en-US Sat, 01 Feb 2025 10:31:26 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 40535259
ĚýĚýĚýĚýĚý Now, in this life-changing book, handcrafted by the author over a rigorous four-year period, you will discover the early-rising habit that has helped so many accomplish epic results while upgrading their happiness, helpfulness and feelings of aliveness.

ĚýĚýĚýĚýĚý Through an enchanting—and often amusing—story about two struggling strangers who meet an eccentric tycoon who becomes their secret mentor, The 5am Club will walk you through:


How great geniuses, business titans and the world’s wisest people start their mornings to produce astonishing achievements
AĚýlittle-known formula you can use instantly to wake up early feeling inspired, focused and flooded with a fiery drive to get the most out of each day
A step-by-step method to protect the quietest hours of daybreak so you have time for exercise, self-renewal and personal growth
A neuroscience-based practice proven to help make it easy to rise while most people are sleeping, giving you precious time for yourself to think, express your creativity and begin the day peacefully instead of being rushed
“Insider-only� tactics to defend your gifts, talents and dreams against digital distraction and trivial diversions so you enjoy fortune, influence and a magnificent impact on the world
Part manifesto for mastery, part playbook for genius-grade productivity and part companion for a life lived beautifully, The 5am Club is a work that will transform your life. Forever.]]> Robin Sharma 144345799X Kaila 1 Shockingly bad. 2.76 2018
author: Robin Sharma
name: Kaila
average rating: 2.76
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: 2024, audio, self-help, abandoned
review:
Shockingly bad.
]]> 127305908
The Viking warship of King Cnut the Great. Henry VIII's the Mary Rose. Captain John Franklin's doomed HMS Terror. The SS Gairsoppa, destroyed by a Nazi U-boat in the Atlantic during World War II.

Since we first set sail on the open sea, ships and their wrecks have been an inevitable part of human history. Archaeologists have made spectacular discoveries excavating these sunken ships, their protective underwater cocoon keeping evidence of past civilizations preserved. Now, for the first time, world renowned maritime archeologist David Gibbins ties together the stories of some of the most significant shipwrecks in time to form a single overarching narrative of world history.

A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks is not just the story of those ships, the people who sailed on them, and the cargo and treasure they carried, but also the story of the spread of people, religion, and ideas around the world; it is a story of colonialism, migration, and the indominable human spirit that continues today. From the glittering Bronze Age, to the world of Caesar's Rome, through the era of the Vikings, to the exploration of the Arctic, Gibbins uses shipwrecks to tell all.

Drawing on decades of experience excavating shipwrecks around the world, Gibbins reveals the riches beneath the waves and shows us how the treasures found there can be a porthole to the past that tell a new story about the world and its underwater secrets.]]> 289 David Gibbins 1250325374 Kaila 0 abandoned 3.35 2024
author: David Gibbins
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves: abandoned
review:
I have never abandoned an audio book so quickly. I made it about 75 seconds.
]]> 44581558 The sisters of the Order of Saint Rita captain their living ship into the reaches of space in Lina Rather's debut novella, Sisters of the Vast Black.

Years ago, Old Earth sent forth sisters and brothers into the vast dark of the prodigal colonies armed only with crucifixes and iron faith. Now, the sisters of the Order of Saint Rita are on an interstellar mission of mercy aboard Our Lady of Impossible Constellations, a living, breathing ship which seems determined to develop a will of its own.

When the order receives a distress call from a newly-formed colony, the sisters discover that the bodies and souls in their care—and that of the galactic diaspora—are in danger. And not from void beyond, but from the nascent Central Governance and the Church itself.]]> 176 Lina Rather 1250260264 Kaila 0 abandoned 3.98 2019
author: Lina Rather
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/08
shelves: abandoned
review:
Couldn't handle the audiobook narrator. She narrated a book I listened to last year that I did not like and the book I didn't like is all I can hear now.
]]> 615570 The Artist’s Way is the seminal book on the subject of creativity. An international bestseller, millions of readers have found it to be an invaluable guide to living the artist’s life. Still as vital today—or perhaps even more so—than it was when it was first published one decade ago, it is a powerfully provocative and inspiring work. In a new introduction to the book, Julia Cameron reflects upon the impact of The Artist’s Way and describes the work she has done during the last decade and the new insights into the creative process that she has gained. Updated and expanded, this anniversary edition reframes The Artist’s Way for a new century.]]> 237 Julia Cameron 1585421464 Kaila 0 abandoned 3.93 2002
author: Julia Cameron
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/20
shelves: abandoned
review:
I really enjoyed doing up to about week 8, then I started a writing class so this book was no longer serving me. Then I just...never went back to it. Maybe I'll try again someday, I did feel pretty creative during those 8 weeks.
]]> 5043 Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape.

Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.

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

For the TV tie-in edition with the same ISBN go to this Alternate Cover Edition
]]> 976 Ken Follett 045122213X Kaila 0 abandoned 4.34 1989
author: Ken Follett
name: Kaila
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/04/02
shelves: abandoned
review:
Couldn't handle the audiobook narrator
]]> 426504 Ficciones demonstrate the whirlwind of Borges's genius and mirror the precision and potency of his intellect and inventiveness, his piercing irony, his skepticism, and his obsession with fantasy. Borges sends us on a journey into a compelling, bizarre, and profoundly resonant realm; we enter the fearful sphere of Pascal's abyss, the surreal and literal labyrinth of books, and the iconography of eternal return. To enter the worlds in Ficciones is to enter the mind of Jorge Luis Borges, wherein lies Heaven, Hell, and everything else in between.

Part One: The Garden of Forking Paths
Prologue
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius (1940)
The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim (1936, not included in the 1941 edition)
Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote (1939)
The Circular Ruins (1940)
The Lottery in Babylon (1941)
An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain (1941)
The Library of Babel (1941)
The Garden of Forking Paths (1941)
Part Two: Artifices
Prologue
Funes the Memorious (1942)
The Form of the Sword (1942)
Theme of the Traitor and the Hero (1944)
Death and the Compass (1942)
The Secret Miracle (1943)
Three Versions of Judas (1944)
The End (1953, 2nd edition only)
The Sect of the Phoenix (1952, 2nd edition only)
The South (1953, 2nd edition only)]]> 174 Jorge Luis Borges 0802130305 Kaila 0 abandoned 4.46 1944
author: Jorge Luis Borges
name: Kaila
average rating: 4.46
book published: 1944
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/17
shelves: abandoned
review:
Reading this as we went into the pandemic was a bad idea. I haven't been able to look at it since.
]]> 41241968
So reads the sign outside of The Wandering Inn, a small building run by a young woman named Erin Solstice. She serves pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice, and dead acid flies on request. And she comes from another world. Ours.

It’s a bad day when Erin finds herself transported to a fantastical world and nearly gets eaten by a Dragon. She doesn’t belong in a place where monster attacks are a fact of life, and where Humans are one species among many. But she must adapt to her new life. Or die.

In a dangerous world where magic is real and people can level up and gain classes, Erin Solstice must battle somewhat evil Goblins, deadly Rock Crabs, and hungry [Necromancers]. She is no warrior, no mage. Erin Solstice runs an inn.

She’s an [Innkeeper].]]> 1008 Pirateaba Kaila 0 abandoned 4.50 2020
author: Pirateaba
name: Kaila
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/17
shelves: abandoned
review:
Alright, I haven't read a chapter in over 2 years, think it's time to mark this one as abandoned. Hated the Emperor character immensely.
]]> 5617966 A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives.
In A Guide to the Good Life, Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism, showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life. Using the psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us. Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility and shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life. As he does so, he describes his own experiences practicing Stoicism and offers valuable first-hand advice for anyone wishing to live better by following in the footsteps of these ancient philosophers. Readers learn how to minimize worry, how to let go of the past and focus our efforts on the things we can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune. We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of prizing only things of true value, and from Epictetus we learn how to be more content with what we have.
Finally, A Guide to the Good Life shows readers how to become thoughtful observers of their own life. If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily business and later reflect on what we saw, we can better identify the sources of distress and eventually avoid that pain in our life. By doing this, the Stoics thought, we can hope to attain a truly joyful life.]]> 326 William B. Irvine 0195374614 Kaila 0 abandoned 4.18 2008
author: William B. Irvine
name: Kaila
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/17
shelves: abandoned
review:
Still want to read, really enjoyed the first 50 pages, just have a lot going on right now and I can't focus on it.
]]> 58783802 A rollicking feminist tale set in 1950s America where thousands of women have spontaneously transformed into dragons, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world and expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are.

The first adult novel by the Newbery award-winning author of The Girl Who Drank the Moon.

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours, except for its most seminal event: the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales, and talons; left a trail of fiery destruction in their path; and took to the skies. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of this astonishing event: a mother more protective than ever; an absentee father; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and watching her beloved cousin Bea become dangerously obsessed with the forbidden.

In this timely and timeless speculative novel, award-winning author Kelly Barnhill boldly explores rage, memory, and the tyranny of forced limitations. When Women Were Dragons exposes a world that wants to keep women small—their lives and their prospects—and examines what happens when they rise en masse and take up the space they deserve.]]> 367 Kelly Barnhill 0385548222 Kaila 0 abandoned
I've read a few of her middle reader books and thought they were only so so but thought I'd give her another chance since those were not really meant for a women in her late 30s.

This has as much subtlety as those middle reader books, which is to say, absolutely none, and you will be bashed over the head with it. Did you KNOW women are OPPRESSED???!]]> 3.79 2022
author: Kelly Barnhill
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/26
shelves: abandoned
review:
DNF @ page 54

I've read a few of her middle reader books and thought they were only so so but thought I'd give her another chance since those were not really meant for a women in her late 30s.

This has as much subtlety as those middle reader books, which is to say, absolutely none, and you will be bashed over the head with it. Did you KNOW women are OPPRESSED???!
]]> 53205888 Welcome to Charon's Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.]]> 376 T.J. Klune 1250217342 Kaila 0 abandoned
I need to stop reading books that compare themselves to A Man Called Ove.

I might have been able to keep reading if any other character held any charm, but they were all terrible. This man is dead and instead of like, helping? They say things like, "You're allowed to ask all the questions you want, I'm just giving you shit lol"

Also, this book is meant for children.]]> 4.11 2021
author: T.J. Klune
name: Kaila
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/29
shelves: abandoned
review:
DNF at 33%

I need to stop reading books that compare themselves to A Man Called Ove.

I might have been able to keep reading if any other character held any charm, but they were all terrible. This man is dead and instead of like, helping? They say things like, "You're allowed to ask all the questions you want, I'm just giving you shit lol"

Also, this book is meant for children.
]]> 112077 543 Dorothy Dunnett 0679777431 Kaila 0 abandoned 4.15 1961
author: Dorothy Dunnett
name: Kaila
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1961
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/05
shelves: abandoned
review:
It is too hard to follow on audio. I can't keep all the names straight. The audiobook has stellar reviews, but they seem to be mostly from people who have read the book before so it would be easier to keep all the details straight.
]]> 41758030 Known as America's first fully painted graphic novel, the poetic, philosophical, and groundbreaking Moonshadow gets a deluxe hardcover treatment, with a new introduction by writer J.M. DeMatteis and a new bonus section featuring concept art and early notes from the creative team.

A romantic, unreliable narrator leads us through his interplanetary coming-of-age story, as an older Moonshadow recounts his strange mixed-species birth in outer space, his escape from a deep-space zoo, and his struggles to survive in a war-torn universe.

With gorgeous watercolor artwork by Jon J Muth, this influential, timeless "fairy tale for adults" also includes the Farewell Moonshadow illustrated novella that gives fans a look at Moon's life after his tumultuous, space-faring teens and misadventures with the miscreant Ira. Digitally restored and including all original cover work, this volume also includes illustrations by Kent Williams and George Pratt and lettering by Kevin Nowlan. A sci-fi fantasy that Ray Bradbury called, "Beautiful, original, haunting," and DeMatteis himself calls "Dickens' David Copperfield meets Siddhartha in space."]]> 512 J.M. DeMatteis 150670946X Kaila 0 abandoned
[spoilers removed]

I actually kept on for about another 100 pages, even though my gut was saying "You won't like this." My gut was right. It was a fake memoir of fake people in a fake world - a recipe I normally find distasteful in the best of times, and this was so overwhelmingly masculine in all the wrong ways (see above quote).]]> 3.92 1989
author: J.M. DeMatteis
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/02/02
shelves: abandoned
review:
Words under a spoiler because of pornographic imagery

[spoilers removed]

I actually kept on for about another 100 pages, even though my gut was saying "You won't like this." My gut was right. It was a fake memoir of fake people in a fake world - a recipe I normally find distasteful in the best of times, and this was so overwhelmingly masculine in all the wrong ways (see above quote).
]]> 62032 Captain Bluebear tells the story of his first 13-1/2 lives spent on the mysterious continent of Zamonia, where intelligence is an infectious disease, water flows uphill, and dangers lie in wait for him around every corner.

"A bluebear has twenty-seven lives. I shall recount thirteen and a half of them in this book but keep quiet about the rest," says the narrator of Walter Moers’s epic adventure. "What about the Minipirates? What about the Hobgoblins, the Spiderwitch, the Babbling Billows, the Troglotroll, the Mountain Maggot� Mine is a tale of mortal danger and eternal love, of hair’s breadth, last-minute escapes." Welcome to the fantastic world of Zamonia, populated by all manner of extraordinary characters. It’s a land of imaginative lunacy and supreme adventure, wicked satire and epic fantasy, all mixed together, turned on its head, and lavishly illustrated by the author.]]> 704 Walter Moers 1585678449 Kaila 0 abandoned
]]> 4.27 1999
author: Walter Moers
name: Kaila
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/24
shelves: abandoned
review:
Swingin' and missin' a lot this year. I have never abandoned so many books and it's not even Feb 1 yet! I made it to page 140 of this. It was cute and I enjoyed the clever writing but I also got bored almost immediately. Setting the memoir in a fake world was too much for me. It would be like reading a 700-page memoir of a character from Discworld - absolutely enjoyable by some, but not for me.


]]> 41727615 Listening Length: 53 hours and 24 minutes

The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman.

Miyamoto Musashi was the child of an era when Japan was emerging from decades of civil strife. Lured to the great Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 by the hope of becoming a samurai-without really knowing what it meant-he regains consciousness after the battle to find himself lying defeated, dazed and wounded among thousands of the dead and dying. On his way home, he commits a rash act, becomes a fugitive and brings life in his own village to a standstill-until he is captured by a weaponless Zen monk.

The lovely Otsu, seeing in Musashi her ideal of manliness, frees him from his tortuous punishment, but he is recaptured and imprisoned. During three years of solitary confinement, he delves into the classics of Japan and China. When he is set free again, he rejects the position of samurai and for the next several years pursues his goal relentlessly, looking neither to left nor to right.

Ever so slowly it dawns on him that following the Way of the Sword is not simply a matter of finding a target for his brute strength. Continually striving to perfect his technique, which leads him to a unique style of fighting with two swords simultaneously, he travels far and wide, challenging fighters of many disciplines, taking nature to be his ultimate and severest teacher and undergoing the rigorous training of those who follow the Way. He is supremely successful in his encounters, but in the Art of War he perceives the way of peaceful and prosperous governance and disciplines himself to be a real human being.

He becomes a reluctant hero to a host of people whose lives he has touched and been touched by. And, inevitably, he has to pit his skill against the naked blade of his greatest rival.]]> 54 Eiji Yoshikawa Kaila 0 abandoned, audio
It is especially baffling because all of the top reviews on Audible absolutely praise the narrator. I couldn't stand him.

I should pick up the paper book someday, I am interested in the historical figure of Musashi.]]> 3.96 1935
author: Eiji Yoshikawa
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1935
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/12/29
shelves: abandoned, audio
review:
Man, I really don't want to do this, but I'm going to abandon it. I've been listening to the audiobook and the narrator is not good. This is a problem when I have an absolutely horrid time keeping the characters straight - a product of my Western upbringing. The names all sound the same to me, unfortunately, and with no voices to help, or the ability to flip back pages to refresh my memory on what this character had done, I'm listening to context-free story at any given time. I'm about halfway through the story, but it's taken me 6 months to get this far and it has become a chore to turn it on.

It is especially baffling because all of the top reviews on Audible absolutely praise the narrator. I couldn't stand him.

I should pick up the paper book someday, I am interested in the historical figure of Musashi.
]]> 168668
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier, Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy—it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.

This fiftieth-anniversary edition commemorates Joseph Heller’s masterpiece with a new introduction by Christopher Buckley; a wealth of critical essays and reviews by Norman Mailer, Alfred Kazin, Anthony Burgess, and others; rare papers and photos from Joseph Heller’s personal archive; and much more. Here, at last, is the definitive edition of a classic of world literature.]]> 453 Joseph Heller 0684833395 Kaila 0 abandoned 3.99 1961
author: Joseph Heller
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1961
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/01/06
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> 24100285
A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented-something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.

Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix - part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Instead of competing in orbital combat, the powerful species that survived face off in a competition of song, dance, or whatever can be physically performed in an intergalactic talent show. The stakes are high for this new game, and everyone is forced to compete.

This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny - they must sing.

A one-hit-wonder band of human musicians, dancers and roadies from London - Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes - have been chosen to represent Earth on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of their species lies in their ability to rock.]]> 294 Catherynne M. Valente 1472115074 Kaila 0
I'm apparently fine when a book is poorly written and boring but OVER written and boring is a crime I just can't continue reading.]]> 3.45 2018
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/03
shelves: abandoned, science-fiction, portland-reddit-book-club, 2019
review:
DNF at 50 pages

I'm apparently fine when a book is poorly written and boring but OVER written and boring is a crime I just can't continue reading.
]]> 71846 464 Matt Ruff 0802141552 Kaila 0
I made it about 25 pages in before the LITERALLY BLACK SKINNED SERVANT ROBOT said "Zippety do DAY!" as way of greeting.

Maybe he was trying to make comments on the state of race in America or something? I'll never know.]]> 3.94 1994
author: Matt Ruff
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/02/14
shelves: abandoned, portland-reddit-book-club
review:
That's a whole lotta NOPE.

I made it about 25 pages in before the LITERALLY BLACK SKINNED SERVANT ROBOT said "Zippety do DAY!" as way of greeting.

Maybe he was trying to make comments on the state of race in America or something? I'll never know.
]]> 23129410 Welcome to Night Vale podcast comes an imaginative mystery of appearances and disappearances that is also a poignant look at the ways in which we all struggle to find ourselves...no matter where we live.

Located in a nameless desert somewhere in the great American Southwest, Night Vale is a small town where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all commonplace parts of everyday life. It is here that the lives of two women, with two mysteries, will converge.

Nineteen-year-old Night Vale pawn shop owner Jackie Fierro is given a paper marked "King City" by a mysterious man in a tan jacket holding a deer skin suitcase. Everything about him and his paper unsettles her, especially the fact that she can't seem to get the paper to leave her hand, and that no one who meets this man can remember anything about him. Jackie is determined to uncover the mystery of King City and the man in the tan jacket before she herself unravels.

Night Vale PTA treasurer Diane Crayton's son, Josh, is moody and also a shape shifter. And lately Diane's started to see her son's father everywhere she goes, looking the same as the day he left years earlier, when they were both teenagers. Josh, looking different every time Diane sees him, shows a stronger and stronger interest in his estranged father, leading to a disaster Diane can see coming, even as she is helpless to prevent it.

Diane's search to reconnect with her son and Jackie's search for her former routine life collide as they find themselves coming back to two words: "King City". It is King City that holds the key to both of their mysteries, and their futures...if they can ever find it.]]> 401 Joseph Fink 0062351427 Kaila 0 abandoned, audio, 2016
Every single sentence is something like "You are reading this, maybe. You may or may not be reading this in a chair you may or may not be sitting in. Is there a house around you? There could be. If there IS a house around you, it probably doesn't look like a house. In fact it probably shouldn't be called a house, it's so far away from the general objects we call 'houses.' Nevertheless, you may be sitting in the chair, or not, in the location that isn't a house, but it could be."

So many words that say so little.]]> 3.84 2015
author: Joseph Fink
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/10/14
shelves: abandoned, audio, 2016
review:
Boring.

Every single sentence is something like "You are reading this, maybe. You may or may not be reading this in a chair you may or may not be sitting in. Is there a house around you? There could be. If there IS a house around you, it probably doesn't look like a house. In fact it probably shouldn't be called a house, it's so far away from the general objects we call 'houses.' Nevertheless, you may be sitting in the chair, or not, in the location that isn't a house, but it could be."

So many words that say so little.
]]> 16703
But homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the District Police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. He and his half-Tlingit partner, Berko Shemets, can't catch a break in any of their outstanding cases. Landsman's new supervisor is the love of his life—and also his worst nightmare. And in the cheap hotel where he has washed up, someone has just committed a murder—right under Landsman's nose. Out of habit, obligation, and a mysterious sense that it somehow offers him a shot at redeeming himself, Landsman begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy. But when word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, Landsman soon finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, hopefulness, evil, and salvation that are his heritage—and with the unfinished business of his marriage to Bina Gelbfish, the one person who understands his darkest fears.

At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, an homage to 1940s noir, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.
(front flap)]]> 414 Michael Chabon 0007149824 Kaila 0 abandoned 3.72 2007
author: Michael Chabon
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/07/14
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> 87580 272 James Hogg 0192835904 Kaila 0 abandoned 3.70 1824
author: James Hogg
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1824
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/05/19
shelves: abandoned
review:
Simply didn't work for me as an audio book. Might try a paper version some time.
]]> 17707758 Fifty leading writers retell myths from around the world in this dazzling follow-up to the bestselling My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me.

Icarus flies once more. Aztec jaguar gods again stalk the earth. An American soldier designs a new kind of Trojan horse—his cremains in a bullet. Here, in beguiling guise, are your favorite mythological figures alongside characters from Indian, Punjabi, Inuit, and other traditions.
Ěý
Aimee Bender retells the myth of the Titans.
Ěý
Madeline Miller retells the myth of Galatea.
Ěý
Kevin Wilson retells the myth of Phaeton, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
Ěý
Emma Straub and Peter Straub retell the myth of Persephone.
Ěý
Heidi Julavits retells the myth of Orpheus and Euridice.
Ěý
Ron Currie, Jr. retells the myth of Dedalus.
Ěý
Maile Meloy retells the myth of Demeter.
Ěý
Zachary Mason retells the myth of Narcissus.
Ěý
Joy Williams retells the myth of Argos, Odysseus� dog.
Ěý
If “xo� signals a goodbye, then xo Orpheus is a goodbye to an old way of mythmaking. Featuring talkative goats, a cat lady, a bird woman, a beer-drinking ogre, a squid who falls in love with the sun, and a girl who gives birth to cubs, here are extravagantly imagined, bracingly contemporary stories, heralding a new beginning for one of the world’s oldest literary traditions.]]> 531 Kate Bernheimer 0143122428 Kaila 0 abandoned 3.43 2013
author: Kate Bernheimer
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/02/27
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> 15824178
Living and working as a part-time librarian in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Isaac had finally earned the magical research position he dreamed of with Die Zwelf Portenære, better known as the Porters. He was seeing a smart, fun, gorgeous dryad named Lena Greenwood. He had been cleared by Johannes Gutenberg to do libriomancy once again, to reach into books and create whatever he chose from their pages. Best of all, it had been more than two months since anything tried to kill him.

And then Isaac, Lena, and Porter psychiatrist Nidhi Shah are called to the small mining town of Tamarack, Michigan, where a pair of septuagenarian werewolves have discovered the brutally murdered body of a wendigo.

What begins as a simple monster-slaying leads to deeper mysteries and the discovery of an organization thought to have been wiped out more than five centuries ago by Gutenberg himself. Their magic rips through Isaac’s with ease, and their next target is Lena Greenwood.

They know Lena’s history, her strengths and her weaknesses. Born decades ago from the pages of a pulp fantasy novel, she was created to be the ultimate fantasy woman, shaped by the needs and desires of her companions. Her powers are unique, and Gutenberg’s enemies mean to use her to destroy everything he and the Porters have built. But their plan could unleash a far darker power, an army of entropy and chaos, bent on devouring all it touches.

The Upper Peninsula is about to become ground zero in a magical war like nothing the world has seen in more than five hundred years. But the more Isaac learns about Gutenberg and the Porters, the more he questions whether he’s fighting for the right cause.

One way or another, Isaac must find a way to stop a power he doesn’t fully understand. And even if he succeeds, the outcome will forever change him, the Porters, and the whole world.]]> 326 Jim C. Hines 0756408164 Kaila 0 abandoned 3.91 2013
author: Jim C. Hines
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/02/08
shelves: abandoned
review:
I might come back sometime, but right now I could care less about the story. The first 50 pages did nothing but set the boundaries and rules for what used to be a fun filled magic system. It never felt this cumbersome in the last book.
]]> 6014190
Two nations at war, fighting for dominion over the known, and undiscovered, world, pin their last hopes at ultimate victory on finding a land out of legend.

Each will send their ships to brave the untamed seas, wild storms, sea serpents, and darker dangers unknown to any man. It is a perilous undertaking, but there will always be the impetuous, the brave and the mad who are willing to leave their homes to explore the unknown.

Even unto the edge of the world. . .

Kevin J. Anderson's spectacular fantasy debut is a sweeping tale of adventure on the high seas, as two warring kingdoms vie for the greatest treasure of them all.]]> 609 Kevin J. Anderson 0316004189 Kaila 0 abandoned Yeah, that's bad. 3.53 2009
author: Kevin J. Anderson
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/01/07
shelves: abandoned
review:
Yeah, that's bad.
]]> 554202 The tale of Bluebeard, reenvisioned as a dark fable of faith and truth

1843 is the “last year of the world,� according the Elias Fitcher, a charismatic preacher in the Finger Lakes district of New York State. He's established a utopian community on an estate outside the town of Jeckyll's Glen, where the faithful wait, work, and pray for the world to end.

Vernelia, Amy, and Catherine Charter are the three young townswomen whose father falls under the Reverend Fitcher’s hypnotic sway. In their old house, where ghostly voices whisper from the walls, the girls are ruled by their stepmother, who is ruled in turn by the fiery preacher. Determined to spend Eternity as a married man, Fitcher casts his eye on Vernelia, and before much longer the two are wed. But living on the man's estate, separated from her family, Vern soon learns the extent of her husband’s dark side. It's rumored that he's been married before, though what became of those wives she does not know. Perhaps the secret lies in the locked room at the very top of the house—the sin-gle room that the Reverend Fitcher has forbidden to her.

Inspired by the classic fairy tales "Bluebeard" and "The Fitcher Bird," this dark fantasy is set in New York State’s “Burned-Over District,� at its time of historic religious ferment. All three Charter sisters will play their part in the story of Fitcher's Utopia: a story of faith gone wrong, and evil coun-tered by one brave, true soul.
]]> 400 Gregory Frost 0765301954 Kaila 0 abandoned
The definition of telling and not showing.]]> 3.63 2002
author: Gregory Frost
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/12/17
shelves: abandoned
review:
Nope. That sucked. Told from the simultaneous view point of all three girls who all love to explain exactly what they're going through one right after the other.

The definition of telling and not showing.
]]> 9461562 ]]> 278 Martha Wells 1597802166 Kaila 0 3.94 2011
author: Martha Wells
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/08/19
shelves: non-european-fantasy-by-women, abandoned, fantasy
review:
Well, I'm pretty sad about this. Not going to be continuing, the writing isn't evocative enough for me. Lots of telling me exactly what someone is feeling/doing instead of letting it occur naturally. I really wanted to like this too :(
]]> 6436602
The year is 1364, and the brothers Grossbart have embarked on a naĂŻve quest for fortune. Descended from a long line of graverobbers, they are determined to follow their family's footsteps to the fabled crypts of Gyptland. To get there, they will have to brave dangerous and unknown lands and keep company with all manner of desperate travelers-merchants, priests, and scoundrels alike. For theirs is a world both familiar and distant; a world of living saints and livelier demons, of monsters and madmen.

The Brothers Grossbart are about to discover that all legends have their truths, and worse fates than death await those who would take the red road of villainy.]]> 453 Jesse Bullington 0316049344 Kaila 0 abandoned
Thoroughly disgusting. Do not read. Unless you like that kind of thing. In which case, you should still probably be somewhere by yourself because your grimaces of disgust might scare people away at the local cafe.]]> 3.52 2009
author: Jesse Bullington
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/04/28
shelves: abandoned
review:
You know, what's really amazing is how I made it through the gratuitous violence, the blasphemous conversations that were obviously trying to be funny (I'm atheist and even *I* was offended), the continued idiocy of these two brothers - but it was the disgusting sex where an old lady's vagina is described as sweetly chevre smelling that did me in.

Thoroughly disgusting. Do not read. Unless you like that kind of thing. In which case, you should still probably be somewhere by yourself because your grimaces of disgust might scare people away at the local cafe.
]]> 11515333
Mal Catlyn, a down-at-heel swordsman, is seconded to the ambassador's bodyguard, but assassination attempts are the least of his problems. What he learns about the skraylings and their unholy powers could cost England her new ally--and Mal his soul.]]> 518 Anne Lyle 0857662147 Kaila 0 abandoned 3.46 2012
author: Anne Lyle
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/02/24
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> 10344455
The Tharks subsequently capture Dejah Thoris, Princess of Helium, a member of the humanoid red Martian race. The red Martians inhabit a loose network of city states and control the desert planet’s canals, along which its agriculture is concentrated. Carter rescues her from the green men to return her to her people. (Summary from Wikipedia)]]> 7 Edgar Rice Burroughs Kaila 0 abandoned 3.61 1912
author: Edgar Rice Burroughs
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.61
book published: 1912
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/11/10
shelves: abandoned
review:
Couldn't stand the LibriVox narrator, Mark Nelson. Really want to read this book at some point though.
]]> 13793342
Born of darkness, the creatures of myth, legend, and nightmare have long called the shadows home. Now, with the cruel touch of the sun fading into memory, they've returned to claim their rightful place amidst humanity; as its masters.

Fading Light collects 30 monstrous stories by authors new and experienced, in the genres of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, each bringing their own interpretation of what lurks in the dark.

Contributors: Mark Lawrence, Gene O'Neill, William Meikle, David Dalglish, Gord Rollo, Nick Cato, Adam Millard, Stephen McQuiggan, Gary W Olson, Tom Olbert, Mark Pantoja, Malon Edwards, Carl Barker, Jake Elliot, Lee Mather, Georgina Kamsika, Dorian Dawes, Timothy Baker, DL Seymour, Wayne Ligon, TSP Sweeney, Stacey Turner, Gef Fox, Edward M Erdelac, Henry P Gravelle, & Ryan Lawler, with bonus stories from CM Saunders, Regan Campbell, Jonathan Pine, Peter Welmerink, & Alex Marshall.]]> 380 Tim Marquitz 1479213489 Kaila 0 abandoned
I plan on coming back and reading Mark Lawrence's story at a later date, when I've recovered from the gore.]]> 4.12 2012
author: Tim Marquitz
name: Kaila
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/09/10
shelves: abandoned
review:
I tried, it was SO gruesome though. And I don't consider myself squeamish, but there's only so many passages about ribs cracking open and skin bubbling off that I can read.

I plan on coming back and reading Mark Lawrence's story at a later date, when I've recovered from the gore.
]]> 14290816
Two brothers find a magic ring and start on paths to becoming the most powerful sort of enemies, while an evil young sorceress unwillingly falls in love with one of them when he agrees to help her steal a dragon's egg for her father. Her father just happens to be the Royal Wizard, and despite his daughter's feelings, he would love nothing more than to sacrifice the boy!

All of these characters, along with the Wolf King of Wildermont, the Lion Lord of Westland, and a magical hawk named Talon, are on a collision course toward Willa the Witch Queen's palace in the distant kingdom of Highwander. There the very bedrock is formed of the powerful magical substance called Wardstone.

Who are the heroes? And will they get there before the Royal Wizard and his evil hordes do?

Whatever happens, the journey will be spectacular, and the confrontation will be cataclysmic.]]> 900 M.R. Mathias Kaila 0 abandoned 3.68 2010
author: M.R. Mathias
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/08/01
shelves: abandoned
review:
I didn't make it very far before I started to skim pages. Just didn't grab me.
]]> 9766146
The priestess Endera has called upon Vidarian to fulfill his family’s obligation by transporting a young fire priestess named Ariadel to a water temple far to the south, through dangerous pirate-controlled territory. A journey perilous in the best of conditions is made more so by their pursuers: rogue telepathic magic-users called the Vkortha who will stop at nothing to recover Ariadel, who has witnessed their forbidden rites.

Together, Vidarian and Ariadel will navigate more than treacherous waters: Imperial intrigue, a world that has been slowly losing its magic for generations, secrets that the priestesshoods have kept for longer, the indifference of their elemental goddesses, gryphons—once thought mythical—now returning to the world, and their own labyrinthine family legacies. Vidarian finds himself at the intersection not only of the world’s most volatile elements, but of colliding universes, and the ancient and alien powers that lurk between them.]]> 277 Erin Hoffman 1616143738 Kaila 0 abandoned, fantasy
The Wikipedia article on is enough to herald the woman as a hero in her own right. You can get the details there, but to sum up, back in 2004, when it first came out that EA Games was treating their programmers like cattle, she wrote a persuasive and inflammatory blog post. Her husband had been working extended hours (like 90 hours a week), along with the rest of the team, but not receiving extra wages. It eventually led to a lawsuit and, along with a number of plaintiffs, they were awarded a total of almost $15 million, a tidy sum, although I'm unaware of what each individual received.

I remember the story coming out and my righteous anger at EA, but what can you do, if you're a gamer? You're practically forced to buy EA titles. I still do, to my chagrin. I just bought Sims 3 Pets for gods sake! The video game industry still has a long ways to go to become humane though and it amazes me that it's legal to treat their employees in such a manner.

At any rate, Ms. Hoffman and her family were awarded some hard earned cash. My imagination goes wild at this point, as I stare off into space dreamily thinking her husband must've come home with a big check and said, "Hey honey you know that fantasy series you've always wanted to write? Go nuts." Man, wouldn't that be awesome? Yes, of course it would be! She still works in the video game industry and keeps an active blog, but it seems like just the type of break an aspiring author would need.

Now if only that book had been readable.

The characters rush to and fro with little explanation either of their actions or the world they are rushing about in. I'm baffled as to why part of the time it required three, THREE!, gryphons to transport Vidarian in the baby bassinet (that's what I pictured the device as no real information is given), but then later, Thalnarra, the main gryphoness, is perfectly capable of carrying it herself. Also, a female gryphon is called a gryphoness? What's that even from? It strikes a dissonant nerd rage chord in me. Probably because as a nerd I insist that something is canon before you can go and change it, and that's not really fair to Ms. Hoffman. That doesn't change me from disliking the word gryphoness though.

Who is the and why do we care? How could a 4-dimensional cube save the world? What is quenching and why do we care? Why are priestesses so incredibly rich that everything is covered in gold and they can offer seemingly priceless sun emeralds? Did Ariadel really just sacrifice her life for a kitten? Did a goddess just show up and yell at Vidarian for having sexy times with someone who wasn't her? Come on now. These are legitimate questions. And maybe they would've been answered, but you can see what I'm getting at here: ideas for a story that didn't come together.

Don't even get me started on the cover. At first glance I thought it was great, until I really looked at it. What is the gryphon(ess?) screaming at that the other two dudes don't seem to care about? Why, on such a small piece of real estate like a book cover, is the girl able to show up not once but THREE times! And then the description on the back apparently doesn't even describe this book, but is more a synopsis of the entire series. That just seems like bad business to me.

These are mostly superficial observations, little things that bugged me, but not enough to make me put the book down. No, that took a lot more work. We are dropped head first into a fantasy world, which is to be expected. I don't like long expositions on the state of the world, it's much better when it comes naturally with the story. However, when you receive literally no explanation, a reader is left with bewildered indignation. Names of factions and goddesses are dropped like we should know and care what they are. From the first chapter, what feels like momentous events start occurring that I could care less about because I don't know what they mean. Alright, but it's only the first chapter. I'll give the story some time to gain some momentum before I pass judgment. Vidarian, the main character, travels from a temple, to another temple, to an island, to more islands, back to the same temple, and this was all just in the 137 pages that I read. I think I skipped some temples and islands in there, too. The amount of travel leaves no time for us to get to know the characters, besides when they are annoyed with traveling. They hardly arrive at a new location before it is time to leave again, with a different setting for practically every chapter. I know literally nothing of the background of any of the main characters. The one time we do get information of the world, it is boring and a huge info dump as Thalnarra (the gryphoness) tries to explain the magic system to Vidarian. The magic system was therefore immediately filed away under "I'll learn it later if I stick around to care." So the one thing I showed some enthusiasm for, magic, all of a sudden also completely lost my interest.

I made it about halfway through, before what should have felt like a stupendous betrayal (and one of the worst sex scenes I've ever read) left me shrugging my shoulders and asking "Why do I care?" before I simply had to put the book down.

I hate abandoning a debut. Fantasy is such a difficult genre to break into, but there is so much good fantasy out there, I just couldn't waste my time with reading anymore of a book I didn't care about. Sadly, this will have to remain on my "abandoned" shelf.]]> 3.39 2011
author: Erin Hoffman
name: Kaila
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2012/06/22
shelves: abandoned, fantasy
review:
This review is also available on my blog, .

The Wikipedia article on is enough to herald the woman as a hero in her own right. You can get the details there, but to sum up, back in 2004, when it first came out that EA Games was treating their programmers like cattle, she wrote a persuasive and inflammatory blog post. Her husband had been working extended hours (like 90 hours a week), along with the rest of the team, but not receiving extra wages. It eventually led to a lawsuit and, along with a number of plaintiffs, they were awarded a total of almost $15 million, a tidy sum, although I'm unaware of what each individual received.

I remember the story coming out and my righteous anger at EA, but what can you do, if you're a gamer? You're practically forced to buy EA titles. I still do, to my chagrin. I just bought Sims 3 Pets for gods sake! The video game industry still has a long ways to go to become humane though and it amazes me that it's legal to treat their employees in such a manner.

At any rate, Ms. Hoffman and her family were awarded some hard earned cash. My imagination goes wild at this point, as I stare off into space dreamily thinking her husband must've come home with a big check and said, "Hey honey you know that fantasy series you've always wanted to write? Go nuts." Man, wouldn't that be awesome? Yes, of course it would be! She still works in the video game industry and keeps an active blog, but it seems like just the type of break an aspiring author would need.

Now if only that book had been readable.

The characters rush to and fro with little explanation either of their actions or the world they are rushing about in. I'm baffled as to why part of the time it required three, THREE!, gryphons to transport Vidarian in the baby bassinet (that's what I pictured the device as no real information is given), but then later, Thalnarra, the main gryphoness, is perfectly capable of carrying it herself. Also, a female gryphon is called a gryphoness? What's that even from? It strikes a dissonant nerd rage chord in me. Probably because as a nerd I insist that something is canon before you can go and change it, and that's not really fair to Ms. Hoffman. That doesn't change me from disliking the word gryphoness though.

Who is the and why do we care? How could a 4-dimensional cube save the world? What is quenching and why do we care? Why are priestesses so incredibly rich that everything is covered in gold and they can offer seemingly priceless sun emeralds? Did Ariadel really just sacrifice her life for a kitten? Did a goddess just show up and yell at Vidarian for having sexy times with someone who wasn't her? Come on now. These are legitimate questions. And maybe they would've been answered, but you can see what I'm getting at here: ideas for a story that didn't come together.

Don't even get me started on the cover. At first glance I thought it was great, until I really looked at it. What is the gryphon(ess?) screaming at that the other two dudes don't seem to care about? Why, on such a small piece of real estate like a book cover, is the girl able to show up not once but THREE times! And then the description on the back apparently doesn't even describe this book, but is more a synopsis of the entire series. That just seems like bad business to me.

These are mostly superficial observations, little things that bugged me, but not enough to make me put the book down. No, that took a lot more work. We are dropped head first into a fantasy world, which is to be expected. I don't like long expositions on the state of the world, it's much better when it comes naturally with the story. However, when you receive literally no explanation, a reader is left with bewildered indignation. Names of factions and goddesses are dropped like we should know and care what they are. From the first chapter, what feels like momentous events start occurring that I could care less about because I don't know what they mean. Alright, but it's only the first chapter. I'll give the story some time to gain some momentum before I pass judgment. Vidarian, the main character, travels from a temple, to another temple, to an island, to more islands, back to the same temple, and this was all just in the 137 pages that I read. I think I skipped some temples and islands in there, too. The amount of travel leaves no time for us to get to know the characters, besides when they are annoyed with traveling. They hardly arrive at a new location before it is time to leave again, with a different setting for practically every chapter. I know literally nothing of the background of any of the main characters. The one time we do get information of the world, it is boring and a huge info dump as Thalnarra (the gryphoness) tries to explain the magic system to Vidarian. The magic system was therefore immediately filed away under "I'll learn it later if I stick around to care." So the one thing I showed some enthusiasm for, magic, all of a sudden also completely lost my interest.

I made it about halfway through, before what should have felt like a stupendous betrayal (and one of the worst sex scenes I've ever read) left me shrugging my shoulders and asking "Why do I care?" before I simply had to put the book down.

I hate abandoning a debut. Fantasy is such a difficult genre to break into, but there is so much good fantasy out there, I just couldn't waste my time with reading anymore of a book I didn't care about. Sadly, this will have to remain on my "abandoned" shelf.
]]>