en-US Tue, 08 Apr 2025 15:06:22 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 34564996 An intersectional history of the shared struggle for African American and Latinx civil rights

Spanning more than two hundred years, An African American and Latinx History of the United States is a revolutionary, politically charged revisionist history, arguing that Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa—otherwise known as "The Global South"—were crucial to the development of America as we know it. Ortiz challenges the notion of westward progress, as exalted by widely-taught formulations like "Manifest Destiny" and "Jacksonian Democracy," and shows how placing African American, Latinx, and Indigenous voices unapologetically front and center transforms American history into one of the working class organizing themselves against imperialism.

In precise detail, Ortiz traces this untold history from the Jim Crow-esque racial segregation of the Southwest, the rise and violent fall of a powerful tradition of Mexican labor organizing in the 20th century, to May 1, 2006, International Workers' Day, when migrant laborers—Chicana/os, Afrocubanos, and immigrants from every continent on earth—united in the first "Day Without Immigrants" to prove the value of their labor.

Incisive and timely, An African American and Latinx History is a bottom-up history told from the viewpoint of African American and Latinx activists revealing the radically different ways that brown and black people of the diaspora addressed issues plaguing the United States today.]]> 296 Paul Ortiz 0807013102 Diana 0 to-read, history, non-ficton 4.24 2018
author: Paul Ortiz
name: Diana
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read, history, non-ficton
review:

]]> 10065595
The first book to cover the entirety of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history, from pre-1492 to the present.

In the 1620s, Thomas Morton broke from Plymouth Colony and founded Merrymount, which celebrated same-sex desire, atheism, and interracial marriage. Transgender evangelist Jemima Wilkinson, in the early 1800s, changed her name to “Publick Universal Friend,�� refused to use pronouns, fought for gender equality, and led her own congregation in upstate New York. In the mid-nineteenth century, internationally famous Shakespearean actor Charlotte Cushman led an openly lesbian life, including a well-publicized “female marriage.�� And in the late 1920s, Augustus Granville Dill was fired by W. E. B. Du Bois from the NAACP’s magazine the Crisis after being arrested for a homosexual encounter. These are just a few moments of queer history that Michael Bronski highlights in this groundbreaking book.
��
Intellectually dynamic and endlessly provocative, A Queer History of the United States is more than a “who’s who�� of queer history: it is a book that radically challenges how we understand American history. Drawing upon primary documents, literature, and cultural histories, noted scholar and activist Michael Bronski charts the breadth of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender history, from 1492 to the 1990s, and has written a testament to how the LGBT experience has profoundly shaped our country, culture, and history.
��
A Queer History of the United States abounds with startling examples of unknown or often ignored aspects of American history—the ineffectiveness of sodomy laws in the colonies, the prevalence of cross-dressing women soldiers in the Civil War, the impact of new technologies on LGBT life in the nineteenth century, and how rock music and popular culture were, in large part, responsible for the devastating backlash against gay rights in the late 1970s. Most striking, Bronski documents how, over centuries, various incarnations of social purity movements have consistently attempted to regulate all sexuality, including fantasies, masturbation, and queer sex. Resisting these efforts, same-sex desire flourished and helped make America what it is today.
��
At heart, A Queer History of the United States is simply about American history. It is a book that will matter both to LGBT people and heterosexuals. This engrossing and revelatory history will make readers appreciate just how queer America really is.]]> 312 Michael Bronski 0807044393 Diana 0 3.88 2011
author: Michael Bronski
name: Diana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: currently-reading, audio-books, history, non-ficton
review:

]]> 23647114 The untold story of how the First World War shaped the lives, faith, and writings of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis

The First World War laid waste to a continent and permanently altered the political and religious landscape of the West. For a generation of men and women, it brought the end of innocence—and the end of faith. Yet for J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, the Great War deepened their spiritual quest. Both men served as soldiers on the Western Front, survived the trenches, and used the experience of that conflict to ignite their Christian imagination. Had there been no Great War, there would have been no Hobbit, no��Lord of the Rings, no��Narnia, and perhaps no conversion to Christianity by C. S. Lewis.

Unlike a generation of young writers who lost faith in the God of the Bible, Tolkien and Lewis produced epic stories infused with the themes of guilt and grace, sorrow and consolation. Giving an unabashedly Christian vision of hope in a world tortured by doubt and disillusionment, the two writers created works that changed the course of literature and shaped the faith of millions. This is the first book to explore their work in light of the spiritual crisis sparked by the conflict.]]> 201 Joseph Loconte 0718021762 Diana 0 to-read, non-ficton 4.05 2015
author: Joseph Loconte
name: Diana
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read, non-ficton
review:

]]> 40961427 Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmarish vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life—the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language—and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written.]]> 298 George Orwell Diana 0 4.24 1949
author: George Orwell
name: Diana
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1949
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: classics, dystopias, currently-reading
review:

]]> 18885407 The Hunger Games trilogy! This special edition set is a perfect holiday gift for fans of the book or movies.]]> Suzanne Collins 0545698286 Diana 0 4.17 2010
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Diana
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read, ebooks, dystopias, young-adult
review:

]]> 36691887
Award-winning food writer, aphrodisiac expert and dessert lover Amy Reiley offers a new reason to get into the kitchen. Her latest cookbook, Eat Cake Naked: aphrodisiac desserts to heat up your love life, is a dessert book like no other. This cookbook not only offers modern dessert recipes with easy instructions, but it’s the only cookbook around that will improve your love life while satisfying your sweet tooth.

For this book, Reiley, known as a leading authority on aphrodisiac foods, collaborated with Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef and nutritional expert Delahna Flagg. Together they’ve created a truly life-changing twist on baking with Eat Cake Naked. The book offers an entire menu of desserts that incorporate the latest superfoods known to ignite the flames of passion…and they’re not just desserts to find you romance. These are the kind of recipes you’ll want to reach for every time you make dessert. Think Avocado-Vanilla Bean Pots de Crème, Black Sesame Wedding Cookies, 5-Spice Apples in Syrup, Cherry Bomb Cupcakes and Dark Chocolate Ganache.

But not only does Eat Cake Naked provide you with go-to recipes for heating things up in the kitchen and the bedroom, it gives you the tools to upgrade any dessert in your recipe file with aphrodisiac ingredients. By the end of this book you’ll know how to swap out ingredients in any recipe to turn all your favorite desserts into something that will supercharge your sex life.]]> 129 Amy Reiley 0984689850 Diana 3 ebooks, non-ficton, cookbooks 3.83
author: Amy Reiley
name: Diana
average rating: 3.83
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: ebooks, non-ficton, cookbooks
review:

]]> 9863668
Each tale is introduced by a headnote, and the volume closes with a selected, general bibliography of print and electronic resources suitable for student research. Students of literature and language will value this book for its exploration of Latino American folktales, while students of history and society will welcome its illumination of the Latino American experience. The more than 30 tales are grouped in thematic sections on origins; heroes, heroines, villains, and fools; society and conflict; and the supernatural.]]> 184 Thomas A. Green 0313362998 Diana 0 to-read, mythology 3.67 2009
author: Thomas A. Green
name: Diana
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read, mythology
review:

]]> 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 382 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 Diana 5
Of course now I need to reread the trilogy because I really need to see all this burn. ]]> 4.67 2025
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Diana
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: dystopias, young-adult, favorites
review:
Sorrow, anger, maybe a little bit of hope. I cannot say the last time a book bought up this many emotions in me.

Of course now I need to reread the trilogy because I really need to see all this burn.
]]> 36415794
There’s no time in your life like your twenties. Let Things To Do Before You’re 30 be your tour guide through this weird and wonderful decade, with advice on everything from traveling the world to learning new languages.

In this simple, list-based guidebook, you’ll find 600 things to do before turning 30. Get advice for keeping up your health (are you really drinking enough water?), maintaining your relationships, taking care of your home (you’re not in college anymore—time to learn how to frame your art and hang it on the wall), and ultimately, becoming the best self you can possibly be, while unclogging drains and changing tires along the way.]]> 208 Jessica Misener 1507207336 Diana 3 non-ficton 3.17
author: Jessica Misener
name: Diana
average rating: 3.17
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2018/04/18
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: non-ficton
review:
It seems to accomplish a lot of these I'm going to need an incredibly compatible boyfriend, awesome friends and a job that pays incredibly well.
]]> 123261609 113 Griselda Cervera Diana 0 to-read, women 0.0
author: Griselda Cervera
name: Diana
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: to-read, women
review:

]]> 50623055



Nuestra América highlights the inspiring stories of thirty Latina/o/xs throughout history and their incredible contributions to the cultural, social, and political character of the United States.




The stories in this book cover each figure's cultural background, childhood, and the challenges and opportunities they met in pursuit of their goals. A glossary of terms and discussion question-filled reading guide, created by the Smithsonian Latino Center, encourage further research and exploration. Twenty-three of the stories featured in this anthology will also be included in the future Molina Family Latino Gallery, the first national gallery dedicated to Latina/o/xs at the Smithsonian.




This book is a must-have for teachers looking to create a more inclusive curriculum, Latina/o/x youth who need to see themselves represented as an important part of the American story, and all parents who want their kids to have a better understanding of American history. Featuring beautiful portraits by Gloria Félix, this is a book that children (and adults) will page through and learn from again and again.




Nuestra América profiles the following notable




Sylvia Acevedo, Luis Álvarez, Pura Belpré, Martha E. Bernal, Julia de Burgos, César Chávez, Sandra Cisneros, Roberto Clemente, Celia Cruz, Olga E. Custodio, Óscar de la Renta, Jaime Escalante, Macario García, Emma González, Laurie Hernández, Juan Felipe Herrera, Dolores Huerta, Jennifer Lopez, Xiuhtezcatl Martínez, Sylvia Méndez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, C. David Molina, Rita Moreno, Ellen Ochoa, Jorge Ramos, Sylvia Rivera, María Elena Salinas, Sonia Sotomayor, Dara Torres, and Robert Unanue.]]> 128 Sabrina Vourvoulias 0762497475 Diana 0 to-read, history 4.38 2020
author: Sabrina Vourvoulias
name: Diana
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 218695937 A novel about one woman’s fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.

Sara has just landed at LAX, returning home from a conference abroad, when agents from the Risk Assessment Administration pull her aside and inform her that she will soon commit a crime. Using data from her dreams, the RAA’s algorithm has determined that she is at imminent risk of harming the person she loves most: her husband. For his safety, she must be kept under observation for twenty-one days.

The agents transfer Sara to a retention center, where she is held with other dreamers, all of them women trying to prove their innocence from different crimes. With every deviation from the strict and ever-shifting rules of the facility, their stay is extended. Months pass and Sara seems no closer to release. Then one day, a new resident arrives, disrupting the order of the facility and leading Sara on a collision course with the very companies that have deprived her of her freedom.

Eerie, urgent, and ceaselessly clear-eyed, The Dream Hotel artfully explores the seductive nature of technology, which puts us in shackles even as it makes our lives easier. Lalami asks how much of ourselves must remain private if we are to remain free, and whether even the most invasive forms of surveillance can ever capture who we really are.]]> 336 Laila Lalami 0593317602 Diana 0 to-read 3.69 2025
author: Laila Lalami
name: Diana
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 22608106
In 1907, Irish immigrant William Mulholland conceived and built one of the greatest civil engineering feats in the aqueduct that carried water 223 miles from the Sierra Nevada mountains to Los Angeles—allowing this small, resource-challenged desert city to grow into a modern global metropolis. Drawing on new research, Les Standiford vividly captures the larger-then-life engineer and the breathtaking scope of his six-year, $23 million project that would transform a region, a state, and a nation at the dawn of its greatest century.

With energy and colorful detail, Water to the Angels brings to life the personalities, politics, and power—including bribery, deception, force, and bicoastal financial warfare—behind this dramatic event. At a time when the importance of water is being recognized as never before—considered by many experts to be the essential resource of the twenty-first century—Water to the Angels brings into focus the vigor of a fabled era, the might of a larger than life individual, and the scale of a priceless construction project, and sheds critical light on a past that offers insights for our future.

Water to the Angels includes 8 pages of photographs.]]> 360 Les Standiford 0062251449 Diana 0 to-read, history 3.86 2015
author: Les Standiford
name: Diana
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 39404423 A rich mosaic of diary entries and letters from Marilyn Monroe, Cesar Chavez, Susan Sontag, Albert Einstein, and many more, this is the story of Los Angeles as told by locals, transplants, and some just passing through.

The City of Angels has played a distinct role in the hearts, minds, and imaginations of millions of people, who see it as the ultimate symbol of the American Dream. David Kipen, a cultural historian and avid scholar of Los Angeles, has scoured libraries, archives, and private estates to assemble a kaleidoscopic view of a truly unique city.

From the Spanish missionary expeditions in the early 1500s to the Golden Age of Hollywood to the strange new world of social media, this collection is a slice of life in L.A. through the years. The pieces are arranged by date--January 1st to December 31st--featuring selections from different decades and centuries. What emerges is a vivid tapestry of insights, personal discoveries, and wry observations that together distill the essence of the city.

As sprawling and magical as the city itself, Dear Los Angeles is a fascinating, must-have collection for everyone in, from, or touched by Southern California.

With excerpts from the writing of Ray Bradbury - Edgar Rice Burroughs - Octavia E. Butler - Italo Calvino - Winston Churchill - No�l Coward - Simone De Beauvoir - James Dean - T. S. Eliot - William Faulkner - Lawrence Ferlinghetti - Richard Feynman - F. Scott Fitzgerald - Allen Ginsberg - Dashiell Hammett - Charlton Heston - Zora Neale Hurston - Christopher Isherwood - John Lennon - H. L. Mencken - Ana�s Nin - Sylvia Plath - Ronald Reagan - Joan Rivers - James Thurber - Dalton Trumbo - Evelyn Waugh - Tennessee Williams - P. G. Wodehouse - and many more

Advance praise for Dear Los Angeles

"This book's a brilliant constellation, spread out over a few centuries and five thousand square miles. Each tiny entry pins the reality of the great unreal city of Angels to a moment in human time--moments enthralled, appalled, jubilant, suffering, gossiping or bragging--and it turns out, there's no better way to paint a picture of the place."--Jonathan Lethem

"[A] scintillating collection of letters and diary entries . . . an engrossing trove of colorful, witty insights."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)]]> 576 David Kipen 0812993985 Diana 0 to-read, non-ficton, letters 3.63 2018
author: David Kipen
name: Diana
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read, non-ficton, letters
review:

]]> 36588611
The first comprehensive history of Hollywood's high-flying career women during the studio era, Nobody's Girl Friday covers the impact of the executives, producers, editors, writers, agents, designers, directors, and actresses who shaped Hollywood film production and style, led their unions, climbed to the top during the war, and fought the blacklist.

Based on a decade of archival research, author J.E. Smyth uncovers a formidable generation working within the American film industry and brings their voices back into the history of Hollywood. Their achievements, struggles, and perspectives fundamentally challenge popular ideas about director-based auteurism, male dominance, and female disempowerment in the years between First and Second Wave Feminism.

Nobody's Girl Friday is a revisionist history, but it's also a deeply personal, collective account of hundreds of working women, the studios they worked for, and the films they helped to make. For many years, historians and critics have insisted that both American feminism and the power of women in Hollywood declined and virtually disappeared from the 1920s through the 1960s. But Smyth vindicates Bette Davis's claim. The story of the women who called the shots in studio-era Hollywood has never fully been told-until now.]]> 328 J.E. Smyth 019084082X Diana 0 to-read, history 3.66 2018
author: J.E. Smyth
name: Diana
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 34791129
Tells the remarkable story of the Jewish moguls in Hollywood who established the first anti-Nazi Jewish resistance organization in the country in the 1930s

In April 1939, Warner Brothers studios released the first Hollywood film to confront the Nazi threat in the United States. Confessions of a Nazi Spy, starring Edward G. Robinson, told the story of German agents in New York City working to overthrow the U.S. government. The film alerted Americans to the dangers of Nazism at home and encouraged them to defend against it.

Confessions of a Nazi Spy may have been the first cinematic shot fired by Hollywood against Nazis in America, but it by no means marked the political awakening of the film industry’s Jewish executives to the problem. Hollywood’s Spies tells the remarkable story of the Jewish moguls in Hollywood who paid private investigators to infiltrate Nazi groups operating in Los Angeles, establishing the first anti-Nazi Jewish resistance organization in the country―the Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee (LAJCC).

Drawing on more than 15,000 pages of archival documents, Laura B. Rosenzweig offers a compelling narrative illuminating the role that Jewish Americans played in combating insurgent Nazism in the United States in the 1930s. Forced undercover by the anti-Semitic climate of the decade, the LAJCC partnered with organizations whose Americanism was unimpeachable, such as the American Legion, to channel information regarding seditious Nazi plots to Congress, the Justice Department, the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department.

Hollywood’s Spies corrects the decades-long belief that American Jews lacked the political organization and leadership to assert their political interests during this period in our history and reveals that the LAJCC was one of many covert "fact finding" operations funded by Jewish Americans designed to root out Nazism in the United States.]]> 320 Laura B. Rosenzweig 1479855170 Diana 0 to-read, history 3.92
author: Laura B. Rosenzweig
name: Diana
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 13591211 400 Marissa Moss 1419704273 Diana 0 3.83 2012
author: Marissa Moss
name: Diana
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, young-adult, women
review:

]]> 6178112 215 Sheila Solomon Klass 080508200X Diana 0 3.69 2009
author: Sheila Solomon Klass
name: Diana
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, women, young-adult
review:

]]> 1972451 188 Michael McDowell 0449130495 Diana 0 3.89 1985
author: Michael McDowell
name: Diana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read, tv-and-movies, mystery
review:

]]> 214152131 An imaginative retelling of the triumphs and sorrows of one of the most controversial and misunderstood women in Mexico’s history and mythology, perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow and Zoraida Córdova’s The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina.

A real-life historical figure, the woman known as Malinalli, Malintzin, La Malinche, Doña Marina, and Malinalxochitl was the Nahua interpreter who helped Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés communicate with the native people of Mexico. When indigenous leaders observed her marching into their cities, they believed she was a goddess—blessed with the divine power to interpret the Spaniards�� intentions for their land. Later, historians and pop culture would deem her a traitor—the “Indian�� girl who helped sell Mexico’s future to an invader.

In this riveting, fantastical retelling, Malinalli is all of those things and more, but at heart, she’s a young girl, kidnapped into slavery by age twelve, and fighting to survive the devastation wrought by both the Spanish and Moctezuma’s greed and cruelty. Blessed with magical powers, and supported by a close-knit circle of priestesses, Mali vows to help defend her people’s legacy. In vivid, compelling prose, debut author Veronica Chapa spins an epic tale of magic, sisterhood, survival, and Mexican resilience. This is the first novel to reimagine and reinterpret Malinalli’s story with the empathy, humanity, and awe she’s always deserved.]]> 384 Veronica Chapa 1668009013 Diana 0 3.48 2025
author: Veronica Chapa
name: Diana
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read, fantasy, historical-fiction, women
review:

]]> 26429226 Երեխաներից շատ բան չես թաքցնի. այսպես և Մարգարետը լսում է այն, ինչը չպիտի լսեր՝ ճչացող կնոջ, որին կենդանի թաղել են աղբանոցում։ Տասնամյա աղջնակին սակայն, չեն հավատա... Կկարողանա՞ նա օգնության հասնել, կհասցնի՞ արդյոք... Ահա թե ինչի մասին է Ռեյ Բրեդբերիի 1951թ. հրատարակված այս պատմվածքը։]]> 25 Ray Bradbury Diana 4 3.44 1951
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Diana
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1951
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: audio-books, horror, short-stories
review:

]]> 10502533 A wealthy couple builds the ultimate virtual playroom for their spoiled children. This electronic nursery comes complete with an African savanna and man-eating lions. It is so real, you can even smell the lions' last meal.

]]> 0 Ray Bradbury 1441720502 Diana 5 3.65 1950
author: Ray Bradbury
name: Diana
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1950
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: audio-books, classics, dystopias, horror
review:

]]> 24336360 New York Times bestselling author of Before I Fall and the Delirium trilogy makes her brilliant adult debut with this mesmerizing story in the tradition of The Lovely Bones, Her Fearful Symmetry, and The Ocean at the End of the Lane—a tale of family, ghosts, secrets, and mystery, in which the lives of the living and the dead intersect in shocking, surprising, and moving ways.

Wealthy Richard Walker has just died, leaving behind his country house full of rooms packed with the detritus of a lifetime. His estranged family—bitter ex-wife Caroline, troubled teenage son Trenton, and unforgiving daughter Minna—have arrived for their inheritance.

But the Walkers are not alone. Prim Alice and the cynical Sandra, long dead former residents bound to the house, linger within its claustrophobic walls. Jostling for space, memory, and supremacy, they observe the family, trading barbs and reminiscences about their past lives. Though their voices cannot be heard, Alice and Sandra speak through the house itself—in the hiss of the radiator, a creak in the stairs, the dimming of a light bulb.

The living and dead are each haunted by painful truths that will soon surface with explosive force. When a new ghost appears, and Trenton begins to communicate with her, the spirit and human worlds collide—with cataclysmic results.

Elegantly constructed and brilliantly paced, Rooms is an enticing and imaginative ghost story and a searing family drama that is as haunting as it is resonant.]]> 320 Lauren Oliver 0062223208 Diana 0 3.24 2014
author: Lauren Oliver
name: Diana
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: mystery, paranormal, horror, tbr-own
review:

]]> 156558597
Often it takes a fall to realize you were meant to soar high all along. Don’t accept emotional struggles as a life sentence.

In You Are Not Depressed. You Are Un-Finished, Dr. Mehran helps you analyze your emotions and your body and go from managing symptoms to living abundantly.

Learn how depression and anxiety are our own signals, saying, “Wake up, claim your life.��

Meet Zoe, a successful corporate counsel and role model with a happy family life. But, deep down, she felt dead, tormented, with minimal zest. Hear how Richard, a senior executive, recently divorced, struggled with dating again. Lonely and grappling with romantic relationships, he was restless, often tired, and a “pain to be around.�� Then there is Allison, a rising corporate star who had “crushed it�� to succeed. She then crashed, was in poor health, gained weight, and felt sorrowful and dispirited.

These leaders struggled with depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and ADHD. They worked with therapists, and coaches, and have taken medications. With lingering struggles, their attitude was, “That’s life; deal with it.��

Dr. Ardeshir Mehran helped such leaders with his research-based The Bill of Emotional Rights. These seven emotional rights are lifelong fulfillment boosters. He explains and guides you through claiming your emotional rights to dissolve depression and anxiety.

Use this book to systematically elevate the trajectory of your life.]]> 324 Ardeshir Mehran Diana 0 to-read 4.83
author: Ardeshir Mehran
name: Diana
average rating: 4.83
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 197109001
Helen Gibson was willing to do anything to give audiences a thrill. Advertised as “The Most Daring Actress in Pictures,�� Helen emerged in the early days of the twentieth-century silent film scene as a rodeo rider, producer, performer and stunt double for iconic stars of the era. Her exploits were as dangerous as they were glamorous, featured in hundreds of films and serials—yet her legacy was quickly overshadowed by the increasingly hypermasculine and male-dominated evolution of action films in the decades that would follow her.

In this fast-paced and feminist biography, award-winning author Mallory O'Meara presents Helen’s life and career in exhilarating detail, including:

�� Helen’s rise to fame in The Hazards of Helen, the longest-running serial in history

�� How Helen became the first-ever stuntwoman in American film

�� The pivotal and overlooked role of Helen’s contemporaries—including female directors, stars and stuntwomen who shaped the making of narrative film.

Through the page-turning story of Helen’s pioneering legacy, Mallory O'Meara gives readers a glimpse of the Golden Age of Hollywood that could have been: an industry where women call the shots.]]> 384 Mallory O'Meara 1335007938 Diana 0 4.45
author: Mallory O'Meara
name: Diana
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: hollywood, non-ficton, signed, tbr-own, women
review:

]]> 13555385 -How does Panem define race?
-How do Panem’s districts reflect the major themes of the trilogy?
-What allusions to our world are found in Panem names like Finnick, Johanna, Beetee, Cinna, Everdeen, and Mellark?

Go deeper into the home of the Hunger Games with the creator of the best-known fan map of Panem.

The Panem Companion gives fresh insight into Suzanne Collins�� trilogy by looking at the world of the Hunger Games and the forces that kept its citizens divided since the Dark Days. With a blend of academic insight and the true passion of a fan, V. Arrow explores how Panem could have evolved from the America we know today and uses textual clues to piece together Panem’s beliefs about class, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexuality, and more. Includes an extensive name lexicon and color-illustrated unofficial map of Panem.]]> 264 V. Arrow 1937856208 Diana 0 ebooks, to-read, non-ficton 3.77 2012
author: V. Arrow
name: Diana
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: ebooks, to-read, non-ficton
review:

]]> 139506611 Bestselling author ReShonda Tate presents a fascinating fictional portrait of Hattie McDaniel, one of Hollywood’s most prolific but woefully underappreciated stars—and the first Black person ever to win an Oscar for her role as Mammy in the critically acclaimed film classic Gone With the Wind.

It was supposed to be the highlight of her career, the pinnacle for which she’d worked all her life. And as Hattie McDaniel took the stage in 1940 to claim an honor that would make her the first African-American woman to win an Academy Award, she tearfully took her place in history. Between personal triumphs and tragedies, heartbreaking losses, and severe setbacks, this historic night of winning best supporting actress for her role as the sassy Mammy in the controversial movie Gone With the Wind was going to be life-changing.

Or so she thought.

Months after winning the award, not only did the Oscar curse set in where Hattie couldn’t find work, but she found herself thrust in the middle of two worlds—Black and White—and not being welcomed in either. Whites only saw her as Mammy and Blacks detested the demeaning portrayal.

As the NAACP waged an all-out war against Hattie and actors like her, the emotionally conflicted actor found herself struggling daily. Through it all, Hattie continued her fight to pave a path for other Negro actors, while focusing on war efforts, fighting housing discrimination, and navigating four failed marriages. Luckily, she had a core group of friends to help her out—from Clark Gable to Louise Beavers to Ruby Berkley Goodwin and Dorothy Dandridge.

The Queen of Sugar Hill brings to life the powerful story of one woman who was driven by many passions—ambition, love, sex, family, friendship, and equality. In re-creating Hattie’s story, ReShonda Tate delivers an unforgettable novel of resilience, dedication, and determination—about what it takes to achieve your dreams—even when everything—and everyone—is against you.]]> 432 ReShonda Tate 006329107X Diana 0 3.85 2024
author: ReShonda Tate
name: Diana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, hollywood, women
review:

]]> 216524168 The first novel in the all-new Golden Girls Cozy Mystery Series!

When Dorothy’s obnoxious date is found dead in a hotel freezer, it not only ruins a gorgeous cheesecake but threatens the elaborate St. Olaf–themed wedding Rose is hosting.

Things are heating up, and not just because of Blanche’s hot flashes. Rose’s cousin is eloping to Miami, and Rose is playing host. If she can't balance the groom’s family’s snobbery against the traditional St. Olaf wedding week guidelines, her hometown may never accept her cousin again!

Dorothy quickly realizes she needs a date with whom she can exchange wedding-related wisecracks. Turning to a newfangled VHS dating service, she believes she’s found the ideal conversationalist. Unfortunately, what looks good on TV can actually be a total jerk in real life. It seems she’ll just have to enjoy the company of Sophia, Blanche, and whomever Blanche has targeted for a hookup.

As the Girls all pitch in, Rose is thrilled that the tea-and-fish-themed kickoff event is perfect, not a herring out of place. That is until Dorothy’s date is found dead—face-planted in an otherwise scrumptious-looking cheesecake. With every guest a suspect (especially Dorothy) and a marriage on the line, the four besties must ID the real killer, get the should-be-happy couple down the aisle, and make sure nobody from St. Olaf gets lost in the wilds of Miami. It’s up to the Golden Girls to sleuth out a way for friendship and love to win the day!]]> 336 Rachel Ekstrom Courage 1368102980 Diana 2 mystery, tv-and-movies 3.70 2025
author: Rachel Ekstrom Courage
name: Diana
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: mystery, tv-and-movies
review:

]]> 17533 Eight Cousins, Rose Campbell returns to the "Aunt Hill" after two years of traveling around the world. Suddenly, she is surrounded by male admirers, all expecting her to marry them. But before she marries anyone, Rose is determined to establish herself as an independent young woman. Besides, she suspects that some of her friends like her more for her money than for herself.]]> 302 Louisa May Alcott 0316030899 Diana 0 4.04 1876
author: Louisa May Alcott
name: Diana
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1876
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics, young-adult
review:

]]> 91582 180 Jane Austen 0486444074 Diana 0 to-read, ebooks, classics 3.64 1871
author: Jane Austen
name: Diana
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1871
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics
review:

]]> 51190 Oroonoko reflects the author's romantic views of native peoples as being in "the first state of innocence, before man knew how to sin." The novel also reveals Behn's ambiguous attitude toward slavery: while she favored it as a means to strengthen England's power, her powerful and moving work conveys its injustice and brutality.]]> 144 Aphra Behn 0140439889 Diana 0 to-read, ebooks, classics 3.01 1688
author: Aphra Behn
name: Diana
average rating: 3.01
book published: 1688
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics
review:

]]> 221024 256 Charlotte Brontë 0140621423 Diana 0 to-read, ebooks, classics 3.21 1857
author: Charlotte Brontë
name: Diana
average rating: 3.21
book published: 1857
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics
review:

]]> 48214 The Song of the Lark charts the story of a young woman's awakening as an artist against the backdrop of the western landscape. Thea Kronborg, an aspiring singer, struggles to escape from the confines her small Colorado town to the world of possibility in the Metropolitan Opera House. In classic Cather style, The Song of the Lark is the beautiful, unforgettable story of American determination and its inextricable connection to the land.

"The time will come when she'll be ranked above Hemingway." -- Leon Edel]]> 417 Willa Cather 0395345308 Diana 0 to-read, ebooks, classics 3.88 1915
author: Willa Cather
name: Diana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1915
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics
review:

]]> 60257431 Diana Tempest (1893) is novel by Mary Cholmondeley. Partly based on her experience as an artist from a wealthy landowning family, Diana Tempest is a story of greed, romance, and betrayal that faced backlash from critics for its controversial portrayal of female sexuality. Satirical and deeply observant of the hypocrisies of Victorian society, Diana Tempest is an essential work by one of Victorian England's bestselling novelists. "Colonel Tempest, as a rule, took life very easily. If he had fits of uncontrolled passion now and then, they were quickly over. If his feelings were touched, that was quickly over too. But to-day his face was clouded. He had tried the usual antidotes for an impending attack of what he would have called 'the blues, ' by which he meant any species of reflection calculated to give him that passing annoyance which was the deepest form of emotion of which he was capable." Unused to being denied, Colonel Tempest is unable to control himself following the death of his brother. Rather than mourn his loss, he laments the passing of the Tempest family fortune to his nephew John, a secretly illegitimate child whose claim as heir is fabricated at best. A notorious gambler, he makes a drunken bet that he will one day control the estate, unwittingly placing a bounty on John's head. At the same time, the Colonel's daughter Diana has begun to fall in love with the young heir, complicating her father's plans and welcoming disaster into her life. Diane Tempest is a tale of family, faith, and betrayal that explores the Victorian concept of the New Woman without sacrificing its entertaining narrative. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Mary Cholmondeley's Diane Tempest is a classic work of British literature reimagined for modern readers.]]> 308 Mary Cholmondeley 1513294008 Diana 0 to-read, ebooks, classics 0.0 1893
author: Mary Cholmondeley
name: Diana
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1893
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics
review:

]]> 383206 Wives and Daughters is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in the Cornhill Magazine as a serial from August 1864 to January 1866. It was partly written whilst Gaskell was staying with the salon hostess Mary Elizabeth Mohl at her home on the Rue de Bac in Paris. When Mrs Gaskell died suddenly in 1865, it was not quite complete, and the last section was written by Frederick Greenwood.]]> 679 Elizabeth Gaskell 014043478X Diana 0 4.11 1866
author: Elizabeth Gaskell
name: Diana
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1866
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 58154266 704 Sarah Grand 1513283251 Diana 0 to-read, ebooks, classics 0.0 1893
author: Sarah Grand
name: Diana
average rating: 0.0
book published: 1893
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics
review:

]]> 59092523 32 Eliza Fowler Haywood 1513291548 Diana 0 3.56 1724
author: Eliza Fowler Haywood
name: Diana
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1724
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics, short-stories
review:

]]> 58154279 Are Women People? (1915) is a collection of poems by Alice Duer Miller. Inspired by her work as an activist for women's suffrage, Miller published many of these poems individually in the New York Tribune before compiling them into this larger work. Focusing on the opposition of politicians and citizens alike, Miller makes a compelling case for the extension of voting rights to women across the nation. With her keen eye for hypocrisy and even keener ear for the rhythms of the English language, Alice Miller Duer crafts a poetry both personal and political. In "Representation," she lampoons the notion that men's votes and voices are capable of representing the viewpoints of the women in their lives: "My present wife's a suffragist, and counts on my support, / [...] / One grandmother is on the fence, the other much opposed, / And my sister lives in Oregon, and thinks the question's closed; / Each one is counting on my vote to represent her view. / Now what should you think proper for a gentleman to do?" In these lighthearted lines, Miller satirizes the exclusion of women from American democracy, which inherently supposes that womanhood is monolithic, containing no opposing points of view. In "To President Wilson," Miller excoriates the President for his focus on militarism and foreign policy, asking "How can you plead so earnestly for men / Who fight their own fight with a bloody hand; / [...] and then / Forget the women of your native land?" Succinctly and convincingly, Miller makes her case for women's suffrage. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Alice Duer Miller's Are Women People? is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.]]> 44 Alice Duer Miller 151328357X Diana 0 to-read 4.50 1915
author: Alice Duer Miller
name: Diana
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1915
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 34870332
Stella, indifferent to romance, is most excited by the prospect of going to India that her marriage offers. Once there, she is enthralled at the beauty and mystery of the subcontinent, but increasingly disenchanted by her husband, who is only interested in her as a whet to his sensual appetites. When the young, handsome Philip Flint is posted as a junior officer in the same town, for the first time, she is forced to consider her own desires and duties.

Alice Perrin writes of Anglo-Indian life during the Raj era with great detail and sympathy, drawing compelling characters who love and despair, feel jealousy and doubt. Once a popular writer with many bestsellers to her credit, she is now being rediscovered for her memorable romances and ghost stories set in India at the turn of the twentieth century.]]> 272 Alice Perrin 9386338785 Diana 0 to-read, ebooks, classics 3.00
author: Alice Perrin
name: Diana
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, ebooks, classics
review:

]]> 46787 438 Harriet Beecher Stowe Diana 0 to-read, classics 3.88 1852
author: Harriet Beecher Stowe
name: Diana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1852
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, classics
review:

]]> 123984
Through the compelling stories of Nina Gordon, the mistress of a slave plantation, and Dred, a black revolutionary, Stowe brings to life conflicting beliefs about race, the institution of slavery, and the possibilities of violent resistance. Probing the political and spiritual goals that fuel Dred's rebellion, Stowe creates a figure far different from the acquiescent Christian martyr Uncle Tom.

In his introduction to the classic novel, Robert S. Levine outlines the antislavery debates in which Stowe had become deeply involved before and during her writing of Dred . Levine shows that in addition to its significance in literary history, the novel remains relevant to present-day discussions of cross-racial perspectives.]]> 656 Harriet Beecher Stowe 0807856851 Diana 0 3.63 1855
author: Harriet Beecher Stowe
name: Diana
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1855
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, classics, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 53835 The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton’s masterful portrait of desire and betrayal during the sumptuous Golden Age of Old New York, a time when society people “dreaded scandal more than disease.��

This is Newland Archer’s world as he prepares to marry the beautiful but conventional May Welland. But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life—or mercilessly destroy it.]]> 293 Edith Wharton 159308143X Diana 0 3.96 1920
author: Edith Wharton
name: Diana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1920
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, classics, ebooks, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 14942 194 Virginia Woolf 0151009988 Diana 0 to-read, classics, ebooks 3.80 1925
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Diana
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1925
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read, classics, ebooks
review:

]]> 211003699 The incredible untold story of four women who helped win WWII by generating a wave of black propaganda.

Betty MacDonald was a 28-year-old reporter from Hawaii. Zuzka Lauwers grew up in a tiny Czechoslovakian village and knew five languages by the time she was 21. Jane Smith-Hutton was the wife of a naval attaché living in Tokyo. Marlene Dietrich, the German-American actress and singer, was of course one of the biggest stars of the 20th century. These four women, each fascinating in her own right, together contributed to one of the most covert and successful military campaigns in WWII.

As members of the OSS, their task was to create a secret brand of propaganda produced with the sole aim to break the morale of Axis soldiers. Working in the European theater, across enemy lines in occupied China, and in Washington, D.C., Betty, Zuzka, Jane, and Marlene forged letters and “official�� military orders, wrote and produced entire newspapers, scripted radio broadcasts and songs, and even developed rumors for undercover spies and double agents to spread to the enemy. And outside of a small group of spies, no one knew they existed. Until now.

In Propaganda Girls, bestselling author Lisa Rogak brings to vivid life the incredible true story of four unsung heroes, whose spellbinding achievements would change the course of history.]]> 240 Lisa Rogak 1250275598 Diana 4 history, women I hadn't really heard of the OSS before but am not at all surprised in the role women had in the organization, and this book serves as an amazing highlight reel on four of the women involved. We get to know so much about who they were, what they did in such great detail.
It definitely left me wanting to know more about these four and the OSS.]]> 4.04 2025
author: Lisa Rogak
name: Diana
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: history, women
review:
A great book on yet another group of unsung women in history. As a fan of women in history I will never get enough of books like this because it seems that with each one, I learn and discover something new.
I hadn't really heard of the OSS before but am not at all surprised in the role women had in the organization, and this book serves as an amazing highlight reel on four of the women involved. We get to know so much about who they were, what they did in such great detail.
It definitely left me wanting to know more about these four and the OSS.
]]> 63099194 A thought-provoking exploration of the Black musicians who inspired Elvis Presley’s music, primarily through the lens of four overlooked �� Little Junior Parker, Big Mama Thornton, Arthur “Big Boy�� Crudup, and Calvin Newborn

After Baz Luhrmann’s movie, Elvis, hit theaters in the summer of 2022, audiences and critics alike couldn't help but question the Black origins of Elvis Presley’s music and style, reigniting a debate that has been circling for decades. In Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King��, author Preston Lauterbach answers these questions definitively, based on new research and extensive, previously unpublished interviews with the artists who blazed the way and the people who knew them.

Within these pages, Lauterbach examines the lives, music, legacies, and interactions with Elvis Presley of the four innovative Black artists who created a style that would come to be known as Rock ’n�� Roll: Little Junior Parker, Big Mama Thornton, Arthur “Big Boy�� Crudup, and most revealingly, the mostly-unknown eccentric Beale Street guitarist Calvin Newborn, whose portrayal will be a revelation to even the most seasoned Elvis Presley and rock devotees. Lauterbach makes a convincing case that Newborn is the key to understanding where Presley’s music and performance style came from. And Lauterbach has the receipts, the dates, the interviews, and the confirmation of Presley’s presence and key club engagements, and the recording sessions. Along the way, he delves into the injustices of copyright theft and media segregation that resulted in Black artists living in poverty as white performers, managers, and producers reaped the lucrative rewards.

In the wake of continuing conversations about American music and appropriation, Before Elvis is indispensable.]]> 320 Preston Lauterbach 0306833085 Diana 3 non-ficton 3.81
author: Preston Lauterbach
name: Diana
average rating: 3.81
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: non-ficton
review:
As an Elvis Presley fan I have often heard talks of those who "came before Elvis," but they never really named names leaving me wondering. This is a good collection of "Before Elvis," but I also feel it's a bit lacking and those mentioned deserve a better telling of their stories instead of just being smashed together.
]]> 220159970 An elegant, intimate graphic novel retelling of Mary “the Bloody�� Tudor’s infamous life and evolution from loyal subject to royal tyrant.

The story of Mary Tudor –�� oldest child and daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, sister to the famous Elizabeth I –�� as never told before.��

A chronological telling of Mary’s life as “told�� by her spans her magnificent life, starting from her “first memory�� at the age of two to becoming the first queen to inherit the throne of an England in disarray. Once rejected at birth, Mary was certain the cause of suffering was her subjects�� rejection of the one true Catholicism. Her zealous campaign to re-Catholicize England was unrelenting in its brutality, re-christening her, “Mary, the Bloody.��
��
The Tudors famously used fine art to define their reign. Using expressive line work and lush watercolor, German graphic novelist fittingly teases the painterly allure of royalty as she reveals the stark loneliness of the crown.��Gehrmann pulls from real quotes from historical documents and letters along with dramatizations of known historic events. These details immerse us in Mary I’s epic life from her volatile childhood to her tragic demise, rendering a stunning portrait of a “bastard queen�� losing her grip on power.]]> 336 Kristina Gehrmann Diana 0 4.08 2021
author: Kristina Gehrmann
name: Diana
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read, history, graphic-novel, women
review:

]]> 53914938 The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.

1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of East-End London poverty, works the legendary code-breaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart.

1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter—the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger—and their true enemy...]]> 624 Kate Quinn 0062943472 Diana 0 to-read, historical-fiction 4.42 2021
author: Kate Quinn
name: Diana
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 212217970 From P. C. Cast, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the landmark House of Night urban fantasy series, comes an epic, lusty, magic-filled romantasy about British warrior queen Boudicca. Perfect for fans of Sue Lynn Tan and Madeline Miller!

In Roman-occupied Britain, the Iceni tribe crowns an extraordinary new queen. Tall and flame-haired, Boudicca is devoted to Andraste, the Iceni’s patron goddess, known for her raven familiar, her fierceness and her swirling blue tattoos. Boudicca and her two young daughters will carry the tribe forward in dangerous times.

Roman tax collector Catus Decianus, expecting weakness in a female ruler, launches a devastating attack on the tribe’s stronghold. Boudicca and her family barely survive—but they refuse to bend the knee. She calls a war council, bringing together her most trustworthy allies, including her childhood friend Rhan, now a powerful Druid seer, and the horse master Maldwyn, whose devotion to Boudicca runs deeper than a warrior to a queen.

Surprising the Romans, Boudicca’s armies sack the wealthy cities of Camulodunum, Londinium and Veralamium. As the snow falls, the Celts retreat to a hidden valley to plot their assault on the remaining Roman legions, determined to force the invaders from Britan.

But in the jagged ice of winter the Druid Rhan foresees a tragic end to Boudicca’s rebellion. Although the defeat of the Iceni is spelled out in signs sent by the gods, Rhan swears she will alter the future and save her queen. Now the battle-hardened Boudicca must put her trust in the powers of the otherworld to save her from both the traitors in her midst and from Rome’s mighty legions.

Inspired by the rich history of Boudicca’s attack on Roman Britain, bestselling author P. C. Cast crafts an epic, mythic retelling of one of time’s most legendary female warriors.]]> 480 P.C. Cast 0063294974 Diana 2 3.59
author: P.C. Cast
name: Diana
average rating: 3.59
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: historical-fiction, fantasy, women, didn-t-finish
review:

]]> 211241486 280 William Elliott Hazelgrove 1538187167 Diana 3 hollywood, non-ficton 3.62
author: William Elliott Hazelgrove
name: Diana
average rating: 3.62
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: hollywood, non-ficton
review:
I've heard various accounts about what happened on the evening of Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast. Most contradicting one another. This one while a bit repetitive and somewhat tedious at times was a great breakdown of all the surrounding events before and after that helps bring in readers into what really happened.
]]> 14428810
From one of literature's finest storytellers comes an enchanting tale of secrets, the supernatural -- and fatal attraction.

Renowned English surgeon Arthur Burdon is engaged to the beautiful Margaret Dauncey, who is studying art in Paris. The match is met with approval from all sides, and everyone is happy -- until the mysterious Oliver Haddo enters the picture. Both Arthur and his fiancée dislike the enormously fat and eccentric Oliver but are fascinated by his stories of black magic, by his demonstrations of a power that seems inhuman. And while they scoff at his boasts, their dislike turns to loathing.

A month later, Margaret disappears. The note she leaves behind ''When you receive this, I shall be on my way to London. I was married to Oliver Haddo this morning.'' Why? How? What mysterious power had the Magician used? What further revenge might he be plotting? The answers are revealed in this hair-raising fantasy.]]> 0 W. Somerset Maugham 1470809249 Diana 0 I added it to my TBR list so long ago I can’t help but wonder if I had another story in mind when I did.]]> 3.78 1908
author: W. Somerset Maugham
name: Diana
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1908
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves: classics, fantasy, horror, didn-t-finish
review:
DNF
I added it to my TBR list so long ago I can’t help but wonder if I had another story in mind when I did.
]]> 17332508
Back in Boston, Peter anxiously follows Noa's movements from his computer, using his hacker skills to feed her the information she needs to stay alive. But he's desperate to do something more, especially when he learns what P&D has done to his ex-girlfriend Amanda.

Then, in an explosive confrontation, Noa and her team are trapped in the one place they thought was safe. It will take everything Noa and Peter have to bring down the corporation before it gets them first. And with no one to trust and enemies hiding at every turn, they may be the only people alive who can.

This stunning second book in the critically acclaimed Don't Turn Around trilogy raises the stakes to their absolute limit and will leave readers begging for the exciting conclusion, Don't Let Go.]]> 336 Michelle Gagnon 0062102931 Diana 0 3.88 2013
author: Michelle Gagnon
name: Diana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: suspense, young-adult, tbr-own, signed
review:

]]> 204806515 Bestselling author Alice Hoffman delivers a stunning novel about one of contemporary history's most acclaimed figures, exploring the little-known details of Anne Frank's life before she went into hiding.

Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl has captivated and inspired readers for decades. Published posthumously by her bereaved father, Anne's journal, written while she and her family were in hiding during World War II, has become one of the central texts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, as well as a work of literary genius.

With the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family's life is turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence.

In the midst of impossible danger, Anne, audacious and creative and fearless, discovers who she truly is. With a wisdom far beyond her years, she becomes a writer who will go on to change the world as we know it.

Critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman weaves a lyrical and heart-wrenching story of the way the world closes in on the Frank family from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until they are forced into hiding, bringing Anne to bold, vivid life. Based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, When We Flew Away is an extraordinary and moving tour de force.

"Adding new poignance to a story whose ending we already knew, Alice Hoffman has deftly recreated the child Anne Frank with all her wit, mischief, and uncertainties. This fictionalized account of the increasingly desperate years that preceded the famous diary breaks readers' hearts one more time. But it reminds us of how important it is to remember and honor all that was lost." -- Lois Lowry, Newbery Award-winning author of Number the Stars]]> 304 Alice Hoffman 1338856944 Diana 0 4.03 2024
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Diana
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, middle-grade
review:

]]> 1087075 ��
On Tuesday nights, these women meet to trade shoes, and, in the process, form��friendships that will help them each triumph over��their problems—from secret pasts to blackmail, bankruptcy, and dating.����Funny, emotional, and powerful, Shoe Addicts Anonymous is the perfect read for any woman who has ever struggled to find the perfect fit.]]> 327 Beth Harbison 0312364687 Diana 0 to-read, chick-lit 3.61 2007
author: Beth Harbison
name: Diana
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read, chick-lit
review:

]]> 212806686 Learn how uncovering and understanding the puzzle of your mind can transform physical health and heal chronic pain, from psychotherapist and mind-body healer @nicolesachslcsw

The people who come to Nicole Sachs have exhausted all other paths to cope with their chronic back pain, IBS, sciatica, pelvic pain, Long Covid, migraines, nerve inflammation, skin conditions, panic disorders, and more. Maybe they're considering surgery or other interventions, with no real promise of a cure.
��������Sachs knows that these kinds of syndromes are often not caused by a physical source. Rather, they are fueled by trauma responses associated with deeply-rooted psychological and emotional issues that trigger the brain and the nervous system into fight or flight.
��������In Mind Your Body, Sachs teaches readers about mind-body medicine—which helped her overcome her own debilitating pain and dark prognosis—and how to turn inwards using her revolutionary JournalSpeak practice, which has helped countless clients experience striking mental, emotional, and physical healing. Sachs knows that alleviating pain often resides in understanding that your stress, repressed emotions, unresolved trauma, and smaller daily frustrations are causing nervous system dysregulation. The solution lies in rewiring your body's misguided reflex to protect you with pain.��
��������At a time when chronic pain and other conditions have reached epidemic proportions, and the medical model is coming up short for so many, Mind Your Body shares the evidence-based practices that can help deliver you from desperation to freedom.]]> 304 Nicole J. Sachs 0593716930 Diana 4 audio-books, self-help 4.56
author: Nicole J. Sachs
name: Diana
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: audio-books, self-help
review:

]]> 221754311 She took on titans, battled generals, and changed the world as we know it��

New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic new novel about an American heroine Frances Perkins.

Raised on tales of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century, armed with her trusty parasol and an unyielding determination to make a difference.

When she’s not working with children in the crowded tenements in Hell’s Kitchen, Frances throws herself into the social scene in Greenwich Village, befriending an eclectic group of politicians, artists, and activists, including the millionaire socialite Mary Harriman Rumsey, the flirtatious budding author Sinclair Lewis, and the brilliant but troubled reformer Paul Wilson, with whom she falls deeply in love.

But when Frances meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a tea dance, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. She thinks he’s a rich, arrogant dilettante who gets by on a handsome face and a famous name. He thinks she’s a priggish bluestocking and insufferable do-gooder. Neither knows it yet, but over the next twenty years, they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House.

Frances is destined to rise in a political world dominated by men, facing down the Great Depression as FDR’s most trusted lieutenant—even as she struggles to balance the demands of a public career with marriage and motherhood. And when vicious political attacks mount and personal tragedies threaten to derail her ambitions, she must decide what she’s willing to do—and what she’s willing to sacrifice—to save a nation.]]> 544 Stephanie Dray 0593437071 Diana 0 to-read 4.40 2024
author: Stephanie Dray
name: Diana
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 1963638 The Untethered Soul offers simple yet profound answers to these questions.

Whether this is your first exploration of inner space, or you’ve devoted your life to the inward journey, this book will transform your relationship with yourself and the world around you. You’ll discover what you can do to put an end to the habitual thoughts and emotions that limit your consciousness. By tapping into traditions of meditation and mindfulness, author and spiritual teacher Michael A. Singer shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to dwell in the present moment and let go of painful thoughts and memories that keep us from achieving happiness and self-realization.

Copublished with the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) The Untethered Soul begins by walking you through your relationship with your thoughts and emotions, helping you uncover the source and fluctuations of your inner energy. It then delves into what you can do to free yourself from the habitual thoughts, emotions, and energy patterns that limit your consciousness. Finally, with perfect clarity, this book opens the door to a life lived in the freedom of your innermost being.]]> 183 Michael A. Singer Diana 0 to-read, self-help 4.19 2007
author: Michael A. Singer
name: Diana
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read, self-help
review:

]]> 52036 152 Hermann Hesse Diana 0 to-read 4.07 1922
author: Hermann Hesse
name: Diana
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1922
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 31951931
In the first comprehensive biography written since the legendary star's death, authors Cynthia Brideson and Sara Brideson disclose new details of Kelly's complex life. Not only do they examine his contributions to the world of entertainment in depth, but they also consider his political activities―including his opposition to the Hollywood blacklist. The authors even confront Kelly's darker side and explore his notorious competitive streak, his tendency to be a taskmaster on set, and his multiple marriages.

Drawing on previously untapped articles and interviews with Kelly's wives, friends, and colleagues, Brideson and Brideson illuminate new and unexpected aspects of the actor's life and work. He's Got Rhythm is a balanced and compelling view of one of the screen's enduring legends.]]> 576 Cynthia Brideson 0813169348 Diana 0 3.98
author: Cynthia Brideson
name: Diana
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: hollywood, non-ficton, currently-reading
review:

]]> 54717141 400 Mari K. Eder 1728230926 Diana 0 to-read, history, women 3.97 2021
author: Mari K. Eder
name: Diana
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read, history, women
review:

]]> 54860488 The Nine follows the true story of the author’s great aunt Hélène Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris.

The nine women were all under thirty when they joined the resistance. They smuggled arms through Europe, harbored parachuting agents, coordinated communications between regional sectors, trekked escape routes to Spain and hid Jewish children in scattered apartments. They were arrested by French police, interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. They were subjected to a series of French prisons and deported to Germany. The group formed along the way, meeting at different points, in prison, in transit, and at Ravensbrück. By the time they were enslaved at the labor camp in Leipzig, they were a close-knit group of friends. During the final days of the war, forced onto a death march, the nine chose their moment and made a daring escape.

Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative from Gwen Strauss is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.]]> 336 Gwen Strauss 125023929X Diana 0 to-read, history, women 4.26 2021
author: Gwen Strauss
name: Diana
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read, history, women
review:

]]> 59838278 With step-by step instructions and illustrations for over 15 projects, Art Magick reveals how to make an array of bewitched objects and establish your very own art magick practice, including your own pop oracle set, scrying mirrors, magickal mandalas, protection plushies, healing weavings, ensorceled altar boxes, print process sigils, manifestation mobiles, spirit statuary, dream incubation eggs, otherworldly wands and more. Whether you are a curious beginner, experienced crafter, dabbling magician or recovering creative, Art Witch, Molly Roberts will be your guide as you explore a colorful animated world that lies just beneath the surface―a world where your imagination and personal power collide to create real magick. Are you ready to awaken the Art Witch within?]]> 128 Molly Roberts 1446308898 Diana 3 art, new-age 4.21
author: Molly Roberts
name: Diana
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: art, new-age
review:

]]> 39806570

When the local police chief zeros in on her sister as a "person of interest," Lucy must brush up her sleuthing skills. It's a race to find her sister before the police—and the killer—do.


She must use all her wits (and those she can borrow) to find this hidden killer before he strikes at her family again.


Don't miss this fast-paced cozy mystery—get your copy of "Just Shoot Me Dead" today!]]> Anne R. Tan 1370755805 Diana 0 to-read, ebooks, mystery 4.00
author: Anne R. Tan
name: Diana
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: to-read, ebooks, mystery
review:

]]> 45734991 Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Ben Barnes, star of the film adaptation of Dorian Gray, also known for his roles in Westworld and The Chronicles of Narnia. This definitive recording includes an Introduction by Robert Mighall.Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait, Dorian Gray exchanges his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Influenced by his friend Lord Henry Wotton, he is drawn into a corrupt double life; indulging his desires in secret while remaining a gentleman in the eyes of polite society. Only his portrait bears the traces of his decadence. The novel was a succès de scandale and the book was later used as evidence against Wilde at the Old Bailey in 1895. It has lost none of its power to fascinate and disturb.]]> 0 Oscar Wilde Diana 5 4.13 1890
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Diana
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1890
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: audio-books, classics, fantasy, horror
review:

]]> 29422134 Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre retold against the backdrop of San Francisco's most fabulous—and dangerous—elites.

After losing her parents in a tragic accident, surfer girl Janie Mason trades the sunny beaches of Hawaii for the cold fog of San Francisco and new guardians—the Rochesters—she’s never even met. Janie feels hopelessly out of place in their world of Napa weekends, fancy cotillions, and chauffeurs. The only person she can relate to is Daniel, a fellow surfer. Meeting him makes Janie feel like things might be looking up.

Still, something isn’t right in the Rochester mansion. There are noises—screams—coming from the attic that everyone else claims they can’t hear. Then John, the black sheep of the family, returns after getting kicked out of yet another boarding school. Soon Janie finds herself torn between devil-may-care John and fiercely loyal Daniel. Just when she thinks her life can’t get any more complicated, she learns the truth about why the Rochesters took her in. They want something from Janie, and she’s about to see just how far they’ll go to get it.]]> 288 Michelle Gagnon 1616956968 Diana 0 3.47 2017
author: Michelle Gagnon
name: Diana
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, mystery, paranormal, retellings, young-adult
review:

]]> 16068927 262 Maurene Goo 0545448212 Diana 2 young-adult 3.35 2013
author: Maurene Goo
name: Diana
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2019/05/12
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: young-adult
review:
It's basically a year in the life of a dramatic brat.
]]> 6603801 Book by Oscar, Wilde 213 Oscar Wilde 0141191538 Diana 5 Unfortunately when I started to read the characters annoyed me, the analyzing of every little thing went on forever, and it took a few chapters for any real story to develop. But when the story started coming to an end I knew that I was going to give it the 5 stars.
Why? Again I don't know; I already knew how it was going to end but when it did I still thought it was amazing. And maybe all the analyzing of his emotions in the last chapter might have helped it.]]> 3.96 1890
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Diana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1890
rating: 5
read at: 2010/09/29
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: classics, fantasy, favorites, horror
review:
I expected to like the story even before I read it. Why? I'm not completely sure. I had seen part of the movie and have heard so much about Dorian Gray that I really wanted to read it, even more I really wanted to like it.
Unfortunately when I started to read the characters annoyed me, the analyzing of every little thing went on forever, and it took a few chapters for any real story to develop. But when the story started coming to an end I knew that I was going to give it the 5 stars.
Why? Again I don't know; I already knew how it was going to end but when it did I still thought it was amazing. And maybe all the analyzing of his emotions in the last chapter might have helped it.
]]> 224050076 From #1 New York Times bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants author Ann Brashares and her brother Ben Brashares comes the second book in the action-packed middle grade alternate history thriller trilogy that asks what present-day America would be like if Germany had won World War II.

Former best friends Henry, Frances, and Lukas thought they’d managed to restore history to its original path after their antics with a time-bending radio went awry. But they’re still trapped in Westfallen, the version of present-day America where the Axis won WWII, living an alternate—and much darker—version of their lives.

Henry has to work at the Home for Incurables, Lukas is on hard labor all day, and only Frances, whose parents are members of the Nazi elite, gets to go to school and move freely. And since they and their friends in 1944 destroyed the radio, they have to find cruder and ever-more-desperate ways to communicate across time. Frances uses her privilege in Westfallen to gather as much information as she can, while Henry tries to turn Lukas into a local baseball hero to save him from being sent away to a work camp.

But the deeper the three friends and their 1944 counterparts dig into how Westfallen came to be, the more they begin to attract unwanted attention from people with a vested interest in making sure this version of history becomes permanent…at any cost.]]> Ann Brashares 1665950862 Diana 0 0.0
author: Ann Brashares
name: Diana
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: to-read, dystopias, fantasy, historical-fiction, middle-grade
review:

]]> 215593875 This is Josephine Baker in her own words.

Josephine Baker took Paris by storm in the 1920s, dazzling audiences with her humour, beauty and effervescence on stage. She became an icon. Hemingway, Jean Cocteau and Picasso admired her; Shirley Bassey adored 'I swear in all my life I have never seen, and probably never shall see again, such a spectacular singer and performer'. It was told she strolled the streets of Paris with her pet cheetah who wore a diamond collar.

Later, as one of the most recognisable women in the world, she became a spy for the French resistance, her celebrity working as her cover. She was awarded the Légion d'Honneur for military service. After the war she became increasingly interested in civil rights. In 1963 she spoke at the March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King. All this from a girl born in Missouri to a poor single black woman and a white father she did not know.

Flirtatious, funny, candid and this memoir gives us the wildly famous but elusive Josephine Baker telling her own story. Formed from a series of conversations with the French journalist Marcel Sauvage, over a period of more than twenty years, this book offers an entertaining insight into one of the most interesting and beguiling figures of the twentieth century.]]> 304 Josephine Baker 0593853695 Diana 0 to-read, non-ficton, women 3.57 1949
author: Josephine Baker
name: Diana
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1949
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: to-read, non-ficton, women
review:

]]> 1955751 The Scarlet Letter is a masterful portrayal of humanity's continuing struggle with sin, guilt and pride.

An unabridged production on 6 CDs (Approx. 7 hrs).]]> 7 Nathaniel Hawthorne 0736651322 Diana 3 3.32 1850
author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
name: Diana
average rating: 3.32
book published: 1850
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: classics, audio-books, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 216408 A poignant and suspenseful retelling of a classic fairy tale set in a war-torn world.

In the last months of the Nazi occupation of Poland, two children are left by their father and stepmother to find safety in a dense forest. Because their real names will reveal their Jewishness, they are renamed "Hansel" and "Gretel." They wander in the woods until they are taken in by Magda, an eccentric and stubborn old woman called "witch" by the nearby villagers. Magda is determined to save them, even as a German officer arrives in the village with his own plans for the children. Louise Murphy's haunting novel of journey and survival, of redemption and memory, powerfully depicts how war is experienced by families and especially by children.

"Lyrical, haunting, unforgettable." --Kirkus Reviews

"No reader who picks up this inspiring novel will put it down until the final pages, in which redemption is not a fairy tale ending but a heartening message of hope." --Publishers Weekly]]> 297 Louise Murphy 0142003077 Diana 0 4.01 2003
author: Louise Murphy
name: Diana
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, retellings, young-adult
review:

]]> 91357 170 Jane Yolen 0142401099 Diana 0 4.03 1988
author: Jane Yolen
name: Diana
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, middle-grade
review:

]]> 11371 Main Street, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith, It Can't Happen Here is a cautionary tale about the fragility of democracy, an alarming, eerily timeless look at how fascism could take hold in America. Written during the Great Depression when America was largely oblivious to Hitler's aggression, it juxtaposes sharp political satire with the chillingly realistic rise of a President who becomes a dictator to "save the nation." Now finally back in print, It Can't Happen Here remains uniquely important, a shockingly prescient novel that's as fresh and contemporary as today's news.]]> 400 Sinclair Lewis 045121658X Diana 0 to-read, classics, dystopias 3.77 1935
author: Sinclair Lewis
name: Diana
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1935
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read, classics, dystopias
review:

]]> 418005 Crossing the Atlantic in search of the buried cache, Jim and the ship’s crew must brave the elements and a mutinous charge led by the quintessentially ruthless pirate Long John Silver. Brilliantly conceived and splendidly executed, it is a novel that has seized the imagination of generations of adults and children alike.]]> 6 Robert Louis Stevenson 0739350463 Diana 2 audio-books, classics 3.73 1882
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Diana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1882
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: audio-books, classics
review:

]]> 40080590
The Struggle Is Gloria Richardson and Black Liberation explores the largely forgotten but deeply significant life of this central figure and her determination to improve the lives of black people. Using a wide range of source materials, including interviews with Richardson and her personal papers, as well as interviews with dozens of her friends, relatives, and civil rights colleagues, Joseph R. Fitzgerald presents an all-encompassing narrative. From Richardson's childhood, when her parents taught her the importance of racial pride, through the next eight decades, Fitzgerald relates a detailed and compelling story of her life. He reveals how Richardson's human rights activism extended far beyond Cambridge and how her leadership style and vision for liberation were embraced by the younger activists of the black power movement, who would carry the struggle on throughout the late 1960s and into the 1970s.]]> 360 Joseph R. Fitzgerald 0813176492 Diana 0 to-read, history, women 4.73
author: Joseph R. Fitzgerald
name: Diana
average rating: 4.73
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read, history, women
review:

]]> 51342996 The director of the famed Bodleian Libraries at Oxford narrates the global history of the willful destruction—and surprising survival—of recorded knowledge over the past three millennia.

Libraries and archives have been attacked since ancient times but have been especially threatened in the modern era. Today the knowledge they safeguard faces purposeful destruction and willful neglect; deprived of funding, libraries are fighting for their very existence. Burning the Books recounts the history that brought us to this point.

Richard Ovenden describes the deliberate destruction of knowledge held in libraries and archives from ancient Alexandria to contemporary Sarajevo, from smashed Assyrian tablets in Iraq to the destroyed immigration documents of the United Kingdom’s Windrush generation. He examines both the motivations for these acts—political, religious, and cultural—and the broader themes that shape this history. He also looks at attempts to prevent and mitigate attacks on knowledge, exploring the efforts of librarians and archivists to preserve information, often risking their own lives in the process.

More than simply repositories for knowledge, libraries and archives inspire and inform citizens. In preserving notions of statehood recorded in such historical documents as the Declaration of Independence, libraries support the state itself. By preserving records of citizenship and records of the rights of citizens as enshrined in legal documents such as the Magna Carta and the decisions of the United States Supreme Court, they support the rule of law. In Burning the Books, Ovenden takes a polemical stance on the social and political importance of the conservation and protection of knowledge, challenging governments in particular, but also society as a whole, to improve public policy and funding for these essential institutions.]]> 308 Richard Ovenden 0674241207 Diana 0 to-read, history 3.71 2020
author: Richard Ovenden
name: Diana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 640119
Only one thing stood between Edward, Lord Rawlings, and a life of rakish debauchery: a spinster. Even worse, a liberal, educated, vicar's daughter --- guardian to ten-year-old Jeremy, the true heir to the title Edward did not want. If Jeremy would not assume dukedom, Edward must, a fate of dire responsibility and utter boredom.

BUT THIS TIME, HER HEART WAS TAKING REINS

Since there had never been a female his lordship couldn't charm, Edward was sure he would win over the old girl. But Pegeen MacDougal was neither old, nor a girl --- she was all woman, with a prickly tongue, infernal green eyes and a buried sensuality that drove him mad. Unfortunately, she loathed him and his class for their fripperies and complete disregard for the less fortunate. But for the sake of the boy, she agreed to accompany him back to his estate.

The risk was quickly apparent. For Pegeen knew she could resist Edward's money, his power, his position ... his entire world. It was his kiss, however, that promised to be her undoing ...]]> 359 Patricia Cabot 0312964897 Diana 2 historical-fiction, adult

Note: I'm moderator to her fan group, I'm well aware it did.]]> 3.86 1998
author: Patricia Cabot
name: Diana
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1998
rating: 2
read at: 2019/02/02
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: historical-fiction, adult
review:
I do hope the author's work improved over time.


Note: I'm moderator to her fan group, I'm well aware it did.
]]> 638734
In accepting his lordship's offer of employment, the feisty Kate faces two perils; her wild attraction to a man who has sworn off love, and a date with her own scandalous past...which she cannot keep secret forever.]]> 343 Patricia Cabot 0312974132 Diana 0 3.57 2000
author: Patricia Cabot
name: Diana
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: historical-fiction, didn-t-finish, adult
review:

]]> 516243
Adventurous, outspoken, Payton Dixon has two passionate dreams...a clipper ship of her own and the love of Captain Connor Drake. But both seem impossibly out of reach, since her beloved captain is about to marry another, and worse, he's been given her ship as a wedding present from her traitorous father.

A thwarted love

Out to prove she has right on her side, Payton manages to unleash a scandal and ignite all sorts of trouble. As for Drake, he can't decide whether to throttle the girl he's grown up with, or make love to the beautiful woman she has become.

An Improper Proposal]]> 336 Patricia Cabot 0312971907 Diana 3 historical-fiction, adult 3.75 1999
author: Patricia Cabot
name: Diana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: historical-fiction, adult
review:

]]> 21853232 324 Mark Bailey Diana 0 3.63 2014
author: Mark Bailey
name: Diana
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read, hollywood, non-ficton
review:

]]> 29502385

Fully illustrated with luscious food photography and evocative film stills, Movie Night Menus provides the perfect accompaniments and conversation pieces to round out a fun-filled evening.]]> 248 Tenaya Darlington 0762460938 Diana 0 4.28
author: Tenaya Darlington
name: Diana
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read, cookbooks, tv-and-movies
review:

]]> 149851 64 Sarah Key 1558598553 Diana 3 3.91
author: Sarah Key
name: Diana
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: tv-and-movies, non-ficton, cookbooks
review:
Cute, I probably won't be making anything out of it for awhile but still, nice to have.
]]> 2033262 64 Sarah Key 0789200074 Diana 0 4.50 1995
author: Sarah Key
name: Diana
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read, non-ficton, tv-and-movies, cookbooks
review:

]]> 138338 64 Sarah Key 0789202441 Diana 0 4.00 1996
author: Sarah Key
name: Diana
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read, non-ficton, tv-and-movies, cookbooks
review:

]]> 756293 64 Sarah Key 1558595821 Diana 0 3.75 1993
author: Sarah Key
name: Diana
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read, non-ficton, tv-and-movies, cookbooks
review:

]]> 407397 64 Sarah Key 1558594744 Diana 0 4.21 1992
author: Sarah Key
name: Diana
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read, non-ficton, tv-and-movies, cookbooks
review:

]]> 195430700
In search of the recipes and traditions that made her feel at home, food historian and Salvadoran Karla Tatiana Vasquez took to the internet to find the dishes her mom made throughout her childhood. But when she couldn't find any, she decided to take matters into her own hands. What started as a desire to document recipes turned into sharing the joys, histories, and tribulations of the women in her life.

In this collection of eighty recipes, Karla shares her conversations with moms, aunts, grandmothers, and friends to preserve their histories so that they do not go unheard. Here are recipes for Rellenos de Papa from Patricia, who remembers the Los Angeles earthquakes of the 1980s for more reasons than just fear; Flor de Izote con Huevos Revueltos , a favorite of Karla's father; as well as variations on the beloved Salvadoran Pupusa , a thick masa tortilla stuffed with different combinations of pork, cheese, and beans. Though their stories vary, the women have a shared experience of what it was like in El Salvador before the war, and what life was like as Salvadoran women surviving in their new home in the United States.]]> 288 Karla Tatiana Vasquez 1984861425 Diana 5 non-ficton, cookbooks So many of the recipes had this kitchen novice excited and ready to jump up and try them out. They're all well-arranged and perfectly written out, that there is no hesitation for us first timers.
The stories of all the women included added so much more, making it not just a simple cookbook but a biography for the unsung women who might very well be a stranger at the market, a neighbor or even our grandmothers or aunts.]]> 4.38
author: Karla Tatiana Vasquez
name: Diana
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/26
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: non-ficton, cookbooks
review:
Thank you to Karla Tatiana Vasquez for making a piece of the culture easier to find for any of us who have attempted to seek it out only to discover that it's near impossible to get it all in one place. If at all.
So many of the recipes had this kitchen novice excited and ready to jump up and try them out. They're all well-arranged and perfectly written out, that there is no hesitation for us first timers.
The stories of all the women included added so much more, making it not just a simple cookbook but a biography for the unsung women who might very well be a stranger at the market, a neighbor or even our grandmothers or aunts.
]]> 1043987 Metropolis, the novel that the film's screenwriter—Thea von Harbou, who was director Fritz Lang's wife, and a collaborator in the creation of the film—this is the novel that Harbou wrote from her own notes. It contains bits of the story that got lost on the cutting-room floor; in a very real way it is the only way to understand the film. Michael Joseph of The Bookman wrote about the novel: "It is a remarkable piece of work, skillfully reproducing the atmosphere one has come to associate with the most ambitious German film productions. Suggestive in many respects of the dramatic work of Karel Capek and of the earlier fantastic romances of H. G. Wells, in treatment it is an interesting example of expressionist literature. ... Metropolis is one of the most powerful novels I have read and one which may capture a large public both in America and England if it does not prove too bewildering to the plain reader."]]> 236 Thea von Harbou 1592249787 Diana 0 to-read, dystopias 3.56 1925
author: Thea von Harbou
name: Diana
average rating: 3.56
book published: 1925
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, dystopias
review:

]]> 17368980
This historical account reveals wide disparities across horror filmmaking in the 1930s and brings to light a cycle of films of which many have been forgotten and unloved - until now.]]> 224 Alison Peirse 1848855311 Diana 0 to-read, non-ficton 3.84 2013
author: Alison Peirse
name: Diana
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, non-ficton
review:

]]> 35443804 This history and critique of classic scary films “honors Universal’s horror legacy.��.��.��. an excellent resource for film students and monster movie fanatics�� (Library Journal). In 1931 Universal Studios released��Dracula��starring Bela Lugosi. This box office success was followed by a string of films featuring macabre characters and chilling atmospherics, including��Frankenstein,��The Mummy, and��The Invisible Man. With each new film, Universal established its place in the Hollywood firmament as the leading producer of horror films, a status it enjoyed for more than twenty years. In��The Monster Movies of Universal Studios, James L. Neibaur examines the key films produced by the studio from the early 1930s through the mid-1950s. In each entry, Neibaur recounts the movie’s production, provides critical commentary, considers the film’s commercial reception, and offers an overall assessment of the movie’s significance. Neibaur also examines the impact these films had on popular culture, an influence that resonates in the cinema of fear today. From the world premiere of��Dracula��to the 1956 release of��The Creature Walks among Us, Universal excelled at scaring viewers of all ages—and even elicited a few chuckles along the way by pitting their iconic creatures against the comedic pair of Abbott and Costello.��The Monster Movies of Universal Studios��captures the thrills of these films, making this book a treat for fans of the golden age of horror cinema. �� “Studio stills and trade ads for several of the films add a suitably scary touch to this treat for fans and scholars alike. ―��Booklist “An impressive work of film scholarship.�� ―��Cinema Retro ��]]> 229 James L. Neibaur Diana 0 to-read, tv-and-movies 3.99 2017
author: James L. Neibaur
name: Diana
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, tv-and-movies
review:

]]> 103457849 Look up at the skies in wonder with this mystically illustrated treasury of folklore from above and beyond.
��
Did you know that people used to read the future in the flight of birds? That the constellations were thought to be mythological beings set in the sky? And that eclipses were seen as demonic omens?

For millennia, humans have looked to the heavens to explain the world around and above them. The myths, folktales, and lore that have arisen from these wonderings are as mysterious as they are varied—here, they're set down in a beautifully illustrated and engaging format for readers 6-12 years old. ��Lore of the Stars ��takes readers deep into space and back through the mists of time to discover the myriad answers to our most ancient questions.

Divided into six chapters:
The Sky
The Sun
The Moon
Stars
Planets, Comets, & Shooting Stars
The Cosmos
You will uncover the secrets of augury, the meanings of types of weather, stories explaining the birth of the Milky Way, and the beings and deities said to govern the worlds above.

Also in the series:
Lore of the Wild: Folklore and Wisdom from Nature
Lore of the Land: Folklore and Wisdom from the Wild Eart��h]]> 32 Claire Cock-Starkey 0711289603 Diana 0 4.56
author: Claire Cock-Starkey
name: Diana
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, middle-grade, mythology
review:

]]> 6971469
Appetite for America is the incredible real-life story of Fred Harvey—told in depth for the first time ever—as well as the story of this country’s expansion into the Wild West of Bat Masterson and Billy the Kid, of the great days of the railroad, of a time when a deal could still be made with a handshake and the United States was still uniting. As a young immigrant, Fred Harvey worked his way up from dishwasher to household name: He was Ray Kroc before McDonald’s, J. Willard Marriott before Marriott Hotels, Howard Schultz before Starbucks. His eating houses and hotels along the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad (including historic lodges still in use at the Grand Canyon) were patronized by princes, presidents, and countless ordinary travelers looking for the best cup of coffee in the country. Harvey’s staff of carefully screened single young women—the celebrated Harvey Girls—were the country’s first female workforce and became genuine Americana, even inspiring an MGM musical starring Judy Garland.

With the verve and passion of Fred Harvey himself, Stephen Fried tells the story of how this visionary built his business from a single lunch counter into a family empire whose marketing and innovations we still encounter in myriad ways. Inspiring, instructive, and hugely entertaining, Appetite for America is historical biography that is as richly rewarding as a slice of fresh apple pie—and every bit as satisfying.]]> 518 Stephen Fried 0553804375 Diana 0 to-read, history 4.16 2010
author: Stephen Fried
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 40000418
The Panama Canal set a new course for the modern development of Central America. Cutting a convenient path from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans, it hastened the currents of trade and migration that were already reshaping the Western hemisphere. Yet the waterway was built at considerable cost to a way of life that had characterized the region for centuries. In Erased , Marixa Lasso recovers the history of the Panamanian cities and towns that once formed the backbone of the republic.

Drawing on vast and previously untapped archival sources and personal recollections, Lasso describes the canal’s displacement of peasants, homeowners, and shop owners, and chronicles the destruction of a centuries-old commercial culture and environment. On completion of the canal, the United States engineered a tropical idyll to replace the lost cities and towns―a space miraculously cleansed of poverty, unemployment, and people―which served as a convenient backdrop to the manicured suburbs built exclusively for Americans. By restoring the sounds, sights, and stories of a world wiped clean by U.S. commerce and political ambition, Lasso compellingly pushes back against a triumphalist narrative that erases the contribution of Latin America to its own history.]]> 352 Marixa Lasso 0674984447 Diana 0 to-read, history 4.43 2019
author: Marixa Lasso
name: Diana
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 42971442 148 Charles River Editors Diana 0 to-read, history 3.60
author: Charles River Editors
name: Diana
average rating: 3.60
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 39941743 In 711 the Islamic Moors of Arab and Berber descent in North Africa crossed the Strait of Gibraltar onto the Iberian Peninsula, and in a series of raids they conquered Visigothic Christian Hispania and founded the first Muslim countries in Europe.
Contents:
The Last of the Goths
The Wave of Conquest
The People of Andalusia
A Young Pretender
The Christian Martyrs
The Great Khalif
The Holy War
The City of the Khalif
The Prime Minister
The Berbers in Power
My Cid the Challenger
The Kingdom of Granada
The Fall of Granada
Bearing the Cross]]> 128 Stanley Lane-Poole 8026892658 Diana 0 to-read, history 3.64 1887
author: Stanley Lane-Poole
name: Diana
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1887
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 109735 178 Anita Nair 0143335871 Diana 0 to-read, mythology 3.66 2004
author: Anita Nair
name: Diana
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, mythology
review:

]]> 29939375 **One of The Huffington Post's 27 Nonfiction Books By Women Everyone Should Read in 2017**
**One of Glamour's Best Books to Read in 2017**
**One of Bustle's 17 of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2017**
**One of BookRiot's '11 Books to Help Us Make It Through a Trump Presidency'**

Whenever I think about Michelle Obama, I think, When I grow up, I want to be just like her. I want to be that intelligent, confident, and comfortable in my own skin . Roxane Gay

Even after eight years of watching them daily in the press, the fact that the most powerful man in the world is a Black man is still breathtaking to me. The fact that he goes home to a tight-knit, loving family headed by a Black woman is soul-stirring. That woman is Michelle. Michelle. That name now carries a whole world of meaning... From the Preface by Ava DuVernay

Michelle Obama is unlike any other First Lady in American History. From her first moments on the public stage, she has challenged traditional American notions about what it means to be beautiful, to be strong, to be fashion-conscious, to be healthy, to be First Mom, to be a caretaker and hostess, and to be partner to the most powerful man in the world. What is remarkable is that, at 52, she is just getting started.

While many books have looked at Michelle Obama from a fashion perspective, no book has fully explored what she means to our culture. The Meaning of Michelle does just that, while offering a parting gift to a landmark moment in American history. In addition to a tribute to Michelle Obama, this book is also a rollicking, lively dinner party conversation about race, class, marriage, creativity, womanhood and what it means to be American today.

Contributors include: Ava DuVernay, Veronica Chambers, Benilde Little, Damon Young, Alicia Hall Moran and Jason Moran, Brittney Cooper, Ylonda Gault Caviness, Chirlane McCray, Cathi Hanauer, Tiffany Dufu, Tanisha Ford, Marcus Samuelsson, Sarah Lewis, Karen Hill Anton, Rebecca Carroll, Phillipa Soo, and Roxane Gay

"]]> 220 Veronica Chambers 1250114969 Diana 0 to-read, non-ficton, women 3.85 2017
author: Veronica Chambers
name: Diana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, non-ficton, women
review:

]]> 55959562 The story of the fascinating, fraught alliance among Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Maria Weston Chapman—and of how its break-up led to the��success of America's most important social movement ��
��
In the crucial early years of the Abolition movement, the Boston branch of the cause seized upon the star power of the eloquent ex-slave Frederick Douglass to make its case for slaves' freedom. Journalist ��William Lloyd Garrison��promoted emancipation while Garrison loyalist Maria Weston Chapman, known as the “Contessa,�� raised money and managed Douglass�� speaking tour from her Boston townhouse.��
��
Conventional histories have seen Douglass�� departure for the New York wing of the Abolition party as a result of a rift between Douglass and Garrison. ��But, as acclaimed historian Linda Hirshman reveals,��this completely misses the woman in power. ��Weston Chapman wrote cutting letters to Douglass, doubting his loyalty; the Bostonian abolitionists were shot through with racist prejudice, even aiming the N-word at Douglass among themselves. Through incisive, original analysis, Hirshman convinces that the inevitable��break-up was in fact��a successful failure. ��Eventually, as the most sought-after Black activist in America, Douglass was able to dangle the prize of his endorsement over the Republican Party’s candidate for President, Abraham Lincoln. Two years later the abolition of slavery—if not the abolition of racism—became immutable law. ��
��]]> 352 Linda R. Hirshman 132890024X Diana 0 to-read, history 3.79 2022
author: Linda R. Hirshman
name: Diana
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 50358718
The answers lay in their sacred stories.

This is a collection of stories from nations and cultures across two continents—the Sea-Ringed World, as the Aztecs called it—from the edge of Argentina all the way up to Alaska.]]> 240 María García Esperón 164614015X Diana 0 3.87 2021
author: María García Esperón
name: Diana
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, middle-grade, mythology
review:

]]> 38485451
When her guardian betroths her to a pagan prince, she questions HaShem's plan. When Hyrcanus finally marries her to a boy half her age, she questions her guardian's sanity. But though Salome spends much of her life as a pawn ordered about by powerful men, she learns that a woman committed to HaShem can change the world.]]> 384 Angela Elwell Hunt 0764219340 Diana 0 4.16 2018
author: Angela Elwell Hunt
name: Diana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, women
review:

]]> 6155444 685 Gregory William Mank 0786434805 Diana 0 4.47 1990
author: Gregory William Mank
name: Diana
average rating: 4.47
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: to-read, hollywood, non-ficton
review:

]]>