Jennifer's bookshelf: all

Jennifer's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 17 Jan 2025 15:54:34 -0800 60 Jennifer's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)]]> 16054217 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]> 561 Deborah Harkness 0670025593 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.15 2014 The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)

author: Deborah Harkness
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mexican Gothic 57800389
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 301 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 052562080X Jennifer 4 3.71 2020 Mexican Gothic

author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/04
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Around the World in Eighty Days]]> 54479 252 Jules Verne 014044906X Jennifer 5 3.95 1872

author: Jules Verne
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1872
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In His Own Write & A Spaniard In The Works: Writings & Drawings by John Lennon]]> 1945176 175 John Lennon 0451163923 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.32

In His Own Write & A Spaniard In The Works: Writings & Drawings by John Lennon

author: John Lennon
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.32
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Red Badge of Courage 415002
Ernest Hemingway called the novel an American classic, and Crane's genius is as much apparent in his sharp, colorful prose as in his ironic portrayal of an episode of war so intense, so immediate, so real that the terror of battle becomes our own ... in a masterpiece so unique that many believe modern American fiction began with Stephen Crane.]]> 138 Stephen Crane 0553210114 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.22 1895 The Red Badge of Courage

author: Stephen Crane
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.22
book published: 1895
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories]]> 28439774 Part of a new six-volume series of the best in classic horror, selected by award-winning director Guillermo del Toro

Filmmaker and longtime horror literature fan Guillermo del Toro serves as the curator for the Penguin Horror series, a new collection of classic tales and poems by masters of the genre. Included here are some of del Toro's favorites, from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Ray Russell's short story 'Sardonicus', considered by Stephen King to be 'perhaps the finest example of the modern Gothic ever written', to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and stories by Ray Bradbury, Joyce Carol Oates, Ted Klein, and Robert E. Howard. These stunningly creepy deluxe hardcovers will be perfect additions to the shelves of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal aficionados everywhere.

Haunted Castles

Haunted Castles is the definitive, complete collection of Ray Russell's masterful Gothic horror stories, including the famously terrifying novella trio of 'Sardonicus', 'Sanguinarius', and 'Sagittarius'. The characters that sprawl through Haunted Castles are frightful to the core: the heartless monster holding two lovers in limbo; the beautiful dame journeying down a damned road toward depravity (with the help of an evil gypsy); the man who must wear his fatal crimes on his face in the form of an awful smile. Engrossing, grotesque, perverted, and completely entrancing, Russell's Gothic tales are the best kind of dreadful.
RAY RUSSELL was born in 1924 in Chicago, Illinois, and served in the United States Air Force during World War II in the South Pacific. After the war, he attended the Chicago Conservatory of Music and eventually joined the editorial staff at Playboy, where he published such writers as Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Richard Matheson, Jack Finney, Robert Bloch, and Charles Beaumont. His best-known work, 'Sardonicus', was called by Stephen King 'perhaps the finest example of the modern Gothic ever written'. He died in Los Angeles in 1999.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO is a Mexican director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, and designer, most famous for his Academy Award-winning film,Pan's Labyrinth, and the Hellboy film franchise. He has received the Nebula, Hugo, and Bram Stoker awards and is an avid collector and student of arcane memorabilia and weird fiction.]]> 235 Ray Russell 0143129317 Jennifer 4 3.96 1985 Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories

Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories

author: Ray Russell
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/19
date added: 2023/10/19
shelves:
review:

]]> Daughters of Nantucket 61062494 Set against Nantucket’s Great Fire of 1846, this sweeping, emotional novel brings together three courageous women battling to save everything they hold dear��

Nantucket in 1846 is an island set apart not just by its geography but by its unique circumstances. With their menfolk away at sea, often for years at a time, women here know a rare independence—and the challenges that go with it.

Eliza Macy is struggling to conceal her financial trouble as she waits for her whaling captain husband to return from a voyage. In desperation, she turns against her progressive ideals and targets Meg Wright, a pregnant free Black woman trying to relocate her store to Main Street. Meanwhile, astronomer Maria Mitchell loves running Nantucket’s Atheneum and spending her nights observing the stars, yet she fears revealing the secret wishes of her heart.

On a sweltering July night, a massive fire breaks out in town, quickly kindled by the densely packed wooden buildings. With everything they possess now threatened, these three very different women are forced to reevaluate their priorities and decide what to save, what to let go and what kind of life to rebuild from the ashes of the past.]]> 448 Julie Gerstenblatt 0778333426 Jennifer 0 abandoned 3.65 2023 Daughters of Nantucket

author: Julie Gerstenblatt
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/17
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential�� in Business and in Life]]> 46032014 Tim Ferris, author of The 4-Hour Work Week The Power of Less demonstrates how you can streamline your life by eliminating the unnecessary - freeing up space from everyday clutter to achieve your goals and find happiness in a more minimalist existence.
You'll learn how
choose what is essential and clear out the rest
make better use of the resources you already have
break down goals into manageable tasks
create new and productive habits
Revised and updated with new material tackling social media addiction and the perceived 'need' to be connected and available 24 hours a day, The Power of Less will inspire you to shift from wanting everything to
needing nothing, and empower you to live life fully and free from stress.]]> 208 Leo Babauta 1788173341 Jennifer 4 3.53 2008 The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential… in Business and in Life

The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential… in Business and in Life

author: Leo Babauta
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/19
date added: 2023/10/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[After Dunkirk (After Dunkirk #1)]]> 55270518 In the tradition of grand World War II sagas Beneath a Scarlet Sky and Of Windmills and War, After Dunkirk introduces the Littlefield family, fighting valiantly in the darkest days of the German occupation.

AFTER DUNKIRK heralds a stunning new voice in historical epics, a worthy heir to Wouk and Follett.

"Lee Jackson embeds you in the peril of war-torn France in the aftermath of Dunkirk."--Buzz Bernard, author of MWSA finalist When Heroes Flew

From the beaches of Dunkirk to the codebreakers of Bletchley Park, from Resistance bombings in the south of France to the machinations in the basements of MI-6.

Winston Churchill called it Britain's finest hour. The Royal Navy evacuated 330,000 soldiers from Dunkirk.

But more than 200,000 were left behind.

On the beaches, Jeremy Littlefield hides for his life. His path home will draw him through the iron will and the unbreakable heart of the French Resistance.

Only a few miles away, his brother, Lance, rallies fellow soldiers to start a trek that will take them across Europe, sabotaging the Germans in a mission tantamount to suicide.

Back in England, their sister Claire works at Bletchley Park, cracking the codes that could save the lives of her brothers, and thousands of their comrades.

Finally, there is Paul, the cerebral eldest son, working for MI-6, who always knows more than he is able to tell his beloved siblings.

AFTER DUNKIRK is a panoramic tale of war, love, courage, sacrifice... and betrayal. A family scattered across Europe, doing their duty for king and country while war rages.

________________________

Praise for Lee Jackson and After

"After Dunkirk is an exceptional work of historical fiction..." --Lieutenant General Rick Lynch, US Army (Ret.)

"...an effective and graceful writing style that keeps the reader engaged." --Brigadier General Lance Betros, US Army (Ret.)]]> 401 Lee Jackson Jennifer 0 to-read 4.36 2020 After Dunkirk (After Dunkirk #1)

author: Lee Jackson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A House with Good Bones 60784409 A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.]]> 247 T. Kingfisher 1250829798 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.65 2023 A House with Good Bones

author: T. Kingfisher
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Girl Called Samson 58769584 From New York Times bestselling author Amy Harmon comes the saga of a young woman who dares to chart her own destiny in life and love during the American Revolutionary War.

In 1760, Deborah Samson is born to Puritan parents in Plympton, Massachusetts. When her father abandons the family and her mother is unable to support them, Deborah is bound out as an indentured servant. From that moment on, she yearns for a life of liberation and adventure.

Twenty years later, as the American colonies begin to buckle in their battle for independence, Deborah, impassioned by the cause, disguises herself as a soldier and enlists in the Continental Army. Her impressive height and lanky build make her transformation a convincing one, and it isn’t long before she finds herself confronting the horrors of war head-on.

But as Deborah fights for her country’s freedom, she must contend with the secret of who she is—and, ultimately, a surprising love she can’t deny.]]> 405 Amy Harmon 1542039738 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.48 2023 A Girl Called Samson

author: Amy Harmon
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Where the Lost Wander 51815479 In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.

The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.

But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.

When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.]]> 349 Amy Harmon 1542017971 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.42 2020 Where the Lost Wander

author: Amy Harmon
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle]]> 43242080
She's been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. The only way to break this cycle is to identify Evelyn's killer. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is desperate to stop him ever escaping Blackheath...]]> 544 Stuart Turton 140888951X Jennifer 0 hibernating 3.93 2018 The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

author: Stuart Turton
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/29
shelves: hibernating
review:

]]> Be Buried in the Rain 2954907 326 Barbara Michaels 0425096343 Jennifer 3 3.70 1985

author: Barbara Michaels
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1985
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/01
date added: 2023/06/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children's Tales]]> 17591910
There aren’t many books more beloved than The Tale of Peter Rabbit and even fewer authors as iconic as Beatrix Potter. Her characters—Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle Duck, and all the rest—exist in a charmed world filled with flowers and gardens. In Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life , bestselling author Marta McDowell explores the origins of Beatrix Potter’s love of gardening and plants and shows how this passion came to be reflected in her work.

The book begins with a gardener’s biography, highlighting the key moments and places throughout her life that helped define her. Next, follow Beatrix Potter through a year in her garden, with a season-by-season overview of what is blooming that truly brings her gardens alive. The book culminates in a traveler’s guide, with information on how and where to visit Potter’s gardens today.]]> 340 Marta McDowell 1604693630 Jennifer 0 abandoned 4.25 2013 Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children's Tales

Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children's Tales

author: Marta McDowell
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/28
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West]]> 103216 In this sweeping adventure story, Stephen E. Ambrose, the bestselling author of D-Day, presents the definitive account of one of the most momentous journeys in American history. Ambrose follows the Lewis and Clark Expedition from Thomas Jefferson's hope of finding a waterway to the Pacific, through the heart-stopping moments of the actual trip, to Lewis's lonely demise on the Natchez Trace. Along the way, Ambrose shows us the American West as Lewis saw it -- wild, awsome, and pristinely beautiful. Undaunted Courage is a stunningly told action tale that will delight readers for generations.

]]> 521 Stephen E. Ambrose 0684826976 Jennifer 0 currently-reading 4.17 1996 Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West

author: Stephen E. Ambrose
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/28
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Man in the Brown Suit (Colonel Race, #1)]]> 12034587 The Man in the Brown Suit is Agatha Christie at her best, as a young woman makes a dangerous decision to investigate a shocking “accidental�� death she witnesses at a London tube station.

Pretty, young Anne came to London looking for adventure. In fact, adventure comes looking for her—and finds her immediately at Hyde Park Corner tube station. Anne is present on the platform when a thin man, reeking of mothballs, loses his balance and is electrocuted on the rails.

The Scotland Yard verdict is accidental death. But Anne is not satisfied. After all, who was the man in the brown suit who examined the body? And why did he race off, leaving a cryptic message behind: "17-122 Kilmorden Castle"?

]]> 288 Agatha Christie 0062074377 Jennifer 2
I did not like the "twist" at the end revealing whodunnit, only because it made me want to re-read the whole thing! It was too much brainpower and the end was tied up a little too neatly for my comfort.

I still loved that it was in South Africa, which was a refreshing setting for me, and Agatha Christie always writes in beautiful prose, despite the very twisted and complicated plots.]]> 3.75 1924 The Man in the Brown Suit (Colonel Race, #1)

The Man in the Brown Suit (Colonel Race, #1)

author: Agatha Christie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1924
rating: 2
read at: 2015/03/30
date added: 2023/04/21
shelves:
review:
In the beginning, this was one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels. The heroine was awesome and spunky, but about halfway through, the plot started to drag and the multiple storylines got annoying and complicated.

I did not like the "twist" at the end revealing whodunnit, only because it made me want to re-read the whole thing! It was too much brainpower and the end was tied up a little too neatly for my comfort.

I still loved that it was in South Africa, which was a refreshing setting for me, and Agatha Christie always writes in beautiful prose, despite the very twisted and complicated plots.
]]> <![CDATA[Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America]]> 7155569 From the best-selling author of Leviathan comes this sweeping narrative of one of America’s most historically rich industries.

Beginning his epic history in the early 1600s, Eric Jay Dolin traces the dramatic rise and fall of the American fur industry, from the first Dutch encounters with the Indians to the rise of the conservation movement in the late nineteenth century. Dolin shows how the fur trade, driven by the demands of fashion, sparked controversy, fostered economic competition, and fueled wars among the European powers, as North America became a battleground for colonization and imperial aspirations. The trade in beaver, buffalo, sea otter, and other animal skins spurred the exploration and the settlement of the vast American continent, while it alternately enriched and gravely damaged the lives of America’s native peoples. Populated by a larger-than-life cast—including Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant; President Thomas Jefferson; America’s first multimillionaire, John Jacob Astor; and mountain man Kit Carson��Fur, Fortune, and Empire is the most comprehensive and compelling history of the American fur trade ever written. 16 pages of color and 16 pages of black-and-white illustrations, as well as a two-page, endpaper map of the American fur trade beyond the Mississippi.

Starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly and Kirkus Reviews.

"Nobody writes about the link between American history and natural history with the scholarly grace of Eric Jay Dolin. Fur, Fortune, and Empire is a landmark study filled with a cast of eccentric Western-type characters. Dolin's research is prodigious. Not since the days of Francis Parkman has a historian analyzed the fur trade industry with such brilliance. Highly recommended!" -- Douglas Brinkley, Author, Cronkite and The Wilderness Warrior

"Fur, Fortune, and Empire is no melancholy affair. The book bursts with colorful characters, venal corporations, and violent confrontations, all presented with sharp-eyed clarity in a narrative that clips right along. . . . One of the great pleasures of Eric Jay Dolin's work in both Leviathan and Fur, Fortune, and Empire comes in discovering centuries old antecedents of the economic and natural resource issues that we struggle with today. . . . there are plenty of insights as well as much reading pleasure to be had here." Bruce Barcott, Audubon Magazine

"A superb one-volume examination of an era when American ingenuity and its competitive spirit began to flourish. . . Dolin describes in marvelous detail . . . colorful figures of the American fur trades' western expansion. . . . at last, we now have a book that properly accounts for America's rise as a fur-trade power." -- Michael Taube, The Wall Street Journal

"Though guns, germs and steel certainly played their parts, Dolin's "Fur, Fortune, and Empire" leaves little doubt that the trade in pelts "was a powerful force in shaping the course of American history from the early 1600s through the late 1800s, playing a major role in the settlement and evolution of the colonies, and in the growth of the United States." Dolin puts forth a compelling and well-annotated tale of greed, slaughter and geopolitics as the Dutch, English, French, Spanish, Swedes, Russians and the American colonists fought for a slice of the profit." -- Art Winslow, The Los Angeles Times]]> 442 Eric Jay Dolin 0393067106 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.84 2010 Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America

Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America

author: Eric Jay Dolin
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Later 54798175
Later is Stephen King at his finest, a terrifying and touching story of innocence lost and the trials that test our sense of right and wrong. With echoes of King's classic novel It, Later is a powerful, haunting, unforgettable exploration of what it takes to stand up to evil in all the faces it wears.]]> 248 Stephen King Jennifer 0 to-read 3.99 2021 Later

author: Stephen King
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/02/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Little Fires Everywhere 51704136 Everything I Never Told You, a riveting novel that traces the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and the enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives.

In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned--from the layout of the winding roads, to the colors of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren--an enigmatic artist and single mother--who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town--and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs.

Little Fires Everywhere explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, and the ferocious pull of motherhood--and the danger of believing that following the rules can avert disaster.

Named a Best Book of the Year by: People, The Washington Post, Bustle, Esquire, Southern Living, The Daily Beast, GQ, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Audible, ŷ��, Library Reads, Book of the Month, Paste, Kirkus Reviews, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and many more...

Perfect for book clubs! Visit celesteng.com for discussion guides and more. ]]> 368 Celeste Ng 0143135163 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.06 2017 Little Fires Everywhere

author: Celeste Ng
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone, #3)]]> 37834816 Alternative cover edition of ISBN13: 9780805094619.

The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.]]> 420 Leigh Bardugo 080509461X Jennifer 0 currently-reading 4.00 2014 Ruin and Rising (Shadow and Bone, #3)

author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Only Good Indians 54786142
The Only Good Indians, charts Nature's revenge on a lost generation that maybe never had a chance. Cleaved to their heritage, these parents, husbands, sons and Indians, these men must fight their demons on the fringes of a society that has no place for them.]]> 310 Stephen Graham Jones 1982136464 Jennifer 4
Page 129: * The Horror begins *

Second half: Basketball overdose

Last two pages: “This ended exactly the way I wanted it to.��

Pros:
�� I’m rooting for Elk Head Woman all the way here. Just the sheer power of tradition and memory coming back to tell a modern world to chill the hell out.
�� The symbiosis of Indigenous communities balancing traditional protocol and living in the 20th/21st century. The world 100% forgets that Native Americans are a modern people. The internal dialogues of the characters captures this relationship well.
�� Denorah turning into the secret heroine with those last two pages. Compassion would have changed (and did eventually change) the entire course of events, so of course it is up to a woman to provide that and Save The Day. 30% of this could also go in the cons list; see below.

Cons:
�� I really could just care less about the basketball details
�� Wanted a bit more of a backstory on why the four men were pursued for such a lethal vendetta; surely there must have been more to it than the actual hunt? Deer Head Woman is the protector of children and women - did these men have a history of disrespecting children and women beyond the events of The Thanksgiving Classic? Not to mention Lewis was incredibly repentant about it from the first moment.
�� Lewis’s character was not only entirely capable of providing the emotional self-sacrifice required to break the cycle but also DID do his best at redemption. Should the opportunity have presented itself for him to save Elk Head Woman AND her calf, I believe he could have become the “hero�� and shattered the trite male/female relationship with empathy. Elk Head Woman takes empathy a step TOO far - let’s see male characters move the needle the same distance.
�� Some of the prose is a bit choppy and I had to reread to understand what was being said - nouns verbing nouns with some clauses peppered in for spice were in an order that made the subject bleary. It’s hard to describe so my sentence describing it is probably doing the same thing.
�� I’m going to reiterate how much I could live without the basketball details.

Note: The animal gore did not bother me as much as I thought it would? Not that it was necessarily important to the story, but I understand why and how it had to happen in the context of a hunter’s survival. Elk Head Woman’s whole point was giving them a taste of their own medicine PLUS she couldn’t risk discovery. Just my hot take, but I know and respect that it disturbed other readers.

Despite my lengthy list above, FANTASTIC read. ]]> 3.71 2020 The Only Good Indians

author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/05
date added: 2023/01/05
shelves:
review:
First half: “I just don’t really see how this is horror.��

Page 129: * The Horror begins *

Second half: Basketball overdose

Last two pages: “This ended exactly the way I wanted it to.��

Pros:
�� I’m rooting for Elk Head Woman all the way here. Just the sheer power of tradition and memory coming back to tell a modern world to chill the hell out.
�� The symbiosis of Indigenous communities balancing traditional protocol and living in the 20th/21st century. The world 100% forgets that Native Americans are a modern people. The internal dialogues of the characters captures this relationship well.
�� Denorah turning into the secret heroine with those last two pages. Compassion would have changed (and did eventually change) the entire course of events, so of course it is up to a woman to provide that and Save The Day. 30% of this could also go in the cons list; see below.

Cons:
�� I really could just care less about the basketball details
�� Wanted a bit more of a backstory on why the four men were pursued for such a lethal vendetta; surely there must have been more to it than the actual hunt? Deer Head Woman is the protector of children and women - did these men have a history of disrespecting children and women beyond the events of The Thanksgiving Classic? Not to mention Lewis was incredibly repentant about it from the first moment.
�� Lewis’s character was not only entirely capable of providing the emotional self-sacrifice required to break the cycle but also DID do his best at redemption. Should the opportunity have presented itself for him to save Elk Head Woman AND her calf, I believe he could have become the “hero�� and shattered the trite male/female relationship with empathy. Elk Head Woman takes empathy a step TOO far - let’s see male characters move the needle the same distance.
�� Some of the prose is a bit choppy and I had to reread to understand what was being said - nouns verbing nouns with some clauses peppered in for spice were in an order that made the subject bleary. It’s hard to describe so my sentence describing it is probably doing the same thing.
�� I’m going to reiterate how much I could live without the basketball details.

Note: The animal gore did not bother me as much as I thought it would? Not that it was necessarily important to the story, but I understand why and how it had to happen in the context of a hunter’s survival. Elk Head Woman’s whole point was giving them a taste of their own medicine PLUS she couldn’t risk discovery. Just my hot take, but I know and respect that it disturbed other readers.

Despite my lengthy list above, FANTASTIC read.
]]> <![CDATA[The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce, #10)]]> 40061596
After an eventful ceremony with a missing best man and spontaneous ventriloquist act, spirits are high as Feely and her new husband head for the towering and beautifully iced wedding cake. But as Feely slices into the first piece, a scream rings out--the bridal cake contains a severed human finger. Delighted, Flavia wraps the finger in a napkin and whisks it away to her chemical laboratory. By studying the embalmed skin, the indentation of a ring, and the slope of the fingernail, she'll not only be able to determine the identity of the victim--but also point a finger at a killer.]]> 327 Alan Bradley 0345540026 Jennifer 0 abandoned 3.95 2019 The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce, #10)

The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce, #10)

author: Alan Bradley
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/27
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Innocence of Father Brown (Father Brown, #1)]]> 602163 256 G.K. Chesterton 0140007652 Jennifer 0 abandoned 3.73 1911

The Innocence of Father Brown (Father Brown, #1)

author: G.K. Chesterton
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1911
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/27
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants]]> 17465709 Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.]]> 408 Robin Wall Kimmerer 1571313354 Jennifer 0 hibernating 4.52 2013 Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/27
shelves: hibernating
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present]]> 2767 Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen as the exploitation and manipulation of the majority by rigged systems that hugely favor a small aggregate of elite rulers from across the orthodox political parties.
A People's History has been assigned as reading in many high schools and colleges across the United States. It has also resulted in a change in the focus of historical work, which now includes stories that previously were ignored

Library Journal calls Howard Zinn’s book “a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those…whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories.”]]> 729 Howard Zinn 0060838655 Jennifer 0 hibernating 4.07 1980 A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present

A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present

author: Howard Zinn
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/27
shelves: hibernating
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fall of the House of Usher]]> 175516
"The Fall .. " recounts the terrible events that befall the last remaining members of the once-illustrious Usher clan before it is -- quite literally -- rent asunder. With amazing economy, Poe plunges the reader into a state of deliciously agonizing suspense. It's a must-read for fans of the golden era of horror writing. "The Fall .." is one of Poe's best known short stories - if not the best.

Librarian's note: this entry is for the short story, "The Fall of the House of Usher." Collections of short stories by the author, such as "The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales," can be found elsewhere on ŷ��.]]> 36 Edgar Allan Poe 1594561796 Jennifer 4 3.90 1839

author: Edgar Allan Poe
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1839
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/27
date added: 2022/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]> The Shining (The Shining, #1) 11588 497 Stephen King 0450040186 Jennifer 5 4.28 1977

author: Stephen King
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1977
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/17
date added: 2022/12/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Illustrated English Social History: Chaucer's England & The Early Tudors]]> 22434869 George Macaulay Trevelyan Jennifer 0 to-read 3.50

Illustrated English Social History: Chaucer's England & The Early Tudors

author: George Macaulay Trevelyan
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Wait for What Will Come 362938 280 Barbara Michaels 0425120058 Jennifer 5 3.83 1978

author: Barbara Michaels
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1978
rating: 5
read at: 2022/07/17
date added: 2022/07/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle]]> 42397849
Burnout. Many women in America have experienced it. What’s expected of women and what it’s really like to be a woman in today’s world are two very different things—and women exhaust themselves trying to close the gap between them. How can you “love your body�� when every magazine cover has ten diet tips for becoming “your best self��? How do you “lean in�� at work when you’re already operating at 110 percent and aren’t recognized for it? How can you live happily and healthily in a sexist world that is constantly telling you you’re too fat, too needy, too noisy, and too selfish?

Sisters Emily Nagoski, PhD, and Amelia Nagoski, DMA, are here to help end the cycle of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Instead of asking us to ignore the very real obstacles and societal pressures that stand between women and well-being, they explain with compassion and optimism what we’re up against—and show us how to fight back. In these pages you’ll learn

�� what you can do to complete the biological stress cycle—and return your body to a state of relaxation
�� how to manage the “monitor�� in your brain that regulates the emotion of frustration
�� how the Bikini Industrial Complex makes it difficult for women to love their bodies—and how to defend yourself against it
�� why rest, human connection, and befriending your inner critic are keys to recovering and preventing burnout

With the help of eye-opening science, prescriptive advice, and helpful worksheets and exercises, all women will find something transformative in these pages—and will be empowered to create positive change. Emily and Amelia aren’t here to preach the broad platitudes of expensive self-care or insist that we strive for the impossible goal of “having it all.�� Instead, they tell us that we are enough, just as we are—and that wellness, true wellness, is within our reach.]]> 277 Emily Nagoski 198481706X Jennifer 0 to-read 3.93 2019 Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle

author: Emily Nagoski
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Wolf in the Whale 39603796
"There is a very old story, rarely told, of a wolf that runs into the ocean and becomes a whale."

Born with the soul of a hunter and the spirit of the Wolf, Omat is destined to follow in her grandfather's footsteps-invoking the spirits of the land, sea, and sky to protect her people.

But the gods have stopped listening and Omat's family is starving. Alone at the edge of the world, hope is all they have left.

Desperate to save them, Omat journeys across the icy wastes, fighting for survival with every step. When she meets a Viking warrior and his strange new gods, they set in motion a conflict that could shatter her world...or save it.]]> 544 Jordanna Max Brodsky 0316417157 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.10 2019 The Wolf in the Whale

author: Jordanna Max Brodsky
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)]]> 33784346 A special collector's edition of the New York Times bestselling novel that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher.

Geralt of Rivia is a witcher. A cunning sorcerer. A merciless assassin.

And a cold-blooded killer.

His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world.

But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good. . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

For fans of the video game and the uninitiated alike, The Last Wish is the opening chapter of The Witcher series.
Witcher collections
The Last Wish
Sword of Destiny

Witcher novels

Blood of Elves
The Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of Swallows
Lady of the Lake

The Malady and Other Stories: An Andrzej Sapkowski Sampler (e-only)

Translated from original Polish by Danusia Stok]]> 320 Andrzej Sapkowski 0316438960 Jennifer 4 4.11 1993 The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5)

author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/12
date added: 2022/03/12
shelves:
review:

]]> The Secret Lives of Color 34122206 The Secret Lives of Colour tells the unusual stories of the 75 most fascinating shades, dyes and hues. From blonde to ginger, the brown that changed the way battles were fought to the white that protected against the plague, Picasso's blue period to the charcoal on the cave walls at Lascaux, acid yellow to kelly green, and from scarlet women to imperial purple, these surprising stories run like a bright thread throughout history. In this book Kassia St Clair has turned her lifelong obsession with colours and where they come from (whether Van Gogh's chrome yellow sunflowers or punk's fluorescent pink) into a unique study of human civilisation. Across fashion and politics, art and war, The Secret Lives of Colour tell the vivid story of our culture.]]> 320 Kassia St. Clair 0143131141 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.08 2016 The Secret Lives of Color

author: Kassia St. Clair
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)]]> 40275288
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction �� but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.]]> 845 Samantha Shannon 1408883457 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.18 2019 The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)

The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)

author: Samantha Shannon
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting]]> 28260582
In the digital age of instant communication, handwriting is less necessary than ever before, and indeed fewer and fewer schoolchildren are being taught how to write in cursive. Signatures--far from John Hancock’s elegant model--have become scrawls. In her recent and widely discussed and debated essays, Anne Trubek argues that the decline and even elimination of handwriting from daily life does not signal a decline in civilization, but rather the next stage in the evolution of communication.

Now, in The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting , Trubek uncovers the long and significant impact handwriting has had on culture and humanity--from the first recorded handwriting on the clay tablets of the Sumerians some four thousand years ago and the invention of the alphabet as we know it, to the rising value of handwritten manuscripts today. Each innovation over the millennia has threatened existing standards and entrenched interests: Indeed, in ancient Athens, Socrates and his followers decried the very use of handwriting, claiming memory would be destroyed; while Gutenberg’s printing press ultimately overturned the livelihood of the monks who created books in the pre-printing era. And yet new methods of writing and communication have always appeared. Establishing a novel link between our deep past and emerging future, Anne Trubek offers a colorful lens through which to view our shared social experience.]]> 192 Anne Trubek 1620402157 Jennifer 4 3.51 2014 The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting

The History and Uncertain Future of Handwriting

author: Anne Trubek
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/28
date added: 2022/02/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Fabric of Civilization 57653423 From Neanderthal string to 3D knitting, an “expansive�� global history that highlights “how textiles truly changed the world�� (Wall Street Journal)The story of humanity is the story of textiles—as old as civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, the need for textiles has driven technology, business, politics, and culture.

In The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel synthesizes groundbreaking research from archaeology, economics, and science to reveal a surprising history. From Minoans exporting wool colored with precious purple dye to Egypt, to Romans arrayed in costly Chinese silk, the cloth trade paved the crossroads of the ancient world. Textiles funded the Renaissance and the Mughal Empire; they gave us banks and bookkeeping, Michelangelo’s��David and the Taj Mahal. The cloth business spread the alphabet and arithmetic, propelled chemical research, and taught people to think in binary code.
��
Assiduously researched and deftly narrated, The Fabric of Civilization tells the story of the world’s most influential commodity.

“We are taken on a journey as epic, and varying, as the Silk Road itself.�� [The Fabric of Civilization is] like a swatch of a Florentine Renaissance brocade: carefully woven, the technique precise, the colors a mix of shade and shine and an accurate representation of the whole cloth."

��New York Times

“Textile-making hasn’t gotten enough credit for its own sophistication, and for all the ways it undergirds human technological innovation—an error Virginia Postrel’s erudite and complete book goes a long way toward correcting at last.��

��Wired]]> 304 Virginia Postrel 1541617622 Jennifer 4 3.98 2020 Fabric of Civilization

author: Virginia Postrel
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/11
date added: 2022/02/11
shelves:
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]]> Beatrice and Virgil 7176578 213 Yann Martel 1400069262 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.16 2010

author: Yann Martel
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.16
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Phantom Coach 32855071 15 Amelia B. Edwards Jennifer 2 3.63 1999

author: Amelia B. Edwards
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1999
rating: 2
read at: 2017/11/15
date added: 2022/02/03
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder]]> 21706
A spellbinding tour de force of true-crime writing, this newly revised edition includes never-before-published forensic evidence, photos, and previously unreleased documents, definitively closing the case that has often been called "the most notorious unsolved murder of the twentieth century."]]> 624 Steve Hodel Jennifer 0 to-read 3.68 2003 Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder

Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder

author: Steve Hodel
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> And Then There Were None 231622 First there were ten--a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal--and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

(back cover)]]> 275 Agatha Christie 0312979479 Jennifer 5 I read this in one day. 4.21 1939 And Then There Were None

author: Agatha Christie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1939
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/31
date added: 2021/12/31
shelves:
review:
I read this in one day.
]]> <![CDATA[Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders]]> 105992 687 Vincent Bugliosi 0393322238 Jennifer 4 4.05 1974

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders

author: Vincent Bugliosi
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/28
date added: 2021/12/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My Life in the Maine Woods: A Game Warden's Wife in the Allagash Country]]> 1782515 240 Annette Jackson 0976323192 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.87 2007

My Life in the Maine Woods: A Game Warden's Wife in the Allagash Country

author: Annette Jackson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A History of Wild Places 56898223
Called "Pastoral," this reclusive community was founded in the 1970s by like-minded people searching for a simpler way of life. By all accounts, the commune shouldn’t exist anymore and soon after Travis stumbles upon it�� he disappears. Just like Maggie St. James.

Years later, Theo, a lifelong member of Pastoral, discovers Travis’s abandoned truck beyond the border of the community. No one is allowed in or out, not when there’s a risk of bringing a disease��rot—into Pastoral. Unraveling the mystery of what happened reveals secrets that Theo, his wife, Calla, and her sister, Bee, keep from one another. Secrets that prove their perfect, isolated world isn’t as safe as they believed—and that darkness takes many forms.

Hauntingly beautiful, hypnotic, and bewitching, A History of Wild Places is a story about fairy tales, our fear of the dark, and losing yourself within the wilderness of your mind.]]> 354 Shea Ernshaw 1982164808 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.92 2021

author: Shea Ernshaw
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Hangsaman 16171283
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700��titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the��series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date��translations by award-winning translators.]]> 225 Shirley Jackson 0143107046 Jennifer 4
“…she held herself tight and unyielding, crying out silently something that might only be phrased as, ‘Let me take, let me create.’��

“Never rest until you have uncovered your essential self. Remember that. Somewhere, deep inside you, hidden by all sorts of fears and worries and petty little thoughts, is a clean pure being made of radiant colors.��

“Never wish for anything until it’s ready for you. Never try to make anything happen until it’s on its way.��

“She thought sadly of how empty lives must be where something was not going to happen.”]]> 3.85 1951 Hangsaman

author: Shirley Jackson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1951
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/08
date added: 2021/12/08
shelves:
review:
Wowowowow - started smart by taking this in sips which then became gulps which then became a marathon of pouring through it insatiably.

“…she held herself tight and unyielding, crying out silently something that might only be phrased as, ‘Let me take, let me create.’��

“Never rest until you have uncovered your essential self. Remember that. Somewhere, deep inside you, hidden by all sorts of fears and worries and petty little thoughts, is a clean pure being made of radiant colors.��

“Never wish for anything until it’s ready for you. Never try to make anything happen until it’s on its way.��

“She thought sadly of how empty lives must be where something was not going to happen.��
]]> Ivanhoe 6440 Ivanhoe with his concerns about contemporary events.
Scott drew together the apparently opposing themes of historical reality and chivalric romance, social realism and high adventure, past and present.]]> 496 Walter Scott Jennifer 2 3.76 1819 Ivanhoe

author: Walter Scott
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1819
rating: 2
read at: 2021/12/03
date added: 2021/12/03
shelves:
review:
How could this possibly be the most famous of Scott’s works? HOW?
]]> The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1) 55196813
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it's too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.]]> 304 Nita Prose 0593356152 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.71 2022 The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1)

author: Nita Prose
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Piranesi 56268907
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 245 Susanna Clarke 1635577802 Jennifer 5
Just as disorienting as The House was how fast the pages turned themselves.

Clarke forges science fiction with fantasy with mystery in this compact epistolary.]]> 4.25 2020 Piranesi

author: Susanna Clarke
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/03
date added: 2021/11/03
shelves:
review:
Certainly not what I expected when I purchased it, but that doesn’t change how much I enjoyed it.

Just as disorienting as The House was how fast the pages turned themselves.

Clarke forges science fiction with fantasy with mystery in this compact epistolary.
]]> <![CDATA[Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally]]> 56922093
Disabled people are the world’s largest minority, an estimated 15 percent of the global population. But many of us–disabled and non-disabled alike–don’t know how to act, what to say, or how to be an ally to the disability community. Demystifying Disability is a friendly handbook on important disability issues you need to know about, including:

�� How to appreciate disability history and identity
�� How to recognize and avoid ableism (discrimination toward disabled people)
�� How to be mindful of good disability etiquette
�� How to appropriately think, talk, and ask about disability
�� How to ensure accessibility becomes your standard practice, from everyday communication to planning special events
�� How to identify and speak up about disability stereotypes in media

Authored by celebrated disability rights advocate, speaker, and writer Emily Ladau, this practical, intersectional guide offers all readers a welcoming place to understand disability as part of the human experience.]]> 176 Emily Ladau 1984858971 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.39 2021 Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally

Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally

author: Emily Ladau
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Maine Woods (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau)]]> 67503 Qui décrira la douceur indicible et la vie immortelle de cette austère forêt, où la Nature, même au coeur de l'hiver, est toujours à son printemps, où les arbres couverts de mousse et en état de décomposition ne sont pas vieux mais semblent dotés d'une jeunesse éternelle : et la Nature bienheureuse et innocente, tel un enfant serein, est trop contente pour faire du bruit, à l'exception du gazouillement des oiseaux et du clapotis des ruisseaux ? Quel endroit pour vivre, pour mourir et y être enterré ! H.D. Thoreau

]]> 376 Henry David Thoreau 0691118779 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.86 1864 The Maine Woods (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau)

author: Henry David Thoreau
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1864
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Paper: Paging Through History 32191697 Máo zhuxí yulu, Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung (Zedong)—which doesn’t include editions in 37 foreign languages and in braille—to appreciate the range and influence of a single publication, in paper. Or take the fact that one of history’s most revered artists, Leonardo da Vinci, left behind only 15 paintings but 4,000 works on paper. And though the colonies were at the time calling for a boycott of all British goods, the one exception they made speaks to the essentiality of the material; they penned the Declaration of Independence on British paper.

Now, amid discussion of “going paperless”—and as speculation about the effects of a digitally dependent society grows rampant—we’ve come to a world-historic juncture. Thousands of years ago, Socrates and Plato warned that written language would be the end of “true knowledge,�� replacing the need to exercise memory and think through complex questions. Similar arguments were made about the switch from handwritten to printed books, and today about the role of computer technology. By tracing paper’s evolution from antiquity to the present, with an emphasis on the contributions made in Asia and the Middle East, Mark Kurlansky challenges common assumptions about technology’s influence, affirming that paper is here to stay. Paper will be the commodity history that guides us forward in the twenty-first century and illuminates our times.]]> 389 Mark Kurlansky 0393353702 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.87 2016 Paper: Paging Through History

author: Mark Kurlansky
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2)]]> 55457493
Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?]]> 422 Richard Osman Jennifer 0 to-read 4.36 2021 The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2)

The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2)

author: Richard Osman
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo]]> 32620332
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ��80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.]]> 389 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1501139231 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.39 2017 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)]]> 16694
Frodo and his Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in a battle in the Mines of Moria. And Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape, the rest of the company was attacked by Orcs.

Now they continue the journey alone down the great River Anduin -- alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.]]> 734 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618002235 Jennifer 5 4.42 1954 The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)

The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)

author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at: 2021/09/30
date added: 2021/09/30
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Year of the Witching (Bethel, #1)]]> 49789629 A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself in this stunning, feminist fantasy debut.

In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement.

But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.

Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.]]> 368 Alexis Henderson 0593099605 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.79 2020 The Year of the Witching (Bethel, #1)

author: Alexis Henderson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares: The Love, Lore, and Mystique of Mushrooms]]> 7919330 288 Greg Marley 1603582142 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.91 2010

Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares: The Love, Lore, and Mystique of Mushrooms

author: Greg Marley
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman]]> 13642937
“[A] compelling portrait not just of a Russian titan, but also of a flesh-and-blood woman.”�� Newsweek

ONE OF ESQUIRE ’S BEST BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL TIME �� ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Salon, Vogue, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Providence Journal

Robert K. Massie returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure German princess who became Catherine the Great. Born into a minor noble family, Catherine transformed herself into empress of Russia by sheer determination. For thirty-four years, the government, foreign policy, cultural development, and welfare of the Russian people were in her hands. She dealt with domestic rebellion, foreign wars, and the tidal wave of political change and violence churned up by the French Revolution. Catherine’s family, friends, ministers, generals, lovers, and enemies—all are here, vividly brought to life. History offers few stories richer than that of Catherine the Great. In this book, an eternally fascinating woman is returned to life.]]> 672 Robert K. Massie 0345408772 Jennifer 4 4.24 2011 Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman

Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman

author: Robert K. Massie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/05
date added: 2021/09/05
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]]> Where the Crawdads Sing 36809135
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

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

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.]]> 384 Delia Owens 0735219117 Jennifer 2 4.35 2018 Where the Crawdads Sing

author: Delia Owens
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2021/09/05
date added: 2021/09/05
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review:

]]> Certain Dark Things 54785481
Atl needs to quickly escape the city, far from the rival narco-vampire clan relentlessly pursuing her. Her plan doesn't include Domingo, but little by little, Atl finds herself warming up to the scrappy young man and his undeniable charm. As the trail of corpses stretches behind her, local cops and crime bosses both start closing in.

Vampires, humans, cops, and criminals collide in the dark streets of Mexico City. Do Atl and Domingo even stand a chance of making it out alive? Or will the city devour them all?]]> 256 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 1250785588 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.73 2016 Certain Dark Things

author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Familiars 39835415
Is there more to Alice than meets the eye? Fleetwood must risk everything to prove her innocence. As the two women’s lives become intertwined, the Witch Trials of 1612 loom. Time is running out; both their lives are at stake. Only they know the truth. Only they can save each other.

Rich and compelling, set against the frenzy of the real Pendle Hill Witch Trials, this novel explores the rights of 17th-century women and raises the question: Was witch-hunting really women-hunting? Fleetwood Shuttleworth, Alice Grey and the other characters are actual historical figures. King James I was obsessed with asserting power over the lawless countryside (even woodland creatures, or “familiars,�� were suspected of dark magic) by capturing “witches”—in reality mostly poor and illiterate women.]]> 420 Stacey Halls Jennifer 0 to-read 3.85 2019 The Familiars

author: Stacey Halls
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dune (Dune, #1) 44767458
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.]]> 658 Frank Herbert 059309932X Jennifer 0 to-read 4.33 1965 Dune (Dune, #1)

author: Frank Herbert
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/04
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]]> The Beautiful Ones 55311334 From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a sweeping romance with a dash of magic.

They are the Beautiful Ones, Loisail’s most notable socialites, and this spring is Nina’s chance to join their ranks, courtesy of her well-connected cousin and his calculating wife. But the Grand Season has just begun, and already Nina’s debut has gone disastrously awry. She has always struggled to control her telekinesis—neighbors call her the Witch of Oldhouse—and the haphazard manifestations of her powers make her the subject of malicious gossip.

When entertainer Hector Auvray arrives to town, Nina is dazzled. A telekinetic like her, he has traveled the world performing his talents for admiring audiences. He sees Nina not as a witch, but ripe with potential to master her power under his tutelage. With Hector’s help, Nina’s talent blossoms, as does her love for him.

But great romances are for fairytales, and Hector is hiding a truth from Nina—and himself—that threatens to end their courtship before it truly begins. The Beautiful Ones is a charming tale of love and betrayal, and the struggle between conformity and passion, set in a world where scandal is a razor-sharp weapon.]]> 299 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 125078557X Jennifer 0 to-read 3.84 2017 The Beautiful Ones

author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Indian Herbalogy of North America: The Definitive Guide to Native Medicinal Plants and Their Uses (Healing Arts)]]> 699987 ��
For more than twenty years, this pioneering work had served as a bible for herbalists throughout the world. It is an illustrated encyclopedic guide to more than two hundred medicinal plants found in North America, with descriptions of each plant’s appearance and uses, and directions for methods of use and dosage.
��
Native American traditions are compared with traditional uses of the same plants among other cultures where the science of herbs has flourished, particularly in Russia and China. Included is an annotated bibliography of pertinent books and periodicals.]]> 424 Alma R. Hutchens 0877736391 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.07 Indian Herbalogy of North America: The Definitive Guide to Native Medicinal Plants and Their Uses (Healing Arts)

Indian Herbalogy of North America: The Definitive Guide to Native Medicinal Plants and Their Uses (Healing Arts)

author: Alma R. Hutchens
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures]]> 52668915
Neither plant nor animal, it is found throughout the earth, the air and our bodies. It can be microscopic, yet also accounts for the largest organisms ever recorded, living for millennia and weighing tens of thousands of tonnes. Its ability to digest rock enabled the first life on land, it can survive unprotected in space, and thrives amidst nuclear radiation.

In this captivating adventure, Merlin Sheldrake explores the spectacular and neglected world of fungi: endlessly surprising organisms that sustain nearly all living systems. They can solve problems without a brain, stretching traditional definitions of ‘intelligence��, and can manipulate animal behaviour with devastating precision. In giving us bread, alcohol and life-saving medicines, fungi have shaped human history, and their psychedelic properties, which have influenced societies since antiquity, have recently been shown to alleviate a number of mental illnesses. The ability of fungi to digest plastic, explosives, pesticides and crude oil is being harnessed in break-through technologies, and the discovery that they connect plants in underground networks, the ‘Wood Wide Web��, is transforming the way we understand ecosystems. Yet they live their lives largely out of sight, and over ninety percent of their species remain undocumented.

Entangled Life is a mind-altering journey into this hidden kingdom of life, and shows that fungi are key to understanding the planet on which we live, and the ways we think, feel and behave. The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them.]]> 352 Merlin Sheldrake 0525510311 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.34 2020 Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

author: Merlin Sheldrake
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives]]> 10629788
Coaches have a tremendous platform, says Joe Ehrmann, a former Syracuse University All-American and NFL star. Perhaps second only to parents, coaches can impact young people as no one else can. But most coaches fail to do the teaching, mentoring, even life-saving intervention that their platform provides. Too many are transactional coaches; they focus solely on winning and meeting their personal needs. Some coaches, however, use their platform. They teach the Xs and Os, but also teach the Ys of life. They help young people grow into responsible adults; they leave a lasting legacy. These are the transformational coaches. These coaches change lives, and they also change society by helping to develop healthy men and women.

InSideOut Coaching explains how to become a transformational coach. Coaches first have to “go inside�� and articulate their reasons for coaching. Only those who have taken the InSideOut journey can become transformational. Joe Ehrmann provides examples of coaches in his life who took this journey and taught him how to find something bigger than himself in sports.He describes his own InSideOut experience, starting with the death of his beloved brother, which helped him understand how sports could transcend the playing field. He gives coaches the information and the tools they need to become transformational.

Joe Ehrmann has taken his message about the extraordinary power of sports all over the country. It has been warmly endorsed by NFL head coaches, athletic directors at major universities, high school head coaches, even business groups and community organizations. Now any parent-coach or school or community coach can read Ehrmann’s message and learn how to make sports a life-changing experience.]]> 272 Joe Ehrmann 1439182981 Jennifer 0 abandoned 4.30 2011 InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives

InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives

author: Joe Ehrmann
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/07/04
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)]]> 46040093
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?]]> 381 Richard Osman 024142545X Jennifer 5 3.88 2020 The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)

The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)

author: Richard Osman
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/07/04
date added: 2021/07/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides]]> 341292 A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and James Boswell's The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides recounts their tour of Scotland in 1773. While Johnson focuses on Scotland itself, Boswell is even keener on presenting his friend to the notables of his homeland. Together they form a complete account of a fascinating journey, two intriguing personalities, and of a society coming to terms with itself after a period of drastic upheaval.]]> 430 Samuel Johnson 0140432213 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.50 1775 A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland and The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

author: Samuel Johnson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1775
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Gods of Jade and Shadow 49185974 The Mayan god of death sends a young woman on a harrowing, life-changing journey in this dark, one-of-a-kind fairy tale inspired by Mexican folklore.

The Jazz Age is in full swing, but Casiopea Tun is too busy cleaning the floors of her wealthy grandfather’s house to listen to any fast tunes. Nevertheless, she dreams of a life far from her dusty small town in southern Mexico. A life she can call her own.

Yet this new life seems as distant as the stars, until the day she finds a curious wooden box in her grandfather’s room. She opens it—and accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death, who requests her help in recovering his throne from his treacherous brother. Failure will mean Casiopea’s demise, but success could make her dreams come true.

In the company of the strangely alluring god and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.]]> 340 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 052562077X Jennifer 4 3.89 2019 Gods of Jade and Shadow

author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2021/03/18
date added: 2021/03/18
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review:

]]> Out of Oz (Wicked Years, #4) 13339767 568 Gregory Maguire 0060859733 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.79 2011

author: Gregory Maguire
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Misery 30753629
--back cover]]> 422 Stephen King 1501156748 Jennifer 4 4.29 1987 Misery

author: Stephen King
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2021/03/02
date added: 2021/03/02
shelves:
review:

]]> Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds 56187301 Length: 31 minutes

A classic Agatha Christie short story, available individually for the first time as an ebook.

Hercule Poirot is about to tuck into a very traditional English supper with his old friend Bonnington, when the habit and ritual of a lone diner sparks his interest more than the chestnut turkey. The lone diner has eaten there on Thursdays and Tuesdays for the last ten years like clockwork, but, no one at the restaurant even knows his name. However, ‘Old Father Time,�� as they have fondly nicknamed him, suddenly stops coming and Poirot believes that he might have picked up that one essential clue that could shed light on a man who no one really knows. Could what Old Father Time strangely ordered as his final meal prove to be the only thing that makes this suspicious?

]]> Agatha Christie Jennifer 5 3.15 1940 Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds

author: Agatha Christie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.15
book published: 1940
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/12
date added: 2021/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Tailor (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1.5)]]> 17997353 18 Leigh Bardugo Jennifer 0 3.73 2013

The Tailor (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy, #1.5)

author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2021/01/31
date added: 2021/01/31
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]]> <![CDATA[Siege and Storm (The Grisha, #2)]]> 35529904
The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her--or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.]]> 435 Leigh Bardugo 125004443X Jennifer 4 3.76 2013 Siege and Storm (The Grisha, #2)

author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/31
date added: 2021/01/31
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review:

]]> Salt: A World History 2715 484 Mark Kurlansky 0142001619 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.75 2002

author: Mark Kurlansky
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Once Upon a River 42816401
On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed.

Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, yet as the days pass the mystery only deepens. The child herself is mute and unable to answer the essential Who is she? Where did she come from? And to whom does she belong? But answers proliferate nonetheless.

Three families are keen to claim her. A wealthy young mother knows the girl is her kidnapped daughter, missing for two years. A farming family reeling from the discovery of their son’s secret liaison stand ready to welcome their granddaughter. The parson’s housekeeper, humble and isolated, sees in the child the image of her younger sister. But the return of a lost child is not without complications and no matter how heartbreaking the past losses, no matter how precious the child herself, this girl cannot be everyone’s. Each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl’s identity can be known.

Once Upon a River is a glorious tapestry of a book that combines folklore and science, magic and myth. Suspenseful, romantic, and richly atmospheric, this is “a beguiling tale, full of twists and turns like the river at its heart, and just as rich and intriguing�� (M.L. Stedman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Light Between Oceans ).]]> 496 Diane Setterfield 074329808X Jennifer 5 3.97 2018 Once Upon a River

author: Diane Setterfield
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/24
date added: 2021/01/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1)]]> 37834723 Alternative cover edition of ISBN13: 9780805094596.

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Shadow and Bone is the first installment in Leigh Bardugo's Grisha Trilogy.]]> 358 Leigh Bardugo 0805094598 Jennifer 4 3.86 2012 Shadow and Bone (Shadow and Bone, #1)

author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2021/01/14
date added: 2021/01/14
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]]> The Snow Child 11250053
This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place, things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.]]> 386 Eowyn Ivey 0316175676 Jennifer 5 3.94 2012 The Snow Child

author: Eowyn Ivey
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/12
date added: 2021/01/12
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]]> The Woman in the Window 35098762 It isn’t paranoia if it’s really happening . . .

Anna Fox lives alone?a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.

Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, mother, their teenaged son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble?and its shocking secrets are laid bare.

What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.

Twisty and powerful, ingenious, and moving, The Woman in the Window is a smart, sophisticated novel of psychological suspense that recalls the best of Hitchcock.]]> 427 A.J. Finn 006279955X Jennifer 5 3.96 2018

author: A.J. Finn
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/11
date added: 2021/01/11
shelves:
review:

]]> Life Among the Savages 23281797
In her celebrated fiction, Shirley Jackson explored the darkness lurking beneath the surface of small-town America. But in Life Among the Savages , she takes on the lighter side of small-town life. In this witty and warm memoir of her family’s life in rural Vermont, she delightfully exposes a domestic side in cheerful contrast to her quietly terrifying fiction. With a novelist’s gift for character, an unfailing maternal instinct, and her signature humor, Jackson turns everyday family experiences into brilliant adventures.]]> 240 Shirley Jackson 0143128043 Jennifer 5 3.99 1953 Life Among the Savages

author: Shirley Jackson
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1953
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/08
date added: 2021/01/08
shelves:
review:

]]> Shadow of the Moon 6536794 351 M.M. Kaye Jennifer 0 abandoned 4.43 1956

author: M.M. Kaye
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.43
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at: 2016/08/17
date added: 2021/01/07
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> Porno (Trainspotting 2) 29779243 Now a major film directed by Danny Boyle reuniting the cast of Trainspotting

Ten years on from Trainspotting Sick Boy is back in Edinburgh after a long spell in London. Having failed spectacularly as a hustler, pimp, husband, father and businessman, Sick Boy taps into an opportunity which to him represents one last throw of the dice. However, to realise his dream of directing and producing a pornographic movie, Sick Boy must team up with old pal and fellow exile Mark Renton. Still scheming, still scamming, Sick Boy and Renton soon find out that they have unresolved issues to address concerning the unhinged Frank Begbie, the troubled, drug-addled Spud, but, most of all, with each other.]]> 483 Irvine Welsh 1784704733 Jennifer 0 abandoned 3.88 2002 Porno (Trainspotting 2)

author: Irvine Welsh
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/07
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> Whiskey Tango Foxtrot 28109886 Now a Major Motion Picture titled Whiskey Tango Foxtrot starring Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Alfred Molina, and Billy Bob Thornton.

From tea with warlords in the countryside to parties with drunken foreign correspondents in the “dry�� city of Kabul, journalist Kim Barker captures the humor and heartbreak of life in post-9/11 Afghanistan and Pakistan in this profound and darkly comic memoir. As Barker grows from awkward newbie to seasoned reporter, she offers an insider’s account of the region’s “forgotten war�� at a time when all eyes were turned to Iraq. Candid, self-deprecating, and laugh-out-loud funny, Barker shares both her affection for the absurdities of these two hapless countries and her fear for their future stability.]]> 320 Kim Barker 1101973129 Jennifer 0 abandoned 3.27 2011 Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

author: Kim Barker
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/07
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)]]> 27414444 A #1 New York Times-bestseller

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo returns to the breathtaking world of the Grishaverse in this unforgettable tale about the opportunity—and the adventure—of a lifetime.]]> 496 Leigh Bardugo Jennifer 5 4.51 2015 Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)

author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/06
date added: 2021/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[To The Bright Edge of the World]]> 27917957 The Snow Child, Eowyn Ivey's second novel is a breathtaking story of discovery and adventure, set at the end of the nineteenth century, and of a marriage tested by a closely held secret.

Colonel Allen Forrester receives the commission of a lifetime when he is charged to navigate Alaska's hitherto impassable Wolverine River, with only a small group of men. The Wolverine is the key to opening up Alaska and its huge reserves of gold to the outside world, but previous attempts have ended in tragedy.

For Forrester, the decision to accept this mission is even more difficult, as he is only recently married to Sophie, the wife he had perhaps never expected to find. Sophie is pregnant with their first child, and does not relish the prospect of a year in a military barracks while her husband embarks upon the journey of a lifetime. She has genuine cause to worry about her pregnancy, and it is with deep uncertainty about what their future holds that she and her husband part.

A story shot through with a darker but potent strand of the magic that illuminated The Snow Child, and with the sweep and insight that characterizes Rose Tremain's The Colour, this novel from Pulitzer Prize finalist Eowyn Ivey singles her out as a major literary talent.]]> 417 Eowyn Ivey 0316242853 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.10 2016 To The Bright Edge of the World

author: Eowyn Ivey
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Red Signal (Parker Pyne) 15851956 Agatha Christie 006225765X Jennifer 4 3.33 1924

author: Agatha Christie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.33
book published: 1924
rating: 4
read at: 2020/12/29
date added: 2020/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The House of Lurking Death: A Short Tory (Tommy & Tuppence)]]> 15820774 Book description to come. Agatha Christie 0062249142 Jennifer 4 3.65 1995

The House of Lurking Death: A Short Tory (Tommy & Tuppence)

author: Agatha Christie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2020/12/29
date added: 2020/12/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hercule Poirot's Christmas (Hercule Poirot, #20)]]> 20409357 7 Agatha Christie Jennifer 4 3.79 1938

Hercule Poirot's Christmas (Hercule Poirot, #20)

author: Agatha Christie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1938
rating: 4
read at: 2020/12/15
date added: 2020/12/15
shelves:
review:

]]> Fair Isle Weekend 55892955 101 Mary Jane Mucklestone 9526938828 Jennifer 5 4.19 2020

author: Mary Jane Mucklestone
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/05
date added: 2020/12/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rajah's Emerald: A Short Story (Parker Pyne)]]> 15820793 Agatha Christie 0062249517 Jennifer 4 3.61 1926

The Rajah's Emerald: A Short Story (Parker Pyne)

author: Agatha Christie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1926
rating: 4
read at: 2020/12/12
date added: 2020/12/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl: A Short Story]]> 15851950
‘The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl�� was first published as ‘The Mystery of the Second Cucumber�� in The Novel Magazine, August 1924. It appears in the UK as ‘Mr. Eastwood’s Adventure��.]]> Agatha Christie 0062257528 Jennifer 5 3.67 1924 The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl: A Short Story

The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl: A Short Story

author: Agatha Christie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1924
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/12
date added: 2020/12/12
shelves:
review:

]]> A Christmas Journey 780882
It’s Christmas and the Berkshire countryside lies wrapped in winter chill. But the well-born guests who have gathered at Applecross for a delicious weekend of innocent intrigue and passionate romance are warmed by roaring fires and candlelight, holly and mistletoe, good wine and gorgeously wrapped gifts. It’s scarcely the setting for misfortune, and no one–not even that clever young aristocrat and budding sleuth Vespasia Cumming-Gould–anticipates the tragedy that is to darken this light-hearted holiday house party.]]> 192 Anne Perry 034546673X Jennifer 3 3.39 2003 A Christmas Journey

author: Anne Perry
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2020/12/08
date added: 2020/12/08
shelves:
review:
Who knew this would end all Jesus-y
]]> <![CDATA[The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Hercule Poirot, #37)]]> 690146
First came a sinister warning to Poirot not to eat any plum pudding�� then the discovery of a corpse in a chest�� next, an overheard quarrel that led to murder�� the strange case of the dead man who altered his eating habits�� and the puzzle of the victim who dreamt his own suicide.

What links these five baffling cases? The little grey cells of Monsieur Hercule Poirot!]]> 304 Agatha Christie 0007121083 Jennifer 5 3.79 1960 The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Hercule Poirot, #37)

The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Hercule Poirot, #37)

author: Agatha Christie
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1960
rating: 5
read at: 2020/12/05
date added: 2020/12/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Agatha Raisin and the Witches' Tree (Agatha Raisin #28)]]> 33232614
Cotswolds inhabitants are used to inclement weather, but the night sky is especially foggy as Rory and Molly Devere, the new vicar and his wife, drive slowly home from a dinner party in their village of Sumpton Harcourt. They strain to see the road ahead―and then suddenly brake, screeching to a halt. Right in front of them, aglow in the headlights, a body hangs from a gnarled tree at the edge of town. Margaret Darby, an elderly spinster, has been murdered―and the villagers are bewildered as to who would commit such a crime.

Agatha Raisin rises to the occasion (a little glad for the excitement, to tell the truth, after a long run of lost cats and divorces on the books). But Sumpton Harcourt is a small and private village, she finds―a place that poses more questions than answers. And when two more murders follow the first, Agatha begins to fear for her reputation―and even her life. That the village has its own coven of witches certainly doesn't make her feel any better...]]> 192 M.C. Beaton 1472117220 Jennifer 2 3.40 2017 Agatha Raisin and the Witches' Tree (Agatha Raisin #28)

Agatha Raisin and the Witches' Tree (Agatha Raisin #28)

author: M.C. Beaton
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2020/12/02
date added: 2020/12/02
shelves:
review:
I imagine purgatory to be only having this series available to read
]]> Middlemarch 1808340 An alternate cover edition can be found here.

Few novelists have ever attempted so broad a canvas as George Eliot in her masterpiece, Middlemarch. Portraying every level of social life in a provincial Midlands town called Middlemarch, she interweaves several intensely dramatic stories of love and death, betrayal and reconciliation, into one of the finest pictures of nineteenth-century England ever created. Its acute psychological penetration also makes it an exceptionally modern work, particularly in the romantic idealism of Dorothea Brooke, who often resembles George Eliot herself, and in the disastrous marriage and thwarted career of the young reformist doctor, Lydgate. Virginia Woolf called it “one of the few English novels written for grown-up people”—and it is truly great literature that ranks among the best novels in the world.]]> 1088 George Eliot 0553211803 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.04 1872 Middlemarch

author: George Eliot
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1872
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/11/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Frankenstein 18739613 9 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Jennifer 2 3.85 1818

author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1818
rating: 2
read at: 2020/11/06
date added: 2020/11/06
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)]]> 45047384
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 394 T.J. Klune Jennifer 0 to-read 4.37 2020

The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)

author: T.J. Klune
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/10/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Grimoires: A History of Magic Books]]> 6146412 of forbidden knowledge revealed how to make powerful talismans and protective amulets, and provided charms and conjurations for healing illness, finding love, and warding off evil. But other books promised the power to control innocent victims, even to call up the devil. Davies traces the history of
this remarkably resilient and adaptable genre, from the ancient Middle East to modern America, offering a new perspective on the fundamental developments of western civilization over the past two thousand years. Grimoires shows the influence magic and magical writing has had on the cultures of the
world, richly demonstrating the role they have played in the spread of Christianity, the growth of literacy, and the influence of western traditions from colonial times to the present.]]> 380 Owen Davies 0199204519 Jennifer 0 to-read 4.02 2009 Grimoires: A History of Magic Books

author: Owen Davies
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Secret Lives of Introverts, The: Inside Our Hidden World]]> 37588605 0 Jenn Granneman 1520088922 Jennifer 0 abandoned 3.79 2017

Secret Lives of Introverts, The: Inside Our Hidden World

author: Jenn Granneman
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/09/14
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> Opium and Absinthe 48671529
A ravenous reader and researcher, Tillie has something of an addiction to truth, and she won’t rest until she unravels the mystery of her sister’s death. Unfortunately, Tillie’s addicted to more than just truth; to ease the pain from a recent injury, she’s taking more and more laudanum…and some in her immediate circle are happy to keep her well supplied.

Tillie can’t bring herself to believe vampires exist. But with the hysteria surrounding her sister’s death, the continued vampiric slayings, and the opium swirling through her body, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for a girl who relies on facts and figures to know what’s real—or whether she can trust those closest to her.]]> 379 Lydia Kang 1542017807 Jennifer 0 to-read 3.97 2020 Opium and Absinthe

author: Lydia Kang
name: Jennifer
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Great Alone 43263516 Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents�� passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights�� lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.]]> 576 Kristin Hannah 1250229537 Jennifer 4
At first I was annoyed at how slow it was, how simple the prose was, and how reliant the plot was on domestic abuse.

And then... I don’t know what happened, but it suddenly became character driven instead of plot driven and everything bloomed.

I am glad I became invested in the characters enough to get over my writing style snobbery because damn. It’s been a while since a book made me cry. Not only that but like, repeatedly sob.

My feelings about this book are complicated, but here we are.]]> 4.57 2018 The Great Alone

author: Kristin Hannah
name: Jennifer
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2020/08/16
date added: 2020/08/16
shelves:
review:
It took my nearly a year to read the first half of this book. It took me two days to finish the second half.

At first I was annoyed at how slow it was, how simple the prose was, and how reliant the plot was on domestic abuse.

And then... I don’t know what happened, but it suddenly became character driven instead of plot driven and everything bloomed.

I am glad I became invested in the characters enough to get over my writing style snobbery because damn. It’s been a while since a book made me cry. Not only that but like, repeatedly sob.

My feelings about this book are complicated, but here we are.
]]>