en-US Sat, 18 Jan 2025 13:21:29 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 23604559 A charming, warmhearted novel from the author of the New York Times bestseller A Man Called Ove.

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy—as in standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-strangers crazy. She is also Elsa’s best, and only, friend. At night Elsa takes refuge in her grandmother’s stories, in the Land-of-Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas, where everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

When Elsa’s grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa’s greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother’s instructions lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and old crones but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman’s bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.]]> 372 Fredrik Backman 1501115065 Abby 0 currently-reading 4.04 2013
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Abby
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 58678422 ŷ������ Choice winner for Nonfiction 2021 and instant #1 bestseller! A deeply moving collection of personal essays from John Green, the author of The Fault in Our Stars and Turtles All the Way Down.

The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale—from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar.

Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity. As a species, we are both far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough, a paradox that came into sharp focus as we faced a global pandemic that both separated us and bound us together.

John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is an open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.]]> 304 John Green 0525556532 Abby 0 to-read 4.42 2021
author: John Green
name: Abby
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 15786792 809 Edward Rutherfurd 0385535309 Abby 3 3.98 2013
author: Edward Rutherfurd
name: Abby
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/12/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 63907967
Geçmişi pişmanlıklar ve yanlış seçimlerle dolu olabilirdi ama geleceği parlak ve sınırsızdı. Ta ki kasabaya yeni gelen gizemli bir adam onu hem şok edici hem de savunulamaz bir şekilde karşısına alana kadar.

Bu adamın, Travis’in iyi düşünülmüş planlarına tamamen farklı şekillerde zarar verebilecek bir kız kardeşi vardı. Smoothie yapan ve kuş yemi yiyen bu vahşi kadına âşık olma riski tabii ki yoktu. Kadın onun tipi bile değildi. Kaliforniyalıydı ve asi kıvırcık saçları vardı, ayrıca sorunlu bir geçmişi olan bitki delisi biriydi. Fakat bundan da önemlisi, sadece yaz için kasabadaydı ve her yönüyle mükemmel olduğunu düşündüğü Gage Buchanan’�� arzulamakla meşguldü.

Ve Travis’in bildiği bir şey varsa, o da ikinci en iyi olmayı kabul etmeyeceğiydi.

Bir daha asla.]]> 320 Mia Sheridan 1728284996 Abby 4 3.78 2021
author: Mia Sheridan
name: Abby
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/01
date added: 2023/12/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 36342145 Her prince. They became each other's refuge, a safe and magical place far from their troubled lives. Until the day Callen kissed her--Jessica's first real, dreamy kiss—and then disappeared from her life without a word.

Years later, everyone knows who Callen Hayes is. Famous composer. Infamous bad boy. What no one knows is that Callen's music is now locked deep inside, trapped behind his own inner demons. It's only when he withdraws to France to drink his way through the darkness that Callen stumbles into the one person who makes the music return. Jessica. His Jessie. And she still tastes of fresh, sweet innocence . . . even as she sets his blood on fire.

But they don't belong in each other's worlds anymore. There are too many mistakes. Too many secrets. Too many lies. All they have is that instinctive longing, that need—and something that looks dangerously like love.

No one lays open the heart and soul quite like New York Times bestselling author Mia Sheridan.]]> 336 Mia Sheridan 1538727390 Abby 4 3.79 2018
author: Mia Sheridan
name: Abby
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/01
date added: 2023/10/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 45023611 House Rules:
Do your own dishes.
Knock before entering the bathroom.
Never look up your roommate online.

The Wheatons are infamous among the east coast elite for their lack of impulse control, except for their daughter Clara. She’s the consummate socialite: over-achieving, well-mannered, predictable. But every Wheaton has their weakness. When Clara’s childhood crush invites her to move cross-country, the offer is too much to resist. Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.

After a bait-and-switch, Clara finds herself sharing a lease with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive—not to mention handsome—for comfort, but there’s a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn’t looked him up on the Internet...

Once she learns how Josh has made a name for himself, Clara realizes living with him might make her the Wheaton’s most scandalous story yet. His professional prowess inspires her to take tackling the stigma against female desire into her own hands. They may not agree on much, but Josh and Clara both believe women deserve better sex. What they decide to do about it will change both of their lives, and if they’re lucky, they’ll help everyone else get lucky too.]]> 325 Rosie Danan 059310160X Abby 0 to-read 3.53 2020
author: Rosie Danan
name: Abby
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 18373 Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, the powerful, classic story about a man who receives an operation that turns him into a genius...and introduces him to heartache.
��
Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence �� a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?]]> 311 Daniel Keyes 015603008X Abby 5 4.19 1966
author: Daniel Keyes
name: Abby
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1966
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/08/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 62022434
Too bad Lina’s got secrets of her own, and if Nash finds out the real reason she’s in town, he’ll never forgive her. Besides, she doesn’t do relationships. Ever. A hot, short-term fling with a local cop? Absolutely. Sign her up. A relationship with a man who expects her to plant roots? No freaking way. Once she gets what she’s after, she has no intention of sticking around. But Knockemout has a way of getting under people’s skin. And once Nash decides to make Lina his, he’s not about to be dissuaded…even if it means facing the danger that nearly killed him.]]> 594 Lucy Score Abby 5 4.04 2023
author: Lucy Score
name: Abby
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/23
date added: 2023/08/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 56014597 "Rule no. 1: Buy this book, laugh out loud, become a better person." --Jason Alexander

488 Rules for Life is not a self-help book, because it's not you who needs help--it's other people. Whether they're walking and texting, asphyxiating you on public transport with their noxious perfume cloud, or leaving one useless square of toilet paper on the roll, people just don't know the rules.

But now, thanks to Australian comedian Kitty Flanagan's comprehensive guide to modern behavior, our world will soon be a much better place. A place where people don't ruin the fruit salad by putting banana in it . . . where your co-workers refrain from reheating their fish curry in the office microwave . . . where middle-aged men don't have ponytails.

What started as a joke on Kitty Flanagan's popular segment on ABC-TV's The Weekly is now a quintessential reference book with the power to change society. (Or, at least, make it a bit less irritating.)]]> 322 Kitty Flanagan 1524868353 Abby 0 never-finished, to-read 4.12 2019
author: Kitty Flanagan
name: Abby
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/19
shelves: never-finished, to-read
review:

]]> 41021501
Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family—especially her teenage son—as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust, and come to see that what they've been taught their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong.

With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion—and doesn't offer easy answers. Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer at the top of her game.]]> 510 Jodi Picoult 034554496X Abby 0 never-finished, to-read 4.38 2016
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Abby
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/19
shelves: never-finished, to-read
review:

]]> 39218350
Maid explores the underbelly of upper-middle class America and the reality of what it’s like to be in service to them. “I’d become a nameless ghost,�� Stephanie writes about her relationship with her clients, many of whom do not know her from any other cleaner, but who she learns plenty about. As she begins to discover more about her clients�� lives-their sadness and love, too-she begins to find hope in her own path.

Her writing as a journalist gives voice to the "servant" worker, and those pursuing the American Dream from below the poverty line. Maid is Stephanie’s story, but it’s not her alone..

An alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780316505116 can be found here.]]> 289 Stephanie Land Abby 5 3.81 2019
author: Stephanie Land
name: Abby
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/01
date added: 2023/08/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 52578297
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?]]> 288 Matt Haig 0525559477 Abby 3 3.96 2020
author: Matt Haig
name: Abby
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/14
date added: 2023/08/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 59746173 348 Dennis Lehane 883045527X Abby 3 4.32 2003
author: Dennis Lehane
name: Abby
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/01
date added: 2023/07/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 62365891
After losing her job and her fiancé in one fell swoop, Natalie Vos returned home to lick her wounds. A few months later, she's sufficiently drowned her sorrows in cabernet and she's ready to get back on her feet. She just needs her trust fund to finance her new business venture. Unfortunately, the terms require she marry before she can have the money. And well, dumped, remember? But Natalie is desperate enough to propose to a man who makes her want to kill him--and kiss him, in equal measure.

August Cates may own a vineyard, but he doesn't know jack about making wine. He's determined to do his late best friend proud, no matter what it takes. Except his tasting room is empty, his wine is disgusting (seriously, he once saw someone gag), and his buddy's legacy is circling the drain. No bank will give him the loan he needs to turn the business around... and then the gorgeous, feisty heiress knocks on his door. Natalie has haunted his dreams since the moment they met, but their sizzling chemistry immediately morphed into simmering insults.

Now, a quickie marriage could help them both. A sham wedding, a few weeks living under the same roof, and then they can go their separate ways--assuming they make it out alive. How hard could it be? There's just one thing they didn't account for: their unfortunate, unbearable, undeniable attraction.]]> 384 Tessa Bailey 0063239035 Abby 4
I am a huge huge Tessa Bailey fan, and I love the books of hers that I have read, but personally for me this one did not have the same all enraptured feeling that the others presented. I do think this is a beautiful novel and I love the story line, but not the same satisfying enemies-to-lovers effect as her other book, "It Happened One Summer" which still stands to be my favorite novel by her. ]]> 3.75 2023
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Abby
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/23
date added: 2023/06/23
shelves:
review:
3.75 is my true rating.

I am a huge huge Tessa Bailey fan, and I love the books of hers that I have read, but personally for me this one did not have the same all enraptured feeling that the others presented. I do think this is a beautiful novel and I love the story line, but not the same satisfying enemies-to-lovers effect as her other book, "It Happened One Summer" which still stands to be my favorite novel by her.
]]> 77203 371 Khaled Hosseini 159463193X Abby 5
A book everyone must read at least once in their lifetime. ]]> 4.34 2003
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Abby
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/20
date added: 2023/06/21
shelves:
review:
A timeless, enthralling story following two boys, and the mental battles that come with roles and societal pressures. Heat racing, page turning, and heart breaking. Multiple times my jaw was on the floor and I was rushing to see what would happen next.

A book everyone must read at least once in their lifetime.
]]> 59366244
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,�� eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?�� She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!��), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.]]> 304 Jennette McCurdy 1982185821 Abby 0 to-read 4.42 2022
author: Jennette McCurdy
name: Abby
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58690308 One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming....

Nora Stephens�� life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream girl, and especially not the sweetheart. In fact, the only people Nora is a heroine for are her clients, for whom she lands enormous deals as a cutthroat literary agent, and her beloved little sister Libby.

Which is why she agrees to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina for the month of August when Libby begs her for a sisters�� trip away—with visions of a small-town transformation for Nora, who she’s convinced needs to become the heroine in her own story. But instead of picnics in meadows, or run-ins with a handsome country doctor or bulging-forearmed bartender, Nora keeps bumping into Charlie Lastra, a bookish brooding editor from back in the city. It would be a meet-cute if not for the fact that they’ve met many times and it’s never been cute.

If Nora knows she’s not an ideal heroine, Charlie knows he’s nobody’s hero, but as they are thrown together again and again—in a series of coincidences no editor worth their salt would allow—what they discover might just unravel the carefully crafted stories they’ve written about themselves.]]> 377 Emily Henry 0593334833 Abby 4
Loved this book and the kindling romance between our two characters. High character development and learning with them. Helping the reader learn and see things differently due to these two main characters.

Something thrilling and page turning, a different way of writing a romance novel. Henry kills it once again.]]> 4.09 2022
author: Emily Henry
name: Abby
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/11
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
review:
4.5 stars

Loved this book and the kindling romance between our two characters. High character development and learning with them. Helping the reader learn and see things differently due to these two main characters.

Something thrilling and page turning, a different way of writing a romance novel. Henry kills it once again.
]]> 50988310 Today, she hates him.

It’s the last day of senior year. Rowan Roth and Neil McNair have been bitter rivals for all of high school, clashing on test scores, student council elections, and even gym class pull-up contests. While Rowan, who secretly wants to write romance novels, is anxious about the future, she’d love to beat her infuriating academic nemesis one last time.

Tonight, she puts up with him.

When Neil is named valedictorian, Rowan has only one chance at victory: Howl, a senior class game that takes them all over Seattle, a farewell tour of the city she loves. But after learning a group of seniors is out to get them, she and Neil reluctantly decide to team up until they’re the last players left—and then they’ll destroy each other.

As Rowan spends more time with Neil, she realizes he's much more than the awkward linguistics nerd she sparred with for the past four years. And, perhaps, this boy she claims to despise might actually be the boy of her dreams.

Tomorrow . . . maybe she’s already fallen for him.]]> 384 Rachel Lynn Solomon 1534478574 Abby 5
I am not normally a fan of high school romances, but this thrilling adventure following two sworn enemies and watching the emotions grow between them is something wonderful. I felt the butterflies in my own stomach during the little moments that made these two unseemingly people grow closer together during an adventure where they decide to keep up.

Page after page of thrilling adventure and emotion, complete with soft, sweet, moments and an ending that makes you want more. Highly recommend. ]]> 4.13 2020
author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
name: Abby
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/19
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
review:
Slight spoilers, hints at plot.

I am not normally a fan of high school romances, but this thrilling adventure following two sworn enemies and watching the emotions grow between them is something wonderful. I felt the butterflies in my own stomach during the little moments that made these two unseemingly people grow closer together during an adventure where they decide to keep up.

Page after page of thrilling adventure and emotion, complete with soft, sweet, moments and an ending that makes you want more. Highly recommend.
]]> 52867387 A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no-one will fall in love. Really.]]> 371 Emily Henry 1984806734 Abby 4
Following a young woman and man, reconnecting paths years down the road when both have been through so much. Showing perseverance, and rising above and doing what they feel is right, despite fear.

This book taught many good lessons that one can take from it.]]> 3.99 2020
author: Emily Henry
name: Abby
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/01
date added: 2023/02/02
shelves:
review:
A different kind of summer romance, and as one who enjoys reading summer romances it was nice to see a change in the plot. I do not think I have ever read a book that has consistently made me audibly laugh before this one. Humor, romance, emotion, and timelessness.

Following a young woman and man, reconnecting paths years down the road when both have been through so much. Showing perseverance, and rising above and doing what they feel is right, despite fear.

This book taught many good lessons that one can take from it.
]]> 13079982 Sixty years after its original publication, Ray Bradbury’s internationally acclaimed novel Fahrenheit 451 stands as a classic of world literature set in a bleak, dystopian future. Today its message has grown more relevant than ever before.

Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television “family.�� But when he meets an eccentric young neighbor, Clarisse, who introduces him to a past where people didn’t live in fear and to a present where one sees the world through the ideas in books instead of the mindless chatter of television, Montag begins to question everything he has ever known.]]> 194 Ray Bradbury Abby 3
Following the same themes and ideas as George Orwell's 1984, Fahrenheit 451 is an interesting read and offers a new mindset for the reader. Showing how to question your beliefs and everyday life, fighting against your own people, and in all, doing the right thing for yourself and the world.]]> 3.97 1953
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Abby
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1953
rating: 3
read at: 2021/04/01
date added: 2023/01/31
shelves:
review:
The stars from this book come solely from the story it is trying to tell. Bradbury has an interesting way of telling the story involving many adjectives and often seems drawn on and repetitive. It is insightful to see how they portrayed books and free thought within this time period.

Following the same themes and ideas as George Orwell's 1984, Fahrenheit 451 is an interesting read and offers a new mindset for the reader. Showing how to question your beliefs and everyday life, fighting against your own people, and in all, doing the right thing for yourself and the world.
]]> 35397790
Until I trespass into his strange, silent, and isolated world, Archer communicates with no one. Yet in his whiskey-colored eyes, something intangible happens between us. There's so much more to him than just his beauty, his presence, or the ways his hands communicate with me. On me. But this town is mired in secrets and betrayals, and Archer is the explosive center of it all.

So much passion. And so much hurt. But it's only in Archer's silence that we might just find what we need to heal... and live.

THIS IS A STANDALONE SIGN OF LOVE NOVEL, INSPIRED BY SAGITTARIUS.

Fall in love with this emotional New York Times bestselling romance between two tortured souls who find their chance at happiness in the most unexpected way.
]]> 400 Mia Sheridan 1538727358 Abby 5
This is a story I would recommened to anyone who listens. Romantic, emotional, and demanding attention, qualities all good romance novels should contain. Giving the reader a new point of view, and a new plot line to follow, Archer's Voice is a must read novel for people of all ages.]]> 4.23 2014
author: Mia Sheridan
name: Abby
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/25
date added: 2023/01/29
shelves:
review:
This book is something that I, personally, have never read something similar before. Heart-breaking, riveting, demanding time and attention, this novel had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. Showing the reality and hardships of living through a life like Archer's, how it effects him and the people surrounding him.

This is a story I would recommened to anyone who listens. Romantic, emotional, and demanding attention, qualities all good romance novels should contain. Giving the reader a new point of view, and a new plot line to follow, Archer's Voice is a must read novel for people of all ages.
]]> 17340050 In the follow-up to Colleen Hoover’s #1 New York Times bestseller Hopeless, the charming and irresistible Dean Holder tells the passionate story that has melted thousands of hearts.

In Hopeless, Sky left no secret unearthed, no feeling unshared, and no memory forgotten, but Holder’s past remained a mystery.

Still haunted by the little girl he let walk away, Holder has spent his entire life searching for her in an attempt to finally rid himself of the crushing guilt he has felt for years. But he could not have anticipated that the moment they reconnect, even greater remorse would overwhelm him��

Sometimes in life, if we wish to move forward, we must first dig deep into our past and make amends. In Losing Hope, bestselling author Colleen Hoover reveals what was going on inside Holder’s head during all those hopeless moments—and whether he can gain the peace he desperately needs.]]> 321 Colleen Hoover Abby 4
The beginning showcases some of Holder's past, which provides nice insight, but after that then it is the same as Hopeless, just with less details, and seemingly all dialogue. Every now and then there is a sprinkle of Holder's thoughts and emotions, but not enough worthy of re-reading the entire Hopeless novel within a summary.

If I had read this book with no prior reading of Hopeless I believed I would've enjoyed it more, and I can appreciate the novel for what it is, but Hopeless seems to be the better of the two, and this is just a nice little insight to another side, but not worth the read.]]> 4.11 2013
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Abby
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/26
date added: 2023/01/29
shelves:
review:
This book may have served best as a stand alone, having read the first book (Hopeless), it was an exact repeat. I do appreciate and enjoy the book in itself, but re-reading the same exact scenes word for word is not the most riveting experience.

The beginning showcases some of Holder's past, which provides nice insight, but after that then it is the same as Hopeless, just with less details, and seemingly all dialogue. Every now and then there is a sprinkle of Holder's thoughts and emotions, but not enough worthy of re-reading the entire Hopeless novel within a summary.

If I had read this book with no prior reading of Hopeless I believed I would've enjoyed it more, and I can appreciate the novel for what it is, but Hopeless seems to be the better of the two, and this is just a nice little insight to another side, but not worth the read.
]]> 58014893
Until she receives the call that sends her racing back to Barry’s Bay and into the orbit of Sam Florek—the man she never thought she’d have to live without.

For six summers, through hazy afternoons on the water and warm summer nights working in his family’s restaurant and curling up together with books—medical textbooks for him and work-in-progress horror short stories for her—Percy and Sam had been inseparable. Eventually that friendship turned into something breathtakingly more, before it fell spectacularly apart.

When Percy returns to the lake for Sam’s mother’s funeral, their connection is as undeniable as it had always been. But until Percy can confront the decisions she made and the years she’s spent punishing herself for them, they’ll never know whether their love might be bigger than the biggest mistakes of their past.

Told over the course of six years and one weekend, Every Summer After is a big, sweeping nostalgic look at love and the people and choices that mark us forever.

Six summers to fall in love. One moment to fall apart. A weekend to get it right.]]> 320 Carley Fortune 0593438531 Abby 4
Beautiful, captivating story about a summer romance, show casing them from kids to adults. Relaying the same vibes as the Summer I Turned Pretty series, slowly revealing secrets that make you want to keep turning the page.

I appreciate a good summer romance novel, and this gave me what I was looking for. The ending can't help but make your jaw drop, but then curl into a smile. Showcasing the reality of trying to grow up, and keep relationships working, all while figuring out who you are.

Seemingly a reworked version of the Summer I Turned Pretty books, but with new characters, and a bit of a different plot twist at the ending. A feel-good romance that demands to be enjoyed. ]]> 4.17 2022
author: Carley Fortune
name: Abby
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/29
date added: 2023/01/29
shelves:
review:
4.5 Stars

Beautiful, captivating story about a summer romance, show casing them from kids to adults. Relaying the same vibes as the Summer I Turned Pretty series, slowly revealing secrets that make you want to keep turning the page.

I appreciate a good summer romance novel, and this gave me what I was looking for. The ending can't help but make your jaw drop, but then curl into a smile. Showcasing the reality of trying to grow up, and keep relationships working, all while figuring out who you are.

Seemingly a reworked version of the Summer I Turned Pretty books, but with new characters, and a bit of a different plot twist at the ending. A feel-good romance that demands to be enjoyed.
]]> 50991951 If you could go back, who would you want to meet?

In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee—the chance to travel back in time.

Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn’t so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold.

Heartwarming, wistful, mysterious and delightfully quirky, Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s internationally bestselling novel explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?]]> 272 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1335430997 Abby 4
The concept of this story is something interesting and unique, and it is refreshing to read something so different. The one thing I disliked about this story is that it does not follow a plot with characters, instead it tells different stories of different encounters with the café and coffee. To some, this is fine and not an issue, to me it confused me when starting to read, but then I understood how the story was told.

I think the theme and purpose of this story is beautiful, and this novel has many good things for people to take from it. I have heard of people crying and being emotionally compromised upon finishing, but I did not have the same reaction nor attachment to this novel, but I can see how someone could.

Despite my feelings, I do think overall this story had much to tell, and is something new and refreshing to read.]]> 3.74 2015
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: Abby
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/21
date added: 2023/01/24
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars.

The concept of this story is something interesting and unique, and it is refreshing to read something so different. The one thing I disliked about this story is that it does not follow a plot with characters, instead it tells different stories of different encounters with the café and coffee. To some, this is fine and not an issue, to me it confused me when starting to read, but then I understood how the story was told.

I think the theme and purpose of this story is beautiful, and this novel has many good things for people to take from it. I have heard of people crying and being emotionally compromised upon finishing, but I did not have the same reaction nor attachment to this novel, but I can see how someone could.

Despite my feelings, I do think overall this story had much to tell, and is something new and refreshing to read.
]]> 38926487
Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?]]> 305 Colleen Hoover 1501193325 Abby 5
Seeing the relationship of the two main characters grow and change is inspiring, and is something all people should think about, and apply their rules and ideals to their own relationship.]]> 3.97 2018
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Abby
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/18
date added: 2023/01/18
shelves:
review:
Beautiful, emotional story surrounding the tough reality of infertility in a aspiring mother. Showing the difficulties physically, emotionally, and the strain it can cause in life and in relationships. Showing both sides of the relationships suffering, and not sugar coating.

Seeing the relationship of the two main characters grow and change is inspiring, and is something all people should think about, and apply their rules and ideals to their own relationship.
]]> 99561 Before. Miles “Pudge�� Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps�� even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .
After. Nothing is ever the same.]]> 221 John Green 1435249151 Abby 5
Emotional story following a young boy and his journey through life, meeting and losing friends, and trying to figure out the meaning of life.]]> 3.97 2005
author: John Green
name: Abby
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2018/01/01
date added: 2023/01/18
shelves:
review:
Personally, this is in my top two favorite John Green novel's (right up there with Turtles all the way Down). This book challenges ways of thinking, and seeing the world. Thinking about life in ways one would not do on an everyday basis, and when you finally finish the book, it demands you sit and think about what you just absorbed.

Emotional story following a young boy and his journey through life, meeting and losing friends, and trying to figure out the meaning of life.
]]> 19063 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

(Note: this title was not published as YA fiction)]]> 592 Markus Zusak Abby 5
Heart-wrenching, beautiful, and informative. A different viewpoint on the world, death, people, words, and books. Reminding the reader of how important books and words can be to sustain life.]]> 4.38 2005
author: Markus Zusak
name: Abby
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/02
date added: 2023/01/17
shelves:
review:
When I started reading this, the point of view confused me. Slowing realizing death was telling the story of a girl living in Nazi Germany. Learning of her story of love, loss, hope, and perseverance. Meeting characters, growing attached, learning the significance of books and words on a young child. The ending throwing the reader through a whirlwind of emotion.

Heart-wrenching, beautiful, and informative. A different viewpoint on the world, death, people, words, and books. Reminding the reader of how important books and words can be to sustain life.
]]> 73186 367 Lee Strobel 0310226058 Abby 5
When first starting this book, I read it for a class. I did not expect the formal writing that accompanied Strobel's journey for searching for proof of Christ. Regardless of if you believe or not, this book is an intresting way to see the ways he went through trying to prove it. Taking a scientific and historical approach, finding ways to prove wrong things stated in the Bible and by other people. It is a journey with Strobel, and is an intresting adventure to take part in.

Casual, informative, and genuinely just a man looking for proof and answers, this book changes outlook and ways of thinking. Not trying to change people into believing, just change people to ask more questions. Treating believing in Jesus and God as a court and bringing proof, facts, and other things found, and leaving them all on paper without talking biased. Leaving interpretation entirely up to the reader.]]> 4.22 1998
author: Lee Strobel
name: Abby
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/01
date added: 2023/01/17
shelves:
review:
Semi Spoilers -- Hints at Plot

When first starting this book, I read it for a class. I did not expect the formal writing that accompanied Strobel's journey for searching for proof of Christ. Regardless of if you believe or not, this book is an intresting way to see the ways he went through trying to prove it. Taking a scientific and historical approach, finding ways to prove wrong things stated in the Bible and by other people. It is a journey with Strobel, and is an intresting adventure to take part in.

Casual, informative, and genuinely just a man looking for proof and answers, this book changes outlook and ways of thinking. Not trying to change people into believing, just change people to ask more questions. Treating believing in Jesus and God as a court and bringing proof, facts, and other things found, and leaving them all on paper without talking biased. Leaving interpretation entirely up to the reader.
]]> 33280872 Not every mistake deserves a consequence. Sometimes the only thing it deserves is forgiveness.

The Voss family is anything but normal. They live in a repurposed church, newly baptized Dollar Voss. The once cancer-stricken mother lives in the basement, the father is married to the mother’s former nurse, the little half-brother isn’t allowed to do or eat anything fun, and the eldest siblings are irritatingly perfect. Then, there’s Merit.

Merit Voss collects trophies she hasn’t earned and secrets her family forces her to keep. While browsing the local antiques shop for her next trophy, she finds Sagan. His wit and unapologetic idealism disarm and spark renewed life into her—until she discovers that he’s completely unavailable. Merit retreats deeper into herself, watching her family from the sidelines when she learns a secret that no trophy in the world can fix.

Fed up with the lies, Merit decides to shatter the happy family illusion that she’s never been a part of before leaving them behind for good. When her escape plan fails, Merit is forced to deal with the staggering consequences of telling the truth and losing the one boy she loves.]]> 386 Colleen Hoover Abby 4
Emotional, mind-altering, questionable, and containing romance, this book is everything a classic CoHo novel contains. A wonderful plot, a nice wrap around ending, lessons, life, love, and everything in between. Without Merit is one to make you think and feel, as does the rest of the CoHo books. ]]> 3.65 2017
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Abby
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/15
date added: 2023/01/17
shelves:
review:
This book felt almost like dominos. One quirk/secret was revealed, which hid another behind it and they kept descending upon one another. Following an anything but "typical" family, inside the head of one of the daughters. Learning that the word "normal" does not always encompass what we think it does.

Emotional, mind-altering, questionable, and containing romance, this book is everything a classic CoHo novel contains. A wonderful plot, a nice wrap around ending, lessons, life, love, and everything in between. Without Merit is one to make you think and feel, as does the rest of the CoHo books.
]]> 1617 Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel's memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man. This new translation by his wife and most frequent translator, Marion Wiesel, corrects important details and presents the most accurate rendering in English of Elie Wiesel's testimony to what happened in the camps and of his unforgettable message that this horror must simply never be allowed to happen again.]]> 120 Elie Wiesel 0374500010 Abby 5
It is not easy to retell of this time, but Wiesel nonetheless does it, because as he claims it is important to remember, and one would have to agree. This book demands to be read, not only because is it real, raw, and true, but because it is a shame to allow us to forget, and we must always remember.]]> 4.38 1956
author: Elie Wiesel
name: Abby
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1956
rating: 5
read at: 2019/01/01
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
Emotional and heart-breaking are the only two words to use when describing a book of this nature and timeline. First-hand account of the holocaust, and being a survivor. How it effected Wiesel, and the significance of the night time to him.

It is not easy to retell of this time, but Wiesel nonetheless does it, because as he claims it is important to remember, and one would have to agree. This book demands to be read, not only because is it real, raw, and true, but because it is a shame to allow us to forget, and we must always remember.
]]> 4671 The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald’s family and from his lifelong publisher.

This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author’s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 Abby 4 3.93 1925
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: Abby
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/09
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
Telling of a man in a world in which he feels he does not completley belong, yet connecting with his neighbor in a brotherly way. Animated, emotional, and learning of a man's longing for a girl. This story connects different classes, people, and ideals in a way that one does not expect.
]]> 40961427 Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmarish vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life—the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language—and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written.]]> 298 George Orwell Abby 4
Similar to Fahrenheit 451, intresting to see how Orwell portrays his futuristic world.]]> 4.24 1949
author: George Orwell
name: Abby
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1949
rating: 4
read at: 2019/01/01
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
Intresting novel, and almost time-altering in a way. Predicting many years ago how people would come to be during everyday life. Allows us to view a world that is controlled in every way, and people who live according to government rules and ideals, and nothing differing.

Similar to Fahrenheit 451, intresting to see how Orwell portrays his futuristic world.
]]> 52613024
“Long live the King�� hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999 - and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it - fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.]]> 320 Stephen King 1982159375 Abby 5
Beautiful book for writers and people alike.]]> 4.51 2000
author: Stephen King
name: Abby
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2022/09/05
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
A book giving tips in a comedic, relaxed way. Speaking in a casual tone connects to the reader, seeming as if having a conversation as opposed to instructing and giving rules. Telling the reader how King became to be the writer he is, and what he learned throughout life, and how the writing process effects one and rules them.

Beautiful book for writers and people alike.
]]> 49750 Katherine X just wanted to be friends
Katherine XVIII dumped him in an e-mail
K-19 broke his heart

When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact.

On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun--but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

Love, friendship, and a dead Austro-Hungarian archduke add up to surprising and heart-changing conclusions in this ingeniously layered comic novel about reinventing oneself.]]> 229 John Green 0525476881 Abby 5
Big John Green fan here, and this book is one of my favorites of his work. Showing how a man has an obsession/fascination with women named Katherine, thinking he could find the perfect equation for heart breakers/having a heart broken. Dating only Katherine's, and not straying from that.

When on his travels he cannot fathom that a mathematical equation cannot explain heart breakers and having a heart broken, soon learning a lesson for love and life.]]> 3.54 2006
author: John Green
name: Abby
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2019/01/01
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
Semi Spoilers -- Hints at plot

Big John Green fan here, and this book is one of my favorites of his work. Showing how a man has an obsession/fascination with women named Katherine, thinking he could find the perfect equation for heart breakers/having a heart broken. Dating only Katherine's, and not straying from that.

When on his travels he cannot fathom that a mathematical equation cannot explain heart breakers and having a heart broken, soon learning a lesson for love and life.
]]> 890 “I got you to look after me, and you got me to look after you, and that's why.��

They are an unlikely pair: George is "small and quick and dark of face"; Lennie, a man of tremendous size, has the mind of a young child. Yet they have formed a "family," clinging together in the face of loneliness and alienation. Laborers in California's dusty vegetable fields, they hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. But George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own.

While the powerlessness of the laboring class is a recurring theme in Steinbeck's work of the late 1930s, he narrowed his focus when composing Of Mice and Men, creating an intimate portrait of two men facing a world marked by petty tyranny, misunderstanding, jealousy, and callousness. But though the scope is narrow, the theme is universal: a friendship and a shared dream that makes an individual's existence meaningful.

A unique perspective on life's hardships, this story has achieved the status of timeless classic due to its remarkable success as a novel, a Broadway play, and three acclaimed films.]]> 107 John Steinbeck 0142000671 Abby 5
Timeless novel, that everyone should be familiar with.]]> 3.88 1937
author: John Steinbeck
name: Abby
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1937
rating: 5
read at: 2019/01/01
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
A story of brotherhood, friendship, and doing what is best even when hard. Showcasing how hard it can be to hold on to someone you care about and see the best in them, even when they do a wrong doing, despite of they had the intention or not.

Timeless novel, that everyone should be familiar with.
]]> 29034 A landmark American drama that inspired a classic film and a Broadway revival—featuring an introduction by David Mamet

A blistering character study and an examination of the American melting pot and the judicial system that keeps it in check,��Twelve Angry Men��holds at its core a deeply patriotic faith in the U.S. legal system. The play centers on Juror Eight, who is at first the sole holdout in an 11-1 guilty vote. Eight sets his sights not on proving the other jurors wrong but rather on getting them to look at the situation in a clear-eyed way not affected by their personal prejudices or biases. Reginald Rose deliberately and carefully peels away the layers of artifice from the men and allows a fuller picture to form of them—and of America, at its best and worst.
��
After the critically acclaimed teleplay aired in 1954, this landmark American drama went on to become a cinematic masterpiece in 1957 starring Henry Fonda, for which Rose wrote the adaptation. More recently, Twelve Angry Men had a successful, and award-winning, run on Broadway.]]> 96 Reginald Rose 0143104403 Abby 5
This book showcases the harsh reality of life, people, and how decisions are made. It is mind-altering, and a reality check to read through this book and see how the men debated the person on trials life and how he would be effected.]]> 4.06 1954
author: Reginald Rose
name: Abby
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at: 2019/10/01
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
Although I read this book initially for a class, this has become one of my favorite novels. Explaining the personalities, views, and interests of twelve different men when debating the life and what will happen to a man on trial.

This book showcases the harsh reality of life, people, and how decisions are made. It is mind-altering, and a reality check to read through this book and see how the men debated the person on trials life and how he would be effected.
]]> 27362503
Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up �� she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating�� rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan �� her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.]]> 386 Colleen Hoover 1668021048 Abby 5
Ground-breaking, timeless novel, explaining the story of physical and mental abuse. Showcases that one is not alone, and it is okay to be selfish. Seeing through the eyes of our main character, knowing her struggles and conflicting thoughts while dealing with her abusive husband.

It is easy to make excuses for someone whom we love, and this novel accurately showcases how hard it can be to stop making excuses, see and accept the truth, and then act on your knowledge of someone.

This truly is a novel everyone should read.]]> 4.11 2016
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Abby
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/14
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
Semi Spoilers -- Hints at plot

Ground-breaking, timeless novel, explaining the story of physical and mental abuse. Showcases that one is not alone, and it is okay to be selfish. Seeing through the eyes of our main character, knowing her struggles and conflicting thoughts while dealing with her abusive husband.

It is easy to make excuses for someone whom we love, and this novel accurately showcases how hard it can be to stop making excuses, see and accept the truth, and then act on your knowledge of someone.

This truly is a novel everyone should read.
]]> 13623848 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062060624.

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.]]> 408 Madeline Miller Abby 5
The persevering love of the two main characters from the beginning to the end, showcases what it means to unconditionally love someone, and trying to do your all to do right for and by them.]]> 4.30 2011
author: Madeline Miller
name: Abby
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/10
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
This book took a bit of a turn in what one would expect to read nowadays. Miller is excellent at incorporating the Greek Mythology characters into her story, allowing them to keep their characteristics, but ultimately, have a new, different story within her novel.

The persevering love of the two main characters from the beginning to the end, showcases what it means to unconditionally love someone, and trying to do your all to do right for and by them.
]]> 58283080 friends? Bizarre. But he likes her too much to risk a fling, so platonic pals it is.

Now, Hannah's in town for work, crashing in Fox's spare bedroom. She knows he's a notorious ladies' man, but they're definitely just friends. In fact, she's nursing a hopeless crush on a colleague and Fox is just the person to help with her lackluster love life. Armed with a few tips from Westport's resident Casanova, Hannah sets out to catch her coworker's eye... yet the more time she spends with Fox, the more she wants him instead. As the line between friendship and flirtation begins to blur, Hannah can't deny she loves everything about Fox, but she refuses to be another notch on his bedpost.

Living with his best friend should have been easy. Except now she's walking around in a towel, sleeping right across the hall, and Fox is fantasizing about waking up next to her for the rest of his life and... and... man overboard! He's fallen for her, hook, line, and sinker. Helping her flirt with another guy is pure torture, but maybe if Fox can tackle his inner demons and show Hannah he's all in, she'll choose him instead?

In the follow-up to It Happened One Summer, Tessa Bailey delivers another deliciously fun rom-com about a former player who accidentally falls for his best friend while trying to help her land a different man...]]> 353 Tessa Bailey 0063045699 Abby 5 3.87 2022
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Abby
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/07
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 55659629
Piper hasn’t even been in Westport for five minutes when she meets big, bearded sea captain Brendan, who thinks she won’t last a week outside of Beverly Hills. So what if Piper can’t do math, and the idea of sleeping in a shabby apartment with bunk beds gives her hives. How bad could it really be? She’s determined to show her stepfather—and the hot, grumpy local—that she’s more than a pretty face.

Except it’s a small town and everywhere she turns, she bumps into Brendan. The fun-loving socialite and the gruff fisherman are polar opposites, but there’s an undeniable attraction simmering between them. Piper doesn’t want any distractions, especially feelings for a man who sails off into the sunset for weeks at a time. Yet as she reconnects with her past and begins to feel at home in Westport, Piper starts to wonder if the cold, glamorous life she knew is what she truly wants. LA is calling her name, but Brendan—and this town full of memories—may have already caught her heart.��

Tessa Bailey is back with a Schitt’s Creek-inspired rom-com about a Hollywood “It Girl�� who is cut off from her wealthy family and exiled to a small Pacific Northwest beach town... where she butts heads with a surly, sexy local who thinks she doesn’t belong.��]]> 397 Tessa Bailey 0063045656 Abby 5
A great enemies-to-lovers novel, showcasing the pain of stereotypes, and the mental battle that can accompany overcoming said stereotypes.]]> 3.91 2021
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Abby
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/03
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
A book about a two sisters persevering beyond what people expected of them. Telling of the bare thoughts that run through many people's minds. Showing the raw emotion of wanting to be good enough, and always trying to reach societal standards, but learning that there are things in life that matter way more than a like button or follower count.

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

Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship.]]> 273 Sally Rooney 1984822179 Abby 2
If one was to argue that this book is not dramatic/much does not occur due to it reflecting real life, hence the title "Normal People" then I could appreciate that fact that she is just reflecting that real life is not a drama as it is in a book.

Not your typical Y/A novel in my opinion.]]> 3.81 2018
author: Sally Rooney
name: Abby
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2023/01/11
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
Personally, this book did not offer much to me. Maybe I had the wrong idea or insight into it, but it did not entertain me in the way I hope books do. It seemed as though it was frustrating, and I could not get past any of it. Seemingly random stories, and weak dialogue strung together through the novel. No correlation between much.

If one was to argue that this book is not dramatic/much does not occur due to it reflecting real life, hence the title "Normal People" then I could appreciate that fact that she is just reflecting that real life is not a drama as it is in a book.

Not your typical Y/A novel in my opinion.
]]> 62967897
That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.

Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.]]> 408 Colleen Hoover Abby 5
Following the characters through life, pain, trauma, and loss, seeing how they come back and keep living life. Followed by quotes that can help anyone know that they can face everything.

The love between the characteristics is something one can hope to experience in their life. Something that is real, true, unconditional, and withstands all.

This book is timeless, heart touching, and I would recommend it to anyone. ]]> 4.14 2012
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Abby
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/12
date added: 2023/01/13
shelves:
review:
Started off as a cute, mysterious love story. Through many twists and turns, it turned out to be a heart wrenching, tear shedding, story about resilience, bravery, love, and family.

Following the characters through life, pain, trauma, and loss, seeing how they come back and keep living life. Followed by quotes that can help anyone know that they can face everything.

The love between the characteristics is something one can hope to experience in their life. Something that is real, true, unconditional, and withstands all.

This book is timeless, heart touching, and I would recommend it to anyone.
]]> 59344312
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.]]> 336 Colleen Hoover 153872474X Abby 5 4.29 2018
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Abby
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/27
date added: 2022/12/27
shelves:
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]]> 39943621
Centuries before the events of A Game of Thrones, House Targaryen—the only family of dragonlords to survive the Doom of Valyria—took up residence on Dragonstone. Fire and Blood begins their tale with the legendary Aegon the Conqueror, creator of the Iron Throne, and goes on to recount the generations of Targaryens who fought to hold that iconic seat, all the way up to the civil war that nearly tore their dynasty apart.

What really happened during the Dance of the Dragons? Why did it become so deadly to visit Valyria after the Doom? What is the origin of Daenerys’s three dragon eggs? These are but a few of the questions answered in this essential chronicle, as related by a learned maester of the Citadel and featuring more than eighty all-new black-and-white illustrations by artist Doug Wheatley. Readers have glimpsed small parts of this narrative in such volumes as The World of Ice & Fire, but now, for the first time, the full tapestry of Targaryen history is revealed.

With all the scope and grandeur of Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Fire and Blood is the ultimate game of thrones, giving readers a whole new appreciation for the dynamic, often bloody, and always fascinating history of Westeros.]]> 706 George R.R. Martin 152479628X Abby 1 4.03 2018
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Abby
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at: 2022/12/27
date added: 2022/12/27
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]]> 52945057 more forgetting time.
more midnight dances with yourself."

amanda lovelace, the bestselling & award-winning author of the “women are some kind of magic�� poetry series, presents a new companion series, “you are your own fairy tale�� the first installment, break your glass slippers, is about overcoming those who don’t see your worth, even if that person is sometimes yourself. in the epic tale of your life, you are the most important character while everyone is but a forgotten footnote. even the prince.

��]]> 160 Amanda Lovelace 1524851892 Abby 5 3.95 2020
author: Amanda Lovelace
name: Abby
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/08
date added: 2022/12/08
shelves:
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]]> 36206545 The story of the heart can never be unwritten.

Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.

But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother...only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.

Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.

Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).]]> 432 Christina Lauren 1501128019 Abby 5 4.28 2018
author: Christina Lauren
name: Abby
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/27
date added: 2022/11/27
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]]> 40940121 The 40th anniversary edition of the classic Newbery Medal-winning title by beloved author Katherine Paterson, with brand-new bonus materials including an author's note by Katherine herself and a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Kate DiCamillo.

Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.

Bridge to Terabithia was also named an ALA Notable Children’s Book and has become a touchstone of children’s literature, as have many of Katherine Paterson’s other novels, including The Great Gilly Hopkins and Jacob Have I Loved.]]> 190 Katherine Paterson Abby 0 to-read 4.18 1977
author: Katherine Paterson
name: Abby
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> 60393672 Before It Ends with Us, it started with Atlas. Colleen Hoover tells fan favorite Atlas’s side of the story and shares what comes next in this long-anticipated sequel to the “glorious and touching�� (USA TODAY) #1 New York Times bestseller It Ends with Us.

Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil coparenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date.

But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.

Switching between the perspectives of Lily and Atlas, It Starts with Us picks up right where the epilogue for the “gripping, pulse-pounding�� (Sarah Pekkanen, author of Perfect Neighbors) bestselling phenomenon It Ends with Us left off. Revealing more about Atlas’s past and following Lily as she embraces a second chance at true love while navigating a jealous ex-husband, it proves that “no one delivers an emotional read like Colleen Hoover�� (Anna Todd, New York Times bestselling author).]]> 323 Colleen Hoover 1668001225 Abby 4 3.80 2022
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Abby
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/26
date added: 2022/11/26
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]]> 819699 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Scarlett O'Hara, the beautiful, spoiled daughter of a well-to-do Georgia plantation owner, must use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of the poverty she finds herself in after Sherman's March to the Sea.]]> 1037 Margaret Mitchell 068483068X Abby 5 4.44 1936
author: Margaret Mitchell
name: Abby
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1936
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/26
date added: 2022/11/26
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]]> 33569
Since childhood, Bryon and Mark have been as close as brothers. Now things are changing. Bryon's growing up, spending a lot of time with girls, and thinking seriously about who he wants to be. Mark still just lives for the thrill of the moment. The two are growing apart - until Bryon makes a shocking discovery about Mark. Then Bryon faces a terrible decision - one that will change both of their lives forever.]]> 159 S.E. Hinton 0140389660 Abby 0 3.94 1971
author: S.E. Hinton
name: Abby
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1971
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/05
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]]> 36809135
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.]]> 384 Delia Owens 0735219117 Abby 5 4.35 2018
author: Delia Owens
name: Abby
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/28
date added: 2022/07/28
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]]> 18144590 The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.]]> 182 Paulo Coelho 0062315005 Abby 5 4.01 1988
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Abby
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1988
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/21
date added: 2022/07/21
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]]> 35896971 Can Belly make a final choice between Jeremiah and Conrad? Find out in the conclusion of the New York Times bestselling The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy from the author of To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

Belly has only ever been in love with two boys, both with the last name Fisher. And after being with Jeremiah for the last two years, she's almost positive he is her soul mate. Almost. While Conrad has not gotten over the mistake of letting Belly go, Jeremiah has always known that Belly is the girl for him. So when Belly and Jeremiah decide to make things forever, Conrad realizes that it's now or never--tell Belly he loves her, or lose her for good.

Belly will have to confront her feelings for Jeremiah and Conrad and face the inevitable: She will have to break one of their hearts.]]> 320 Jenny Han Abby 4 3.53 2011
author: Jenny Han
name: Abby
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/16
date added: 2022/07/16
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]]> 241823
In "Women Who Run With the Wolves," Dr Estes unfolds rich intercultural myths, fairytales and stories, many from her own family, in order to help women reconnect with the fierce, healthy, visionary attributes of this instinctual nature. Through the stories and commentaries in this remarkable book, we retrieve, examine, love, and understand the Wild Woman, and hold her against our deep psyches as one who is both magic and medicine. Dr Estes has created a new lexicon for describing the female psyche. Fertile and life-giving, it is a psychology of women in the truest sense, a knowing of the soul.]]> 537 Clarissa Pinkola Estés 0345409876 Abby 0 to-read 4.12 1992
author: Clarissa Pinkola Estés
name: Abby
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> 35896828
Belly finds out what comes after falling in love in this follow-up to The Summer I Turned Pretty from the New York Times bestselling author of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (soon to be a major motion picture!), Jenny Han.

Can summer be truly summer without Cousins Beach?

It used to be that Belly counted the days until summer, until she was back at Cousins Beach with Conrad and Jeremiah. But not this year. Not after Susannah got sick again and Conrad stopped caring. Everything that was right and good has fallen apart, leaving Belly wishing summer would never come.

But when Jeremiah calls saying Conrad has disappeared, Belly knows what she must do to make things right again. And it can only happen back at the beach house, the three of them together, the way things used to be. If this summer really and truly is the last summer, it should end the way it started—at Cousins Beach.]]> 275 Jenny Han Abby 5 3.55 2010
author: Jenny Han
name: Abby
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/08
date added: 2022/07/08
shelves:
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]]> 35380161
Some summers are just destined to be pretty.

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer -- they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.]]> 276 Jenny Han Abby 5 3.56 2009
author: Jenny Han
name: Abby
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/07
date added: 2022/07/07
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]]> 46264396 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost comes a tender and moving new novel about a woman at a crossroads after the death of her father, and caught between the love of two men.

"A smart, sexy, delicious novel."--People

Nina has always known who she's supposed to be. But is that who she truly is?

Nina Gregory has always been a good daughter. Raised by her father, owner of New York City's glamorous Gregory Hotels, Nina was taught that family, reputation, and legacy are what matter most. And Tim--her devoted boyfriend and best friend since childhood--feels the same. But when Nina's father dies, he leaves behind a secret that shocks Nina to her core. Soon, Nina begins to see the men in her life--her father, her boyfriend, and unexpectedly, her boss, Rafael--in a new light, finding herself caught between the world she loves, and a passion that could upend everything.

More Than Words is a heartbreaking and romantic novel about grief, loss, love, and self-discovery, and how we choose which life we are meant to live.]]> 384 Jill Santopolo 0735218315 Abby 4 3.63 2019
author: Jill Santopolo
name: Abby
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/04
date added: 2022/07/04
shelves:
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]]> 57477905 When Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr. Darcy she is repelled by his overbearing pride, and prejudice towards her family. But the Bennet girls are in need of financial security in the shape of husbands, so when Darcy's friend, the affable Mr. Bingley, forms an attachment to Jane, Darcy becomes increasingly hard to avoid. Polite society will be turned upside down in this witty drama of friendship, rivalry, and love—Jane Austen's classic romance novel.]]> 416 Jane Austen Abby 3 4.36 1813
author: Jane Austen
name: Abby
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1813
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/01
date added: 2022/07/01
shelves:
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]]> 24611657 The author of Don’t Worry It Gets Worse takes on the F-word

Alida Nugent’s first book, Don’t Worry It Gets Worse, received terrific reviews, and her self-deprecating “everygirl�� approach continues to win the Internet-savvy writer and blogger new fans. Now, she takes on one of today’s hottest cultural topics: feminism.

Nugent is a proud feminist—and she’s not afraid to say it. From the “scarlet F�� thrust upon you if you declare yourself a feminist at a party to how to handle judgmental store clerks when you buy Plan B, You Don’t Have to Like Me skewers a range of cultural issues, and confirms Nugent as a star on the rise.]]> 218 Alida Nugent 0142181684 Abby 0 to-read 3.84 2015
author: Alida Nugent
name: Abby
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> 60156155
Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way�� with fists and beer. Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.

At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.]]> 552 Lucy Score 194563183X Abby 0 to-read 4.12 2022
author: Lucy Score
name: Abby
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> 5517 A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959.

Indeed Lorraine Hansberry's award-winning drama about the hopes and aspirations of a struggling, working-class family living on the South Side of Chicago connected profoundly with the psyche of black America--and changed American theater forever.����The play's title comes from a line in Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem," which warns that a dream deferred might "dry up/like a raisin in the sun."

"The events of every passing year add resonance to A Raisin in the Sun," said The New York Times.����"It is as if history is conspiring to make the play a classic."����This Modern Library edition presents the fully restored, uncut version of Hansberry's landmark work with an introduction by Robert Nemiroff.]]> 162 Lorraine Hansberry 0375508333 Abby 0 3.84 1959
author: Lorraine Hansberry
name: Abby
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/10
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]]> 16793 Alternate cover edition can be found here

Young Tristran Thorn will do anything to win the cold heart of beautiful Victoria—even fetch her the star they watch fall from the night sky. But to do so, he must enter the unexplored lands on the other side of the ancient wall that gives their tiny village its name. Beyond that old stone wall, Tristran learns, lies Faerie—where nothing not even a fallen star, is what he imagined.]]> 248 Neil Gaiman 0061142026 Abby 0 to-read 4.11 1999
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Abby
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 3236307
She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.

She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.]]> 471 Kristin Cashore 015206396X Abby 0 to-read 4.07 2008
author: Kristin Cashore
name: Abby
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 5364 An alternate cover edition can be found here.

From the author of Outlander... a magnificent epic that once again sweeps us back in time to the drama and passion of 18th-century Scotland...

For twenty years Claire Randall has kept her secrets. But now she is returning with her grown daughter to Scotland's majestic mist-shrouded hills. Here Claire plans to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth: about the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones ...about a love that transcends the boundaries of time ...and about James Fraser, a Scottish warrior whose gallantry once drew a young Claire from the security of her century to the dangers of his ....

Now a legacy of blood and desire will test her beautiful copper-haired daughter, Brianna, as Claire's spellbinding journey of self-discovery continues in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart ...in a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising ...and in a desperate fight to save both the child and the man she loves....]]> 947 Diana Gabaldon Abby 0 to-read 4.33 1992
author: Diana Gabaldon
name: Abby
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> 662 This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators?

Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the world’s motor �� and the motive power of every man? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the characters in this story.

Tremendous in its scope, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life �� from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy �� to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction �� to the philosopher who becomes a pirate �� to the composer who gives up his career on the night of his triumph �� to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad �� to the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels.

You must be prepared, when you read this novel, to check every premise at the root of your convictions.

This is a mystery story, not about the murder �� and rebirth �� of man’s spirit. It is a philosophical revolution, told in the form of an action thriller of violent events, a ruthlessly brilliant plot structure and an irresistible suspense. Do you say this is impossible? Well, that is the first of your premises to check.]]> 1168 Ayn Rand 0452011876 Abby 0 to-read 3.67 1957
author: Ayn Rand
name: Abby
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1957
rating: 0
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date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> 65641 Jill and Eustace must rescue the Prince from the evil Witch.

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

Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor...or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face to face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rillian is to be saved.]]> 243 C.S. Lewis Abby 0 to-read 3.96 1953
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Abby
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1953
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 43545 639 T.H. White 0441627404 Abby 0 to-read 4.07 1958
author: T.H. White
name: Abby
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 10408853 Book by Harris, José N. 436 José N. Harris 1456807919 Abby 0 to-read 4.50 2010
author: José N. Harris
name: Abby
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 11334 338 Toni Morrison 140003342X Abby 0 to-read 4.15 1977
author: Toni Morrison
name: Abby
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 137335 478 Thomas Mann 0394423666 Abby 0 to-read 4.16 1947
author: Thomas Mann
name: Abby
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1947
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 569429
“Hitchhiker fans rejoice! . . . [Here’s] more of the same zany nonsensical mayhem.”�� The New York Times Book Review

It’s easy to get disheartened when your planet has been blown up and the woman you love has vanished due to a misunderstanding about space/time. However, instead of being disheartened, Arthur Dent makes the terrible mistake of starting to enjoy life a bit—and immediately all hell breaks loose.

Hell takes a number of there’s the standard Ford Prefect version, in the shape of an all-new edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and a totally unexpected manifestation in the form of a teenage girl who startles Arthur Dent by being his daughter when he didn’t even know he had one.��

Can Arthur save the Earth from total multidimensional obliteration? Can he save the Guide from a hostile alien takeover? Can he save his daughter, Random, from herself? Of course not. He never works out exactly what is going on. Will you?

“Douglas Adams is a terrific satirist. . . . He is anything but harmless.”�� The Washington Post Book World]]> 288 Douglas Adams 0345379330 Abby 0 to-read 3.99 1992
author: Douglas Adams
name: Abby
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 6006518 293 Lili St. Crow 1595142517 Abby 0 to-read 3.79 2009
author: Lili St. Crow
name: Abby
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> 11735983
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian DIVERGENT series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.]]> 525 Veronica Roth 0007442912 Abby 0 to-read 3.97 2012
author: Veronica Roth
name: Abby
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> 29059 Victor Mancini, a medical-school dropout, is an antihero for our deranged times.

Needing to pay elder care for his mother, Victor has devised an ingenious scam: he pretends to choke on pieces of food while dining in upscale restaurants. He then allows himself to be “saved�� by fellow patrons who, feeling responsible for Victor’s life, go on to send checks to support him.

When he’s not pulling this stunt, Victor cruises sexual addiction recovery workshops for action, visits his addled mom, and spends his days working at a colonial theme park.

His creator, Chuck Palahniuk, renowned author of classics like Fight Club, is the visionary we need and the satirist we deserve.]]> 293 Chuck Palahniuk 0385720920 Abby 0 to-read 3.71 2001
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Abby
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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]]> 18335634
THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?

Danger and betrayal, secrets and enchantment, and the tangled threads of love and loss intertwine as the Shadowhunters are pushed to the very brink of destruction in the breathtaking conclusion to the Infernal Devices trilogy.]]> 567 Cassandra Clare 1406321346 Abby 0 to-read 4.55 2013
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Abby
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> 153747 "It is the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hawsers. A Polar wind blows through it, and birds of prey hover over it."

So Melville wrote of his masterpiece, one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history. In part, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopaedia of whaling lore and legend, the book can be seen as part of its author's lifelong meditation on America. Written with wonderfully redemptive humour, Moby-Dick is also a profound inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception.

This edition of Moby-Dick, which reproduces the definitive text of the novel, includes invaluable explanatory notes, along with maps, illustrations, and a glossary of nautical terms.]]> 720 Herman Melville 0142437247 Abby 3 3.53 1851
author: Herman Melville
name: Abby
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1851
rating: 3
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]]> 320 417 Gabriel García Márquez Abby 0 to-read 4.10 1967
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: Abby
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1967
rating: 0
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]]> 2956 327 Mark Twain 0142437174 Abby 0 to-read 3.82 1884
author: Mark Twain
name: Abby
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1884
rating: 0
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]]> 386162
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!]]> 193 Douglas Adams Abby 0 to-read 4.28 1979
author: Douglas Adams
name: Abby
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1979
rating: 0
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]]> 48855
In 1942, with the Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, the Franks and another family lived cloistered in the “Secret Annexe�� of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and surprisingly humorous, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.
--back cover]]> 283 Anne Frank Abby 5 4.19 1947
author: Anne Frank
name: Abby
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1947
rating: 5
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]]> 19543 38 Maurice Sendak 0099408392 Abby 5 4.25 1963
author: Maurice Sendak
name: Abby
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1963
rating: 5
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]]> 39988 “The Trunchbull�� is no match for Matilda!

Matilda is a little girl who is far too good to be true. At age five-and-a-half she's knocking off double-digit multiplication problems and blitz-reading Dickens. Even more remarkably, her classmates love her even though she's a super-nerd and the teacher's pet. But everything is not perfect in Matilda's world...

For starters she has two of the most idiotic, self-centered parents who ever lived. Then there's the large, busty nightmare of a school principal, Miss ("The") Trunchbull, a former hammer-throwing champion who flings children at will, and is approximately as sympathetic as a bulldozer. Fortunately for Matilda, she has the inner resources to deal with such annoyances: astonishing intelligence, saintly patience, and an innate predilection for revenge.

Roald Dahl was a spy, ace fighter-pilot, chocolate historian, and medical inventor. He was also the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, and many more brilliant stories. He remains the World's No. 1 Storyteller.]]> 240 Roald Dahl 043512398X Abby 0 to-read 4.33 1988
author: Roald Dahl
name: Abby
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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]]> 2623
Pip must discover his true self, and his own set of values and priorities. Whether such values allow one to prosper in the complex world of early Victorian England is the major question posed by Great Expectations, one of Dickens's most fascinating, and disturbing, novels.

This edition includes the original, discarded ending, Dickens's brief working notes, and the serial instalments and chapter divisions in different editions. It also uses the definitive Clarendon text.]]> 544 Charles Dickens 0192833596 Abby 0 to-read 3.78 1861
author: Charles Dickens
name: Abby
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1861
rating: 0
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]]> 332613 9780451163967

Tyrannical Nurse Ratched rules her ward in an Oregon State mental hospital with a strict and unbending routine, unopposed by her patients, who remain cowed by mind-numbing medication and the threat of electric shock therapy. But her regime is disrupted by the arrival of McMurphy �� the swaggering, fun-loving trickster with a devilish grin who resolves to oppose her rules on behalf of his fellow inmates. His struggle is seen through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a seemingly mute half-Indian patient who understands McMurphy's heroic attempt to do battle with the powers that keep them imprisoned. Ken Kesey's extraordinary first novel is an exuberant, ribald and devastatingly honest portrayal of the boundaries between sanity and madness.]]> 325 Ken Kesey Abby 0 to-read 4.20 1962
author: Ken Kesey
name: Abby
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1962
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]]> 1845 Librarian's Note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

In April, 1992, a young man from a well-to-do family hitchhiked to Alaska and walked alone into the wilderness north of Mt. McKinley. His name was Christopher Johnson McCandless. He had given $25,000 in savings to charity, abandoned his car and most of his possessions, burned all the cash in his wallet, and invented a new life for himself. Four months later, a party of moose hunters found his decomposed body. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.

Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. In the Mojave Desert he abandoned his car, stripped it of its license plates, and burned all of his cash. He would give himself a new name, Alexander Supertramp, and, unencumbered by money and belongings, he would be free to wallow in the raw, unfiltered experiences that nature presented. Craving a blank spot on the map, McCandless simply threw away the maps. Leaving behind his desperate parents and sister, he vanished into the wild.]]> 207 Jon Krakauer 0385486804 Abby 4 4.01 1996
author: Jon Krakauer
name: Abby
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1996
rating: 4
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]]> 809191
Over the next thirty years, Will and Patrick will remain friends even as they pursue radically divergent destinies--and even as they harbor secrets that defy our categories of rebellion and conformity. A triumph of honed wit, x-ray observation, and bravura storytelling, The Last of the Savages is Jay McInerey's most engrossing and emotionally satisfying novel to date.]]> 271 Jay McInerney 0679749527 Abby 0 to-read 3.62 1996
author: Jay McInerney
name: Abby
average rating: 3.62
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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]]> 359 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its classic sequels. Sadly for his countless admirers, he hitched his own ride to the great beyond much too soon. Culled posthumously from Adams’s fleet of beloved Macintosh computers, this selection of essays, articles, anecdotes, and stories offers a fascinating and intimate portrait of the multifaceted artist and absurdist wordsmith.

Join Adams on an excursion to climb Kilimanjaro…dressed in a rhino costume; peek into the private life of Genghis Khan—warrior and world-class neurotic; root for the harried author’s efforts to get a Hitchhiker movie off the ground in Hollywood; thrill to the further exploits of private eye Dirk Gently and two-headed alien Zaphod Beeblebrox. Though Douglas Adams is gone, he’s left us something very special to remember him by. Without a doubt.]]> 298 Douglas Adams 0345455290 Abby 0 to-read 3.93 2002
author: Douglas Adams
name: Abby
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2002
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]]> 19057 protect the diamonds
survive the clubs
dig deep through the spades
feel the hearts

Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery.

That's when the first ace arrives in the mail.

That's when Ed becomes the messenger.

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?]]> 357 Markus Zusak Abby 0 to-read 4.03 2002
author: Markus Zusak
name: Abby
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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]]> 1420 289 William Shakespeare 0521618746 Abby 0 to-read 4.02 1601
author: William Shakespeare
name: Abby
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1601
rating: 0
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]]> 492486 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce has written the new novel in her popular Circle of Magic universe to go directly to audio--preceding the print version by at least a year. Residents on one of the islands south of Emelan have sent a call for help to Winding Circle temple: Their plants and trees and the animals that live around them are mysteriously dying.

From Winding Circle come two familiar figures: prickly green mage Rosethorn, whose plant magic will help her decipher what's ailing the plant life, and Briar's former student, the stone mage Evvy. With them comes the eager, nervous Dedicate Initiate Myrrhflower and Luvo, a being best described as a walking, intelligent rock. All are pulled into the island's mystery when Evvy is caught up by the wild spirits loose in an immense bubble of molten rock. Can they evacuate the island in time--or will they try to shift a volcano?]]> 9 Tamora Pierce 193418005X Abby 0 to-read 3.87 2007
author: Tamora Pierce
name: Abby
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2007
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]]> 365
Apparently not much; until Dirk Gently, self-styled private investigator, sets out to prove the fundamental interconnectedness of all things by solving a mysterious murder, assisting a mysterious professor, unravelling a mysterious mystery, and eating a lot of pizza �� not to mention saving the entire human race from extinction along the way (at no extra charge).

To find out more, read this book (better still, buy it, then read it) �� or contact Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. ‘A thumping good detective-ghost-horror-whodunnit-time travel-romantic-musical-comedy epic.�� The author]]> 306 Douglas Adams Abby 0 to-read 3.98 1987
author: Douglas Adams
name: Abby
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1987
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]]> 112110
For Wordsworth, as he so clearly stated in his celebrated preface to the 1800 edition (also reproduced here), the important thing was the emotion aroused by the poem, and not the poem itself. This acclaimed Routledge Classics edition offers the reader the opportunity to study the poems in their original contexts as they appeared to Coleridge's and Wordsworth's contemporaries, and includes some of their most famous poems, including Coleridge's Rime of the Ancyent Marinere.]]> 118 William Wordsworth 0140424628 Abby 0 to-read 3.95 1798
author: William Wordsworth
name: Abby
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1798
rating: 0
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]]> 960
A devastating new weapon of destruction.
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyze a mysterious symbol -- seared into the chest of a murdered physicist -- he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy -- the Catholic Church.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the Vatican's holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.
Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

An explosive international thriller, Angels & Demons careens from enlightening epiphanies to dark truths as the battle between science and religion turns to war.]]> 736 Dan Brown 1416524797 Abby 0 to-read 3.95 2000
author: Dan Brown
name: Abby
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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]]> 2937983 328 Victor Hugo 1434489302 Abby 0 to-read 3.81 1864
author: Victor Hugo
name: Abby
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1864
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]]> 667488 "An insane farce that is also uproarious."--NY Times
"I will ever be grateful for the almost psychic gift that enabled me to write Blithe Spirit in five days during one of the darkest years of the war." - Noel Coward. Written in 1941, Blithe Spirit remained the longest-running comedy in British Theatre for years. Plotted around the central role of one of Coward's best loved characters, a medium Madame Arcati (originally played by Margaret Rutherford). Coward's play is a spirited charade about a man with 2 wives, one dead and another alive.]]> 130 Noël Coward 0413771970 Abby 0 to-read 3.97 1941
author: Noël Coward
name: Abby
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1941
rating: 0
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]]> 253168 96 John Guare 0802142982 Abby 0 to-read 3.68 1998
author: John Guare
name: Abby
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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]]> 6411961
Washington DC: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned at the last minute to deliver an evening lecture in the Capitol Building. Within moments of his arrival, however, a disturbing object - gruesomely encoded with five symbols - is discovered at the epicentre of the Rotunda. It is, he recognises, an ancient invitation, meant to beckon its recipient towards a long-lost world of hidden esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon's revered mentor, Peter Solomon - philanthropist and prominent mason - is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes that his only hope of saving his friend's life is to accept this mysterious summons and follow wherever it leads him.

Langdon finds himself quickly swept behind the facade of America's most historic city into the unseen chambers, temples and tunnels which exist there. All that was familiar is transformed into a shadowy, clandestine world of an artfully concealed past in which Masonic secrets and never-before-seen revelations seem to be leading him to a single impossible and inconceivable truth.

A brilliantly composed tapestry of veiled histories, arcane icons and enigmatic codes, The Lost Symbol is an intelligent, lightning-paced thriller that offers surprises at every turn. For, as Robert Langdon will discover, there is nothing more extraordinary or shocking than the secret which hides in plain sight...]]> 509 Dan Brown 0385504225 Abby 0 to-read 3.75 2009
author: Dan Brown
name: Abby
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2009
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]]> 186074
The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.

A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.]]> 662 Patrick Rothfuss 075640407X Abby 0 to-read 4.52 2007
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Abby
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2007
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]]> 23534 A classic in the Bukowski poetry canon, Love Is a Dog from Hell is a raw, lyrical exploration of the exigencies, heartbreaks, and limits of love.

Charles Bukowski was a man of intense emotions, someone an editor once called a “passionate madman.�� Alternating between tough and gentle, sensitive and gritty, Bukowski lays bare the myriad facets of love—its selfishness and its narcissism, its randomness, its mystery and its misery, and, ultimately, its true joyfulness, endurance, and redemptive power.]]> 312 Charles Bukowski 0876853629 Abby 0 to-read 4.01 1977
author: Charles Bukowski
name: Abby
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1977
rating: 0
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]]> 17799 Alternate cover edition here.

Growing up in the suburbs of post-war Japan, it seemed to Hajime that everyone but him had brothers and sisters. His sole companion was Shimamoto, also an only child. Together they spent long afternoons listening to her father's record collection. But when his family moved away, the two lost touch. Now Hajime is in his thirties. After a decade of drifting he has found happiness with his loving wife and two daughters, and success running a jazz bar. Then Shimamoto reappears. She is beautiful, intense, enveloped in mystery. Hajime is catapulted into the past, putting at risk all he has in the present.]]> 190 Haruki Murakami 0099448572 Abby 0 to-read 3.89 1992
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Abby
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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]]>