Jessica's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 13 Apr 2025 19:54:51 -0700 60 Jessica's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Lore Olympus: Volume Five (Lore Olympus, #5)]]> 75607709 Scandalous gossip, wild parties, and forbidden love--the Greek tale of Hades and Persephone gets a romantic modern update in the gorgeously illustrated, Eisner Award-winning Lore Olympus, including behind-the-scenes content!

An ingenious take on the Greek Pantheon, Lore Olympus is a modern update on the story of Hades and Persephone. Follow the propulsive love story of two Greek gods, told with lavish artwork and contemporary sensibilities.

This full-color edition of Smythe's original Eisner Award-winning webcomic Lore Olympus features exclusive behind-the-scenes content and brings Greek mythology into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 103-126 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus.]]>
400 Rachel Smythe 0593599063 Jessica 0 currently-reading 4.46 2023 Lore Olympus: Volume Five (Lore Olympus, #5)
author: Rachel Smythe
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[Lore Olympus: Volume Four (Lore Olympus, #4)]]> 62698816 Witness what the gods do after dark in the fourth volume of a stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology, featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes content from creator Rachel Smythe.

"I don't always get to do as I please."

The rumor mill of Olympus is constantly churning, but Persephone and Hades are all anyone can talk about. With the constant gossip creating intense pressure on the pair, they decide to slow down their budding romance and focus on sorting out their own issues first.

But that's easier said than done.

Hades struggles to find support in his personal life, with Zeus trivializing his feelings and Minthe resorting to abusive patterns in their relationship. And while Hades tries to create healthier boundaries where he can--like finally putting a stop to his sporadic, revenge-fueled hookups with Hera--he still feels lonely and adrift.

Persephone feels equally ostracized as her classmates shun her for her connection to Hades, and she can find no refuge at home, with Apollo constantly dropping by unannounced and pushing his unwelcome advances. And on top of it all, the wrathful god of war, Ares, has returned to Olympus to dredge up his sordid history with the goddess of spring, threatening to surface Persephone's dark and mysterious past and ruin her tenuous position in the land of the gods.

Despite agreeing to take it slow, Persephone and Hades find themselves inextricably drawn toward each other once more amid the chaos. The pull of fate cannot be denied.

This edition of Rachel Smythe's original Eisner-nominated webcomic Lore Olympus features exclusive behind-the-scenes content and brings the Greek pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 76-102 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus. ]]>
416 Rachel Smythe 059360007X Jessica 4 4.49 2023 Lore Olympus: Volume Four (Lore Olympus, #4)
author: Rachel Smythe
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/12
date added: 2025/04/12
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The Dictionary of Lost Words 49354511 Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium�, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid� flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.

Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.

Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.]]>
384 Pip Williams 1925972593 Jessica 0 didnt-finish, to-read 3.97 2020 The Dictionary of Lost Words
author: Pip Williams
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: didnt-finish, to-read
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The Hedgewitch of Foxhall 176822897
Ffion is the last hedgewitch in Foxhall. To work her magic, she takes only what nature can spare, unlike the witches of the powerful Foxhall coven, who sacrifice whole forests to fuel their spells. But across the warring kingdoms of Wales, all magic is fading. Even the dragons have vanished.

Prince Taliesin would love nothing more than to watch magic die. But when his father charges Tal and his brother, Dafydd, with destroying King Offa’s dyke—the massive earthen wall raised by their Mercian enemies to the east, which may be the cause of magic’s disappearance—he begrudgingly seeks aid from a witch.

Because whichever prince succeeds in destroying the dyke will win the throne, and Tal is willing to do whatever it takes to become king. Even if the Foxhall coven refuses to help him. Even if he’s forced to team up with a spitfire hedgewitch who hates him almost as much as he hates her magic. And even if Dafydd proves to be a worthier rival than he anticipated…for the crown, and for Ffion’s heart.]]>
392 Anna Bright 0063083574 Jessica 0 to-read 3.72 2024 The Hedgewitch of Foxhall
author: Anna Bright
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods (Gods Beyond the Skies, #1)]]> 186872482
Heroes die, cowards live. Daughter of a conquered world, Ruying hates the invaders who descended from the heavens long before she was born and defeated the magic of her people with technologies unlike anything her world had ever seen.

Blessed by Death, born with the ability to pull the life right out of mortal bodies, Ruying shouldn’t have to fear these foreign invaders, but she does. Especially because she wants to keep herself and her family safe.

When Ruying’s Gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her an impossible deal: If she becomes his private assassin and eliminates his political rivals—whose deaths he swears would be for the good of both their worlds and would protect her people from further brutalization—her family will never starve or suffer harm again. But to accept this bargain, she must use the powers she has always feared, powers that will shave years off her own existence.

Can Ruying trust this prince, whose promises of a better world make her heart ache and whose smiles make her pulse beat faster? Are the evils of this agreement really in the service of a much greater good? Or will she betray her entire nation by protecting those she loves the most?]]>
368 Molly X. Chang 0593722248 Jessica 0 to-read 3.40 2024 To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods (Gods Beyond the Skies, #1)
author: Molly X. Chang
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/09
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<![CDATA[Trial of Bronze and Blood (Bronze and Blood Saga, #1)]]> 220226046 Gladiator meets Heartless Hunter meets Bloodguard in this new adult fantasy romance.

Four deadly trials will reunite them. One secret will tear them apart.

Drusilla Valerius has been loyal to the Faithless in their fight against the tyrannical Imperium since they found her beneath the rubble of her village as a child. When a mission goes wrong and ends with her best friend dead, she's rescued by someone she never expected to see Marcus Scaevola. The only man she’s ever cared for—the man who spurned her feelings six years ago.

And the only person who’s ever defected from the Faithless, despite his claims otherwise.

Marcus should’ve known Dru wouldn’t be the same woman he left all those years ago, and he's he’s unprepared for her distrust of him � and her uncanny ability to kill. But he has a purpose for seeking her out.

Bound by loyalty, he convinces her to train King Cato of Anziano, one of the last countries yet to fall to the tyrannical Imperium, in the Valorem Blood Trials.

Unlike years� past, the Imperium has a heavy hand in it, hiding beneath the guise of peace and unity between their two countries. When both Dru and Marcus find themselves joining the competition � Dru to take the place of an innocent and Marcus to protect the king � they’re forced to trust one another with their lives.

Now inescapably entrenched in the gory, duplicitous world of the blood trials, feelings long-buried surface, blurring the lines between duty and honor, love and loyalty. But Marcus carries a devastating secret–one that could destroy the foundations of Dru’s world, her deepest beliefs, and both their hearts...

Don’t miss this adult romantasy debut combining the second-chance romance of Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli with the deadly trials of Gladiator.]]>
434 M.K. Deoradhán Jessica 0 to-read 4.25 Trial of Bronze and Blood (Bronze and Blood Saga, #1)
author: M.K. Deoradhán
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.25
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rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/07
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<![CDATA[Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2)]]> 51966347 They tried to break us.
They almost did.
But we're not going anywhere.


The Celestial Heirs think the stars are on their side. But they don't know what's coming.ÌýFighting them one on one isn't an option so we have to be stealthy. Remaining under the radar won't be easy, but if we pull it off, they'll never suspect our involvement when their lives start falling apart.

Besides, they've already taken us to the brink of hell, what more can they really do?]]>
475 Caroline Peckham Jessica 4 4.20 2019 Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy, #2)
author: Caroline Peckham
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
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<![CDATA[A Thousand Sons (The Horus Heresy, #12)]]> 6465063 558 Graham McNeill 1844168085 Jessica 0 currently-reading 4.25 2010 A Thousand Sons (The Horus Heresy, #12)
author: Graham McNeill
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[Arcana Academy (Arcana Academy, #1)]]> 219551319 A woman who wields magical tarot cards lands herself in a false engagement with the headmaster of a mysterious academy in this first installment of an enthralling romantasy series from the bestselling author of A Deal with the Elf King.

Clara Graysword has survived the underworld of Eclipse City through thievery, luck, and a whole lot of illegal magic. After a job gone awry, Clara is sentenced to a lifetime in prison for inking tarot cards-a rare power reserved for practitioners at the elite Arcana Academy.

Just when it seems her luck has run dry, the academy's enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, offers her an escape-for a price. Kaelis believes that Clara is the perfect tool to help him steal a tarot card from the king and use it to re-create an all-powerful card long lost to time.

In order to conceal her identity and keep her close, Kaelis brings Clara to Arcana Academy, introducing her as the newest first-year student and his bride-to-be.

Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world-and her heart? Or will she take it for herself?]]>
576 Elise Kova 0593726340 Jessica 0 to-read 4.35 2025 Arcana Academy (Arcana Academy, #1)
author: Elise Kova
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/29
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<![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)]]> 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 Jessica 0 to-read 4.65 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/29
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Green Rider (Green Rider, #1) 147843
The Riders are an elite messenger corps using both horses and magic; the message is a terrible warning. Bad things from bad places are invading this fantasyland, their presence being only part of a devious, sorcery-aided human struggle for the throne. Karigan's wild ride is beset by a variety of enemies, but aided by her own developing talents plus certain strange allies.

These include the tormented ghost of the dead Green Rider himself--still pierced by and trying to resist the chief villain's black arrows that ensnare the soul. Delivering the message to a suspicious court is only half Karigan's job: can it be interpreted in time?]]>
471 Kristen Britain 0886778581 Jessica 4 4.08 1998 Green Rider (Green Rider, #1)
author: Kristen Britain
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
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<![CDATA[Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1)]]> 55987278 How far would you go for happily ever after?

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings... until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic but wicked Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy...]]>
408 Stephanie Garber 1250268397 Jessica 5 4.06 2021 Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1)
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/26
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When Women Were Dragons 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 Jessica 0 to-read 3.79 2022 When Women Were Dragons
author: Kelly Barnhill
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/23
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Alchemy of Secrets: A Novel 222706197 The HOTLY ANTICIPATED adult debut novel by the beloved, #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING author of the Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart series

It starts with a class in an old movie theater.

Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor’s stories are just fiction, but Holland St. James has always been convinced that magic is real. When she tracks down a local legend named the Watch Man, who can supposedly tell you when you’ll die, the world finally makes sense. Except that the Watch Man tells her she will die at midnight tomorrow unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart.

With the clock ticking, Holland is pulled deeper into this magical world in the heart of Los Angeles—and into the path of a magnetic stranger. Everything about him feels like a bad idea, but he promises Holland that her sister sent him to protect her. As they chase clues and stories that take them closer to the Alchemical Heart, Holland realizes everyone in this intoxicating new world is lying to her, even this stranger. And if she can’t figure out whom to trust, not even the Alchemical Heart will save her.]]>
336 Stephanie Garber 125078915X Jessica 0 to-read 4.65 2025 Alchemy of Secrets: A Novel
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/22
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<![CDATA[Lore Olympus: Volume Three (Lore Olympus, #3)]]> 60149524 Witness what the gods do after dark in the third volume of a stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology, featuring a brand-new, exclusive short story from creator Rachel Smythe.

"It is natural for a King to be curious about his future Queen. . . ."

All of Olympus--and the Underworld--are talking about the God of the Dead and the sprightly daughter of Demeter. But despite the rumors of their romance, Hades and Persephone have plenty to navigate on their own.

Since coming to Olympus, Persephone has struggled to be the perfect maiden goddess. Her attraction to Hades has only complicated the intense burden of the gods' expectations. And after Apollo's assault, Persephone fears she can no longer bury the intense feelings of hurt and love that she's worked so hard to hide.

As Persephone contemplates her future, Hades struggles with his past, falling back into toxic habits in Minthe's easy embrace. With all the mounting pressure and expectations--of their family, friends, and enemies--both Hades and Persephone tell themselves to deny their deepest desires, but the pull between them is too tempting, too magnetic. It's fate.

This full-color edition of Smythe's original Eisner-nominated webcomic Lore Olympus brings Greek mythology into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 50-75 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus.
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384 Rachel Smythe 0593160312 Jessica 4 4.48 2022 Lore Olympus: Volume Three (Lore Olympus, #3)
author: Rachel Smythe
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/22
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<![CDATA[Gods of the Wyrdwood (Forsaken, #1)]]> 62874007 In a world locked in eternal winter and haunted by prophecy, a young boy trains for years to become the Chosen One, only for another to rise and claim his place in the start of an unmissable epic from a rising star in fantasy.Ìý

The northlands of Crua are locked in eternal winter, but prophecy tells of the chosen child � who will rule in the name of their God, and take warmth back from the South. Cahal du Nahere was raised to be this person: the Cowl-Rai, the saviour. Taken from his parents and prepared for his destiny.

But his time never came

When he was fifteen he ceased to matter. Another Cowl-Rai had risen, another chosen one, raised in the name of a different God. The years of vicious physical and mental training he had endured, the sacrifice, all for nothing. He became nothing.

Twenty years later, and Cahal lives a life of secrecy on the edges of Crua’s giant forests � hiding what he is, running from what he can do. But when he is forced to reveal his true nature, he sets off a sequence of events that will reveal secrets that will shake the bedrock of his entire world, and expose lies that have persisted for generations.]]>
640 R.J. Barker 0316401587 Jessica 0 to-read 3.99 2023 Gods of the Wyrdwood (Forsaken, #1)
author: R.J. Barker
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/22
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<![CDATA[Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals]]> 54785515 The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks.

Nobody needs to be told there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and ceaseless battle against distraction; we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient and life hacks to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.

Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with “getting everything done,� Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing that many of the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made as individuals and as a society—and that we could do things differently.]]>
271 Oliver Burkeman 0374159122 Jessica 5 4.20 2021 Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
author: Oliver Burkeman
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/20
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<![CDATA[Lore Olympus: Volume Two (Lore Olympus, #2)]]> 57717417 Witness what the gods do after dark in the second volume of a stylish and contemporary reimagining of one of the best-known stories in Greek mythology from creator Rachel Smythe.

Persephone was ready to start a new life when she left the mortal realm for Olympus. However, she quickly discovered the dark side of her glamorous new home—from the relatively minor gossip threatening her reputation to a realm-shattering violation of her safety by the conceited Apollo—and she’s struggling to find her footing in the fast-moving realm of the gods. Hades is also off-balance, fighting against his burgeoning feelings for the young goddess of spring while maintaining his lonely rule of the Underworld. As the pair are drawn ever closer, they must untangle the twisted webs of their past and present to build toward a new future.

This full-color edition of Smythe’s original Eisner-nominated webcomic Lore Olympus features a brand-new, exclusive short story, and brings Greek mythology into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 26�49 of the #1 WEBTOON comic Lore Olympus.]]>
368 Rachel Smythe 059335608X Jessica 4 4.43 2022 Lore Olympus: Volume Two (Lore Olympus, #2)
author: Rachel Smythe
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
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<![CDATA[Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)]]> 217536270
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares... but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.

Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.]]>
624 Callie Hart 1538774194 Jessica 4 4.30 2024 Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)
author: Callie Hart
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
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The Dead Cat Tail Assassins 127305606 The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.

Nor do they have tails.

But they are most assuredly dead.


Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins.

Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins―resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories―have only three unbreakable vows.

First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.

Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.

The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A ï¬nal death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.]]>
213 P. Djèlí Clark 1250767040 Jessica 0 to-read 3.85 2024 The Dead Cat Tail Assassins
author: P. Djèlí Clark
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/13
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<![CDATA[The Combat Codes (The Combat Codes Saga, #1)]]> 62874025
In a world long ago ravaged by war, the nations have sworn an armistice never to use weapons of mass destruction again. Instead, highly-skilled warriors known as Grievar Knights represent their nations� interests in brutal hand-to-hand combat.

Murray Pearson was once a famed Knight until he suffered a loss that crippled his homeland � but now he’s on the hunt to discover the next champion.

In underground and ruthless combat rings, an orphaned boy called Cego is making a name for himself. Murray believes Cego has what it takes to thrive in the world's most prestigious combat academy � but first, Cego must prove himself in the vicious arenas of the underworld. And survival isn’t guaranteed.]]>
419 Alexander Darwin 0316493007 Jessica 0 to-read 3.84 2021 The Combat Codes (The Combat Codes Saga, #1)
author: Alexander Darwin
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/08
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Wild Reverence 222376906
Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life―begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.

As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved.]]>
544 Rebecca Ross 1250373352 Jessica 0 to-read 4.74 2025 Wild Reverence
author: Rebecca Ross
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.74
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/05
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Open When... 219644499 Feeling overwhelmed? Open when� stress takes over.
Facing self-doubt? Open when� imposter syndrome strikes.
Lost your direction? Open when� you need fresh motivation.

This is the book for life's twists and turns, when being human starts to get complicated.

A must-have companion to Dr Julie's international bestseller Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before?, which taught us the skills to strengthen our future mental health, Open When... is the book to turn to when you find yourself in the eye of the storm.

Within this book are a series of Open When style letters from Dr Julie to help navigate the moments of overwhelm, confusion or self-doubt that we all face when life gets messy.

Offering calm, clarity and a laser focus on the best way forward, each personal letter is followed by real-time tools that will help you re-frame the situation and decide on your next move.

Every chapter covers a new scenario; universal problems that each of us will likely face at some point. So, whether you’re experiencing:

� Stress
� Pressure to perform
� Dealing with difficult people
� Trying to fit in
� Making big decisions
� Arguments with your partner
� Big emotions causing anxiety

Open When... brings the words you need to hear to get back on the front foot, feeling ready to take on everything life throws your way.]]>
380 Julie Smith 0241664047 Jessica 0 to-read 4.02 2024 Open When...
author: Julie Smith
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/05
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<![CDATA[The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3)]]> 26032912 He will be destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne.

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics.

And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity�

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, comes the highly anticipated and jaw-dropping finale to The Folk of the Air trilogy.]]>
321 Holly Black 0316310409 Jessica 5 4.33 2019 The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3)
author: Holly Black
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
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<![CDATA[Ascendant (Songs of Chaos, #1)]]> 55066606 "Everything dragon lovers crave in a fantasy adventure, and more. Holt and Ash are now two of my favorite fantasy characters ever."
- Dyrk Ashton, Bestselling author of the Paternus series

Holt Cook was never meant to be a dragon rider. He has always served the Order Hall of the Crag dutifully, keeping their kitchen pots clean.

Until he discovers a dark secret: dragons do not tolerate weakness among their kin, killing the young they deem flawed. Moved by pity, Holt defies the Order, rescues a doomed egg and vows to protect the blind dragon within.

But the Scourge is rising. Undead hordes roam the land, spreading the blight and leaving destruction in their wake. The dragon riders are being slaughtered and betrayal lurks in the shadows.

Holt has one chance to survive. He must cultivate the mysterious power of his dragon's magical core. A unique energy which may tip the balance in the battles to come, and prove to the world that a servant is worthy after all.

"Ascendant is a delightful dragon-rider yarn in the tradition of Pern, Pit Dragon, Eragon, and Temeraire. It plucks at the strings of nostalgia in the best possible way, and picking it up feels like returning to old, beloved haunts."
- John Bierce, Bestselling author of the Mage Errant series]]>
554 Michael R. Miller Jessica 0 to-read 4.38 2020 Ascendant (Songs of Chaos, #1)
author: Michael R. Miller
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/28
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<![CDATA[Blood at the Root (Blood at the Root, #1)]]> 198688474
Ten years ago, Malik's life changed forever the night his mother mysteriously vanished and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. Since then, he has kept his abilities hidden, looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. Now, at 17, Malik is finally ready to start a new life for both of them, far from the trauma of his past. However, a daring act to rescue Taye reveals an unexpected connection with his long-lost a legendary conjurer with ties to a hidden magical university that Malik’s mother attended.

At Caiman University, Malik’s eyes are opened to a future he never could have envisioned for himself� one that includes the reappearance of his first love, Alexis. His search for answers about his heritage, his powers, and what really happened to his mother exposes the cracks in their magical community as it faces a reawakened evil dating back to the Haitian Revolution. Together with Alexis, Malik discovers a lot beneath the surface at feuding covens and magical politics, forbidden knowledge and buried mysteries.

In a wholly unique saga of family, history and community, Malik must embrace his legacy to save what's left of his old family as well as his new one. Exploring the roots and secrets that connect us in an unforgettable contemporary setting, this heart-pounding fantasy series opener is a rich tapestry of atmosphere, intrigue, and emotion.]]>
432 LaDarrion Williams 0593711920 Jessica 0 to-read 4.03 2024 Blood at the Root (Blood at the Root, #1)
author: LaDarrion Williams
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/28
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<![CDATA[Lore Olympus: Volume One (Lore Olympus, #1)]]> 57282218
Persephone, young goddess of spring, is new to Olympus. Her mother, Demeter, has raised her in the mortal realm, but after Persephone promises to train as a sacred virgin, she’s allowed to live in the fast-moving, glamorous world of the gods. When her roommate, Artemis, takes her to a party, her entire life changes: she ends up meeting Hades and feels an immediate spark with the charming yet misunderstood ruler of the Underworld. Now Persephone must navigate the confusing politics and relationships that rule Olympus, while also figuring out her own place—and her own power.

This edition of Smythe’s original Eisner-winning webcomic Lore Olympus features a brand-new, exclusive short story, and brings the Greek Pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

This volume collects episodes 1-25 of the #1 WEBTOON comic, Lore Olympus.]]>
384 Rachel Smythe 0593160290 Jessica 4 4.23 2021 Lore Olympus: Volume One (Lore Olympus, #1)
author: Rachel Smythe
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
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Faebound (Faebound, #1) 157981739
When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven lands, they are both forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders. There they encounter the the fae court.

The fae haven’t been seen for a millennium. But now Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into their seductive world � torn between their loyalty to each other, their elven homeland, and their hearts. . .]]>
386 Saara El-Arifi 0593723007 Jessica 0 to-read 3.53 2024 Faebound (Faebound, #1)
author: Saara El-Arifi
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/28
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Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3) 209439446
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.]]>
527 Rebecca Yarros 1649374186 Jessica 4 4.18 2025 Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
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The House Saphir 221604746
Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir - otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu - who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien's great-grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu's ghost, she can’t resist. A paid vacation at Armand’s country manor? It’s practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.

But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation—and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she’ll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.

But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself.]]>
432 Marissa Meyer 125032095X Jessica 0 to-read 4.42 2025 The House Saphir
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/20
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<![CDATA[The Unremembered Empire (The Horus Heresy, #27)]]> 18143885 416 Dan Abnett 1849705739 Jessica 4 4.17 2013 The Unremembered Empire (The Horus Heresy, #27)
author: Dan Abnett
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
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<![CDATA[The Awakening (Zodiac Academy, #1)]]> 46261182 This is an alternate cover edition for ASIN B07SV21LFY

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

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

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

Air. Fire. Water. Earth.

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

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

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

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

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

Today's horoscope: totally screwed.]]>
436 Caroline Peckham Jessica 4 3.81 2019 The Awakening (Zodiac Academy, #1)
author: Caroline Peckham
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/17
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Howling Dark (Sun Eater, #2) 41564599
Hadrian Marlowe is lost.

For half a century, he has searched the farther suns for the lost planet of Vorgossos, hoping to find a way to contact the elusive alien Cielcin. He has not succeeded, and for years has wandered among the barbarian Normans as captain of a band of mercenaries.

Determined to make peace and bring an end to nearly four hundred years of war, Hadrian must venture beyond the security of the Sollan Empire and among the Extrasolarians who dwell between the stars. There, he will face not only the aliens he has come to offer peace, but contend with creatures that once were human, with traitors in his midst, and with a meeting that will bring him face to face with no less than the oldest enemy of mankind.

If he succeeds, he will usher in a peace unlike any in recorded history. If he fails...the galaxy will burn.]]>
688 Christopher Ruocchio Jessica 0 to-read 4.35 2019 Howling Dark (Sun Eater, #2)
author: Christopher Ruocchio
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/12
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<![CDATA[Empire of Silence (The Sun Eater, #1)]]> 36454667 Hadrian Marlowe, a man revered as a hero and despised as a murderer, chronicles his tale in the galaxy-spanning debut of the Sun Eater series, merging the best of space opera and epic fantasy.

It was not his war.
On the wrong planet, at the right time, for the best reasons, Hadrian Marlowe started down a path that could only end in fire. The galaxy remembers him as a the man who burned every last alien Cielcin from the sky. They remember him as a the devil who destroyed a sun, casually annihilating four billion human lives—even the Emperor himself—against Imperial orders.
But Hadrian was not a hero. He was not a monster. He was not even a soldier.
Fleeing his father and a future as a torturer, Hadrian finds himself stranded on a strange, backwater world. Forced to fight as a gladiator and into the intrigues of a foreign planetary court, he will find himself fight a war he did not start, for an Empire he does not love, against an enemy he will never understand.]]>
753 Christopher Ruocchio 0756413028 Jessica 4 4.01 2018 Empire of Silence (The Sun Eater, #1)
author: Christopher Ruocchio
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
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<![CDATA[A Burning in the Bones (Waxways, #3)]]> 214152484 Ren’s quest to dismantle Kathor’s corrupt system comes to a head as political machinations and a mysterious disease take hold of the city in this edge-of-your-seat conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Waxways series.

After taking control of House Brood, Ren and Theo dreamed of using their newfound influence to change the rest of Kathor, but now they find their efforts being countered by the other great houses, who have no interest in a world where they enjoy less power.

No one understands that better than the Tin’Vori siblings. The return of their ancestral home was a decade in the making, but they’re eager to keep rising from the ashes. Nevelyn begins researching House Brood—and ends up face-to-face with an enemy that’s already slouching toward the gates of the city. The one enemy no one can a plague.

The victims experience strange bruising, an unquenchable thirst, and a temporary disruption in magic. When doctors trace the illness to its source, they find another corpses placed in strategic locations around the city. As Ren leads the hunt for the culprits, she’ll find herself two steps behind a devious enemy whose sights are set on an unexpected the city’s magic.

Survival will require every ounce of their skill, every bond old and new, or else the future Ren and Theo have worked to build will burn down with the rest of the world.]]>
544 Scott Reintgen 1665930497 Jessica 0 to-read 4.38 2025 A Burning in the Bones (Waxways, #3)
author: Scott Reintgen
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
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Pinquickle's Folly 178019513
In Pinquickle’s Folly , New York Times bestselling author R. A. Salvatore returns to his signature world of Corona, introducing a dynamic new part of the southern coast never written of before as a great starting place for readers in the DemonWars The Buccaneers.

The first adventure in the Buccaneers trilogy begins in the free sea outside of the control of the usurping Xoconai empire, where the dwarven powrie pirates and merchants sail. But the golden-skinned Xoconai have begun to encroach upon these waters behind the rapacious attacks of the frigate Crocodile , helmed by Captain Aketz. But when forced to submit, these sailors choose to live, free to do as they please, without some fool or another pretending to hold power over them.

Fantasy master R. A. Salvatore brings together a misfit band of Xoconai, powerie, and human sailors—once enemies, now fierce friends with a common enemy, and the spark of rebellion in this action-packed piratical adventure.]]>
448 R.A. Salvatore 1982175443 Jessica 0 to-read 4.06 2024 Pinquickle's Folly
author: R.A. Salvatore
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope with Explosive Feelings]]> 26053064 Teaching children how to manage their intense emotions is one of the most difficult aspects of parenting or educating gifted children. Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope With Explosive Feelings provides a much-needed resource for parents and educators for understanding of why gifted children are so extreme in their behavior and how to manage the highs and lows that accompany emotional intensity. Presented in an easy-to-read, conversational style, this revised and updated second edition contains additional chapters addressing temperament and personality development, as well as expanded role-plays and strategies designed to show parents and teachers how to interact and guide gifted children in a way that teaches them how to recognize, monitor, and adjust their behavior. Updated resources and worksheets make this practical resource a must-read for anyone wishing to make a positive and lasting impact on the lives of gifted children.

]]>
225 Christine Fonseca 1618214578 Jessica 4 3.91 2010 Emotional Intensity in Gifted Students: Helping Kids Cope with Explosive Feelings
author: Christine Fonseca
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
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Growing Up Urkel 210999877 An incisive and insightful memoir by one of the most beloved icons of nineties television Jaleel White, the actor who portrayed Steve Urkel on the hit sitcom Family Matters.At the tender age of twelve, Jaleel White auditioned for the role of Steve Urkel, the socially inept genius, who was in love with his next-door neighbor, Laura. Though Steve Urkel was intended to be in only one episode, Jaleel’s indelible performance catapulted Urkel into the pantheon of American pop culture. But success can cost as much as it pays. After nine years on the popular sitcom Family Matters, Jaleel is twenty-one, a UCLA undergrad, and adjusting to a world and industry that sees him as the nasally nerd in high water pants, suspenders, and coke bottle glasses. In this wise and witty memoir, Growing Up Urkel takes you on a memorable journey through the peaks, valleys, and plateaus of fame and fortune.]]> 336 Jaleel White 1668068893 Jessica 4 3.38 Growing Up Urkel
author: Jaleel White
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.38
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
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<![CDATA[The Lost Sisters (The Folk of the Air, #1.5)]]> 40772063 Sometimes the difference between a love story and a horror story is where the ending comes...

While Jude fought for power in the Court of Elfhame against the cruel Prince Cardan, her sister Taryn began to fall in love with the trickster, Locke.

Half-apology and half-explanation, it turns out that Taryn has some secrets of her own to reveal.

The Lost Sisters is a companion e-novella to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince by master writer Holly Black.]]>
50 Holly Black Jessica 3 3.33 2018 The Lost Sisters (The Folk of the Air, #1.5)
author: Holly Black
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
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<![CDATA[The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2)]]> 26032887 The enchanting and bloodthirsty sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel The Cruel Prince.

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.


After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.]]>
336 Holly Black 0316310336 Jessica 4 4.27 2019 The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2)
author: Holly Black
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/26
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The Wolf King 196920718
Princess Aurora longs to escape the castle and the marriage that has been arranged for her.

But on the night before her wedding, at a dog fight where captured werewolves are made to fight for sport, she spares the life of a young wolf. It puts her on the radar of the powerful alpha who was going to kill him. And it changes everything.

That night, when the alpha escapes, he kidnaps her and takes her to the rugged lands north of the border � where the once warring werewolf clans are beginning to unite. He thinks that she is the key to winning the war against the humans.

Only, as they spend time around one another, forbidden attraction starts to grow. And as Aurora learns that not all wolves are bad, the alpha discovers that she is in danger from both his enemies, and those he once considered friends.

With monsters on both sides, a bloodthirsty war between humans and wolves raging, and undeniable passion growing between them � will their story end in love? Or tragedy?

And will Aurora ever get home?

Does she even want to?]]>
475 Lauren Palphreyman Jessica 0 to-read 4.18 2023 The Wolf King
author: Lauren Palphreyman
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/23
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<![CDATA[The Explosive Child [Sixth Edition] : A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated,Chronically Inflexible Children]]> 61042746 0 Ross W.Greene 0063225344 Jessica 0 to-read 4.19 The Explosive Child [Sixth Edition] : A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated,Chronically Inflexible Children
author: Ross W.Greene
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/22
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<![CDATA[Sons of Darkness (The Raag of Rta, #1)]]> 129294962 Some ballads are inked in blood.

Bled dry by violent confrontations with the Magadhan Empire, the Mathuran Republic simmers on the brink of oblivion. Krishna and Satyabhama have put their plans in motion within and beyond the Republic's blood-soaked borders to protect it from annihilation. But they will soon discover that neither gold nor alliances last forever.

They are however not alone in this game.

Mati, Pirate-Princess of Kalinga, has decided to mend her ways to be a good wife. But old habits die hard, especially when one habitually uses murder to settle old scores. Brooding but beautiful Karna hopes to bury his brutal past but finds that destiny is a miser when it comes to giving second chances. The crippled hero-turned-torturer Shakuni limps through the path of daggers that is politics only to find his foes multiply, leaving little time for vengeance.

Their lives are about to become very difficult for a cast of sinister queens, naive kings, pious assassins and ravenous priests are converging where the Son of Darkness is prophesied to rise, even as forgotten Gods prepare to play their hand.]]>
636 Gourav Mohanty 1035900203 Jessica 0 to-read 3.54 2022 Sons of Darkness (The Raag of Rta, #1)
author: Gourav Mohanty
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/21
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<![CDATA[A Curse Carved in Bone (Saga of the Unfated, #2)]]> 216602917 A shield maiden fights to break the shackles of prophecy—and to overcome the betrayal of the man who broke her heart—in this searing conclusion to the Norse-inspired fantasy romance duology that began with the bestselling A Fate Inked in Blood.

The secret of her divine heritage revealed, Freya finds herself on a path that will see thousands of lives lost to the magic in her blood. Desperate to avoid this dark fate, she risks an alliance with Skaland’s greatest enemy to seek answers from the seer who foretold her future—the same seer who sent Bjorn to kill her.

While Freya still seethes with rage over Bjorn’s betrayal, the blood oaths that bind her demand that she keep him close as she hunts for a way to avert the looming war. Her magic draws her to the front lines of an old enmity, embroiling her with Nordeland’s Unfated—children of the gods who serve the king she was raised to fear. The same king who, unlike Bjorn, is now willing to fight at her back. For despite the desire that burns hot between Bjorn and Freya, his growing distrust of her chosen path threatens to drag them further apart.

As war approaches, gods and mortals must choose their weapons. Yet the fiercest battle will be the one Freya wages within herself. With the magic of two goddesses burning in her veins, she must weave the threads of destiny to decide her own fate: Will she be the shield that protects her people or the curse that destroys them?]]>
416 Danielle L. Jensen 0593599861 Jessica 0 to-read 4.34 2025 A Curse Carved in Bone (Saga of the Unfated, #2)
author: Danielle L. Jensen
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/20
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<![CDATA[The Floating World (The Floating World, #1)]]> 215149209 From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this romantic fantasy reimagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.

Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.

Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.

Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn't realize she's the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined...]]>
368 Axie Oh 1250853087 Jessica 0 to-read 4.21 2025 The Floating World (The Floating World, #1)
author: Axie Oh
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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The Enchanted Greenhouse 217388100
Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium.

This should have been the end of her story . . . Yet one day, Terlu wakes in the cold of winter on a nearly-deserted island full of hundreds of magical greenhouses. She’s starving and freezing, and the only other human on the island is a grumpy gardener. To her surprise, he offers Terlu a place to sleep, clean clothes, and freshly baked honey cakes—at least until she’s ready to sail home.

But Terlu can’t return home and doesn’t want to—the greenhouses are a dream come true, each more wondrous than the next. When she learns that the magic that sustains them is failing—causing the death of everything within them—Terlu knows she must help. Even if that means breaking the law again.

This time, though, she isn’t alone. Assisted by the gardener and a sentient rose, Terlu must unravel the secrets of a long-dead sorcerer if she wants to save the island—and have a fresh chance at happiness and love.

Funny, kind, and forgiving, The Enchanted Greenhouse is a story about giving second chances—to others and to yourself.]]>
384 Sarah Beth Durst 1250333989 Jessica 0 to-read 4.45 2025 The Enchanted Greenhouse
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read
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Katabasis 210223811 Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.]]>
400 R.F. Kuang Jessica 0 to-read 4.11 2025 Katabasis
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/20
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<![CDATA[Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century, #1)]]> 1137215
But on its first test run the Boneshaker went terribly awry, destroying several blocks of downtown Seattle and unearthing a subterranean vein of blight gas that turned anyone who breathed it into the living dead.

Now it is sixteen years later, and a wall has been built to enclose the devastated and toxic city. Just beyond it lives Blue’s widow, Briar Wilkes. Life is hard with a ruined reputation and a teenaged boy to support, but she and Ezekiel are managing. Until Ezekiel undertakes a secret crusade to rewrite history.

His quest will take him under the wall and into a city teeming with ravenous undead, air pirates, criminal overlords, and heavily armed refugees. And only Briar can bring him out alive.]]>
416 Cherie Priest 0765318415 Jessica 0 to-read 3.53 2009 Boneshaker (The Clockwork Century, #1)
author: Cherie Priest
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2009
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/20
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<![CDATA[A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)]]> 165940202
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.]]>
419 Danielle L. Jensen 0593599837 Jessica 4 3.91 2024 A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)
author: Danielle L. Jensen
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
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Take My Hand 55650158 Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a profoundly moving novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible wrong done to her patients, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wench.

Montgomery, Alabama 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend has big plans to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she intends to help women make their own choices for their lives and bodies.

But when her first week on the job takes her down a dusty country road to a worn down one-room cabin, she’s shocked to learn that her new patients are children—just 11 and 13 years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica and their family into her heart. Until one day, she arrives at the door to learn the unthinkable has happened and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.

Decades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace and to leave the past behind. But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten.That must not be forgotten.

Because history repeats what we don’t remember.]]>
359 Dolen Perkins-Valdez 0593337697 Jessica 0 to-read 4.36 2022 Take My Hand
author: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/15
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<![CDATA[Yumi and the Nightmare Painter]]> 60531416 #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson brings us a gripping story set in the Cosmere universe told by Hoid, where two people from incredibly different worlds must compromise and work together to save their worlds from ruin.

Yumi comes from a land of gardens, meditation, and spirits, while Painter lives in a world of darkness, technology, and nightmares. When their lives suddenly become intertwined in strange ways, can they put aside their differences and work together to uncover the mysteries of their situation and save each other’s communities from certain disaster?]]>
480 Brandon Sanderson 1938570375 Jessica 4 4.45 2023 Yumi and the Nightmare Painter
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/01/13
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<![CDATA[The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)]]> 26032825 Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.]]>
370 Holly Black 0316310271 Jessica 4 4.01 2018 The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1)
author: Holly Black
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/07
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<![CDATA[The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England]]> 63068377 The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, except his copy exploded during transit. The few fragments he managed to save provide clues to his situation, but can he figure them out in time to survive?]]> 366 Brandon Sanderson 1250899672 Jessica 0 to-read 3.75 2023 The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/03
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<![CDATA[A Million Suns (Across the Universe, #2)]]> 10345927 Godspeed was once fueled by lies. Now it is ruled by chaos.

It’s been three months since Amy was unplugged. The life she always knew is over. Everywhere she looks, she sees the walls of the spaceship Godspeed.

But there may be hope: Elder has assumed leadership of the ship. He's finally free to act on his vision—no more Phydus, no more lies.

But when Elder learns shocking news about the ship, he and Amy race to discover the truth behind life on Godspeed. They must work together to unlock a mystery that was set in motion hundreds of years earlier. Their success—or failure—will determine the fate of the 2,298 passengers aboard Godspeed. But with each step, the journey becomes more perilous, the ship more chaotic, and the love between them more impossible to fight.

Beth Revis catapulted readers into the far reaches of space with her New York Times bestselling debut, Across the Universe. In A Million Suns, Beth deepens the mystery with action, suspense, romance, and deep philosophical questions. And this time it all builds to one mind-bending conclusion: They have to get off this ship.]]>
386 Beth Revis 159514398X Jessica 4 4.01 2012 A Million Suns (Across the Universe, #2)
author: Beth Revis
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/01/01
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The Woman with No Name 197894208 She'll light the fire of resistance—but she may get burned�

1942. Though she survived the bomb that destroyed her home, Yvonne Rudellat's life is over. She's estranged from her husband, her daughter is busy with war work, and Yvonne—older, diminutive, overlooked—has lost all purpose. Until she's offered a chance to remake herself entirely�

The war has taken a turn for the worse, and the men in charge are desperate. So, when Yvonne is recruited as Britain's first female sabotage agent, expectations are low. But her tenacity, ability to go unnoticed, and aptitude for explosives set her apart. Soon enough she arrives in occupied France with a new identity, ready to set the Nazi regime ablaze.

But there are adversaries on all sides. As Yvonne becomes infamous as the nameless, unstoppable woman who burns the enemy at every turn, she realizes she may lose herself to the urgent needs of the cause�

Based on a true story, The Woman With No Name is a gripping story of secrets, spies, and the women behind the Resistance, from USA Today bestselling author Audrey Blake.]]>
384 Audrey Blake 1728270820 Jessica 0 to-read 3.80 2024 The Woman with No Name
author: Audrey Blake
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/31
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<![CDATA[The Call of the Sea (The Grail Cycle, #1)]]> 176611956 Once, the world was ruled by those with magic in their blood.
But once was a long time ago �

Ever since magic was outlawed in Kernou, Jenyfer Astolat has been living with a secret that would see her bound to the stake as food for the sea. But when her reckless lies see her married to a man she does not love, Jenyfer has to forget fleeing town � and forget about Ordes Merlyni, the charming pirate who has been helping her wield magic in secret.

Arthur Tregarthen never wanted to be a leader, but it’s a duty he can’t escape as the son of the Chif. As he struggles to hide the truth of who he is from his formidable father, a chance meeting with a Magic Wielder reveals secrets from his past that even Arthur didn’t know.

When a Witchfinder tricks Jenyfer into revealing her magic, it sets off a chain of events that propel her, Arthur and Ordes into games that have been eons in the making. But now it falls to them to make decisions that will shape the fate of the world�


The Call of the Sea is the first book in The Grail Cycle, an epic romantic fantasy reimagining of the Arthurian legends. ]]>
516 Kate Schumacher 0645403040 Jessica 0 to-read 3.98 2023 The Call of the Sea (The Grail Cycle, #1)
author: Kate Schumacher
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/31
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<![CDATA[Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive, #5)]]> 203578847 The long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive―the iconic epic fantasy masterpiece that has sold more than 10 million copies, from acclaimed bestselling author Brandon Sanderson.

Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. The Knights Radiant have only ten days to prepare―and the sudden ascension of the crafty and ruthless Taravangian to take Odium’s place has thrown everything into disarray.

Desperate fighting continues simultaneously worldwide―Adolin in Azimir, Sigzil and Venli at the Shattered Plains, and Jasnah at Thaylen City. The former assassin, Szeth, must cleanse his homeland of Shinovar from the dark influence of the Unmade. He is accompanied by Kaladin, who faces a new battle helping Szeth fight his own demons . . . and who must do the same for the insane Herald of the Almighty, Ishar.

At the same time, Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain work to unravel the mystery behind the Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram and her involvement in the enslavement of the singer race and in the ancient Knights Radiants killing their spren. And Dalinar and Navani seek an edge against Odium’s champion that can be found only in the Spiritual Realm, where memory and possibility combine in chaos. The fate of the entire Cosmere hangs in the balance.]]>
1344 Brandon Sanderson 1250319188 Jessica 5 4.36 2024 Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive, #5)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
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I loved it. Still processing a lot of it. But overall, I really loved it.
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Lost Ark Dreaming 195790767
Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region’s survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers� most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are crammed into the dark, fetid floors below sea level.

There are also those who were left for dead in the Atlantic, only to be reawakened by an ancient power, and who seek vengeance on those who offered them up to the waves.

Three lives within the towers are pulled to the fore of this Yekini, an earnest, mid-level rookie analyst; Tuoyo, an undersea mechanic mourning a tremendous loss; and Ngozi, an egotistical bureaucrat from the highest levels of governance. They will need to work together if there is to be any hope of a future that is worth living―for everyone.]]>
179 Suyi Davies Okungbowa 1250890756 Jessica 0 to-read 3.64 2024 Lost Ark Dreaming
author: Suyi Davies Okungbowa
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/18
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Because They Hate 78216
Because They Hate is a political wake-up call told through a very personal memoir frame. Brigitte warns that the US is threatened by fundamentalist Islamic theology in the same way Lebanon was-- radical Islam will stop at nothing short of domination of all non-Muslim countries. Gabriel saw this mission start in Lebanon, and she refuses to stand silently by while it happens here. Gabriel sees in the West a lack of understanding and a blatant ignorance of the ways and thinking of the Middle East. She also points out mistakes the West has made in consistently underestimating the single-mindedness with which fundamentalist Islam has pursued its goals over the past thirty years. Fiercely articulate and passionately committed, Gabriel tells her own story as well as outlines the history, social movements, and religious divisions that have led to this critical historical conflict.]]>
272 Brigitte Gabriel 0312358377 Jessica 0 to-read 4.12 2006 Because They Hate
author: Brigitte Gabriel
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1)]]> 68494 710 China Miéville 0345459407 Jessica 0 to-read 3.98 2000 Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1)
author: China Miéville
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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<![CDATA[Stranger Skies (Drowned Gods, #2)]]> 207293715 Ninth House meets The Hazel Wood in this riveting sequel to the New York Times bestselling dark academia fantasy Curious Tides, following Emory, Baz, Romie, and Kai on their desperate quests through space and time!Opening locked doors has a price—even for those who hold a key. After going through the door that called to them both in dreams, Emory and Romie find themselves in the the same verdant world written of in Song of the Drowned Gods, albeit a twisted, rotting version of it. A sinister force has awoken with their arrival, intent on destruction as it spills across realms, and now Emory and Romie must stop it before it reaches their own shores. Meanwhile, Baz and Kai are desperate to follow their friends through the door to other worlds, but a mishap pulls them back in time instead—where they come face to face with Cornus Clover himself, famed author of Song of the Drowned Gods. Stuck together in the past, they must navigate a very different Aldryn as they unravel the school’s darkest secrets. Across time and worlds, Emory, Romie, Baz, and Kai find their fates eerily interwoven with the heroes from Clover’s book. But when stories can’t be trusted, friendships are put to the test, and deadly enemies are not always as they seem, they must decide who gets to be a hero—and who is desperate enough to see themselves become a villain.]]> 608 Pascale Lacelle 1665939303 Jessica 5 4.24 2024 Stranger Skies (Drowned Gods, #2)
author: Pascale Lacelle
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
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<![CDATA[The Fury of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga, #3)]]> 61755703 The Fury of the Gods is the earth-shattering final book in John Gwynne's bestselling Norse-inspired epic fantasy series, packed with myth, magic and bloody vengeance

THE FINAL BATTLE FOR THE FATE OF VIGRIÃ APPROACHES

Varg has overcome the trials of his past and become an accepted member of the Bloodsworn, but now he and his newfound comrades face their biggest challenge yet: slaying a dragon.

Elvar is struggling to consolidate her power in Snakavik, where she faces threats from within and without. As she fights to assert her authority in readiness for the coming conflict, she faces a surely insurmountable task: reining in the ferocity of a wolf god.

As Biorr and his warband make their way north, eager for blood, Gudvarr pursues a mission of his own, hoping to win Lik-Rifa's favour and further his own ambitions.

All paths lead to Snakavik, where the lines are being drawn for the final battle - a titanic clash that will shake the foundations of the world, and bear witness to the true fury of the gods.]]>
528 John Gwynne 0356514293 Jessica 5 4.46 2024 The Fury of the Gods (The Bloodsworn Saga, #3)
author: John Gwynne
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
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<![CDATA[Gods & Monsters (Serpent & Dove, #3)]]> 52535769 The spellbinding conclusion to the New York Times and IndieBound bestselling trilogy Serpent & Dove. This stunning fantasy take on French witches and forbidden love is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas.

Evil always seeks a foothold. We must not give it one.

After a heartbreaking loss, Lou, Reid, Beau, and Coco are bent on vengeance more than ever before—and none more so than Lou.

But this is no longer the Lou they thought they knew. No longer the Lou that captured a chasseur’s heart. A darkness has settled over her, and this time it will take more than love to drive it out.]]>
624 Shelby Mahurin 0063038951 Jessica 4 3.93 2021 Gods & Monsters (Serpent & Dove, #3)
author: Shelby Mahurin
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
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The Nightingale 21853621 In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.]]>
564 Kristin Hannah 0312577222 Jessica 0 to-read 4.63 2015 The Nightingale
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/25
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Phantasma (Wicked Games, #1) 204593914 Caraval meets Throne of the Fallen in this spicy dark romantasy where a necromancer needs help from a dangerous phantom to win a deadly competition, only to find their partnership puts her at risk of breaking the game’s most vital rule: don't fall in love.

When Ophelia and her sister discovers their mother brutally murdered, there is no time to grieve: Ophelia has inherited both her powerful death-driven magic and enormous debt on their home. Circumstances go from dire to deadly, however, when Ophelia’s sister decides to pay off the loan by entering Phantasma—a competition where most contestants don’t make it out alive and the winner is granted a single wish.

The only way to save her sister is to compete. But Phantasma is a cursed manor, with twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, and filled with enticing demons and fatal temptations. Ophelia will need to face nine floors of challenges to win... if her fears don’t overtake her first.

When a charming, arrogant stranger claims he can protect and guide Ophelia, she knows she shouldn’t trust him. While Blackwell may not seem dangerous, appearances can be deceptive. But with her sister’s life on the line, Ophelia can’t afford to turn him away. She just needs to ignore the overwhelming, dark attraction drawing them closer and closer together.

Because in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart.]]>
497 Kaylie Smith 1538769255 Jessica 0 to-read 4.06 2024 Phantasma (Wicked Games, #1)
author: Kaylie Smith
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/23
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The Spellshop 217206125 The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.]]>
377 Sarah Beth Durst 1250333970 Jessica 0 to-read 3.98 2024 The Spellshop
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/23
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<![CDATA[Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth, #1)]]> 127305713
Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe � a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution � who she can't help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s The Crimson Moth is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch� is falling in love.]]>
406 Kristen Ciccarelli 1250866901 Jessica 0 to-read 4.16 2024 Heartless Hunter (The Crimson Moth, #1)
author: Kristen Ciccarelli
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/22
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<![CDATA[Across the Face of the World (Fire of Heaven, #1)]]> 1057502
For two thousand years, Kannwar, the immortal Destroyer, has been planning revenge on the Most High. Cast out from Dona Mihst when he drank from the forbidden fountain of eternal life, his plans of vengeance are now nearing fruition - and he will allow nothing to stand in his way.

When the trader Mahnum escapes the Destroyer's prison, the Lords of Fear are sent in pursuit. Mahnum makes his way home to Loulea, but there he and his wife are captured. His sons, Leith and Hal, together with a small group of villagers, set off on a quest to free Mahnum and Indrett - and warn their world of the coming war.]]>
554 Russell Kirkpatrick 1841494631 Jessica 0 to-read 3.28 2004 Across the Face of the World (Fire of Heaven, #1)
author: Russell Kirkpatrick
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/15
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<![CDATA[House to House: An Epic Memoir of War]]> 1554307 336 David Bellavia 1416574719 Jessica 0 to-read 4.29 2006 House to House: An Epic Memoir of War
author: David Bellavia
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/14
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<![CDATA[Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War]]> 58842722
Of the 1.3 million active-duty service members in the U.S. military, only a tiny fraction are selected as “operators� in elite special mission units. Shannon Kent was one of the first women to serve at this level and was widely recognized as one of the best.

Shannon served as a Cryptologic Warfare Technician, responsible for signals intelligence and electronic warfare, but her proficiency with language set her apart. She was assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command, where she worked clandestinely to hunt the most wanted terrorists in the world.

Send Me is Shannon’s heroic life story, revealing the truth of both her work and her death. Shannon’s team wasn’t on a routine patrol the day she died, nor out for lunch as many news outlets reported. She was hunting ISIS cells.Ìý Joe, a retired Special Forces soldier, recalls how he and Shannon met in a war zone, their love forged during an elite special operations training course, their dedication spanning multiple combat deployments and the birth of their two boys.

It is the legacy of an extraordinary woman who rose to theÌýapex of the military, working with the most elite forces in the world, lifting the veil from the life of a Special Forces family to share their duty, sacrifice, and humanity.]]>
336 Marty Skovlund Jr. 0063039893 Jessica 0 to-read 4.60 Send Me: The True Story of a Mother at War
author: Marty Skovlund Jr.
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.60
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/14
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<![CDATA[The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice]]> 53911559
The extraordinary story of the women who took on the Islamic State and won

� The Daughters of Kobani is an unforgettable and nearly mythic tale of women's power and courage. The young women profiled in this book fought a fearsome war against brutal men in impossible circumstances � and proved in the process what girls and women can accomplish when given the chance to lead. Brilliantly researched and respectfully reported, this book is a lesson in heroism, sacrifice, and the real meaning of sisterhood. I am so grateful that this story has been told. � � Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love

� Absolutely fascinating and brilliantly written, The Daughters of Kobani is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand both the nobility and the brutality of war. This is one of the most compelling stories in modern warfare. � � Admiral William H. McRaven, author of Make Your Bed

In 2014, northeastern Syria might have been the last place you would expect to find a revolution centered on women's rights. But that year, an all-female militia faced off against ISIS in a little town few had ever heard Kobani. By then, the Islamic State had swept across vast swaths of the country, taking town after town and spreading terror as the civil war burned all around it. From that unlikely showdown in Kobani emerged a fighting force that would wage war against ISIS across northern Syria alongside the United States. In the process, these women would spread their own political vision, determined to make women's equality a reality by fighting—house by house, street by street, city by city—the men who bought and sold women.

Based on years of on-the-ground reporting, The Daughters of Kobani is the unforgettable story of the women of the Kurdish militia that improbably became part of the world's best hope for stopping ISIS in Syria. Drawing from hundreds of hours of interviews, bestselling author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon introduces us to the women fighting on the front lines, determined to not only extinguish the terror of ISIS but also prove that women could lead in war and must enjoy equal rights come the peace. In helping to cement the territorial defeat of ISIS, whose savagery toward women astounded the world, these women played a central role in neutralizing the threat the group posed worldwide. In the process they earned the respect—and significant military support—of U.S. Special Operations Forces.

Rigorously reported and powerfully told, The Daughters of Kobani shines a light on a group of women intent on not only defeating the Islamic State on the battlefield but also changing women's lives in their corner of the Middle East and beyond.]]>
288 Gayle Tzemach Lemmon 0525560688 Jessica 5 4.02 2021 The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice
author: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/11/14
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The Sword of Kaigen 41886271 A son struggling to grasp his violent future,
A father blind to the danger that threatens them all.

When the winds of war reach their peninsula, will the Matsuda family have the strength to defend their empire? Or will they tear each other apart before the true enemies even reach their shores?

High on a mountainside at the edge of the Kaigenese Empire live the most powerful warriors in the world, superhumans capable of raising the sea and wielding blades of ice. For hundreds of years, the fighters of the Kusanagi Peninsula have held the Empire’s enemies at bay, earning their frozen spit of land the name ‘The Sword of Kaigen.�

Born into Kusanagi’s legendary Matsuda family, fourteen-year-old Mamoru has always known his purpose: to master his family’s fighting techniques and defend his homeland. But when an outsider arrives and pulls back the curtain on Kaigen’s alleged age of peace, Mamoru realizes that he might not have much time to become the fighter he was bred to be. Worse, the empire he was bred to defend may stand on a foundation of lies.

Misaki told herself that she left the passions of her youth behind when she married into the Matsuda house. Determined to be a good housewife and mother, she hid away her sword, along with everything from her days as a fighter in a faraway country. But with her growing son asking questions about the outside world, the threat of an impending invasion looming across the sea, and her frigid husband grating on her nerves, Misaki finds the fighter in her clawing its way back to the surface.]]>
651 M.L. Wang Jessica 0 to-read 4.46 2019 The Sword of Kaigen
author: M.L. Wang
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/13
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<![CDATA[Immortal Dark (Immortal Dark Trilogy, #1)]]> 204593711
It began long before my time, but something has always hunted our family.

Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane grew up far from the arcane society she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power through vampire companionship. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—the very vampire bound to their family, the cruel yet captivating Susenyos Sagad.

To find June, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University—where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires and inherit their family legacies. Kidan must survive living with Susenyos—even as he does everything he can to drive her away. It doesn’t matter that Susenyos’s wickedness speaks to Kidan’s own violent nature and tempts her to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill Susenyos at all costs.

When a murder mirroring June’s disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. There she discovers a centuries-old threat—and June could be at the center of it. To save her sister, Kidan must bring Uxlay to its knees and either break free from the horrors of her own actions or embrace the dark entanglements of love—and the blood it requires.]]>
432 Tigest Girma Jessica 5 3.67 2024 Immortal Dark (Immortal Dark Trilogy, #1)
author: Tigest Girma
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/09
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<![CDATA[Know No Fear (The Horus Heresy, #19)]]> 11797636 A Horus Heresy novel

Unaware of the wider Heresy and following the Warmaster’s increasingly cryptic orders, Roboute Guilliman returns to Ultramar to muster his Legion for war against the orks massing in the Veridian system.

READ IT BECAUSE
It's the beginning of one of the Horus Heresy's most infamous and epic battles. Dan Abnett's story grabs you by the shoulders and throws you into the midst of the Betrayal at Calth. The moment when the build-up ends and the battle begins is breathtaking and brutal and the rest of the novel doesn't let up.

THE STORY
Unaware of the wider Heresy and following the Warmaster's increasingly cryptic orders, Roboute Guilliman returns to Ultramar to muster his Legion for war against the orks massing in the Veridian system. Without warning, their supposed allies in the Word Bearers Legion launch a devastating invasion of Calth, scattering the Ultramarines fleet and slaughtering all who stand in their way. This confirms the worst scenario Guilliman can imagine � Lorgar means to settle their bitter rivalry once and for all. As the traitors summon foul daemonic hosts and all the forces of Chaos, the Ultramarines are drawn into a grim and deadly struggle in which neither side can prevail.]]>
412 Dan Abnett 1849701342 Jessica 4 4.26 2012 Know No Fear (The Horus Heresy, #19)
author: Dan Abnett
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/02
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Blood Over Bright Haven 208430658 Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.

An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.

Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?

A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

(Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)]]>
430 M.L. Wang 0593873351 Jessica 0 to-read 4.41 2023 Blood Over Bright Haven
author: M.L. Wang
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/02
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<![CDATA[Blood & Honey (Serpent & Dove, #2)]]> 40550366 536 Shelby Mahurin 0062878050 Jessica 5 3.50 2020 Blood & Honey (Serpent & Dove, #2)
author: Shelby Mahurin
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/30
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Dreams Lie Beneath 54557816 Perfect for readers of The Hazel Wood and The Night Circus, this lush and layered story about magic and the captivating power of dreams is delivered with acclaimed author Rebecca Ross’s signature exquisite style.

A curse plagues the realm of Azenor—during each new moon, magic flows from the nearby mountain and brings nightmares to life. Only magicians, who serve as territory wardens, stand between people and their worst dreams.

Clementine Madigan is ready to take over as the warden of her small town, but when two magicians challenge her, she is unwittingly drawn into a century-old conflict. She seeks revenge, but as she secretly gets closer to Phelan, one of the handsome young magicians, secrets begin to rise. Clementine must unite with her rival to fight the realm’s curse, which seems to be haunting her every turn.]]>
496 Rebecca Ross 0063015951 Jessica 5 4.08 2021 Dreams Lie Beneath
author: Rebecca Ross
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/30
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<![CDATA[The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom, #1)]]> 205335957
Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum's windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.

Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil's visions. But when Sybil's fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral's cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she'd rather avoid Rodrick's dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.]]>
400 Rachel Gillig 0356522962 Jessica 0 to-read 4.61 2025 The Knight and the Moth (The Stonewater Kingdom, #1)
author: Rachel Gillig
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/27
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<![CDATA[The Fate of Magic (Witch and Hunter, #2)]]> 200059819
Fritzi is a champion. After escaping the clutches of Dieter Kirch, the sadistic leader of the witch hunters, Fritzi and Otto have taken refuge among the witches of the Black Forest. Fritzi is finally ready to assume her place on the council as the coven's goddess-chosen champion. Plagued by distrust and self-doubt, Fritzi throws herself into her duty to serve the goddesses . . . until she uncovers a powerful secret that could mean the very undoing of magic itself.

Otto is a warrior. He swears himself to Fritzi as her bonded protector, certain the peaceful unity of a witch and hunter will heal the wounds he helped make. But as the horrifying plot that threatens the Black Forest's magic comes to light, Otto will have to face his both his past and what it means to bind himself to a magic he does not fully understand.

Shadows loom. Truths are revealed. And as dangers new and old arise, Fritzi and Otto must stand together against everything that threatens magic—even if the biggest threat might be the very bond they share.

Praise for Night of the

"Set against the backdrop of the Medieval German Witch Trials, Raasch and Revis weave a fantasy and heart-pounding tale full of history, love, witchcraft, and war that will have you gripping your book, waiting for the next shocking twist." � #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout

"Night of the Witch is an irresistibly compelling page-turner, distinguished by vivid descriptions, a fascinating magic system, and crackling chemistry between the two leads. Best of all? When I finished reading, I wanted more. Bring on the next book!" � Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn

"A breathtaking adventure from beginning to end. Full of wild magic, stunning twists, and a romance that burns on the page,Night of the Witch is an addictive read that will leave readers desperate for more." � Rachel Griffin, New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches and Bring Me Your Midnight

"Raasch and Revis have brewed a brilliant novel that combines history and fantasy in the best of ways. Be prepared to stay up late reading this one. If it isn't the action keeping you on the edge of your seat, then it'll be the sizzling romance." � Tricia Levenseller, New York Times bestselling author of Blade of Secrets]]>
320 Sara Raasch 1728277558 Jessica 4 3.68 2024 The Fate of Magic (Witch and Hunter, #2)
author: Sara Raasch
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/22
date added: 2024/10/22
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<![CDATA[The Bones of Ruin (The Bones of Ruin, #1)]]> 43699470 colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret that even “strange� doesn’t capture…�

She cannot die.

Haunted by her unnatural power and with no memories of her past, Iris is obsessed with discovering who she is. But that mission gets more complicated when she meets the dark and alluring Adam Temple, a member of a mysterious order called the Enlightenment Committee. Adam seems to know much more about her than he lets on, and he shares with her a terrifying revelation: the world is ending, and the Committee will decide who lives…and who doesn’t.

To help them choose a leader for the upcoming apocalypse, the Committee is holding the Tournament of Freaks, a macabre competition made up of vicious fighters with fantastical abilities. Adam wants Iris to be his champion, and in return he promises her the one thing she wants most: the truth about who she really is.

If Iris wants to learn about her shadowy past, she has no choice but to fight. But the further she gets in the grisly tournament, the more she begins to remember—and the more she wonders if the truth is something best left forgotten.]]>
496 Sarah Raughley Jessica 0 to-read 3.64 2021 The Bones of Ruin (The Bones of Ruin, #1)
author: Sarah Raughley
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/18
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Mechanicum (The Horus Heresy, #9)]]> 2941259
On Mars, home world of the Mechanicum priesthood, the great manufactory-cities have long produced much of the weaponry required for the expeditionary fleets across the galaxy - making the world invaluable to whoever controls it in the coming war.

Now, the Warmaster's agents begin to stoke the fires of rebellion, turning the loyalist forges and the mighty Titan Legions against one another. And, with whispers spreading of an ancient terror lurking beneath the Red Planet's surface, the Dark Mechanicum rises...]]>
416 Graham McNeill 1844166066 Jessica 0 to-read 3.85 2008 Mechanicum (The Horus Heresy, #9)
author: Graham McNeill
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/13
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<![CDATA[A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1)]]> 50548197
A Deadly Education is set at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death (for real) � until one girl, El, begins to unlock its many secrets.

There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships, save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won’t allow its students to leave until they graduate� or die! The rules are deceptively simple: Don’t walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere.

El is uniquely prepared for the school’s dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students.]]>
320 Naomi Novik 0593128486 Jessica 4 3.93 2020 A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1)
author: Naomi Novik
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/10/12
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<![CDATA[The Last Graduate (The Scholomance, #2)]]> 55559887 A budding dark sorceress determined not to use her formidable powers uncovers yet more secrets about the workings of her world in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education, the start of Naomi Novik’s groundbreaking crossover series.

At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are faced with their final year—and the looming specter of graduation, a deadly ritual that leaves few students alive in its wake. El is determined that her chosen group will survive, but it is a prospect that is looking harder by the day as the savagery of the school ramps up. Until El realizes that sometimes winning the game means throwing out all the rules . . .]]>
388 Naomi Novik 0593128869 Jessica 0 to-read 4.21 2021 The Last Graduate (The Scholomance, #2)
author: Naomi Novik
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/11
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<![CDATA[The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2)]]> 62335396 Love is a sacrifice at the altar of power.

In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. A prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and reeling from a gutting betrayal, she no longer even knows the truth of her own blood. She’s left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn.

The House of Night, too, is surrounded by enemies. Raihn’s own nobles are none too eager to accept a Turned king, especially one who was once a slave. And the House of Blood digs their claws into the kingdom, threatening to tear it apart from the inside.

When Raihn offers Oraya a secret alliance, taking the deal is her only chance at reclaiming her kingdom–and gaining her vengeance against the lover who betrayed her. But to do so, she’ll need to harness a devastating ancient power, intertwined with her father’s greatest secrets.

But with enemies closing in on all sides, nothing is as it seems. As she unravels her past and faces her future, Oraya finds herself forced to choose between the bloody reality of seizing power � and the devastating love that could be her downfall.]]>
626 Carissa Broadbent Jessica 5 4.10 2023 The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/07
date added: 2024/10/07
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<![CDATA[Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs]]> 206326951 277 Jordan Stephens 1838858091 Jessica 0 to-read 4.10 Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs
author: Jordan Stephens
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.10
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/07
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Tress of the Emerald Sea 60531406 #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson expands his Cosmere universe shared by The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn with a new standalone novel for everyone who loved The Princess Bride.

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?]]>
443 Brandon Sanderson Jessica 5 4.35 2023 Tress of the Emerald Sea
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
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<![CDATA[The Songbird & the Heart of Stone (Crowns of Nyaxia, #3)]]> 210134467 New York Times bestselling author and BookTok sensation Carissa Broadbent returns with a brand new novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, Songbird and the Heart of Stone, where A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Dante's Inferno, in an epic fantasy romance of love and treachery between mortals and gods. Features beautiful case art and a detailed map.

In the descent to the underworld, a bride of the sun must choose between the light of her redemption� or a dark love that defies the gods themselves

Mische lost everything when she was forcibly Turned into a vampire � her home, her humanity, and most devastating of all, the love of the sun god to whom she had devoted her life. Now, sentenced to death for murdering the vampire prince who Turned her, redemption feels impossible.

But when Mische is saved by Asar, the bastard prince of the House of Shadow with a past as brutal as his scars, she’s forced into a mission worse than execution: a journey to the underworld to resurrect the god of death himself.

Yet, Mische’s punishment may be the key to her salvation. In a secret meeting, her sun god commands her to help Asar in his mission, only to betray him� by killing the very death god she’ll help resurrect.

Mische and Asar must travel the treacherous path to the underworld, facing trials, beasts, and the vengeful ghosts of their pasts. Yet, most dangerous of all is the alluring call of the darkness � and her forbidden attraction to Asar, a burgeoning bond that risks invoking the wrath of gods.

As her betrayal looms, the underworld closes in and angry gods are growing restless. Mische will be forced to choose between the redemption of the sun or the damnation of the darkness.]]>
498 Carissa Broadbent Jessica 0 to-read 4.02 2024 The Songbird & the Heart of Stone (Crowns of Nyaxia, #3)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/26
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<![CDATA[The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)]]> 60714999 Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always � always � guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown� and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone � but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night is the first book in a new series of heart-wrenching romance, dark magic, and bloodthirsty intrigue, perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.]]>
504 Carissa Broadbent Jessica 5 4.30 2022 The Serpent and the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/26
date added: 2024/09/26
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<![CDATA[Powerless (The Powerless Trilogy, #1)]]> 75513900 She is the very thing he’s spent his whole life hunting.
He is the very thing she’s spent her whole life pretending to be.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites� powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.]]>
523 Lauren Roberts Jessica 4 4.17 2023 Powerless (The Powerless Trilogy, #1)
author: Lauren Roberts
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/09/20
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<![CDATA[Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1)]]> 8490112
In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?]]>
418 Laini Taylor 0316134023 Jessica 5 3.98 2011 Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1)
author: Laini Taylor
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/15
date added: 2024/09/15
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<![CDATA[Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel, #1)]]> 35271523
Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.

Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he'll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassins, and the long guns of a flying fortress. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure.

This quiet man of letters must become a man of action.

The first book in the stunning and strange debut fantasy series that's receiving major praise from some of fantasy's biggest authors such as Mark Lawrence and Django Wexler.]]>
448 Josiah Bancroft 0316517917 Jessica 5 4.08 2013 Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel, #1)
author: Josiah Bancroft
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/05
date added: 2024/09/05
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Kingsbane (Empirium, #2) 40523458 In this sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller Furyborn, two queens, separated by a thousand years, connected by secrets and lies, must continue their fight amid deadly plots and unthinkable betrayals that will test their strength—and their hearts.

Rielle Dardenne has been anointed Sun Queen, but her trials are far from over. The Gate keeping the angels at bay is falling. To repair it, Rielle must collect the seven hidden castings of the saints. Meanwhile, to help her prince and love Audric protect Celdaria, Rielle must spy on the angel Corien—but his promises of freedom and power may prove too tempting to resist.

Centuries later, Eliana Ferracora grapples with her new reality: She is the Sun Queen, humanity's long-awaited savior. But fear of corruption—fear of becoming another Rielle—keeps Eliana's power dangerous and unpredictable. Hunted by all, racing against time to save her dying friend Navi, Eliana must decide how to wear a crown she never wanted—by embracing her mother's power, or rejecting it forever.
]]>
608 Claire Legrand 1492656666 Jessica 0 to-read, didnt-finish 3.88 2019 Kingsbane (Empirium, #2)
author: Claire Legrand
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves: to-read, didnt-finish
review:

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<![CDATA[Dirty Laundry: Why Adults with ADHD Are So Ashamed and What We Can Do to Help]]> 171677185 Ìý
What if you stopped feeling ashamed of constantly being late or of getting so hyperfocused on a task that you drop everything else you had to do? How can you as a partner, parent, or friend better understand your neurodivergent loved one’s way of moving through the world?
Ìý
In Dirty Laundry , life partners Rich Pink and Rox Emery unapologetically guide you through the ups and downs of life with ADHD. Every chapter starts with a common symptom of ADHD, like impulsivity or struggles with finances, and an earnest moment from their own lives to show you how they navigate the symptom together. Rox reminds you to be kind to yourself and love yourself for who you are; Rich offers tips on how he uses compassion and honesty instead of jumping to conclusions. Whether it's helping your ADHDer with friendly time-checks before an appointment or reminding yourself to take breaks during hours spent hyperfocusing on a new project, Rox and Rich give you the tools to destigmatize and normalize life with ADHD.]]>
144 Richard Pink 0593835530 Jessica 0 to-read 3.85 2023 Dirty Laundry: Why Adults with ADHD Are So Ashamed and What We Can Do to Help
author: Richard Pink
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Scatter Brain: How I finally got off the ADHD rollercoaster and became the owner of a very tidy sock drawer]]> 62337607 256 Shaparak Khorsandi 1785044192 Jessica 0 to-read 4.06 Scatter Brain: How I finally got off the ADHD rollercoaster and became the owner of a very tidy sock drawer
author: Shaparak Khorsandi
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Book That Broke the World (The Library Trilogy, #2)]]> 157031755 We fight for the people we love. We fight for the ideas we want to be true.

Evar and Livira stand side by side and yet far beyond each other's reach. Evar is forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover her book if she's to return to her life. While Evar's journey leads him outside into the vastness of a world he's never seen, Livira's destination lies deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.

And all the while, the library quietly weaves thread to thread, bringing the scattered elements of Livira's old life � friends and foe alike � back together beneath new skies.

Long ago, a lie was told, and with the passing years it has grown and spread, a small push leading to a chain of desperate consequences. Now, as one edifice topples into the next with ever-growing violence, it threatens to break the world. The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.

The Library Trilogy is about many things: adventure, discovery, and romance, but it's also a love letter to books and the places where they live. The focus is on one vast and timeless library, but the love expands to encompass smaller more personal collections, and bookshops of all shades too.]]>
384 Mark Lawrence 0008456763 Jessica 5 4.00 2024 The Book That Broke the World (The Library Trilogy, #2)
author: Mark Lawrence
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/28
date added: 2024/08/28
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<![CDATA[The Hexologists (The Hexologists, #1)]]> 59612836

The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.
Ìý
But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.
Ìý
Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for a case that will test every spell, skill, and odd magical artifact in their considerable bag of tricks.]]>
318 Josiah Bancroft Jessica 0 to-read 3.79 2023 The Hexologists (The Hexologists, #1)
author: Josiah Bancroft
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/25
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Choice: Embrace the Possible]]> 30753738
The horrors of the Holocaust didn’t break Edith. In fact, they helped her learn to live again with a life-affirming strength and a truly remarkable resilience. The Choice is her unforgettable story.]]>
289 Edith Eger 1501130781 Jessica 0 to-read 4.59 2017 The Choice: Embrace the Possible
author: Edith Eger
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/24
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1)]]> 43728380 From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hands sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs� sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.

Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order couldn’t stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.

Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope:

The Holy Grail.

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Nevernight Chronicle, Jay Kristoff, comes the first book of an astonishing illustrated dark fantasy saga.]]>
725 Jay Kristoff 0008350434 Jessica 4 4.36 2021 Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1)
author: Jay Kristoff
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/23
date added: 2024/08/23
shelves:
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<![CDATA[The Art of Prophecy (War Arts, #1)]]> 58409712 An epic fantasy ode to martial arts and magic—the story of a spoiled hero, an exacting grandmaster, and an immortal god-king from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Lives of Tao.

It has been foretold: A child will rise to defeat the Eternal Khan, a cruel immortal god-king, and save the kingdom.

The hero: Jian, who has been raised since birth in luxury and splendor, celebrated before he has won a single battle.

But the prophecy was wrong.

Because when Taishi, the greatest war artist of her generation, arrives to evaluate the prophesied hero, she finds a spoiled brat unprepared to face his destiny.

But the only force more powerful than fate is Taishi herself. Possessed of an iron will, a sharp tongue—and an unexpectedly soft heart—Taishi will find a way to forge Jian into the weapon and leader he needs to be in order to fulfill his legend.

What follows is a journey more wondrous than any prophecy can foresee: a story of master and student, assassin and revolutionary, of fallen gods and broken prophecies, and of a war between kingdoms, and love and friendship between deadly rivals.]]>
533 Wesley Chu 0593237633 Jessica 0 to-read 4.04 2022 The Art of Prophecy (War Arts, #1)
author: Wesley Chu
name: Jessica
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Ledge (The Glacian Trilogy, #1)]]> 58878356
In a place known as the Ledge, a civilization is trapped by a vast chasm and sheer mountain face. There is no way for anyone to escape the frozen wasteland without befalling a deathly drop. They know nothing of the outside world except that it is where the Glacians reside � mystical and vicious winged creatures who bring meagre rations in exchange for a periodic human sacrifice.

Dawsyn, ax wielder and only remaining member of her family, has so far avoided the annual culling, but her luck has run out. She is chosen and ripped from her icy home, the only world she knows. No one knows what will happen to her on the other side, least of all Dawsyn. Murdered? Enslaved? Worse?

Fortunately, a half-Glacian called Ryon offers to help them both escape, but how can she trust one of the very creatures that plagued her life? Dawsyn is a survivor, and she is not afraid to cut anyone down to live.

With a slow-burning romance, high stakes and even higher rewards, this richly created new fantasy series by popular TikToker Stacey McEwan will keep you gripped to the very end.

*Content warnings* gratuitous violence & death; death of a minor; suicide; attempted sexual assault]]>
271 Stacey McEwan Jessica 0 to-read 3.65 2021 Ledge (The Glacian Trilogy, #1)
author: Stacey McEwan
name: Jessica
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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