guada's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 07 Apr 2025 02:19:37 -0700 60 guada's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg M Train: A Memoir 28503848
M Train begins in the tiny Greenwich Village café where Smith goes every morning for black coffee, ruminates on the world as it is and the world as it was, and writes in her notebook. Through prose that shifts fluidly between dreams and reality, past and present, we travel to Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul in Mexico; to the fertile moon terrain of Iceland; to a ramshackle seaside bungalow in New York’s Far Rockaway that Smith acquires just before Hurricane Sandy hits; to the West 4th Street subway station, filled with the sounds of the Velvet Underground after the death of Lou Reed; and to the graves of Genet, Plath, Rimbaud, and Mishima.

Woven throughout are reflections on the writer’s craft and on artistic creation. Here, too, are singular memories of Smith’s life in Michigan and the irremediable loss of her husband, Fred Sonic Smith.

Braiding despair with hope and consolation, illustrated with her signature Polaroids, M Train is a meditation on travel, detective shows, literature, and coffee. It is a powerful, deeply moving book by one of the most remarkable multiplatform artists at work today.

Featuring a postscript with five new photos from Patti Smith]]> 288 Patti Smith 110191016X guada 0 currently-reading 4.17 2015 M Train: A Memoir
author: Patti Smith
name: guada
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Ministry of Time 199798179 A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all:

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats� from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge�: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as �1847� or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,� “Spotify,� and “the collapse of the British Empire.� But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.]]> 339 Kaliane Bradley 1668045141 guada 4 work-books 3.54 2024 The Ministry of Time
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: guada
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: work-books
review:

]]> El libro Troll 22201083 192 El Rubius 8499983197 guada 0 3.22 2014 El libro Troll
author: El Rubius
name: guada
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> Sopa de diamantes 3342602 Il a saisi la télécommande pour éteindre la télé.
- Un crime ? a-t-il repris pensif. Comme c'est curieux. Je ne pensais pas que des choses pareilles pouvaient arriver ici.

Maléna, en vacances chez son grand-père, enquête sur un crime survenu dans le village. Un innocent est accusé du meurtre de l'infirmière. L'affaire pourrait pourtant avoir un lien avec la maison abandonnée du mystérieux Anglais et avec k vol d'un diamant inestimable en Angleterre dans les années trente...

Norma Huidobro est née à Lanus dans la province de Buenos Aires en 1949. Ancienne professeur de Lettres, elle a travaillé dans l'édition et a animé des ateliers d'écriture. Elle a écrit de nombreux romans pour la jeunesse en Argentine et a obtenu le prix de littérature El Barco de Vapor en 2004. Son premier roman de littérature générale, Le lieu perdu, est paru en janvier 2009 chez Liana Levi.]]> Norma Huidobro 9875453935 guada 3 3.80 2009 Sopa de diamantes
author: Norma Huidobro
name: guada
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:

]]> Love in Exile 60683642 ‘We ache for love, but love eludes us. Out of this crisis comes so much of what it means to be human�

Shon Faye grew up quietly obsessed with the feeling that love was not for her. Not just romantic love: the secret fear of her own unworthiness penetrated every aspect and corner of her life. It was a fear that would erupt in destructive, counterfeit versions of the real love she craved: addictions and short-lived romances that were either euphoric and fantastical, or excruciatingly painful and unhinged, often both. Faye’s experience of the world as a trans woman, who grew up visibly queer, exacerbated her fears. But, as she confronted her damaging ideas about love and lovelessness, she came to realize that this sense of exclusion is symptomatic of a much larger problem in our culture.

Love, she argues, is as much a collective question as a personal one. Yet our collective ideals of love have developed in a society which is itself profoundly sick and loveless; in which consumer capitalism sells us ever new, engrossing fantasies of becoming more loved or lovable. In this highly politicized terrain, boundaries are purposefully drawn to keep some in and to keep others out. Those who exist outside them are ignored, denigrated, exiled.

In Love in Exile, Shon Faye shows love is much greater than the narrow ideals we have been taught to crave so desperately that we are willing to bend and break ourselves to fit them. Wise, funny, unsparing, and suffused with a radical clarity, this is a book of and for our times: for seeing and knowing love, in whatever form it takes, is the meaning of life itself.]]> 208 Shon Faye 0241605989 guada 5 4.29 Love in Exile
author: Shon Faye
name: guada
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
“Love is, after all, something you get only a little better at giving and a little better at losing every time you actually try to do it.�
]]> <![CDATA[Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego]]> 28787166
Las autodenominadas «mujeres ardientes», que protestan contra una forma extrema de violencia doméstica que se ha vuelto viral; una estudiante que se arranca las uñas y las pestañas, y otra que intenta ayudarla; los años de apagones dictados por el gobierno durante los cuales se intoxican tres amigas que lo serán hasta que la muerte las separe; el famoso asesino en serie llamado Petiso Orejudo, que sólo tenía nueve años; hikikomori, magia negra, los celos, el desamor, supersticiones rurales, edificios abandonados o encantados... En estos doce cuentos el lector se ve obligado a olvidarse de sí mismo para seguir las peripecias e investigaciones de cuerpos que desaparecen o bien reaparecen en el momento menos esperado. Ya sea una trabajadora social, una policía o un guía turístico, los protagonistas luchan por apadrinar a seres socialmente invisibles, indagando así en el peso de la culpa, la compasión, la crueldad, las dificultades de la convivencia, y en un terror tan hondo como verosímil.

Mariana Enríquez es una de las narradoras más valientes y sorprendentes del siglo XXI, no sólo de la nueva literatura argentina a cargo de escritores nacidos durante la dictadura sino de la literatura de cualquier país o lengua. Mariana Enríquez transforma géneros literarios en recursos narrativos, desde la novela negra hasta el realismo sucio, pasando por el terror, la crónica y el humor, y ahonda con dolor y belleza en las raíces, las llamas y las tinieblas de toda existencia.

«El terror, en los cuentos de Mariana Enriquez, se desliza como un jadeo de agua negra sobre baldosas al sol. Como algo imposible que, sin embargo, podría suceder» (Leila Guerriero).

«Su escritura es tan auténtica y perspicaz que consigue evocar una realidad más vívida que la que nos rodea. Todo ello, resultado de su destreza y meticulosidad. La prueba de que nos hallamos ante una escritora de primera clase» (Daniel Gumbiner, McSweeney’s).

]]> 200 Mariana Enríquez 8433998064 guada 0 to-read 4.10 2016 Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego
author: Mariana Enríquez
name: guada
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Days At The Morisaki Bookshop 181906411
Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier.

When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.

As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.]]> 169 Satoshi Yagisawa 1786583232 guada 3 3.75 3.73 2010 Days At The Morisaki Bookshop
author: Satoshi Yagisawa
name: guada
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:
3.75
]]> <![CDATA[Wings of Starlight (Disney Fairies)]]> 212808316 Brimming with magic and romance, a young fairy queen must form an unlikely alliance or risk an unspeakable danger destroying all she holds dear in this standalone YA novel from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft.

It’s been centuries since a warm-season fairy in Pixie Hollow has crossed into the Winter Woods, and while most fear the legends of monsters lurking in the frozen lands, Clarion, can’t help being intrigued by Winter’s stoic beauty. But under the watchful eyes of the current monarch and the court's seasonal ministers, Clarion has little time to dwell on daydreams while the days to her coronation dwindle away.

That is, until reports of a monster crossing from Winter into Spring make their way to the palace. Clarion sees defeating this threat as an opportunity to prove that she is worthy of her new role. But instead of finding a monster at the edge of Winter, she finds Milori, a young guardian of the Winter Woods. Together, they form an unlikely bond as they race to save their lands.

But as their alliance warms to something more, they will discover there is a reason a warm-season fairy and a winter fairy must not be together. And the cost could be just as deadly as the monsters that prowl the Winter Woods.

Discover the origin of the sweeping, star-crossed romance between the queen of Pixie Hollow and the lord of the Winter Woods.]]> 400 Allison Saft 1368098452 guada 5 Clarions loneliness was heartbreaking, the way she doubted herself was so real and the way she did everything she could to protect her people was inspiring.
I loved this book, I loved Milori and Clarion. If you ever watched a tinker bell movie you NEED to read this book. if you haven’t, please at least watch secret of the wings before so this book doesn’t destroy you as much.

SPOILERS DOWN HERE DONT READ!!!

i’m so glad they end up together in the movie, even if it’s set like 100 years after the book � i’m so glad they found a way to each other again ]]> 4.27 2025 Wings of Starlight (Disney Fairies)
author: Allison Saft
name: guada
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/13
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves:
review:
god � i knew exactly how it was going to end bcs i loved the secret of the wings movie but i didn’t expect to cry THAT MUCH.
Clarions loneliness was heartbreaking, the way she doubted herself was so real and the way she did everything she could to protect her people was inspiring.
I loved this book, I loved Milori and Clarion. If you ever watched a tinker bell movie you NEED to read this book. if you haven’t, please at least watch secret of the wings before so this book doesn’t destroy you as much.

SPOILERS DOWN HERE DONT READ!!!

i’m so glad they end up together in the movie, even if it’s set like 100 years after the book � i’m so glad they found a way to each other again
]]> One Day 6280118
So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that?

And every year that follows?
--back cover]]> 435 David Nicholls 0340896965 guada 4 3.86 2009 One Day
author: David Nicholls
name: guada
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/10
shelves:
review:

]]> Voyage of the Damned 135802275 A mind-blowing murder mystery on a ship full of magical passengers. If Agatha Christie wrote fantasy, this would be it!-----------For a thousand years, Concordia has been able to maintain peace between its provinces, protected by a wall known as the Bandage. To mark this incredible feat, the emperor's ship embarks upon a twelve-day voyage to the Goddess's mountain.Aboard are the heirs of the twelve provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique and secret magical ability known as a Blessing.Except Ganymedes Piscero - class clown, slacker, and all-round disappointment.When a beloved heir is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Stuck at sea and surrounded by powerful people without a Blessing to protect him, odds of survival are slim.But as the bodies pile higher, Ganymedes must become the hero he was not born to be. Can he unmask the killer and their Blessing before this bloody crusade reaches the shores of Concordia? Or will the empire as he knows it fall?]]> 496 Frances White 0241640083 guada 2 work-books
this book was so ridiculous and bad � but for someone reason i kept reading it. i’m so glad i did bcs fucking hell those last 100 pages were crazy, still a bad book tho, in a way i was not expecting.

i don’t want to say much, but the main character was annoying and not lovable to me. i just found him annoying, maybe i don’t have much compassion for men and thats why i feel this way.

SPOILERS DOWN HERE DONT READ:

also wtf was i the only one who mourned wyatt ?? i know it wasn’t him but damn i felt so bad for him even tho his backstory was made up by ravi probably. ]]> 3.84 2024 Voyage of the Damned
author: Frances White
name: guada
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: work-books
review:
2.5

this book was so ridiculous and bad � but for someone reason i kept reading it. i’m so glad i did bcs fucking hell those last 100 pages were crazy, still a bad book tho, in a way i was not expecting.

i don’t want to say much, but the main character was annoying and not lovable to me. i just found him annoying, maybe i don’t have much compassion for men and thats why i feel this way.

SPOILERS DOWN HERE DONT READ:

also wtf was i the only one who mourned wyatt ?? i know it wasn’t him but damn i felt so bad for him even tho his backstory was made up by ravi probably.
]]> Nuestra parte de noche 48758708 672 Mariana Enríquez 8433998854 guada 5
Im not normally a person who reads horrors or anything similar, so I was a bit reluctant to start this book.
I’m so glad I did. This book grips you with its cold arms and it doesn’t let you go. Each page it’s absorbing, the details are macabre and the way is narrated makes it so interesting. I loved it, everything about this book was brilliant.
I urge everybody to read it, and if they can, in spanish as the argentinean slang really adds to it.
I’m not that good at reviewing books, I never know what to say and I usually repeat myself a lot. However, trust me on this one when I say this book was hypnotising and horrific. ]]> 4.44 2019 Nuestra parte de noche
author: Mariana Enríquez
name: guada
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
5/5

Im not normally a person who reads horrors or anything similar, so I was a bit reluctant to start this book.
I’m so glad I did. This book grips you with its cold arms and it doesn’t let you go. Each page it’s absorbing, the details are macabre and the way is narrated makes it so interesting. I loved it, everything about this book was brilliant.
I urge everybody to read it, and if they can, in spanish as the argentinean slang really adds to it.
I’m not that good at reviewing books, I never know what to say and I usually repeat myself a lot. However, trust me on this one when I say this book was hypnotising and horrific.
]]> <![CDATA[Nothing Like the Movies (Better Than the Movies, #2)]]> 207293948
Flash forward months later, and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.

Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with rom-com-worthy grand gestures she loves. Only . . . Liz will have none of it! Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend . . . a guy friend.

Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.]]> 442 Lynn Painter 1665947136 guada 4 3.99 2024 Nothing Like the Movies (Better Than the Movies, #2)
author: Lynn Painter
name: guada
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Convenience Store by the Sea]]> 213819980 Welcome to Tenderness!

A quaint seaside town in Kitakyushu, Mojiko is full of hidden delights. And one unexpected treasure is the 24/7 convenience store, Tenderness.

At first glance, it’s a store like any other.

Sure, it’s a bit odd that the handsome manager has his own fan club. And perhaps the customers are somewhat eccentric. But there’s a warmth about Tenderness that draws you in.

The bright lights are always on. The employees know you by name. And the shelves are stacked with delicious treats, from strong hot coffee to sweet parfaits, egg sandos to ramen, crispy fried chicken to refreshing soba.

After a while, you get the feeling that whatever you need might just be waiting for you here�

Celebrating the joy of connection and community, The Convenience Store by the Sea is the heartwarming international bestseller from award-winning Japanese novelist Sonoko Machida.]]> 320 Sonoko Machida 1398722774 guada 0 to-read 3.81 2020 The Convenience Store by the Sea
author: Sonoko Machida
name: guada
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What Happened to Belén: The Unjust Imprisonment That Sparked a Women's Rights Movement]]> 199793388
Foreword by Margaret Atwood

The heartbreaking true story of an Argentinian woman imprisoned for having a miscarriage—an injustice that galvanized a feminist movement and became a global rallying cry in the fight for reproductive rights.

In 2014, Belén, a twenty-five-year-old woman living in rural Argentina, went to the hospital for a stomachache—and soon found herself in prison. While at the hospital she had a miscarriage—without knowing she was pregnant. Because of the nation’s repressive laws surrounding abortion and reproductive rights, the doctors were forced to report her to the authorities. Despite her protestations, Belén was convicted and sentenced to two years for homicide.

Belén’s imprisonment is a glaring example of how women’s health care has become increasingly criminalized, putting the most vulnerable—BIPOC, rural, and low-income—women at greater risk of prosecution. Belén’s cause became the centerpiece of a movement to achieve greater protections for all women. After two failed attempts to clear her name, Belén met feminist lawyer Soledad Deza, who quickly rallied Amnesty International and ignited an international feminist movement around #niunamas—not one more—symbolized by thousands of demonstrators around the globe donning white masks, the same kind of mask Belén wore when leaving prison. The #niunamas movement was instrumental in pressuring Argentine president Alberto Fernández to decriminalize abortion in 2021.

In this gripping and personal account of the case and its impact on local law, Ana Correa, one of Argentina’s leading journalists and activists, makes clear that what happened to Belén could happen to any woman—and that we all have the power to raise our collective voices and demand change.]]> 240 Ana Elena Correa 0063316730 guada 5 4.18 What Happened to Belén: The Unjust Imprisonment That Sparked a Women's Rights Movement
author: Ana Elena Correa
name: guada
average rating: 4.18
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves:
review:

]]> Fair Rosaline 86174897
The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo's attentions but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life.

Soon though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo's gaze to turn towards her cousin, thirteen-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life .With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?

Shattering everything we thought we knew about Romeo and Juliet, Fair Rosaline is the spellbinding prequel to Shakespeare's best known tale, which exposes Romeo as a predator with a long history of pursuing much younger girls. Bold, lyrical, and chillingly relevant, Fair Rosaline reveals the dark subtext of the timeless story of star-crossed lovers: it's a feminist revision that will enthrall readers of bestselling literary retellings such as Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese]]> 336 Natasha Solomons 1728281237 guada 0 to-read 3.57 2023 Fair Rosaline
author: Natasha Solomons
name: guada
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> First Love 403642 107 Ivan Turgenev 0140443355 guada 4 3.76 1860 First Love
author: Ivan Turgenev
name: guada
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1860
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves:
review:

]]> All About Love: New Visions 218042 “The word “love� is most often defined as a noun, yet� we would all love better if we used it as a verb,� writes bell hooks as she comes out fighting and on fire in All About Love. Here, at her most provocative and intensely personal, the renowned scholar, cultural critic, and feminist skewers our view of love as romance. In its place she offers a proactive new ethic for a people and a society bereft with lovelessness.

As bell hooks uses her incisive mind and razor-sharp pen to explore the question “What is love?�, her answers strike at both the mind and heart. In thirteen concise chapters, hooks examines her own search for emotional connection and society’s failure to provide a model for learning to love. Razing the cultural paradigm that the ideal love is infused with sex and desire, she provides a new path to love that is sacred, redemptive, and healing for the individuals and for a nation. The Utne Reader declared bell hooks one of the �100 Visionaries Who Can Change Your Life.� All About Love is a powerful affirmation of just how profoundly she can.

Librarian note: There is an alternate cover edition of this book here.]]> 238 bell hooks 0060959479 guada 5
i absolutely adored this book, ive written on almost every page and i think it has changed who i am.
i do have a problem with it, is very religion / spirituality heavy and i’m not a believer. i do, however, agree with how religion tends to bring people together and helps create communities / connections. my thoughts are a bit complicated about this topic, so i prefer not getting too deep into it but so many people who reviewed it hit the nail in its head ]]> 3.89 1999 All About Love: New Visions
author: bell hooks
name: guada
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves:
review:
“the light of love is always in us, no matter how cold the flame. it is always present, waiting for the spark to ignite, waiting for the heart to awaken(�)�

i absolutely adored this book, ive written on almost every page and i think it has changed who i am.
i do have a problem with it, is very religion / spirituality heavy and i’m not a believer. i do, however, agree with how religion tends to bring people together and helps create communities / connections. my thoughts are a bit complicated about this topic, so i prefer not getting too deep into it but so many people who reviewed it hit the nail in its head
]]> <![CDATA[The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches]]> 60018635 A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family--and a new love--changes the course of her life.

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

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

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....
]]> 318 Sangu Mandanna 059343935X guada 0 to-read 4.05 2022 The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: guada
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Better Than the Movies (Better Than the Movies, #1)]]> 214085967 In this rom-com about rom-coms, in the spirit of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, a hopeless romantic teen attempts to secure a happily-ever-after moment with her forever crush, but finds herself reluctantly drawn to the boy next door.

Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar - and maybe snag him as a prom date - even befriend Wes Bennet.

The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic-comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.

But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love - and rethink her own ideas of what happily ever after should look like.]]> 354 Lynn Painter 1398536512 guada 4 however, this book has a major flaw.
the main character, liz, is not that likeable until maybe the last 100 pages of the book ??

spoiler alert!!!

the way she didn’t even consider josie a good friend bcs they weren’t friends when her mum died was just kinda weird to me, i just didn’t like how she kept prioritising love over friendship the first part of the book. which i know is supposed to be that way so she can learn !!!!!!! but it honestly just made me dislike liz and feel really bad for joss.

i will however, say that I LOVE the build up to wes and liz feelings. i normally feel like romcoms forget to do to the build up, the little moments between the characters that make them fall in love. this book is amazing at that, from the get go you like wes and we get tiny moments between them that make liz feel something for him. you completely understand her feelings and it doesn’t feel like it came out of nowhere.

that’s why i gave it a 4, yes liz was annoying but she kinda (kinda) makes up for it at the end and her relationship with wes is just 10/10

“she isn’t you.� ]]> 4.37 2021 Better Than the Movies (Better Than the Movies, #1)
author: Lynn Painter
name: guada
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:
this was such a fun and cute read, honestly what i needed to get out of a reading slump.
however, this book has a major flaw.
the main character, liz, is not that likeable until maybe the last 100 pages of the book ??

spoiler alert!!!

the way she didn’t even consider josie a good friend bcs they weren’t friends when her mum died was just kinda weird to me, i just didn’t like how she kept prioritising love over friendship the first part of the book. which i know is supposed to be that way so she can learn !!!!!!! but it honestly just made me dislike liz and feel really bad for joss.

i will however, say that I LOVE the build up to wes and liz feelings. i normally feel like romcoms forget to do to the build up, the little moments between the characters that make them fall in love. this book is amazing at that, from the get go you like wes and we get tiny moments between them that make liz feel something for him. you completely understand her feelings and it doesn’t feel like it came out of nowhere.

that’s why i gave it a 4, yes liz was annoying but she kinda (kinda) makes up for it at the end and her relationship with wes is just 10/10

“she isn’t you.�
]]> <![CDATA[The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession]]> 62873378 One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first the story of the world’s most prolific art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser.

In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Breitwieser’s strange world—unlike most thieves, he never stole for money, keeping all his treasures in a single room where he could admire them.

For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.

In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser’s strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart’s content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict’s need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend’s pleas to stop—until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.

This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.]]> 224 Michael Finkel 0525657320 guada 5 3.92 2023 The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
author: Michael Finkel
name: guada
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/24
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]]> The Boy You Always Wanted 177705920 La fille : Francine, ado modèle, petite-fille parfaite, se moque souverainement de l'opinion des autres.
Le grand-père : le 'a gung' adoré de Francine, dont le dernier souhait est d'avoir un héritier mâle qui perpétue les traditions familiales. C'est une idée démodée, mais parce que Francine aime son grand-père, elle échafaude un plan pour lui procurer le garçon dont il a toujours rêvé.
Le garçon : Ollie, ami de la famille, ancien béguin de Francine, convaincu Dieu sait comment par celle-ci de participer à son projet fou (et totalement sexiste) de petit-fils honoraire.
Le projet : pourrait marcher... mais, alors que leurs univers se rencontrent, les secrets d'Ollie et de Francine s'embrouillent, tout comme leurs sentiments. Ce que l'on veut vraiment n'est pas toujours ce à quoi on s'attendait.]]> 368 Michelle Quach 1474989748 guada 4 3.61 2023 The Boy You Always Wanted
author: Michelle Quach
name: guada
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
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]]> <![CDATA[My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Vol. 4]]> 204640560 Could this be love? The fourth volume of the award-winning manga that inspired the anime My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999.

Thanks to Yamada’s attentive care, Akane is recovering from her sudden illness. The experience has made her realize she can’t keep hiding the truth—what she feels for Yamada is more than just friendship.

With encouragement from her friend Momo and gaming guild master Eita, Akane is finally ready to confess her feelings. But Yamada’s busy schedule makes finding the right time seem impossible. Meanwhile, a new player in their guild also harbors a secret crush on Yamada. As the two girls struggle to make their hearts known, will Yamada’s own feelings finally become clear?

Volume 4 includes Chapters 31-40.]]> 192 Mashiro 1984862723 guada 0 4.54 2021 My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Vol. 4
author: Mashiro
name: guada
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Vol. 3]]> 201751222 Love level-up in progress . . . The third volume of the award-winning manga that inspired the anime My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999.

Akane’s feelings for Yamada continue to grow as he proves to be a considerate and reliable friend on- and offline, but she’s starting to overthink everything she does around him.

When Akane and the other guild members attend a cultural festival at Yamada’s school, all the students think Akane is Yamada’s girlfriend, which leads to an embarrassing misunderstanding.

Confusing matters, Yamada rushes to Akane’s aid when she collapses with a fever. Is he just being as considerate as always, or could this be a sign of something more?

Volume 3 includes Chapters 20-30.]]> 192 Mashiro 1984862715 guada 0 4.38 2021 My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Vol. 3
author: Mashiro
name: guada
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/27
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
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]]> Thirst 209810283 Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. A breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin America’s feminist Gothic.

In the nineteenth century, a vampire arrives from Europe to the coast of Buenos Aires, on the run from the Church. She must adapt, intermingle with humans, and, most importantly, be discreet.

In present-day Buenos Aires, a woman finds herself at an impasse as she grapples with her mother’s terminal illness and her own relationship with motherhood. When she first encounters the vampire in a cemetery, something ignites within the two women � and they cross a threshold from which there’s no turning back.

With echoes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and written in the vein of feminist Gothic writers like Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, and Carmen Maria Machado, Thirst plays with the boundaries of genre while exploring the limits of female agency, the consuming power of desire, and the fragile vitality of even the most immortal of creatures.]]> 256 Marina Yuszczuk 1914484649 guada 4 3.74 2020 Thirst
author: Marina Yuszczuk
name: guada
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember - the New York Times bestseller from the Gilmore Girls star]]> 75479356
With her signature sense of humor and down-to-earth storytelling, Lauren Graham opens up about her years working in the entertainment business—from the sublime to the ridiculous—and shares personal stories about everything from family and friendship to the challenges of aging gracefully in Hollywood. In "RIP Barneys New York," she writes about an early job as a salesperson at the legendary department store -- and the time she inadvertently shoplifted; in "Ne Oublie" she warns us about the perils of coming from an extremely forgetful family; and in "Actor-y Factory" she recounts what a day in the life of an actor looks like (unless you’re Brad Pitt).

Filled with surprising anecdotes, sage advice, and laugh-out-loud observations, Graham's latest collection of all-new, original essays showcases the winning charm and wit that she's known for.]]> 184 Lauren Graham 0349017654 guada 4 3.70 2022 Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember - the New York Times bestseller from the Gilmore Girls star
author: Lauren Graham
name: guada
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/11/08
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]]> Graveyard Shift: A Novella 207377065 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.]]> 126 M.L. Rio 1250356776 guada 4 3.23 2024 Graveyard Shift: A Novella
author: M.L. Rio
name: guada
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/10/27
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]]> <![CDATA[My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Vol. 1]]> 188024814 The award-winning manga that inspired the anime My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999.

Sometimes love is like an endgame boss.

College student Akane has just been dumped by her boyfriend. Heartbroken, she decides to quit the online RPG they used to play together—but instead of deleting her account, she logs in and battles low-level enemies to relieve her stress and hurt feelings. There she meets Yamada, an elite pro gamer so reclusive that Akane can’t decide if he’s awkward or alluring.

When Akane encounters her ex at a gaming convention, she makes the snap decision to pretend Yamada is her boyfriend, and soon the two of them are spending time together both in the game and in real life. The problem is, Yamada is only interested in the game. As Akane’s feelings grow, will Yamada’s focus shift?

Volume 1 includes Chapters 1-9.]]> 192 Mashiro 1984862693 guada 4 4.24 2020 My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Vol. 1
author: Mashiro
name: guada
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/15
date added: 2024/10/15
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]]> Book Lovers 58713391 One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming...

Nora is a cut-throat literary agent at the top of her game. Her whole life is books.

Charlie is an editor with a gift for creating bestsellers. And he's Nora's work nemesis.

Nora has been through enough break-ups to know she's the woman men date before they find their happy-ever-after. That's why Nora's sister has persuaded her to swap her desk in the city for a month's holiday in Sunshine Falls, North Carolina. It's a small town straight out of a romance novel, but instead of meeting sexy lumberjacks, handsome doctors or cute bartenders, Nora keeps bumping into...Charlie.

She's no heroine. He's no hero. So can they take a page out of an entirely different book?]]> 377 Emily Henry 0241995345 guada 4 4.05 2022 Book Lovers
author: Emily Henry
name: guada
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/06
date added: 2024/10/06
shelves:
review:
it was a very easy read, although i wouldn’t have considered the main characters rivals nor enemies �- they’re friends again by like page 100 who are we even kidding ??
]]> <![CDATA[Percy Jackson and the Olympians Wrath of the triple Goddess]]> 219467319
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover settle into Hecate’s seemingly endless mansion and start getting acquainted with the fussy, terrifying animals. The trio has been warned not to touch anything, but while Percy and Annabeth are out at school, Grover can’t resist drinking a strawberry-flavored potion in the laboratory. It turns him into a giant frenzied goat, and after he rampages through the house, damaging everything in sight, and passes out, Hecuba and Gale escape. Now the friends have to find Hecate’s pets and somehow restore the house, all before Hecate gets back on Saturday. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.]]> 322 Rick Riordan 0241691699 guada 5 4.15 2024 Percy Jackson and the Olympians Wrath of the triple Goddess
author: Rick Riordan
name: guada
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
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percabeth will always do it for me
]]> <![CDATA[Schoolgirl: Hardcover Edition (Modern Japanese Classics)]]> 200113441 112 Osamu Dazai 1642733547 guada 4 3.71 1939 Schoolgirl: Hardcover Edition (Modern Japanese Classics)
author: Osamu Dazai
name: guada
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1939
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/26
date added: 2024/09/26
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]]> Rewitched 207928193 Belladonna Blackthorn hasn’t lost her magical spark . . . but she hasn’t seen it in a while, either.

Balancing work at her beloved Lunar Books with protecting it from her toxic boss, who’s running it into the ground, and all the while concealing her witchcraft from the non-wicches around her � Belle is burnt out. Perfecting the potential of her magic is the last thing on her mind.

But when her 30th birthday brings a summons from her coven, and a trial that tests her worthiness as a witch, Belle risks losing her magic forever. With the month of October to fix things, and signs that dark forces may be working against her, Belle will need all the help she can get � from the women in her life, from an unlikely mentor figure, and even an (infuriatingly handsome) watchman who’s sworn to protect her . . .

With found family, slow burn romance and an uplifting message about self-love, this is the cosy, autumnal read that you've been waiting for.]]> 416 Lucy Jane Wood 1035045451 guada 4 3.97 2024 Rewitched
author: Lucy Jane Wood
name: guada
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/24
date added: 2024/09/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #1)]]> 123257687
ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem and terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage's employment status isn't just important, it's vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer―naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain―and his entire nefarious empire―out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.]]> 342 Hannah Nicole Maehrer 1649375808 guada 0 to-read 3.88 2023 Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #1)
author: Hannah Nicole Maehrer
name: guada
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Dark and Drowning Tide 174146852 A sharp-tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor's murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.

Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants to harness to secure his reign of the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she’s only ever read about.

The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader—Lorelei’s beloved mentor—is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again—and a coup begins in earnest.

But there are other dangers lurking in the forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons waiting beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.

As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth—and resist their growing feelings for one another—they discover that their professor had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, or if this kingdom is worth saving at all.]]> 384 Allison Saft 0593722345 guada 0 to-read 3.59 2024 A Dark and Drowning Tide
author: Allison Saft
name: guada
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Vol. 2]]> 198563664 Can in-game friendship level-up to something more in real life? The second volume of the award-winning manga that inspired the anime My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999.

After college student Akane was dumped by her boyfriend, she met Yamada, a handsome high school boy and pro gamer, while playing an online RPG. In-game, he brushed her off, but in the real world, Yamada helped Akane escape an embarrassing encounter with her ex.

When Akane’s guild master invites her to an in-person meet-up with other members of their guild—including Yamada—she eagerly accepts. But things get tense when she meets Runa, a player who didn’t want to include Akane—or any new members—in their guild activities.

Meanwhile, Akane’s feelings for Yamada continue to grow, but she’s conflicted about those emotions. Could Yamada like her too?

Volume 2 includes Chapters 10-19.]]> 192 Mashiro 1984862707 guada 0 4.34 2020 My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999, Vol. 2
author: Mashiro
name: guada
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> The Story of Art without Men 204905139 WATERSTONES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2022
THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

How many women artists do you know? Who makes art history? Did women even work as artists before the twentieth century? And what is the Baroque anyway?

Have your sense of art history overturned, and your eyes opened to many art forms often overlooked or dismissed. From the Cornish coast to Manhattan, Nigeria to Japan, this is the story of art for our times - one with women at its heart, brought together for the first time by the creator of @thegreatwomenartists.]]> 608 Katy Hessel 1529156092 guada 5 4.37 2022 The Story of Art without Men
author: Katy Hessel
name: guada
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> The Vanished Collection 60101602 241 Pauline Baer de Perignon 1939931983 guada 4 3.43 The Vanished Collection
author: Pauline Baer de Perignon
name: guada
average rating: 3.43
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/14
date added: 2024/09/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Glorious Exploits 141310706
Set in Syracuse, Sicily, during the Peloponnesian War but told in contemporary Irish dialect, Glorious Exploits follows Lampo and Gelon, best friends since childhood. Thrilled to have survived the Athenians� recent invasion and as shocked by the Syracusan victory as everyone else, these unemployed potters are in a mood to celebrate. Of course, they hate the Athenians. Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t love the theatre of their great playwright Euripides, does it? Realizing that if the Athenians are as doomed as everyone says, this might be their last chance to hear Euripides’s poetry, they go down to the quarry where the Athenian prisoners are being held and offer extra rations to any prisoner who can recite his work, a decision that sets into motion an extraordinary series of events.

A novel that asks big questions about war and its aftermath, Glorious Exploits is a story as hopeful and playful as it is tragic.]]> 288 Ferdia Lennon 0241667224 guada 3 work-books 4.08 2024 Glorious Exploits
author: Ferdia Lennon
name: guada
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves: work-books
review:

]]> Not for the Faint of Heart 201541240
‘You aren’t merry,� said Clem to her captor. ‘And you aren’t all men. So there’s been some marketing confusion somewhere along the line.�

Mariel, a newly blooded and perpetually grumpy captain of the Merry Men, is desperate to live up to the legacy of her grandfather, the legendary Robin Hood. Clem, a too-perky backwoods healer known for her new-fangled cures, just wants to help people.

When Mariel's ramshackle band of bandits kidnap Clem as retribution for her guardian helping the Sheriff of Nottingham, all seems to be going (sort of) to plan � until Jack Hartley, Mariel’s father and Commander of the Merry Men, is captured in a deadly ambush. Determined to prove herself, Mariel sets out to get him back � with her annoyingly cheerful kidnappee in tow.

But the wood is at war. Many believe the Merry Men are no longer on the right side of history. Watching Clem tend the party’s wounds and crack relentlessly terrible jokes, Mariel begins to doubt the noble cause to which she has devoted her life. As the two of them grow closer, forced by circumstances to share a single horse and bed, one thing is clear. They must prepare to fight for their lives and for those of everyone they’ve sworn to protect.

Lex Croucher's Not For the Faint of Heart is a thrilling adventure full of hijinks, found family, and romance destined to change the lives of the inhabitants of the Greenwood Forest forever.]]> 352 Lex Croucher 152665184X guada 3 my main issue with this book was the romance � it felt like it truly came out of nowhere. we only knew the main characters were flirting bcs of a comment another character made. i would have LOVED to see more feelings from the first time they met.
mariel and clem are such a cute couple and they compliment each other really well, but it would have loved to see more from them since the beginning.
i feel like this is something Croucher needs to work on, finding that sweet spot between a great final act and the romance. GAANIL was great for the romance and failed a bit at the end with the battle coming out of nowhere. NFTFOH had the opposite problem, the action had a great build up and made it really interesting to read but the romance fell short.

overall it was still an amazing read and i cannot wait to read Croucher’s next book :D]]> 3.93 2024 Not for the Faint of Heart
author: Lex Croucher
name: guada
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/10
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves:
review:
I would actually give this book a 4 star bcs i really really enjoyed it, but it was as good as Gwen & Art, and that book was definitely a 4 star.
my main issue with this book was the romance � it felt like it truly came out of nowhere. we only knew the main characters were flirting bcs of a comment another character made. i would have LOVED to see more feelings from the first time they met.
mariel and clem are such a cute couple and they compliment each other really well, but it would have loved to see more from them since the beginning.
i feel like this is something Croucher needs to work on, finding that sweet spot between a great final act and the romance. GAANIL was great for the romance and failed a bit at the end with the battle coming out of nowhere. NFTFOH had the opposite problem, the action had a great build up and made it really interesting to read but the romance fell short.

overall it was still an amazing read and i cannot wait to read Croucher’s next book :D
]]> Aliados 20881974 472 Leandro Calderone 9504937365 guada 0 3.94 2013 Aliados
author: Leandro Calderone
name: guada
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Gwen & Art Are Not in Love 94168019 423 Lex Croucher 1526651793 guada 4
I think this book is amazing, I really enjoyed reading about the main characters and I was very very interested in how it was going to end.
This is kinda where the book fell off for me, I think the ending was a bit rushed but I liked how it was kinda unexpected bcs holy shit that was a plot twist !!!! However, the book would have benefited from explaining a bit more about what happened after the battle and from more Gwen x Bridget and Gabriel x Art scenes. Specially Gwen x Bridget bcs I really enjoyed reading about them and I wanted to see more after the battle and how they talked things thru.

Art and Gabriel also caught my attention, but I think it would have been better to have even more scenes between them before the kiss.

Overall, I think this was a very fun and enjoyable read as the part where the characters are having fun are� well � fun to read. It’s a shame the ending felt to rushed, but I honestly enjoyed it and I know for a fact I won’t stop thinking about this book for the next couple of weeks. ]]> 4.10 2023 Gwen & Art Are Not in Love
author: Lex Croucher
name: guada
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/22
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves:
review:
Okay I actually need to write my thoughts on this book because I have to many and i’m afraid i’ll do a word vomit to anyone who would listen —� so i think it’s better to write.

I think this book is amazing, I really enjoyed reading about the main characters and I was very very interested in how it was going to end.
This is kinda where the book fell off for me, I think the ending was a bit rushed but I liked how it was kinda unexpected bcs holy shit that was a plot twist !!!! However, the book would have benefited from explaining a bit more about what happened after the battle and from more Gwen x Bridget and Gabriel x Art scenes. Specially Gwen x Bridget bcs I really enjoyed reading about them and I wanted to see more after the battle and how they talked things thru.

Art and Gabriel also caught my attention, but I think it would have been better to have even more scenes between them before the kiss.

Overall, I think this was a very fun and enjoyable read as the part where the characters are having fun are� well � fun to read. It’s a shame the ending felt to rushed, but I honestly enjoyed it and I know for a fact I won’t stop thinking about this book for the next couple of weeks.
]]> <![CDATA[A Sign of Affection Omnibus 2 (Vol. 4-6)]]> 200976468 496 Suu Morishita guada 0 4.74 A Sign of Affection Omnibus 2 (Vol. 4-6)
author: Suu Morishita
name: guada
average rating: 4.74
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/18
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves:
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]]> Intermezzo 209311051
Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties—successful, competent and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father’s death, he’s medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women—his enduring first love Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke.

Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.

For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude—a period of desire, despair and possibility—a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.]]> 442 Sally Rooney 0571365469 guada 5 4.04 2024 Intermezzo
author: Sally Rooney
name: guada
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 12 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 12)]]> 213790267
Spin-off 1-8]]> 336 Lee Hey guada 0 4.47 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 12 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 12)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 11 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 11)]]> 213790247 100-106 326 Lee Hey guada 0 4.45 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 11 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 11)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 10 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 10)]]> 213790225 092~099� 수록 296 Lee Hey guada 0 4.48 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 10 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 10)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.48
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 9 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 9)]]> 213790167

83-91]]> 316 Lee Hey guada 0 4.47 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 9 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 9)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 8 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 8)]]> 211946497 "그래� 서하가 제대� � � 있을 테니�."

서서� 밝혀지� 23� � 사고� 진실� 범인. 그리� '서하'에게 털어놓는 '지�'� 비밀까지! 2023� 화제� 드라� tvN '이번 생도 � 부탁해'� 원작 웹툰 단행� 7~8권에� 만날 � 있는 이야�!

"반지� �, 나랑 사귈래요?"
"�. 이번 생도 � 부탁해."

73-82]]> 344 Lee Hey 1191841529 guada 0 4.50 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 8 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 8)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 7 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 7)]]> 203671602
64-72]]> 324 Lee Hey 1191841510 guada 0 4.45 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 7 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 7)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 5 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 5)]]> 124926536 "아직� 정답� 모르� 일투성인�."
"� 최대 난제가 문서하가 � � 누가 알았겠어."

2023� tvN 드라� 방영 확정!
완결 후에� 독자들의 끝없� 사랑� 받는 인기 환생 로맨� 웹툰 『이� 생도 � 부탁해』가 단행� 5, 6� 출간 소식으로 다시 찾아왔다!
"전무님도 노력� 보실래요?"
"반지� 옆에� 행복해지�"

044~053� 수록]]> 336 Lee Hey guada 0 4.37 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 5 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 5)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.37
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 6 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 6)]]> 124926547 "아직� 정답� 모르� 일투성인�."
"� 최대 난제가 문서하가 � � 누가 알았겠어."

2023� tvN 드라� 방영 확정!
완결 후에� 독자들의 끝없� 사랑� 받는 인기 환생 로맨� 웹툰 『이� 생도 � 부탁해』가 단행� 5, 6� 출간 소식으로 다시 찾아왔다!
"전무님도 노력� 보실래요?"
"반지� 옆에� 행복해지�"

054~063� 수록]]> 356 Lee Hey guada 0 4.43 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 6 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 6)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 4 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 4)]]> 63262122 "이게 � 나와 � 비서님의 거리겠졡."

닿을 � 닿지 않는 '도윤'� 향한 '초원'� 마음� 다시 만난 '서하'� 향한 '지�'� 직진 로맨스까지! 서로� 향해 조금� 마음� 열기 시작� � 사람, 과연 이들� 사랑은 어떻� 흘러갈까?

네이버웹� 관심수 100만의 화제�! 평점 9.9� 빛나� 로맨� 장인 이혜 작가� 『이� 생도 � 부탁해� 3-4� 동시 출간!

034~043� 수록]]> 324 Lee Hey guada 0 4.43 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 4 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 4)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 3 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 3)]]> 63262120 "이게 � 나와 � 비서님의 거리겠졡."

닿을 � 닿지 않는 '도윤'� 향한 '초원'� 마음� 다시 만난 '서하'� 향한 '지�'� 직진 로맨스까지! 서로� 향해 조금� 마음� 열기 시작� � 사람, 과연 이들� 사랑은 어떻� 흘러갈까?

네이버웹� 관심수 100만의 화제�! 평점 9.9� 빛나� 로맨� 장인 이혜 작가� 『이� 생도 � 부탁해� 3-4� 동시 출간!

023~033� 수록]]> 328 Lee Hey guada 0 4.40 2022 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 3 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 3)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 2 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 2)]]> 62977296 '드디�... 찾았�. 너한� 가� �.'

전생� 기억� 안고 다시 시작� '지�'� 19� � 인생! 여전� 과거� 묶인 � 힘들어하� '서하'� 마주한다. 이번 인생 로맨스의 가� � 라이벌은 바로 전생� �!? 9살의 '서하'�, 지금의 '서하'� 모두 좋아해버� 그녀. '지�'� '서하'� 로맨스는 과연 어떻� 흘러갈까?

네이버웹� 평점 9.9 ! 빛나� 일요 웹툰! 100� 독자� 사랑� 받는 이혜 작가� 환생 로맨� 웹툰! 『이� 생도 � 부탁해� 단행� 1, 2� 전격 출간!

목차
012화~022화]> 332 Lee Hey guada 0 4.42 2022 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 2 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 2)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[이번 생도 � 부탁해 1 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 1)]]> 62977285 '드디�... 찾았�. 너한� 가� �.'

전생� 기억� 안고 다시 시작� '지�'� 19� � 인생! 여전� 과거� 묶인 � 힘들어하� '서하'� 마주한다. 이번 인생 로맨스의 가� � 라이벌은 바로 전생� �!? 9살의 '서하'�, 지금의 '서하'� 모두 좋아해버� 그녀. '지�'� '서하'� 로맨스는 과연 어떻� 흘러갈까?

네이버웹� 평점 9.9 ! 빛나� 일요 웹툰! 100� 독자� 사랑� 받는 이혜 작가� 환생 로맨� 웹툰! 『이� 생도 � 부탁해� 단행� 1, 2� 전격 출간!

목차
001화~011화]> 336 Lee Hey guada 0 4.36 2024 이번 생도 잘 부탁해 1 (See You in My 19th Life, Vol. 1)
author: Lee Hey
name: guada
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Bill (Gravity Falls)]]> 203315037
The demon that terrorized Gravity Falls is back from the great beyond to finally tell his side of the story in The Book of Bill, written by none other than Bill Cipher himself.

Inside, Bill sheds light on his bizarre origins, his sinister effects on human history, the Pines family’s most embarrassing secrets, and the key to overthrowing the world (laid out in a handy step-by-step guide). This chaotic and beautifully illustrated tome contains baffling riddles, uncrackable ciphers, lost Journal 3 pages, ways to cheat death, the meaning of life, and a whole chapter on Silly Straws. But most importantly, The Book of Bill is deeply, deeply cursed.

Beware: This book travels to dimensions meant for older readers.

Alex Hirsch, #1 New York Times bestselling author, resuscitates this infamous villain and invites fans to a Bill’s eye view of the Gravity Falls universe. There are many who believe this book is too dangerous for human hands. But if you can’t resist, beware: Once you make a deal with Bill, it’s not so easily undone . . .]]> 208 Alex Hirsch 1368092209 guada 0 4.52 2024 The Book of Bill (Gravity Falls)
author: Alex Hirsch
name: guada
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/03
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves:
review:
i cannot let the gang know i cried reading the book of bill
]]> Charming (Charming, #1) 62919509 9 to 5with fairy tale princesses in a delightful comic fantasy revenge/heist!

Brave, Resourceful, Deceitful, Double-Crossing... Charming.

Prince Jean-Marc Charming Arundel, known to friends and enemies alike as "Prince Charming," is handsome, well-mannered, brave, a peerless swordsman, a cunning tactician � and a liar, a con man and a fraud. For years he has been travelling from one kingdom to the next, rescuing endangered princesses and maidens, securing their troths and his place in their fathers' palaces, then looting their treasuries and having it away before dawn.

Until a chance meeting of three of his victims � raven-haired Marie Blanche de Neige, the sorceress Doctor Emilia Rapunzel and the long-slumbering Bella Lucia dei� Sogni � suggests a course of revenge...]]> 336 Jade Linwood 1786188465 guada 3 3.40 2023 Charming (Charming, #1)
author: Jade Linwood
name: guada
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/02
date added: 2024/08/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Sign of Affection Omnibus 1 (Vol. 1-3)]]> 195367850
Catch up on the manga before watching the anime! Includes Vol. 1-3.

Yuki, who's always been deaf, is used to communicating with sign language and her phone. But she's not used to English, so when a tourist from overseas asks for directions, she nearly panics...until a handsome stranger steps in to help. His name is Itsuomi, and it turns out he's a friend of a friend. A charismatic globetrotter, Itsuomi speaks three languages, but he's never had a deaf friend. The two feel drawn to each other and plan a date on a romantic winter's night, but Yuki's friend is afraid that she might be setting herself up to get hurt. Could this be something real? Or will these feelings melt away with the snow?]]> 496 Suu Morishita guada 0 4.62 A Sign of Affection Omnibus 1 (Vol. 1-3)
author: Suu Morishita
name: guada
average rating: 4.62
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:
this was so cute i need to read all of the volumes asap
]]> <![CDATA[What You Are Looking for Is in the Library]]> 63274127 What are you looking for?

So asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian, Sayuri Komachi. She is no ordinary librarian. Naturally, she has read every book on her shelf, but she also has the unique ability to read the souls of anyone who walks through her door. Sensing exactly what they're looking for in life, she provides just the book recommendation they never knew they needed to help them find it.

Every borrower in her library is at a different crossroads, from the restless retail assistant - can she ever get out of a dead-end job? - to the juggling new mother who dreams of becoming a magazine editor, and the meticulous accountant who yearns to own an antique store. The surprise book Komachi lends to each will change their lives for ever.

Which book will you recommend? ]]> 252 Michiko Aoyama 0857529129 guada 4 4.17 2020 What You Are Looking for Is in the Library
author: Michiko Aoyama
name: guada
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rental Person Who Does Nothing]]> 205057630 Need a rental person who does nothing?

Shoji Morimoto provides a fascinating service to the lonely and socially anxious. After an old boss told him that he contributed nothing and that it made no difference whether he showed up to work or not, he wondered if a person who ‘does nothing� could still have a place in the world. With a tweet, his Rental Person service was born.

- Have a deep secret you desperately need to reveal, so deep that you can’t tell a friend or family member?
- Have you spent a long time home alone, and want to know what it’s like to have somebody with you at your apartment?
- Or for someone to simply think of you on a stressful day? Or wave to you as you leave the train station on a long journey?

Morimoto is dependable, non-judgmental and committed to remaining a stranger throughout each request, and his encounters are revelatory about both Japanese society and human psychology.

In Rental Person Who Does Nothing, Morimoto chronicles his extraordinary experiences in his unique line of work and reflects on how we consider relationships, jobs and family in our search for meaningful connection and purpose in life.]]> 160 Shoji Morimoto 1035012820 guada 3 3.21 2023 Rental Person Who Does Nothing
author: Shoji Morimoto
name: guada
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves:
review:

]]> A Magical Girl Retires 197448796 A millennial turned magical girl must combat climate change and credit card debt in this delightful, witty, and wildly imaginative ode to magical girl manga.

Twenty-nine, depressed, and drowning in credit card debt after losing her job during the pandemic, a millennial woman decides to end her troubles by jumping off Seoul’s Mapo Bridge.

But her suicide attempt is interrupted by a girl dressed all in white—her guardian angel. Ah Roa is a clairvoyant magical girl on a mission to find the greatest magical girl of all time. And our protagonist just may be that special someone.

But the young woman’s initial excitement turns to frustration when she learns being a magical girl in real life is much different than how it’s portrayed in stories. It isn’t just destiny—it’s work. Magical girls go to job fairs, join trade unions, attend classes. And for this magical girl there are no special powers and no great perks, and despite being magical, she still battles with low self-esteem. Her magic wand . . . is a credit card—which she must use to defeat a terrifying threat that isn’t a monster or an intergalactic war. It’s global climate change. Because magical girls need to think about sustainability, too.

Park Seolyeon reimagines classic fantasy tropes in a novel that explores real-world challenges that are both deeply personal and universal: the search for meaning and the desire to do good in a world that feels like it’s ending. A fun, fast-paced, and enchanting narrative that sparkles thanks to award-nominated translator Anton Hur, A Magical Girl Retires reminds us that we are all magical girls—that fighting evil by moonlight and winning love by daylight can be anyone's game.

Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur.]]> 160 Park Seolyeon 0063373262 guada 4 “we do not have the power to turn back time, to change the past. but we do have the power to change the future. we have the power, in big ways and small, to enact justice, which in turn means every single one of us is capable of becoming a magical girl�
(translators comment)
]]> 3.57 2022 A Magical Girl Retires
author: Park Seolyeon
name: guada
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/07/18
shelves:
review:

“we do not have the power to turn back time, to change the past. but we do have the power to change the future. we have the power, in big ways and small, to enact justice, which in turn means every single one of us is capable of becoming a magical girl�
(translators comment)

]]> Kala 83817556
In the seaside village of Kinlough, on Ireland's west coast, three old friends meet for the first time in years. They-Helen, Joe and Mush-were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann at its white-hot center. But later that year, Kala disappeared without a trace. Now human remains have been discovered in the woods-including a skull with a Polaroid photo tucked inside-and the town is both aghast and titillated at the reopening of such an old wound.

On the eve of this gruesome discovery, Helen had reluctantly returned for her father's wedding; the world-famous musician Joe had come home to dry out and reconnect with something authentic; and Mush had never left, too shattered by the events of that summer to venture beyond the counter of his mother's café. But when two more girls go missing, they are forced to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala's disappearance. Ultimately, they must do what others should have done before to stop the violent patterns of their town's past repeating themselves once again.

In cracklingly vivid prose, Kala brilliantly examines the sometimes brutal costs of belonging, as well as the battle in the human heart between vengeance and forgiveness, despair and redemption.]]> 400 Colin Walsh 1838958606 guada 5 work-books 4.10 2023 Kala
author: Colin Walsh
name: guada
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves: work-books
review:
WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MUSH PLS
]]> Notes on an Execution 59527402
Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesn’t want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood. He hoped it wouldn’t end like this, not for him.

Through a kaleidoscope of women—a mother, a sister, a homicide detective—we learn the story of Ansel’s life. We meet his mother, Lavender, a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation; Hazel, twin sister to Ansel’s wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sister’s relationship threatens to devour them all; and finally, Saffy, the homicide detective hot on his trail, who has devoted herself to bringing bad men to justice but struggles to see her own life clearly. As the clock ticks down, these three women sift through the choices that culminate in tragedy, exploring the rippling fissures that such destruction inevitably leaves in its wake.

Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on an Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it simultaneously unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our system of justice and our cultural obsession with crime stories, asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the psyches of violent men.]]> 309 Danya Kukafka 1474625967 guada 5 work-books 4.16 2022 Notes on an Execution
author: Danya Kukafka
name: guada
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/05
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves: work-books
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki]]> 175740818
ME: I don’t know, I’m � what’s the word � depressed? Do I have to go into detail?

Baek Sehee is a successful young social media director at a publishing house when she begins seeing a psychiatrist about her - what to call it? - depression? She feels persistently low, anxious, endlessly self-doubting, but also highly judgmental of others. She hides her feelings well at work and with friends, performing the calmness her lifestyle demands. The effort is exhausting, overwhelming, and keeps her from forming deep relationships. This can't be normal. But if she's so hopeless, why can she always summon a desire for her favorite street food: the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki? Is this just what life is like?

Recording her dialogues with her psychiatrist over a twelve-week period, and expanding on each session with her own reflective micro-essays, Baek begins to disentangle the feedback loops, knee-jerk reactions, and harmful behaviors that keep her locked in a cycle of self-abuse. Part memoir, part self-help book, I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki is a book to keep close and to reach for in times of darkness. It will appeal to anyone who has ever felt alone or unjustified in their everyday despair.]]> 194 Baek Se-hee guada 3 3.14 2018 I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki
author: Baek Se-hee
name: guada
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/02
date added: 2024/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> The Pairing 199440249 definitely not.

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other's lives once and for all.

Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It's in the past.

All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.

It's not until they board the tour bus that they discover they've both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they're trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It's fine. There's nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?

But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can't have.]]> 432 Casey McQuiston 1250862744 guada 5 3.70 2024 The Pairing
author: Casey McQuiston
name: guada
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves:
review:

]]> Strong Female Character 59903149
1. I'm diagnosed with autism 20 years after telling a doctor I had it.

2. My terrible Catholic childhood.

3. My friendship with an elderly man who runs the corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me. I get groomed.

4. Homelessness.

5. Stripping.

6. More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.

7. I hate everyone at uni and live with a psycho etc.

8. REDACTED as too spicy.

9. After everyone tells me I don't look autistic, I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.

10. REDACTED as too embarrassing.]]> 288 Fern Brady 1914240448 guada 0 to-read 4.43 2023 Strong Female Character
author: Fern Brady
name: guada
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dan and Phil Go Outside 30613790 SHORTLISTED FOR THE FUTUREBOOK AWARDS 2017

Dan Howell and Phil Lester, avoiders of human contact and direct sunlight, actually went outside. Travelling around the world on tour, they have collected hundreds of exclusive, intimate and funny photos, as well as revealing and captivating side notes, to show the behind-the-scenes story of their adventure.

Hear Dan and Phil give the inside scoop about what was really going on behind their photos in this exclusive eBook. Want to know what was going through Dan’s head when his light up shoes, complete with wires and battery pack, went through Seattle airport security? Are you still wondering if Phil really was having an out-of-body experience over a double-scoop ice-cream in that photo? And just how DID they get on with their neck pillows on this immense journey? Then look no further and listen in, as Dan and Phil reminisce on their adventure in the ‘real world�.]]> 224 Daniel Howell 1524701459 guada 0 4.41 2016 Dan and Phil Go Outside
author: Daniel Howell
name: guada
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves:
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]]> Daisy Jones and The Six 75700798 Everybody knows Daisy Jones and the Six.

From the moment Daisy walked barefoot on to the stage at the Whisky, she and the band were a sensation.

Their sound defined an era. Their albums were on every turntable. They played sold-out arenas from coast to coast.

Then, on 12 July 1979, it all came crashing down.

They were lovers, friends, brothers. But they were also rivals.

This is the story of their legendary rise and irrevocable fall. A story of ambition, desire, heartbreak and music.

Everyone was there. Everyone remembers it differently. Nobody knew why they split. Until now...
]]> 406 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1804945951 guada 3 4.09 2019 Daisy Jones and The Six
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: guada
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/09
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
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]]> You Are Here 213256741
Marnie is stuck.
Stuck working alone in her London flat, stuck battling the long afternoons and a life that often feels like it's passing her by.

Michael is coming undone.
Reeling from his wife's departure, increasingly reclusive, taking himself on long, solitary walks across the moors and fells.

When a persistent mutual friend and some very English weather conspire to bring them together, Marnie and Michael suddenly find themselves alone on the most epic of walks and on the precipice of a new friendship.

But can they survive the journey?

A new love story by beloved bestseller David Nicholls, You Are Here is a novel of first encounters, second chances and finding the way home.]]> 351 David Nicholls 1444715445 guada 5 4.06 2024 You Are Here
author: David Nicholls
name: guada
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/24
date added: 2024/06/24
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]]> Girls Like Girls 75613829 309 Hayley Kiyoko 0241652472 guada 3 happy pride tho !!! ]]> 3.76 2023 Girls Like Girls
author: Hayley Kiyoko
name: guada
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/04
date added: 2024/06/04
shelves:
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i actually enjoyed this book �- it was a fast read and just what i needed to get out of a book slump. i definitely think this a good read, do i think it’s a perfect book ? nope. the writting was a bit fast and i think it would have been nicer to have more development between the main characters as sometimes it felt a bit rushed. i wanted to see more of their friendship not told.
happy pride tho !!!
]]> <![CDATA[A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1)]]> 51060356 In the start of an all-new series, the bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver introduces you to a dangerous school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death � until one girl begins to rewrite its rules.

Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.
There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal.
Once you’re inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die.
El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school’s many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions � never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school.
Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying her hardest not to use it... that is, unless she has no other choice.

Wry, witty, endlessly inventive, and mordantly funny � yet with a true depth and fierce justice at its heart � this enchanting novel reminds us that there are far more important things than mere survival.]]> 336 Naomi Novik 1529100852 guada 4 3.80 2020 A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1)
author: Naomi Novik
name: guada
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2024/05/28
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]]> Clara Reads Proust 185826492 Clara is a hairdresser at Cindy Coiffure, a sleepy French salon with an identity crisis. Her relationship is fizzling out. Her tanoholic boss Madame Habib worships Jacques Chirac and talks longingly of her days in Paris. The highlight of the week was when the dishy technician came to repair the display cabinet. And now Madame Lévy-Leroyer wants to go blonde. Clara can’t help but wonder if there’s more to life . . . Everything changes when a customer leaves behind the first volume of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. As Clara reads, she discovers a whole new world, leading her to strike up an unexpected friendship. And slowly but surely, she will work out who she wants to be.]]> 192 Stéphane Carlier 1913547736 guada 4 3.56 2022 Clara Reads Proust
author: Stéphane Carlier
name: guada
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/29
date added: 2024/05/04
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]]> La invención de Morel 138277131
Una trama con aparecidos tan adelantada a su tiempo que su lectura es capaz de resignificar, incluso, episodios traumáticos de la historia de Argentina que, al momento de su publicación, ni siquiera podían sospecharse.]]> 131 Adolfo Bioy Casares 6073812310 guada 3 3.96 1940 La invención de Morel
author: Adolfo Bioy Casares
name: guada
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1940
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves:
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]]> Pageboy 61330791
With Juno’s massive success, Elliot became one of the world’s most beloved actors. His dreams were coming true, but the pressure to perform suffocated him. He was forced to play the part of the glossy young starlet, a role that made his skin crawl, on and off set. The career that had been an escape out of his reality and into a world of imagination was suddenly a nightmare.

As he navigated criticism and abuse from some of the most powerful people in Hollywood, a past that snapped at his heels, and a society dead set on forcing him into a binary, Elliot often stayed silent, unsure of what to do, until enough was enough. Full of behind the scenes details and intimate interrogations on sex, love, trauma, and Hollywood, Pageboy is the story of a life pushed to the brink. But at its core, this beautifully written, winding journey of what it means to untangle ourselves from the expectations of others is an ode to stepping into who we truly are with defiance, strength, and joy.]]> 272 Elliot Page 0857529285 guada 5 3.77 2023 Pageboy
author: Elliot Page
name: guada
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/22
date added: 2024/03/22
shelves:
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]]> Until August 200151359 The extraordinary rediscovered novel from the Nobel Prize–winning author of Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude Sitting alone beside the languorous blue waters of the lagoon, Ana Magdalena Bach contemplates the men at the hotel bar. She has been happily married for twenty-seven years and has no reason to escape the life she has made with her husband and children. And yet, every August, she travels by ferry here to the island where her mother is buried, and for one night takes a new lover. Across sultry Caribbean evenings full of salsa and boleros, lotharios and conmen, Ana journeys further each year into the hinterland of her desire and the fear hidden in her heart. Constantly surprising, joyously sensual, Until August is a profound meditation on freedom, regret, self-transformation, and the mysteries of love—an unexpected gift from one of the greatest writers the world has ever known.]]> 128 Gabriel García Márquez 1405964286 guada 4 3.64 2024 Until August
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: guada
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/12
date added: 2024/03/12
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]]> American Psycho 60537409
A million-copy bestseller and a pop-cultural phenomenon, American Psycho is one of the most notorious and influential novels of the twentieth century.]]> 386 Bret Easton Ellis 152907715X guada 4 3.69 1991 American Psycho
author: Bret Easton Ellis
name: guada
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/09
date added: 2024/03/09
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]]> All The Lovers In The Night 167815297 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

From literary sensation and International Booker Prize-shortlisted author Mieko Kawakami, the bestelling author of Breasts and Eggs and Heaven comes All The Lovers In The Night, an extraordinary, deeply moving and insightful story set in contemporary Tokyo.

Fuyuko Irie is a freelance proofreader in her thirties. Living alone in an overwhelming city and unable to form meaningful relationships, she has little contact with anyone other than her colleague, Hijiri. But a chance encounter with a man named Mitsutsuka awakens something new in her. Through their weekly meetings, Fuyuko starts to see the world in a different light and still, painful memories from her past begin to resurface. As Fuyuko realizes she exists in a small world of her own making she begins to push at her own boundaries. But will she find the strength to bring down the walls that surround her?

Pulsing and poetic, modern and shocking, this is an unforgettable novel from Japan’s most exciting writer.]]> 222 Mieko Kawakami guada 4 3.70 2011 All The Lovers In The Night
author: Mieko Kawakami
name: guada
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/29
date added: 2023/12/29
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]]> <![CDATA[Heartstopper: Volume Five (Heartstopper, #5)]]> 53344030
Nick and Charlie are very much in love. They've finally said those three little words, and Charlie has almost persuaded his mum to let him sleep over at Nick's house ... But with Nick going off to university next year, is everything about to change?

By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper encompasses all the small moments of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Contains discussions around mental health and eating disorders, and sexual references.]]> 336 Alice Oseman 1444957651 guada 5 4.47 2023 Heartstopper: Volume Five (Heartstopper, #5)
author: Alice Oseman
name: guada
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/28
date added: 2023/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[El ladrón del rayo (Percy Jackson y los dioses del Olimpo, #1)]]> 7816926
Expulsado de seis colegios, Percy padece dislexia y dificultades para concentrarse, o al menos ésa es la versión oficial. Objeto de burlas por inventarse historias fantásticas, ni siquiera él mismo acaba de creérselas hasta el día que los dioses del Olimpo le revelan la verdad: Percy es nada menos que un semidiós, es decir, el hijo de un dios y una mortal. Y como tal ha de descubrir quién ha robado el rayo de Zeus y así evitar que estalle una guerra entre los dioses. Para cumplir la misión contará con la ayuda de sus amigos Grover, un joven sátiro, y Annabeth, hija de Atenea.]]> 288 Rick Riordan 849838236X guada 5 4.23 2005 El ladrón del rayo (Percy Jackson y los dioses del Olimpo, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: guada
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/07
date added: 2023/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]> A Week in December 7689082
London, the week before Christmas, 2007. Over seven days we follow the lives of seven major a hedge fund manager trying to bring off the biggest trade of his career; a professional footballer recently arrived from Poland; a young lawyer with little work and too much time to speculate; a student who has been led astray by Islamist theory; a hack book-reviewer; a schoolboy hooked on skunk and reality TV; and a Tube train driver whose Circle Line train joins these and countless other lives together in a daily loop.

With daring skill, the novel pieces together the complex patterns and crossings of modern urban life. Greed, the dehumanising effects of the electronic age and the fragmentation of society are some of the themes dealt with in this savagely humorous book. The writing on the wall appears in letters ten feet high, but the characters refuse to see it � and party on as though tomorrow is a dream.

Sebastian Faulks probes not only the self-deceptions of this intensely realised group of people, but their hopes and loves as well. As the novel moves to its gripping climax, they are forced, one by one, to confront the true nature of the world they inhabit.]]> 392 Sebastian Faulks 0099458284 guada 0 to-read 3.11 2009 A Week in December
author: Sebastian Faulks
name: guada
average rating: 3.11
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cleopatra and Frankenstein 67353676 370 Coco Mellors 000842179X guada 2 3.71 2022 Cleopatra and Frankenstein
author: Coco Mellors
name: guada
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2023/04/28
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves:
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never write latino characters again por favor
]]> She Drives Me Crazy 52516406 High school nemeses fall in love in this queer YA rom com perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Casey McQuiston.

After losing spectacularly to her ex-girlfriend in their first game since their break up, Scottie Zajac gets into a fender bender with the worst possible person: her nemesis, the incredibly beautiful and incredibly mean Irene Abraham. Things only get worse when their nosey, do-gooder moms get involved and the girls are forced to carpool together until Irene’s car gets out of the shop.

Their bumpy start only gets bumpier the more time they spend together. But when an opportunity presents itself for Scottie to get back at her toxic ex (and climb her school’s social ladder at the same time), she bribes Irene into playing along. Hijinks, heartbreak, and gay fake-dating scheme for the ages. From author Kelly Quindlen comes a new laugh-out-loud romp through the ups and downs of teen romance.]]> 288 Kelly Quindlen 1250209161 guada 4 3.93 2021 She Drives Me Crazy
author: Kelly Quindlen
name: guada
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/12
date added: 2023/12/12
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]]> 84, Charing Cross Road 35113087 230 Helene Hanff guada 4 4.00 1970 84, Charing Cross Road
author: Helene Hanff
name: guada
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1970
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/08
date added: 2023/12/08
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]]> <![CDATA[Tales from the Café (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #2)]]> 54373691 In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time...

From the author of Before the Coffee Gets Cold comes a story of four new customers each of whom is hoping to take advantage of Cafe Funiculi Funicula's time-travelling offer.

Among some faces that will be familiar to readers of Kawaguchi's previous novel, we will be introduced to:

The man who goes back to see his best friend who died 22 years ago
The son who was unable to attend his own mother’s funeral
The man who travelled to see the girl who he could not marry
The old detective who never gave his wife that gift...

This beautiful, simple tale tells the story of people who must face up to their past, in order to move on with their lives. Kawaguchi once again invites the reader to ask themselves: what would you change if you could travel back in time?]]> 192 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529050863 guada 4 3.98 2017 Tales from the Café (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #2)
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: guada
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/19
date added: 2023/11/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Historias de cronopios y de famas]]> 34725441
Historias de cronopios y de famas (1962) es uno de los libros legendarios de Julio Cortázar. Postulación de una mirada poética capaz de enfrentar las miserias de la rutina y del sentido común, Cortázar toma aquí partido por la imaginación creadora, el humor corrosivo de los surrealistas y el absurdo trascendental de la patafísica. Esta colección de cuentos, instrucciones y viñetas entrañables es una puerta de acceso privilegiada al inagotable mundo de uno de los más grandes escritores de este siglo y un antídoto seguro contra la solemnidad y el aburrimiento. Sin duda alguna, con este libro Cortázar sella un pacto de complicidad definitiva e incondicional con sus lectores.]]> 136 Julio Cortázar 987738258X guada 4 3.88 1962 Historias de cronopios y de famas
author: Julio Cortázar
name: guada
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/05
date added: 2023/11/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Even If This Love Disappears Tonight]]> 61399263 240 Misaki Ichijo 1975348338 guada 0 to-read 4.11 2020 Even If This Love Disappears Tonight
author: Misaki Ichijo
name: guada
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Annie John 386336
An adored only child, Annie has until recently lived an idyllic life. She is inseparable from her beautiful mother, a powerful presence, who is the very center of the little girl's existence. Loved and cherished, Annie grows and thrives within her mother's benign shadow. Looking back on her childhood, she reflects, "It was in such a paradise that I lived." When she turns twelve, however, Annie's life changes, in ways that are often mysterious to her. She begins to question the cultural assumptions of her island world; at school she instinctively rebels against authority; and most frighteningly, her mother, seeing Annie as a "young lady," ceases to be the source of unconditional adoration and takes on the new and unfamiliar guise of adversary. At the end of her school years, Annie decides to leave Antigua and her family, but not without a measure of sorrow, especially for the mother she once knew and never ceases to mourn. "For I could not be sure," she reflects, "whether for the rest of my life I would be able to tell when it was really my mother and when it was really her shadow standing between me and the rest of the world."]]> 160 Jamaica Kincaid 0374525102 guada 0 to-read 3.72 1985 Annie John
author: Jamaica Kincaid
name: guada
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Franny and Zooey 57692367 ‘Everything everybody does is so—I don’t know—not wrong, or even mean, or even stupid necessarily. But just so tiny and meaningless and—sad-making. And the worst part is, if you go bohemian or something crazy like that, you’re conforming just as much only in a different way.�

First published in The New Yorker as two sequential stories, ‘Franny� and ‘Zooey� offer a dual portrait of the two youngest members of J. D. Salinger’s fictional Glass family.

Franny Glass is a pretty, effervescent college student on a date with her intellectually confident boyfriend, Lane. They appear to be the perfect couple, but as they struggle to communicate with each other about the things they really care about, slowly their true feelings come to the surface. The second story in this book, ‘Zooey�, plunges us into the world of her ethereal, sophisticated family. When Franny’s emotional and spiritual doubts reach new heights, her older brother Zooey, a misanthropic former child genius, offers her consolation and brotherly advice.

Written in Salinger’s typically irreverent style, these two stories offer a touching snapshot of the distraught mindset of early adulthood and are full of the insightful emotional observations and witty turns of phrase that have helped make Salinger’s reputation what it is today.]]> 150 J.D. Salinger 0241950449 guada 4 3.82 1957 Franny and Zooey
author: J.D. Salinger
name: guada
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1957
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/31
date added: 2023/10/31
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]]> Passing 61326126


‘She wished to find out about this hazardous business of “passing,� this breaking away from all that was familiar and friendly to take one’s chance in another environment…�



The elegant Clare Kendry glides through New York’s high-society circles with ease, until the day she is reacquainted with her childhood friend, Irene. Clare chooses to ‘pass� as white, hiding her African American heritage from her bigoted husband, while Irene leads a life that embraces it. As both women observe the other, a relationship of mutual fascination, obsession and secrets begins, one that will end in devastating circumstances.


Published in 1929, Nella Larsen’s Passing lays bare the complexities of identity, race, class and gender. The novella established Larsen as one of the most important female authors in American literature and is considered a literary masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance era.]]> 176 Nella Larsen 0008554285 guada 4 english-lit 3.71 1929 Passing
author: Nella Larsen
name: guada
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1929
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/26
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves: english-lit
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #6)]]> 63898280
After saving the world multiple times, Percy Jackson is hoping to have a normal senior year. Unfortunately, the gods aren’t quite done with him. Percy will have to fulfill three quests in order to get the necessary three letters of recommendation from Mount Olympus for college.

The first quest is to help Zeus’s cup-bearer retrieve his goblet before it falls into the wrong hands. Can Percy, Grover, and Annabeth find it in time?

Readers new to Percy Jackson (this book can be enjoyed as a standalone) and fans who have been awaiting this reunion for more than a decade will delight equally in this latest hilarious take on Greek mythology.]]> 268 Rick Riordan 0241647541 guada 5 4.34 2023 The Chalice of the Gods (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #6)
author: Rick Riordan
name: guada
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/18
date added: 2023/10/18
shelves:
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percabeth plans to grow old together � bisexual zeus � grover in his hipster era � 10/10 would read again
]]> <![CDATA[Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth]]> 127823173 261 Natalie Haynes 0063314673 guada 4 4.08 2023 Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth
author: Natalie Haynes
name: guada
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/13
date added: 2023/10/13
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Ladies' Lunch: a novella & other stories]]> 61992096
Lore Segal's witty, yet poignant, short story, Ladies' Lunch, appeared in the New Yorker in 2017, when she herself turned ninety. It was followed by four New Yorker sequels. For this sparkling collection, Segal returns to her group of erudite, sharp-minded nonagenarians in Upper Manhattan offering startling insights into friendship and mortality.

In the book's Other Stories, Segal includes tales from her acclaimed and prizewinning oeuvre to illuminate the hinterland of her characters - one of whom, like her, was a Kindertransport refugee.

Beautifully crafted and profound, these stories distil the spirit of one of America's great authors to show us what a long life might bring.]]> 160 Lore Segal 1914502035 guada 4 3.33 2017 Ladies' Lunch: a novella & other stories
author: Lore Segal
name: guada
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/02
date added: 2023/09/26
shelves:
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]]> In Memoriam 61028413 A gripping, heart-shattering love story between two soldiers in the First World War

It's 1914, and talk of war feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. At seventeen, they're too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle - an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the dreamy, poetic Ellwood - not having a clue that Ellwood is in love with him, always has been. When Gaunt's German mother asks him to enlist as an officer in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, Gaunt signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood.

The front is horrific, of course, and though Gaunt tries to dissuade Ellwood from joining him on the battlefield, Ellwood soon rushes to join him, spurred on by his love of Greek heroes and romantic poetry. Before long, their classmates have followed suit. Once in the trenches, Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, but their friends are all dying, right in front of them, and at any moment they could be next.

An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.]]> 385 Alice Winn 0241567823 guada 5 Reading it was the best decision I made. This book will destroy you, but in a good way. Ellwood and Gaunt just steal your heart, everything is just so well written.
An amazing debut, 10/10 read. ]]> 4.56 2023 In Memoriam
author: Alice Winn
name: guada
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/20
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves:
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I’m not going to lie, at first I had to intention to read this book until it was gifted to me.
Reading it was the best decision I made. This book will destroy you, but in a good way. Ellwood and Gaunt just steal your heart, everything is just so well written.
An amazing debut, 10/10 read.
]]> Orlando (Collins Classics) 58684139 272 Virginia Woolf 0008516103 guada 4 3.74 1928 Orlando (Collins Classics)
author: Virginia Woolf
name: guada
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1928
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/14
date added: 2023/09/20
shelves:
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]]> Sweet Bean Paste 33376821
Until, that is, Tokue comes into his life. An elderly woman with disfigured hands and a troubled past, she makes the best sweet bean paste Sentaro has ever tasted. The unlikeliest of friendships blossoms, but it will take all of their resolve � and plenty of pancakes � to protect themselves when Tokue's dark secret comes to light.]]> 216 Durian Sukegawa 1786071959 guada 5 4.07 2013 Sweet Bean Paste
author: Durian Sukegawa
name: guada
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/10
date added: 2023/09/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Conditions Of Love: The Philosophy Of Intimacy]]> 6100705
Drawing on writers and thinkers as diverse as Plato, Tolstoy, Freud and Stendhal, John Armstrong explores how our perception of love is formed by culture and history.

For anyone who believes or disbelieves in love.]]> 168 John Armstrong 0140294716 guada 4 4.05 2002 Conditions Of Love: The Philosophy Of Intimacy
author: John Armstrong
name: guada
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/03
date added: 2023/09/03
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo]]> 42373430 A hilarious short story from Rick Riordan, that unites Percy Jackson with the god Apollo - this edition exclusively for World Book Day 2019

When the god Apollo asks for a favour, it's never going to be straightforward.

Percy Jackson is celebrating a friend's birthday when Apollo turns up. The god is supposed to perform on Mount Olympus, but one of his four beautiful singers is missing.

So Percy sets off to bring her back - but one of the singers is after a shot at a solo career, and is holding up New York! With the bright lights of Broadway in the background, can Percy find the rogue performer, and return her to Apollo - in time for his big number on Mount Olympus?]]> 112 Rick Riordan 0241380731 guada 4 3.78 2017 Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo
author: Rick Riordan
name: guada
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/24
date added: 2023/07/25
shelves:
review:

]]> The Trial 17690 The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.]]> 255 Franz Kafka guada 0 currently-reading 4.00 1925 The Trial
author: Franz Kafka
name: guada
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1925
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The First Move 62016602
Ronan is the new kid: good looking, smart, a bad boy plagued by guilt over what happened to his brother Ciaran. Chesslife is his escape; there, he's not just 'the boy with the brother'.

Juliet thinks Ronan thinks someone like Ronan could never be interested in someone like her - and she wouldn't want him to be anyway because he always acts like he's cooler than everyone else. Whereas, Ronan thinks life is already too complicated for dating and just wants to keep his head down at school.

Little do they know they've already discovered each other online, and have more in common than they think . . .]]> 448 Jenny Ireland 0241591821 guada 3 3.78 2023 The First Move
author: Jenny Ireland
name: guada
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/18
date added: 2023/06/20
shelves:
review:

]]> Ink (Skin Books, #1) 32827036
From the second you're born, every achievement, every failing, every significant moment are all immortalized on your skin. There are honorable marks that let people know you're trustworthy. And shameful tattoos that announce you as a traitor.

After her father dies, Leora finds solace in the fact that his skin tells a wonderful story. That is, until she glimpses a mark on the back of his neck...the symbol of the worst crime a person can commit in Saintstone. Leora knows it has to be a mistake, but before she can do anything about it, the horrifying secret gets out, jeopardizing her father's legacy...and Leora's life.

In her startlingly prescient debut, Alice Broadway shines a light on the dangerous lengths we go to make our world feel orderly--even when the truth refuses to stay within the lines. This rich, lyrical fantasy with echoes of Orwell is unlike anything you've ever read, a tale guaranteed to get under your skin...]]> 366 Alice Broadway 1407172840 guada 2 it’s a shame bcs the plot is good, just badly written ]]> 3.57 2017 Ink (Skin Books, #1)
author: Alice Broadway
name: guada
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2023/05/16
date added: 2023/06/20
shelves:
review:
truly felt like reading a wattpad story, i was just waiting for harry styles to pop out at any second.
it’s a shame bcs the plot is good, just badly written
]]> <![CDATA[This Is How You Lose the Time War]]> 46132305 Burn before reading.

Red and Blue, two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions, strike up an unlikely correspondence. But what started as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more: something epic and romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

The discovery of their bond will mean their deaths. There’s still a war going on, and someone has to win that war. That’s how wars work. Right?

Co-written by two award-winning writers, This Is How You Lose the Time War is an epic love story spanning time and space.]]> 201 Amal El-Mohtar 1529405238 guada 5 3.89 2019 This Is How You Lose the Time War
author: Amal El-Mohtar
name: guada
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/07
date added: 2023/06/07
shelves:
review:

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