Jess's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 01 Apr 2025 14:16:50 -0700 60 Jess's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Night Prince (Wolf King #2)]]> 223259676 Aurora is caught between powerful alphas as they fight for the Wolf Throne. But darker forces are rising. . .

The highly anticipated sequel to The Wolf King. Pre-order now!

Aurora may have survived the Wolf King. But his bite marks her skin, and in accordance with Wolf Law, that makes her his property. Now, he wants her back.

To beat him and take his throne, Aurora and Callum must form a dangerous alliance with one of the most feared Wolves in the Kingdom, Blake. He is their enemy, but he has entangled his life with Aurora’s—meaning she cannot harm him without forfeiting her own life.

As she fights to break their connection, she suspects Blake is keeping secrets about a dark power that rises in the north, and the unsettling nature of the bond between them. It seems there is a bigger game at play than who sits on the Wolf Throne—one that threatens both the Kingdom of Wolves, and the Kingdom of Men.

With her wolf awakening, enemies closing in, relationships tested, and secrets revealed—Aurora may be the only one who can stop an ancient evil from rising.

If she can figure out who to trust.

If she can figure out where she, and her heart, belong.

If she can stay alive.

The highly anticipated sequel to The Wolf King. A romantasy for fans of enemies to lovers, shifters, forbidden romance, villains you love to hate (or maybe just love!), and werewolves. Contains strong language and sexual situations.]]> 499 Lauren Palphreyman Jess 5 4.44 The Night Prince (Wolf King #2)
author: Lauren Palphreyman
name: Jess
average rating: 4.44
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:
Not a literary work of art but it doesn't have to be! The book has good pacing, its hard to put down, there is so much angst and a fair amount of world-building. It delivers on the will-they-won't-they/love triangle in great ways. I think we'll see a lot of great development in the last book. I loved it for the moments between the love interest I'm rooting for. If you liked book 1, you'll love this one too!
]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)]]> 31076583 229 Sarah J. Maas 168119631X Jess 3
I cannot wait until the next 3 books which i know will be much more substantial than this. ]]> 3.77 2019 A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jess
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/07/02
shelves:
review:
Don't hate me. Its not that it wasn't a fun read, it was just unnecessary and didn't move along the plot much. It was basically the gang getting ready for a holiday. It was fun but I think it reads more like fan fiction than anything else.

I cannot wait until the next 3 books which i know will be much more substantial than this.
]]> The Shipping News 7354
A vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary American family, The Shipping News shows why E. Annie Proulx is recognized as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today.
(back cover)]]> 337 Annie Proulx 0743225422 Jess 2 3.88 1993 The Shipping News
author: Annie Proulx
name: Jess
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1993
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/10/31
shelves:
review:

]]> The God of Endings 60784372 480 Jacqueline Holland 1250856760 Jess 5
I've been in a book slump lately and wanted to venture out from the typical romance books I read quickly which offered little depth or prose.

This book was captivating. The author found a way to make a book quiet, beautiful, suspenseful.. it filled you with both a sense of dread and foreboding but also warmth, love and tenderness.

Perfectly paced, beautifully written... I can't wait to read more of her works. I can't believe this doesn't have a higher rating. ]]> 3.77 2023 The God of Endings
author: Jacqueline Holland
name: Jess
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2023/06/20
shelves:
review:
One of the best books I've read in a long time.

I've been in a book slump lately and wanted to venture out from the typical romance books I read quickly which offered little depth or prose.

This book was captivating. The author found a way to make a book quiet, beautiful, suspenseful.. it filled you with both a sense of dread and foreboding but also warmth, love and tenderness.

Perfectly paced, beautifully written... I can't wait to read more of her works. I can't believe this doesn't have a higher rating.
]]> <![CDATA[The Awakening (Zodiac Academy, #1)]]> 46261182 This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN B07SV21LFY

You have been selected to attend Zodiac Academy, where your star sign defines your destiny.

If you're one of the Fae, elemental magic is in your blood. And apparently it's in ours. As twins born in the month of Gemini, we're a rare breed even in this academy of supernatural a-holes.

Changelings were outlawed hundreds of years ago but I guess our birth parents didn't get the memo. Which means we're totally unprepared for the ruthless world of Fae.

Air. Fire. Water. Earth.

No one has ever harnessed all four of them, until we arrived. And it hasn't made us any friends so far.

As the rarest Elementals ever known, we're already a threat to the four celestial heirs; the popular, vindictive bullies who happen to be some of the hottest guys we've ever seen. It doesn't help that they're the most dangerous beasts in the Academy. And probably on earth too.

Our fates are intertwined, but they want us gone. They've only got until the lunar eclipse to force us out and they'll stop at nothing to succeed.

We never knew we had a birthright to live up to but now that we do, we intend to claim our throne.

We can't expect any help from the faculty when it comes to defending ourselves. So if the dragon shifters want some target practice, the werewolves want someone to hunt or the vampires fancy a snack then we have to be ready. But we've been looking after each other for a long time and fighting back is in our blood.

Today's horoscope: totally screwed.]]> 436 Caroline Peckham Jess 5 3.81 2019 The Awakening (Zodiac Academy, #1)
author: Caroline Peckham
name: Jess
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/19
date added: 2021/11/19
shelves:
review:

]]> Make Me Bad 44182029 A full-length STANDALONE romantic comedy from USA TODAY bestselling author R.S. Grey.I was issued a stay away from Ben Rosenberg.As Clifton Cove’s resident “king�, he thinks he’s entitled to anyone and anything.The trouble is, I’ve spent my whole life following the rules and playing it safe. I know what it feels like to be the good girl. I’m the police chief’s daughter and a librarian—for adorable children, no less.An all-nighter with a fictional hunk is about as exciting as my life gets until one day, fate decides to take pity on me and shove me straight into the path of Mr. Off-Limits himself.Just as I suspected, every inch of him promises to be my demise. Up close, he’s tall, menacing—a lawyer who looks like he’ll bite. A well-behaved girl would do as she’s told and avoid him at all costs, but I’m overdue for a little rebellion.So, I ignore the warning and throw caution to the wind. But Ben doesn’t just nudge me out of my comfort zone—he thrusts me into a dark corner and presses his hard body against mine, covering my mouth with his hand to ensure we don’t get caught sneaking around. In that moment, I finally understand why everyone thinks he’s going to ruin me.To him, this is all a game. He wants to tempt me with his dares and taunt me with his words. I should play along. After all, I asked him to make me bad. I just never thought he’d take his job quite so seriously...MAKE ME BAD is a full-length romantic comedy. For a limited time, I've also included an excerpt from my bestselling romantic comedy A PLACE IN THE SUN!]]> 310 R.S. Grey Jess 0 3.99 2019 Make Me Bad
author: R.S. Grey
name: Jess
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2021/09/17
date added: 2021/09/17
shelves:
review:

]]> The Love Hypothesis 56791359 This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN B08T6XN4FP.

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships--but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor--and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding...six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.]]> 384 Ali Hazelwood Jess 2 4.27 2021 The Love Hypothesis
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Jess
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/09/17
date added: 2021/09/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Spanish Love Deception (Spanish Love Deception, #1)]]> 57176464
Catalina Martín, finally, not single. Her family is happy to announce that she will bring her American boyfriend to her sister’s wedding. Everyone is invited to come and witness the most magical event of the year.

That would certainly be tomorrow’s headline in the local newspaper of the small Spanish town I came from. Or the epitaph on my tombstone, seeing the turn my life had taken in the span of a phone call.

Four weeks wasn’t a lot of time to find someone willing to cross the Atlantic–from NYC and all the way to Spain–for a wedding. Let alone, someone eager to play along my charade. But that didn’t mean I was desperate enough to bring the 6�4 blue eyed pain in my ass standing before me.

Aaron Blackford. The man whose main occupation was making my blood boil had just offered himself to be my date. Right after inserting his nose in my business, calling me delusional, and calling himself my best option. See? Outrageous. Aggravating. Blood boiling. And much to my total despair, also right. Which left me with a surly and extra large dilemma in my hands. Was it worth the suffering to bring my colleague and bane of my existence as my fake boyfriend to my sister’s wedding? Or was I better off coming clean and facing the consequences of my panic induced lie?

Like my abuela would say, que dios nos pille confesados.

The Spanish Love Deception is an enemies-to-lovers, fake-dating, SLOW-BURN romance. Perfect for those looking for a steamy slow-burn with the sweetest Happily Ever After.]]> 484 Elena Armas Jess 2 It’s the hating game but worse

No character depth.
The love scenes were so corny and so were the love declarations
Couldn’t care about the main characters because they didn’t really have developed personalities ]]> 4.11 2021 The Spanish Love Deception (Spanish Love Deception, #1)
author: Elena Armas
name: Jess
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/08/14
date added: 2021/08/14
shelves:
review:
It’s the hating game but worse

No character depth.
The love scenes were so corny and so were the love declarations
Couldn’t care about the main characters because they didn’t really have developed personalities
]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4)]]> 54479197
The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre's Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta's orbit. But her temper isn't the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other's arms.]]> 757 Sarah J. Maas Jess 0 4.61 2021 A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jess
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2021/02/18
date added: 2021/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A ​Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4)]]> 53138095
The one person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred warrior whose position in Rhysand and Feyre's Night Court keeps him constantly in Nesta's orbit. But her temper isn't the only thing Cassian ignites. The fire between them is undeniable, and only burns hotter as they are forced into close quarters with each other.

Meanwhile, the treacherous human queens who returned to the Continent during the last war have forged a dangerous new alliance, threatening the fragile peace that has settled over the realms. And the key to halting them might very well rely on Cassian and Nesta facing their haunting pasts.

Against the sweeping backdrop of a world seared by war and plagued with uncertainty, Nesta and Cassian battle monsters from within and without as they search for acceptance-and healing-in each other's arms.]]> 757 Sarah J. Maas 168119628X Jess 3
What DIDN'T work:
* The story didn't feel original. I feel like the quests and the character growth reminded me too much of Feyre. Yes, the sisters feel different enough in terms of personality. But their journey (whether it be through the physical quests they do or their personal/mental journey) felt too similar so I didn't feel like I was doing anything new.
* There was no world building. Sarah always masters world building in my opinion. And since there weren't too many new places in the story, we didn't get to read much world building in this story at all. Which COULD have been ok, except the story itself felt like a repeat of Feyre's story in many ways.
* The characters didn't feel so different. Cassian didn't feel fully fleshed out. There were snippets of him struggling with some insecurities which was great to see! But his usual swagger was gone. I wanted to see more of the Bravado that makes him stand apart from Rhys.
* The story felt like it went too slow then too fast. I don't mind the slow parts but when we get to the end - where there is a lot of action and climax- it feels so rushed.
* The sex scenes, UGH. Listen... I actually really enjoy sex in my romances/fantasies. [spoilers removed]
* The Eris angle. What is he there for? We still don't know! What is his point, what purpose does he serve? No idea. I feel like she is saving him for something but didn't even dangle anything in front of us about him to care. He could have been written out of the story completely and we wouldn't have known.
* STOP WITH THE [spoilers removed]
* Why do all female characters of Sarah have to have sexual trauma in their past. Seriously every. single. one. was raped, almost raped, going to be raped. Can we stop making Rape some type of trauma all women must overcome to be strong? I feel like Sarah writes very one-dimensional women. Yes they are strong and have minds of their own (great!) but they all act and think the same. Nesta was a slight departure from this but not by much.
* The main bad character. [spoilers removed]

What did work
* The two major things at the end [spoilers removed] came totally unexpected and I was taken for a ride of emotions for sure. I feel like Sarah does this well. I was equally impressed with the ending of Crescent City. But just like Crescent City, I was underwhelmed with the middle of Silver Flames.
* The [spoilers removed]. Heartwarming and a nice change of pace from what Sarah usually writes.
* Sarah just writes engaging stories. I know that when I open a book of hers, even if it isn't perfect, it will keep me engaged. And sure enough, I finished this book in less than 2 days!

All in all, a solid 3. Nowhere near as perfect as ACOMAF. Not even a book I would re-read, really. But good enough to keep the story going.]]> 4.44 2021 A ​Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jess
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/02/18
date added: 2021/02/18
shelves:
review:
There was nothing new about this book but Sarah continues to be a solid writer that can write engaging tales. I'll attempt to tell you what worked and what didn't.

What DIDN'T work:
* The story didn't feel original. I feel like the quests and the character growth reminded me too much of Feyre. Yes, the sisters feel different enough in terms of personality. But their journey (whether it be through the physical quests they do or their personal/mental journey) felt too similar so I didn't feel like I was doing anything new.
* There was no world building. Sarah always masters world building in my opinion. And since there weren't too many new places in the story, we didn't get to read much world building in this story at all. Which COULD have been ok, except the story itself felt like a repeat of Feyre's story in many ways.
* The characters didn't feel so different. Cassian didn't feel fully fleshed out. There were snippets of him struggling with some insecurities which was great to see! But his usual swagger was gone. I wanted to see more of the Bravado that makes him stand apart from Rhys.
* The story felt like it went too slow then too fast. I don't mind the slow parts but when we get to the end - where there is a lot of action and climax- it feels so rushed.
* The sex scenes, UGH. Listen... I actually really enjoy sex in my romances/fantasies. [spoilers removed]
* The Eris angle. What is he there for? We still don't know! What is his point, what purpose does he serve? No idea. I feel like she is saving him for something but didn't even dangle anything in front of us about him to care. He could have been written out of the story completely and we wouldn't have known.
* STOP WITH THE [spoilers removed]
* Why do all female characters of Sarah have to have sexual trauma in their past. Seriously every. single. one. was raped, almost raped, going to be raped. Can we stop making Rape some type of trauma all women must overcome to be strong? I feel like Sarah writes very one-dimensional women. Yes they are strong and have minds of their own (great!) but they all act and think the same. Nesta was a slight departure from this but not by much.
* The main bad character. [spoilers removed]

What did work
* The two major things at the end [spoilers removed] came totally unexpected and I was taken for a ride of emotions for sure. I feel like Sarah does this well. I was equally impressed with the ending of Crescent City. But just like Crescent City, I was underwhelmed with the middle of Silver Flames.
* The [spoilers removed]. Heartwarming and a nice change of pace from what Sarah usually writes.
* Sarah just writes engaging stories. I know that when I open a book of hers, even if it isn't perfect, it will keep me engaged. And sure enough, I finished this book in less than 2 days!

All in all, a solid 3. Nowhere near as perfect as ACOMAF. Not even a book I would re-read, really. But good enough to keep the story going.
]]> Normal People 41057294
A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship.]]> 273 Sally Rooney 1984822179 Jess 5 3.81 2018 Normal People
author: Sally Rooney
name: Jess
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/05/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)]]> 49116
Now he has escaped, leaving only two clues as to where he might be headed: Harry Potter's defeat of You-Know-Who was Black's downfall as well. And the Azkaban guards heard Black muttering in his sleep, "He's at Hogwarts...he's at Hogwarts."

Harry Potter isn't safe, not even within the walls of his magical school, surrounded by his friends. because on top of it all, there may well be a traitor in their midst.

(front flap)]]> 435 J.K. Rowling Jess 5 4.57 1999 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Jess
average rating: 4.57
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2020/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> The Order of Time 36442813
With his extraordinary charm and sense of wonder, bringing together science, philosophy and art, Carlo Rovelli unravels this mystery, inviting us to imagine a world where time is in us and we are not in time.]]> 224 Carlo Rovelli 073521610X Jess 0 currently-reading 4.14 2017 The Order of Time
author: Carlo Rovelli
name: Jess
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/03/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[American Royals (American Royals, #1)]]> 43744300 What if America had a royal family?

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling.

Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her.

And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.]]> 448 Katharine McGee 1984830171 Jess 0 to-read 3.81 2019 American Royals (American Royals, #1)
author: Katharine McGee
name: Jess
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/10/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Matchmaking for Beginners 37561377 When her marriage ends after two miserable weeks, Marnie is understandably shocked. She’s even more astonished to find that she’s inherited Blix’s Brooklyn brownstone along with all of Blix’s unfinished “projects�: the heartbroken, oddball friends and neighbors running from happiness. Marnie doesn’t believe she’s anything special, but Blix somehow knew she was the perfect person to follow in her matchmaker footsteps.

And Blix was also right about some things Marnie must learn the hard way: love is hard to recognize, and the ones who push love away often are the ones who need it most.

]]> 378 Maddie Dawson 1503956202 Jess 0 currently-reading 4.12 2018 Matchmaking for Beginners
author: Maddie Dawson
name: Jess
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/07/15
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Look the Part 36521819
All the t’s are crossed and i’s dotted on Ellen’s application. Her references are good. And she’s easy on the eyes.

Until �

Flint discovers Ellen Rodgers, Board-Certified Music Therapist, plays music. Bongos, guitars, singing—not Beethoven administered through noise-cancelling headphones.

The cut-throat attorney serves up an eviction notice to the bubbly, constantly humming redhead who's too sexy for her own good. But luck is on Ellen’s side when Flint’s autistic son, Harrison, takes an instant liking to her. A single dad can’t compete with guitars—and rats. Yes, she has pet rats.

This woman �

She’s annoyingly happy with a constant need to touch him—adjust his tie, button his shirt, invade his space, and mess with his mind.

Still �

She must go.

Their lust-hate relationship escalates into something beautiful and tragic. This sexy, romantic-comedy explores the things we want, the things we need, and the impossible decisions parents and children make to survive.]]> 380 Jewel E. Ann 0999048287 Jess 0 4.03 2018 Look the Part
author: Jewel E. Ann
name: Jess
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 99 Percent Mine 37793761 Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach�

Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.

When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former glory and sell the property. Darcy plans to be in an aisle seat halfway across the ocean as soon as the renovations start, but before she can cut and run, she finds a familiar face on her porch: house-flipper extraordinaire Tom’s arrived, he’s bearing power tools, and he’s single for the first time in almost a decade.

Suddenly Darcy’s considering sticking around to make sure her twin doesn’t ruin the cottage’s inherent magic with his penchant for grey and chrome. She’s definitely not staying because of her new business partner’s tight t-shirts, or that perfect face that's inspiring her to pick up her camera again. Soon sparks are flying—and it’s not the faulty wiring. It turns out one percent of Tom’s heart might not be enough for Darcy anymore. This time around, she’s switching things up. She’s going to make Tom Valeska 99 percent hers.]]> 349 Sally Thorne Jess 0 3.58 2019 99 Percent Mine
author: Sally Thorne
name: Jess
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Blood Apprentice (Elemental Legacy #2)]]> 43619278
When a map to the mysterious fortune of notorious privateer Miguel Enríquez falls in the lap of Ben and Tenzin, only one of them is jumping at the opportunity. Tenzin can’t wait to search for a secret cache of gold. Ben, on the other hand, couldn’t be less excited.

All Ben knows about Puerto Rico is what he hears on the news and a few lingering memories of his human grandmother. Going back to his roots holds zero appeal for the carefully constructed man he’s become.

In the end, the lure of hidden gold can’t be denied.

Ben and Tenzin head to Puerto Rico where the immortal world is ruled by Los Tres, a trio of powerful vampires commanding the wind, the waves, and the mountains that make up this small island in the Caribbean.

To find Enríquez’s treasure, they’ll have to walk a fine line between flattery and secrecy. To leave the island might mean a bigger fight than either one of them foresaw.

Blood Apprentice is the second novel in the Elemental Legacy, a paranormal mystery series by Elizabeth Hunter, author of the Irin Chronicles.
]]> 372 Elizabeth Hunter Jess 0 4.58 2019 Blood Apprentice (Elemental Legacy #2)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/27
shelves:
review:

]]> Cloud Atlas 49628 A postmodern visionary who is also a master of styles of genres, David Mitchell combines flat-out adventure, a Nabokovian lore of puzzles, a keen eye for character, and a taste for mind-bending philosophical and scientific speculation in the tradition of Umberto Eco, Haruki Murakami, and Philip K. Dick. The result is brilliantly original fiction as profund as it is playful. Now in his new novel, David Mitchell explores with daring artistry fundamental questions of reality and identity.

Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. . . .
Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter. . . . From there we jump to the West Coast in the 1970s and a troubled reporter named Luisa Rey, who stumbles upon a web of corporate greed and murder that threatens to claim her life. . . . And onward, with dazzling virtuosity, to an inglorious present-day England; to a Korean superstate of the near future where neocapitalism has run amok; and, finally, to a postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history.
But the story doesn’t end even there. The narrative then boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, Mitchell reveals how his disparate characters connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.

As wild as a videogame, as mysterious as a Zen koan, Cloud Atlas is an unforgettable tour de force that, like its incomparable author, has transcended its cult classic status to become a worldwide phenomenon.

]]> 509 David Mitchell 0375507256 Jess 0 4.02 2004 Cloud Atlas
author: David Mitchell
name: Jess
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/27
shelves: currently-reading, did-not-finish
review:

]]> Under the Dome 6320534
When food, electricity and water run short, the normal rules of society are changed. A new and more sinister social order develops, Dale Barbara, a young Iraq veteran, teams up with a handful of intrepid citizens to fight against the corruption that is sweeping through the town and to try to discover the source of the Dome before it is too late...]]> 1074 Stephen King 1439148503 Jess 0 3.92 2009 Under the Dome
author: Stephen King
name: Jess
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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]]> The Passage (The Passage, #1) 6690798 THIRTY-TWO MINUTES FOR ONE WORLD TO DIE, ANOTHER TO BE BORN.

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he's done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. Wolgast is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors, but for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—toward the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterly prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.]]> 784 Justin Cronin 0345504968 Jess 4 4.04 2010 The Passage (The Passage, #1)
author: Justin Cronin
name: Jess
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2019/03/27
date added: 2019/03/27
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]]> The Tiger's Wife 8366402 The New Yorker’s twenty best American fiction writers under forty, has spun a timeless novel that will establish her as one of the most vibrant, original authors of her generation.

In a Balkan country mending from years of conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of mercy at an orphanage by the sea. By the time she and her lifelong friend ZĂłra begin to inoculate the children there, she feels age-old superstitions and secrets gathering everywhere around her. Secrets her outwardly cheerful hosts have chosen not to tell her. Secrets involving the strange family digging for something in the surrounding vineyards. Secrets hidden in the landscape itself.

But Natalia is also confronting a private, hurtful mystery of her own: the inexplicable circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather’s recent death. After telling her grandmother that he was on his way to meet Natalia, he instead set off for a ramshackle settlement none of their family had ever heard of and died there alone. A famed physician, her grandfather must have known that he was too ill to travel. Why he left home becomes a riddle Natalia is compelled to unravel.

Grief struck and searching for clues to her grandfather’s final state of mind, she turns to the stories he told her when she was a child. On their weeklytrips to the zoo he would read to her from a worn copy of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, which he carried with him everywhere; later, he told her stories of his own encounters over many years with “the deathless man,� a vagabond who claimed to be immortal and appeared never to age. But the most extraordinary story of all is the one her grandfather never told her, the one Natalia must discover for herself. One winter during the Second World War, his childhood village was snowbound, cut off even from the encroaching German invaders but haunted by another, fierce presence: a tiger who comes ever closer under cover of darkness. “These stories,� Natalia comes to understand, “run like secret rivers through all the other stories� of her grandfather’s life. And it is ultimately within these rich, luminous narratives that she will find the answer she is looking for.]]> 338 Téa Obreht 0385343833 Jess 0 3.41 2011 The Tiger's Wife
author: TĂ©a Obreht
name: Jess
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hobbit, or There and Back Again]]> 5907 Written for J.R.R. Tolkien’s own children, The Hobbit met with instant critical acclaim when it was first published in 1937. Now recognized as a timeless classic, this introduction to the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, the wizard Gandalf, Gollum, and the spectacular world of Middle-earth recounts of the adventures of a reluctant hero, a powerful and dangerous ring, and the cruel dragon Smaug the Magnificent. The text in this 372-page paperback edition is based on that first published in Great Britain by Collins Modern Classics (1998), and includes a note on the text by Douglas A. Anderson (2001).]]> 366 J.R.R. Tolkien Jess 0 4.29 1937 The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Jess
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1937
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense]]> 38504 Charles Bukowski examines cats and his childhood in You Get So Alone at Times, a book of poetry that reveals his tender side. The iconic tortured artist/everyman delves into his youth to analyze its repercussions.

“The Walt Whitman of Los Angeles.� —Joyce Carol Oates

“[Bukowski] brought everybody down to earth, even the angels.� —Leonard Cohen, songwriter]]> 320 Charles Bukowski 0876856830 Jess 0 4.19 1986 You Get So Alone at Times That it Just Makes Sense
author: Charles Bukowski
name: Jess
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at: 2019/03/27
date added: 2019/03/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Next Year in Havana (The Perez Family, #1)]]> 34374628
Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba's high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country's growing political unrest--until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary...

Miami, 2017. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa's last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth.

Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba's tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she'll need the lessons of her grandmother's past to help her understand the true meaning of courage.]]> 356 Chanel Cleeton 0399586687 Jess 0 to-read 3.90 2018 Next Year in Havana (The Perez Family, #1)
author: Chanel Cleeton
name: Jess
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/03/27
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]]> Dreams of Falling 35725132 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night the Lights Went Out comes an exquisite new novel about best friends, family ties and the love that can both strengthen and break those bonds.

It's been nine years since Larkin fled Georgetown, South Carolina, vowing never to go back. But when she finds out that her mother has disappeared, she knows she has no choice but to return to the place that she both loves and dreads--and to the family and friends who never stopped wishing for her to come home. Ivy, Larkin's mother, is discovered in the burned-out wreckage of her family's ancestral rice plantation, badly injured and unconscious. No one knows why Ivy was there, but as Larkin digs for answers, she uncovers secrets kept for nearly 50 years. Secrets that lead back to the past, to the friendship between three girls on the brink of womanhood who swore that they would be friends forever, but who found that vow tested in heartbreaking ways.]]> 416 Karen White 0451488423 Jess 0 to-read 4.05 2018 Dreams of Falling
author: Karen White
name: Jess
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/03/27
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]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo]]> 33289074
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East Side apartment, Monique listens as Evelyn unfurls her story: from making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the late 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way. As Evelyn’s life unfolds—revealing a ruthless ambition, an unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love—Monique begins to feel a very a real connection to the actress. But as Evelyn’s story catches up with the present, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.]]> 401 Taylor Jenkins Reid Jess 0 to-read 4.30 2017 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Jess
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/03/27
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]]> The Hating Game 25883848
Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
2) A person’s undoing
3) Joshua Templeman

Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual.

Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking.

If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong.

Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game. ​​]]> 387 Sally Thorne Jess 5 Great pacing, the characters really stood out to me, the chemistry was palpable. You know those books when you think “ugh main character is being so dumb, she should OBVIOUSLY KNOW that the guy is in love with her�? This book did a good job of putting you in her shoes for a good chunk so that you could empathize with why she didn’t trust the whole situation. Great love scenes. Great book! ]]> 3.93 2016 The Hating Game
author: Sally Thorne
name: Jess
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/03/24
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Fantastic!
Great pacing, the characters really stood out to me, the chemistry was palpable. You know those books when you think “ugh main character is being so dumb, she should OBVIOUSLY KNOW that the guy is in love with her�? This book did a good job of putting you in her shoes for a good chunk so that you could empathize with why she didn’t trust the whole situation. Great love scenes. Great book!
]]> Kulti 24044596
When the man you worshipped as a kid becomes your coach, it’s supposed to be the greatest thing in the world. Keywords: supposed to.

It didn't take a week for 27-year-old Sal Casillas to wonder what she'd seen in the international soccer icon - why she'd ever had his posters on her wall or ever envisioned marrying him and having super-playing soccer babies.

Sal had long ago gotten over the worst non-break-up in the history of imaginary relationships with a man who hadn't known she'd existed. So she isn't prepared for this version of Reiner Kulti who shows up to her team's season: a quiet, reclusive shadow of the explosive, passionate man he'd once been.]]> 570 Mariana Zapata Jess 2
The good: I actually was really into the book at first. I liked that the protagonist was an unapologetic athlete who wanted to be the best. The tension with the main male character was great at the start. It felt slightly different than most other hate-but-will-eventually-love stories.

But what killed it for me was the slut-shaming internal monologue of the main character. Author goes out of the way to show us that Sal is “good� because she doesn’t sleep around. I mean my god. Sal- go get laid. Seriously girl, it’s possible to love and respect yourself and still sleep around.

Also the sex was cringeworthy. Took all the way to the end of the book to get there which just felt too late and all the tension had built up for... nothing.

Kulti (the character) could have been really interesting but there is no character development there. He ends up being every other “strong and silent and pushy� type. ]]> 4.22 2015 Kulti
author: Mariana Zapata
name: Jess
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2019/03/24
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Ok so where do I start?

The good: I actually was really into the book at first. I liked that the protagonist was an unapologetic athlete who wanted to be the best. The tension with the main male character was great at the start. It felt slightly different than most other hate-but-will-eventually-love stories.

But what killed it for me was the slut-shaming internal monologue of the main character. Author goes out of the way to show us that Sal is “good� because she doesn’t sleep around. I mean my god. Sal- go get laid. Seriously girl, it’s possible to love and respect yourself and still sleep around.

Also the sex was cringeworthy. Took all the way to the end of the book to get there which just felt too late and all the tension had built up for... nothing.

Kulti (the character) could have been really interesting but there is no character development there. He ends up being every other “strong and silent and pushy� type.
]]> <![CDATA[Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)]]> 6584134 A lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen's club.

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried—and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she's vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she's been missing.

But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss—to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston—charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile.

If she's not careful, she'll break the most important rule of all—the one that says that pleasure-seekers should never fall hopelessly, desperately in love.]]> 397 Sarah MacLean 0061852058 Jess 0 4.06 2010 Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1)
author: Sarah MacLean
name: Jess
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/02/14
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]]> <![CDATA[The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium, #3)]]> 6892870
Lisbeth Salander - the heart of Larsson's two previous novels - lies in critical condition, a bullet wound to her head, in the intensive care unit of a Swedish city hospital. She's fighting for her life in more ways than one: if and when she recovers, she'll be taken back to Stockholm to stand trial for three murders. With the help of her friend, journalist Mikael Blomkvist, she will not only have to prove her innocence, but also identify and denounce those in authority who have allowed the vulnerable, like herself, to suffer abuse and violence. And, on her own, she will plot revenge - against the man who tried to kill her, and the corrupt government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life.

Once upon a time, she was a victim. Now Salander is fighting back.

~from the jacket]]> 566 Stieg Larsson 030726999X Jess 0 4.23 2007 The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Millennium, #3)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Jess
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/02/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)]]> 100915
Lucy is the first to find the secret of the wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first her brothers and sister don't believe her when she tells of her visit to the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund, then Peter and Susan step through the wardrobe themselves. In Narnia they find a country buried under the evil enchantment of the White Witch. When they meet the Lion Aslan, they realize they've been called to a great adventure and bravely join the battle to free Narnia from the Witch's sinister spell.]]> 206 C.S. Lewis Jess 0 4.24 1950 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Jess
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1950
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/02/09
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]]> The Giver (The Giver, #1) 3636 208 Lois Lowry 0385732554 Jess 0 4.12 1993 The Giver (The Giver, #1)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Jess
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/02/09
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]]> Brave New World 5129 Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order–all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. “A genius [who] who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machine� (The New Yorker), Huxley was a man of incomparable talents: equally an artist, a spiritual seeker, and one of history’s keenest observers of human nature and civilization. Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgent relevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New Worldd likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites.

"Aldous Huxley is the greatest 20th century writer in English." —Chicago Tribune]]> 268 Aldous Huxley 0060929871 Jess 0 3.99 1932 Brave New World
author: Aldous Huxley
name: Jess
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1932
rating: 0
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]]> Fahrenheit 451 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 Jess 0 3.97 1953 Fahrenheit 451
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Jess
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1953
rating: 0
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]]> Pride and Prejudice 1885 Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780679783268]]> 279 Jane Austen 1441341706 Jess 0 4.28 1813 Pride and Prejudice
author: Jane Austen
name: Jess
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1813
rating: 0
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]]> Animal Farm 170448 Librarian's note: There is an Alternate Cover Edition for this edition of this book here.

A farm is taken over by its overworked, mistreated animals. With flaming idealism and stirring slogans, they set out to create a paradise of progress, justice, and equality. Thus the stage is set for one of the most telling satiric fables ever penned –a razor-edged fairy tale for grown-ups that records the evolution from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism just as terrible.
When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.]]> 141 George Orwell 0451526341 Jess 0 4.07 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Jess
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1945
rating: 0
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]]> The Catcher in the Rye 5107 It's Christmas time and Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from yet another school...

Fleeing the crooks at Pencey Prep, he pinballs around New York City seeking solace in fleeting encounters—shooting the bull with strangers in dive hotels, wandering alone round Central Park, getting beaten up by pimps and cut down by erstwhile girlfriends. The city is beautiful and terrible, in all its neon loneliness and seedy glamour, its mingled sense of possibility and emptiness. Holden passes through it like a ghost, thinking always of his kid sister Phoebe, the only person who really understands him, and his determination to escape the phonies and find a life of true meaning.

The Catcher in the Rye is an all-time classic in coming-of-age literature- an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.

J.D. Salinger's (1919�2010) classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion was first published in 1951. The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the court for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and in the 1950's and 60's it was the novel that every teenage boy wants to read.]]> 277 J.D. Salinger 0316769177 Jess 0 3.81 1951 The Catcher in the Rye
author: J.D. Salinger
name: Jess
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1951
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine]]> 31434883 No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: she struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding unnecessary human contact, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen, the three rescue one another from the lives of isolation that they had been living. Ultimately, it is Raymond’s big heart that will help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one. If she does, she'll learn that she, too, is capable of finding friendship—and even love—after all.

Smart, warm, uplifting, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .

the only way to survive is to open your heart.]]> 336 Gail Honeyman 0735220689 Jess 4 4.21 2017 Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
author: Gail Honeyman
name: Jess
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2017
rating: 4
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date added: 2018/05/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Necromancer, #1)]]> 8041873
Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else.

With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?]]> 343 Lish McBride 0805090983 Jess 0 to-read 3.90 2010 Hold Me Closer, Necromancer (Necromancer, #1)
author: Lish McBride
name: Jess
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2018/05/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> Rebecca 17899948 Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling read that it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.]]> 449 Daphne du Maurier 0316323705 Jess 0 to-read 4.28 1938 Rebecca
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Jess
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1938
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/11/25
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]]> <![CDATA[One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)]]> 32571395 This is an alternate cover edition of ASIN B01M98J44U.
---
One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.

Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.]]> 360 Karen M. McManus Jess 0 to-read 4.00 2017 One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Jess
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/07/15
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]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3)]]> 23766634
She has left the Night Court - and her High Lord - and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees, and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do so she must weave a web of lies, and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As mighty armies grapple for power, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords - and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

BUT WHILE WAR RAGES, IT IS HER HEART THAT WILL FACE THE GREATEST BATTLE.

THE THRILLING THIRD BOOK IN #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING FANTASY SERIES FROM SARAH J. MAAS.]]> 705 Sarah J. Maas 1408857901 Jess 4 4.41 2017 A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jess
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2017
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/05/08
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]]> Vicious (Villains, #1) 13638125 A masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, desire, and superpowers.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn't automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.

Listening Length: 9 hours and 55 minutes]]> 368 Victoria E. Schwab 0765335344 Jess 0 to-read 4.24 2013 Vicious (Villains, #1)
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Jess
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/05/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> Les Liaisons dangereuses 49540 Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782) one of the most scandalous and controversial novels in European literature. The subject of major film and stage adaptations, the novel's prime movers, the Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil, form an unholy alliance and turn seduction into a game - a game which they must win. This new translation gives Laclos a modern voice, and readers will be able a judge whether the novel is as "diabolical" and "infamous" as its critics have claimed, or whether it has much to tell us about the kind of world we ourselves live in. David Coward's introduction explodes myths about Laclos's own life and puts the book in its literary and cultural context.]]> 402 Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 0192838679 Jess 0 to-read 4.08 1782 Les Liaisons dangereuses
author: Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
name: Jess
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1782
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/03/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Shadowland (The Immortals, #3)]]> 6581511 Enter the realm of the Immortals—the #1 New York Times bestselling series that's been acclaimed as breathtaking, mesmerizing, flawless, and extraordinary.

Ever and Damen have traveled through countless past lives—and fought off the world’s darkest enemies—so they could be together forever. But just when their long-awaited destiny is finally within reach, a powerful curse falls upon Damen... one that could destroy everything. Now a single touch of their hands or a soft brush of their lips could mean sudden death—plunging Damen into the Shadowland. Desperate to break the curse and save Damen, Ever immerses her herself in magick� and gets help from an unexpected source—a surfer named Jude.

Although she and Jude have only just met, he feels startlingly familiar. Despite her fierce loyalty to Damen, Ever is drawn to Jude, a green-eyed golden boy with magical talents and a mysterious past. She’s always believed Damen to be her soulmate and one true love—and she still believes it to be true. But as Damen pulls away to save them from the darkness inhabiting his soul, Ever’s connection with Jude grows stronger—and tests her love for Damen like never before�.]]> 339 Alyson Noel 031259044X Jess 0 to-read 3.67 2009 Shadowland (The Immortals, #3)
author: Alyson Noel
name: Jess
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Marked (House of Night, #1) 30183 Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1

After a Vampire Tracker Marks her with a crescent moon on her forehead, 16-year-old Zoey Redbird enters the House of Night and learns that she is no average fledgling. She has been Marked as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx and has affinities for all five elements: Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. But she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers. When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school’s most elite club, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny—with a little help from her new vampyre friends (or Nerd Herd, as Aphrodite calls them).]]> 306 P.C. Cast 0312360266 Jess 0 to-read 3.82 2007 Marked (House of Night, #1)
author: P.C. Cast
name: Jess
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Waterlocked (Elemental World, #1.5)]]> 16263051
adjective

Definition: enclosed entirely, or almost entirely, by water

Example: What happens when the water vampire you’ve promised yourself to actually wants you to go through with the wedding? For Gemma Melcombe, her engagement to Terrance Ramsay was a political maneuver. For Terry, it’s something entirely more. Rough waters may be ahead for these two headstrong lovers, but until they come to an agreement, Gemma will be waterlocked.

Waterlocked is a novella in the Elemental World series.]]> 138 Elizabeth Hunter Jess 5 4.19 2013 Waterlocked (Elemental World, #1.5)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/03/16
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]]> <![CDATA[The Secret (Irin Chronicles, #3)]]> 24905116
For thousands of years, the scribes and singers of the Irin race have existed to protect humanity and guard the gifts of the Forgiven. They have lived in the shadows. They have kept their secrets.

But the Irin aren’t the only race with secrets.

Ava and Malachi have found each other, but wounds as deep as theirs don’t heal overnight. While the Irin world struggles to correct the power imbalance left by the Rending of the Irina, Malachi and Ava struggle to connect their past with their present.

The Fallen may scheme, but Ava has found her power and refuses to be an angel’s pawn. And while Malachi may have forgotten his history, the scribe’s relentless search for answers leads both him and his mate to the heart of the Irin power structure in Vienna, where knowledge is guarded more closely than gold and those with power will do anything to keep it.

Malachi and Ava have survived the darkness, but will they ever discover its secrets? A powerful cabal of the Fallen may hold the answers, but to surrender them, it wants the Irin race to finally face their enemies. Both those coming from the outside, and those raging within.

THE SECRET is the third book in the contemporary fantasy series, the Irin Chronicles, and the conclusion of Ava and Malachi’s journey.]]> 373 Elizabeth Hunter 1941674038 Jess 4 4.22 2015 The Secret (Irin Chronicles, #3)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2015
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/03/16
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]]> <![CDATA[The Singer (Irin Chronicles, #2)]]> 20734562
Ava left Istanbul with a new identity, new name, and new magic she could barely control. Laid low by Malachi's sacrifice, she searches for help from the fabled Irina. But will the secretive women of the Irin race welcome or shun her? Ava's origins are still a mystery, and her powers are darker than any they've encountered before.

The Irin world hangs in the balance. And as the children of angels battle their own demons, ancient rivalries among the Fallen threaten to wreak havoc on earth.

Thousand of miles away, a warrior wakes with no memory of his identity or his people. Stumbling though the dark and twisted schemes of fallen angels, ravenous Grigori, and even his own leaders, he must find a way back to the one thing he remembers. A single voice calls him. Malachi has one mission.

"Come back to me."

THE SINGER is the second book in the Irin Chronicles, a contemporary fantasy series from Elizabeth Hunter, author of the Elemental Mysteries.]]> 335 Elizabeth Hunter 1497326923 Jess 3 4.10 2014 The Singer (Irin Chronicles, #2)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2014
rating: 3
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date added: 2017/03/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Building From Ashes (Elemental World, #1)]]> 16005449
Brigid Connor has known about vampires since they rescued her from a painful childhood. But not even their vast elemental power can save her from the demons that torment her.

As loyalties are tested and new paths are forged, a lurking danger slowly grows in the Elemental World. Carwyn and Brigid will learn that even secrets revealed can come back to haunt you when you least expect it.

A continuation/spinoff of the Elemental Mysteries series. The timeline in this books stretches from BEFORE A Hidden Fire starts (so you see a little character history) until AFTER A Fall of Water finishes. As I’m sure lots of you could tell, Carwyn had quite a few things going on in his life that didn’t make it into Gio and Beatrice’s story. So Building From Ashes explores that storyline and also sets up the Elemental World for some new adventures...]]> 371 Elizabeth Hunter Jess 3 4.26 2012 Building From Ashes (Elemental World, #1)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2012
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Scribe (Irin Chronicles, #1)]]> 18298132 Hidden at the crossroads of the world, an ancient race battles to protect humanity, even as it dies from within.

To the outside world, Ava Matheson is a successful travel photographer from a privileged background. But Ava's spent a lifetime battling voices in her mind she can't understand, and her fractured family has convinced her she'll never belong.

Malachi is an Irin scribe, descended from an angelic race and sworn by blood and magic to defend humanity from the Grigori, the sons of fallen angels who could ravage the world. A chance meeting in Istanbul will change both Ava and Malachi's destinies forever. Their attraction should be impossible, but it could also be the only thing that will keep them alive.

The Scribe is the first book in the Irin Chronicles, a contemporary fantasy series by Elizabeth Hunter, seven-time USA Today bestselling author of the Elemental Legacy.]]> 306 Elizabeth Hunter 0988520591 Jess 4 4.13 2013 The Scribe (Irin Chronicles, #1)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2013
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[A Fall of Water (Elemental Mysteries, #4)]]> 13641721
Still grieving from their loss in the far East, Giovanni Vecchio and Beatrice De Novo discover that for them, all roads really do lead to Rome. But nothing is quite as it seems in the Eternal City. Joined by Carwyn and Tenzin, unexpected clashes greet them almost immediately, and rivalries churn beneath the glittering facade of the old Roman court. They quickly realize that allies might be enemies, and ancient rivals could hold the key to a deadly secret.

Giovanni and Beatrice will be forced to call on old alliances, ancient power, and fierce cunning to survive for the eternity they both desire. Sometimes, finding the end means going back to the beginning. Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water finally meet with devastating results in the conclusion of the Elemental Mysteries.]]> 420 Elizabeth Hunter Jess 4 4.36 2012 A Fall of Water (Elemental Mysteries, #4)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/03/16
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]]> <![CDATA[The Force of Wind (Elemental Mysteries, #3)]]> 13414389
What would you sacrifice to kill the one you hate?

Join Giovanni Vecchio and Beatrice De Novo as they travel to a hidden island on the far edge of China and seek the help of an ancient immortal court. Can they weave their way through the tangled web of centuries-old alliances and ruthless feuds to find what they’ve been looking for? Friends will be revealed, enemies will find them, and a dangerous secret will come to light.

The Force of Wind is the third book in the four-part Elemental Mysteries series. It is a paranormal mystery/romance for adult readers.]]> 262 Elizabeth Hunter Jess 4 4.30 2012 The Force of Wind (Elemental Mysteries, #3)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2012
rating: 4
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]]> <![CDATA[This Same Earth (Elemental Mysteries, #2)]]> 13034683
The sequel to A Hidden Fire will reunite Beatrice and Giovanni to continue their search through the past while both wrestle with the future. When the world as you knew it has changed forever, is there any way you can turn back?

This Same Earth is the second book in the Elemental Mysteries series. It is a paranormal romance/mystery for adult readers.]]> 420 Elizabeth Hunter Jess 4 4.25 2011 This Same Earth (Elemental Mysteries, #2)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/03/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Omens and Artifacts (Elemental Legacy #0.75)]]> 34031628 In the elemental world, reputation is everything, but gaining it can get you killed.

Setting up shop as an antiquities hunter means nothing if you don’t have clients. Benjamin Vecchio, nephew of a famed vampire assassin, is the subject of widespread speculation, but so far that speculation hasn’t translated into work.
What Ben needs is a job. A big job. A profitable job.

A legendary job.

Finding the lost sword of Brennus the Celt, the mythical Raven King of the British Isles, would make Ben’s reputation in the immortal world, but it could also draw dangerous attention. The Raven King’s gold hoard isn’t famous for being easy to find. Luckily, Ben has his own legend at his side.

Tenzin is a wind vampire who doesn’t like digging, but she’s more than happy to let Ben do the dirty work while she provides the muscle he needs to make other immortals pay attention. They’re partners. Or so Ben thinks.

But when finding this treasure puts Tenzin’s future plans at risk, will their partnership survive? Tenzin isn’t used to taking orders from anyone, particularly from a young human who used to be her student. Digging into ancient Scottish history can get you dirty. It can also get you killed.]]> 145 Elizabeth Hunter 1941674119 Jess 0 4.53 2017 Omens and Artifacts (Elemental Legacy #0.75)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Imitation and Alchemy (Elemental Legacy #0.5)]]> 27916857 All Tenzin wanted was a cache of priceless medieval coins that had been missing for several hundred years. And some company.
Phrases like “never again� don’t mean much when you’ve been a vampire for several thousand years. And promises made in the heat of anger don’t outweigh the lure of gold. Ben Vecchio thought he knew everything there was to know about the immortals of Italy. But when Tenzin tempts him into another adventure finding a cache of rare gold coins missing since the nineteenth century, he’ll discover that familiar places can hold the most delicious secrets. And possibly, the key to his future.]]> 136 Elizabeth Hunter 1941674070 Jess 5 4.48 2016 Imitation and Alchemy (Elemental Legacy #0.5)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2016
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Shadows and Gold (Elemental Legacy #0.25)]]> 23593432 Elemental Legacy series:

SHADOWS AND GOLD

Failing grades. Misleading wind vampires. And a fortune in forgotten gold.
Traveling to the most remote region of China certainly wasn’t what Ben Vecchio had in mind for his summer vacation, but when Tenzin suggested a quick trip, he could hardly turn down a chance to keep her out of trouble and practice the Mandarin he still struggled with in class.

Of course, Tenzin might not have been clear about everything travel entailed.

Driving a truck full of rotting vegetables and twenty million in gold from Kashgar to Shanghai was only the start. If Ben can keep the treasure away from grasping immortals, the reward will be more than worth the effort. But when has travel with a five-thousand-year-old wind vampire ever been simple?

“What’s on the agenda for tonight?�
“I thought we’d go into Shanghai. Eat some fish. See the lights.�
“O°ě˛ą˛â.â€�
“Then maybe lure a traitor into the open before he steals my gold.�
Ben paused, thought, then gave her a nod. “Sure, sounds like fun.�

At least he was practicing his Chinese.

Right?

SHADOWS AND GOLD is a prequel novella in the Elemental Legacy series.]]> 128 Elizabeth Hunter 194167402X Jess 0 4.35 2014 Shadows and Gold (Elemental Legacy #0.25)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/03/16
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]]> <![CDATA[The Scarlet Deep (Elemental World, #3)]]> 25499552
Patrick Murphy, the immortal leader of Dublin, has been trying to stem the tide of Elixir washing into his territory, but nothing seems to stop the vampire drug. While others in the immortal world work to cure the creeping insanity that Elixir threatens, Murphy has been invited to London to join a summit of leaders hoping to discover who is shipping the drug. If Murphy and his allies can cut off the supply, they might be able to halt the spread long enough for a treatment to be found for the humans and vampires infected.

Anne O’Dea, Murphy’s former lover, retreated from public life over one hundred years ago to help immortals in need� and to heal her own broken heart. Though powerful connections keep her insulated from the violence of vampire politics, even Anne is starting to feel the effects of Elixir on her isolated world. The human blood supply has been tainted, and with Anne’s unique needs, even those closest to her might be in danger. Not just from infection, but Anne’s escalating bloodlust.

When Anne and Murphy are both called to London, they’re forced to confront a connection as immortal as they are. As they search for a traitor among allies, they must also come to terms with their past. Behind the safe facade of politics, old hungers still burn, even as an ancient power threatens the fate of the Elemental World.]]> Elizabeth Hunter Jess 0 4.23 2015 The Scarlet Deep (Elemental World, #3)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bronze Blade (Elemental World, #2.5)]]> 20655727 Librarian Note: Previous cover for ASIN: B00HUVO5NA

"You may call me Tenzin, if you like."

A girl. A mother. A slave. A monster. A survivor. Descended into madness. Forged in fire and darkness, she became one of the fiercest warriors the immortal world had ever known.

But in the beginning, there was a girl.

THE BRONZE BLADE is a novella of approximately 100 pages.

WARNING: The Bronze Blade contains scenes of graphic violence and abuse, and is recommended for adult readers only.]]> 101 Elizabeth Hunter Jess 0 4.33 2014 The Bronze Blade (Elemental World, #2.5)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Hidden Fire (Elemental Mysteries, #1)]]> 12755792
A phone call from an old friend sets Dr. Giovanni Vecchio back on the path of a mystery he'd abandoned years before. He never expected a young librarian could hold the key to the search, nor could he have expected the danger she would attract. Now he and Beatrice De Novo will follow a twisted maze that leads from the archives of a university library, through the fires of Renaissance Florence, and toward a confrontation they never could have predicted.

A Hidden Fire is a paranormal mystery/romance for adult readers. It is the first book in the Elemental Mysteries Series.]]> 320 Elizabeth Hunter Jess 4 4.08 2011 A Hidden Fire (Elemental Mysteries, #1)
author: Elizabeth Hunter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/03/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease]]> 14481524 Sugar: The Bitter Truth, has been viewed more than two million times. Now, in this much anticipated book, he documents the science and the politics that has led to the pandemic of chronic disease over the last 30 years.

In the late 1970s when the government mandated we get the fat out of our food, the food industry responded by pouring more sugar in. The result has been a perfect storm, disastrously altering our biochemistry and driving our eating habits out of our control.

To help us lose weight and recover our health, Lustig presents personal strategies to readjust the key hormones that regulate hunger, reward, and stress; and societal strategies to improve the health of the next generation. Compelling, controversial, and completely based in science, Fat Chance debunks the widely held notion to prove “a calorie is NOT a calorie�, and takes that science to its logical conclusion to improve health worldwide.]]> 320 Robert H. Lustig 159463100X Jess 4 to-read 4.16 2012 Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease
author: Robert H. Lustig
name: Jess
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos]]> 8167094 From the best-selling author of The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos comes his most expansive and accessible book to date—a book that takes on the grandest question: Is ours the only universe?

There was a time when “universe� meant all there is. Everything. Yet, in recent years discoveries in physics and cosmology have led a number of scientists to conclude that our universe may be one among many. With crystal-clear prose and inspired use of analogy, Brian Greene shows how a range of different “multiverse� proposals emerges from theories developed to explain the most refined observations of both subatomic particles and the dark depths of space: a multiverse in which you have an infinite number of doppelgängers, each reading this sentence in a distant universe; a multiverse comprising a vast ocean of bubble universes, of which ours is but one; a multiverse that endlessly cycles through time, or one that might be hovering millimeters away yet remains invisible; another in which every possibility allowed by quantum physics is brought to life. Or, perhaps strangest of all, a multiverse made purely of math.

Greene, one of our foremost physicists and science writers, takes us on a captivating exploration of these parallel worlds and reveals how much of reality’s true nature may be deeply hidden within them. And, with his unrivaled ability to make the most challenging of material accessible and entertaining, Greene tackles the core question: How can fundamental science progress if great swaths of reality lie beyond our reach?

Sparked by Greene’s trademark wit and precision, The Hidden Reality is at once a far-reaching survey of cutting-edge physics and a remarkable journey to the very edge of reality—a journey grounded firmly in science and limited only by our imagination.]]> 384 Brian Greene 0307265633 Jess 4 4.10 2011 The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos
author: Brian Greene
name: Jess
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2011
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason]]> 29501 The End of Faith, Sam Harris delivers a startling analysis of the clash between reason and religion in the modern world. He offers a vivid, historical tour of our willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs—even when these beliefs inspire the worst human atrocities. While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris draws on insights from neuroscience, philosophy, and Eastern mysticism to deliver a call for a truly modern foundation for ethics and spirituality that is both secular and humanistic.

Winner of the 2005 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction.]]> 348 Sam Harris 0393327655 Jess 3 3.89 2004 The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
author: Sam Harris
name: Jess
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2004
rating: 3
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date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1)]]> 6304335
Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.]]> 563 Kami Garcia 0316042676 Jess 3 3.78 2009 Beautiful Creatures (Caster Chronicles, #1)
author: Kami Garcia
name: Jess
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2009
rating: 3
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date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> Chronicle of a Death Foretold 23878
Yet if everyone knew the murder was going to happen, why did no one intervene to try and stop it? The more that is learned, the less is understood, and as the story races to its inexplicable conclusion, an entire society--not just a pair of murderers—is put on trial.]]> 120 Gabriel García Márquez 140003471X Jess 4 3.98 1981 Chronicle of a Death Foretold
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: Jess
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1981
rating: 4
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]]> Love in the Time of Cholera 9712 348 Gabriel García Márquez 140003468X Jess 4 3.92 1985 Love in the Time of Cholera
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: Jess
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1985
rating: 4
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]]> One Hundred Years of Solitude 320 417 Gabriel García Márquez Jess 5 4.10 1967 One Hundred Years of Solitude
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: Jess
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1967
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister]]> 18943
Set against the backdrop of seventeenth-century Holland, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister tells the story of Iris, an unlikely heroine who finds herself swept from the lowly streets of Haarlem to a strange world of wealth, artifice, and ambition. Iris's path quickly becomes intertwined with that of Clara, the mysterious and unnaturally beautiful girl destined to become her sister. While Clara retreats to the cinders of the family hearth, Iris seeks out the shadowy secrets of her new household -- and the treacherous truth of her former life.]]> 372 Gregory Maguire 0060987529 Jess 3 3.54 1999 Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
author: Gregory Maguire
name: Jess
average rating: 3.54
book published: 1999
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Drums of Autumn (Outlander, #4)]]> 10988 The New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon continues the story of Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser that began with the now-classic novel Outlander and continued in Dragonfly in Amber and Voyager. Once again spanning continents and centuries, Diana Gabaldon has created a work of sheer passion and brilliance....

It began at an ancient Scottish stone circle. There, a doorway, open to a select few, leads into the past—or the grave. Dr. Claire Randall survived the extraordinary passage, not once but twice.

Her first trip swept her into the arms of Jamie Fraser, an eighteenth-century Scot whose love for her became a legend—a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Her second journey, two decades later, brought them together again in the American colonies. But Claire had left someone behind in the twentieth century—their daughter, Brianna....

Now Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the circle of stones and a terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and the father she has never met, she is risking her own future to try to change history ... and to save their lives. But as Brianna plunges into an uncharted wilderness, a heartbreaking encounter may strand her forever in the past ... or root her in the place she should be, where her heart and soul belong....]]> 880 Diana Gabaldon 0385335989 Jess 2 4.33 1996 Drums of Autumn (Outlander, #4)
author: Diana Gabaldon
name: Jess
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1996
rating: 2
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]]> Falling Up 30120 Millie McDeevit screamed a scream, so loud it made her eyebrows steam.
She screamed so loud, her jawbone broke,
Her tongue caught fire, her nostrils smoked...

Poor Screamin' Millie is just one of the unforgettable characters in this wondrous new book of poems and drawings. Here you will also meet Allison Beals and her twenty-five eels; Danny O'Dare, the dancin' bear; the Human Balloon; and Headphone Harold.

Shel Silverstein, the New York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound.

So come, wander through the Nose Garden, ride the Little Hoarse, eat in the Strange Restaurant, and let the magic of Shel Silverstein open your eyes and tickle your mind.

Story List
- Advice
- Allison Beals and Her 25 Eels
- Alphabalance
- Bad Cold
- A Battle in the Sky
- The Bear, the Fire, and the Snow
- Best Mask?
- Big Eating Contest
- Bituminous?
- Blood-Curdling Story
- Body Language
- Camp Wonderful
- Carrots
- Castle
- Cat, a Kid, and a Mom
- Cat Jacks
- Cereal
- Christmas Dog
- Clean Gene
- Complainin' Jack
- Cookwitch Sandwich
- Crazy Dream
- Crystal Ball
- Danny O'Dare
- The Deadly Eye
- Dentist Dan
- Description
- Diving Board
- Don the Dragon's Birthday
- Eggs Rated
- Falling Up
- Feeding Time
- The Folks Inside
- Foot Repair
- Forgetful Paul Revere
- The Former Foreman's Story
- Furniture Bash
- Gardener
- Glub-Glub
- The Gnome, the Gnat, and the Gnu
- Golden Goose
- Hand Holding
- Hard to Please
- Haunted
- Headless Town
- Headphone Harold
- Help!
- Hi-Monster
- Human Balloon
- Hungry Kid Island
- Hypnotized
- Ice Cream Stop
- Imagining
- In the Land of...
- James
- Kanga Ruby
- Keepin' Count
- Keep-Out House
- Little Hoarse
- Little Pig's Treat
- Long-Leg Lou and Short-Leg Sue
- Long Scarf
- Lyin' Larry
- Mari-Lou's Ride
- Medusa
- Mirror, Mirror
- Mister Moody
- Molly's Folly
- Monkey
- Morgan's Curse
- Mummy
- Music Lesson
- My Nose Garden
- My Robot
- My Sneaky Cousin
- The Nap Taker
- Needles and Pins
- New World
- No
- No Grown-Ups
- No Thank You
- Noise Day
- Nope
- Obedient
- Ooh!
- One Out of Sixteen
- People Zoo
- Pinocchio
- Plugging In
- Poison-Tester
- Porky
- Quality Time
- Reachin' Richard
- Red Flowers for You
- Remote-a-Dad
- Rotten Convention
- Runners
- Sack Race
- Safe?
- Scale
- Screamin' Millie
- Settin' Around
- Shanna in the Sauna
- Sharing
- Shoe Talk
- Short Kid
- Show Fish
- Sidewalking
- Smile Makers
- Snowball
- Somethin' New
- Sorry I Spilled It
- Spoiled Brat
- Stone Airplane
- Stork Story
- Strange Restaurant
- Stupid Pencil Maker
- Sun Hat
- Sybil the Magician's Last Show
- Tattooin' Ruth
- Tell Me
- They Say I Have...
- Tongue Sticker-Outer
- The Toy Eater
- Three O'clock
- Three Stings
- Turkey?
- Unfair
- Use for a Moose
- The Voice
- Warmhearted
- Wastebasket Brother
- Weavers
- Web-Foot Woe
- Weird-Bird
- We're Out of Paint, So�
- When I Was Your Age
- Why Is It?
- Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda
- Writer Waiting
- Yuck]]> 178 Shel Silverstein 0060513098 Jess 4 4.36 1996 Falling Up
author: Shel Silverstein
name: Jess
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> Voyager (Outlander, #3) 10987 Outlander and Dragonfly in Amber, the extraordinary saga continues.

Their passionate encounter happened long ago by whatever measurement Claire Randall took. Two decades before, she had traveled back in time and into the arms of a gallant eighteenth-century Scot named Jamie Fraser. Then she returned to her own century to bear his child, believing him dead in the tragic battle of Culloden. Yet his memory has never lessened its hold on her... and her body still cries out for him in her dreams.

Then Claire discovers that Jamie survived. Torn between returning to him and staying with their daughter in her own era, Claire must choose her destiny. And as time and space come full circle, she must find the courage to face the passion and pain awaiting her...the deadly intrigues raging in a divided Scotland... and the daring voyage into the dark unknown that can reunite or forever doom her timeless love.

]]> 870 Diana Gabaldon 0385335997 Jess 3 4.38 1993 Voyager (Outlander, #3)
author: Diana Gabaldon
name: Jess
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at:
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]]> <![CDATA[Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2)]]> 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 Jess 3 4.33 1992 Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2)
author: Diana Gabaldon
name: Jess
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (Bridget Jones, #2)]]> 363752 352 Helen Fielding 0140298479 Jess 3 3.64 1999 Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (Bridget Jones, #2)
author: Helen Fielding
name: Jess
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle]]> 310146 232 Avi 0380714752 Jess 3 3.85 1990 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
author: Avi
name: Jess
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1990
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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review:

]]> I Know This Much Is True 227711
One of the most acclaimed novels of our time, Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True is a story of alienation and connection, devastation and renewal, at once joyous, heartbreaking, poignant, mystical, and powerfully, profoundly human.]]> 897 Wally Lamb 0060987561 Jess 3 4.21 1998 I Know This Much Is True
author: Wally Lamb
name: Jess
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster]]> 1898
Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller Into the Wild. On assignment for Outside Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world. A rangy, thirty-five-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led thirty-nine climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a forty-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996.

Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.]]> 368 Jon Krakauer Jess 4 4.24 1997 Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
author: Jon Krakauer
name: Jess
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
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]]> Infinite Jest 6759
Set in an addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy, and featuring the most endearingly screwed-up family to come along in recent fiction, Infinite Jest explores essential questions about what entertainment is and why it has come to so dominate our lives; about how our desire for entertainment affects our need to connect with other people; and about what the pleasures we choose say about who we are.

Equal parts philosophical quest and screwball comedy, Infinite Jest bends every rule of fiction without sacrificing for a moment its own entertainment value. It is an exuberant, uniquely American exploration of the passions that make us human—and one of those rare books that renew the idea of what a novel can do.]]> 1088 David Foster Wallace Jess 0 to-read 4.26 1996 Infinite Jest
author: David Foster Wallace
name: Jess
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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review:

]]> Outlander (Outlander, #1) 10964
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.]]> 850 Diana Gabaldon 0440242940 Jess 4 4.25 1991 Outlander (Outlander, #1)
author: Diana Gabaldon
name: Jess
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> The Virgin Suicides 10956 250 Jeffrey Eugenides 0747560595 Jess 3 3.81 1993 The Virgin Suicides
author: Jeffrey Eugenides
name: Jess
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Perks of Being a Wallflower]]> 22628 offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see
what it looks like from the dance floor.

This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being A WALLFLOWER

This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that the perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.

Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.

(back cover)]]> 213 Stephen Chbosky Jess 4 4.24 1999 The Perks of Being a Wallflower
author: Stephen Chbosky
name: Jess
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)]]> 15881
And strike it does. For in Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, fresh torments and horrors arise, including an outrageously stuck-up new professor and a spirit who haunts the girls� bathroom. But then the real trouble begins � someone is turning Hogwarts students to stone. Could it be Draco Malfoy, a more poisonous rival than ever? Could it possibly be Hagrid, whose mysterious past is finally told? Or could it be the one everyone at Hogwarts most suspects� Harry Potter himself!]]> 352 J.K. Rowling Jess 5 4.42 1998 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Jess
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at:
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]]> The Nanny Diaries (Nanny, #1) 228333 306 Emma McLaughlin 0312291639 Jess 2 3.47 2002 The Nanny Diaries (Nanny, #1)
author: Emma McLaughlin
name: Jess
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2002
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Son of a Witch (The Wicked Years, #2)]]> 13521
What dark force left Liir in this condition? Is he really Elphaba's son? He has her broom and her cape - but what of her powers? Can he find his supposed half-sister, Nor, last seen in the forbidding prison Southstairs? Can he fulfill the last wishes of a dying princess? In an Oz under new and dangerous management, can Liir keep his head down long enough to grow up?]]> 352 Gregory Maguire 0060747226 Jess 3 3.50 2005 Son of a Witch (The Wicked Years, #2)
author: Gregory Maguire
name: Jess
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2005
rating: 3
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]]> Deception Point 976 here

A shocking scientific discovery.
A conspiracy of staggering brilliance.
A thriller unlike any you've ever read....

When a new NASA satellite spots evidence of an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory� a victory that has profound implications for U.S. space policy and the impending presidential election.

With the Oval Office in the balance, the President dispatches White House Intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton to the Milne Ice Shelf to verify the authenticity of the find. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic academic Michael Tolland, Rachel uncovers the unthinkable—evidence of scientific trickery—a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy.

But before Rachel can contact the President, she and Michael are attacked by a deadly task force…a private team of assassins controlled by a mysterious powerbroker who will stop at nothing to hide the truth. Fleeing for their lives in an environment as desolate as it is lethal, they possess only one hope, to find out who is behind this masterful ploy. The truth, they will learn, is the most shocking deception of all…]]> 556 Dan Brown 0671027387 Jess 3 3.76 2001 Deception Point
author: Dan Brown
name: Jess
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex]]> 17780
In the Heart of the Sea brings to new life the incredible story of the wreck of the whaleship Essex - an event as mythic in its own century as the Titanic disaster in ours, and the inspiration for the climax of Moby-Dick. In a harrowing page-turner, Nathaniel Philbrick restores this epic story to its rightful place in American history.

In 1820, the 240-ton Essex set sail from Nantucket on a routine voyage for whales. Fifteen months later, in the farthest reaches of the South Pacific, it was repeatedly rammed and sunk by an eighty-ton bull sperm whale. Its twenty-man crew, fearing cannibals on the islands to the west, made for the 3,000-mile-distant coast of South America in three tiny boats. During ninety days at sea under horrendous conditions, the survivors clung to life as one by one, they succumbed to hunger, thirst, disease, and fear.

Philbrick interweaves his account of this extraordinary ordeal of ordinary men with a wealth of whale lore and with a brilliantly detailed portrait of the lost, unique community of Nantucket whalers. Impeccably researched and beautifully told, the book delivers the ultimate portrait of man against nature, drawing on a remarkable range of archival and modern sources, including a long-lost account by the ship's cabin boy.

At once a literary companion and a page-turner that speaks to the same issues of class, race, and man's relationship to nature that permeate the works of Melville, In the Heart of the Sea will endure as a vital work of American history.]]> 302 Nathaniel Philbrick 0141001828 Jess 4 4.16 2000 In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
author: Nathaniel Philbrick
name: Jess
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2000
rating: 4
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date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas, #1) 14995
Something evil has come to the desert town that Odd and Stormy call home. It comes in the form of a mysterious man with a macabre appetite, a filing cabinet full of information on the world's worst killers, and strange, hyena-like shadows following him wherever he goes. Odd is worried. He knows things, sees things - about the living, the dead, and the soon-to-be dead. Things that he has to act on. Now he's terrified for Stormy, himself and Pico Mundo. Because he knows that on Wednesday August 15, a savage, blood-soaked whirlwind of violence and murder will devastate the town...

Today is August 14.
And Odd is far from sure he can stop the coming storm...]]> 446 Dean Koontz 0553384287 Jess 3 3.98 2003 Odd Thomas (Odd Thomas, #1)
author: Dean Koontz
name: Jess
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2003
rating: 3
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date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Good in Bed (Cannie Shapiro, #1)]]> 14748
For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She's even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.

But the day she opens up a national women's magazine and sees the words "Loving a Larger Woman" above her ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.]]> 376 Jennifer Weiner 0743418174 Jess 3 3.76 2002 Good in Bed (Cannie Shapiro, #1)
author: Jennifer Weiner
name: Jess
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2002
rating: 3
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]]> Paper Towns 6442769 Who is the real Margo?

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...]]> 305 John Green 014241493X Jess 3 3.68 2008 Paper Towns
author: John Green
name: Jess
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2008
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1)]]> 6186357 There are alternate cover editions for this ASIN here and here.

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.

Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.

Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.

Everything is going to change.

Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.

Remember. Survive. Run.]]> 384 James Dashner 0385737947 Jess 3 4.05 2009 The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner, #1)
author: James Dashner
name: Jess
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2009
rating: 3
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]]> House of Leaves 24800
Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.]]> 710 Mark Z. Danielewski Jess 5 4.11 2000 House of Leaves
author: Mark Z. Danielewski
name: Jess
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2000
rating: 5
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]]> <![CDATA[The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium #2)]]> 5060378 Millenium publisher Mikael Blomkvist has made his reputation exposing corrupt establishment figures. So when a young journalist approaches him with an investigation into sex trafficking, Blomkvist cannot resist waging war on the powerful figures who control this lucrative industry.

The Murder
When a young couple is found dead in their Stockholm apartment, it's a straightforward job for Inspector Bublanski and his team. The killer left the weapon at the scene - and the fingerprints on the gun point in only one direction.

The Girl Who Played with Fire
Ex-security analyst Lisbeth Salander is wanted for murder. Her history of unpredictable and vengeful behaviour makes her an official danger to society - but no-one can find her. The only way Salander can be reached is by computer. But she can break into almost any network she chooses...]]> 503 Stieg Larsson 0307269981 Jess 3 4.25 2006 The Girl Who Played With Fire (Millennium #2)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Jess
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2006
rating: 3
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]]> The Host (The Host, #1) 1656001
As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1 - ACE #2 ]]> 619 Stephenie Meyer 0316068047 Jess 3 3.85 2008 The Host (The Host, #1)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Jess
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> <![CDATA[New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)]]> 49041 There is an alternate cover edition for ISBN13 9780316160193 here.

I knew we were both in mortal danger. Still, in that instant, I felt well. Whole. I could feel my heart racing in my chest, the blood pulsing hot and fast through my veins again. My lungs filled deep with the sweet scent that came off his skin. It was like there had never been any hole in my chest. I was perfect - not healed, but as if there had never been a wound in the first place.

I FELT LIKE I WAS TRAPPED IN ONE OF THOSE TERRIFYING NIGHTMARES, the one where you have to run, run till your lungs burst, but you can't make your body move fast enough.... But this was no dream, and, unlike the nightmare, I wasn't running for my life; I was racing to save something infinitely more precious. My own life meant little to me today.

FOR BELLA SWAN THERE IS ONE THING more important than life itself: Edward Cullen. But being in love with a vampire is even more dangerous than Bella could ever have imagined. Edward has already rescued Bella from the clutches of one evil vampire, but now, as their daring relationship threatens all that is near and dear to them, they realize their troubles may be just beginning....

LEGIONS OF READERS ENTRANCED BY THE New York Times bestseller Twilight are hungry for the continuing story of star-crossed lovers Bell and Edward. In New Moon, Stephanie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural spin. passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.]]> 563 Stephenie Meyer 0316160199 Jess 3 3.61 2006 New Moon (The Twilight Saga, #2)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Jess
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2006
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)]]> 428263 "BELLA?"
Edward's soft voice came from behind me. I turned to see him spring lightly up the porch steps, his hair windblown from running. He pulled me into his arms at once, just like he had in the parking lot, and kissed me again.
This kiss frightened me. There was too much tension, too strong an edge to the way his lips crushed mine - like he was afraid we had only so much time left to us.

As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob - knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

READERS CAPTIVATED BY Twilight AND New Moon will eagerly devour Eclipse, the much-anticipated third book in Stephenie Meyer's riveting vampire love saga.]]> 629 Stephenie Meyer 0316160202 Jess 3 3.73 2007 Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, #3)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Jess
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2007
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, #4)]]> 1162543 "Don't be afraid," I murmured. "We belong together."
I was abruptly overwhelmed by the truth of my own words.
This moment was so perfect, so right, there was no way to doubt it.
His arms wrapped around me,
holding me against him....
It felt like every nerve ending in my body was a live wire.
"Forever," he agreed.

WHEN YOU LOVED THE ONE WHO WAS KILLING YOU, IT LEFT YOU NO OPTIONS. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?

TO BE IRREVOCABLY IN LOVE WITH A VAMPIRE is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.

NOW THAT BELLA HAS MADE HER DECISION, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life - first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse - seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?

THE ASTONISHING, BREATHLESSLY anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.]]> 756 Stephenie Meyer 031606792X Jess 3 3.74 2008 Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, #4)
author: Stephenie Meyer
name: Jess
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2008
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter Series Box Set (Harry Potter, #1-7)]]> 862041
All seven eBooks in the multi-award winning, internationally bestselling Harry Potter series, available as one download with stunning cover art by Olly Moss. Enjoy the stories that have captured the imagination of millions worldwide.]]> 4100 J.K. Rowling 0545044251 Jess 5 4.72 2007 Harry Potter Series Box Set (Harry Potter, #1-7)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Jess
average rating: 4.72
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2017/03/03
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]]> The Road 6288
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,� are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.]]> 241 Cormac McCarthy 0307265439 Jess 3 3.99 2006 The Road
author: Cormac McCarthy
name: Jess
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2006
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 968 The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, The da Vinci Code, and The da Vinci Code

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call: the elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum. Near the body, police have found a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon is stunned to discover it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci -- clues visible for all to see -- yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

Langdon joins forces with a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, and learns the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion -- an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others.

In a breathless race through Paris, London, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu match wits with a faceless powerbroker who seems to anticipate their every move. Unless Langdon and Neveu can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle in time, the Priory's ancient secret -- and an explosive historical truth -- will be lost forever.

The Da Vinci Code heralds the arrival of a new breed of lightning-paced, intelligent thriller utterly unpredictable right up to its stunning conclusion.]]> 489 Dan Brown Jess 3 3.92 2003 The da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)
author: Dan Brown
name: Jess
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 3
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]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Jess 5 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Jess
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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date added: 2017/03/03
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