.

Mare Barrow learned this all too well when Cal’s betrayal nearly destroyed her. Now determined to protect her heart—and secure freedom for Reds and newbloods like her—Mare resolves to overthrow the kingdom of Norta once and for all� starting with the crown on Maven’s head.

But no battle is won alone, and before the Reds may rise as one, Mare must side with the boy who broke her heart in order to defeat the boy who almost broke her. Cal’s powerful Silver allies, alongside Mare and the Scarlet Guard, prove a formidable force. But Maven is driven by an obsession so deep, he will stop at nothing to have Mare as his own again, even if it means demolishing everything—and everyone—in his path.

War is coming, and all Mare has fought for hangs in the balance. Will victory be enough to topple the Silver kingdoms? Or will the little lightning girl be forever silenced?

In the epic conclusion to Victoria Aveyard’s stunning series, Mare must embrace her fate and summon all her power� for all will be tested, but not all will survive.]]>
662 Victoria Aveyard 0062422995 rama 2 3.80 2018 War Storm (Red Queen, #4)
author: Victoria Aveyard
name: rama
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Metamorphosis 485894 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0553213695 / 9780553213690

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes."

With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."]]>
201 Franz Kafka 0553213695 rama 4 3.90 1915 The Metamorphosis
author: Franz Kafka
name: rama
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1915
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Galaxies and Oceans 40627465
Desperate to start over, a new man named Aubrey Hobbs walks out of the fire-ravaged forest, alive and alone. With no ID and no money, nothing but his grandfather’s telescope, he goes where the Southern Cross leads him.

Patrick Carney is the resident lighthouse keeper in Hadley Cove, a small town on the remote Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. After the tragic death of his lover four years ago, he lives a solitary life; just him, a tabby cat, the Indian and Southern Oceans, and a whole lot of loneliness. He’s content with his life until a stranger shows up in town and turns Patrick’s head.

Patrick never expected to be interested in anyone else. Aubrey never expected to be happy. Between Aubrey’s love of the stars and Patrick’s love of the ocean, these two fragile hearts must navigate new waters. If they can weather the storm of their pasts, they could very well have a love that eclipses everything.]]>
318 N.R. Walker rama 3 4.24 2018 Galaxies and Oceans
author: N.R. Walker
name: rama
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/29
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Steelheart (The Reckoners, #1)]]> 17182126
Nobody fights the Epics...nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart � the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning � and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.]]>
386 Brandon Sanderson 0385743564 rama 3 4.14 2013 Steelheart (The Reckoners, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: rama
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Firefight (The Reckoners, #2) 15704459 416 Brandon Sanderson 0385743580 rama 3 4.24 2015 Firefight (The Reckoners, #2)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: rama
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Calamity (Reckoners, #3) 15704486 David knew Prof’s secret, and kept it even when Prof struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Once the Reckoners� leader, Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He’s disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there’s no turning back. . . .
But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics—Megan proved it. They’re not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying.]]>
424 Brandon Sanderson 0385743602 rama 3 4.16 2016 Calamity (Reckoners, #3)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: rama
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Goldfinch 17333223
Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, and down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph - a sweeping story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity and fate.]]>
771 Donna Tartt 0316055433 rama 3 3.94 2013 The Goldfinch
author: Donna Tartt
name: rama
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/23
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Something Like Summer (Something Like, #1)]]> 10213367
The hot Texas nights were lonely for Ben before his heart began beating to the rhythm of two words; Tim Wyman. By all appearances, Tim had the perfect body and ideal life, but when a not-so-accidental collision brings them together, Ben discovers that the truth is rarely so simple. If winning Tim’s heart was an impossible quest, keeping it would prove even harder as family, society, and emotion threaten to tear them apart.

Something Like Summer is a love story spanning a decade and beyond as two boys discover what it means to be friends, lovers, and sometimes even enemies.]]>
293 Jay Bell 1458015327 rama 3 4.01 2011 Something Like Summer (Something Like, #1)
author: Jay Bell
name: rama
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Dunia Anna 23433546

Bumi 2082, Nova sangat terkejut saat tiba-tiba di terminal online-nya muncul surat dari nenek buyutnya, Anna. Surat yang ditulis 70 tahun lalu, tepat tanggal 12.12.12. Tepat saat nenek buyutnya berusia 16 tahun seperti Nova saat ini.

Sungguh misterius, bagaimana mungkin 70 tahun lalu nenek buyutnya sudah tahu bahwa kelak cicitnya bernama Nova? Dan dari mana nenek buyutnya tahu tentang keresahan-keresahan Nova? Tentang bumi yang sudah tak seindah dulu lagi, tentang spesies yang punah, tanah-tanah yang tenggelam, kutub yang meleleh. Dan, benarkah cincin rubi merah dari legenda Aladin, menjadi kunci untuk mengembalikan keseimbangan bumi? Cincin yang selama ini melingkar di jari Anna, nenek buyutnya?


Jostein Gaarder, penulis Dunia Sophie, kembali dengan Dunia Anna, sekali lagi mengajak kita berkaca. Dengan kisah yang ringan namun penuh makna, Jostein Gaarder kembali mengajak pembaca merenungkan eksistensi manusia dan semesta.]]>
244 Jostein Gaarder 9794338427 rama 4 3.68 2013 Dunia Anna
author: Jostein Gaarder
name: rama
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Orange Girl 25403
To Georg Røed, his father is no more than a shadow, a distant memory. But then one day his grandmother discovers some pages stuffed into the lining of an old red pushchair. The pages are a letter to Georg, written just before his father died, and a story, 'The Orange Girl'.

But 'The Orange Girl' is no ordinary story - it is a riddle from the past and centres around an incident in his father's youth. One day he boarded a tram and was captivated by a beautiful girl standing in the aisle, clutching a huge paper bag of luscious-looking oranges. Suddenly the tram gave a jolt and he stumbled forward, sending the oranges flying in all directions. The girl simply hopped off the tram leaving Georg's father with arms full of oranges. Now, from beyond the grave, he is asking his son to help him finally solve the puzzle of her identity.]]>
151 Jostein Gaarder 0753819929 rama 4 3.96 2003 The Orange Girl
author: Jostein Gaarder
name: rama
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Wolfsong (Green Creek, #1) 62039417
Oxnard Matheson was twelve when his father taught him that Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then his father left.

Ox was sixteen when the energetic Bennett family moved in next door, harboring a secret that would change him forever. The Bennetts are shapeshifters. They can transform into wolves at will. Drawn to their magic, loyalty, and enduring friendships, Ox feels a gulf between this extraordinary new world and the quiet life he’s known, but he finds an ally in Joe, the youngest Bennett boy.

Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his heart. Violence flared, tragedy split the pack, and Joe left town, leaving Ox behind. Three years later, the boy is back. Except now he’s a man � charming, handsome, but haunted � and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.

The beloved fantasy romance sensation by New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, about love, loyalty, betrayal, and family.

The Green Creek Series is for adult readers.

Now available from Tor Books.]]>
528 T.J. Klune 1250890314 rama 3 4.04 2016 Wolfsong (Green Creek, #1)
author: T.J. Klune
name: rama
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/02
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Normal People 41057294
A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship.]]>
273 Sally Rooney 1984822179 rama 3 3.81 2018 Normal People
author: Sally Rooney
name: rama
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/04
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Out of the Blue 58931216
In Los Angeles with a human body and a new name, Crest meets Sean, a human lifeguard whose boyfriend has recently dumped him. Crest agrees to help Sean make his ex jealous and win him back. But as the two spend more time together and Crest's pespective on humans begins to change, they'll soon be torn between two worlds. And fake dating just might lead to real feelings...

This instant New York Times bestselling novel from Jason June dives into the many definitions of the world home and shows how love can help us find the truest versions of ourselves.]]>
375 Jason June 006301520X rama 3 3.60 2022 Out of the Blue
author: Jason June
name: rama
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/14
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining]]> 203177517 Caspien Deveraux was poison.

It took me years to realise that he hadn’t been born like that. He’d been cultivated and nurtured by a careful hand and a bitter heart.

When I first met him, he was a bud. One primed to bloom beautifully and deadly. One I should have torn out at the root.

I loathed him. I loved him. And until him, I hadn’t known just how completely those two things could exist at once.]]>
599 Scarlett Drake rama 3 4.49 2024 Oleander: A Great Expectations Reimagining
author: Scarlett Drake
name: rama
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Girl Who Drank the Moon 28110852
One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule--but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her--even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known.]]>
388 Kelly Barnhill 1616205679 rama 3 4.11 2016 The Girl Who Drank the Moon
author: Kelly Barnhill
name: rama
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
We Are the Ants 23677341 The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley comes a brand-new novel about a teenage boy who must decide whether or not the world is worth saving.

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button.

Only he ’t sure he wants to.

After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year.

Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him.

But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it…or let the world—and his pain—be destroyed forever.]]>
455 Shaun David Hutchinson 148144963X rama 3 4.12 2016 We Are the Ants
author: Shaun David Hutchinson
name: rama
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
The God of the Woods 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara ’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this ’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]>
490 Liz Moore rama 3 4.16 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: rama
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/06
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Godkiller (Fallen Gods, #1) 61244268
Joined by a disillusioned knight on a secret quest, they must travel to the ruined city of Blenraden, where the last of the wild gods reside, to each beg a favour.

Pursued by demons, and in the midst of burgeoning civil war, they will all face a reckoning � something is rotting at the heart of their world, and only they can be the ones to stop it.]]>
304 Hannah Kaner 0008521468 rama 3 3.85 2023 Godkiller (Fallen Gods, #1)
author: Hannah Kaner
name: rama
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
Icarus 181110014 Perfect for fans of Adam Silvera and Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, this suspenseful queer YA romance from critically acclaimed author K. Ancrum reimagines the tale of Icarus as a star-crossed love story between a young art thief and the son of the man he’s been stealing from.

Icarus Gallagher is a thief.

He steals priceless art and replaces it with his father’s impeccable forgeries. For years, one man—the wealthy Mr. Black—has been their target, revenge for his role in the death of Icarus’s mother. To keep their secret, Icarus adheres to his own strict rules to keep people, and feelings, at bay: Don’t let anyone close. Don’t let anyone touch you. And, above all, don’t get caught.

Until one night, he does. Not by Mr. Black, but by his mysterious son, Helios, now living under house arrest in the Black mansion. Instead of turning Icarus in, Helios bargains for something even more dangerous—a friendship that breaks every single one of Icarus’s rules.

As reluctance and distrust become closeness and something more, they uncover the bars of the gilded cage that has trapped both of their families for years. One Icarus is determined to escape. But his father’s thirst for revenge shows no sign of fading, and soon it may force Icarus to choose: the escape he’s dreamed of, or the boy he’s come to love. Reaching for both could be his greatest triumph—or it could be his downfall.]]>
382 K. Ancrum 0063285789 rama 3 4.02 2024 Icarus
author: K. Ancrum
name: rama
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer]]> 31373633 A little book with a big heart!

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, and Britt-Marie Was Here comes an exquisitely moving portrait of an elderly man’s struggle to hold on to his most precious memories, and his family’s efforts to care for him even as they must find a way to let go.

With all the same charm of his bestselling full-length novels, here Fredrik Backman once again reveals his unrivaled understanding of human nature and deep compassion for people in difficult circumstances. This is a tiny gem with a message you’ll treasure for a lifetime.]]>
97 Fredrik Backman 1501160575 rama 3 4.34 2015 And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
author: Fredrik Backman
name: rama
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
And Then He Sang a Lullaby 66088767 The inaugural title from Roxane Gay Books, And Then He Sang a Lullaby is a searingly honest and resonant debut from a 23-year-old Nigerian writer and queer liberation activist, exploring what love and freedom cost in a society steeped in homophobia.

August is a God-fearing track star who leaves Enugu City to attend university and escape his overbearing sisters. He carries the weight of their lofty expectations, the shame of facing himself, and the haunting memory of a mother he never knew. It’s his first semester and pressures aside, August is making friends, doing well in his classes. He even almost has a girlfriend. There’s only one problem: he can’t stop thinking about Segun, an openly gay student who works at a local cybercafé. Segun carries his own burdens and has been wounded in too many ways. When he meets August, their connection is undeniable, but Segun is reluctant to open himself up to August. He wants to love and be loved by a man who is comfortable in his own skin, who will see and hold and love Segun, exactly as he is.

Despite their differences, August and Segun forge a tender intimacy that defies the violence around them. But there is only so long Segun can stand being loved behind closed doors, while August lives a life beyond the world they’ve created together. And when a new, sweeping anti-gay law is passed, August and Segun must find a way for their love to survive in a Nigeria that was always determined to eradicate them. A tale of rare bravery and profound beauty, And Then He Sang a Lullaby is an extraordinary debut that marks Ani as a voice to watch.]]>
304 Ani Kayode 0802160751 rama 3 4.14 2023 And Then He Sang a Lullaby
author: Ani Kayode
name: rama
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:
Es war trauriges Buch, aber mir gefällt der Schreibstil nicht.
]]>
Lapvona 59693959 In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh’s most exciting leap yet

Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life’s few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him as a baby, as she did so many of the village’s children. Ina’s gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina’s home in the woods outside of the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place.

Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people’s desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord’s family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year’s end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world, civility and savagery, will prove to be very thin indeed.]]>
313 Ottessa Moshfegh rama 4 3.53 2022 Lapvona
author: Ottessa Moshfegh
name: rama
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
review:
Love all of the madness in this book
]]>
Summer Sons 53290204
As Andrew searches for the truth of Eddie’s death, he uncovers the lies and secrets left behind by the person he trusted most, discovering a family history soaked in blood and death. Whirling between the backstabbing academic world where Eddie spent his days and the circle of hot boys, fast cars, and hard drugs that ruled Eddie’s nights, the walls Andrew has built against the world begin to crumble, letting in the phantom that hungers for him.]]>
372 Lee Mandelo 125079028X rama 3 3.80 2021 Summer Sons
author: Lee Mandelo
name: rama
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/16
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:
Ich bin enttäuscht. Die Story selbst kann „den Horror� selbst nicht fassen. Die unnötige Handlung hier und da! Nachdem ich das letzte Kapitel gelesen hatte, sagte ich mir: „Das war es?�
]]>
Tell Me How to Be 49247150
Akash's mum, Renu, is also plagued by guilt. She had it all: doting husband, beautiful house, healthy sons. But as the one-year anniversary of her husband's death approaches Renu can't stop wondering if she chose the wrong life thirty-five years ago and should have stayed in London with her first love.

Together, Renu and Akash pack up the house, retreating further into the secrets that stand between them. When their pasts catch up to them, Renu and Akash must decide between the lives they left behind and the ones they've since created.

By turns irreverent and tender, filled with the beats of '90s R&B, Tell Me How to Be is about our earliest betrayals and the cost of reconciliation. But most of all, it is the love story of a mother and son each trying to figure out how to be in the world.]]>
336 Neel Patel 1250184975 rama 4 4.14 2021 Tell Me How to Be
author: Neel Patel
name: rama
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
Ich liebe dieses Buch. Dieses Buch macht mich wütend. Ich kann mich mit allen Charakteren identifizieren. It was a rollercoaster ride.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Fury of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga, #3)]]> 61755703 The Fury of the Gods is the earth-shattering final book in John Gwynne's bestselling Norse-inspired epic fantasy series, packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance

THE FINAL BATTLE FOR THE FATE OF VIGRIÐ APPROACHES

Varg has overcome the trials of his past and become an accepted member of the Bloodsworn, but now he and his newfound comrades face their biggest challenge yet: slaying a dragon.

Elvar is struggling to consolidate her power in Snakavik, where she faces threats from within and without. As she fights to assert her authority in readiness for the coming conflict, she faces a surely insurmountable task: reining in the ferocity of a wolf god.

As Biorr and his warband make their way north, eager for blood, Gudvarr pursues a mission of his own, hoping to win Lik-Rifa's favour and further his own ambitions.

All paths lead to Snakavik, where the lines are being drawn for the final battle - a titanic clash that will shake the foundations of the world, and bear witness to the true fury of the gods.]]>
528 John Gwynne 0356514293 rama 3 4.47 2024 The Fury of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga, #3)
author: John Gwynne
name: rama
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:

]]>
Tender Is the Flesh 49090884
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.� Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.]]>
209 Agustina Bazterrica 1982150920 rama 4 It was a wild ride 3.76 2017 Tender Is the Flesh
author: Agustina Bazterrica
name: rama
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves:
review:
It was a wild ride
]]>
Bonds of Earth 13265990
John Seward’s body was broken by the war, along with his will to recover until a family crisis convinces him to pursue treatment. As John’s health and outlook improve under Michael’s care, animosity yields to understanding. He and John find their battle of wills turning into something stronger, but fear may keep them from finding hope and healing in each other.]]>
240 G.N. Chevalier 1613723288 rama 3 4.03 2012 Bonds of Earth
author: G.N. Chevalier
name: rama
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves:
review:

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

Never Let Me Go breaks through the boundaries of the literary novel. It is a gripping mystery, a beautiful love story, and also a scathing critique of human arrogance and a moral examination of how we treat the vulnerable and different in our society. In exploring the themes of memory and the impact of the past, Ishiguro takes on the idea of a possible future to create his most moving and powerful book to date.]]>
288 Kazuo Ishiguro 1400078776 rama 4 3.85 2005 Never Let Me Go
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: rama
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[A Second Harvest (Men of Lancaster County, #1)]]> 29827939
Christie Landon, graphic designer, Manhattanite, and fierce gay party boy, needs a change. Now thirty, he figures it's time to grow up and think about his future. When his best friend overdoses, Christie resolves to take a break from the city. He heads to a small house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to rest, recoup, and reflect.

But life in the country is boring despite glimpses of the hunky silver fox next door. When Christie's creativity latches on to cooking, he decides to approach his widower neighbor with a plan to share meals and grocery expenses. David agrees, and soon the odd couple finds they really enjoy spending time together.

Christie challenges the boundaries of David's closed world and brings out feelings he buried long ago. If he can break free of the past, he might find a second chance at happiness.]]>
206 Eli Easton 1634774043 rama 3 4.07 2016 A Second Harvest (Men of Lancaster County, #1)
author: Eli Easton
name: rama
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]>
Clear 176443690
Against the rugged backdrop of this faraway spot beyond Shetland, Carys Davies's intimate drama unfolds with tension and tenderness: a touching and crystalline study of ordinary people buffeted by history and a powerful exploration of the distances and connections between us. Perfectly structured and surprising at every turn, Clear is a marvel of storytelling, an exquisite short novel by a master of the form.]]>
196 Carys Davies 1668030667 rama 4 Es war schöne Story 3.85 Clear
author: Carys Davies
name: rama
average rating: 3.85
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/13
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:
Es war schöne Story
]]>
The Vegetarian 25489025
Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.]]>
188 Han Kang 0553448188 rama 4 3.61 2007 The Vegetarian
author: Han Kang
name: rama
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:
This book made me scream, FUCK PATRIARCHY!!!!
]]>
The Salt Grows Heavy 61884779 USA Today bestselling author Cassandra Khaw comes The Salt Grows Heavy, a razor-sharp and bewitching fairytale of discovering the darkness in the world, and the darkness within oneself.

You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.

On the run, the mermaid is joined by a mysterious plague doctor with a darkness of their own. Deep in the eerie, snow-crusted forest, the pair stumble upon a village of ageless children who thirst for blood, and the three 'saints' who control them.

The mermaid and her doctor must embrace the cruelest parts of their true nature if they hope to survive.

Includes the bonus short story, "And In Our Daughters, We Find a Voice", set in the same universe.]]>
106 Cassandra Khaw 1250830915 rama 4 3.55 2023 The Salt Grows Heavy
author: Cassandra Khaw
name: rama
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]>
Coexistence: Stories 200058329 A Minor Chorus. A grieving mother calls out to her faraway son. A student forgoes the lurid appeal of dating apps in exchange for a painter’s love. The anonymous voices of queer native men converge amid violent eroticism. A man just out of prison balances the uneasy weight of family and freedom, while a professor returns home to conduct research only to be haunted by the ghost of a nun.

The stories and voices in Billy-Ray Belcourt’s debut story collection, Coexistence, are buoyed by philosophical undergirding, poetic demand, and the complex relationship between aesthetics and ethics. Belcourt pirouettes through the short-story form in his signature staccato voice, imagining a range of characters from all walks of native life. He is an expert in celebrating the ways indigenous peoples make total conquest impossible.]]>
176 Billy-Ray Belcourt 1324075945 rama 4 4.32 2024 Coexistence: Stories
author: Billy-Ray Belcourt
name: rama
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]>
Life Ceremony 59793324 Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stories ever to be translated into English. In Japan, Murata is particularly admired for her short stories, which are sometimes sweet, sometimes shocking, and always imbued with an otherworldly imagination and uncanniness.

In these twelve stories, Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them. Whether the stories take place in modern-day Japan, the future, or an alternate reality is left to the reader’s interpretation, as the characters often seem strange in their normality in a frighteningly abnormal world. In “A First-Rate Material�, Nana and Naoki are happily engaged, but Naoki can’t stand the conventional use of deceased people’s bodies for clothing, accessories, and furniture, and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day. “Lovers on the Breeze� is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child’s bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her. “Eating the City� explores the strange norms around food and foraging, while “Hatchling� closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in.

In these strange and wonderful stories of family and friendship, sex and intimacy, belonging and individuality, Murata asks above all what it means to be a human in our world and offers answers that surprise and linger.]]>
256 Sayaka Murata 0802159583 rama 4 3.76 2019 Life Ceremony
author: Sayaka Murata
name: rama
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves:
review:

]]>
The Idiot 12505 667 Fyodor Dostoevsky 0679642420 rama 4 4.22 1869 The Idiot
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: rama
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1869
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/19
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves:
review:

]]>
Graveyard Shift 203578770 Author of sales sensation If We Were Villains returns with a story about a ragtag group of night shift workers who meet in the local cemetery to unearth the secrets lurking in an open grave.

Every night, in the college’s ancient cemetery, five people cross paths as they work the late shift: a bartender, a rideshare driver, a hotel receptionist, the steward of the derelict church that looms over them, and the editor-in-chief of the college paper, always in search of a story.

One dark October evening in the defunct churchyard, they find a hole that wasn’t there before. A fresh, open grave where no grave should be. But who dug it, and for whom?

Before they go their separate ways, the gravedigger returns. As they trail him through the night, they realize he may be the key to a string of strange happenings around town that have made headlines for the last few weeks—and that they may be closer to the mystery than they thought.

Atmospheric and eerie, with the ensemble cast her fans love and a delightfully familiar academic backdrop, Graveyard Shift is a modern Gothic tale in If We Were Villains author M. L. Rio’s inimitable style.]]>
144 M.L. Rio 1250356792 rama 3 3.19 2024 Graveyard Shift
author: M.L. Rio
name: rama
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
shelves:
review:

]]>
Don't Let the Forest In 200982373 Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him.

Kill for him.

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality―Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won't say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork―whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew's wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what's wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster―Thomas's drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator...]]>
336 C.G. Drews 1250895669 rama 3 4.12 2024 Don't Let the Forest In
author: C.G. Drews
name: rama
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0)]]> 51901147
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.]]>
541 Suzanne Collins rama 4 3.99 2020 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: rama
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/12
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves:
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1)]]> 18775247
Months later, an ex-cop named Bill Hodges, still haunted by the unsolved crime, contemplates suicide. When he gets a crazed letter from "the perk," claiming credit for the murders, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, fearing another even more diabolical attack and hell-bent on preventing it.

Brady Hartfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of eccentric and mismatched allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady's next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands.

Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.
--front flap]]>
437 Stephen King 1476754454 rama 3 4.01 2014 Mr. Mercedes (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1)
author: Stephen King
name: rama
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves:
review:

]]>