en-US Tue, 01 Apr 2025 12:58:26 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 38642323 A teen girl and her robot embark on a cross-country mission in this illustrated science fiction story, perfect for fans of Ready Player One and Black Mirror.

In late 1997, a runaway teenager and her small yellow toy robot travel west through a strange American landscape where the ruins of gigantic battle drones litter the countryside, along with the discarded trash of a high-tech consumerist society addicted to a virtual-reality system. As they approach the edge of the continent, the world outside the car window seems to unravel at an ever faster pace, as if somewhere beyond the horizon, the hollow core of civilization has finally caved in.]]> 144 Simon Stålenhag 1501181416 Tracy 0 4.42 2017
author: Simon Stålenhag
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2020/08/20
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 12287209
Or you'll get what you wish for.]]> 56 Hugh Howey Tracy 0 nook-books-to-lend 4.14 2012
author: Hugh Howey
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: nook-books-to-lend
review:

]]> 56304501 A groundbreaking resource for fiction writers, teachers, and students, this manifesto and practical guide challenges current models of craft and the writing workshop by showing how they fail marginalized writers, and how cultural expectations inform storytelling.

The traditional writing workshop was established with white male writers in mind; what we call craft is informed by their cultural values. In this bold and original examination of elements of writing--including plot, character, conflict, structure, and believability--and aspects of workshop--including the silenced writer and the imagined reader-- Matthew Salesses asks questions to invigorate these familiar concepts. He upends Western notions of how a story must progress. How can we rethink craft, and the teaching of it, to better reach writers with diverse backgrounds? How can we invite diverse storytelling traditions into literary spaces?

Drawing from examples including One Thousand and One Nights , Curious George, Ursula K. Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea , and the Asian American classic No-No Boy , Salesses asks us to reimagine craft and the workshop. In the pages of exercises included here, teachers will find suggestions for building syllabi, grading, and introducing new methods to the classroom; students will find revision and editing guidance, as well as a new lens for reading their work. Salesses shows that we need to interrogate the lack of diversity at the core of published how we teach and write it. After all, as he reminds us, "When we write fiction, we write the world."]]> 256 Matthew Salesses 1948226812 Tracy 5 4.38 2021
author: Matthew Salesses
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 8550551 176 Alan Ziegler 1593763395 Tracy 4 Required reading

This book gave me more insight into not only writing but teaching about writing and l enjoyed it. I highlighted lots of really great parts and plan to reread it in the future.]]> 4.33 2007
author: Alan Ziegler
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
shelves:
review:
Required reading

This book gave me more insight into not only writing but teaching about writing and l enjoyed it. I highlighted lots of really great parts and plan to reread it in the future.
]]> 30453414
Inside The Rural Setting Thesaurus, you’ll find:

�� A list of the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds for over 100 settings revolving around school, home, and nature
�� Possible sources of conflict for each location to help you brainstorm ways to naturally complicate matters for your characters
�� Advice on the many effective ways to build mood, helping you steer both the character’s and readers�� emotions in every scene
�� Information on how the setting directly influences the plot by acting as a tuning fork for what a character needs most and by testing his dedication to his goals
�� A tutorial on figurative language and how different descriptive techniques can bring settings alive for readers while conveying a symbolic message or deeper meaning
�� A review of the challenges that arise when writing description, as well as special considerations that apply specifically to rural and personal settings

The Rural Setting Thesaurus takes “show-don’t-tell�� to new heights. It offers writers a roadmap to creating fresh setting imagery that impacts the story on multiple levels while keeping readers engaged from the first page to the last.]]> 268 Angela Ackerman Tracy 0 currently-reading 4.65 2016
author: Angela Ackerman
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 17286685 The third book in Robert Kirkman's New York Times bestselling series: The Walking Dead: The Fall of the Governor �� Part One!

The Walking Dead original novel series, set in the universe of Robert Kirkman's iconic comic book, continues with The Fall of the Governor �� Part One. From co-authors Kirkman, creator of the Eisner Award-winning comic as well as executive producer of AMC's blockbuster TV series, and Jay Bonansinga, Stoker Award-finalist and internationally acclaimed author, comes the gripping third novel in this richly woven, page-turning literary saga, which began with The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor.

In Rise of the Governor, uber-villain Philip Blake journeyed from his humble beginnings directly into the dark heart of the zombie apocalypse, and became the self-proclaimed leader of a small town called Woodbury. In The Road to Woodbury, an innocent traveler named Lilly Caul wound up in the terrifying thrall of Phillip Blake’s twisted, violent dictatorship within Woodbury’s ever tightening barricades.

And now, in The Fall of the Governor �� Part One, the Governor’s descent into madness finally erupts in a tour de force of action and horror. Beloved characters from the comic book, including Rick, Michonne and Glenn, finally make their entrance onto this nightmarish stage, and fans of The Walking Dead will see these characters in a whole new light. Simmering grudges boil over into unthinkable confrontations, battle lines are drawn, and unexpected twists seal the fates of the innocent and guilty alike.]]> 256 Robert Kirkman 0312548176 Tracy 3
What I didn't like-rape scene. Rape is awful, but the extent of detail in this rape scene was too much, even for me. Too much detail and also the revenge of the rape scene was just as horrifyingly graphic. I didn't like that. I didn't like how the skin tones of Michonne was described. She's so many shades of brown that I was thinking the writers should have made a chart with descriptions of each character so they could keep it straight. Then, there was the dude with the Jheri curl. I read that like, "whoa, dude is crazy out of touch with the times. it's like saying someone has a conk or a process." I guess overall the descriptions of the black people were overly done and kinda offensive. That's really the only thing that stuck out to me.

The Governor was really unlikable, but that's not to be expected. I don't know, it read fast and it was okay. Read at your own risk.]]> 3.72
author: Robert Kirkman
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.72
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2015/03/25
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves: read-it-and-was-okay, this-is-a-sequel
review:
So, if you read the comics, you know a lot of things about this book. It features special appearances by some of our beloved regulars: Rick, Michonne and Glen. Here is what I liked, once I got into it, it moved. It was so fast going that when it ended, I was thankful that I had book 2 right there next to me.

What I didn't like-rape scene. Rape is awful, but the extent of detail in this rape scene was too much, even for me. Too much detail and also the revenge of the rape scene was just as horrifyingly graphic. I didn't like that. I didn't like how the skin tones of Michonne was described. She's so many shades of brown that I was thinking the writers should have made a chart with descriptions of each character so they could keep it straight. Then, there was the dude with the Jheri curl. I read that like, "whoa, dude is crazy out of touch with the times. it's like saying someone has a conk or a process." I guess overall the descriptions of the black people were overly done and kinda offensive. That's really the only thing that stuck out to me.

The Governor was really unlikable, but that's not to be expected. I don't know, it read fast and it was okay. Read at your own risk.
]]> 28436144 Keep the door locked...
A week's visit to the remote Harob Lake cabin couldn't have come at a better time for Sam.

She's battling artist's block ahead of a major gallery exhibition. Staying at Harob Lake is her final, desperate attempt to paint the collection that could save her floundering career. It seems perfect: no neighbours, no phone, no distractions.

But the dream retreat disintegrates into a nightmare when Sam discovers she's being stalked.

A tall, strange man stands on the edge of her dock, staring intently into the swirling waters below. He starts to follow her. He disables her car. He destroys her only way to communicate with the outside world.

And Sam is beginning to suspect he's responsible for the series of disappearances from a nearby hiking trail.

Stranded at Harob Lake, Sam realises she’s become the prey in the hunter’s deadliest game��
]]> 158 Darcy Coates Tracy 0 3.46 2015
author: Darcy Coates
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 55456264
In addition, the author dives into the long and bloody history of the house, starting with its origins as a monastery back in the 1200s, covering its ownership under the Grey and Perron families, and even detailing the horrific events that took place on Halloween in 1982.

No stone is left unturned in what is now the definitive work regarding the most haunted house in Britain.

This book is a work of fiction and is intended as an introduction to the Haunted Series, which continues with Haunted: Perron Manor]]> 152 Lee Mountford Tracy 0 4.09
author: Lee Mountford
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.09
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 55749733

Picking up immediately after the shocking climax of Haunted: Perron Manor, a paranormal research team is hired to help gather evidence and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Perron Manor is haunted.

The owner of the house needs the Church to sanction an exorcism. It is the only way to free the souls of the dead who are trapped there and suffering in eternal torment.

But the Church will not act without proof.

However, the team soon discover that they are ill-equipped to handle the notorious house, or what it really is.

Truths emerge that impact not only their fight for survival, but the very world around them.

Can the team survive long enough to free the dead from Perron Manor, or will their souls be forfeit as well?

Buy now to find out how the story of Perron Manor finishes. However... this is not the end. More horror lies outside of those walls.]]> 352 Lee Mountford Tracy 0 4.45 2020
author: Lee Mountford
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 55446843 Perron Manor—a place evil calls home

Sisters Sarah and Chloe inherit a house they could never have previously dreamed of owning. It seems too good to be true.

Shortly after they move in, however, the siblings start to notice strange things: horrible smells, sudden drops in temperature, as well as unexplainable sounds and feelings of being watched.

All of that is compounded when they find a study upstairs, filled with occult items and a strange book written in Latin.

Their experiences grow more frequent and more terrifying, building towards a heart-stopping climax where the sisters come face to face with the evil behind Perron Manor. Will they survive and save their very souls?

Haunted: Perron Manor is Book 1 in the Haunted series, which continues with Haunted: Devil's Door]]> 320 Lee Mountford Tracy 0 4.11 2020
author: Lee Mountford
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 55749734 Until now...
Ray and Rita Pearson, along with their daughter, Chloe, move into the hotel to help with its renovation and grand opening. All under the watchful eye of the mysterious owner, Marcus Blackwater.
But as they move closer to the opening date, things begin to happen in the hotel that are unexplainable. And Rita herself begins to change.
Unbeknownst to the family, there are other plans in place, and Marcus Blackwater has his own agenda—one started by his grandfather many years ago.
The story culminates in a horrific turn of events that changes everything you think you know about the house... and its inhabitants.]]> 330 Lee Mountford Tracy 0 4.28 2020
author: Lee Mountford
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 33158566 This excerpt from Caraval��Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game��contains for the first six chapters.

Everyone is talking about Caraval!

��ٱ����������Ի徱�Բ�.�� ��Sabaa Tahir, author of An Ember in the Ashes
“Beautifully written.�� ��Renée Ahdieh, author of The Wrath and the Dawn
“Shimmers with magic.�� ��Marie Rutkoski, author of The Winner’s Curse
“Darkly enchanting.�� ��Kiersten White, author of And I Darken
���𳦲����Գ�.�� ��Roshani Chokshi, author of The Star-Touched Queen
“Like stepping into a living dream.�� ��Stacey Lee, author of Outrun the Moon
“M�����Ծ��ھ�����Գ�.�� ��Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Destined to capture imaginations.�� ��Kirkus Reviews
"Ideal for fans ofThe Night Circus, Stardust, and The Hunger Games.�� ��SLJ]]> 54 Stephanie Garber 1250150973 Tracy 3 Intrigued

I've been reading crazy buzz for this book, practically daily. I was excited to see there was a sampler and it was interesting. This type of writing isn't my style, but I kept reading either way. It feels a little Francesca Lia Blockish and that's okay. Can't wait for the book. I'm buying it early so I get it on the release date.

Merged review:

Intrigued

I've been reading crazy buzz for this book, practically daily. I was excited to see there was a sampler and it was interesting. This type of writing isn't my style, but I kept reading either way. It feels a little Francesca Lia Blockish and that's okay. Can't wait for the book. I'm buying it early so I get it on the release date.]]> 4.26 2016
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: i-ve-heard-so-much-about-you, me-likey
review:
Intrigued

I've been reading crazy buzz for this book, practically daily. I was excited to see there was a sampler and it was interesting. This type of writing isn't my style, but I kept reading either way. It feels a little Francesca Lia Blockish and that's okay. Can't wait for the book. I'm buying it early so I get it on the release date.

Merged review:

Intrigued

I've been reading crazy buzz for this book, practically daily. I was excited to see there was a sampler and it was interesting. This type of writing isn't my style, but I kept reading either way. It feels a little Francesca Lia Blockish and that's okay. Can't wait for the book. I'm buying it early so I get it on the release date.
]]> 44157761

Bewitching all levels of society, it was a world of curiosities and astonishing spectacle—of dwarfs, giants, bearded ladies, Siamese twins, and swaggering showmen. But the real stories—human dramas that so often eclipsed the fantasy presented on the stage—of the performing men, women and children, have been forgotten or marginalized in the histories of the very people who exploited them.��


In this richly evocative account, John Woolf uses a wealth of recently discovered material to bring to life the sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant, always extraordinary stories of people who used their (dis)abilities and difference to become some of the first international celebrities.��


Through their lives we discover afresh some of the great transformations of the age: the birth of show business, of celebrity, of advertising, and of “alternative facts�� while also exploring the tensions between the power of fame, the impact of exploitation, and our fascination with “otherness.”]]> 380 John Woolf 164313292X Tracy 3 Really interesting read

You find out that the circus people made more money in the circus and working on their own than with...lets call them independent contractors-who mercilessly exploited them.]]> 3.61 2019
author: John Woolf
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/06/13
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:
Really interesting read

You find out that the circus people made more money in the circus and working on their own than with...lets call them independent contractors-who mercilessly exploited them.
]]> 26150485 A cookbook showcasing the food and atmosphere of London's Chiltern Firehouse, a New York-style brasserie drawing praise and patrons from around the world.

London’s most fashionable, most talked about restaurant is Chiltern Firehouse, an iconic landmark and destination built in a stunning Victorian-Gothic firehouse in London’s Marylebone neighborhood. Owned by hotelier André Balazs, whose other properties include the Chateau Marmont and the Mercer Hotel, the exquisitely designed space is overflowing with A-listers every night of the week. What draws them in is the design, but what makes them stay is chef Nuno Mendes's incredible food--crab doughnuts, monkfish cooked over pine, and wood-grilled Iberico pork.

Chiltern Firehous goes behind the scenes with exclusive photography and striking design, delves into the Firehouse’s love affair with cocktails, and showcases the acclaimed recipes of Lisbon-born chef Nuno Mendes. Mendes draws on influences from his career split between the United States and Europe to create contemporary dishes with an American accent. With a lush, transporting package, Chiltern Firehouse delivers reimagined classics and bold new flavors, along with the charm of London’s hottest restaurant, to America’s shores.]]> 310 Nuno Mendes 1607749939 Tracy 3 Chiltern hype

Every famous person goes here. I’m always intrigued by these big restaurant menus, just to see what is so fab-u-lous about these places. On the whole, the book is clean, minimalist, hip etc. Inside, we have pretty pictures of pretty people doing things-“Ha! We are waiters and we have hip facial hair! We laugh together because it’s fun! I love my life!�� Or “Hello, I’m your sultry mixed race server. I’m desirable from a distance but don’t get too close to me. I’m just here to make the place look really multi ethnic.��

The recipes seemed to be heavily American inspired but have an added British twist. I have never seen so many steps for fried chicken in my life. There’s no brining but with the 845 other microcosm of ingredients-who cares! (Insert photo oh sexy fried chicken arranged on plate to look edible and sexy, but it’s not. I did some food photography, trust me.)

I don’t know. I sound bitter and bitchy but I’m not. I just took a glance in a book with beautiful people-posing-and food that takes about three days to make. I’m not kidding. There is nothing I would try to cook in this book because it takes so long. I’ve got kids. It’s not like, “Wait my dear, mummy will have dinner ready on Tuesday, as I have had to begin the anointing of the meat followed by picking wild berries in the yard. Just nurse this dirty martini I finally finished from last week. It’s not a lot of liquor but, I made it all.��

Pretty book. Not much else.

Merged review:

Chiltern hype

Every famous person goes here. I’m always intrigued by these big restaurant menus, just to see what is so fab-u-lous about these places. On the whole, the book is clean, minimalist, hip etc. Inside, we have pretty pictures of pretty people doing things-“Ha! We are waiters and we have hip facial hair! We laugh together because it’s fun! I love my life!�� Or “Hello, I’m your sultry mixed race server. I’m desirable from a distance but don’t get too close to me. I’m just here to make the place look really multi ethnic.��

The recipes seemed to be heavily American inspired but have an added British twist. I have never seen so many steps for fried chicken in my life. There’s no brining but with the 845 other microcosm of ingredients-who cares! (Insert photo oh sexy fried chicken arranged on plate to look edible and sexy, but it’s not. I did some food photography, trust me.)

I don’t know. I sound bitter and bitchy but I’m not. I just took a glance in a book with beautiful people-posing-and food that takes about three days to make. I’m not kidding. There is nothing I would try to cook in this book because it takes so long. I’ve got kids. It’s not like, “Wait my dear, mummy will have dinner ready on Tuesday, as I have had to begin the anointing of the meat followed by picking wild berries in the yard. Just nurse this dirty martini I finally finished from last week. It’s not a lot of liquor but, I made it all.��

Pretty book. Not much else.]]> 3.58 2016
author: Nuno Mendes
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2019/06/16
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:
Chiltern hype

Every famous person goes here. I’m always intrigued by these big restaurant menus, just to see what is so fab-u-lous about these places. On the whole, the book is clean, minimalist, hip etc. Inside, we have pretty pictures of pretty people doing things-“Ha! We are waiters and we have hip facial hair! We laugh together because it’s fun! I love my life!�� Or “Hello, I’m your sultry mixed race server. I’m desirable from a distance but don’t get too close to me. I’m just here to make the place look really multi ethnic.��

The recipes seemed to be heavily American inspired but have an added British twist. I have never seen so many steps for fried chicken in my life. There’s no brining but with the 845 other microcosm of ingredients-who cares! (Insert photo oh sexy fried chicken arranged on plate to look edible and sexy, but it’s not. I did some food photography, trust me.)

I don’t know. I sound bitter and bitchy but I’m not. I just took a glance in a book with beautiful people-posing-and food that takes about three days to make. I’m not kidding. There is nothing I would try to cook in this book because it takes so long. I’ve got kids. It’s not like, “Wait my dear, mummy will have dinner ready on Tuesday, as I have had to begin the anointing of the meat followed by picking wild berries in the yard. Just nurse this dirty martini I finally finished from last week. It’s not a lot of liquor but, I made it all.��

Pretty book. Not much else.

Merged review:

Chiltern hype

Every famous person goes here. I’m always intrigued by these big restaurant menus, just to see what is so fab-u-lous about these places. On the whole, the book is clean, minimalist, hip etc. Inside, we have pretty pictures of pretty people doing things-“Ha! We are waiters and we have hip facial hair! We laugh together because it’s fun! I love my life!�� Or “Hello, I’m your sultry mixed race server. I’m desirable from a distance but don’t get too close to me. I’m just here to make the place look really multi ethnic.��

The recipes seemed to be heavily American inspired but have an added British twist. I have never seen so many steps for fried chicken in my life. There’s no brining but with the 845 other microcosm of ingredients-who cares! (Insert photo oh sexy fried chicken arranged on plate to look edible and sexy, but it’s not. I did some food photography, trust me.)

I don’t know. I sound bitter and bitchy but I’m not. I just took a glance in a book with beautiful people-posing-and food that takes about three days to make. I’m not kidding. There is nothing I would try to cook in this book because it takes so long. I’ve got kids. It’s not like, “Wait my dear, mummy will have dinner ready on Tuesday, as I have had to begin the anointing of the meat followed by picking wild berries in the yard. Just nurse this dirty martini I finally finished from last week. It’s not a lot of liquor but, I made it all.��

Pretty book. Not much else.
]]> 62216903
Soon he’ll learn there are worse fates.

After a brutal accident, John awakens in the dilapidated Crimoria Convent under the care of thirteen unconventional nuns. Grievous injuries trap him within the borders of the ruined sanctuary and its strangely successful vineyard. When his body starts healing faster than nature allows, John’s questions quickly pile up.

A pair of Church auditors arrive to look into the convent’s finances. It’s obvious the pair are unwelcome guests, but John has bigger concerns. The order’s annual ritual draws near and John begins to discover things that make him wonder if any of them are truly safe in the hands of the Sisters of the Crimson Vine.
“A taut braid of repressed desires, implied deviance, and eldritch horror. McMillan coyly lures us to a finale as repulsive as it is compelling.�� �� Stoker award-winning Jamie Flanagan, co-writer of The Haunting of Bly Manor and Midnight Mass

“In her masterful debut novella, Sisters of the Crimson Vine, P.L. McMillan cultivates dread like a fine wine. The more we sip, the deeper we sink into this insidious tale grown from the seed of Jackson’s “The Lottery�� planted in a Lovecraftian terroir and harvested in Ari Aster’s Midsommar. Like the title characters�� famed libation, you will not be able to stop reading once you imbibe. A drunken sense of imbalance and uncertainty remains with you until the very end. Lovers of the occult will be pleasantly satiated by P.L. McMillan’s gothic offering.�� �� Stoker award-winning EV Knight, Three Days in the Pink Tower

��Sisters of the Crimson Vine by P.L McMillan is folk horror at its very best. The visuals, tension and mood created then intermixed with undeniable dread and mystery rides the very edges of illumination and darkness. P.L explores themes of religious hypocrisy and the power of women and sacrifices made to survive. She expertly subverts older tropes into something terrifying and new. This book is as vivid and twisted as any Aster movie.�� �� Brenda S. Tolian, Blood Mountain


��Sisters of the Crimson Vine is a perfectly paced suspenseful story that will make you want to savor every word. Invoking the ominous folk horror atmosphere of the Wicker Man and Midsommer, P.L. serves an unsettling tale of the supernatural bond between women and nature and the power and price of living free from patriarchal dominance.�� �� Joy Yehle, author and host of The Burial Plot horror podcast]]> 110 P.L. McMillan Tracy 0 4.19
author: P.L. McMillan
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: currently-reading, read-you-later-alligator
review:

]]> 18890304
UNEARTH YOUR CHARACTER’S UNIQUE PERSONALITY

Character creation can be hard, but it’s about to get a lot easier. Inside The Positive Trait Thesaurus, you’ll find:

�� A large selection of attributes to choose from when building a personality profile. Each entry lists possible causes for why a trait might emerge, along with associated attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions
�� Real character examples from literature, film, or television to show how an attribute drives actions and decisions, influences goals, and steers relationships
�� Advice on using positive traits to immediately hook readers while avoiding common personality pitfalls
�� Insight on human needs and morality, and how each determines the strengths that emerge in heroes and villains alike
�� Information on the key role positive attributes play within the character arc, and how they’re vital to overcoming fatal flaws and achieving success
�� Downloadable tools for organizing a character’s attributes and providing a deeper understanding of his past, his needs, and the emotional wounds he must overcome

If you find character creation difficult or worry that your cast members all seem the same, The Positive Trait Thesaurus is brimming with ideas to help you develop one-of-a-kind, dynamic characters that readers will love. Extensively indexed, with entries written in a user-friendly list format, this brainstorming resource is perfect for any character creation project.]]> 297 Angela Ackerman 0989772535 Tracy 0 currently-reading 4.60 2013
author: Angela Ackerman
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 18907171
TAKE CHARACTER CREATION TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

Nothing adds complexity like character flaws. Inside The Negative Trait Thesaurus you’ll find:

�� A vast collection of flaws to explore when building a character’s personality.
�� Each entry includes possible causes, attitudes, behaviors, thoughts, and related emotions
�� Real examples from literature, film, or television to show how each flaw can create life challenges and relational friction
�� Advice on building layered and memorable characters from the ground up
�� An in-depth look at backstory, emotional wounds, and how pain twists a character’s view of himself and his world, influencing behavior and decision making
�� A flaw-centric exploration of character arc, relationships, motivation, and basic needs
�� Tips on how to best show a character’s flaws to readers while avoiding common pitfalls
�� Downloadable tools to aid writers in character creation

The Negative Trait Thesaurus sheds light on your character’s dark side. Written in list format and fully indexed, this brainstorming resource is perfect for creating deep, flawed characters readers will relate to.]]> 308 Angela Ackerman 0989772527 Tracy 0 4.55 2013
author: Angela Ackerman
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 99300
Written from a feminist perspective, often focusing on the inferior status accorded to women by society, the tales include "turned," an ironic story with a startling twist, in which a husband seduces and impregnates a naïve servant; "Cottagette," concerning the romance of a young artist and a man who's apparently too good to be true; "Mr. Peebles' Heart," a liberating tale of a fiftyish shopkeeper whose sister-in-law, a doctor, persuades him to take a solo trip to Europe, with revivifying results; "The Yellow Wallpaper"; and three other outstanding stories.

These charming tales are not only highly readable and full of humor and invention, but also offer ample food for thought about the social, economic, and personal relationship of men and women �� and how they might be improved.

Collects:
—The Yellow Wallpaper
—Three Thanksgivings
—The Cottagette
—T�ܰ��Ա��
—Making a Change
—If I Were a Man
—Mr. Peebles' Heart]]> 129 Charlotte Perkins Gilman 0486298574 Tracy 5 4.05 1892
author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1892
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 5945902 A Modest Proposal and Other Writings is edited with an introduction and notes by Carol Fabricant.

To ease poverty in Ireland by eating the children of the poor was the satirical 'solution' suggested by Jonathan Swift in his essay 'A Modest Proposal' (1729). Here Swift unleashes the full power of his ironic armoury and corrosive wit, finding his targets - the British ruling class and avaricious landlords, and the brutalized Irish, complicit in their own oppression - with deadly precision. His masterly essay is accompanied by a generous selection of prose works, among them pamphlets attacking British rule in his native Ireland, periodical essays critiquing the new capitalist and military classes, a journal detailing his political activities in London, a loving tribute to his beloved 'Stella' after her death and pieces on such diverse subjects as the absurdities of astrology, the joys of punning and comical rules for servants. Ingenious and unconventional, Swift is revealed here as one of the greatest satirists in the English language.

In her introduction to this new edition, Carol Fabricant discusses Swift's life and turbulent times, his political views and his powers as a writer of complex irony and intricate word play. This volume also includes a chronology, further reading, a glossary, notes and a biographical dictionary.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Dublin. Sent to Kilkenny Grammar School when he was six, Swift later attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he received his BA degree in 1686. He is considered the foremost prose satirist in the English language, which stemmed from his criticism of Britain's repressive colonial policies in Ireland. Among Swift's best known works are his ironic masterpiece, 'A Modest Proposal' (1729), and his novel, Gulliver's Travels (1726).

If you enjoyed A Modest Proposal, you might like Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock and Other Major Writings, also available in Penguin Classics.]]> 412 Jonathan Swift 0140436421 Tracy 0 to-read 3.47 1729
author: Jonathan Swift
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.47
book published: 1729
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213121840 Emotion Amplifiers—expanded, updated, and now available in paperback and ebook!

Characters who are in control of their emotions rarely slip up, which makes for boring reading. To avoid that pitfall, channel your dark side and introduce stress that will make it harder for them to think clearly. Your weapon of choice? An amplifier. Pain, arousal, dehydration—conditions and states like these make it difficult for a character to emotionally self-regulate, setting them up for overreactions, misjudgments, and (hopefully) colossal mistakes they’ll have to fix and learn from.

Inside The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus, you’ll

* A deep dive into cognitive and emotional dissonance and how psychological discomfort steers a character’s reasoning and impacts their ability to make decisions

* Information on emotional stress as a trigger for self-awareness and personal growth, which makes amplifiers powerful levers to help steer story structure and character arc

* Lists of body language cues, internal sensations, thoughts, and other descriptives to show the effects of more than 50 amplifiers

* Brainstorming help on how to use each amplifier to generate tension and complication, apply everyday pressure, and make a character emotionally volatile

* Fifty-two bonus writing tips to help you wield amplifiers with skill and precision, taking your scenes from good to great

Push your characters. Give them no quarter. Use physical, cognitive, and psychological strain to force them to face their mistakes, acknowledge their true feelings, and work through the contradictions at the heart of every inner struggle.]]> 214 Angela Ackerman 1736152343 Tracy 0 currently-reading 4.73 2014
author: Angela Ackerman
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.73
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 8680417
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780345524256]]> 310 Ben Aaronovitch Tracy 3 3.88 2011
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/25
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 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 Tracy 4
Basically Magical Girls are like superheroes. They have their own union and they can help each other out. Our protagonist starts by thinking about unending her life on a bridge when a taxi shows up. In the taxi is a magical girl that basically says, “I am where I always need to be and right on time.�� She’s the clairvoyant magical girl.

Now, I’m not giving away much else except the villain is a Villain. She is a magical girl and she leans into being menacing, scary and all the villain things. Pay attention to the part about the rose.

Overall, I was pleased with the book but when I tried to describe it to a coworker, I realized I liked it more and more. If you haven’t read it, I’d say pick it up from your library first. It’s not for everyone.]]> 3.57 2022
author: Park Seolyeon
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/30
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves: comic-books-and-graphic-novels, me-likey, shorties
review:
Have you ever read a book that gets better the more time you think about it? I read this book in a day and I have to say that at first, I was on the fence but now I own a copy!

Basically Magical Girls are like superheroes. They have their own union and they can help each other out. Our protagonist starts by thinking about unending her life on a bridge when a taxi shows up. In the taxi is a magical girl that basically says, “I am where I always need to be and right on time.�� She’s the clairvoyant magical girl.

Now, I’m not giving away much else except the villain is a Villain. She is a magical girl and she leans into being menacing, scary and all the villain things. Pay attention to the part about the rose.

Overall, I was pleased with the book but when I tried to describe it to a coworker, I realized I liked it more and more. If you haven’t read it, I’d say pick it up from your library first. It’s not for everyone.
]]> 13872 Geek Love is the story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias set out �� with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes �� to breed their own exhibit of human oddities. There's Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family's most precious �� and dangerous �� asset.

As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.]]> 348 Katherine Dunn 0375713344 Tracy 0 3.96 1989
author: Katherine Dunn
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves: currently-reading, i-ve-heard-so-much-about-you, read-you-later-alligator
review:

]]> 63101942 416 Junji Ito 1974740013 Tracy 0 3.99 1995
author: Junji Ito
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 2028514 84 David Humphreys 1857565045 Tracy 0 4.07 2004
author: David Humphreys
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 205503574 From multiple-time Amazon #1 bestlling author of over 40 books, Iain Rob Wright.
"Iain Rob Wright scares the hell out of me!" - JA Konrath
"A Horror Mastermind." - Matt Shaw
"Sick & twisted." - David Moody

SOME DEALS SHOULD NOT BE MADE...
With his eldest daughter fighting deadly cancer and his youngest determined to get herself into all kinds of trouble, Jake Penshaw is a man on the very edges of a breakdown. A father is supposed to keep his children safe, but no matter what he does, things only ever seem to get worse. He’s sick of being powerless. He’s sick of failing as a man.

It’s time for him to do something drastic, something that will finally fix his problems once and for all. It’s time to make a deal.

Flesh Bargain is a contemporary horror tale that will constantly surprise you. One of Iain Rob Wright’s most challenging novels yet!

THIS BOOK IS A STANDALONE ENTRY IN THE 'CURSED MANUSCRIPTS' SHARED UNIVERSE

On December 21, 2012, according to the Mayan Calendar, the world was supposed to end. It didn't. But on that day, 113 mysterious manuscripts were discovered around the world, each one written in blood by an unknown author. After several dozen unexplained deaths befell the finders of said manuscripts, a decision was made to lock them up for good in a secret vault beneath the Vatican. It is said that anyone who reads the stories will die, and as such they are now referred to as 'The Cursed Manuscripts.'

In December 2020, new manuscripts started turning up around the world. 'Flesh Bargain' was one of them.

MANUSCRIPT 10/21-024 (FLESH BARGAIN).
Details below.

Manuscript 12.20-01, discovered January 2020 in Machu Pichu, Peru, by Canadian tourist, Mitch Capaldi, who found it half buried amongst the Incan ruins. Three hours after finding the manuscript, Mr Capaldi lost his footing on the hillside and broke his neck. The loose pages of 'Flesh Bargain' were found over a ten mile radius and took several weeks to retrieve. Several locals suffered mysterious deaths during that time and labelled the cuento del diablo
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING★★★★�� "One of Britain’s brightest talents."
★★★★�� "There's no good point to put the book down so you can get some sleep."
★★★★�� "Stephen King fans would enjoy this."
★★★★�� "I loved every minute of it."
★★★★�� "I read it in 2 days, unheard of for me!"
★★★★�� "There is a surprising twist to the end of the book."
★★★★�� "A cosy, ripping yarn."
★★★★�� "Brilliant storyline with the right amount of horror."
★★★★�� "I could not put it down, had to read through the night."
★★★★�� "I loved the story!"
★★★★�� "Everything I've come to expect from Iain Rob Wright."]]> 378 Iain Rob Wright Tracy 3 4.24
author: Iain Rob Wright
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2024/04/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 41958768 99 Ronald Malfi Tracy 3 3.79
author: Ronald Malfi
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.79
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 39082248
The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision.

Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn.]]> 213 Waubgeshig Rice 1770414002 Tracy 0 3.83 2018
author: Waubgeshig Rice
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/03/24
date added: 2024/03/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 43352954 Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war.]]> 209 Amal El-Mohtar Tracy 4 3.86 2019
author: Amal El-Mohtar
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/23
date added: 2024/03/24
shelves: me-likey, recommended-from-somewhere, ya-apoc-fiction
review:

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

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.]]> 264 Agatha Christie 0312330871 Tracy 0 4.28 1939
author: Agatha Christie
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1939
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/19
date added: 2024/02/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 200287110 #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon’s daring new work of dystopian horror is a propulsive satire set in an all-Black gated community. For fans of The Sellout and Erasure, with a shocking ending you’ll never see coming, One of Our Kind has been celebrated with rave reviews from The New York Times, Oprah Daily, Time, Seth Meyers, and more.

��One of Our Kind [has]...a freight-train feel. Yoon reminds us...of the richness and intimacy of Black culture, and underlines how much more we are than our trauma."
—Kashana Cauley, The New York Times

"Brilliant...Your book club will be discussing this one for DAYS.�� —Jodi Picoult

“With haunting and powerful prose, Nicola Yoon brilliantly imagines a world with much to tell us about our own.��
—John Green, New York Times best-selling author of Turtles All the Way Down

"For readers who want to be taken to the edge of expectation, and solidly dropped into the middle of a new nightmare. I still have goosebumps.��
—Ashley C. Ford, New York Times best-selling author of Somebody’s Daughter

“Masterful. . . . Yoon maintains taut, nerve-shattering suspense throughout as she delves into societal fault lines and cultural anxieties" �� Publishers Weekly, STARRED

Jasmyn and King Williams move their family to the planned Black utopia of Liberty, California hoping to find a community of like-minded people, a place where their growing family can thrive. King settles in at once, embracing the Liberty ethos, including the luxe wellness center at the top of the hill, which proves to be the heart of the community. But Jasmyn struggles to find her place. She expected to find liberals and social justice activists striving for racial equality, but Liberty residents seem more focused on booking spa treatments and ignoring the world’s troubles.

Jasmyn’s only friends in the community are equally perplexed and frustrated by most residents' outlook. Then Jasmyn discovers a terrible secret about Liberty and its founders. Frustration turns to dread as their loved ones start embracing the Liberty way of life.

Will the truth destroy her world in ways she never could have imagined?

Thrilling with insightful social commentary, One of Our Kind explores the ways in which freedom is complicated by the presumptions we make about ourselves and each other.]]> 272 Nicola Yoon 0593470672 Tracy 0 to-read 3.24 2024
author: Nicola Yoon
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61391674
»Miss Peregrines Museum der besonderen Kinder« ergänzt die abenteuerliche Fantasy-Reihe von Bestsellerautor Ransom Riggs und ist ein unverzichtbarer Wegweiser durch die magische Welt �� zauberhaft ausgestattet mit neuen geheimnisvollen Fotografien und Illustrationen.

Miss Peregrine höchstpersönlich verrät alles, was du über Jacob Portman, seine Freunde und die Ymbrynen wissen musst: Sie berichtet von kuriosen Fähigkeiten und faszinierenden Orten, erzählt die seltsame Geschichte der Besonderen und gibt Tipps, welche Zeitschleifen du als Tourist unbedingt besucht haben solltest.

In ihrem unnachahmlichen Stil enthüllt Miss Peregrine dabei auch neue Besondere und neue Feinde, neue Zeitschleifen, Geschichten und Geheimnisse.

Hunderte bislang unveröffentlichte Fotos und ausgewählte Illustrationen, die die magische Welt lebendig werden lassen, machen das »Museum der besonderen Kinder« zum perfekten Geschenk für alle Fans der Besonderen und die, die es noch werden wollen.]]> 234 Ransom Riggs 0399538585 Tracy 0 3.58 2022
author: Ransom Riggs
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/27
date added: 2024/01/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 60827131
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 33 T. Kingfisher Tracy 0 currently-reading 3.88
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.88
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/25
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 22022628
Five terrifying collected horror novellas newly reissued from the "modern-day Algernon Blackwood."

Skullbelly: After three teenagers disappear in a forest, a private detective is hired and uncovers a terrible local secret.

The Separation: Marcus arrives in Germany to find his friend up-and-coming prizefighter Charlie in a deep depression. But soon Charlie's behavior grows increasingly bizarre. Is he suffering from a nervous breakdown, or are otherworldly forces at work?

The Stranger: Set a rural Florida parking lot, David returns to his car to find a stranger sat behind the wheel. The doors are locked and there's a gun on the dashboard. And that was when then the insanity started . . .

After the Fade: A girl walked into a small Annapolis tavern, collapsed and died. Something had latched itself to the base of her skull. And it didn't arrive alone. Now, the patrons of The Fulcrum are trapped, held prisoner within the tavern's walls by monstrous things, trying to find their way in.

And one more novella to be revealed!]]> 201 Ronald Malfi Tracy 0 3.71 2014
author: Ronald Malfi
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 41721428 New York Times Best SellerOver 5 million copies soldFor David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare -- poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world's top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him "The Fittest (Real) Man in America."In Can't Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.]]> 366 David Goggins 1544512260 Tracy 0 4.30 2018
author: David Goggins
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 60420346
COLLECTING:��Spider-Punk (2022) 1-5]]> 120 Cody Ziglar 1302934627 Tracy 0 3.75 2023
author: Cody Ziglar
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/22
date added: 2023/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 59808540
Hauntings, and a variety of horrifying secrets, lurk in the places we once called home. Written by New York Times bestselling, and other critically acclaimed, authors these stories shed a harsh light on the scariest tales we grew up with.

Stay / Erica Waters
The tallest poppy / Chloe Gong
Loved by all, save one / Tori Bovalino
One-lane bridge / Hannah Whitten
Ghost on the shore / Allison Saft
Petrified / Olivia Chadha
Third burn / Courtney Gould
It stays with you / Aden Polydoros
Truth or dare / Alex Brown
The burning one / Shakira Toussaint]]> 272 Tori Bovalino 1645676226 Tracy 4 3.55 2022
author: Tori Bovalino
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/22
date added: 2023/12/22
shelves:
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]]> 137888589
Dark Quotes & Wisdom (Pocket Thoughts) is a colorful pocket-sized collection of thoughtful quotes with a #darkacademia theme. Inspired by the popular subculture on IG and TikTok, this is a perfect gift for you or your "aesthetic" friends or family members.

From Edgar Allan Poe to Sylvia Plath, Donna Tartt to Dead Poets Society, this colorful treasury of ideas will make you think and feel in equal parts. The entries also make perfect prompts for reflecting, meditating or journaling. Dip into a random page when inspo strikes or when you're in a sepia-tone mood and simply want to feel understood.

Get intrigued and inspired by some of your fav contemporary writers like Madeline Miller, Haruki Murakami and J.K. Rowling alongside literary luminaries like Oscar Wilde, Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson, Mary Shelley, and Charlotte Brontë; from Romantic and Beat poets (Byron, anyone?) to German and Greek philosophers, Russian novelists to French existentialists.

We've chosen these quotes with care, selecting ones that not only capture and accessorize the "dark" atmosphere but also offer light �� i.e., "illuminating" ideas that stimulate thought and depth. Rather than simply being gloomy or nihilistic, #darkacademia literature can actually be seen as affirmational. In a world of cheery self-help and artificial influencers, these quotes affirm authentic human emotions, from sadness and confusion to wonder and bliss. And in rejecting some of today's values, it explores new (or shall we say time-old?) to wit, artistic creation and inspiration; a sense of purpose and personal meaning; and a deep love of learning.

Whether you're looking for inspo on a rainy day or seeking solace on a dark and stormy night, this delightful collection will help you keep #darkacademia wisdom in your back pocket.

---

What is dark academia? (For newbies and gift-givers)

Welcome to Dark Academia 101. As you enter a dimly-lit library, take a moment to adjust your vintage round glasses and look mahogany tables lined with leather-bound books; fountain pens resting on Latin script; vintage curios; skulls. You're in Oxbridge �� or is it New England? or Hogwarts? �� at a dazzling unnamed university or prep school. Across stained glass windows flash shadows of falling leaves. As you wander the cavernous halls, fellow bookish scholars nod, decked in the de facto autumn/winter preppy tweed blazers, plaid skirts, black turtlenecks, argyl sweaters in muted colors, brogues.

It's you're in Gen Z Bohemia. You're in the storied world of Dark Academia.

Yep, it's a vibe. Part nostalgia, part fantasy, dark academia is a moody aesthetic associated with Gothic architecture, classical art, and European Romanticism. It values higher education, especially the humanities including literature and writing, as well as vintage fashion from the 1930s and 40s. The subculture emerged in the mid-2010s and gained popularity during the Covid lockdowns, with communities thriving on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Tumblr, and Pinterest.

Some call the movement reactionary, a cobblestone's throw from other social media aesthetics like #Cottagecore. In a world of 24/7 news and information, #darkacademia prizes ancient wisdom, trading in on-demand digital living for an imagined simpler, slower life 100-some years ago. In lieu of online classrooms, it envisions life amid stained-glass ivory towers.]]> 160 P T Press 1915930375 Tracy 0 to-read 4.00
author: P T Press
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> 78627220 A sweet sapphic romance takes a deadly dark turn in this sharp-as-a-knife novella from the New York Times bestselling author.

Rosemary meets Ash at the farmers�� market. Ash—precise, pretty, and practically perfect—sells bars of soap in delicate pastel colors, sprinkle-spackled cupcakes stacked on scalloped stands, beeswax candles, jelly jars of honey, and glossy green plants. Ro has never felt this way about another woman; with Ash, she wants to be her and have her in equal measure. But as her obsession with Ash consumes her, she may find she’s not the one doing the devouring…]]> 203 Delilah S. Dawson Tracy 0 to-read 3.82 2023
author: Delilah S. Dawson
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 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 Tracy 0 to-read 3.92 2023
author: Michael Finkel
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60965426 From the legendary music producer, a master at helping people connect with the wellsprings of their creativity, comes a beautifully crafted book many years in the making that offers that same deep wisdom to all of us.

"A gorgeous and inspiring work of art on creation, creativity, the work of the artist. It will gladden the hearts of writers and artists everywhere, and get them working again with a new sense of meaning and direction. A stunning accomplishment." --Anne Lamott

"I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be." --Rick Rubin

Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn't, he has learned that being an artist isn't about your specific output, it's about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone's life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities.

The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distills the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime's work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments--and lifetimes--of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us.]]> 406 Rick Rubin 0593652886 Tracy 0 to-read 4.00 2023
author: Rick Rubin
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 123172156 120 Aaron Duran 8419670022 Tracy 2 3.36
author: Aaron Duran
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.36
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2023/10/05
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves:
review:
Normalmente me gustan los libros con realismo mágico. Este libro tenía eso pero no podía decidir si realmente era necesario y si estaba aquí y ahora. No sé. Es una historia confusa pero se reduce a respetar y amar los regalos de tu familia y creer en ti mismo.
]]> 53103895 Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?

Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections. Bea agrees, on one condition--under no circumstances will she actually fall in love. She's in this to supercharge her career, subvert harmful anti-fat beauty standards, inspire women across America, and get a free hot air balloon ride. That's it.

But when the cameras start rolling, Bea realizes things are more complicated than she anticipated. She's in a whirlwind of sumptuous couture, Internet culture wars, sexy suitors, and an opportunity (or two, or five) to find messy, real-life love in the midst of a made-for-TV fairy tale.]]> 417 Kate Stayman-London 0525510443 Tracy 0 3.86 2020
author: Kate Stayman-London
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 125091930
In “Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc,�� a millennial English professor facing mounting personal crises puts her energies into TikTok, but her newfound viral fame could wreck her already unstable life. In “Patriots'; Day,�� a man trying to leave his marriage for the woman he loves finds himself caught up in larger currents of anti-Asian violence. In other stories, an array of loners and artists—a young poet haunted by the ghost of Oscar Wilde, a queer beer brewer, a boy with wings—struggle for connection and fulfillment in a world battered by the pandemic and reactionary politics. A daring writer with limitless range, SJ Sindu can depict shocking cruelty as readily as small moments of queer joy. The Goth House Experiment is a startling and very funny collection by one of America’s most exciting young voices.]]> 209 S.J. Sindu 1641295201 Tracy 0 3.49 2023
author: S.J. Sindu
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 55445159 Every month, a letter. That's what Lauren decides to leave her husband when she finds out she's dying. Each month, she gives Josh a letter containing a task to help him face this first year without her, leading him on a heartrending, beautiful, often humorous journey to find happiness again in this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins.

Joshua and Lauren are the perfect couple. Newly married, they're wildly in love, each on a successful and rewarding career path. Then Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness.

As Lauren's disease progresses, Joshua struggles to make the most of the time he has left with his wife and to come to terms with his future--a future without the only woman he's ever loved. He's so consumed with finding a way to avoid the inevitable ending that he never imagines his life after Lauren.

But Lauren has a plan to keep her husband moving forward. A plan hidden in the letters she leaves him. In those letters, one for every month in the year after her death, Lauren leads Joshua on a journey through pain, anger, and denial. It's a journey that will take Joshua from his attempt at a dinner party for family and friends to getting rid of their bed...from a visit with a psychic medium to a kiss with a woman who isn't Lauren. As his grief makes room for laughter and new relationships, Joshua learns Lauren's most valuable lesson: The path to happiness doesn't follow a straight line.

Sometimes heartbreaking, often funny, and always uplifting, this novel from New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins illuminates how life's greatest joys are often hiding in plain sight.]]> 480 Kristan Higgins 0451489489 Tracy 0 4.12 2021
author: Kristan Higgins
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 56898076
Seven years later, her gifts have manifested in different ways for Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly’s daughter, Rhiannon, granting them unexpected blessings. But soon, a hidden figure begins to tear through their family tree, picking them off one by one as it seeks to destroy Orquídea’s line. Determined to save what’s left of their family and uncover the truth behind their inheritance, the four descendants travel to Ecuador—to the place where Orquídea buried her secrets and broken promises and never looked back.]]> 336 Zoraida Córdova 1982102543 Tracy 0 3.91 2021
author: Zoraida Córdova
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 51931067 From Stonewall and Lambda Award-winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.

Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after.

When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle....

But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself.

Felix Ever After is an honest and layered story about identity, falling in love, and recognizing the love you deserve.]]> 368 Kacen Callender 0062820257 Tracy 0 4.21 2020
author: Kacen Callender
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 83814853
The students in Corbin College’s elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all—free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. When first-gen college student Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she doesn’t hesitate.?�� Except once she’s settled into the gorgeous Victorian dormitory, something strange starts to happen. She’s finally writing, but her stories are dark and twisted. Her dreams feel as if they could bury her alive. An unseen presence seems to stalk her through the halls.����And a chilling secret awaits Tara at the heart of Magni Viri—one that just might turn her nightmares into reality; one that might destroy her before she has a chance to escape.��

All That Consumes Us will pull readers into a hypnotizing, dark reverie that blurs the lines of reality and shows that the addictive nature of ambition—and its inevitable price—always claims its due. ��]]> 416 Erica Waters 0063115964 Tracy 0 3.70 2023
author: Erica Waters
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 19762124
Includes content previously published in The Survival Handbook]]> 176 Colin Towell Tracy 5 me-likey 4.20 2011
author: Colin Towell
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/11/21
shelves: me-likey
review:

]]> 36022863 The prequel tale to the most highly anticipated video game of 2017 continues with INJUSTICE 2 VOL. 2!

From the makers of the critically acclaimed prequel comic to the smash-hit fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us comes the highly anticipated prequel to Injustice 2! Batman has triumphed over the tyranical Superman! But now he must piece all of the world back together. From best-selling writer Tom Taylor, scribe of the original INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US graphic novel series, comes INJUSTICE 2! Collects issues #7-12, 14.]]> 160 Tom Taylor 1401278418 Tracy 0 4.04 2018
author: Tom Taylor
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2023/11/13
date added: 2023/11/13
shelves:
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]]> 35652872 When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother’s attic, it seems like an incredible stroke of luck. Sure, the building hasn’t been inhabited in forty years and vines strangle the age-stained walls, but Guy is convinced he can clean it up and sell it. He’d be crazy to turn down free money. Right?

The house is hours from any other habitation, and Guy can't get phone reception in the old building. He decides to camp there while he does repairs. Surely nothing too bad can happen in the space of a week.

But there’s a reason no one lives in Rookward House, and the dilapidated rooms aren’t as empty as they seem��

A deranged woman tormented a family in Rookward forty years before. Now her ghost clings to the building like rot. She’s bitter, obsessive, and jealous�� and once Guy has moved into her house, she has no intention of ever letting him leave.]]> 298 Darcy Coates Tracy 3 3.82 2017
author: Darcy Coates
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2023/11/13
date added: 2023/11/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 29873085 216 Isabelle Bruno 1419722670 Tracy 0 3.00
author: Isabelle Bruno
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 38372711 �� New York Times Book Review ��


FBI Special Agent Jeff Rinek had a gift for getting child predators to confess. All he had to do was share a piece of his soul . . .

In the Name of the Children gives an unflinching look at what it's like to fight a never-ending battle against an enemy far more insidious than the predators, lurking amongst us, who seek to harm our children.

During his 30-year career with the FBI, Jeff Rinek worked hundreds of investigations involving crimes against from stranger abduction to serial homicide to ritualized sexual abuse. Those who do this kind of work are required to plumb the depths of human depravity, to see things no one should ever have to see—and once seen can never forget. There is no more important—or more brutal—job in law enforcement, and few have been more successful than Rinek at solving these sort of cases.

Most famously, Rinek got Cary Stayner to confess to all four of the killings known as the Yosemite Park Murders, an accomplishment made more extraordinary by the fact that the FBI nearly pinned the crimes on the wrong suspects. Rinek's recounting of the confession and what he learned about Stayner provides perhaps the most revelatory look ever inside the psyche of a serial killer and a privileged glimpse into the art of interrogation.

In the Name of the Children takes readers into the trenches of real-time investigations where every second counts and any wrong decision or overlooked fact can have tragic repercussions. Rinek offers an insider's perspective of the actual case agents and street detectives who are the boots on the ground in this war at home. By placing us inside the heart and mind of a rigorously honest and remarkably self-reflective investigator, we will see with our own eyes what it takes—and what it costs—to try to keep our children safe and to bring to justice those who prey on society's most vulnerable victims.

With each chapter dedicated to a real case he worked, In the Name of the Children also explores the evolution of Rinek as a Special Agent—whose unorthodox, empathy-based approach to interviewing suspects made him extraordinarily successful in obtaining confessions—and the toll it took to have such intimate contact with child molesters and murderers. Beyond exploring the devastating impact of these unthinkable crimes on the victims and their families, this book offers an unprecedented look at how investigators and their loved ones cope while living in the specter of so much suffering.]]> 300 Jeffrey L. Rinek 1946885282 Tracy 3 4.14 2018
author: Jeffrey L. Rinek
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/23
date added: 2023/10/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 59545372
In December 2020, new manuscripts started turning up around the world.

If you find one, do not read it.]]> 190 Iain Rob Wright Tracy 4 3.06 2021
author: Iain Rob Wright
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.06
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/23
date added: 2023/10/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 103220251
After a spate of grizzly teen deaths occur, all seemingly connected to a new online trend, bizarro reporter and perpetual man-child Shane Mogg employs the help of his only friend and fellow journalist, Ed, to help him investigate just what in the 'hell' is going on.

Rumours suggest the dead are returning, brought back by careless words. Ripped from Hell or pulled from Heaven, they are angry. The dead are always angry.

If you love the tense, investigative horror of the Ring or enjoy the otherwordly scares of the Conjuring Universe, then Iain Rob Wright's Ghosts is for you!]]> 282 Iain Rob Wright Tracy 0 currently-reading 4.30
author: Iain Rob Wright
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 34596370
I live next to a haunted house.

I began to suspect something was wrong with the gothic building when its family fled in the middle of the night, the children screaming, the mother crying. They never came back to pack up their furniture.

No family stays long. Animals avoid the place. Once, I thought I saw a woman's silhouette pacing through the upstairs room... but that seems impossible; no one was living there at the time.

A new occupant, Anna, has just moved in. I paid her a visit to warn her about the building. I didn't expect us to become friends, but we did. And now that Marwick House is waking up, she's asked me to stay with her.

I never intended to become involved with the building or its vengeful, dead inhabitant. But now I have to save Anna... before it's too late for the both of us.]]> 282 Darcy Coates Tracy 3 3.84 2017
author: Darcy Coates
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/22
date added: 2023/10/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 22396591
Re-opened police records, psychiatric reports, transcripts of video footage and fragments of diary reveal a web of deceit and intrigue, violence and murder, raising a whole lot more questions than it answers.

Who was Kaitlyn and why did she only appear at night? Did she really exist or was she a figment of a disturbed mind? What were the illicit rituals taking place at the school? And just what did happen at Elmbridge in the events leading up to ‘the Johnson Incident��?]]> 440 Dawn Kurtagich 1780622341 Tracy 0 currently-reading 3.68 2015
author: Dawn Kurtagich
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 8130423 In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.]]> 361 Rick Riordan Tracy 4 4.44 2008
author: Rick Riordan
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/10/16
shelves:
review:
I have to say this was way better than book 3, which was torture. Once they get in the labyrinth things really get jumping. It was weird how the labyrinth was incorporated into the real world-which was confusing. But I have to say the final battle scene made me stand up and cheer! It seems as though the next book may set everyone up to go their separate ways.
]]> 62919902 Black Mirror and The Amityville Horror.

When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house. The trials of home improvement, destructive insecurities, and haunted house horror all collide in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nick Cutter’s bestsellers The Troop and The Deep.]]> 292 Nick Cutter 1982196718 Tracy 3 3.25 2023
author: Nick Cutter
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/24
date added: 2023/09/23
shelves: i-ve-heard-so-much-about-you, made-my-brain-hurt, read-at-your-own-risk, read-it-and-was-okay
review:

]]> 174033389
Wilted Pages features new stories from...]]> 274 Ai Jiang 1959565125 Tracy 0 currently-reading 3.59 2023
author: Ai Jiang
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 75720404
These are the words the reverend of the Lilin Assembly of Our Lord repeats to his parishioners each week. Steve and Nicole Warby think it’s just a metaphor, until Nicole takes a walk in those woods and comes back changed. Something came out of them with her, and the simple small-town life they’ve always known is forever altered when they discover the dark secrets buried deep and those intent on keeping them there. Fearing for his wife’s sanity, and his own comfortable status in the church, Steve is unsure if he wants to help or ignore the problems. The reverend believes there are witches in the woods, and he thinks Nicole is only the most recent.

Conjuring the Witch is a dark, haunted story about what those in power are willing to do to stay in power, and the sins we convince ourselves are forgivable.]]> 190 Jessica Leonard 1943720843 Tracy 3 3.76 2023
author: Jessica Leonard
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/19
date added: 2023/08/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 57689966
Claudia Morgan is overwhelmed. She's a single parent trying the best that she can, but her four-year-old son, Henry, is a handful--for her and for his preschool. When Claudia hears about a school with an atypical teaching style near her Chicagoland home, she has to visit. The Hawthorne School is beautiful and has everything she dreams of for Henry: time to play outside, music, and art. The head of the school, Zelma, will even let Claudia volunteer to cover the cost of tuition.

The school is good for Henry: his "behavioral problems" disappear, and he comes home subdued instead of rageful. But there's something a bit off about the school, its cold halls, and its enigmatic headmistress. When Henry brings home stories of ceremonies in the woods and odd rules, Claudia's instincts tell her that something isn't quite right, and she begins to realize she's caught in a web of manipulations and power.

The author's work as a psychotherapist, with a focus on narcissistic manipulation and addictive power dynamics, guides this exploration of a young mother wanting to do the best for her child.]]> 304 Sylvie Perry Tracy 3 3.36 2021
author: Sylvie Perry
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/17
date added: 2023/08/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 60585628
"Each precious thing I show you in this book is a holy relic from the night we both perished-the night when I combed you from my hair and watered the moon with your blood.

You've lost a lot of blood . . ."]]> 209 Eric LaRocca 1088025757 Tracy 3
And they say, “You’ve lost a lot of blood.�� A lot.]]> 3.24 2022
author: Eric LaRocca
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/15
date added: 2023/08/15
shelves:
review:
Well, I liked his first book-sorry if I didn’t get the pronouns-but this was two stories in one. It would have been better told as two separate stories than one long story.

And they say, “You’ve lost a lot of blood.�� A lot.
]]> 35863510 One man’s thrilling journey through an enchanted world to find his wife, who has disappeared after seemingly committing an unforgiveable act of violence, from the award-winning author of the The Devil in Silver and Big Machine.

Apollo Kagwa has had strange dreams that have haunted him since childhood. An antiquarian book dealer with a business called Improbabilia, he is just beginning to settle into his new life as a committed and involved father, unlike his own father who abandoned him, when his wife Emma begins acting strange. Disconnected and uninterested in their new baby boy, Emma at first seems to be exhibiting all the signs of post-partum depression, but it quickly becomes clear that her troubles go far beyond that. Before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act—beyond any parent’s comprehension—and vanishes, seemingly into thin air.

Thus begins Apollo’s odyssey through a world he only thought he understood to find a wife and child who are nothing like he’d imagined. His quest begins when he meets a mysterious stranger who claims to have information about Emma’s whereabouts. Apollo then begins a journey that takes him to a forgotten island in the East River of New York City, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest in Queens where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever.

This dizzying tale is ultimately a story about family and the unfathomable secrets of the people we love.]]> 448 Victor LaValle 0812985877 Tracy 0 to-read 3.89 2017
author: Victor LaValle
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61484891 Eisner Award Nomination: Best Publication for Teens
L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist: Young Adult Literature

"A beautiful, courageous book.��
Gene Luen Yang, author of American Born Chinese

Monstrous is poignant young adult graphic memoir about a Korean-American girl who uses fandom and art-making to overcome racist bullying. Perfect for fans of Almost American Girl!

Sarah has always struggled to fit in. Born in South Korea and adopted at birth by a white couple, she grows up in a rural community with few Asian neighbors. People whisper in the supermarket. Classmates bully her. She has trouble containing her anger in these moments―but through it all, she has her art. She's always been a compulsive drawer, and when she discovers anime, her hobby becomes an obsession.

Though drawing and cosplay offer her an escape, she still struggles to connect with others. And in high school, the bullies are louder and meaner. Sarah's bubbling rage is threatening to burst.]]> 272 Sarah Myer 1250268796 Tracy 3 4.37 2023
author: Sarah Myer
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/08/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 63874788 ENROLLMENT BEGINS NOW

A beguiling, sinister collection of 12 dark academia short stories from masters of the genre, including Olivie Blake, M.L. Rio, Susie Yang and more!

In these stories, dear student, retribution visits a lothario lecturer; the sinister truth is revealed about a missing professor; a forsaken lover uses a séance for revenge; an obsession blooms about a possible illicit affair; two graduates exhume the secrets of a reclusive scholar; horrors are uncovered in an obscure academic department; five hopeful initiates must complete a murderous task and much more!

Featuring brand-new stories from:
Olivie Blake
M.L. Rio
David Bell
Susie Yang
Layne Fargo
J.T. Ellison
James Tate Hill
Kelly Andrew
Phoebe Wynne
Kate Weinberg
Helen Grant
Tori Bovalino

Definition of dark academia in English:
dark academia
1. An internet subculture concerned with higher education, the arts, and literature, or an idealised version thereof with a focus on the pursuit of knowledge and an exploration of death.
2. A set of aesthetic principles. Scholarly with a gothic edge �� tweed blazers, vintage cardigans, scuffed loafers, a worn leather satchel full of brooding poetry. Enthusiasts are usually found in museums and darkened libraries.]]> 340 Marie O'Regan Tracy 0 to-read 3.38 2023
author: Marie O'Regan
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 26545907 ��
According to Maxwell, size constraints can actually unlock your design creativity and allow you to focus on what’s essential. In this vibrant book, he shares forty small, cool spaces that will change your thinking forever.
��
These apartments and houses demonstrate hundreds of inventive solutions for creating more space in your home, and for making it more comfortable. Leading us through entrances, living rooms, kitchens and dining rooms, bedrooms, home offices, and kids�� rooms, Apartment Therapy’s Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces is brimming with ingenious tips and ideas, such
��
•���� Shifting the sense of scale through contrasting colors
•���� Adding airiness by using transparent collections
•���� Utilizing the area under a loft bed for a kitchen and mini-bar
•���� Tucking an office with chic vintage doors into an unused bedroom corner
��
In each dwelling Maxwell points out what makes the layout work and what adds style. Most of the “therapy�� involves minor tweaks that can be accomplished on a limited budget, such as dividing a room with sheer curtains, turning a door into a desk, or disguising electrical boxes with art displays. An extensive resource guide, including Maxwell’s favorite websites for buying desks, open storage solutions, and much more, will help you turn even the tiniest residence into a place you are always happy to come home to.��]]> 304 Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan 0307985067 Tracy 4 3.44 2010
author: Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2019/09/08
date added: 2023/08/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 61363158 96 Katie Skelly 1683966805 Tracy 0 3.39 2018
author: Katie Skelly
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 40629239
Collects THE MAGIC ORDER #1-6.]]> 176 Mark Millar 1534308717 Tracy 0 3.93 2019
author: Mark Millar
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2023/08/05
date added: 2023/08/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 26133595 Sometimes I believe the baby will never stop crying.

Sixteen-year-old Amanda Verner fears she is losing her mind. When her family move from their small mountain cabin to the vast prairie, Amanda hopes she can leave her haunting memories behind: of her sickly Ma giving birth to a terribly afflicted baby; of the cabin fever that claimed Amanda's sanity; of the boy who she has been meeting in secret...

But the Verners arrive on the prairie to find their new home soaked in blood. So much blood. And Amanda has heard stories - about men becoming unhinged and killing their families, about the land being tainted by wickedness. With guilty secrets weighing down on her, Amanda can't be sure if the true evil lies in the land, or within her soul...]]> 240 Amy Lukavics 1471145271 Tracy 0 3.52 2015
author: Amy Lukavics
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/30
shelves: inspiration-writing, me-likey, totally-ya
review:

]]> 68005500 A darkly comic, boundary-pushing debut following an adrift Pakistani translator in London who attends a mysterious language school which boasts complete fluency in just ten days, but at a secret, sinister cost.

Anisa Ellahi dreams of being a translator of ‘great works of literature��, but instead mostly spends her days subtitling Bollywood films in her flat in London while living off her parents�� generous allowance and discussing the ‘underside of life�� with her best friend, Naima. Then she meets Adam, who has successfully leveraged his savant-level aptitude for languages into an enviable career. At first, this only adds to her sense of inadequacy, but when Adam learns to speak Urdu with native fluency practically overnight, Anisa forces him to reveal his secret.

Adam tells Anisa about the Centre, an elite, invite-only program that guarantees absolute fluency in any language in just ten days. Sceptical but intrigued, Anisa enrols. Stripped of her belongings and all contact with the outside world, she undergoes the Centre's strange and rigorous processes. But as she enmeshes herself further within the organisation, seduced by all that it’s made possible, she soon realizes the disturbing, hidden cost of its services.

By turns dark, funny, and surreal, and with twists page-turning and shocking, The Centre takes the reader on a journey through Karachi, London, and New Delhi, interrogating the sticky politics of language, translation, and appropriation with biting specificity, and ultimately asking: what price would you be willing to pay for success?]]> 288 Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi Tracy 3 3.37 2023
author: Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/21
date added: 2023/07/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 60758283 The New York Times bestselling series is now a graphic novel! Five Nights at Freddy's fans won't want to miss this pulse-pounding collection of three novella-length comic stories that will keep even the bravest player up at night . . .

Oscar, ever the miniature grown-up his mom needs him to be, decides to take something he wants . . . even though he knows it's wrong. Stanley is newly dumped, stuck in a dead-end job for a mysterious employer, and unable to connect with anyone. And Devon, abandoned by his dad and ignored by his mom, can't understand why love and friendship come so easily to everyone except him. Unfortunately, in the callous world of Five Nights at Freddy's, it's always in the depths of loneliness when evil creeps in.



In this volume, three stories from the New York Times bestselling series Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights come to life in delightfully horrifying comics. Readers beware: This collection of terrifying tales is enough to unsettle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.]]> 192 Scott Cawthon 1338792709 Tracy 0 to-read 3.61
author: Scott Cawthon
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.61
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60320603
From a young age, Althalia knew she would someday be the last of her kind—a bruja, tasked with keeping the power and stories of the ancient ways from fading fully into history. Never alone, Althalia works in a paranormal museum with her friends, a real-life Chupacabra and a were-coyote, while living with and caring for her beloved abuela. Through these powerful connections, her skills and knowledge grow.

But the prejudice her people have always faced continues, and after a seemingly random encounter with a priest, Althalia feels the weight of hundreds of years of religious oppression coming down upon her and her abuela. She must realize her destiny and grow into it quickly if she is to prevent the church from achieving its ultimate goal—destroying the last bruja.]]> 128 Aaron Duran 1549308165 Tracy 0 to-read 3.63
author: Aaron Duran
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.63
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 50664928
For Delilah, Stanley, and Devon, being left behind is practically a way of life. Orphaned from a young age and recently divorced, Delilah escapes deeper into her dreams each night, in desperate need of a wake-up call. Stanley is newly dumped, stuck in a dead-end job for a mysterious employer, and unable to connect with anyone. And Devon, abandoned by his dad and ignored by his mom, can't understand why love and friendship come so easily to everyone except him. Unfortunately, in the callous world of Five Nights at Freddy's, it's always in the depths of loneliness when evil creeps in.In this third volume, Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon spins three sinister novella-length stories from different corners of his series' canon, featuring cover art from fan-favorite artist LadyFiszi. Readers This collection of terrifying tales is enough to unsettle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.]]> 275 Scott Cawthon 1338626981 Tracy 0 to-read 4.43 2020
author: Scott Cawthon
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 44164596 Burrough is widely admired as a master storyteller, and this chilling tale raises important questions of whether serial killers can be recognized before they kill or rehabilitated after they do. It is also a story of Texas politics and power that led the good citizens of the town of Temple to enable a demon who was their worst nightmare.
This title contains mature themes, including physical and sexual violence, that some listeners may find unsettling.]]> 3 Bryan Burrough Tracy 0 3.32 2019
author: Bryan Burrough
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 149054919 Great Depression while competing with newer forms of entertainment like movie theaters. Kate Montgomery travels to the small town of Brixton Hill to scout a new act for her father’s struggling circus. Lewis Oswald, a trainer and friend of Kate’s family, introduces her to the Shadow Dancers, three young girls who can make their shadows dance independently of their bodies. While the act would revive her family’s circus, Kate is horrified by the young women’s dismal training and living conditions. She wants to help them escape their dreadful situation, but when the Shadow Dancers take matters into their own hands, she’ll have to save herself.]]> 95 Nicole Willson Tracy 0 4.19
author: Nicole Willson
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2023/07/04
date added: 2023/07/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 38900434 The daring, dazzling and highly anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestseller The Song of Achilles
One of the Most Anticipated Books of 2018

"An epic spanning thousands of years that's also a keep-you-up-all-night page turner." - Ann Patchett

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power--the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.

]]> 29 Madeline Miller 0316421146 Tracy 0 4.28
author: Madeline Miller
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2018/08/10
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 58719222 The New York Times bestselling series is now a graphic novel -- Five Nights at Freddy's fans won't want to miss this pulse-pounding collection of three novella-length comic stories that will keep even the bravest player up at night . . .

What do you wish for most? It's a question that Oswald, Sarah, and Oscar think they know the answer to. Oswald wishes his summer wasn't so boring, Sarah wishes to be beautiful, and Oscar wishes to get his hands on the mechanical toy that's out of stock all over town. But in the twisted world of Five Nights at Freddy's, their hearts' deepest desires have an unexpected cost.

In this volume, three stories from the New York Times bestselling series Five Nights at Freddy's: Fazbear Frights come to life in delightfully horrifying comics. Readers beware: This collection of terrifying tales is enough to unsettle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.]]> 192 Scott Cawthon 1338792695 Tracy 3 3.65
author: Scott Cawthon
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/07/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 55935111 90 Felix I.D. Dimaro Tracy 0 currently-reading 3.96
author: Felix I.D. Dimaro
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 59844672
DCeased became a smash horror hit in 2019 by offering a twisted version of the DC Universe infected by the Anti-Life Equation, transforming heroes and villains alike into mindless monsters.

DCeased: Hope At World’s End, previously only available digitally, expands the world of that original DCeased series by filling in that story’s time jump and focusing on characters including Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Stephanie Brown, Wally West, and Jimmy Olsen.

In DCeased: Hope At World’s End, the Anti-Life Equation has infected over a billion people on Earth. Heroes and villains have fallen. In the immediate aftermath of the destruction of Metropolis, Superman and Wonder Woman spearhead an effort to stem the tide of infection, preserve and protect survivors, and plan for what’s next. In the Earth’s darkest hour, heroes will bring hope! The war for Earth has only just begun!

This volume collects DCeased: Hope At World’s End Chapter 1-15]]> 176 Tom Taylor 1779514999 Tracy 3 3.70 2021
author: Tom Taylor
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/06/28
shelves: comic-books-and-graphic-novels, comics, kid-stuff
review:

]]> 58341166 This is an alternate cover edition of ASIN B096T6GHLG.
----
A modern dark fantasy of betrayals, secret societies, and a dissolute thief of shadows.

Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make.

She's spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie Hall.

Now, she’s trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but getting out isn’t easy. Bartending at a dive, she’s still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Not to mention that her sister Posey is desperate for magic, and that Charlie's shadowless and possibly soulless boyfriend, Vince, has been hiding things from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends into a maelstrom of murder and lies.

Determined to survive, she’s up against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world―all trying to steal a secret that will give them vast and terrible power.]]> 308 Holly Black Tracy 3 3.81 2022
author: Holly Black
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/17
date added: 2023/06/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 55026502 24 John Lees Tracy 0 to-read 3.42
author: John Lees
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.42
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54661337 John Lees Tracy 0 to-read 3.36
author: John Lees
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.36
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59365931 100 John Lees 195316532X Tracy 0 3.92
author: John Lees
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 52524074 144 John Lees Tracy 0 3.75 2020
author: John Lees
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 52028254 Newsweek's Best Comic Books of 2018
Thrillist's Best Comics & Graphic Novels of 2018

ED BRUBAKER and SEAN PHILLIPS-the bestselling creators of CRIMINAL, KILL OR BE KILLED, THE FADE OUT, and FATALE-present their first original graphic novel in paperback for the very first time!

Teenage Ellie has always romanticized drug addicts, those tragic artistic souls drawn to needles and pills, ever since the death of her junkie mother ten years ago. But when Ellie lands in an upscale rehab clinic where nothing is as it appears to be, she'll find another-more dangerous-romance, and discover how easily drugs and murder go hand-in-hand.

MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES is a seductive coming-of-age story, a pop and drug culture-fueled tale of a young girl seeking darkness... and what she finds there.

"Readers of postmodern pulp will enjoy this intense story and unapologetically cunning character." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Provides plenty of truly twisted twists and wraps up with a pulpy punch of an ending that's satisfying-and heartbreaking... a fine addition to a staggering body of work." -Library Journal (starred review)

"Like most CRIMINAL stories, there's a darkness, along with twists that cut to the core. Phillips' art utilizes a limited color palette that makes you feel the ideas that run through each scene, each of the narrator's thoughts and memories." - LAist
]]> 72 Ed Brubaker 1534315152 Tracy 3 3.79 2018
author: Ed Brubaker
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/06/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 61963198
Each recommendation includes a full synopsis as well as a quick overview of the book’s themes, style, and tone so you can narrow down your next read at a glance.

Featuring a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Josh Malerman and five brand-new essays from rising voices in the genre, this illustrated reader’s guide is perfect for anyone who dares to delve into the dark.]]> 168 Sadie Hartmann 164567780X Tracy 0 to-read 4.43 2023
author: Sadie Hartmann
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60433186 "I SAW IT. A DAZZLING WORLD ...YES, ANOTHER WORLD."

"I'M SURE I SAW A WORLD THAT WAS NOT THIS ONE."

Four people intent on killing themselves meet through the suicide website Black Paradox: Maruso, a nurse who despairs about the future; Taburo, a man who is tortured by his doppelganger; Pii-tan, an engineer with his own robot clone; and Baracchi, a girl who agonizes about the birthmark on her face.

They wander together in search of the perfect death, fatefully opening a door that��leads them to a��rather bizarre destiny...]]> 208 Junji Ito 1974728633 Tracy 4 3.91 2009
author: Junji Ito
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/05/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 60420549
Discover the key moments of Hepburn's fascinating life and the iconic looks she pioneered. From Sabrina to Breakfast at Tiffany's , Audrey Hepburn is renowned for her acting skill and fashion style, but less well known is her life in Nazi-occupied Holland or her tireless dedication to helping those less fortunate than herself. Elegantly enclosed by a hardback cover and ribbon, Megan's beautiful illustrations follow Hepburn through three distinct her early life in World War II Europe, dreaming of becoming a ballerina; her ingénue years as the rising star of Hollywood and her incredible fashion partnership with Hubert de Givenchy; and her private life beyond the silver screen, building a legacy through her humanitarian work.

Audrey Hepburn is a celebration of a woman whose life was as remarkable as the clothes she wore and the movies she starred in, brought to life on the page by the expert hand of Megan Hess.]]> 192 Megan Hess 1743798369 Tracy 0 4.51 2022
author: Megan Hess
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 54820062 Inspired by a true story, this supernatural thriller for fans of horror and true crime follows a tale as it evolves every twenty years—with terrifying results.

Ella Louise has lived in the woods surrounding Pilot’s Creek, Virginia, for nearly a decade. Publicly, she and her daughter Jessica are shunned by their upper-crust family and the Pilot’s Creek residents. Privately, desperate townspeople visit her apothecary for a cure to what ails them—until Ella Louise is blamed for the death of a prominent customer. Accused of witchcraft, both mother and daughter are burned at the stake in the middle of the night. Ella Louise’s burial site is never found, but the little girl has the most famous grave in the South: a steel-reinforced coffin surrounded by a fence of interconnected white crosses.

Their story will take the shape of an urban legend as it’s told around a campfire by a man forever marked by his boyhood encounters with Jessica. Decades later, a boy at that campfire will cast Amber Pendleton as Jessica in a ��70s horror movie inspired by the Witch Girl of Pilot’s Creek. Amber’s experiences on that set and its meta-remake in the ��90s will ripple through pop culture, ruining her life and career after she becomes the target of a witch hunt. Amber’s best chance to break the cycle of horror comes when a true-crime investigator tracks her down to interview her for his popular podcast. But will this final act of storytelling redeem her—or will it bring the story full circle, ready to be told once again? And again. And again…]]> 305 Clay McLeod Chapman 168369211X Tracy 3
Don’t get me wrong, it was good but I felt something missing. Maybe there needed to be more definition or detail to the background characters. I do know that the incident in the second part could have been told better because having it from one perspective doesn’t help.

Obviously I enjoyed this book because I finished it in a day. Thanks for scratching that itch.]]> 3.24 2019
author: Clay McLeod Chapman
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/05/13
date added: 2023/05/13
shelves:
review:
I wanted a witch book that took place in the now and this kinda worked. It’s a book based on an urban legend, told in three parts. The main character as a child, adult and older. Each part revolves around a movie being made about the urban legend of a witch.

Don’t get me wrong, it was good but I felt something missing. Maybe there needed to be more definition or detail to the background characters. I do know that the incident in the second part could have been told better because having it from one perspective doesn’t help.

Obviously I enjoyed this book because I finished it in a day. Thanks for scratching that itch.
]]> 58801670 128 Skottie Young 1534321144 Tracy 3 3.70 2022
author: Skottie Young
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/05/08
shelves: comic-books-and-graphic-novels, comics
review:

]]> 459807 James Herbert 0330376241 Tracy 0 to-read 3.66 1992
author: James Herbert
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63127401
You probably shouldn't read it. Looks like you're going to anyway.

Don't say I didn't warn you...
Hannah Howarth has always wanted to land a coveted internship at Visage Magazine. It’s clear from her very first day working at Visage that she doesn’t fit in and is looked down upon by the Editor in Chief, Grace, and her legion of intimidating, fashionable staff writers.

Hannah tries her best to fit in, but when she is tasked with studying the magazine's special training manual, it becomes clear that there's more than meets the eye to her new job. Hannah grapples with her past as more and more strange and unsettling occurrences plunge her head-first into a living nightmare.]]> 145 Wendy Dalrymple Tracy 3 3.21
author: Wendy Dalrymple
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.21
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/30
date added: 2023/05/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 61030527 From the macabre mind of Bram Stoker Award nominated author Craig DiLouie, Episode Thirteen is a heart pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense that takes a ghost hunting reality TV crew into a world they could never have imagined possible. A beautiful Russian doll of a story... Episode Thirteen hooks you, creeps you out, and then it overwhelms you. It's House of Leaves meets Haunting of Hill House, in all the best possible ways. -- Peter Clines, NYT bestselling author of The Broken Room


Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin, it delivers weekly hauntings investigated by a dedicated team of ghost hunting experts. Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of. A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, and correspondence, this is the story of Episode Thirteen -- and how everything went terribly, horribly wrong.


An epistolary descent into a living nightmare . . . well-written and genuinely unsettling. Fans of paranormal documentaries, ghost-hunting shows, and found-footage horror will lose their minds over this one. - Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award winning author of Kin]]> 433 Craig DiLouie 0316443107 Tracy 3
Lots of deception, typical dudes acting like dudes, scientists being science-y and a person who is not who they seem to be.

I literally plowed through this book and by the end, I was exhausted. That is until THE END happened. Stick with it,]]> 3.45 2023
author: Craig DiLouie
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/24
date added: 2023/04/23
shelves:
review:
Did not go the direction I thought it would go. A crew goes in to a haunted house and strange things happen. However, the music…the one song they play is insane! It gets stuck in your head.

Lots of deception, typical dudes acting like dudes, scientists being science-y and a person who is not who they seem to be.

I literally plowed through this book and by the end, I was exhausted. That is until THE END happened. Stick with it,
]]> 43307890
Collects: Saga #43-48.]]> 152 Brian K. Vaughan 1534303499 Tracy 4
Merged review:

When it’s over, I always want more..more...more!]]> 4.46 2017
author: Brian K. Vaughan
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2018/01/05
date added: 2023/04/15
shelves: comic-books-and-graphic-novels, me-likey, this-is-a-sequel
review:
When it’s over, I always want more..more...more!

Merged review:

When it’s over, I always want more..more...more!
]]> 50269327
Now Natsuki is grown. She lives a quiet life with her asexual husband, surviving as best she can by pretending to be normal. But the demands of Natsuki's family are increasing, her friends wonder why she's still not pregnant, and dark shadows from Natsuki's childhood are pursuing her. Fleeing the suburbs for the mountains of her childhood, Natsuki prepares herself with a reunion with Yuu. Will he still remember their promise? And will he help her keep it?]]> 247 Sayaka Murata 1783785675 Tracy 3 3.59 2018
author: Sayaka Murata
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/29
date added: 2023/03/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 60785873
Filled with a gripping story about one man's struggle to provide for his family that quickly turns into something much more sinister when he gets a job offer that appears to good to be true. Found Footage Vol. 1 comes comes pre-packaged inside of a custom printed VHS box that makes this book just as collectable as it readable.]]> 160 Marvin Rodriguez 1732299250 Tracy 0 2.83
author: Marvin Rodriguez
name: Tracy
average rating: 2.83
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2023/03/29
date added: 2023/03/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 60875096
Source: Kodansha USA]]> 172 Rei Taki 1647291917 Tracy 3 3.74
author: Rei Taki
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.74
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/28
date added: 2023/03/29
shelves: comic-books-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> 58505915
COLLECTING:��Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit (2021) 1-5]]> 120 Samira Ahmed 1302931261 Tracy 0 3.55 2022
author: Samira Ahmed
name: Tracy
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 60686837 Four brand-new horror novellas from “a modern-day Algernon Blackwood�� all about books, stories, manuscripts �� the written word has never had sharper teeth��

From the bestselling author of Come with Me, four standalone horror novellas set in a shared universe!

In The Skin of Her Teeth, a cursed novel drives people to their deaths.

A delivery job turns deadly in The Dark Brothers�� Last Ride.

In This Book Belongs to Olo, a lonely child has dangerous control over an usual pop-up book.

A choose-your-own adventure game spirals into an uncanny reality in The Story.

Full of creepy, page-turning suspense, these collected novellas are perfect for fans of Paul Tremblay, Stephen King and Joe Hill.]]> 465 Ronald Malfi Tracy 3
For me, even though they were horror, I wasn’t super scared but I liked them. The last story gives Empty Man vibes. It’s like a story that is turned inside out.

I enjoyed the book. I have a little quarrel with how the women in the fourth story were written but that’s about it.

I do love how revenge was had by all.]]> 4.04 2022
author: Ronald Malfi
name: Tracy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/20
date added: 2023/03/20
shelves:
review:
I’ve tried reading other work by him and couldn’t get into it. This was different. There are four stories that are interconnected in the slightest way.

For me, even though they were horror, I wasn’t super scared but I liked them. The last story gives Empty Man vibes. It’s like a story that is turned inside out.

I enjoyed the book. I have a little quarrel with how the women in the fourth story were written but that’s about it.

I do love how revenge was had by all.
]]>