en-US Wed, 09 Apr 2025 01:26:30 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 941661
When Jack Mercy died, he left behind a ranch worth nearly twenty million dollars. Now his three daughters—each born of a different mother, and each unknown by the others—are gathered to hear the reading of the will. But the women are shocked to learn that before any of them can inherit, they must live together on the ranch for one year. For Tess, a screenwriter who just wants to collect her cash and get back to Hollywood, it’s a nightmare. For Lily, on the run from her abusive ex-husband, it’s a refuge. And for Willa—who grew up on the ranch—it’s an intrusion into her rightful home.They are sisters
and strangers. Now they face a challenge: to put their bitterness aside and live like a family. To protect each other from danger—and unite against a brutal enemy who threatens to destroy them all
]]> 467 Nora Roberts 0749937653 Sammi 4 3.81 1996
author: Nora Roberts
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: contemporary-fiction, fiction, mystery-and-thrillers, romance, romantic-suspense, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 56578056
Which raises the ultimate question: with infinite choices, what is the best way to live?]]> 288 Matt Haig 1786892731 Sammi 2 3.88 2020
author: Matt Haig
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: fantasy, fiction, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 838638 Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard, Gandalf, and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep to take him on an adventure.]]> 365 J.R.R. Tolkien 0006754023 Sammi 5 currently-reading 4.24 1937
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1937
rating: 5
read at: 2013/05/15
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 59444219 I Am, I Am, I Am, about the death of Shakespeare's eleven-year-old son Hamnet--a name interchangeable with Hamlet in fifteenth-century Britain--and the years leading up to the production of his great play.

England, 1580. A young Latin tutor--penniless, bullied by a violent father--falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman: a wild creature who walks her family's estate with a falcon on her shoulder and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer. Agnes understands plants and potions better than she does people, but once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose gifts as a writer are just beginning to awaken when his beloved young son succumbs to bubonic plague.

A luminous portrait of a marriage, a shattering evocation of a family ravaged by grief and loss, and a hypnotic recreation of the story that inspired one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time, Hamnet is mesmerizing and seductive, an impossible-to-put-down novel from one of our most gifted writers.]]> 389 Maggie O'Farrell 1472223829 Sammi 2 4.07 2020
author: Maggie O'Farrell
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 2634603 96 Arthur Mathews 0752224727 Sammi 0 currently-reading 3.98 1998
author: Arthur Mathews
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 43455958
From human to vampire...

Marcus Whitmore was made a vampire in the eighteenth century. Over two hundred years later, he finds himself in love with Phoebe Taylor, a human who decides to become a vampire herself. And with tradition enforcing separation from Marcus, Phoebe's transformation will prove as challenging now as it was for Marcus when he first encountered Matthew de Clermont, his sire. Time's Convert moves with epic sweep from the battlefields of the American Revolutionary War, through the treachery of the French Revolution to a bloody finale in New Orleans.
' Gripping and impossible to put down, this is Twilight for grown-ups - a wonderful read!' Katie Fforde on A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES ' Thrilling . . . A captivating and romantic ripping yarn' E L James on SHADOW OF NIGHT ' Rich in arcane detail , fans will relish this exotic cauldron of romantic fantasy ' Sunday Mirror on THE BOOK OF LIFE
In Deborah Harkness's world of witches, daemons and vampires, watch as history comes to life.]]> 465 Deborah Harkness 1472237358 Sammi 4 3.93 2018
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: fiction, historical-fantasy, paranormal, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 12512617 MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOUR

"If we burn
you burn with us"


Katniss Everdeen has survived the Hunger Games twice. But she's still not safe. A revolution is unfolding, and everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans -- everyone except Katniss.

And yet she must play the most vital part in the final battle. Katniss must become their Mockingjay -- the symbol of rebellion -- no matter what the personal cost.



Cover image by Tim O'Brien]]> 458 Suzanne Collins 1407132105 Sammi 5 4.05 2010
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: fantasy, fiction, read-in-2025, young-adult
review:

]]> 12510082 MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOUR

Katniss Everdeen survived the hunger games. Now the Capitol wants revenge.


Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are still alive. Katniss should be relieved, but now there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol -- a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

As the nation watches Katniss and Peeta, the stakes are higher than ever. One false move and the consequences will be unimaginable.



Cover image by Tim O'Brien]]> 472 Suzanne Collins Sammi 5 4.37 2009
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: fiction, read-in-2025, young-adult
review:

]]> 23279819
A material witness to the only case of murder the Cotswold village of Westerfield has ever seen, Meredith also finds herself acting as mother-confessor to the bride-to-be, who is clearly not telling the whole truth about her involvement with the dead man. Steering a path between her duty to the police and loyalty to her cousin's family is not easy; even for someone with Meredith's considerable diplomatic skills. And especially as her personal enquiries into events in Westerfield start to disinter past affections Meredith would far rather leave buried - and to provoke new ones she's not at all sure she can cope with ...]]> 279 Ann Granger Sammi 3 3.35 1991
author: Ann Granger
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.35
book published: 1991
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, fiction, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 9548290
On board they are joined by a coterie of acquaintances. But very soon the pleasant voyage dissolves into an atmosphere thick with chaos, intrigue and vicious gossip.]]> 288 Carola Dunn 1849015198 Sammi 0 currently-reading 3.68 2001
author: Carola Dunn
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 573592 Young Arthur Pendragon became High King of England the instant he pulled the mysterious sword from within the stone. He unlocked the magic within the sword Excalibur, and won the heart of the Lady Guenever. At his side through quests and adventures were the Knights of the Round Table—among Gawain, who faced certain death at the hands of the Green Knight; Percival, who learned that it took more than a victory on horseback to win a place at the Round Table; and Lancelot, who daily felt a passion he was forced to hide. And over them all ruled Arthur, true King. . . .Ìę

"Stands far beyond any Arthurian collection for young readers."� Times Literary Supplement

"Other than Malory, I can think of no better introduction to the whole sweep of Arthurian stories."� School Library Journal , starred review]]> 262 Rosemary Sutcliff 0140371494 Sammi 0 3.80 1981
author: Rosemary Sutcliff
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: dnf, children-s-books, fantasy, fiction, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 12885649 MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOUR

Winning will make you famous.
Losing means certain death.


In a dark vision of the near future, twelve boys and twelve girls are forced to appear in a live TV show called the Hunger Games. There is only one rule: kill or be killed.

When sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen steps forward to take her sister's place in the games, she sees it as a death sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is second nature.



Cover image by Tim O'Brien]]> 458 Suzanne Collins Sammi 4 4.45 2008
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: fiction, read-in-2025, young-adult
review:

]]> 24485954 THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES HARDBACK BESTSELLER

Fall under the spell of Diana and Matthew once more in the stunning climax to their epic tale, following A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES and SHADOW OF NIGHT.

A world of witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the forbidden love at the heart of it.

After travelling through time in SHADOW OF NIGHT, the second book in Deborah Harkness's enchantïżœing series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew's ancestral home in France they reunite with their families - with one heart-breaking exception. But the real threat to their future is yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for the elusive manuscript Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on a terrifying urgency. Using ancient knowlïżœedge and modern science, from the palaces of Venice and beyond, Diana and Matthew will finally learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.]]> 637 Deborah Harkness 0755384792 Sammi 5 4.18 2014
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: fantasy, favorites, fiction, paranormal, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 29414500
Alternate cover edition of ISBN10: 1853260800 (ISBN13: 9781853260803)]]> 115 John Buchan Sammi 4 3.60 1915
author: John Buchan
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1915
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: adventure, classics, fiction, mystery-and-thrillers, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 19229594 “He stared wildly around Hetherwick caught the flash of his eye as it swept the compartment, and never forgot the look of frightened amazement that he saw in it; it was as if the man had been caught, with lightning-like swiftness, face to face with some awful thing ...â€�This is an opportunity to rediscover a great, early 20th Century detective story from a well-respected author writing at the height of his powers. Set largely in the capital, this thrilling tale pulls the reader deep into 1920s London, carrying them through countless familiar place names and locations in the hunt for the perpetrator of, and reason for, this heinous crime. An amateur sleuth classic!]]> 211 J.S. Fletcher Sammi 4 3.67 1923
author: J.S. Fletcher
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1923
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, fiction, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 213806822
When a body washes up on the shores of Brownsea Island, DCI Lesley Clarke initially suspects suicide. But as she investigates the death, growing close to the island’s isolated community, she starts to suspect foul play.

As the case deepens, Lesley uncovers the many secrets mysteries hidden within Brownsea Island � secrets that might just hold the key to the case.

Why did the victim argue with her best friend days before her death? What is the victim’s manager concealing from the investigation? What secrets isn’t the victim's manager keeping? And can Lesley get to the bottom of the mystery â€� before someone else dies?

This gripping, twisty detective novel set in rural Dorset will thrill fans of Helen Fields, Elly Griffiths and Ann Cleeves.]]> 304 Rachel McLean 1804367621 Sammi 4 3.72 2021
author: Rachel McLean
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: crime, detective, fiction, read-in-2025
review:

]]> 27866676 Charles Dickens Sammi 4 3.58 1838
author: Charles Dickens
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1838
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: classics, listened-to, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 16055832
Esther Summerson, a young woman raised in a tough and unloving atmosphere, is unexpectedly requested to be a companion to two teenage orphans, Richard Carstone and Ada Clare, for whom the court has appointed as guardian, John Jarndyce. They take up residence at Mr. Jarndyce’s home, Bleak House. The story of their lives and fortunes is the main thrust of the novel, and is related at times through the eyes of Esther, whose gentle point of view gives the reader a different and more intimate perspective.

Richard is sure his fortune is ‘just around the cornerâ€� when the case of Jarndyce-v-Jarndyce, of which he and Ada will be beneficiaries, is settled. He tries his hand at a career or two, but he becomes obsessed with hastening the probate of the willed fortune he feels must soon be theirs. Further difficulties arise when he and Ada fall in love, while he, penniless, continues the quest to bring his case to justice.

A scriber of legal documents dies, and from his death, questions arise which unearth secrets that the Jarndyce’s neighbour, Lady Dedlock, has kept hidden for years. Inspector Bucket enters the case, and begins investigating the disappearance of Lady Dedlock. In the dirt poor part of London comes a young boy called Joe who claims to ‘know noffinkâ€� but who has witnessed something very important.

Several other colorful characters are wound into the story. Nearly insane Miss Flite, who for years has attended court every day, with her little folder of documents, is ever hopeful of a settlement. Mr. Boythorn is a boisterous friend of Jarndyce who has a vendetta with Sir Leicester Dedlock. The Jellyby Family, invariably on the verge of a disaster, is neglected by their Mother who is obsessed with an overseas project. The Smallweed family is mean and avaricious � squeezing money from poor clients. Mr. Skimpole is the childlike captivating friend of Mr. Jarndyce who sees no harm in living off everybody else. Mr. Guppy fawns after Esther, and plots to steal documents with his friend Weevle. Mr. Woodcourt is a gentle surgeon and family friend, who becomes a hero.

Since the writing of Bleak House, the property laws of England were changed, and disbursements were thenceforth conducted in court with the object of swiftly coming to a settlement for the benefit of inheritors.

(Summary by Mil Nicholson)]]> 40 Charles Dickens Sammi 0 currently-reading 3.88 1853
author: Charles Dickens
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1853
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 6957212 256 alfred-duggan 1902894030 Sammi 4 4.00 1960
author: alfred-duggan
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1960
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: read-in-2025, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 819423 384 Hilda Lewis 0752439480 Sammi 4 3.46 1965
author: Hilda Lewis
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.46
book published: 1965
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 17270883 A Discovery of Witchesâ€� cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night takes Diana and Matthew on a trip through time to Elizabethan London, where they are plunged into a world of spies, magic, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the School of Night. As the search for Ashmole 782 deepens and Diana seeks out a witch to tutor her in magic, the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them, and they embark on a very different—and vastly more dangerous—journey.]]> 630 Deborah Harkness 075538475X Sammi 4 4.01 2012
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: fiction, paranormal, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 721012 Sketch Book first appeared in 1819, readers in America and abroad greeted it with enthusiasm, and Irving emerged as America's first successful professional author. The pieces about life in England are gently ironic, reflecting the author's interest in the traditions of the Old World and his longings for his home in the New. But it is in "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" that Irving exhibits his true strength—the ability to depict American landscapes and culture so vividly that readers feel themselves a part of them. And it is on the basis of these two classic tales that Irving is generally credited with inventing the short story as a distinct literary genre.

Originally published as The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.]]> 368 Washington Irving 014043769X Sammi 4 classics, read-in-2024 3.96 1820
author: Washington Irving
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1820
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: classics, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 15923742
--back cover]]> 570 J.R.R. Tolkien 0007488343 Sammi 5 4.56 1955
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.56
book published: 1955
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: adventure, books-to-read-again, favorites, fiction, fantasy, read-in-2024, tolkien-and-middle-earth
review:

]]> 578523
The Beach is a legend among young travellers in Asia: white as sands circling a lagoon hidden from the sea, coral gardens and freshwater falls surrounded by jungle. In this earthly paradise, it is rumoured, a select community lives in blissful innocence. For Richard, haunted by the glamour of Vietnam war movies, a trek into unknown Thai territory is irresistible. He was looking for adventure. Now he’s found it.

]]> 439 Alex Garland 0140258418 Sammi 4 3.98 1996
author: Alex Garland
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves: adventure, books-to-read-again, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 23249847 560 Anne O'Brien 1848453469 Sammi 4 3.75 2014
author: Anne O'Brien
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2024, romance
review:

]]> 60502025 From the winner of the Richard and Judy Search for a Bestseller competition comes another tantalising Golden Age wartime mystery, perfect for fans of Sunday night drama.

DECEMBER 1942. As the war rages on, the accidental death of a young man is almost unremarkable. Except this young man was patrolling the grounds of Hursley Park House, where teams are designing crucial modifications to the Spitfire - and he was found clutching part of a blueprint.
JANUARY 1943. Josephine Fox is given a code name and a mission as she is seconded to Hursley: uncover the network responsible for information leaks to the enemy. And when the dead man's father visits Bram Nash convinced that his son was innocent of espionage and the victim of murder, her friend is also drawn into the investigation.
But as Jo and Bram circle closer to the truth, danger is closing in around them...]]> 402 Claire Gradidge 1838774696 Sammi 5 3.69 2021
author: Claire Gradidge
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 6282903 Michelle Moran 383 Michelle Moran 1847247229 Sammi 4 4.17 2008
author: Michelle Moran
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 59656097 A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

The first in a charming, joyful cozy crime series set in 1920s Bangalore, featuring sari-wearing detective Kaveri and her husband Ramu. Perfect for fans of Alexander McCall Smith’s The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.

When clever, headstrong Kaveri moves to Bangalore to marry handsome young doctor Ramu, she's resigned herself to a quiet life.

But that all changes the night of the party at the Century Club, where she escapes to the garden for some peace and quiet—and instead spots an uninvited guest in the shadows. Half an hour later, the party turns into a murder scene.

When a vulnerable woman is connected to the crime, Kaveri becomes determined to save her and launches a private investigation to find the killer, tracing his steps from an illustrious brothel to an Englishman's mansion. She soon finds that sleuthing in a sari isn't as hard as it seems when you have a talent for mathematics, a head for logic, and a doctor for a husband . . .

And she's going to need them all as the case leads her deeper into a hotbed of danger, sedition,Ìęand intrigue in Bangalore's darkest alleyways.]]> 304 Harini Nagendra 140871518X Sammi 4 3.51 2022
author: Harini Nagendra
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, fiction, historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 433059
The hotel is full of suspects who have potential motives—and convenient alibis. While the local inspector is preoccupied with a series of recent robberies, only Miss Marple, with her shrewd observations and keen understanding of human nature, can sort out the puzzling sequence of events and zero in on the killer.]]> 256 Agatha Christie 0007208588 Sammi 0 to-read 3.73 1965
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 168163157 0 Running Press; Sammi 4 classics, read-in-2024 4.00
author: Running Press;
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves: classics, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 58893584 305 Martin Davies 1800325274 Sammi 4 4.28
author: Martin Davies
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves: cosy-mysteries, detective, fiction, historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 820536
But the carefree lifestyle and gorgeous weather belie an impending cataclysm, and only one man is worried. The young engineer Marcus Attilius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay of Naples. His predecessor has disappeared. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta's sixty-mile main line—somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius.

Attilius—decent, practical, and incorruptible—promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. His plan is to travel to Pompeii and put together an expedition, then head out to the place where he believes the fault lies. But Pompeii proves to be a corrupt and violent town, and Attilius soon discovers that there are powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—threatening to destroy him.

With his trademark elegance and intelligence, Robert Harris, bestselling author of Archangel and Fatherland, re-creates a world on the brink of disaster.]]> 343 Robert Harris 0091779251 Sammi 5 3.84 2003
author: Robert Harris
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves: books-to-read-again, favorites, historical-fiction, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 498835
More than a century later, Meredith Martin, an American graduate student, arrives in France to study the life of Claude Debussy, the nineteenth century French composer. In Rennesles-Bains, Meredith checks into a grand old hotel-the Domain de la Cade. Something about the hotel feels eerily familiar, and strange dreams and visions begin to haunt Meredith's waking hours. A chance encounter leads her to a pack of tarot cards painted by LĂ©onie Vernier, which may hold the key to this twenty-first century American's fate . . . just as they did to the fate of LĂ©onie Vernier more than a century earlier.]]> 550 Kate Mosse 0752860550 Sammi 5 3.80 2007
author: Kate Mosse
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 311327
It is worth noting this novel was dedicated to Phyllis Whitney, fellow mystery author who wrote the public praises printed on many of Elizabeth's covers.]]> 312 Elizabeth Peters 1845293878 Sammi 5 3.71 1981
author: Elizabeth Peters
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves: adventure, books-to-read-again, cosy-mysteries, detective, favourite-detectives, fiction, historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 311326 296 Elizabeth Peters 1845293886 Sammi 5 3.84 1975
author: Elizabeth Peters
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1975
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/10/07
shelves: adventure, cosy-mysteries, detective, fiction, historical-fiction, read-in-2024, favourite-detectives
review:

]]> 28117961
Mr. Mottley's first case -- a bite-sized Christmas confection featuring youthful shenanigans from our budding detective, with a fluffy topping of seasonal cheer.

Edmund Mottley may call himself a Specialist in Discreet Enquiries, but every specialist starts out an amateur. After being sent down from University, young Mottley must spend his Christmas interviewing for a job. A warm holiday welcome turns to suspicion and danger, as Mottley tries to untangle family conflict, secret passions, and a Bolshevik plot.

This whimsical short mystery features the jazz-age sleuth, Edmund Mottley, whose further adventures are chronicled in "Mister Mottley and the Key of D" and "Mister Mottley Gets His Man."]]> 22 Ellen Seltz 1310029636 Sammi 4 cosy-mysteries 3.33 2015
author: Ellen Seltz
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/12/20
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: cosy-mysteries
review:

]]> 28008493

Three months later, while still pining over her lost love, the annual invitation to the Darley’s Christmas Eve party arrives. Elizabeth decides that a new dress and a bit of Christmas spirit might cheer her up. What she hoped would be a pleasant evening, turns into one disaster after another, especially when Francis Oldman walks through the door.


Nevertheless, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without gifts. Before morning arrives, Elizabeth receives the gift of clarity, and Francis discovers that sacrifice can bring miracles.]]> 43 Vicki Hopkins 098857389X Sammi 3 christmas, historical-fiction 3.45
author: Vicki Hopkins
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.45
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2015/12/12
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: christmas, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 14975 515 Kate Mosse 0425213978 Sammi 5 3.62 2005
author: Kate Mosse
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: books-to-read-again, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 6952554 696 Kate Mosse 0752876473 Sammi 0 to-read 3.93 2012
author: Kate Mosse
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 35168708 Wessex Tales (1888), a collection of six stories that, for the most part, are as bleakly ironic and unforgiving as the darkest of his great novels -- Jude the Obscure. But this great novelist began and ended his writing career as a poet. In-between, he wrote a number of books that many readers find emotionally-wrenching, but which are considered among the classics of 19th Century British literature, including Far from the Madding Crowd, and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Readers will experience Hardy's uncompromising, unsentimental realism in Wessex Tales, and for those seeking a taste of the Dorset poet and novelist, they represent an ideal start.]]> Thomas Hardy Sammi 5 4.25 1888
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1888
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: classics, fiction, listened-to, read-in-2024, short-stories
review:

]]> 39832652 44 Thomas Hardy 1986343707 Sammi 4 3.60 1879
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1879
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: classics, historical-fiction, listened-to, read-in-2024, short-stories
review:

]]> 134682855 Excellent Book 0 Hannah Dennison Sammi 4 4.00 2014
author: Hannah Dennison
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/12
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, fiction, humour, read-in-2024, contemporary-fiction
review:

]]> 847860 202 Ellis Peters 0446404284 Sammi 5 4.13 1982
author: Ellis Peters
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1982
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 23224468 34 Thomas Hardy 1500989800 Sammi 3 3.00 1884
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1884
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: classics, fiction, listened-to, short-stories, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 269831
Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine code and quickly assemble the pieces of the puzzle, a stunning historical truth will be lost forever...
(back cover)]]> 593 Dan Brown Sammi 5 3.65 2003
author: Dan Brown
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/28
date added: 2024/08/28
shelves: adventure, fiction, mystery-and-thrillers, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 918682 375 Derek Acorah 0007235143 Sammi 4 3.55 2009
author: Derek Acorah
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/24
date added: 2024/08/24
shelves: non-fiction, paranormal, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 43422835 249 Alexander McCall Smith 0349119953 Sammi 5 3.97 2008
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves: cosy-mysteries, detective, favourite-detectives, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 51205612
Antoinette Cosway is a Creole heiress; product of an inbred, decadent, expatriate community; a sensitive girl at once beguiled and repelled by the lush Jamaican landscape.

Soon after he marriage to Rochester, rumours of madness in the Cosway family poison Rochester's mind against her; Antoinette's beautiful face turns 'blank hating moonstruck' ... and the action narrows, as inexorable as Greek tragedy, towards the attic in Thornfield Hall, the grim Grace Poole ad the suicidal holocaust of leaping flames.
--back cover]]> 156 Jean Rhys Sammi 4 4.00 1966
author: Jean Rhys
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1966
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves: classics, historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 6141550 1239 Ken Follett 033045692X Sammi 4 4.37 2007
author: Ken Follett
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 278303
Random objects go missing from people's homes and odd little lights are seen dancing in the villagers' gardens and yards. Stories soon begin circulating about the presence of fairies. But when a prominent resident is found murdered and some suspicion falls on her and her friend Sir Charles Fraith, Agatha decides she's had enough of this fairy nonsense and steps up her sleuthing for a human killer.

The prickly yet endearing Agatha will have fans dangling in suspense: Will she catch her crook - and a husband?]]> 256 M.C. Beaton 1845293576 Sammi 4 3.70 2000
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves: crime, detective, cosy-mysteries, favourite-detectives, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 344666 302 M.C. Beaton 1845293568 Sammi 5 3.77 1999
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, fiction, favourite-detectives, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 1086296 250 M.C. Beaton 1845293207 Sammi 4 3.63 1999
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, favourite-detectives, fiction, humour, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 839223
Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have just saved the rebel state from destruction by the mighty forces of King Galbatorix, cruel ruler of the Empire. Now Eragon must travel to Ellesméra, land of the elves, for further training in magic and swordsmanship, the vital skills of the Dragon Rider. It is the journey of a lifetime, filled with awe-inspiring new places and people, each day a fresh adventure. But chaos and betrayal plague him at every turn, and Eragon isn't sure whom he can trust.

Meanwhile, his cousin Roran must fight a new battle back home in Carvahall - one that puts Eragon in even graver danger.

Will the king's dark hand strangle all resistance? Eragon may not escape with even his life . . .]]> 682 Christopher Paolini 0552552119 Sammi 5 3.94 2005
author: Christopher Paolini
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves: adventure, fantasy, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 1045756
What if one day you found they were true? What if, when you became an adult, you discovered they were all based on fact? What if you met the fantasy and it was all so very real?

That's what happened to Thom Kindred. The wonders were revealed to him. But so were the horrors, for not far behind the Good, there always lurks the Bad. And the Bad had designs on Thom. The Bad would show him real evil.

He would see the hellhagges and the demons. He would be touched by perverted passion. And corruption. And he would encounter his own worst nightmare.

The Bad would seek to destroy him. And only the magic of the little beings would be able to help him.

"Once," James Herbert's masterful new novel of erotic love and darkest horror, will take you to a realm where fantasy and reality collide, where faerytales really can come true.]]> 471 James Herbert 0330376136 Sammi 4 3.42 2001
author: James Herbert
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves: fantasy, fiction, horror, paranormal, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 819859
Witty and wise, the latest instalment in the lives of McCall Smith's extended Botswana family teaches the importance of trust, love and what really makes a good husband.]]> 212 Alexander McCall Smith 034911773X Sammi 5 3.79 2007
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves: crime, detective, cosy-mysteries, favorites, fiction, favourite-detectives, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 997355 An older cover for this ISBN 9780330312738 can be found here.

Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape. Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.

The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.

Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition of ISBN 0330312731 here.]]> 1076 Ken Follett 0330312731 Sammi 4 4.36 1989
author: Ken Follett
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 51867529
Anna’s Aunt has always warned her of the dangers of magic. Its twists. Its knots. Its deadly consequences.

Now Anna counts down the days to the ceremony that will bind her magic forever.

Until she meets Effie and Attis.

They open her eyes to a London she never knew existed. A shop that sells memories. A secret library where the librarian feeds off words. A club where revellers lose themselves in a haze of spells.

But as she is swept deeper into this world, Anna begins to wonder if her Aunt was right all along.

Is her magic a gift � or a curse?]]> 576 Cari Thomas 0008407002 Sammi 0 to-read 3.92 2021
author: Cari Thomas
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 488581 296 Robin Jarvis 0811854132 Sammi 0 to-read 3.93 1991
author: Robin Jarvis
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 23328885 60 Thomas Hardy 1502508842 Sammi 4 3.50 1880
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1880
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/29
shelves: classics, fiction, listened-to, read-in-2024, short-stories
review:

]]> 578587
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.]]> 620 Dan Brown 0552150738 Sammi 4 3.82 2000
author: Dan Brown
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/29
shelves: fiction, mystery-and-thrillers, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 24485871
1224. Langley Manor, Norfolk. Lord Sylvain has been practising alchemy in hiding for years and now only the Apothecary's niece can help him with final preparations to forge the Philosopher's Stone.

Alchemy calls for symbols - and victims - and when a man in possession of an intricately carved raven's head arrives at the Manor in a clumsy attempt at blackmail, Sylvain has both symbol and victim within easy reach.

But the White Canons in nearby Langley Abbey are concealing a crucial, missing ingredient... Regulus, a small boy with a large destiny.]]> 512 Karen Maitland 1472215044 Sammi 5 3.73 2015
author: Karen Maitland
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/12
shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2024, fiction
review:

]]> 113436 An alternate cover edition for ISBN 9780375826696 can be found here.

One boy...
One dragon...
A world of adventure.

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.]]> 503 Christopher Paolini 0375826696 Sammi 4 3.96 2002
author: Christopher Paolini
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/12
shelves: fantasy, read-in-2024, young-adult
review:

]]> 11483183 78 Bram Stoker 1447405862 Sammi 3 3.28 1875
author: Bram Stoker
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.28
book published: 1875
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves: ghost-stories, listened-to, read-in-2024, short-stories, victorian-gothic
review:

]]> 6865943 36 Thomas Hardy 0340743077 Sammi 4 3.56 1888
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1888
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves: classics, listened-to, read-in-2024, short-stories
review:

]]> 2761171 In this extraordinary novel, Karen Maitland delivers a dazzling reinterpretation of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, an ingenious alchemy of history, mystery, and powerful human drama.

The year is 1348. The Black Plague grips the country. In a world ruled by faith and fear, nine desperate strangers, brought together by chance, attempt to outrun the certain death that is running inexorably toward them.

Each member of this motley company has a story to tell. From Camelot, the relic-seller who will become the group's leader, to Cygnus, the one-armed storyteller . . . from the strange, silent child called Narigorm to a painter and his pregnant wife, each has a secret. None is what they seem. And one among them conceals the darkest secret of all—propelling these liars to a destiny they never saw coming.

Magical, heart-quickening, and raw, Company of Liars is a work of vaulting imagination from a powerful new voice in historical fiction.

(Length: 17 hours, 40 minutes)]]> 576 Karen Maitland 0718153227 Sammi 5 favourite-books-of-2014 3.85 2008
author: Karen Maitland
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves: favourite-books-of-2014
review:

]]> 20575869 Librarian note: alternative cover edition - ISBN13 9780349117720

Life is good for Mma Ramotswe as she sets out with her usual resolve to solve people's problems, heal their misfortunes, and untangle the mysteries that make life interesting. And life is never dull on Tlokweng Road. A new and rather too brusque advice columnist is appearing in the local paper. Then, a cobra is found in the offices of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Recently, the Mokolodi Game Preserve manager feels an infectious fear spreading among his workers, and a local doctor may be falsifying blood pressure readings. To further complicate matters, Grace Makutsi may have scared off her own fiance. Mma Ramotswe, however, is always up to the challenge.]]> 250 Alexander McCall Smith 0349117721 Sammi 4 3.73 2006
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2024/05/28
shelves: crime, detective, cosy-mysteries, favourite-detectives, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 1698133 As he drove his chief down to Kidlington, Lewis returned the conversation to where it had begun.

"You haven't told me what you think about this fellow Owens - the dead woman's next-door neighbour."

"Death is always the next-door neighbour," said Morse sombrely.

The murder of a young woman ... A cryptic 'seventeenth-century' love poem ... And a photograph of a mystery grey-haired man ...

More than enough to set Chief Inspector E. Morse on the trail of a killer.

And it's a trail that leads him to Lonsdale College, where the contest between Julian Storrs and Dr Denis Cornford for the coveted position of Master is hotting up.

But then Morse faces a greater, far more personal crisis ...]]> 413 Colin Dexter 033035034X Sammi 5 3.82 1996
author: Colin Dexter
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1996
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/22
shelves: books-to-read-again, crime, detective, fiction, favourite-detectives, mystery-and-thrillers, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 35307204
But speed, competition, and money prove to be more explosive than gasoline - and for one automobile builder, more deadly ...]]> 288 Robin Paige 0857300199 Sammi 3 3.47 1998
author: Robin Paige
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.47
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/19
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, fiction, historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 138235693 240 Alexander McCall Smith Sammi 5 4.50 2004
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/16
shelves: cosy-mysteries, detective, favourite-detectives, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 203175787 The King's Wife ,Alsaldic Lands Trilogy Book Three
Trouble Lies In The Hatching Of Deceitful Plans
Bregan knows her destiny is to be more than the King’s Wife, chief brewster of the Alsaldic Lands. But even that prestige position could be lost if the truth of her illegitimate birth were known. A cuckoo-child, she believes herself the daughter of a woodland daen. Yet her father is more formidable than that. He is an Immortal, an Asar.
The appearance of a mysterious black cloud causes widespread chaos and destruction, and weakens the Uissid, the Alsaldic Landsâ€� real power. When in the aftermath her father arrives, it’s time to ask if Bregan’s destiny is truly hers. Or is it all part of her father’s plan?

Part of the Spinner’s Cycle
Two thousand years after the events of The Spinner’s Game, Kerrid is the Head of the Kerdolan and granary traders. Though established in this role, there are still Asars who oppose her, led by Urinod who believes the moment of Kerrid’s death will return the Asars to their rightful otherworld realm. Stuck between these are the next generation, Brictans born of Asar-human parentage, and those who seek to make a life within the increasingly important Alsaldic Lands. This trilogy maps the development, flowering and collapse of the Alsaldic Empire as it moves from its birth within an early agricultural society, through the copper and bronze-using warrior cults, to topple at the first whisper of iron.]]> 369 Crispina Kemp Sammi 5 5.00
author: Crispina Kemp
name: Sammi
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves: fantasy, favorites, fiction, historical-fantasy, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 48549385 391 Sue Townsend 0140279407 Sammi 4 fiction, humour, read-in-2024 3.85 1999
author: Sue Townsend
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/12
shelves: fiction, humour, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 54246 275 Sue Townsend 0141010886 Sammi 4 3.87 1993
author: Sue Townsend
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/04
shelves: books-to-read-again, fiction, read-in-2024, young-adult, humour
review:

]]> 464138 Three years ago, a Seattle family ran for their lives in a hail of bullets. Hired by three kids to find their missing father, Elvis now must pick up the cold pieces of a drama that began that night. What he finds is a sordid tale of high crimes and illicit drugs. As clues to a man’s secret life emerge from the shadows, Elvis knows he’s not just up against ruthless mobsters and some very angry Feds. He’s facing a storm of desperation and conspiracy—bearing down on three children whose only crime was their survival. . . .]]> Robert Crais 0752863878 Sammi 5 4.00 1997
author: Robert Crais
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/02
shelves: books-to-read-again, detective, crime, favourite-detectives, fiction, mystery-and-thrillers, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 146689
But a man may win the coveted citizenship in more ways than birth on Roman soil. When Hermogenes father is granted such a boon, it appears as if his family has found favor from the gods--except then a business deal goes sour and Hermogenes father dies at sea. It is left to Hermogenes to reclaim all monies owed to the family... including a debt from a very well connected Roman consul who has reneged on his obligations and refuses to deal with "Greek trash."

Hermogenes will travel to Rome to reclaim what he is owed and finds it is no simple matter. Along the way, he will encounter base desire and power struggles, plots within plots... and a beautiful woman gladiator who is more than she seems. His life is in danger, and ultimately Hermogenes is left with the question:

Can the conferring of a title make one truly Roman? And if not, how far will a man go to satisfy honor?]]> 464 Gillian Bradshaw 0765306549 Sammi 4 3.83 2003
author: Gillian Bradshaw
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/30
date added: 2024/04/30
shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 2688052 288 Catherine Cookson 0552137162 Sammi 4 3.74 1962
author: Catherine Cookson
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/17
shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, read-in-2024, romance
review:

]]> 97898
Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady, whose fortune comes from successful hair-braiding salons, and has been asked to check up on several suitors. Are these men just interested in her money? This may be difficult to find out, but Mma Ramotswe is, of course, a very intuitive lady.]]> 198 Alexander McCall Smith 1400031818 Sammi 4 4.03 2003
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/11
shelves: cosy-mysteries, favourite-detectives, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 22730752
At first, the young woman is not so much shocked as disgusted by him, and she stands up to him, throwing a boot at his head. But though Vadim may be crude, he isn't cruel, and he shares with her the sausage and black bread and tea he's brought for the journey, coaxing the girl out of her melancholy state. As their train cuts slowly across a wintery Russia, where 'everything is moving, snow, water, air, clouds, wind, towns, villages, people and ideas', a grudging kind of companionship grows between the two inhabitants of Compartment No 6 and the girl realises that if she works out how to listen, Vadim's stories may just contain lessons for her.

Compartment No 6 is a wickedly mischievous, darkly imaginative and completely unforgettable ride.]]> 194 Rosa Liksom 1847659233 Sammi 2 3.52 2011
author: Rosa Liksom
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves: adventure, fiction, historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 344665
When Agatha, who just happens to be handling the PR for the water company, finds the council chairman murdered at the basin of the spring, tongues start wagging. Could one of the council members have polished off the chairman before he could cast the deciding vote?

Poor Agatha, still nursing a bruised heart from one of her unsuccessful romantic encounters, must get cracking, investigate the councillors and solve the crime.]]> 184 M.C. Beaton 0312185235 Sammi 4 3.70 1998
author: M.C. Beaton
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/04/06
shelves: cosy-mysteries, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 7954376 431 Michelle Moran 1849160791 Sammi 4 4.03 2009
author: Michelle Moran
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 23240322 28 Thomas Hardy 1502313081 Sammi 4 4.00 1883
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1883
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/01
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves: classics, read-in-2024, listened-to, short-stories
review:

]]> 22007059
Estate liquidators make a living disposing of the personal effects of deceased persons. Typically these are elderly people who may have lived alone, and were considered a bit strange because of their aloofness. But as the liquidator goes through the effects of the deceased, they occasionally find a story. Letters, pictures, and other artifacts prove that this person was once young, vibrant, sexy, full of hopes dreams, and possibilities, intriguing and mysterious.

Here, Ambrose Bierce explores some possibilities of the strange person that lived in the cabin with the boarded up window.

Public Domain (P)2012 Audio Books by Mike Vendetti]]> 6 Ambrose Bierce Sammi 4 3.23 1891
author: Ambrose Bierce
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.23
book published: 1891
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/02/29
shelves: classics, horror, ghost-stories, read-in-2024, short-stories
review:

]]> 8217236
In a private journal, the woman records her growing obsession with the “horridâ€� wallpaper. Its strange pattern mutates in the moonlight, revealing what appears to be a human figure in the design. With nothing else to occupy her mind, the woman resolves to unlock the mystery of the wallpaper. Her quest, however, leads not to the truth, but into the darkest depths of madness.

A condemnation of the patriarchy, The Yellow Wallpaper explores with terrifying economy the oppression, grave misunderstanding, and willful dismissal of women in late nineteenth-century society.

First published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine.

Excerpt:
Out of another I get a lovely view of the bay and a little private wharf belonging to the estate. There is a beautiful shaded lane that runs down there from the house. I always fancy I see people walking in these numerous paths and arbors, but John has cautioned me not to give way to fancy in the least. He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies, and that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency. So I try.]]> 63 Charlotte Perkins Gilman Sammi 0 to-read 4.05 1892
author: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1892
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2440170 440 Tom Martin 0330452118 Sammi 3 3.50 2007
author: Tom Martin
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/28
date added: 2024/02/29
shelves: adventure, mystery-and-thrillers, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 119300102 125 Anthony Hunt 1898136203 Sammi 5 non-fiction, read-in-2023 5.00
author: Anthony Hunt
name: Sammi
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/02/27
shelves: non-fiction, read-in-2023
review:

]]> 10240235 How could one man inspire such hatred?

Professor Lars Helland is found at his desk with his tongue lying in his lap. A violent fit has caused him to bite through it in his death throes. A sad but simple end. Until the autopsy results come through.

The true cause of his death - the slow, systematic and terrible destruction of a man - leaves the police at a loss. And when a second member of Helland's department disappears, their attention turns to a postgraduate student named Anna. She's a single mother, angry with the world, desperate to finish her degree. Would she really jeopardise everything by killing her supervisor?

As the police investigate the most brutal and calculated case they've ever known, Anna must fight her own demons, prove her innocence and avoid becoming the killer's next victim.

The Dinosaur Feather is the most fascinating, complex and unusual Scandinavian crime novel since Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow.]]> 536 Sissel-Jo Gazan 0857380338 Sammi 4 3.41 2008
author: Sissel-Jo Gazan
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/02/26
shelves: crime, fiction, mystery-and-thrillers, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 10988545 The Awakening is about the personal, sexual, and artistic awakening of a young wife and mother, Edna Pontellier. While on vacation at Grand Isle, an island in the Gulf of Mexico, Edna befriends the talented pianist Mlle. Reisz and the sympathetic Robert Lebrun, both of whom will influence her startling life choices. Chopin's novel created a scandal upon its original publication and effectively destroyed her writing career. Now, however, it is considered one of the finest American novels of the 19th century. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)]]> Kate Chopin Sammi 4 3.50 1899
author: Kate Chopin
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1899
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/01
date added: 2024/02/26
shelves: fiction, listened-to, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 1200335
Now that The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (the only detective agency for ladies and others in Botswana) is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she's reached her late thirties 'the finest age to be', has a house, two children, a good fiancé -- Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni -- and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems. It turns out that her adopted son is responsible for the dead hoopoe bird in the garden; her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and needs help with her idea to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men; yet Mma Ramotswe's sexist rival has no trouble opening his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency across town. Will Precious Ramotswe's delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day? Follow the continuing story of Botswana's first lady detective in the irresistible The Kalahari Typing School for Men.]]> 204 Alexander McCall Smith 0748663274 Sammi 4 3.91 2002
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/16
date added: 2024/02/16
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, favourite-detectives, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 34061621 36 Thomas Hardy 1542719585 Sammi 4 3.71 1894
author: Thomas Hardy
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1894
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/09
date added: 2024/02/12
shelves: classics, read-in-2024, listened-to, short-stories
review:

]]> 43822226 Ìę

The fantasy world of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth contains a rich assortment of people, cities, and creatures—as well as a deep, intertwined history that spans thousands of years. In this beautifully illustrated, leather-bound volume, best-selling author and Tolkien scholar David Day presents four decades of research and writing on the lands and inhabitants Middle-earth. Sections of this A-to-Z dictionary are devoted to discussion of the battles, history, beasts, and heroes of Tolkien’s stories, and are accompanied by black-and-white illustrations. This comprehensive volume on Tolkien’s world also includes an appendix of three primary legends that served as sources for Tolkien’s creations—theÌęVolsungaÌęsaga, theÌęNibelungenlied, and Richard Wagner’sÌęRing Cycle—and more than 200 black-and-white illustrations
Ìę]]> 544 David Day 1645170098 Sammi 0 to-read 4.28 2019
author: David Day
name: Sammi
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 22093702 215 Charlaine Harris 1407247468 Sammi 5 3.44 1994
author: Charlaine Harris
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1994
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/31
date added: 2024/01/31
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, favourite-detectives, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 22093674
Tema uue koduga kĂ€ib kaasas ĂŒllatus â€� kavalast peidikust tuleb vĂ€lja inimese pealuu. Kas Jane oli mĂ”rtsukas? Roe peidab oma hirme vaigistada pĂŒĂŒdes pealuu ning hakkab salamisi eraviisiliselt asja uurima, kusjuures kĂ”ige tĂ”enĂ€olisemateks kahtlusalusteks on tema uued naabrid. Detektiivitöö ei ole aga kerge ja seda iseĂ€ranis veel juhul, kui juurdlust tuleb hoida varjul nii uue kallima kui ka politseiuurijast endise armsama eest. Kuid tegemist on lahendamata mĂ”rvaga ja Roe on kindlalt otsustanud, et tuvastab ohvri ja mĂ”rvari enne, kui juhtub veel midagi halba.

Tegemist on teise raamatuga Charlaine Harrise kriminaalromaanisarjast, mille peategelane on sĂŒdi ja kĂŒtkestav Aurora Teagarden.]]> 199 Charlaine Harris 140724745X Sammi 5 3.44 1992
author: Charlaine Harris
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/28
date added: 2024/01/30
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 50434561 Marion Zimmer Bradley Sammi 3 3.00 1958
author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1958
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/30
date added: 2024/01/30
shelves: listened-to, read-in-2024, science-fiction
review:

]]> 22093659 En el club Real Murders les gustaba hablar de asesinatos, hasta que se volvieron reales...

La bibliotecaria Aurora Teagarden pertenece al club Real Murders, que se reĂșne una vez al mes para charlar sobre asesinatos famosos.

Parece un pasatiempo inofensivo, hasta que uno de los miembros es asesinado de una manera sospechosamente parecida al crimen del que iban a hablar esa misma noche. Y no serĂĄ el Ășnico cadĂĄver?

Aurora aunarĂĄ fuerzas con el apuesto detective Arthur Smith y el galante novelista de misterio Robin Crusoe para cazar al asesino. Un asesino que bien podrĂ­a ser uno de sus propios amigos?

Ìę

Charlaine Harris, autora superventas de True Blood, presenta la serie Los misterios de Aurora Teagarden, ahora también en películas en Prime Video]]> 202 Charlaine Harris 1407247441 Sammi 4 3.52 1990
author: Charlaine Harris
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/25
date added: 2024/01/26
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, fiction, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 2075393 48 Kenneth Grahame 1406833452 Sammi 3 3.40
author: Kenneth Grahame
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.40
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/26
date added: 2024/01/26
shelves: non-fiction, listened-to, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 1773739
36AD: Micah � Jesus' friend, trusted confidant, and the 13th apostle � inscribes a message, upon which mankind's fate would one day be determined.

Present day: Internet forensic specialist Gil Pearson is recruited to decipher an ancient diary and reveal Micah's hidden message, which may lead to the most mysterious of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Working with the enigmatic Sabbie Karaim, Gil becomes embroiled in an international mystery spanning two thousand years, and for which others would gladly give their lives � or, more willingly, take his.]]> Richard Heller 1847560407 Sammi 2 3.04 2007
author: Richard Heller
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.04
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2013/01/01
date added: 2024/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 7083270
Stories:
* Fairy Dust
* One Word Answer
* Dracula Night
* Lucky
* Gift Wrap]]> 192 Charlaine Harris 0575094435 Sammi 4 3.58 2009
author: Charlaine Harris
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/19
date added: 2024/01/19
shelves: fiction, paranormal, read-in-2024, short-stories
review:

]]> 42392755 The Christmas season is one of comfort and joy, sparkling lights and steam rising from cups of mulled wine at frosty carol services. A season of goodwill to all men, as families and friends come together to forget their differences and celebrate the year together.
Unless, of course, you happen to be harbouring a grudge. Or hiding a guilty secret. Or you want something so much you just have to have it - whatever the cost. In A Very Murderous Christmas, ten of the best classic crime writers come together to unleash festive havoc, with murder, mayhem and twists aplenty.
Following Murder on Christmas Eve and Murder under the Christmas Tree, this is the perfect accompaniment to a mince pie and a roaring fire. Just make sure you're really, truly alone ...

]]> 184 Cecily Gayford 1782834680 Sammi 4 3.72 2018
author: Cecily Gayford
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/18
date added: 2024/01/19
shelves: cosy-mysteries, crime, detective, read-in-2024, short-stories
review:

]]> 21241521
OxCrimes is introduced by Ian Rankin and has been curated by Peter Florence, director of Hay Festival, where it was launched in May.

Profile have raised more than a quarter of a million pounds for Oxfam by publishing OxTales (2009) and OxTravels (2011).

Introduction - Ian Rankin
The Dead Their Eyes Implore Us - George Pelecanos
The Case of Death and Honey - Neil Gaiman
Buy and Bust - Simon Lewis
I've Seen That Movie Too - Val McDermid
Caught Short - Anthony Horowitz
The Sin of Dreams - Walter Mosley
Five Francs Each - Fred Vargas
An Afternoon - Ian Rankin
Juror 8 - Stuart Neville
Face Value - Stella Duffy
Not Tommy Johnson - John Harvey
You'll Never Forget My Face - Peter James
The Calm Before - Denise Mina
The Ladder - Adrian McKinty
Venice is Sinking into the Sea - James Sallis
My Life as a Killer - Maxim Jakubowski
The Caterpillar Flag - Christopher Fowler
Reflections in Unna - Louise Welsh
People Just Don't Listen - Peter Robinson
The Honey Trap - Anne Zouroudi
The Spinster - Ann Cleeves
Diagnosis: Murder - Martyn Waites
Trouble at the Institute for the Study of Forgiveness - Alexander McCall Smith
The House of Susan Lulham - Phil Rickman
Underneath the Mistletoe Last Night - Mark Billingham
The Children of Dr Lyall - John Connolly
Black Sky - Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Afterword - Mark Goldring, Oxfam]]> 464 Peter Florence 1781250642 Sammi 3 3.63 2014
author: Peter Florence
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/01/18
shelves: crime, read-in-2024, short-stories
review:

]]> 23734725 Newly engaged couple, Newland Archer, a young lawyer, and May Welland, a society debutante, are part of the old world, where the "right people" follow the "correct rules" and marry into "acceptable families." The arrival from Europe of May’s cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, complicates their union, as Ellen’s mysterious past threatens to cast a shadow of scandal over the newly betrothed couple. Newland Archer, at first critical of Ellen's bohemian lifestyle, and her seemingly wilful ignorance of the rules and customs of his Old New York, is soon captivated by Ellen's warmth, spirit, and her generous and loving heart. Will he cast off the life for which he's been groomed, or sacrifice happiness for duty and the greater good of the social order?]]> 10 Edith Wharton Sammi 4 3.80 1920
author: Edith Wharton
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1920
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/16
date added: 2024/01/18
shelves: classics, fiction, listened-to, read-in-2024
review:

]]> 42843157
Mr. Bovey's Unexpected Will, 1899
The Arrest of Capt. Vandeleur, 1899
A Terrible Railway Ride, 1900
The Outside Ledge, 1901
Mrs. Reid's Terror, 1901

This project includes all five stories read from their original sources. - Summary by J. M. Smallheer]]> 2 L.T. Meade Sammi 5 3.64
author: L.T. Meade
name: Sammi
average rating: 3.64
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/01/09
shelves: read-in-2024, short-stories, listened-to, detective
review:

]]>