Terry's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 13 Feb 2025 04:39:22 -0800 60 Terry's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Liar & Spy 17308183

Praise for Liar & Spy:

A Junior Library Guild Selection - A New York Times Bestseller - An Indie Bestseller - Kirkus Reviews starred review - Publishers Weekly starred review - The Horn Book starred review - School Library Journal starred review - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starred review - Autumn 2012 Kids' Indie Next List -Nominated for the Best Fiction for Young Adults 2013 - Kirkus Reviews Best of Children's Books 2012 List - Publishers Weekly Best of Children's Fiction 2012 - School Library Journal Best of Children's Fiction 2012 List - The Horn Book 's Best of 2012 List -
Barnes & Noble Best Books of 2012 for Kids List - Amazon's Best of the Year, Middle Grade (3) - A New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of 2012 - Holiday gift guides: Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times - NPR Outstanding "Backseat" Reads for Ages 9-14, NPR's Backseat Book Club - One of The Atlantic Wire's 25 favorite middle grade and young adult book covers of 2012 - The Wall Street Journal 's Best Children's Books of 2012 - The Chicago Public Library Best of the Best 2012 - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 2012 Blue Ribbons List]]> 208 Rebecca Stead 1849399735 Terry 2 2013, cdcs-young-adult 3.78 2012 Liar & Spy
author: Rebecca Stead
name: Terry
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: 2013, cdcs-young-adult
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories]]> 22929586 A Manual for Cleaning Women compiles the best work of the legendary short-story writer Lucia Berlin. With the grit of Raymond Carver, the humor of Grace Paley, and a blend of wit and melancholy all her own, Berlin crafts miracles from the everyday, uncovering moments of grace in the laundromats and halfway houses of the American Southwest, in the homes of the Bay Area upper class, among switchboard operators and struggling mothers, hitchhikers and bad Christians. Readers will revel in this remarkable collection from a master of the form and wonder how they'd ever overlooked her in the first place.]]> 406 Lucia Berlin 0374202397 Terry 5 4.22 2015 A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories
author: Lucia Berlin
name: Terry
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:

]]> The Library Book 39507318
Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before.

In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago.

Along the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and present—from Mary Foy, who in 1880 at eighteen years old was named the head of the Los Angeles Public Library at a time when men still dominated the role, to Dr. C.J.K. Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as “The Human Encyclopedia� who roamed the library dispensing information; from Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A. library one of the best in the world, to the current staff, who do heroic work every day to ensure that their institution remains a vital part of the city it serves.

Brimming with her signature wit, insight, compassion, and talent for deep research, The Library Book is Susan Orlean’s thrilling journey through the stacks that reveals how these beloved institutions provide much more than just books—and why they remain an essential part of the heart, mind, and soul of our country. It is also a master journalist’s reminder that, perhaps especially in the digital era, they are more necessary than ever.]]> 317 Susan Orlean 1476740186 Terry 5 3.88 2018 The Library Book
author: Susan Orlean
name: Terry
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Hangman's Holiday 218096905 Includes:
The image in the mirror --
The incredible elopement of Lord Peter Wimsey --
The queen's square --
The necklace of pearls --
The poisoned dow '08 --
Sleuths on the scent --
Murder in the morning --
One too many --
Murder at Pentecost --
Maher-Shalal-Hashbaz --
The man who knew how --
The fountain plays.]]> 163 Dorothy L. Sayers Terry 4 3.92 1933 Hangman's Holiday
author: Dorothy L. Sayers
name: Terry
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1933
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)]]> 32682118
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.

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.

An alternate cover edition for this book can be found here.]]> 361 Karen M. McManus Terry 5 3.94 2017 One of Us Is Lying (One of Us is Lying, #1)
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Terry
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/15
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:

]]> The Floating Admiral 2716884 309 The Detection Club 0425099687 Terry 3 3.08 1931 The Floating Admiral
author: The Detection Club
name: Terry
average rating: 3.08
book published: 1931
rating: 3
read at: 2017/10/22
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spinsters in Jeopardy (Roderick Alleyn, #17)]]> 22957447 288 Ngaio Marsh 1937384764 Terry 3 The other problem with this novel is how dated it feels by comparison to all of Marsh's other novels. While the cult element feels fresh (and still relevant today), the take on drugs is both stale and quaint. Marijuana is made out to be the definition of evil (a la Reefer Madness), which just comes across as laughable. The racialized villain also strikes a sour note.
Overall, a mixed bag. Good: suspense, cults, kidnapping. Bad: Irrelevant murder, marijuana, racism. If one wants a suspenseful novel, this is it! ]]> 3.76 1953 Spinsters in Jeopardy (Roderick Alleyn, #17)
author: Ngaio Marsh
name: Terry
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1953
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
review:
While not as bad as the ŷ star rating might lead one to think, this novel nonetheless feels forced and dated. The murder is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, and one that feels contrived. Honestly, the narrative doesn't need it: this novel is a fun, fast-paced, suspenseful adventure. The murder feels tossed in, like someone forced the author to include it, as the 16 previous books all had at least one.
The other problem with this novel is how dated it feels by comparison to all of Marsh's other novels. While the cult element feels fresh (and still relevant today), the take on drugs is both stale and quaint. Marijuana is made out to be the definition of evil (a la Reefer Madness), which just comes across as laughable. The racialized villain also strikes a sour note.
Overall, a mixed bag. Good: suspense, cults, kidnapping. Bad: Irrelevant murder, marijuana, racism. If one wants a suspenseful novel, this is it!
]]> The Mountain 32920266 Once the Shore and Snow Hunters, comes a luminous collection of short stories set throughout the world from the Hudson Valley to the Russian Far East across periods of time after World War II.

In The Mountain, Paul Yoon displays his subtle, ethereal, and strikingly observant style with six thematically linked stories, taking place across several continents and time periods and populated with characters who are connected by their traumatic pasts, newly vagrant lives, and quests for solace in their futures. Though they exist in their own distinct worlds (from a sanatorium in the Hudson Valley to an inn in the Russian far east) they are united by the struggle to reconcile their traumatic pasts in the wake of violence, big and small, spiritual and corporeal. A morphine-addicted nurse wanders through the decimated French countryside in search of purpose; a dissatisfied wife sporadically takes a train across Spain with a much younger man in the wake of a building explosion; a lost young woman emigrates from Korea to Shanghai, where she aimlessly works in a camera sweat shop, trying fruitlessly to outrun the ghosts of her past.

Hailed by New York magazine as a quotidian-surreal craft-master and a radiant star in the current literary firmament by The Dallas Morning News, Yoon realizes his worlds with quiet, insightful, and gorgeous prose. Though each story is distinct from the others, his restrained voice and perceptive observations about violence to the body, the landscape, and ultimately, the human soul weaves throughout this collection as a whole, making The Mountain a beautiful, memorable read."]]> 224 Paul Yoon 1501154087 Terry 4 3.78 2017 The Mountain
author: Paul Yoon
name: Terry
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
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]]> Island of Whispers 195660548
On the misty island of Merlank, the lingering dead can cause unspeakable harm if they’re not safely carried to the Island of the Broken Tower, where they can move on. Milo’s father always told him that he wasn’t suited for dealing with the dead and could never become the Ferryman—but one day, he’s unexpectedly thrust into the role. And his father is his first passenger . . .

Milo’s father was killed by the Lord of Merlank, in pursuit of his dead daughter who he’s unwilling to give up. It’s a race to the island as Milo must face swarms of sinister moths, strange headless birds, and dangerous storms to carry his ghostly passengers across the secret seas.

Filled with suspense and Frances Hardinge’s signature sparkling prose, this story—accompanied throughout by striking illustrations by award-winning illustrator Emily Gravett—will keep you on the edge of your seat in this remarkable and ultimately heartwarming story of grief, family, kindness, and being true to yourself.]]> 120 Frances Hardinge 1419774336 Terry 2 4.08 2023 Island of Whispers
author: Frances Hardinge
name: Terry
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
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review:

]]> The Noh Mask Murder 184157891 A bewildering locked-room murder occurs as an amateur crime writer investigates strange events in the Chizurui mansion in this prizewinning classic Japanese mystery.

This ingenously constructed masterpiece, written by one of Japan’s most celebrated crime writers and translated into English for the first time, is perfect for locked-room mystery fans who can’t resist a breathtaking conclusion.

In the Chizurui family mansion, a haunting presence casts a shadow over its residents. By night, an eerie figure, clad in a sinister Hannya mask is seen roaming around the house. An amateur murder mystery writer, Akimitsu Takagi, is sent to investigate � but his investigation takes a harrowing turn as tragedy strikes the Chizurui family.

Within the confines of a locked study, the head of the family is found dead, with only an ominous Hannya mask lying on the floor by his side and the lingering scent of jasmine in the air as clues to his mysterious murder.

As Takagi delves deeper into the perplexing case, he discovers a tangled web of secrets and grudges. Can he discover the link between the family and the curse of the Hannya mask? Who was the person who called the undertaker and asked for three coffins on the night of the murder? And do those three coffins mean the curse of the Hannya mask is about to strike again?

The Noh Mask Murder’s legendary ending offers locked-room mystery fans the perfect coda to an ingenously constructed mystery.]]> 224 Akimitsu Takagi 1782279652 Terry 5 3.78 1950 The Noh Mask Murder
author: Akimitsu Takagi
name: Terry
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1950
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves:
review:
Just over 100 pages in the detective has solved the locked room murder...or has he? This mystery novel throws everything and the kitchen sink in: multiple deaths, a locked room mystery, a missing treasure, a family melodrama...and more! The initially confused setup is worth the final payoff: the ending is great and gets the reader to consider what truly is the crime at the center of this novel.
]]> Marple: Twelve New Mysteries 58935130
This collection of a dozen original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.

Naomi Alderman
Leigh Bardugo
Alyssa Cole
Lucy Foley
Elly Griffiths
Natalie Haynes
Jean Kwok
Val McDermid
Karen M. McManus
Dreda Say Mitchell
Kate Mosse
Ruth Ware

Miss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Agatha Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.]]> 384 Agatha Christie 0063136058 Terry 3 Finally, the standouts: Dreda Say Mitchell's "A Deadly Wedding Day" makes great use of two detectives: Miss Marple and Miss Bella, expands to tackle race in a smart and thoughtful way, and has the most satisfying conclusion of any in the collection. Elly Griffiths' bonkers "Murder at the Villa Rosa" is the only one to play with what a Miss Marple story could be. While other stories attempt character revision or mystery-writer mashups (Sayers + Christie), Griffiths does something different entirely. My expectations were completely upended in reading this story and even when I figured it out, finishing this story was exciting.]]> 3.79 2022 Marple: Twelve New Mysteries
author: Agatha Christie
name: Terry
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
This breezy collection was a lot of fun, with not a bad story in the bunch. That having been said, there were not a ton of great stories either. On the good front: Karen McManus' "The Murdering Sort" was efficient YA; Jean Kwok's "The Jade Empress" worked well with the confined space of a cruise ship; and Ruth Ware's "Miss Marple's Christmas" was clever and funny (if, admittedly, inspired by (stolen from?) Hangman's Holiday. I have to read that collection, so can't fully judge yet.). The two stories that bookended the collection: Lucy Foley's "Evil in Small Places" and Leigh Bardugo's "The Disappearance" are less clever than they aim to be, but well-written and plotted.
Finally, the standouts: Dreda Say Mitchell's "A Deadly Wedding Day" makes great use of two detectives: Miss Marple and Miss Bella, expands to tackle race in a smart and thoughtful way, and has the most satisfying conclusion of any in the collection. Elly Griffiths' bonkers "Murder at the Villa Rosa" is the only one to play with what a Miss Marple story could be. While other stories attempt character revision or mystery-writer mashups (Sayers + Christie), Griffiths does something different entirely. My expectations were completely upended in reading this story and even when I figured it out, finishing this story was exciting.
]]> <![CDATA[Collected Stories of Wallace Stegner]]> 514623 The Washington Post Book World

In a literary career spanning more than fifty years, Wallace Stegner, winner of a Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, has created a remarkable record of the history and culture of twentieth-century America. These thirty-one stories demonstrate why he is acclaimed as one of America's master storytellers.

Here are tales of young love and older wisdom; of the order and consistency of the natural world and chaos, contradictions, and also continuities of the human being. There is sweet love in a berry patch, there are bittersweet reunions, trials, and tests of manhood and friendship, and the sometimes foolish and impractical yet noble dreams of man. Each of these stories embody some of the best virtues and values to be found in contemporary fiction.

"Exemplary stories...The reader of Stegner's writing is immediately reminded of an essential America...a distinct place, a unique people, a common history, and a shared heritage remembered as only Stegner can."--Los Angeles Times

]]> 544 Wallace Stegner 0140147748 Terry 3 4.15 1990 Collected Stories of Wallace Stegner
author: Wallace Stegner
name: Terry
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1990
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
Stegner is clearly a great writer, and many of the first half of this non-chronological collection is very strong. The stories of childhood are uniformly good (if perhaps too focused on dead animals...so many carcasses), while "The Berry Patch" and "The Traveler" stand out for their beauty and simplicity. But as the collection goes on, the longer stories "Genesis" and "A Field Guide to the Western Birds" are slogs--their payoffs, while good, do not justify their length. And then there's the middle of the book and the most problematic story smack-dab in the center: a blatantly sentimental, racist portrayal of Chinese Americans. While I'm glad the author does not shy away from race, and has not excised this story in particular from his work, there's no getting around the obvious racism, especially as its title is a racial epithet. So, what to do in a rating...the writing is solid and the author's intentions seemingly good (akin to Harriet Beecher Stowe's), but the damage is also done. Beyond this story, several others are similarly well-intentioned but using sentimentality to cement stereotypes. Ultimately, my wish would be for a re-organized collection with commentary--I can't believe I'm asking for a foreword with analysis (and not just adoration), but that would do a lot to help this writer and collection.
]]> Gamerville: A Graphic Novel 195853568 A video gamer’s championship aspirations are dashed when his parents send him to Camp Refresh, where electronics are forbidden and you're forced to socialize, eat healthy, and spend time outside. Gamerville is a timely and vulnerable exploration of the importance of human connection and what it means to run in a pack, brought to you by award-winning author Johnnie Christmas.

Max Lightning is howling at the moon—he’s finally qualified for Gamerville, a championship where players compete to be top dog in the multiplayer video game Lone Wolf of Calamity Bay. But his dreams of domination are doomed when his parents send him to Camp Refresh. Gone are the long nights of downing energy drinks and getting copious amounts of screen time. They've been replaced with fresh air and group activities under the hot sun—a shock to the system for a lone wolf like Max. Can Max escape Camp Refresh and level up at Gamerville, or has he finally played his last match?]]> 254 Johnnie Christmas 0063056828 Terry 4 3.63 2024 Gamerville: A Graphic Novel
author: Johnnie Christmas
name: Terry
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot, #2)]]> 40864030
They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers's new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

They're going to need to ask it a lot.]]> 152 Becky Chambers Terry 5 4.40 2022 A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot, #2)
author: Becky Chambers
name: Terry
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:

]]> The Arizona Triangle 199743735
On the cusp of forty, Justine Bailen, better known as Jo, works for an all-female detective agency based in Tucson, Arizona. While staking out a cheating spouse, she learns that her long-estranged best friend from childhood, Rose, is missing, and that Rose’s mother wants to hire Jo to find her. This case is all kinds of wrong for Jo, but she has no choice but to head back to her hometown, an hour north and a world away from Tucson.

Back in Delphi, she learns that her high school boyfriend, Tyler—who is probably part of the reason her friendship with Rose went south—is the cop assigned to the case. It doesn’t take long for Jo to realize that he’s all mixed up in it, too. To have any hope of learning the truth about Rose’s disappearance, Jo must finally face the demons she thought she’d escaped.]]> 304 Sydney Graves 0063379996 Terry 4 3.34 The Arizona Triangle
author: Sydney Graves
name: Terry
average rating: 3.34
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
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]]> The Wildcat Behind Glass 182094226 240 Alki Zei 1632063646 Terry 5 4.31 1963 The Wildcat Behind Glass
author: Alki Zei
name: Terry
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1963
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:

]]> Red Panda & Moon Bear 40753626 Two Latinx kids battle supernatural threats to their working-class neighborhood with the power of science, magic, and a pair of very special hoodies.

Red Panda and Moon Bear are the defenders of their community! Together, these brave siblings rescue lost cats, scold bullies, and solve mysteries, all before Mamí and Papí get home. But lately... the mysteries have been EXTRA mysterious. All of RP and MB's powers may not be enough to handle spooks, supervillains, alien invaders, and time warps! It'll take all their imagination -- and some new friends -- to uncover the secret cause behind all these events before the whole world goes crazy.

In his first book for young readers, Cuban-American cartoonist Jarod Roselló presents a whimsical and tender-hearted adventure, packed with Saturday-morning adventure and glowing with Caribbean sunshine.]]> 192 Jarod Roselló 160309444X Terry 3 4.10 Red Panda & Moon Bear
author: Jarod Roselló
name: Terry
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Impossible Creatures (Impossible Creatures #1)]]> 205977739
Mal and Christopher embark on a wild adventure, racing from island to island, searching for someone who can explain why the magic is fading and why magical creatures are suddenly dying. They consult sphinxes, battle kraken, and negotiate with dragons. But the closer they get to the dark truth of what's happening, the clearer it becomes: no one else can fix this. If the Archipelago is to be saved, Mal and Christopher will have to do it themselves.]]> 368 Katherine Rundell 0593809866 Terry 3 4.13 2023 Impossible Creatures (Impossible Creatures #1)
author: Katherine Rundell
name: Terry
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves:
review:
I am not generally a reader of fantasy--I love the Harry Potter series, but haven't found anything else that comes close to that. So, when this was billed as the next big thing (complete with an illustrated section at the end, a glossy, beautiful cover, and the red edges of the pages) I was optimistic. Sadly, that wasn't the case for me--it was a solid fantasy novel with fairly engaging characters and an intense ending. But the production on the book was overall better than the content; specifically, the pacing of the plot made it a less than engaging read. The characters, ideas, creatures, and action were all fine, but the pacing was haphazard. Sometimes, events would move too fast or simply come out of nowhere--not when novels surprise the reader, but when novelists throw in an element that is not previewed and feels out of left field...something just to lengthen the quest. I think if you are a reader of fantasy novels you will LOVE this one. But if you're not, this won't make you a convert.
]]> <![CDATA[First Person Singular: Stories]]> 54614599 A riveting new collection of short stories from the beloved, internationally acclaimed, Haruki Murakami.

The eight masterful stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator: a lonely man. Some of them (like With the Beatles, Cream and On a Stone Pillow ) are nostalgic looks back at youth. Others are set in adulthood--Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova, Carnaval, Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey and the stunning title story. Occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Haruki himself is present, as in The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection. Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides. The stories all touch beautifully on love and loss, childhood and death . . . all with a signature Murakami twist.']]> 245 Haruki Murakami 0593318072 Terry 5 3.58 2020 First Person Singular: Stories
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Terry
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age]]> 195791072 The never-before-told story of the women Egyptologists who paved the way of exploration in Egypt and created the basis for Egyptology.

The history of Egyptology is often told as yet one more grand narrative of powerful men striving to seize the day and the precious artifacts for their competing homelands. But that is only half of the story. During the so-called Golden Age of Exploration, there were women working and exploring before Howard Carter discovered the tomb of King Tut. Before men even conceived of claiming the story for themselves, women were working in Egypt to lay the groundwork for all future exploration.

In Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age, Kathleen Sheppard brings the untold stories of these women back into this narrative. Sheppard begins with some of the earliest European women who ventured to Egypt as travelers: Amelia Edwards, Jenny Lane, and Marianne Brocklehurst. Their travelogues, diaries and maps chronicled a new world for the curious. In the vast desert, Maggie Benson, the first woman granted permission to excavate in Egypt, met Nettie Gourlay, the woman who became her lifelong companion. They battled issues of oppression and exclusion and, ultimately, are credited with excavating the Temple of Mut.

As each woman scored a success in the desert, she set up the women who came later for their own struggles and successes. Emma Andrews� success as a patron and archaeologist helped to pave the way for Margaret Murray to teach. Margaret’s work in the university led to the artists Amice Calverley’s and Myrtle Broome’s ability to work on site at Abydos, creating brilliant reproductions of tomb art, and to Kate Bradbury’s and Caroline Ransom’s leadership in critical Egyptological institutions. Women in the Valley of the Kings upends the grand male narrative of Egyptian exploration and shows how a group of courageous women charted unknown territory and changed the field of Egyptology forever.]]> 320 Kathleen Sheppard 125028435X Terry 0 to-read 3.50 2024 Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age
author: Kathleen Sheppard
name: Terry
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: to-read
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]]> Desire: Vintage Minis 33952849
Selected from Haruki’s Murakami’s short story collections The Elephant Vanishes, Blind Willow Sleeping Woman and Men Without Women.]]> 109 Haruki Murakami 1784872636 Terry 4 3.87 2017 Desire: Vintage Minis
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Terry
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In the Ballroom with the Candlestick (Clue Mystery, #3)]]> 56969395 The dramatic and deadly conclusion to the thrilling YA mystery series inspired by the classic board game, CLUE!

After a tragic accident that forever changed the lives of the Murder Crew—killing one of their own—the students at Blackbrook Academy are just trying to get by. As relationships evolve, strain, and break, Orchid, Green, Scarlett, Mustard, Plum, and Peacock find themselves lost. When the dark secret at the heart of Blackbrook forces its way into their lives, and another suspicious death drives the school into chaos, differences will have to be put aside if anyone expects to survive until the most dramatic prom of all time.]]> 336 Diana Peterfreund 1419739786 Terry 2 3.65 2021 In the Ballroom with the Candlestick (Clue Mystery, #3)
author: Diana Peterfreund
name: Terry
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:
Here's where everything falls apart. There's so much happening from the previous books that the events in this one take a backseat making for a lackluster plot. But, the three endings bit, like the movie, is a nice touch.
]]> Greenwood 39328584
It's 2008 and Liam Greenwood is a carpenter, fallen from a ladder and sprawled on his broken back, calling out from the concrete floor of an empty mansion.

It's 1974 and Willow Greenwood is out of jail, free after being locked up for one of her endless series of environmental protests: attempts at atonement for the sins of her father's once vast and violent timber empire.

It's 1934 and Everett Greenwood is alone, as usual, in his maple syrup camp squat when he hears the cries of an abandoned infant and gets tangled up in the web of a crime that will cling to his family for decades.

And throughout, there are trees: thrumming a steady, silent pulse beneath Christie's effortless sentences and working as a guiding metaphor for withering, weathering, and survival.

A shining, intricate clockwork of a novel, Greenwood is a rain-soaked and sun-dappled story of the bonds and breaking points of money and love, wood and blood—and the hopeful, impossible task of growing toward the light.]]> 528 Michael Christie 1984822004 Terry 0 to-read 4.34 2019 Greenwood
author: Michael Christie
name: Terry
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In the Study with the Wrench (Clue Mystery, #2)]]> 51075461
In the aftermath of Headmaster Boddy’s murder, Blackbrook Academy has been thrown into complete disarray. Half the student body hasn’t bothered to return to campus—but those who have include Orchid, Vaughn, Scarlett, Peacock, Plum, and Mustard, now warily referred to by the other students as the Murder Crew. When another staff member is found dead and an anonymous threat begins to target the group, each of the teens' opportunistic reasons for sticking around come to light. Orchid’s identity comes under question while Vaughn’s family life takes a turn; Finn and Mustard grow closer; and Scarlett and Beth struggle to turn over new leaves. All of this comes to a dramatic head at Tudor House with a cliff-hanger...]]> 327 Diana Peterfreund 141973976X Terry 2 3.73 2020 In the Study with the Wrench (Clue Mystery, #2)
author: Diana Peterfreund
name: Terry
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
In some ways, this sequel was better than its predecessor. For one thing, many of the characters are more likable, in part because some of the drama is dialed down. Romance works its way into the plot, and even though it is rather clunky, it becomes a welcome distraction. Also good: several interesting side plots--stolen items that strangely get returned, a mysterious and severe grief counselor, an even odder life coach. The problem is that very few of these get resolved--at the end of the novel there are many, many unanswered questions. I know that this is the middle book in a trilogy, but it still seems unfair not to really resolve key plot points. Yes, of course, I'm going right into book 3...but it seems unfair to expect people to have to read the final book to get answers. Additionally, the ending of the book feels really rushed; the final few chapters could easily have been twice as long.
]]> <![CDATA[In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1)]]> 43908878 A murderer could be around every corner in this thrilling YA trilogy based on the board game CLUE!

When a storm strikes at Blackbrook Academy, an elite prep school nestled in the woods of Maine, a motley crew of students—including Beth “Peacock� Picach, Orchid McKee, Vaughn Green, Sam “Mustard� Maestor, Finn Plum, and Scarlet Mistry—are left stranded on campus with their headmaster. Hours later, his body is found in the conservatory and it’s very clear his death was no accident. With this group of students who are all hiding something, nothing is as it seems, and everyone has a motive for murder. Fans of the CLUE board game and cult classic film will delight in Diana Peterfreund’s modern reimagining of the brand, its characters, and the dark, magnificent old mansion with secrets hidden within its walls.
]]> 298 Diana Peterfreund 1419738348 Terry 3 3.55 2019 In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1)
author: Diana Peterfreund
name: Terry
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
From the fantastical setting to the over-the-top characters to the nonsensical plot twists, everything about this book was ridiculous. The author piles on the insanity: secret identities, secret formulas, secret passageways. This book was the equivalent of a bucketful of Halloween candy...and I'm here for all of it! I can even overlook the flaws: the cooked-up conflicts between the characters, the extreme bitchiness of many of the female characters, the consistently dumb decisions by supposedly smart people--I still found myself plowing through this mystery. It all congealed into one delicious, ludicrous, sort of beautiful mess...kind of like Clue: The Movie, from which the author lifts and reworks several key quotes and scenes. If you've ever hoped that movie could be made into a YA novel, here you go!
]]> <![CDATA[The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #2)]]> 205063868 The Restaurant of Lost Recipes is the second book in the bestselling, mouth-watering Kamogawa Food Detectives series, for fans of Before the Coffee Gets Cold.

We all hold lost recipes in our hearts. A very special restaurant in Kyoto helps recreate them...

Chef Nagare and his daughter Koishi serve their customers more than delicious food at their Kamogawa Diner down a quiet street in Kyoto. They can help recreate meals from their customers� most treasured memories. Through ingenious investigations, these “food detectives� untangle flavors and pore through old shopping lists to remake unique dishes from the past.

From the swimmer who misses his father’s lunchbox to the model who longs for fried rice from her childhood, each customer leaves the diner forever changed—though not always in the ways they expect�

A beloved bestseller in Japan, The Restaurant of Lost Recipes is a tender and healing novel that celebrates the power of community and delicious food.]]> 214 Hisashi Kashiwai 0593717805 Terry 3 3.85 2014 The Restaurant of Lost Recipes (Kamogawa Food Detectives, #2)
author: Hisashi Kashiwai
name: Terry
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
This book was like a warm hug--each chapter follows a similar pattern: in part 1, a client walks into restaurant, gets served an incredible meal, asks for a recipe to located. Then, in part 2, the 'food detectives' create an exact copy of the recipe that they have been asked to locate, and the client has an epiphany about their life. The realization the client has about their life is what makes the book worth it--each one carries an emotional punch--even when the predictable structure gets a little stale.
]]> The Disappeared: Stories 61327505 A collection of stories that trace the threads of loss and displacement running through all our lives, by the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Theory of Light and Matter

A husband and wife hear a mysterious bump in the night. A father mourns the closeness he has lost with his son. A friendship with a married couple turns into a dangerous codependency. With gorgeous sensitivity, assurance, and a propulsive sense of menace, these stories center on disappearances both literal and figurative--lives and loves that are cut short, the vanishing of one's youthful self. From San Antonio to Austin, from the clamor of a crowded restaurant to the cigarette at a lonely kitchen table, Andrew Porter captures each of these relationships mid-flight, every individual life punctuated by loss and beauty and need. The Disappeared reaffirms the undeniable artistry of a contemporary master of the form.]]> 240 Andrew Porter 0593534301 Terry 2 4.23 2023 The Disappeared: Stories
author: Andrew Porter
name: Terry
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves:
review:
Aside from the short piece "Chili"--a subtle story about an old woman and the development of an extremely hot pepper--this collection was a disappointment. Every story followed the same pattern, had similar narrators, and variations on the same conflict: a sad-sack (white) middle-aged man is aimless or burdened by a much more assertive wife / girlfriend / lover who is sick / dying / cheating on him. Oh and there's lots of wine and smoking. After the third story, they all seem to blend together. It also doesn't help that it's hard to care about most of the narrators and their problems. While the description sticks to the general, the author is clearly talented in portraying the sadness of fractured relationships. It's just a shame that there wasn't more variety in conflicts, in life experiences, and in story arcs. When you enter the next story knowing what's coming it makes for an uninteresting read.
]]> <![CDATA[Overture to Death (Inspector Roderick Alleyn, 8)]]> 16202659 336 Ngaio Marsh 1937384322 Terry 2 3.60 1939 Overture to Death (Inspector Roderick Alleyn, 8)
author: Ngaio Marsh
name: Terry
average rating: 3.60
book published: 1939
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves:
review:

]]> Big Tree 60758237 The fate of all life on Earth may depend on the bravery of two little seeds in this epic adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling creator and Caldecott Medalist of The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

"The tale of the natural world is the greatest story we have to tell, and Brian delivers a brilliant chapter of that tale throughout the pages of Big Tree." - STEVEN SPIELBERG

"We need brave, big stories like [Big Tree]." -The New York Times Book Review

"Has the power to intrigue...affecting." - The Wall Street Journal

* "An enthralling and expansive meditation on what it means to be alive on this planet." - Booklist, starred review

* "A balanced and rich book. . . . Powerful."-The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred and recommended review

* "In evocative prose and peppery dialogue . . . the cinematic story journeys across time and space, contemplating the power of life to heal." -Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "A special, one-of-a-kind book for the whole family that readers won't soon forget." - School Library Journal, starred review

* "Masterful." - The Horn Book, starred review

"Inspirational, important, and beautiful. A fable for our times." - Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee and Ground Zero

"Hello, stars. I thought I heard you calling me."

A mysterious voice has been speaking to Louise in her dreams. She and her brother Merwin are Sycamore seeds, who hope to one day set down roots and become big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mama tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home. Alone and unprepared, they must use their wits and imagination to navigate a dangerous world-filled with dinosaurs, meteors, and volcanoes!-and the fear of never finding a safe place to grow up. As the mysterious voice gets louder, Louise comes to realize their mission in life may be much bigger than either of them ever could have imagined!

Brimming with humor, wonder, mystery, and a profound sense of hope, Big Tree is a trailblazing adventure, illustrated with nearly 300 pages of breathtaking pictures. It is Selznick's most imaginative and far-reaching work to date and a singular reading experience for the whole family.

The audiobook edition of BIG TREE is brought magnificently to life by Meryl Streep and features music composed by Ernest Troost.]]> 528 Brian Selznick 1338180630 Terry 4 4.05 2023 Big Tree
author: Brian Selznick
name: Terry
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/13
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Night at the Vulcan (Inspector Roderick Alleyn, 16) (Volume 16)]]> 17019182 240 Ngaio Marsh 1937384594 Terry 3 3.95 1951 Night at the Vulcan (Inspector Roderick Alleyn, 16) (Volume 16)
author: Ngaio Marsh
name: Terry
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1951
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/13
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves:
review:

]]> Exhalation 41160292
In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. In "Exhalation," an alien scientist makes a shocking discovery with ramifications that are literally universal. In "Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom," the ability to glimpse into alternate universes necessitates a radically new examination of the concepts of choice and free will.

Including stories being published for the first time as well as some of his rare and classic uncollected work, Exhalation is Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic—revelatory.]]> 368 Ted Chiang Terry 5 4.27 2019 Exhalation
author: Ted Chiang
name: Terry
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/11/08
shelves:
review:

]]> Lips Touch: Three Times 8701771 266 Laini Taylor 0545231787 Terry 3 2011-books, cdcs-young-adult
First, a quick summary of the 3 stories: in the first, "Goblin Fruit," a girl is drawn to a mysterious new boy at school, while her family gives her warnings about the existence of goblins. Although the plot is predictable and not much happens in the story (the two characters go shopping at a thrift store before a climactic picnic), the goblins are a nice change from vampires, and there's a much nastier twist (think season 2 of True Blood). In the second tale (the best of the three), "Spicy Little Curses Such as These," a woman makes a deal with a demon to exchange the lives of several children for one curse on a newborn. The curse is clever, as is the ending in which everything fits nicely into place. In the last story, "Hatchling," mysterious, soulless creatures steal children to keep as pets and then, after the children grow up, inhabit the bodies of their offspring. It's the most like a fantasy novel of the three--the first feels more like a fairy tale, the second a folk tale--as well as the longest. And, that was where the author lost me--the story goes back and forth between past and present, and never really seems to gain the momentum needed in the plot of the present. The back-story is layered and dense, which would be fine if the author had pared down the purple prose.

In the end, the plots are creative, the characters easy to like--it's only the style that's the disappointment. The novel is purple prose to the extreme--there are multiple adjectives when one will do; tons of adverbs and needless phrases (see story title #2--how much stronger it would be with simply "Spicy Little Curses"); even out-of-place commas for pregnant pauses. I love it when authors use strong vocabulary, but in this book it's as if the author raided the thesaurus, and made the writing weaker in the process. I'm not at all advocating for easier words, but there's a line between strong description and over-writing, and the style of this book falls in the latter category. And, here's the danger: I get that it's fantasy lit, but the style was so draining, so 'look-at-how-clever-I-can-be,' that I was not able to really get into the world of the stories. Ultimately, though, I am not the intended audience of this book--I think teens into fantasy will love it; I found the prose distracting, plot-slowing, and wearing as a reader. ]]> 4.00 2009 Lips Touch: Three Times
author: Laini Taylor
name: Terry
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/10
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: 2011-books, cdcs-young-adult
review:
There's a lot to like in Lips Touch--the story format allows for 3 interesting, and unusual, narratives; each story has a strong female protagonist, unlike so much boy-driven fantasy fiction; the illustrated prequels expanded the boundaries of each story, convincing the reader that the author has created a whole universe within each tale...now, if only the writing were stronger.

First, a quick summary of the 3 stories: in the first, "Goblin Fruit," a girl is drawn to a mysterious new boy at school, while her family gives her warnings about the existence of goblins. Although the plot is predictable and not much happens in the story (the two characters go shopping at a thrift store before a climactic picnic), the goblins are a nice change from vampires, and there's a much nastier twist (think season 2 of True Blood). In the second tale (the best of the three), "Spicy Little Curses Such as These," a woman makes a deal with a demon to exchange the lives of several children for one curse on a newborn. The curse is clever, as is the ending in which everything fits nicely into place. In the last story, "Hatchling," mysterious, soulless creatures steal children to keep as pets and then, after the children grow up, inhabit the bodies of their offspring. It's the most like a fantasy novel of the three--the first feels more like a fairy tale, the second a folk tale--as well as the longest. And, that was where the author lost me--the story goes back and forth between past and present, and never really seems to gain the momentum needed in the plot of the present. The back-story is layered and dense, which would be fine if the author had pared down the purple prose.

In the end, the plots are creative, the characters easy to like--it's only the style that's the disappointment. The novel is purple prose to the extreme--there are multiple adjectives when one will do; tons of adverbs and needless phrases (see story title #2--how much stronger it would be with simply "Spicy Little Curses"); even out-of-place commas for pregnant pauses. I love it when authors use strong vocabulary, but in this book it's as if the author raided the thesaurus, and made the writing weaker in the process. I'm not at all advocating for easier words, but there's a line between strong description and over-writing, and the style of this book falls in the latter category. And, here's the danger: I get that it's fantasy lit, but the style was so draining, so 'look-at-how-clever-I-can-be,' that I was not able to really get into the world of the stories. Ultimately, though, I am not the intended audience of this book--I think teens into fantasy will love it; I found the prose distracting, plot-slowing, and wearing as a reader.
]]> <![CDATA[Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes]]> 181077 80 Eleanor Coerr 0698118022 Terry 1 4.12 1977 Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
author: Eleanor Coerr
name: Terry
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1977
rating: 1
read at: 2024/08/24
date added: 2024/08/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gravedigger (Dave Brandstetter, #6)]]> 60589148
Brandstetter's investigation, set against vivid Californian backgrounds of expensive seaside suburbs and snowy mountain camps, desert towns and wilderness canyons, takes him on a quest of mounting tensions and ultimate horror. Never has he needed his renowned shrewdness and compassion more. And never has he faced so close a brush with a grisly death.]]> 165 Joseph Hansen 1681990563 Terry 4 3.90 1982 Gravedigger (Dave Brandstetter, #6)
author: Joseph Hansen
name: Terry
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1982
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/12
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves:
review:

]]> Mirror, Shoulder, Signal 36480066
Sonja is ready to get on with her life. She’s over forty now, and the Swedish crime novels she translates are losing their fascination. She sees a masseuse, tries to reconnect with her sister, and is finally learning to drive. But under the overbearing gaze of her driving instructor, Sonja is unable to shift gears for herself. And her vertigo, which she has always carefully hidden, has begun to manifest at the worst possible moments.

Sonja hoped her move to Copenhagen years ago would have left rural Jutland in the rearview mirror. Yet she keeps remembering the dramatic landscapes of her childhood―the endless sky, the whooper swans, the rye fields―and longs to go back. But how can she return to a place that she no longer recognizes? And how can she escape the alienating streets of Copenhagen?

In Mirror, Shoulder, Signal, Dorthe Nors brings her distinctive blend of style, humor, and insight to a poignant journey of one woman in search of herself when there’s no one to ask for directions.]]> 192 Dorthe Nors 1555978088 Terry 5 3.37 2016 Mirror, Shoulder, Signal
author: Dorthe Nors
name: Terry
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/11
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves:
review:

]]> We the Animals 10306358
“A tremendously gifted writer whose highly personal voice should excite us in much the same way that Raymond Carver’s or Jeffrey Eugenides’s voice did when we first heard it."� The Washington Post

Three brothers tear their way through childhood� smashing tomatoes all over each other, building kites from trash, hiding out when their parents do battle, tiptoeing around the house as their mother sleeps off her graveyard shift. Paps and Ma are from Brooklyn—he’s Puerto Rican, she’s white—and their love is a serious, dangerous thing that makes and unmakes a family many times. Life in this family is fierce and absorbing, full of chaos and heartbreak and the euphoria of belonging completely to one another. From the intense familial unity felt by a child to the profound alienation he endures as he begins to see the world, this beautiful novel reinvents the coming-of-age story in a way that is sly and punch-in-the-stomach powerful.

"We the Animals is a dark jewel of a book. It’s heartbreaking. It’s beautiful. It resembles no other book I’ve read.”—Michael Cunningham

"A fiery ode to boyhood . . . A welterweight champ of a book."� NPR, Weekend Edition]]> 128 Justin Torres 0547576722 Terry 5 3.72 2011 We the Animals
author: Justin Torres
name: Terry
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves:
review:

]]> The Phantom Tollbooth 378 Librarian's Note: For an alternate cover edition of the same ISBN, click here.

This beloved story -first published more than fifty years ago- introduces readers to Milo and his adventures in the Lands Beyond.

For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams. . . .]]> 248 Norton Juster 0394820371 Terry 2 4.19 1961 The Phantom Tollbooth
author: Norton Juster
name: Terry
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1961
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/09
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves:
review:

]]> Open Throat 195791477
A queer and dangerously hungry mountain lion lives in the drought-devastated land under the Hollywood sign. Lonely and fascinated by humanity’s foibles, the lion spends their days protecting a nearby homeless encampment, observing hikers complain about their trauma, and, in quiet moments, grappling with the complexities of their gender identity, memories of a vicious father, and the indignities of sentience.

When a man-made fire engulfs the encampment, the lion is forced from the hills down into the city the hikers call “ellay.� As the lion confronts a carousel of temptations and threats, they take us on a tour that spans the cruel inequalities of Los Angeles and the toll of climate grief. But even when salvation finally seems within reach, they are forced to face down the ultimate Do they want to eat a person, or become one?

Henry Hoke’s Open Throat is a marvel of storytelling, a universal journey through a wondrous and menacing world recounted by a lovable mountain lion. Feral and vulnerable, profound and playful, Open Throat is a star-making novel that brings the mythic to life.]]> 176 Henry Hoke 1250335809 Terry 5 4.14 2023 Open Throat
author: Henry Hoke
name: Terry
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves:
review:

]]> I Capture the Castle 341896
“This book has one of the most charismatic narrators I've ever met.� -- J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series

Adapted to a feature film in 2003, I Capture the Castle tells the story of seventeen-year-old Cassandra and her family, who live in not-so-genteel poverty in a ramshackle old English castle. Here she strives, over six turbulent months, to hone her writing skills. She fills three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries. Her journals candidly chronicle the great changes that take place within the castle's walls, and her own first descent into love.

By the time she pens her final entry, she has "captured the castle"-- and the heart of the reader-- in one of literature's most enchanting entertainments.]]> 343 Dodie Smith 031231616X Terry 5 3.87 1948 I Capture the Castle
author: Dodie Smith
name: Terry
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1948
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/29
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fear Sign (Albert Campion Mystery #5)]]> 2444047 231 Margery Allingham 0380705710 Terry 2 3.72 1933 The Fear Sign (Albert Campion Mystery #5)
author: Margery Allingham
name: Terry
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1933
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/18
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:

]]> Before the Ever After 51988656 Jacqueline Woodson's novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies.

For as long as ZJ can remember, his dad has been everyone's hero. As a charming, talented pro football star, he's as beloved to the neighborhood kids he plays with as he is to his millions of adoring sports fans. But lately life at ZJ's house is anything but charming. His dad is having trouble remembering things and seems to be angry all the time. ZJ's mom explains it's because of all the head injuries his dad sustained during his career. ZJ can understand that--but it doesn't make the sting any less real when his own father forgets his name. As ZJ contemplates his new reality, he has to figure out how to hold on tight to family traditions and recollections of the glory days, all the while wondering what their past amounts to if his father can't remember it. And most importantly, can those happy feelings ever be reclaimed when they are all so busy aching for the past?]]> 176 Jacqueline Woodson 0399545433 Terry 3 4.17 2020 Before the Ever After
author: Jacqueline Woodson
name: Terry
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Skinflick (A Dave Brandstetter Mystery)]]> 60589147 Death claims investigator Dave Brandstetter navigates the opposing realms of evangelical Christianity and the porn business while tracking a lost girl in late 1970s Los Angeles.

Lon Tooker certainly fits the profile: big, strong, a Marine Corps veteran, and recently the target of evangelical crusader Gerald Dawson’s wrath. Tooker’s adult toys and pornography store on the local skid row has recently become the target of Dawson’s church men’s group and their destructive masked raids on “un-Christian� businesses. When Dawson is strangled to death by someone of Tooker’s size and ability, the police see a smut-peddler with a motive. Case closed.

But death claims investigator Dave Brandstetter doesn’t like it. By all accounts Tooker is a softy incapable of such a crime. Actual evidence is nonexistent and assumptions many. And Dave particularly doesn’t care for assumptions based on someone’s sex life.

But Dave is also navigating new personal territory. His father’s death has left him bereaved and for the first time in a long time without a job. Dave quit the insurance company his father built and has struck out on his own as a private investigator. Add in his breakup with his recent partner and he’s a man unencumbered. It’s the late 1970s and Dave may be aging a bit but he’s still handsome, wealthy, and recently in possession of a new convertible Triumph. Looks like it’s not all hard work.]]> 201 Joseph Hansen 1681990547 Terry 5 3.96 1979 Skinflick (A Dave Brandstetter Mystery)
author: Joseph Hansen
name: Terry
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1979
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/06
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:

]]> Horror Movie 200101541 A chilling twist on the “cursed film� genre from the bestselling author ofThe Pallbearers Club andThe Cabin at the End of the World.

In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.

The weird part?Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.

The man who played “The Thin Kid� is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions � demons of the past be damned.

But at what cost?

Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film� that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.]]> 277 Paul Tremblay 0063070014 Terry 2 But it sure took a lot of effort to get to page 209. The plot of the novel was flat--like a lot of first person narration, we're stuck in a character's head and going where they take us...which is not always in a plot that drives forward. Instead, it feels like walking around the same circular path, and things get real repetitive, real fast. This repetitiveness pulls down the novel, and exposes the central problem: the titular horror movie that supposedly is a revered cult classic is, well, kinda boring. With its interested concept maybe it would've made for a fantastic short film. But, a feature length film that the characters are describing in holy terms--it's just not convincing. And, sure, people are interested not because of the film itself (it never got released), but because of the horrific events around it; and yes, the characters are deluded when they talk about their film (as so many people are. See: The Room.) But it makes for a long read, as we sit through the same scene of a kid donning a mask and being hazed, without any real explanation or insight. And, while that may be part of the point (violence is numbing? and senseless? and ingrained in our culture?), it doesn't build excitement in a way that holds the reader's attention.]]> 3.31 2024 Horror Movie
author: Paul Tremblay
name: Terry
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:
I was sucked in by marketing--the cover image, the glossy material, the red edges to the pages. The book was a bit of a disappointment, however. Which is not to say that there weren't some great elements--the bonkers ending, the conceit of the horror movie, the script within the novel. The author also walks the tightrope of making the characters slightly pretentious while not completely unlikeable. Best of all was the writing on pages 209-216--some of the most interesting I've read all year.
But it sure took a lot of effort to get to page 209. The plot of the novel was flat--like a lot of first person narration, we're stuck in a character's head and going where they take us...which is not always in a plot that drives forward. Instead, it feels like walking around the same circular path, and things get real repetitive, real fast. This repetitiveness pulls down the novel, and exposes the central problem: the titular horror movie that supposedly is a revered cult classic is, well, kinda boring. With its interested concept maybe it would've made for a fantastic short film. But, a feature length film that the characters are describing in holy terms--it's just not convincing. And, sure, people are interested not because of the film itself (it never got released), but because of the horrific events around it; and yes, the characters are deluded when they talk about their film (as so many people are. See: The Room.) But it makes for a long read, as we sit through the same scene of a kid donning a mask and being hazed, without any real explanation or insight. And, while that may be part of the point (violence is numbing? and senseless? and ingrained in our culture?), it doesn't build excitement in a way that holds the reader's attention.
]]> Sylvia & Aki 9806277
Aki never expected to be relocated to a Japanese internment camp in the Arizona desert; all she wanted was to stay on her family farm and finish the school year.

The two girls certainly never expected to know each other, until their lives intersected in Southern California during a time when their country changed forever.

Here is the remarkable story based on true events of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu, two ordinary girls living in extraordinary times. When Sylvia and her brothers are not allowed to register at the same school Aki attended and are instead sent to a “Mexican� school, the stage is set for Sylvia’s father to challenge in court the separation of races in California’s schools. Ultimately, Mendez vs. Westminster School District led to the desegregation of California schools and helped build the case that would end school segregation nationally.

Through extensive interviews with Sylvia and Aki—still good friends to this day—Winifred Conkling brings to life two stories of persistent courage in the face of tremendous odds.]]> 160 Winifred Conkling 1582463379 Terry 4 4.00 2011 Sylvia & Aki
author: Winifred Conkling
name: Terry
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/03
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Invisible: A Graphic Novel 58719103 For fans of Twins and Allergic, a must-have graphic novel about five very different students who are forced together by their school to complete community service... and may just have more in common than they thought.

How can you be yourself when no one sees the real you?

Five students meet in the school cafeteria when they’re forced to complete their school community service hours.

There’s George: the brain

Sara: the loner

Dayara: the tough kid

Nico: the rich kid

They immediately know that they have nothing in common with each other... even though their school administration has decided that they all belong together.

None of the kids wants to be there, and each has their own issues they're dealing with in their life outside of school. But when they encounter someone who truly needs their help, they might just be able to come together to work as a team—and help their community—after all.

Christina Diaz Gonzalez, award-winning author of The Red Umbrella, and Gaby Epstein, illustrator of the Baby-Sitters Club graphic novel adaptations, have created a vibrant and relatable graphic novel about unexpected friendships and being seen for who you really are.]]> 208 Christina Diaz Gonzalez 1338194542 Terry 2 4.13 2022 Invisible: A Graphic Novel
author: Christina Diaz Gonzalez
name: Terry
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/02
date added: 2024/06/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Frizzy 59251234 A middle grade graphic novel about Marlene, a young girl who stops straightening her hair and embraces her natural curls.

Marlene loves three things: books, her cool Tía Ruby and hanging out with her best friend Camila. But according to her mother, Paola, the only thing she needs to focus on is school and "growing up." That means straightening her hair every weekend so she could have "presentable", "good hair".

But Marlene hates being in the salon and doesn't understand why her curls are not considered pretty by those around her. With a few hiccups, a dash of embarrassment, and the much-needed help of Camila and Tia Ruby—she slowly starts a journey to learn to appreciate and proudly wear her curly hair.]]> 224 Claribel A. Ortega 1250259630 Terry 5 4.43 2022 Frizzy
author: Claribel A. Ortega
name: Terry
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
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]]> Curveball 195830945
Baseball is Elena Rueda’s entire She may be the only girl on her team, but she’s the best player and everyone knows it. Except . . . Elena has stopped having fun, and it’s time to leave the sport behind.

The problem is, Elena has no idea who she is without a bat in her hand. Can a summer spent with her brother's quirky friends in an empty sandlot that offers a world of possibility show Elena who she is—and teach her to love to play again?]]> 192 Pablo Cartaya 1368089267 Terry 4 3.79 Curveball
author: Pablo Cartaya
name: Terry
average rating: 3.79
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
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]]> Swim Team 58842729
With Etta's training and a lot of hard work, Bree suddenly finds her swim-crazed community counting on her to turn the school's failing team around. But that's easier said than done, especially when their rival, the prestigious Holyoke Prep, has everything they need to leave the Mighty Manatees in their wake.

Can Bree defy the odds and guide her team to a state championship, or have the Manatees swum their last lap--for good?]]> 248 Johnnie Christmas 0063056763 Terry 5 4.25 2022 Swim Team
author: Johnnie Christmas
name: Terry
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
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]]> The Night Circus 9361589
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.]]> 506 Erin Morgenstern Terry 2 4.00 2011 The Night Circus
author: Erin Morgenstern
name: Terry
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/04
date added: 2024/05/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[American Gods (American Gods, #1)]]> 30531880
But just days before his release, Laura and Shadow’s best friend are killed in an accident. With his life in pieces and nothing to keep him tethered, Shadow accepts a job from a beguiling stranger he meets on the way home, an enigmatic man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. A trickster and a rogue, Wednesday seems to know more about Shadow than Shadow does himself.

Life as Wednesday’s bodyguard, driver, and errand boy is far more interesting and dangerous than Shadow ever imagined. Soon Shadow learns that the past never dies . . . and that beneath the placid surface of everyday life a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and that he is standing squarely in its path.

This is the author's preferred text, never before published in the UK, and is about 12,000 words longer than the previous UK edition.

]]> 640 Neil Gaiman 0062572237 Terry 0 to-read 4.00 2001 American Gods (American Gods, #1)
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Terry
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thrilling with insightful social commentary, One of Our Kind explores the ways in which freedom is complicated by the presumptions we make about ourselves and each other.]]> 272 Nicola Yoon 0593470672 Terry 0 to-read 3.24 2024 One of Our Kind
author: Nicola Yoon
name: Terry
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Coast Road 198530985 A poignant debut novel about the lives of women in a claustrophobic coast town and the search for independence in a society that seeks to limit it.

Set in 1994, The Coast Road tells the story of two women--Izzy Keaveney, a housewife, and Colette Crowley, a poet. Colette has left her husband and sons for a married man in Dublin. When she returns to her home in County Donegal to try to pick up the pieces of her old life, her husband, Shaun, a successful businessman, denies her access to her children.

The only way she can see them is with the help of neighbour Izzy, acting as a go-between. Izzy also feels caught in a troubled marriage. The friendship that develops between them will ultimately lead to tragedy for one, and freedom for the other.

Addictive as Big Little Lies with a depth and compassion that rivals the works of Claire Keegan, Elizabeth Strout, and Colm Tóibín, The Coast Road is a story about the limits placed on women's lives in Ireland only a generation ago, and the consequences women have suffered trying to gain independence. Award-winning Irish author Alan Murrin reminds us of the price we are forced to pay to find freedom.]]> 320 Alan Murrin 0063336529 Terry 0 to-read 3.89 2024 The Coast Road
author: Alan Murrin
name: Terry
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> Don't Believe It 59201370
The Girl of Sugar Beach is must-see TV—a riveting, true-life mystery that unfolds over twelve weeks and centers on a fascinating Did Grace Sebold murder her boyfriend, Julian, while on a Spring Break vacation, or is she a victim of circumstance and poor police work? Grace has spent the last ten years in a St. Lucian prison, and reaches out to filmmaker Sidney Ryan in a last, desperate attempt to prove her innocence.

As Sidney begins researching, she uncovers startling evidence overlooked during the original investigation. Before the series even finishes filming, public outcry leads officials to reopen the case.

Delving into Grace’s past, Sidney peels away layer after layer of deception. But as she edges closer to the real heart of the story, Sidney must decide if finding the truth is worth risking her newfound fame, her career . . . even her life.]]> 400 Charlie Donlea 1496737008 Terry 0 to-read 4.10 2018 Don't Believe It
author: Charlie Donlea
name: Terry
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> In the Lonely Hours 200488134
On a small island in a remote corner of northwest Scotland lies Maundrell castle, owned by its wealthy namesake family for centuries—until now. Edwina Nunn is shocked to learn a relative she never heard of has bequeathed the castle and its land to her. What awaits Edie and her teenage daughter, Neve, is even more startling, for the castle is home to a multitude of ghosts.

Yet there’s a strange beauty in the austere architecture and the eerie, bloody waters of Loch na Scáthanna, the Lake of Shadows. Beguiled by a frightened ghost who gazes longingly out of the castle’s windows, Edie and Neve are drawn to the legends shrouding the island and the mystery of the Maundrell Red—a priceless diamond that disappeared decades before.

Is the gem really cursed, and the cause of the family tragedies that have all occurred on Samhain—Scottish Halloween? As Samhain approaches once more, Edie and Neve race to peel back the dark secrets entwining the living and the dead—a twisted story of bitter cruelty and hidden love—or they will become another Maundrell tragedy trapped in the lonely hours . . .]]> 336 Shannon Morgan 1496743903 Terry 0 to-read 3.66 2024 In the Lonely Hours
author: Shannon Morgan
name: Terry
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[May Day (Murder by Month Mysteries, #1)]]> 204118214 A waitress turned librarian just wants a new life. What she ends up with is a killer change of pace in a funny, snappy, and suspenseful mystery by Edgar Award–nominated author Jess Lourey.

With a cheating boyfriend, a thankless career in waitressing, and her BA in English going to waste, Mira James jumps at the chance for a fresh start in rural Battle Lake, Minnesota.

Right away she lands a job as a librarian, snags another as an on-call reporter for the weekly newspaper, and is swept off her feet by Jeff Wilson, a handsome archaeologist unearthing the town’s storied history. Moving here might be the best decision Mira’s ever made. Until she finds Jeff’s body between the library’s reference stacks. It seems Mira didn’t really know her drop-dead gorgeous new lover at all. But someone in Otter Tail County surely did.

Behind this quirky town’s polite exterior are decades-old grudges still unsettled, and murderous secrets best kept hidden. Whatever dangers are buried in Battle Lake’s past, now it’s Mira’s turn to start digging.

Revised This edition of May Day includes editorial revisions.]]> 232 Jess Lourey 1662519230 Terry 0 to-read 3.71 2006 May Day (Murder by Month Mysteries, #1)
author: Jess Lourey
name: Terry
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Come On In 42440919
WELCOME

From some of the most exciting bestselling and up-and-coming YA authors writing today...journey from Ecuador to New York City and Argentina to Utah, from Australia to Harlem and India to New Jersey, from Fiji, America, Mexico and more... Come On In.

With characters who face random traffic stops, TSA detention, customs anxiety, and the daunting and inspiring journey to new lands, who camp with their extended families, dance at weddings, keep diaries, teach ESL, give up their rooms for displaced family, decide their own answer to the question "where are you from?" and so much more, Come On In illuminates fifteen of the myriad facets of the immigrant experience.]]> 315 Adi Alsaid 1335146490 Terry 4 3.91 2020 Come On In
author: Adi Alsaid
name: Terry
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/03
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves:
review:
This is how a YA short story collection should be done! Out of 15 stories, 6 are truly excellent: "Where I'm From,"(Midwestern girl of Japanese heritage dealing with prejudice) "Salvation and the Sea," (two friends on a road trip run into an I.C.E. checkpoint), "The Cuarendera and the Alchemist" (a narrator teaching ESL struggles with constraints on her and the person she is tutoring), "Family/Everything", (family conflict ensues when the narrator wants to go from Argentina to Utah for college), " When I Was White" (an Irish woman and a Black American move from Australia to New York in the 1920s), "Fleeing, Leaving Moving" (an Argentinian student entering the U.S.). The rest are mixed to solid--and almost all are engaging! My one quibble: why start the collection with the weakest two stories? Both are flat with plots that don't really go anywhere. I almost gave up after the second--so glad I didn't!
]]> <![CDATA[Orange World and Other Stories]]> 42063901
Karen Russell’s comedic genius and mesmerizing talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner in lives is on full display in these eight exuberant, arrestingly vivid, unforgettable stories. In“Bog Girl�, a revelatory story about first love, a young man falls in love with a two thousand year old girl that he’s extracted from a mass of peat in a Northern European bog. In “The Prospectors,� two opportunistic young women fleeing the depression strike out for new territory, and find themselves fighting for their lives. In the brilliant, hilarious title story, a new mother desperate to ensure her infant’s safety strikes a diabolical deal, agreeing to breastfeed the devil in exchange for his protection. The landscape in which these stories unfold is a feral, slippery, purgatorial space, bracketed by the void—yet within it Russell captures the exquisite beauty and tenderness of ordinary life. Orange World is a miracle of storytelling from a true modern master.]]> 288 Karen Russell 1984892215 Terry 5 3.98 2019 Orange World and Other Stories
author: Karen Russell
name: Terry
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/02
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves:
review:
Although sometimes the stories meander and can lack forward momentum, overall the ideas, places, and characters are so original. And so much variety: from the past to the future, from Florida to Oregon to Europe. There's not a bad story in the collection, though "The Prospectors" (about two girls who end up at a haunted lodge), "The Bad Graft" (in which a tree jumps into a young woman's body), "The Gondoliers" (set in post-eco-apocalypse Florida) and "Orange World" (a new mother also feeding a devil), especially stand out.
]]> <![CDATA[Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity]]> 43263498 * New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller multiple years running
* Translated into 20 languages, with more than half a million copies sold worldwide
* A Hudson and Indigo Best Book of the Year
* Recommended by Shona Brown, Rachel Hollis, Jeff Kinney, Daniel Pink, Sheryl Sandberg, and Gretchen Rubin

Radical Candor has been embraced around the world by leaders of every stripe at companies of all sizes. Now a cultural touchstone, the concept has come to be applied to a wide range of human relationships.
The idea is simple: You don't have to choose between being a pushover and a jerk. Using Radical Candor—avoiding the perils of Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity, and Ruinous Empathy—you can be kind and clear at the same time.

Kim Scott was a highly successful leader at Google before decamping to Apple, where she developed and taught a management class. Since the original publication of Radical Candor in 2017, Scott has earned international fame with her vital approach to effective leadership and co-founded the Radical Candor executive education company, which helps companies put the book's philosophy into practice.

Radical Candor is about caring personally and challenging directly, about soliciting criticism to improve your leadership and also providing guidance that helps others grow. It focuses on praise but doesn't shy away from criticism—to help you love your work and the people you work with.

Radically Candid relationships with team members enable bosses to fulfill their three core responsibilities:
1. Create a culture of Compassionate Candor
2. Build a cohesive team
3. Achieve results collaboratively

Required reading for the most successful organizations, Radical Candor has raised the bar for management practices worldwide.]]> 404 Kim Malone Scott 1250235375 Terry 5 4.00 2017 Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
author: Kim Malone Scott
name: Terry
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/01
date added: 2024/04/03
shelves:
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]]> Cursed Bunny 61031128 Cursed Bunny is a collection that will shock and surprise readers with each new tale. Translated by the acclaimed Anton Hur, Chung’s stories are wildly unique and imaginative, by turns thought-provoking and stomach-turning, where monstrous creatures take the shapes of furry woodland creatures and danger lurks in unexpected corners of everyday apartment buildings. But Chung’s rare, haunting universe could be our own, illuminating the ills of contemporary society.

“The Head� follows a woman haunted by her own waste. “The Embodiment� takes us into a dystopian gynecology office where a pregnant woman is told that her baby must have a father or face horrific consequences. Another story follows a young monster, forced into underground fight rings without knowing the force of his own power. The titular fable centers on a cursed lamp in the approachable shape of a rabbit, fit for a child’s bedroom.

Cursed Bunny is a book that screams to be read late into the night and passed on to the nearest set of hands the very next day.]]> 256 Bora Chung 1643753606 Terry 4 3.73 2017 Cursed Bunny
author: Bora Chung
name: Terry
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/10
date added: 2024/03/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices]]> 17262283 Using humor as the common denominator, a multicultural cast of YA authors steps up to the mic to share stories touching on race.

Listen in as ten YA authors -- some familiar, some new -- use their own brand of humor to share their stories about growing up between cultures. Henry Choi Lee discovers that pretending to be a tai chi master or a sought-after wiz at math wins him friends for a while -- until it comically backfires. A biracial girl is amused when her dad clears seats for his family on a crowded subway in under a minute flat, simply by sitting quietly in between two uptight white women. Edited by acclaimed author and speaker Mitali Perkins, this collection of fiction and nonfiction uses a mix of styles as diverse as their authors, from laugh-out-loud funny to wry, ironic, or poingnant, in prose, poetry, and comic form.

Mitali Perkins
David Yoo
Cherry Cheva
Varian Johnson
G. Neri
Naomi Shihab Nye
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
Debbie Rigaud
Francisco X. Stork
Gene Luen Yang]]> 144 David Yoo 0763658669 Terry 1 3.85 2013 Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices
author: David Yoo
name: Terry
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2013
rating: 1
read at: 2024/03/05
date added: 2024/03/05
shelves:
review:
This collection was not only underwhelming, but also feels oddly dated. The stories themselves are not well crafted or interesting. They feel inauthentic at best, and offensive at worst. In the intro, the editor mentions what makes for "good humor" and her defense is well articulated. And then the stories don't follow this at all, veering toward the offensive, like when the Asian narrator decides to speak in an old-fashioned Black Southern drawl in the first story; or, when the Asian character makes Jewish "jokes" in the third story. Both examples hint at the biggest problem here: like many an Open Mic Night, the humor is lacking. The collection does better when the humor is left out, and the tone becomes serious--specifically in the last two entries: "Brotherly Love" by Francisco X. Stork and the excellent poem "Lexicon" by the reliable Naomi Shihab Nye. So the math--10 entries, 2 worthwhile = 1 star. I had such high hopes, too!
]]> <![CDATA[The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)]]> 46000520
But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

Alternate cover edition can be found here .]]> 382 Richard Osman Terry 5 3.86 2020 The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)
author: Richard Osman
name: Terry
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/03/03
date added: 2024/03/03
shelves:
review:

]]> Anne of West Philly 58340720 Anne of Green Gables, with a twist: in this follow-up to Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and The Secret Garden on 81st Street, this full-color graphic novel moves Anne Shirley to modern-day West Philadelphia, where where she finds new friends, new rivals, and a new family.

When Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert decide to foster a teenage girl for the first time, their lives are changed forever. Their redheaded foster daughter, Anne Shirley, is in search of an exciting life and has decided that West Philly is where she's going to find it. Armed with a big personality and unstoppable creativity, Anne takes her new home by storm as she joins the robotics club, makes new friends in Diana and Gilbert, experiences first love, and turns the ordinary into the extraordinary. But as Anne starts to get comfortable, she discovers one thing she wasn't looking for: a family.

This title will be simultaneously available in hardcover.]]> 256 Ivy Noelle Weir 0316459771 Terry 3 3.87 2022 Anne of West Philly
author: Ivy Noelle Weir
name: Terry
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/21
date added: 2024/02/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hero Next Door: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology]]> 44326119
Not all heroes wear capes. Some heroes teach martial arts. Others talk to ghosts. A few are inventors or soccer players. They're also sisters, neighbors, and friends. Because heroes come in many shapes and sizes. But they all have one thing in they make the world a better place.

Published in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, this vibrant anthology features thirteen acclaimed authors whose powerful and diverse voices show how small acts of kindness can save the day. So pay attention, because a hero could be right beside you. Or maybe the hero is you.

AUTHORS William Alexander, Joseph Bruchac, Lamar Giles, Mike Jung, Hena Khan, Juana Medina, Ellen Oh, R. J. Palacio, Linda Sue Park and Anna Dobbin, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Ronald L. Smith, Rita Williams-Garcia, and short-story contest winner Suma Subramaniam

“As with the two previous anthologies from We Need Diverse Books, this collection admirably succeeds in making available to all readers a wider and more representative range of American voices and protagonists.� —The Washington Post]]> 272 Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich 0525646337 Terry 3 3.96 2019 The Hero Next Door: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology
author: Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
name: Terry
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/20
date added: 2024/02/20
shelves:
review:
A really unbalanced collection--there are 5 very strong stories ("Reina Madrid" and "One Wish" being the best of the best), 5 terrible ones, and 3 smack dab in the middle...so, 2.5 stars would be perfect. Ostensibly centered around a theme of everyday heroes, the stories are too different to fit neatly into a collection. Their disparity, in style, tone, and genre might make for a satisfying read if all were equally done well. But the weaker entries bring down the collection, and cause the reader to question the theme. A graphic novel is always welcome, but how are the characters in "Los Abuelos, Two Bright Minds" heroes exactly? Same with one of the better stories: Rita Williams Garcia's "Minnows and Zombies"--a perfectly crafted story, expertly told...but without a hero. Perhaps hardest to pull off in such a limited space are the genre stories--Lamar Giles' entry is the most creative and interesting: a sci-fi mystery mash-up that is unusual and engaging. The biggest problem, however, is that right in the middle of the book is the story "Rescue", the weightiest of the entire collection, dealing with trauma and abuse at a level beyond any of the others. The story exemplifies what doesn't work overall with the book--tonally it doesn't hold together. The issue of abuse is very intense at the start of the story, and then fades as the main character is intent...at rescuing her dog? It's odd, and like the book overall, just doesn't quite fit together.
]]> <![CDATA[Swing, Brother, Swing (Roderick Alleyn, #15)]]> 18911051
When Lord Pastern Bagott takes up with the hot music of Breezy Bellair and his Boys, his disapproving wife Cecile has more than usual to be unhappy about. The band's devastatingly handsome but roguish accordionist, Carlos Rivera, has taken a rather intense and mutual interest in her precious daughter Felicite. So when a bit of strange business goes awry and actually kills him, it's lucky that Inspector Roderick Alleyn is in the audience. Now Alleyn must follow a confusing score that features a chorus of family and friends desperate to hide the truth and perhaps shelter a murderer in their midst.
]]> 280 Ngaio Marsh 1937384497 Terry 3 3.94 1949 Swing, Brother, Swing (Roderick Alleyn, #15)
author: Ngaio Marsh
name: Terry
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1949
rating: 3
read at: 2024/02/15
date added: 2024/02/20
shelves:
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In the end, the mystery of the murder is lackluster...but the characters definitely stand out! From the abrasive Lord Pastern to musician and drug addict Breezy Bellairs to the sympathetic heroine Carlisle, they make the book. Well, that and the side (but frankly more interesting) mystery of the identity of the tawdry advice columnist. Marsh is at her best when capturing social dynamics, especially of the upper class, and that is on full display here.
]]> <![CDATA[The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora]]> 25226215
For Arturo, summetime in Miami means playing basketball until dark, sipping mango smoothies, and keeping cool under banyan trees. And maybe a few shifts as junior lunchtime dishwasher at Abuela's restaurant. Maybe. But this summer also includes Carmen, a cute poetry enthusiast who moves into Arturo's apartment complex and turns his stomach into a deep fryer. He almost doesn't notice the smarmy land developer who rolls into town and threatens to change it. Arturo refuses to let his family and community go down without a fight, and as he schemes with Carmen, Arturo discovers the power of poetry and protest through untold family stories and the work of Jose Marti.]]> 256 Pablo Cartaya Terry 5 3.90 2017 The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora
author: Pablo Cartaya
name: Terry
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/31
date added: 2024/02/20
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of (Dave Brandstetter #4)]]> 60383646
The murder of a conservative police chief in a fishing village north of Los Angeles sends death claims investigator Dave Brandstetter into the no-man's land between cops and activists in this brilliantly plotted mystery, which perfectly captures California in the mid-1970s.

A small-town Chief of Police with reactionary politics and national ambitions, Ben Orton struck fear in the hearts of anyone who fell out of line in his little fiefdom of La Caleta. Most recently that has included gay rights activists pushing for the hiring of a police officer from their community. When big Ben is found in his backyard bludgeoned to death by a large terracotta pot, the police arrest the outspoken gay owner of a local nursery.

Orton had a life insurance policy that brings death claims investigator Dave Brandstetter north to pry. As far as Dave can tell, the cops did almost nothing to investigate Orton’s death and what evidence they did compile doesn’t seem to add up. Dave quickly learns that the pool of suspects is much deeper than the police reported. Ben Orton may have seen himself as a pillar of the community but what many in La Caleta saw instead was a violent man whose commitment to enforcement didn’t always also include room for the law.

With an ailing father in the hospital and a relationship headed toward the rocks, a very distracted Brandstetter finds himself making more wrong moves than right while those on the other side of the thin blue line are making it painfully obvious his presence is not wanted.]]> 169 Joseph Hansen 1681990520 Terry 4 3.89 1978 The Man Everybody Was Afraid Of (Dave Brandstetter #4)
author: Joseph Hansen
name: Terry
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1978
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/15
date added: 2024/02/20
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Final Curtain (Detective Kaga, #4)]]> 65213104 From the acclaimed author of Malice and Newcomer, a confounding murder in Tokyo is connected to the mystery of the disappearance and death of Detective Kaga's own mother.

A decade ago, Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga went to collect the ashes of his recently deceased mother. Years before, she ran away from her husband and son without explanation or any further contact, only to die alone in an apartment far away, leaving her estranged son with many unanswered questions.

Now in Tokyo, Michiko Oshitani is found dead many miles from home. Strangled to death, left in the bare apartment rented under a false name by a man who has disappeared without a trace. Oshitani lived far away in Sendai, with no known connection to Tokyo - and neither her family or friends have any idea why she would have gone there.

Hers is the second strangulation death in that approximate area of Tokyo - the other was a homeless man, killed and his body burned in a tent by the river. As the police search through Oshitani's past for any clue that might shed some light, one of the detectives reaches out to Detective Kaga for advice. As the case unfolds an unexpected connective emerges between the murder (or murders) now and the long ago case of the missing mother of Detective Kaga.

The Final Curtain, one of Keigo Higashino's most acclaimed mysteries, brings the story of Detective Kaga to a surprising conclusion in a series of rich, surprising twists.]]> 400 Keigo Higashino 1250767520 Terry 3 4.05 2013 The Final Curtain (Detective Kaga, #4)
author: Keigo Higashino
name: Terry
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/10
date added: 2024/02/20
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]]> Nine Lives 61226681 'Deliciously ingenious' Daily Mail
'Smartly entertaining' Washington Post

If you're on the list you're marked for death...

The envelope is unremarkable. There is no return address. It contains a single, folded, sheet of white paper.

The envelope drops through the mail slot like any other piece of post. But for the nine complete strangers who receive it - each of them recognising just one name, their own, on the enclosed list - it will be the most life altering letter they ever receive. It could also be the last, as one by one, they start to meet their end.

But why?

 What readers are saying:
'It gripped me from start to finish.'

'Prepare to be blown away.'

'Another fast paced edge of your seat masterclass.'

'What an absolutely wild ride.'

'Best Peter Swanson murder mystery I've read.'

'An absolute winner . . . A must read for lovers of a good thriller.']]> 365 Peter Swanson 0571358578 Terry 4 3.55 2022 Nine Lives
author: Peter Swanson
name: Terry
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/02/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot, #18)]]> 54110717 Beloved detective Hercule Poirot embarks on a journey to Egyptin one of Agatha Christie’s most famous mysteries.

The tranquility of a luxury cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish, and beautiful. A girl who had everything . . . until she lost her life.

Hercule Poirot recalled an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: “I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.� Yet under the searing heat of the Egyptian sun, nothing is ever quite what it seems.

A sweeping mystery of love, jealousy, and betrayal,Death on the Nileis one of Christie’s most legendary and timeless works.

]]> 343 Agatha Christie Terry 5 4.26 1937 Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot, #18)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Terry
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1937
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/02/02
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]]> <![CDATA[I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)]]> 19161872
On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala's miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I AM MALALA is the remarkable tale of a family uprooted by global terrorism, of the fight for girls' education, of a father who, himself a school owner, championed and encouraged his daughter to write and attend school, and of brave parents who have a fierce love for their daughter in a society that prizes sons.

I AM MALALA will make you believe in the power of one person's voice to inspire change in the world.]]> 230 Malala Yousafzai 031632793X Terry 4 2018 4.32 I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World (Young Readers Edition)
author: Malala Yousafzai
name: Terry
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2018/01/01
date added: 2024/01/23
shelves: 2018
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help]]> 20980987
Even while Amanda is both celebrated and attacked for her fearlessness in asking for help, she finds that there are important things she cannot ask for-as a musician, as a friend, and as a wife. She learns that she isn't alone in this, that so many people are afraid to ask for help, and it paralyzes their lives and relationships. In this groundbreaking book, she explores these barriers in her own life and in the lives of those around her, and discovers the emotional, philosophical, and practical aspects of The Art Of Asking.

Part manifesto, part revelation, this is the story of an artist struggling with the new rules of exchange in the twenty-first century, both on and off the Internet. The Art Of Asking will inspire readers to rethink their own ideas about asking, giving, art, and love.]]> 339 Amanda Palmer 1455581089 Terry 4 3.89 2014 The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help
author: Amanda Palmer
name: Terry
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/02
date added: 2023/09/02
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]]> The Oxford Murders 1133368
Then follow more murders - an elderly man on a life-support machine is found dead with needle marks in this throat; the percussionist of an orchestra at a concert at Blenheim Palace dies before the audience's very eyes - seemingly unconnected except for notes appearing in the maths department, for the attention of Seldom. Why is he being targeted as the recipient of these coded messages? All he can conjecture is that it might relate to his latest book, an unexpected bestseller about serial killers and the parallels between investigations into their crimes and certain mathematical theorems.
It is left to Seldom and a postgraduate mathematics student to work out the key to the series of symbols before the killer strikes again.]]> 197 Guillermo Martínez 0349117233 Terry 3 3.19 2003 The Oxford Murders
author: Guillermo Martínez
name: Terry
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/02
date added: 2023/09/02
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]]> We All Want Impossible Things 60410002 Who knows you better than your best friend? Who knows your secrets, your fears, your desires, your strange imperfect self? Edi and Ash have been best friends for over forty years. Since childhood they have seen each other through life's milestones: stealing vodka from their parents, the Madonna phase, REM concerts, unexpected wakes, marriages, infertility, children. As Ash notes, 'Edi's memory is like the back-up hard drive for mine.'

So when Edi is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Ash's world reshapes around the rhythms of Edi's care, from chipped ice and watermelon cubes to music therapy; from snack smuggling to impromptu excursions into the frozen winter night. Because life is about squeezing the joy out of every moment, about building a powerhouse of memories, about learning when to hold on, and when to let go.
]]> 224 Catherine Newman 0063230895 Terry 4 3.95 2022 We All Want Impossible Things
author: Catherine Newman
name: Terry
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/02
date added: 2023/09/02
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]]> The Last Cuentista 56817365
But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children � among them Petra and her family � have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race.

Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet � and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard � or purged them altogether.

Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?]]> 320 Donna Barba Higuera 1646140893 Terry 4 4.05 2021 The Last Cuentista
author: Donna Barba Higuera
name: Terry
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/02
date added: 2023/09/02
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]]> The Getaway 60114406
Jay is living his best life at Karloff Country, one of the world’s most famous resorts. He’s got his family, his crew, and an incredible after-school job at the property’s main theme park. Life isn’t so great for the rest of the world, but when people come here to vacation, it’s to get away from all that.

As things outside get worse, trouble starts seeping into Karloff. First, Jay’s friend Connie and her family disappear in the middle of the night and no one will talk about it. Then the richest and most powerful families start arriving, only... they aren’t leaving. Unknown to the employees, the resort has been selling shares in an end-of-the-world oasis. The best of the best at the end of days. And in order to deliver the top-notch customer service the wealthy clientele paid for, the employees will be at their total beck and call.

Whether they like it or not.

Yet Karloff Country didn’t count on Jay and his crew--and just how far they’ll go to find out the truth and save themselves. But what’s more dangerous: the monster you know in your home or the unknown nightmare outside the walls?]]> 400 Lamar Giles 1338752014 Terry 4 3.68 2022 The Getaway
author: Lamar Giles
name: Terry
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/02
date added: 2023/09/02
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]]> <![CDATA[A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple, #4)]]> 58444864 Now with a beautiful new series look, Christie's classic mystery in which a murder is announced in a small-town newspaper advertisement--and Miss Marple must unravel the fiendish puzzle when a crime does indeed occur.

The villagers of Chipping Cleghorn are agog with curiosity when the Gazette advertises "A murder is announced and will take place on Friday, October 29th, at Little Paddocks at 6.30 p.m."

A childish practical joke? Or a spiteful hoax? Unable to resist the mysterious invitation, the locals arrive at Little Paddocks at the appointed time when, without warning, the lights go out and a gun is fired. When they come back on, a gruesome scene is revealed.

An impossible crime? It's up to Miss Marple to get the scoop and make sure the killer doesn't bury the lead.]]> 320 Agatha Christie 0063214040 Terry 5 4.04 1950 A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple, #4)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Terry
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1950
rating: 5
read at: 2023/09/02
date added: 2023/09/02
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]]> Northwind 56978187
When a deadly plague reaches the small fish camp where he lives, an orphan named Leif is forced to take to the water in a cedar canoe. He flees northward, following a wild, fjord-riven shore, navigating from one danger to the next, unsure of his destination. But the deeper into his journey he paddles, the closer he comes to his truest self as he connects to "the heartbeat of the ocean . . . the pulse of the sea."]]> 246 Gary Paulsen 0374314209 Terry 3 3.52 2022 Northwind
author: Gary Paulsen
name: Terry
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> Red Scare: A Graphic Novel 57468678 A page-turning adventure featuring a clever 11-year-old girl who must, against all odds, protect her family and town during the height of the communist "red scare."

In the aftermath of the Korean War, Peggy's small hometown is rife with anti-Communist hysteria. But Peggy has bigger problems: She's struggling to recover from polio. Taunted by her classmates, Peggy just wants to be left alone, but then she stumbles across a mysterious object that gives her the power to fly. Unscrupulous operatives from the American and Soviet governments seek the object to overturn the tense political stalemate, and Peggy finds herself smack in the middle of the Cold War arms race.]]> 240 Liam Francis Walsh 1338167081 Terry 3 3.64 2022 Red Scare: A Graphic Novel
author: Liam Francis Walsh
name: Terry
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[A Death in Tokyo (Detective Kaga, #3)]]> 59808174 In the latest from international bestselling author Keigo Higashino, Tokyo Police Detective Kaga is faced with a very public murder that doesn't quite add up, a prime suspect unable to defend himself, and pressure from the highest levels for a quick solution.

In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo an unusual statue of a Japanese mythic beast - a kirin - stands guard over the district from the classic Nihonbashi bridge. In the evening, a man who appears to be very drunk staggers onto the bridge and collapses right under the statue of the winged beast. The patrolman who sees this scene unfold goes to rouse the man, only to discover that the man has not passed out, he is dead; that he was not drunk, he was stabbed in the chest. However, where he died was not where the crime was committed - the key to solving the crime is to find out where he was attacked and why he made such a superhuman effort to carry himself to the Nihonbashi Bridge. That same night, a young man named Yashima is injured in a car accident while attempting to flee from the police. Found on him is the wallet of the murdered man.

Tokyo Police Detective Kyoichiro Kaga is assigned to the team investigating the murder - and must bring his skills to bear to uncover what actually happened that night on the Nihonbashi bridge. What, if any, connection is there between the murdered man and Yashima, the young man caught with his wallet? Kaga's investigation takes him down dark roads and into the unknown past to uncover what really happened and why.

A Death in Tokyo is another mind-bending mystery from the modern master of classic crime, finalist for both an Edgar Award and a CWA Dagger, the internationally bestselling Keigo Higashino.]]> 368 Keigo Higashino 1250767504 Terry 5 3.82 2011 A Death in Tokyo (Detective Kaga, #3)
author: Keigo Higashino
name: Terry
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> The Chuckling Fingers 57318188 Rediscover one of the great mystery authors of the twentieth century in this Depression-era tale of a wealthy family's dark secrets turning deadly on their remote lakeside estate. Voted Mystery of the Year in 1941.

An urgent note from a friend spurs Ann Gay to visit her recently married cousin, Jacqueline Heaton. Upon her arrival at Fiddler's Fingers, a remote, pine-grown estate on Lake Superior, Ann immediately senses her cousin's fear--someone has been playing increasingly malicious tricks on the Heatons, a proud family of Minnesota lumber tycoons, and all signs point to Jacqueline as the instigator.

Ann quickly resolves to take Jacqueline and her young daughter, Toby, away from the danger. But what began as seemingly trivial pranks--ruined clothes, a burnt bed, a smashed boat--escalates to direct attacks and ultimately murder. Everyone on the estate and nearby resort, including the entire Heaton family, becomes a suspect. Potential motives are revealed as Ann learns more about the Heaton family, and with no chance of anyone leaving Fiddler's Fingers until the killer is caught, Ann realizes that the only way to prove her cousin's innocence is by snaring the murderer herself.

The trap is set; with herself as bait, Ann's door creaks open in the night as a cloaked figure moves silently toward her bed....]]> 320 Mabel Seeley 0593334574 Terry 2 3.73 1941 The Chuckling Fingers
author: Mabel Seeley
name: Terry
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1941
rating: 2
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> With the Fire on High 38739562
Still, she knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain—and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. But even with all the rules she has for her life—and all the rules everyone expects her to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.]]> 395 Elizabeth Acevedo 0062662856 Terry 5 4.18 2019 With the Fire on High
author: Elizabeth Acevedo
name: Terry
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Ocean at the End of the Lane]]> 15783514
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.]]> 181 Neil Gaiman 0062255657 Terry 3 4.00 2013 The Ocean at the End of the Lane
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Terry
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America]]> 37819089 Black Enough is a star-studded anthology edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi that will delve into the closeted thoughts, hidden experiences, and daily struggles of black teens across the country. From a spectrum of backgrounds—urban and rural, wealthy and poor, mixed race, immigrants, and more�Black Enough showcases diversity within diversity.

Whether it’s New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds writing about #blackboyjoy or Newberry Honor-winning author Renee Watson talking about black girls at camp in Portland, or emerging author Jay Coles’s story about two cowboys kissing in the south�Black Enough is an essential collection full of captivating coming-of-age stories about what it’s like to be young and black in America.]]> 416 Ibi Zoboi 0062698745 Terry 4 4.14 2019 Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America
author: Ibi Zoboi
name: Terry
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot, #25)]]> 121648 Now, sixteen years later, in a posthumous letter, Mrs. Crale has assured her grown daughter that she was innocent. But instead of setting the young woman's mind at ease, the letter only raises disquieting questions. Did Caroline indeed write the truth? And if she didn't kill her husband, who did?

To find out, the Crale’s daughter asks Hercule Poirot to reopen the case. His investigation takes him deep into the conflicting memories and motivations of the five other people who were with the Crales on the fatal day. With his keen understanding of human psychology, he manages to discover the surprising truth behind the artist's death.]]> 216 Agatha Christie Terry 4 4.02 1942 Five Little Pigs (Hercule Poirot, #25)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Terry
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1942
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> Endless Night 16366
The title Endless Night was taken from William Blake’s Auguries of Innocence and describes Christie’s favourite theme in the novel: a “twisted� character, who always chooses evil over good.

Christie finished Endless Night in six weeks, as opposed to the three-four months that most of her other novels took. Despite being in her seventies while writing it, she told an interviewer that being Michael, the twenty-something narrator, “wasn’t difficult. After all, you hear people like him talking all the time.�

The book is dedicated to Christie's relative "Nora Prichard from whom I first heard the legend of Gipsy's Acre." Gipsy's Acre was a field on the Welsh moors.]]> 303 Agatha Christie 0007151675 Terry 2 3.82 1967 Endless Night
author: Agatha Christie
name: Terry
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1967
rating: 2
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Heartstopper: Volume Two (Heartstopper, #2)]]> 43307358
But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is discovering all kinds of things about his friends, his family ... and himself.]]> 320 Alice Oseman 1444951408 Terry 5 4.52 2019 Heartstopper: Volume Two (Heartstopper, #2)
author: Alice Oseman
name: Terry
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Heartstopper: Volume One (Heartstopper, #1)]]> 40495957
Charlie Spring is in Year 10 at Truham Grammar School for Boys. The past year hasn't been too great, but at least he's not being bullied anymore. Nick Nelson is in Year 11 and on the school rugby team. He's heard a little about Charlie - the kid who was outed last year and bullied for a few months - but he's never had the opportunity to talk to him.

They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn't think he has a chance. But love works in surprising ways, and sometimes good things are waiting just around the corner...]]> 288 Alice Oseman 152722533X Terry 5 4.43 2018 Heartstopper: Volume One (Heartstopper, #1)
author: Alice Oseman
name: Terry
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast]]> 59808431 A celebrated Danish writer explores the unsung histories and geographies of her beloved slice of the world.

Me, my notebook and my love of the wild and desolate. I wanted to do the opposite of what was expected of me. It’s a recurring pattern in my life. An instinct.

Dorthe Nors’s first nonfiction book chronicles a year she spent traveling along the North Sea coast—from Skagen at the northern tip of Denmark to the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. In fourteen expansive essays, Nors traces the history, geography, and culture of the places she visits while reflecting on her childhood and her family and ancestors� ties to the region as well as her decision to move there from Copenhagen. She writes about the ritual burning of witch effigies on Midsummer’s Eve; the environmental activist who opposed a chemical factory in the 1950s; the quiet fishing villages that surfers transformed into an area known as Cold Hawaii starting in the 1970s. She connects wind turbines to Viking ships, thirteenth-century church frescoes to her mother’s unrealized dreams. She describes strong waves, sand drifts, storm surges, shipwrecks, and other instances of nature asserting its power over human attempts to ignore or control it.

Through a deep, personal engagement with this singular landscape, A Line in the World accesses the universal. Its ultimate subjects are civilization, belonging, and change: changes within one person’s life, changes occurring in various communities today, and change as the only constant of life on Earth.]]> 240 Dorthe Nors 164445209X Terry 5 3.86 2021 A Line in the World: A Year on the North Sea Coast
author: Dorthe Nors
name: Terry
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/03/09
date added: 2023/03/09
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]]> <![CDATA[The Old Man in the Corner (Teahouse Detective #1)]]> 42036922 A classic collection of mysteries by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel

Mysteries! There is no such thing as a mystery in connection with any crime, provided intelligence is brought to bear upon its investigation.

So says a rather down-at-heel elderly gentleman to young Polly Burton of the Evening Observer, in the corner of the ABC teashop on Norfolk Street one afternoon. Once she has forgiven him for distracting her from her newspaper and luncheon, Miss Burton discovers that her interlocutor is as brilliantly gifted as he is eccentric - able to solve mysteries that have made headlines and baffled the finest minds of the police without once leaving his seat in the teahouse. As the weeks go by, she listens to him unravelling the trickiest of puzzles and solving the most notorious of crimes, but still one final mystery remains: the mystery of the old man in the corner himself.

The Old Man in the Corner is a classic collection of mysteries, featuring the Teahouse Detective - a contemporary of Sherlock Holmes, with a brilliant mind and waspish temperament to match that of Conan Doyle's creation.

What readers have to say about The Teahouse Detective

'Highly enjoyable read!!' - ŷ reviewer

'Brilliant stories' - Amazon reviewer

'Excellent vintage fair-play puzzle stories' - Amazon reviewer]]> 288 Emmuska Orczy 1782275231 Terry 4 3.31 1908 The Old Man in the Corner (Teahouse Detective #1)
author: Emmuska Orczy
name: Terry
average rating: 3.31
book published: 1908
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/28
date added: 2023/02/28
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]]> The Hole 51283868
One day, while running an errand for her mother-in-law, she comes across a strange creature, follows it to the embankment of a river, and ends up falling into a hole—a hole that seems to have been made specifically for her. This is the first in a series of bizarre experiences that drive Asa deeper into the mysteries of this rural landscape filled with eccentric characters and unidentifiable creatures, leading her to question her role in this world, and eventually, her sanity.]]> 92 Hiroko Oyamada 0811228878 Terry 4 3.47 2013 The Hole
author: Hiroko Oyamada
name: Terry
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/01
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
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]]> Bliss Montage 60243188 A new creation by the author of Severance, the stories in Bliss Montage crash through our carefully built mirages

What happens when fantasy tears through the screen of the everyday to wake us up? Could that waking be our end?

In Bliss Montage, Ling Ma brings us eight wildly different tales of people making their way through the madness and reality of our collective delusions: love and loneliness, connection and possession, friendship, motherhood, the idea of home. From a woman who lives in a house with all of her ex-boyfriends, to a toxic friendship built around a drug that makes you invisible, to an ancient ritual that might heal you of anything if you bury yourself alive, these and other scenarios reveal that the outlandish and the everyday are shockingly, deceptively, heartbreakingly similar.]]> 228 Ling Ma 0374293511 Terry 5 3.91 2022 Bliss Montage
author: Ling Ma
name: Terry
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/01/10
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
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]]> In the Winter Woods 55965732
When he starts receiving anonymous letters threatening him to leave, Declan realizes his solitary writer’s retreat isn’t at all what he bargained for. And if the threats aren’t enough, a killer strikes, casting Declan in the role of the most likely suspect. Now it’s up to him and the handsome local Public Safety Commissioner Curtis Monroe to find out the truth before Declan spends Christmas (and the rest of his life) in jail. But as dead bodies pile up and dark secrets are revealed beneath Maplewood’s picture-perfect facade, Declan’s heart may yet be in more danger than his life�


Word Count: 61800.]]> Isabelle Adler 1648901638 Terry 1 3.43 2020 In the Winter Woods
author: Isabelle Adler
name: Terry
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at: 2023/01/02
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Decagon House Murders (House Murders, #1)]]> 52958127
But when the first club member turns up dead, the remaining amateur sleuths realise they will need all of their murder-mystery expertise to get off the island alive.

As the party are picked off one by one, the survivors grow desperate and paranoid, turning on each other. Will anyone be able to untangle the murderer’s fiendish plan before it’s too late?]]> 284 Yukito Ayatsuji 1782276343 Terry 4 3.85 1987 The Decagon House Murders (House Murders, #1)
author: Yukito Ayatsuji
name: Terry
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/21
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
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]]> Burn the Place: A Memoir 52730696
A “blistering yet tender� ( Publishers Weekly ) memoir that chronicles one chef’s journey from foraging on her family’s Midwestern farm to running her own Michelin-starred restaurant and finding her place in the world.

Iliana Regan grew up the youngest of four headstrong girls on a small farm in Indiana. While gathering raspberries as a toddler, Regan learned to only pick the ripe fruit. In the nearby fields, the orange flutes of chanterelle mushrooms beckoned her while they eluded others.

Regan’s profound connection with food and the earth began in childhood, but connecting with people was more difficult. She grew up gay in an intolerant community, was an alcoholic before she turned twenty, and struggled to find her voice as a woman working in an industry dominated by men. But food helped her navigate the world around her—learning to cook in her childhood home, getting her first restaurant job at age fifteen, teaching herself cutting-edge cuisine while hosting an underground supper club, and working her way from front-of-house staff to running her own kitchen.

Regan’s culinary talent is based on instinct, memory, and an almost otherworldly connection to ingredients, and her writing comes from the same place. Raw, filled with startling imagery and told with uncommon emotional power, Burn the Place takes us from Regan’s childhood farmhouse kitchen to the country’s most elite restaurants in a galvanizing tale that is entirely original, and unforgettable.]]> 256 Iliana Regan 1982157771 Terry 3 3.68 2019 Burn the Place: A Memoir
author: Iliana Regan
name: Terry
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/02/21
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)]]> 40864002 ASIN B08H831J18 moved to the more recent edition

Centuries before, robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered, en masse into the wilderness, never to be seen again. They faded into myth and urban legend.

Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They will need to ask it a lot. Chambers' series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?]]> 151 Becky Chambers Terry 5 4.25 2021 A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)
author: Becky Chambers
name: Terry
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/02/21
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
review:

]]> You Better Be Lightning 58464584 You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson is a queer, political, and feminist collection guided by self-reflection. The poems range from close examination of the deeply personal to the vastness of the world, exploring the expansiveness of the human experience from love to illness, from space to climate change, and so much more in between. One of the most celebrated poets and performers of the last two decades, Andrea Gibson's trademark honesty and vulnerability are on full display in You Better Be Lightning, welcoming and inviting readers to be just as they are.]]> 115 Andrea Gibson 1943735999 Terry 4 4.63 2021 You Better Be Lightning
author: Andrea Gibson
name: Terry
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/21
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
review:

]]> The Murderer's Ape 33978302 A captivating story about dark truths and heinous crimes as well as unexpected friendships, with detailed black-and-white illustrations throughout. Perfect for fans of mystery and detective stories.

Sally Jones is not only a loyal friend, she’s an extraordinary individual. In overalls or in a maharaja’s turban, this unique gorilla moves among humans without speaking butunderstanding everything. She and the Chief are devoted comrades who operate a cargo boat. A job they are offered pays big bucks, but thedeal ends badly, and the Chief is falsely convicted of murder.

For Sally Jones this is the start of a harrowing quest for survival and to clear the Chief's name. Powerful forces are working against her, and they will do anything to protect their secrets.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 605 Jakob Wegelius 1101931779 Terry 4 2018 4.27 2014 The Murderer's Ape
author: Jakob Wegelius
name: Terry
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/21
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves: 2018
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Force of Nature (Aaron Falk, #2)]]> 39863487
But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.

Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?]]> 352 Jane Harper 125010565X Terry 0 to-read 3.87 2017 Force of Nature (Aaron Falk, #2)
author: Jane Harper
name: Terry
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pumpkin Spice Peril (Cupcake Bakery Mystery, #12)]]> 52575302
Life is all sugar and spice for the Fairy Tale Cupcake bakers--Melanie Cooper is engaged to the delectable Joe DeLaura, Angie Harper and her husband Tate are savoring married life, and the bakery is bustling with happy customers. Until one of their most valued cupcake connoisseurs ends up dead.

Local glass artist and cupcake lover Rene Fischer-Klein has always suffered from a wide variety of health issues. In an effort to cheer her up, her doting husband, Peter, brings her a four-pack of her favorite cupcakes every week. But when the police discover that Rene has been poisoned, there's no sugarcoating the fact that the last things she ate were the bakery's signature pumpkin spice cupcakes! With their lives and bakery at stake, it's up to Mel and Angie to find out who poisoned their artist friend and why, before their future is frosted for good.]]> 259 Jenn McKinlay 045149265X Terry 1 3.92 2020 Pumpkin Spice Peril (Cupcake Bakery Mystery, #12)
author: Jenn McKinlay
name: Terry
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at: 2022/11/11
date added: 2022/11/11
shelves:
review:

]]> Brat Farrar 243397 288 Josephine Tey 0684803852 Terry 5 2011-books 3.98 1949 Brat Farrar
author: Josephine Tey
name: Terry
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1949
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/27
date added: 2022/10/27
shelves: 2011-books
review:

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