Lori's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 05 Apr 2025 17:08:50 -0700 60 Lori's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Book of Goose 59808607 A gripping, heartbreaking new novel about female friendship, art, and memory by the award-winning author of Where Reasons End.

Fabienne is dead. Her childhood best friend, Agnès, receives the news in America, far from the French countryside where the two girls were raised--the place that Fabienne helped Agnès escape ten years ago. Now, Agnès is free to tell her story.

As children in a war-ravaged, backwater town, they'd built a private world, invisible to everyone but themselves--until Fabienne hatched the plan that would change everything, launching Agnès on an epic trajectory through fame, fortune, and terrible loss.

A magnificent, beguiling tale winding from the postwar rural provinces to Paris, from an English boarding school to to the quiet Pennsylvania home where Agnès can live without her past, The Book of Goose is a haunting story of friendship, art, exploitation, and memory by the celebrated author Yiyun Li.]]> 348 Yiyun Li 037460634X Lori 0 own-not-yet-read, to-read 3.67 2022 The Book of Goose
author: Yiyun Li
name: Lori
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: own-not-yet-read, to-read
review:

]]> Dinosaurs 60165418 Dinosaurs is both sharp-edged and tender, an emotionally moving, intellectually resonant novel that asks, In the shadow of existential threat, where does hope live?]]> 230 Lydia Millet 1324021462 Lori 0 own-not-yet-read, to-read 3.85 2022 Dinosaurs
author: Lydia Millet
name: Lori
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: own-not-yet-read, to-read
review:

]]> North American Lake Monsters 16057298
These are love stories. And also monster stories. Sometimes these are monsters in their traditional guises, sometimes they wear the faces of parents, lovers, or ourselves. The often working-class people in these stories are driven to extremes by love. Sometimes, they are ruined; sometimes redeemed. All are faced with the loneliest corners of themselves and strive to find an escape.

Nathan Ballingrud was born in Massachusetts but has spent most of his life in the South. He worked as a bartender in New Orleans and New York City and a cook on offshore oil rigs. His story "The Monsters of Heaven" won the inaugural Shirley Jackson Award. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his daughter.]]> 205 Nathan Ballingrud 1618730592 Lori 0 own-not-yet-read, to-read 3.97 2013 North American Lake Monsters
author: Nathan Ballingrud
name: Lori
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: own-not-yet-read, to-read
review:

]]> The Swimmers 53446850 The Golden Key.

After the ravages of global warming, this is place of deep jungles, strange animals, and new taxonomies. Social inequality has ravaged society, now divided into surface dwellers and people who live in the Upper Settlement, a ring perched at the edge of the planet's atmosphere. Within the surface dwellers, further divisions occur: the techies are old families, connected to the engineer tradition, builders of the Barrier, a huge wall that keeps the plastic-polluted Ocean away. They possess a much higher status than the beanies, their servants.

The novel opens after the Delivery Act has decreed all surface humans are 'equal'. Narrated by Pearl, a young techie with a thread of shuvani blood, she navigates the complex social hierarchies and monstrous, ever-changing landscape. But a radical attack close to home forces her to question what she knew about herself and the world around her.]]> 288 Marian Womack 1789094216 Lori 0 to-read, own-not-yet-read 2.81 2021 The Swimmers
author: Marian Womack
name: Lori
average rating: 2.81
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: to-read, own-not-yet-read
review:

]]> Honeyeater 222376616 A richly imagined dark fantasy that pulses with the beautiful destruction of a town reclaimed by the natural world.

Sub-tropical Bellworth is founded on floodplains and root-bound secrets. And Charlie, remarkable only for vanished friends and a successful sister, plans to leave for good, just as soon as he deals with his dead aunt’s house. Then Grace arrives, desperate, with roses pressing up through her skin, and drags Charlie into the ghost-choked mysteries of Bellworth, uncovering the impossible consequences of loss and desire � and a choice Charlie made when he was a boy. But peeling back the rumors and lies that cocoon the suburb disturbs more than complacent neighbors and lost souls. And Charlie and Grace are forced to a decision that threatens not only their lives, but all they believed those lives could be.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 272 Kathleen Jennings 1250845882 Lori 0 to-read, wishlist, to-buy 0.0 Honeyeater
author: Kathleen Jennings
name: Lori
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: to-read, wishlist, to-buy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Acceptance (Southern Reach, #3)]]> 18077752
Meanwhile, Acceptance tunnels ever deeper into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Area X—what initiated this unnatural upheaval? Among the many who have tried, who has gotten close to understanding Area X—and who may have been corrupted by it?

In this last installment of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may be solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound—or terrifying.]]> 341 Jeff VanderMeer 0374104115 Lori 4 review to come 3.66 2014 Acceptance (Southern Reach, #3)
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Lori
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/09/20
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: arc-reviewers-copy, audio-book, downloads, fiction, currently-reading
review:
review to come
]]> <![CDATA[Disgraced Return of the Kap's Needle]]> 225386833
"A future vision as dark and compelling as the spaces between the stars." —Gareth L. Powell, author of FUTURE’S EDGE and EMBERS OF WAR.

"DISGRACED RETURN OF THE KAP'S NEEDLE is a space opera filled with secrets and revelations, hope and addiction, along with the grief and struggle of a mother trying to save her fractured family." —Ai Jiang, Nebula and Stoker award-winning author of Linghun]]> Renan Bernardo 1958598747 Lori 0 to-buy, wishlist, to-read 0.0 Disgraced Return of the Kap's Needle
author: Renan Bernardo
name: Lori
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: to-buy, wishlist, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Authority (Southern Reach, #2)]]> 18077769 The bone-chilling, hair-raising second installment of the Southern Reach Trilogy

After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X—a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border and mysteriously wiped clean of all signs of civilization—has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach. Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray.

John Rodríguez (aka "Control") is the Southern Reach's newly appointed head. Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a series of frustrating interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, Control begins to penetrate the secrets of Area X. But with each discovery he must confront disturbing truths about himself and the agency he's pledged to serve.

In Authority, the second volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, Area X's most disturbing questions are answered . . . but the answers are far from reassuring.]]> 341 Jeff VanderMeer 0374104107 Lori 4
In order to refresh my brain in anticipation of the 4th book, I listened to the audiobook again. I still back this review 100%. I typically don't reread because I'm always afraid I'll like the book less but this series still kicks ass!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listened 6/26/14 - 7/7/14
4 Stars - Strongly Recommended to readers of Book 1, for, uhm, obvious reasons
Audio 10.5 hours
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Released: May 2014


WARNING: Do not read this review if you haven't read Annihilation. I'm about to spoil a whole lotta shit if you do....


So Book 2 of the Southern Reach Trilogy. Not as chilling and creepy as Annihilation, but certainly not without charms of its own, either.

Authority picks up a few months after the events of Annihilation, with Jeff Vandermeer turning his sharp eye on the inner workings of The Southern Reach and the introduction of Control, its new Acting Director. Immediately, we itch to ask questions... where did Control come from? The old Director, the one Control is replacing, who was he/she? And Jeff does not waste any time filling in these blanks.

We discover quite early on that Control's mother works out in Central - a fancy name for Headquarters - and she pulled some strings to get her son into the position. He's a bit of a fuck-up, lets his emotions lead him around, but he's thorough and determined to get to the bottom of whatever the hell is going on at The Southern Reach. All of these Expeditions come and gone, and getting worse... what is actually going on over at the Border and within Area X? And how much of it is to be blamed on The Southern Reach's incompetence?

Control's first order of business is to interview the survivors of the 12th Expedition. That's right. I said it. The Survivors. What the...?! If you'll recall, everyone but The Biologist died in Area X, and the last we heard of The Biologist, she was walking to the farthest shores in search of her husband, who she felt certain he was still out there somewhere. But, nope. Here they all are... well, almost all of them. The Southern Reach found The Archaeologist, The Surveyor, and The Biologist miraculously returned to the real world, with little to no recollection of the events that took place within Area X or of how they escaped it. The Psychologist, however, has not yet turned up.

Here, Control makes his first decision - he'll only interview The Biologist. He informs Grace, the Assistant Director, of this - she's a woman of many, many secrets who harbors a serious dislike of Control - and she promptly releases the others. So, it's Control and The Biologist. And she's behaving oddly. She's not playing along and her responses, vague and incomplete, end up only creating more questions for him. Control needs to understand what took place within the realm of the Border, what The Biologist - who's asked Control to call her "Ghostbird" because, she claims, she is NOT The Biologist - recalls of Area X, her fellow Expedition-mates, and how the heck she ended up back in the vacant lot.

In between the bouts of interviewing, Control gets to know his staff. There's Chaney, a strangely chipper gentleman who acts as Control's Chauffeur, making introductions, teaching him the layout of the land, and even driving him over to the Border so he can see it firsthand. He appears mostly unconcerned and unknowledgeable with the inner workings of The Southern Reach. Then there's Whitby, a scientist of sorts, who is obsessed with the Border and the secrets it contains. He's a weird one, Whitby, spending a lot of his time in the supply closet, and Control - like it or not - spends quite a bit of time with him, listening to his theories on Area X and the Border and what is it and HOW it came to be. And of course, there's Grace, his Assistant Director, who seems dead-set on withholding information, only sharing details when Control's proven to her that he's already gathered intel on the things he questions her on. She's covering something up, or hiding something, and Control's not going to give up until he gets to the bottom of the Expeditions.

So in a sense, Authority is actually about Control's LACK of authority and the false sense of authority Central and The Southern Reach appear to be wielding around. Who can stand there and say they have authority or control over nature? Or unnatural events? Who can claim to have an event like The Border and Area X under control when they don't have a clue about how to it even came to be? Or what's controlling IT?

Where Annihilation shone a spotlight inside Area X, here, Authority tries to shine the light outside Area X, highlighting all of the cracks in the system, the confusion and curiosity of the 'Corporate Heads', and proves, once and for all, that no one has a fucking clue what the hell is going on.

Authority is not as fast-paced as it predecessor, and it reads like a true investigation would... ask a few questions, see what rabbit-holes it forces you down, change your technique and your focus, ask a few more questions, weigh the new information against the information you've already got, see what fits and what doesn't, pressure the interviewee, pressure your peers, look inside locked cabinets and behind sealed doors to uncover the secrets no one else wants you to see, ask the questions no one wants to answer and WHAM-O. By the end of the book, your head is spinning and everything you thought you knew about Area X and the Border and Central and The Southern Reach is simultaneously confirmed and thrown out the window.

So, does Authority give you answers to some of the questions you had while reading Annihilation? Absolutely! But, for every answer you get, Authority creates another question that is left hanging, which we hope are to be explored in Book 3.]]> 3.54 2014 Authority (Southern Reach, #2)
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Lori
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: audio-book, fiction, downloads
review:
Relistened March 2025

In order to refresh my brain in anticipation of the 4th book, I listened to the audiobook again. I still back this review 100%. I typically don't reread because I'm always afraid I'll like the book less but this series still kicks ass!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listened 6/26/14 - 7/7/14
4 Stars - Strongly Recommended to readers of Book 1, for, uhm, obvious reasons
Audio 10.5 hours
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Released: May 2014


WARNING: Do not read this review if you haven't read Annihilation. I'm about to spoil a whole lotta shit if you do....


So Book 2 of the Southern Reach Trilogy. Not as chilling and creepy as Annihilation, but certainly not without charms of its own, either.

Authority picks up a few months after the events of Annihilation, with Jeff Vandermeer turning his sharp eye on the inner workings of The Southern Reach and the introduction of Control, its new Acting Director. Immediately, we itch to ask questions... where did Control come from? The old Director, the one Control is replacing, who was he/she? And Jeff does not waste any time filling in these blanks.

We discover quite early on that Control's mother works out in Central - a fancy name for Headquarters - and she pulled some strings to get her son into the position. He's a bit of a fuck-up, lets his emotions lead him around, but he's thorough and determined to get to the bottom of whatever the hell is going on at The Southern Reach. All of these Expeditions come and gone, and getting worse... what is actually going on over at the Border and within Area X? And how much of it is to be blamed on The Southern Reach's incompetence?

Control's first order of business is to interview the survivors of the 12th Expedition. That's right. I said it. The Survivors. What the...?! If you'll recall, everyone but The Biologist died in Area X, and the last we heard of The Biologist, she was walking to the farthest shores in search of her husband, who she felt certain he was still out there somewhere. But, nope. Here they all are... well, almost all of them. The Southern Reach found The Archaeologist, The Surveyor, and The Biologist miraculously returned to the real world, with little to no recollection of the events that took place within Area X or of how they escaped it. The Psychologist, however, has not yet turned up.

Here, Control makes his first decision - he'll only interview The Biologist. He informs Grace, the Assistant Director, of this - she's a woman of many, many secrets who harbors a serious dislike of Control - and she promptly releases the others. So, it's Control and The Biologist. And she's behaving oddly. She's not playing along and her responses, vague and incomplete, end up only creating more questions for him. Control needs to understand what took place within the realm of the Border, what The Biologist - who's asked Control to call her "Ghostbird" because, she claims, she is NOT The Biologist - recalls of Area X, her fellow Expedition-mates, and how the heck she ended up back in the vacant lot.

In between the bouts of interviewing, Control gets to know his staff. There's Chaney, a strangely chipper gentleman who acts as Control's Chauffeur, making introductions, teaching him the layout of the land, and even driving him over to the Border so he can see it firsthand. He appears mostly unconcerned and unknowledgeable with the inner workings of The Southern Reach. Then there's Whitby, a scientist of sorts, who is obsessed with the Border and the secrets it contains. He's a weird one, Whitby, spending a lot of his time in the supply closet, and Control - like it or not - spends quite a bit of time with him, listening to his theories on Area X and the Border and what is it and HOW it came to be. And of course, there's Grace, his Assistant Director, who seems dead-set on withholding information, only sharing details when Control's proven to her that he's already gathered intel on the things he questions her on. She's covering something up, or hiding something, and Control's not going to give up until he gets to the bottom of the Expeditions.

So in a sense, Authority is actually about Control's LACK of authority and the false sense of authority Central and The Southern Reach appear to be wielding around. Who can stand there and say they have authority or control over nature? Or unnatural events? Who can claim to have an event like The Border and Area X under control when they don't have a clue about how to it even came to be? Or what's controlling IT?

Where Annihilation shone a spotlight inside Area X, here, Authority tries to shine the light outside Area X, highlighting all of the cracks in the system, the confusion and curiosity of the 'Corporate Heads', and proves, once and for all, that no one has a fucking clue what the hell is going on.

Authority is not as fast-paced as it predecessor, and it reads like a true investigation would... ask a few questions, see what rabbit-holes it forces you down, change your technique and your focus, ask a few more questions, weigh the new information against the information you've already got, see what fits and what doesn't, pressure the interviewee, pressure your peers, look inside locked cabinets and behind sealed doors to uncover the secrets no one else wants you to see, ask the questions no one wants to answer and WHAM-O. By the end of the book, your head is spinning and everything you thought you knew about Area X and the Border and Central and The Southern Reach is simultaneously confirmed and thrown out the window.

So, does Authority give you answers to some of the questions you had while reading Annihilation? Absolutely! But, for every answer you get, Authority creates another question that is left hanging, which we hope are to be explored in Book 3.
]]> <![CDATA[I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness]]> 217387823
As day turns to night, four hundred years� worth of stories unspool, and the house reverberates with raucous laughter, pungent feasts, and piercing cries of pleasure and pain. It all begins with Joana, Mas Clavell’s matriarch, who once longed for a husband―“a full man,� perhaps even “an heir with a patch of land and a roof over his head.� She summoned the devil to fulfill her wish and struck a deal: a man in exchange for her soul. But when, on her wedding day, Joana discovered that her husband was missing a toe (eaten by wolves), she exploited a loophole in her agreement, heedless of what consequences might follow.]]> 176 Irene Solà 1644453436 Lori 0 4.50 2023 I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Toward Darkness
author: Irene Solà
name: Lori
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read, arc-reviewers-copy, own-not-yet-read
review:

]]> Scattered All Over the Earth 58470813
As she searches for anyone who can still speak her mother tongue, Hiruko soon makes new friends. Her troupe travels to France, encountering an umami cooking competition; a dead whale; an ultra-nationalist named Breivik; unrequited love; Kakuzo robots; red herrings; uranium; an Andalusian matador. Episodic and mesmerizing scenes flash vividly along, and soon they’re all next off to Stockholm.]]> 256 Yōko Tawada 0811229289 Lori 0 to-buy, wishlist, to-read 3.28 2018 Scattered All Over the Earth
author: Yōko Tawada
name: Lori
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-buy, wishlist, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rotting Room: A Historical Horror Novel]]> 228748082 "I am ready to join the Sisterhood of Viggy after reading The Rotting Room. Time to take my vows, now that I've novitiated on this awe-inspiring novel, and commit myself to a lifelong calling of reading whatever Parr Hampton writes." —Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your EyesSister Rafaela, a newcomer to the cloistered Sisters of Divine Innocence, yearns for redemption from her horrific past. However, her new abbey, bound by a vow of silence and a disturbing burial ritual, hides its own sinister secrets.

When a mysterious stranger arrives and dies soon after, her body resists decomposition, sparking fevered claims of sainthood among the nuns� but Rafaela suspects something far darker.

As the abbey teeters on the edge of madness, Rafaela and local priest Father Bruno race to uncover whether the Sisters of Divine Innocence are graced by a divine miracle—or consumed by unspeakable evil.

"Hampton delivers a masterclass in narrative restraint, yet refuses to pull her punches. By taking its vows alongside The First Omen, Immaculate, and Suspiria, The Rotting Room ascends to horror literature heaven." —Nick Roberts, author of The Exorcist's House and Mean Spirited“Dreadfully atmospheric and alluringly oppressive, The Rotting Room is a testament to the heart of religious horror, Viggy Parr Hampton’s writing irresistibly smooth like gothic butter.� —Mona Kabbani, author of The Color of Blood]]> 290 Viggy Parr Hampton Lori 0 to-buy, wishlist, to-read 4.31 The Rotting Room: A Historical Horror Novel
author: Viggy Parr Hampton
name: Lori
average rating: 4.31
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: to-buy, wishlist, to-read
review:

]]> A Carnival of Atrocities 224078699 The residents of a desolate town nestled in the Ecuadorian Andes are forced to reckon with the legend of Mildred, a girl wronged by the town years ago

Cocuán, a desolate town nestled between the hot jungle and the frigid Andes, is about to slip away from memory. This is where Mildred was born, and where everything she had—her animals, her home, her lands—was taken from her after her mother’s death. Years later, a series of strange events, disappearances, and outbursts of collective delirium will force its residents to reckon with the legend of old Mildred. Once again, they will feel the shadow of death that has hung over the town ever since she was wronged. The voices of nine characters—Mildred, Ezequiel, Agustina, Manzi, Carmen, Víctor, Baltasar, Hermosina, and Filatelio—tell us of the past and present of that doomed place and Mildred's fate.
Natalia García Freire’s vivid language blurs the lines between dreams and reality and transports the reader to the hypnotic Andean universe of Ecuador.]]> 112 Natalia García Freire 1642861561 Lori 0 0.0 A Carnival of Atrocities
author: Natalia García Freire
name: Lori
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: arc-reviewers-copy, downloads, currently-reading
review:

]]> Bones and All 63837942 384 Camille DeAngelis 2226469486 Lori 2
I have to admit those first few pages were very attention-getting, flipping through it at the store when I was making the decision on whether or not I wanted to buy it. But DeAngelis just couldn't sustain that wow-factor all the way through. The characters, their motivations, and their nom-nom, lick the plate clean, eat all the people and their bones behaviors all lived too far above the surface when I would have loved for everything to go just a little bit deeper.

It's like the Disney version of cannibalism. meh.

If you're feeling tempted like I was, you're really not missing much. It's ok. Put the book down. Spend your money on something else.

And can we please for the love of god stop with the movie cover posters?! I should knock a star off just for that! ]]> 3.57 2015 Bones and All
author: Camille DeAngelis
name: Lori
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: fiction, get-on-my-plate, mmm-tasty, people-as-monsters, tastes-like-human
review:
Ok, I'm on a bit of a cannibalism kick these last few months, so I gave this one a shot and all it did was confirm that I really don't like YA. Nothing against those of you who do. It's just not for me.

I have to admit those first few pages were very attention-getting, flipping through it at the store when I was making the decision on whether or not I wanted to buy it. But DeAngelis just couldn't sustain that wow-factor all the way through. The characters, their motivations, and their nom-nom, lick the plate clean, eat all the people and their bones behaviors all lived too far above the surface when I would have loved for everything to go just a little bit deeper.

It's like the Disney version of cannibalism. meh.

If you're feeling tempted like I was, you're really not missing much. It's ok. Put the book down. Spend your money on something else.

And can we please for the love of god stop with the movie cover posters?! I should knock a star off just for that!
]]> The Cut 211003716
A historic hotel long past its prime and huddled along The Cut, a questionable Lake Erie beach, isn’t Sadie Miles� ideal place to raise a toddler while also navigating her second pregnancy. After finally fleeing her abusive ex-fiancé, though, Sadie’s new housekeeping position and free room at L’Arpin Hotel are the best she can manage.

On her first night, Sadie runs to help a guest struggling in the hotel’s pool only to find the water calm and empty when she gets there, leaving her with a lingering unease. When a guest then goes missing and her manager insists they simply left without checking out, Sadie suspects he’s covering up darker goings-on in the hotel.

After her ex, Sadie won't let anyone convince her that what she’s experiencing isn’t real again. So, she keeps digging, quickly uncovering suspicious interactions with the staff, mysteriously vanishing security cameras, more missing guests, and things that go bump in the night...and drip in the walls, slither in the tub, and squirm in the halls. Everything isn't as it seems within the dim hallways of L’Arpin. Sadie has nowhere to go and nowhere to hide; she'll need to keep her wits about her to survive and keep her toddler and unborn child safe from whatever lurks nearby.]]> 304 C.J. Dotson 1250335442 Lori 3
In The Cut, a pregnant woman escapes an abusive relationship with her three year old daughter in tow, and ends up taking a housekeeping job in an old hotel. The hotel manager Mr. Dryer takes pity on her and allows her to stay in one of the rooms for free, and she quickly befriends a kindly, long term guest named Gertie, who offers to help babysit her daughter while she works.

Within Sadie's first day at the hotel, there are strange wet noises in the hallway, random damp spots on the walls and hallway rugs, and she's witness to an incident from her window, where a guest appears to be drowning in the pool, though when she rushes out there to help, no one is around, the pool is calm and serene, the only evidence of anything untoward is the quickly drying wet drag mark on the concrete.

Mr. Dryer seems wholly unconcerned when Sadie reports it. She tries to put the weird experience behind her until the next day when she learns a guest has failed to check out and take their stuff, and notices dried blood in a tub during one of her routine cleaning jobs. And let's not mention the slimy little tentacled things that appear on the floor of her own tub while she's taking a shower... although, when she grabs Mr. Dryer again, all of the evidence is gone when he takes a look.

Is she losing her shit or is something horrible hiding just beneath the surface of the L'Arpin Hotel? And is Mr. Dyer and the rest of the staff behind it? And what of old lady Gertie, who always happens to show up right after the weird stuff takes place?

Dotson immediately sucks us in with all the strange shenanigans. I had so many questions, you guys. But then it just got meh and kept on meh-ing. There was so much to look forward to, yet so many annoyances kept popping up. The repetitive rehashing of the abuse she took, the constant fits and tantrums and coddling of her daughter, the whole not feeling safe but then running off to check things out and leaving her little girl alone, asleep in the hotel room, and even then when she was out there spying around, talking herself out of everything she saw, it got old quick. So when the real shit starting hitting the fan, I was more perturbed and less hanging on every word, because I had kind of figured out what was going on before we got there and just wanted to get it over with.

A solid three star. Less if I focus on the all the ways Sadie annoyed me and the overall execution of the book, but for the creepy, cosmic weird plot it certainly deserves more.
]]> 3.22 The Cut
author: C.J. Dotson
name: Lori
average rating: 3.22
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: arc-reviewers-copy, downloads, a-big-steaming-heap-of-wtf-ery, fiction, something-in-the-water, has-monsters-in-it, horrorish, people-as-monsters
review:
Oh Sadie, how you really worked my last nerve, you stinker.

In The Cut, a pregnant woman escapes an abusive relationship with her three year old daughter in tow, and ends up taking a housekeeping job in an old hotel. The hotel manager Mr. Dryer takes pity on her and allows her to stay in one of the rooms for free, and she quickly befriends a kindly, long term guest named Gertie, who offers to help babysit her daughter while she works.

Within Sadie's first day at the hotel, there are strange wet noises in the hallway, random damp spots on the walls and hallway rugs, and she's witness to an incident from her window, where a guest appears to be drowning in the pool, though when she rushes out there to help, no one is around, the pool is calm and serene, the only evidence of anything untoward is the quickly drying wet drag mark on the concrete.

Mr. Dryer seems wholly unconcerned when Sadie reports it. She tries to put the weird experience behind her until the next day when she learns a guest has failed to check out and take their stuff, and notices dried blood in a tub during one of her routine cleaning jobs. And let's not mention the slimy little tentacled things that appear on the floor of her own tub while she's taking a shower... although, when she grabs Mr. Dryer again, all of the evidence is gone when he takes a look.

Is she losing her shit or is something horrible hiding just beneath the surface of the L'Arpin Hotel? And is Mr. Dyer and the rest of the staff behind it? And what of old lady Gertie, who always happens to show up right after the weird stuff takes place?

Dotson immediately sucks us in with all the strange shenanigans. I had so many questions, you guys. But then it just got meh and kept on meh-ing. There was so much to look forward to, yet so many annoyances kept popping up. The repetitive rehashing of the abuse she took, the constant fits and tantrums and coddling of her daughter, the whole not feeling safe but then running off to check things out and leaving her little girl alone, asleep in the hotel room, and even then when she was out there spying around, talking herself out of everything she saw, it got old quick. So when the real shit starting hitting the fan, I was more perturbed and less hanging on every word, because I had kind of figured out what was going on before we got there and just wanted to get it over with.

A solid three star. Less if I focus on the all the ways Sadie annoyed me and the overall execution of the book, but for the creepy, cosmic weird plot it certainly deserves more.

]]> Barrowbeck 209180307
A father fears that his daughter has become possessed by something unholy.

A childless couple must make an agonising decision.

A widower awaits the return of his wife.

A troubled man is haunted by visions of end times.

As one generation gives way to the next and ancient land is carved up in the name of progress, darkness gathers. The people of Barrowbeck have forgotten that they are but guests in the valley.

Now there is a price to pay. Two thousand years of history is coming to an end.]]> 235 Andrew Michael Hurley 1399817515 Lori 0 to-buy, wishlist, to-read 3.65 2024 Barrowbeck
author: Andrew Michael Hurley
name: Lori
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: to-buy, wishlist, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1)]]> 17934530 Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.]]> 195 Jeff VanderMeer 0374104093 Lori 4 In anticipation of picking up the 4th book in the series, I decided to do a re-listen (or is it now a thrice-listen of the audiobook.

Still just as a good as the first time. Mostly because my memory is shit and I forget a lot of the details and it's just so darn amazing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2019
Re-listened to this audiobook immediately upon seeing the movie. I still much prefer the book and am not a fan of the major plot lines that Garland decided to leave out - the hypnostism, the lighthouse keeper, and the tunnel/tower... those were the bones upon which the meat of Vandermeer's story clung. And the entire final minutes of the film, from the moment she enters the lighthouse, were just awful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listened 6/21/14 - 6/25/14
4 Stars - Strongly Recommended to readers who dig a big ole heap of eerie in their fiction and don't necessarily need to know what's going on to enjoy it
Length: 6 hours
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Released: February 2014



Holy Jeff "you've got my attention" Vandermeer.

Let me start off by admitting that Annihilation was a book I'd been hearing a lot about, but wasn't necessarily in a rush to get my hands on. All too often, the "most talked about" books turn out, in my opinion, to be big fat duds. Not that I doubt you, dear readers, but I find that, time and time again, when discussing books we consider "scary" or "creepy" or "disturbing", our experiences with them tend to run perpendicular, rather than parallel, to each other. The most recent example I have of this is The Three. Every review I read gushed over how creepy and scary that book was, how people weren't able to sleep with the lights off for days after reading it... and there I sat, waiting and waiting for it get creepier and scarier, and it just never did.

This, though? This book. It totally brought the creepy.

No. Wait. Not only did it BRING the creepy... it kept building the creepy up until it became flat out disturbing. And then it went and turned the disturbing right on its fucking head.

So the premise of Annihilation: something catastrophic has taken place in a corner of the world. A kind of invisible border came down out of nowhere decades ago and anything that was caught within its net was lost. Gone. Vanished as if it never was. This is referred to as The Event. The landscape, the ecosystem behind the border, has changed, morphed, in ways no one knows or can understand. The land contained within it is referred to as Area X. And a group of people - part of a new government, a special branch, a highly confidential containment unit of some sort? - known as The Southern Reach have been sending Expeditions beyond the invisible border to research and observe Area X, and return with their findings ever since.

Only, when these expeditions return... when these people come back, IF they come back... they are changed. Not the same. In many different ways.

And what they claim to have seen, to have experienced, varies greatly as well.

Annihilation is the story of the twelfth expedition. And it is told in first person, through the eyes of The Biologist. Along with her were The Linguist - though she quit the group before they actually crossed the border; The Archaeologist; The Psychologist - the group leader; and The Surveyor. Each chosen for this expedition based on a particularly unique set of qualities or skills. And then they were stripped of their names, issued new names that corresponded with those skill sets, and put through grueling training sessions before they were packed up and shipped off to the border.

What they find within Area X, all recorded into journal entries by The Biologist, is unlike anything they have ever experienced before. Strange plant and animal life, a horrible keening noise in the night, a tunnel - or is it a tower? - that contains a string of living words on its wall, words that appear to still be in the process of being written by someone, or something, father down there...

Reminiscent of The Ruins and Fragment, Annihilation is very much a hybrid sci-fi thriller-slash-eco-terrestrial mystery of a book. The reader, following in the footsteps of The Biologist, is forced to experience Area X from her perspective. Which we discover, as we get to know her and the circumstances surrounding her personal interest in Area X (and as we learn of the "training" that she had been put through), may not be totally reliable.

Vandermeer exceeded my expectations with this creepy, eerily disturbing introduction into Area X and The Southern Reach. I am already in the process of downloading the second audiobook of the series, Authority, and cannot wait to uncover the secrets that it holds and further immerse myself into this terribly frightening and surreal world.]]> 3.79 2014 Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1)
author: Jeff VanderMeer
name: Lori
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: audio-book, downloads, fiction, author-reader-series
review:
2025
In anticipation of picking up the 4th book in the series, I decided to do a re-listen (or is it now a thrice-listen of the audiobook.

Still just as a good as the first time. Mostly because my memory is shit and I forget a lot of the details and it's just so darn amazing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2019
Re-listened to this audiobook immediately upon seeing the movie. I still much prefer the book and am not a fan of the major plot lines that Garland decided to leave out - the hypnostism, the lighthouse keeper, and the tunnel/tower... those were the bones upon which the meat of Vandermeer's story clung. And the entire final minutes of the film, from the moment she enters the lighthouse, were just awful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Listened 6/21/14 - 6/25/14
4 Stars - Strongly Recommended to readers who dig a big ole heap of eerie in their fiction and don't necessarily need to know what's going on to enjoy it
Length: 6 hours
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Released: February 2014



Holy Jeff "you've got my attention" Vandermeer.

Let me start off by admitting that Annihilation was a book I'd been hearing a lot about, but wasn't necessarily in a rush to get my hands on. All too often, the "most talked about" books turn out, in my opinion, to be big fat duds. Not that I doubt you, dear readers, but I find that, time and time again, when discussing books we consider "scary" or "creepy" or "disturbing", our experiences with them tend to run perpendicular, rather than parallel, to each other. The most recent example I have of this is The Three. Every review I read gushed over how creepy and scary that book was, how people weren't able to sleep with the lights off for days after reading it... and there I sat, waiting and waiting for it get creepier and scarier, and it just never did.

This, though? This book. It totally brought the creepy.

No. Wait. Not only did it BRING the creepy... it kept building the creepy up until it became flat out disturbing. And then it went and turned the disturbing right on its fucking head.

So the premise of Annihilation: something catastrophic has taken place in a corner of the world. A kind of invisible border came down out of nowhere decades ago and anything that was caught within its net was lost. Gone. Vanished as if it never was. This is referred to as The Event. The landscape, the ecosystem behind the border, has changed, morphed, in ways no one knows or can understand. The land contained within it is referred to as Area X. And a group of people - part of a new government, a special branch, a highly confidential containment unit of some sort? - known as The Southern Reach have been sending Expeditions beyond the invisible border to research and observe Area X, and return with their findings ever since.

Only, when these expeditions return... when these people come back, IF they come back... they are changed. Not the same. In many different ways.

And what they claim to have seen, to have experienced, varies greatly as well.

Annihilation is the story of the twelfth expedition. And it is told in first person, through the eyes of The Biologist. Along with her were The Linguist - though she quit the group before they actually crossed the border; The Archaeologist; The Psychologist - the group leader; and The Surveyor. Each chosen for this expedition based on a particularly unique set of qualities or skills. And then they were stripped of their names, issued new names that corresponded with those skill sets, and put through grueling training sessions before they were packed up and shipped off to the border.

What they find within Area X, all recorded into journal entries by The Biologist, is unlike anything they have ever experienced before. Strange plant and animal life, a horrible keening noise in the night, a tunnel - or is it a tower? - that contains a string of living words on its wall, words that appear to still be in the process of being written by someone, or something, father down there...

Reminiscent of The Ruins and Fragment, Annihilation is very much a hybrid sci-fi thriller-slash-eco-terrestrial mystery of a book. The reader, following in the footsteps of The Biologist, is forced to experience Area X from her perspective. Which we discover, as we get to know her and the circumstances surrounding her personal interest in Area X (and as we learn of the "training" that she had been put through), may not be totally reliable.

Vandermeer exceeded my expectations with this creepy, eerily disturbing introduction into Area X and The Southern Reach. I am already in the process of downloading the second audiobook of the series, Authority, and cannot wait to uncover the secrets that it holds and further immerse myself into this terribly frightening and surreal world.
]]> The Burial Tide 216684512 Drawing on the creatures and horrors of Irish folklore, The Burial Tide unearths our darkest how far we’d go to win our freedom, and how quickly our desires blur the line between human and monster.

A woman who can’t remember her death.
On an eerily quiet island off the coast of Ireland, a woman with no memory claws her way out of her grave and back to life. But not everyone welcomes the return of Mara Fitch.

An island with a terrible secret.
Inishbannock. Where strange misshapen figures watch from the trees and the roads are covered in teeth. Where two brothers gamble for nothing, the doctor only treats the dead, and the pub owner speaks in riddles. Where a poet loses and finds his soul. And a husband without a wife claims to know everything about Mara.

A past that refuses to stay buried.
As Mara returns to her life on this upside-down island, her memories begin to leech their way back to the surface. The more she remembers, the more the village will do anything to stop her . . .

But the sea remembers it all.]]> 384 Neil Sharpson 1638932026 Lori 0 4.56 The Burial Tide
author: Neil Sharpson
name: Lori
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read, arc-reviewers-copy, downloads, own-not-yet-read
review:

]]> A Cold Night for Alligators 208165600 328 Viggy Parr Hampton Lori 0 to-buy, wishlist, to-read 3.85 A Cold Night for Alligators
author: Viggy Parr Hampton
name: Lori
average rating: 3.85
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-buy, wishlist, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Barefoot Followers of Sweet Potato Grace: A Novel]]> 216740391 280 Megan Okonsky 1941360890 Lori 0 4.88 The Barefoot Followers of Sweet Potato Grace: A Novel
author: Megan Okonsky
name: Lori
average rating: 4.88
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: arc-reviewers-copy, own-not-yet-read, unsolicited, to-read
review:

]]> I Cheerfully Refuse 198276006 I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of Rainy, an aspiring musician setting sail on Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. An endearing bear of an Orphean narrator, he seeks refuge in the harbors, fogs, and remote islands of the inland sea. After encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, he eventually lands to find an increasingly desperate and illiterate people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, a crumbled infrastructure, and a lawless society. As his guileless nature begins to make an inadvertent rebel of him, Rainy’s private quest for the love of his life grows into something wider and wilder, sweeping up friends and foes alike in his wake.]]> 336 Leif Enger 0802162932 Lori 4
Oh gosh you guys, this book. I forget who I first saw reading it but I took one look at the description and knew I wanted to read it, too.

It's a slow burning dystopian novel that's less focused on how fucked up the world has become and turns instead towards the aching emptiness we would do anything to fill when we lose the one we love the most. Yes, sure, the richest of the rich bitches have taken over, an elite sixteen referred to as the astronauts, and yes, there are giant medical freighters out on Lake Superior conducting test trials on volunteers and cranking out a suicide drug called Willow, and yes, food and books can be hard to come by at times, but our narrator Rainy, a gentle giant of a man, is doing his best to live life as close to normal as possible and that's mainly because he has the love of his life Lark at his side. Until one day, he doesn't.

After allowing a sketchy but kind stranger to rent out a room in their attic, Rainy suddenly finds himself haunted by grief and shock and caught up in a situation he can only control by escaping, and escape he does, towards the safest and warmest memory of his wife he has, heading out towards a remote set of islands called the Slates.

Driven by the desperate hope of his wife's ghost meeting him out there, Rainy comes face to face with nasty storms at sea, horrid toll bridge workers, a group of air rifle packing punks, and befriends a young girl attempting to escape a bad home situation, all while trying to keep the people who took his wife from him from catching up to him first.

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. It's very reminiscent of Per Peterson's books, who is an author I absolutely adore. Rainy is one of the most likeable, most laid back characters I've read in a while. He has so much heart and an incredible knack of making the best of the worst situations. I just wanted to reach into the pages and give him a big ole bear hug most of the book, and I'm not a hugger so that should tell you something.]]> 3.96 2024 I Cheerfully Refuse
author: Leif Enger
name: Lori
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: apocalypse-of-the-heart, apocalyptic-fiction, fiction, grief-fiction, people-as-monsters
review:
"It's taken all my life to learn protection is the promise you can't make. It is absolute, and you mean it and believe it, but that vow is provisional and makeshift and no god ever lived who could keep it half the time."

Oh gosh you guys, this book. I forget who I first saw reading it but I took one look at the description and knew I wanted to read it, too.

It's a slow burning dystopian novel that's less focused on how fucked up the world has become and turns instead towards the aching emptiness we would do anything to fill when we lose the one we love the most. Yes, sure, the richest of the rich bitches have taken over, an elite sixteen referred to as the astronauts, and yes, there are giant medical freighters out on Lake Superior conducting test trials on volunteers and cranking out a suicide drug called Willow, and yes, food and books can be hard to come by at times, but our narrator Rainy, a gentle giant of a man, is doing his best to live life as close to normal as possible and that's mainly because he has the love of his life Lark at his side. Until one day, he doesn't.

After allowing a sketchy but kind stranger to rent out a room in their attic, Rainy suddenly finds himself haunted by grief and shock and caught up in a situation he can only control by escaping, and escape he does, towards the safest and warmest memory of his wife he has, heading out towards a remote set of islands called the Slates.

Driven by the desperate hope of his wife's ghost meeting him out there, Rainy comes face to face with nasty storms at sea, horrid toll bridge workers, a group of air rifle packing punks, and befriends a young girl attempting to escape a bad home situation, all while trying to keep the people who took his wife from him from catching up to him first.

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. It's very reminiscent of Per Peterson's books, who is an author I absolutely adore. Rainy is one of the most likeable, most laid back characters I've read in a while. He has so much heart and an incredible knack of making the best of the worst situations. I just wanted to reach into the pages and give him a big ole bear hug most of the book, and I'm not a hugger so that should tell you something.
]]> One Yellow Eye 220160134 In this heartrending spin on the zombie mythos, a brilliant scientist desperately searches for a cure after a devastating epidemic while also hiding a monumental secret—her undead husband.

Having always preferred the company of microbes, British scientist Kesta Shelley has spent her life peering through a microscope rather than cultivating personal relationships. That changed when Kesta met Tim—her cheerleader, her best friend, her absolute everything. So when he was one of the last people in London to be infected with a perplexing virus that left the city ravaged, Kesta went into triage mode.

Although the government rounded up and disposed of all the infected, Kesta is able to keep her husband (un)alive—and hidden—with resources from the hospital where she works. She spends her days reviewing biopsy slides and her evenings caring for him, but he’s clearly declining. The sedatives aren’t working like they used to, and his violent outbursts are becoming more frequent. As Kesta races against the clock, her colleagues start noticing changes in her behavior and appearance. Her care for Tim has spiraled into absolute obsession. Whispers circulate that a top-secret lab is working on a cure, and Kesta clings to the possibility of being recruited, but can she save her husband before he is discovered?]]> 352 Leigh Radford 1668081210 Lori 0 3.76 2025 One Yellow Eye
author: Leigh Radford
name: Lori
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: to-read, arc-reviewers-copy, downloads, own-not-yet-read
review:

]]> Girlfriend on Mars 62585953
An audaciously original debut from an "immensely talented writer" (Emily St. John Mandel),Girlfriend on Mars is at once a satirical indictment of our pursuit of fame and wealth amidst environmental crisis, and an exploration of humanity's deepest longing, greatest quest, and most enduring cliché: love.]]> 368 Deborah Willis 039328591X Lori 0 to-read, own-not-yet-read 3.39 2023 Girlfriend on Mars
author: Deborah Willis
name: Lori
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-read, own-not-yet-read
review:

]]> My Murder 62952152 What if the murder you had to solve was your own?

Lou is a happily married mother of an adorable toddler. She's also the victim of a local serial killer. Recently brought back to life and returned to her grieving family by a government project, she is grateful for this second chance. But as the new Lou re-adapts to her old routines, and as she bonds with other female victims, she realizes that disturbing questions remain about what exactly preceded her death and how much she can really trust those around her.

Now it's not enough to care for her child, love her husband, and work the job she's always enjoyed--she must also figure out the circumstances of her death. Darkly comic, tautly paced, and full of surprises, My Murder is a devour-in-one-sitting, clever twist on the classic thriller.]]> 304 Katie Williams 0593543769 Lori 0 own-not-yet-read, to-read 3.61 2023 My Murder
author: Katie Williams
name: Lori
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: own-not-yet-read, to-read
review:

]]> Poor Deer 127823311 A wondrous, tender novel about a young girl grappling with her role in a tragic loss—and attempting to reshape the narrative of her life—from PEN/Faulkner Award nominee Claire Oshetsky

Margaret Murphy is a weaver of fantastic tales, growing up in a world where the truth is too much for one little girl to endure. Her first memory is of the day her friend Agnes died.

No one blames Margaret. Not in so many words. Her mother insists to everyone who will listen that her daughter never even left the house that day. Left alone to make sense of tragedy, Margaret wills herself to forget these unbearable memories, replacing them with imagined stories full of faith and magic—that always end happily.

Enter Poor Deer: a strange and formidable creature who winds her way uninvited into Margaret’s made-up tales. Poor Deer will not rest until Margaret faces the truth about her past and atones for her role in Agnes’s death.

Heartrending, hopeful, and boldly imagined, Poor Deer explores the journey toward understanding the children we once were and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of life’s most difficult moments.]]> 240 Claire Oshetsky 006332766X Lori 0 own-not-yet-read, to-read 3.97 2024 Poor Deer
author: Claire Oshetsky
name: Lori
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: own-not-yet-read, to-read
review:

]]> The Blue Book of Nebo 56824553
Despite their close understanding, the relationship between mother and son changes subtly as Dylan must take on adult responsibilities. And they each have their own secrets, which emerge as, in turn, they jot down their thoughts and memories win a found notebook � the Blue Book of Nebo.]]> 120 Manon Steffan Ros 1646051017 Lori 0 to-buy, wishlist, to-read 4.15 2018 The Blue Book of Nebo
author: Manon Steffan Ros
name: Lori
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-buy, wishlist, to-read
review:

]]> The Hounding 217388147 The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides in this haunting debut about five sisters in a small village in eighteenth century England whose neighbors are convinced they’re turning into dogs.

Even before the rumors about the Mansfield girls begin, Little Nettlebed is a village steeped in the uncanny, from strange creatures that wash up on the riverbed to portentous ravens gathering on the roofs of people about to die. But when the villagers start to hear barking, and one claims to see the Mansfield sisters transform before his very eyes, the allegations spark fascination and fear like nothing has before.

The truth is that though the inhabitants of Little Nettlebed have never much liked the Mansfield girls—a little odd, think some; a little high on themselves, perhaps—they’ve always had plenty to say about them. As the rotating perspectives of five villagers quickly make clear, now is no exception. Even if local belief in witchcraft is waning, an aversion to difference is as widespread as ever, and these conflicting narratives all point to the same ultimate conclusion: something isn’t right in Little Nettlebed, and the sisters will be the ones to pay for it.

As relevant today as any time before, The Hounding celebrates the wild breaks from convention we’re all sometimes pulled toward, and wonders if, in a world like this one, it isn’t safer to be a dog than an unusual young girl.]]> 240 Xenobe Purvis 1250366380 Lori 0 to-buy, wishlist, to-read 4.20 2025 The Hounding
author: Xenobe Purvis
name: Lori
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: to-buy, wishlist, to-read
review:

]]> Strangers 23586218

A spate of brutal murders occur in and around the small town of Thussock. The bodies of the dead � savagely mutilated, unspeakably defiled � are piling up with terrifying speed. There are no apparent motives and no obvious connections between the victims, but the killings only began when Scott Griffiths and his family arrived in Thussock...


“In his evocation of fear and unease and the speed with which he grips you, he brings to mind old Brit horror writer James Herbert. And that is some recommendation.� —London Lite


“Moody has the power to make the most mundane and ordinary characters interesting and believable, and is reminiscent of Stephen King at his finest.� —Shadowlocked


"Moody is as imaginative as Barker, as compulsory as King, and as addictive as Palahniuk." —Scream the Horror Magazine]]> 290 David Moody 1311446052 Lori 0 to-buy, wishlist, to-read 3.67 2014 Strangers
author: David Moody
name: Lori
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-buy, wishlist, to-read
review:

]]> We Who Hunt Alexanders 227974328
Driven from their home by religious zealots, Amelia and Danjay must learn to survive in the city of Medea, where violent men rule and kill anyone who opposes them. Worse, Amelia has never hunted on her own, and her mother is ill and growing weaker by the day. Only a chance encounter with a human who can see Amelia gives her any hope that she might be able to save her mother.


To succeed, Amelia must learn to hunt in an increasingly dangerous city brought to the brink of war by the corrupt, rich and powerful. Amelia will also have to discover if her differences from her fellow rippers makes her weak, as her mother believes, or if she can instead be a new kind of monster that the world has never seen before.]]> 120 Jason Sanford 1955765375 Lori 0 3.67 We Who Hunt Alexanders
author: Jason Sanford
name: Lori
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read, arc-reviewers-copy, own-not-yet-read
review:

]]> Blood on Her Tongue 213570812 "I'm in your blood, and you are in mine�"

The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harboring secrets of her own, too.

Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behavior takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angry� and hungry.

Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth, or risk losing her forever.]]> 368 Johanna van Veen 1728281571 Lori 4
Set in the Netherlands in the late 1800's, the book opens with Sarah accompanying her husband to view a body that's been discovered in the bog on their property. She immediately becomes infatuated with it and writes to her twin sister Lucy about the strange thoughts and dreams she's been having ever since coming in contact with it. Not long after, Sarah becomes gravely ill, speaking gibberish and running a high fever. Her husband and their childhood friend Arthur fear she's going mad. Lucy rushes to her side in an attempt to save her from the asylum, but ends up coming face to face with a horror nothing could have prepared her for.

The set up and storyline will have you thinking vampires (sorry for the slight spoiler) but oh dearies, it is something much much darker and sinister... and ancient... and it is soooo fucking hungry!

Some of you may know that I typically do not do well with gothic horror, and if I'm being honest this one tried my patience a few times, especially with the whole 'men know better than women', and the marital affair (why do so many of the books I've read lately involve cheating, it's so cringe) and oh yes, I should have predicted, all the fainting or near fainting spells and female hysteria stuff that the ladies were afflicted with back then. But all those pet peeves aside, the story really kept my interest piqued.

Dripping with dread, the book delves into codependency, mental health, and the allure of the unknown all while challenging familial bonds. How far is too far when a loved one's survival is at stake?]]> 4.04 2025 Blood on Her Tongue
author: Johanna van Veen
name: Lori
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: arc-reviewers-copy, downloads, a-big-steaming-heap-of-wtf-ery, fiction, has-a-bunch-of-jerks-in-it, fungal-fiction, horrorish, people-as-monsters, tastes-like-human
review:
I just finished Blood on Her Tongue and get ready, you guys. You think you know what you're getting yourselves into but it's not what you're expecting. I mean, ok, it is... in one sense. It's dark. It's atmospheric. It's bloody. But the dog knows. Ooooh man, does the dog know!

Set in the Netherlands in the late 1800's, the book opens with Sarah accompanying her husband to view a body that's been discovered in the bog on their property. She immediately becomes infatuated with it and writes to her twin sister Lucy about the strange thoughts and dreams she's been having ever since coming in contact with it. Not long after, Sarah becomes gravely ill, speaking gibberish and running a high fever. Her husband and their childhood friend Arthur fear she's going mad. Lucy rushes to her side in an attempt to save her from the asylum, but ends up coming face to face with a horror nothing could have prepared her for.

The set up and storyline will have you thinking vampires (sorry for the slight spoiler) but oh dearies, it is something much much darker and sinister... and ancient... and it is soooo fucking hungry!

Some of you may know that I typically do not do well with gothic horror, and if I'm being honest this one tried my patience a few times, especially with the whole 'men know better than women', and the marital affair (why do so many of the books I've read lately involve cheating, it's so cringe) and oh yes, I should have predicted, all the fainting or near fainting spells and female hysteria stuff that the ladies were afflicted with back then. But all those pet peeves aside, the story really kept my interest piqued.

Dripping with dread, the book delves into codependency, mental health, and the allure of the unknown all while challenging familial bonds. How far is too far when a loved one's survival is at stake?
]]> Wrongful 229079404 Wrongful explores the many ways we can get everything wrong, time and again, even after we’re certain we discovered the truth.]]> 242 Lee Upton 1963846214 Lori 0
Hit me up if you'd like to review it, interview the author, or if you would like to cover her and the book in other fun creative ways!!]]> 0.0 Wrongful
author: Lee Upton
name: Lori
average rating: 0.0
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Working with the publisher to assist with publicity. This is such a fun book! It’s about a famous novelist who goes missing and the mystery that follows. Book lovers will really enjoy this one � the fangirling and sleuthing is strong with this one!! It's a "can't miss" book of the year, you guys!

Hit me up if you'd like to review it, interview the author, or if you would like to cover her and the book in other fun creative ways!!
]]> The Silence Factory 195853478 From the acclaimed author of the #1 international bestseller The Binding—a captivating story of gothic suspense about a powerful family, the magical and dangerous silk their fortune is built upon, and the exploitative history they are desperately trying to hide.

1820: Sophia Ashmore-Percy reluctantly accompanies her husband James to a remote Greek island, where he searches for rare biological specimens. Once there, however, she sets on her own voyage of discovery—stumbling across the very creature he is looking for, making an unexpected connection with a local woman, and ultimately reconsidering her marriage, life, and own desires.

Decades later, audiologist Henry Latimer is sent to the home of industrialist Sir Edward Ashmore-Percy and tasked with curing the man’s young daughter, Philomel, of her deafness. But Henry, eager to escape a troubled past, quickly becomes obsessed with the fascinating nature of Sir Edward’s business: spinning silk with a rare and magical breed of spiders. The extraordinary silk shields sound, offering respite from bustling streets and noisy neighbors. The result is instant tranquility, as wearers experience a soothing calmness. Yet, those within earshot of the outward-facing silk are subjected to eerie murmurs that amplify with proximity. Bystanders suffer the consequences of this unnerving phenomenon, manifesting in physical and mental afflictions ranging from headaches and drowsiness to severe cases of madness.

As Henry becomes entangled in the allure of the silk and Sir Edward’s charm, he glimpses a more sinister family history. The closer he ventures into the inner circle of Carthmute House, the more he unravels the horrifying underbelly of the silk business.

With Bridget Collins’s signature, stunning prose, The Silence Factory is an equally enthralling and unsettling gothic story about complicity, desire, and corruption—a novel to lose yourself in.]]> 384 Bridget Collins 0063220016 Lori 0 3.44 2024 The Silence Factory
author: Bridget Collins
name: Lori
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Along the Saltwise Sea (The Up-and-Under, #2)]]> 56179349 Over the Woodward Wall and making their way across the forest, Avery and Zib found themselves acquiring some extraordinary friends in their journey through the Up-and-Under.

After staying the night, uninvited, at a pirate queen’s cottage in the woods, the companions find themselves accountable to its owner, and reluctantly agree to work off their debt as her ship sets sail, bound for lands unknown. But the queen and her crew are not the only ones on board, and the monsters at sea aren’t all underwater.

The friends will need to navigate the stormy seas of obligation and honor on their continuing journey along the improbable road...]]> 193 A. Deborah Baker 1250768284 Lori 0 3.85 2021 Along the Saltwise Sea (The Up-and-Under, #2)
author: A. Deborah Baker
name: Lori
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1)]]> 53217284
For fans of Georgette Heyer or Julia Quinn's Bridgerton, who'd like to welcome magic into their lives...

Young baronet Robin Blyth thought he was taking up a minor governmental post. However, he's actually been appointed parliamentary liaison to a secret magical society. If it weren’t for this administrative error, he’d never have discovered the incredible magic underlying his world.

Cursed by mysterious attackers and plagued by visions, Robin becomes determined to drag answers from his missing predecessor � but he’ll need the help of Edwin Courcey, his hostile magical-society counterpart. Unwillingly thrown together, Robin and Edwin will discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles.]]> 377 Freya Marske 1250788897 Lori 0 3.94 2021 A Marvellous Light (The Last Binding, #1)
author: Freya Marske
name: Lori
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
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]]> The Part That Burns 55779198
A textured remembrance of a traumatic childhood that also offers affecting moments of beauty. ~Kirkus (starred review)

I love this book and am grateful it is in the world. ~Dorothy Allison, New York Times bestselling author of Bastard Out of Carolina and Cavedweller

Simply beautiful. Precisely imagined, poetically structured, compelling, and vivid. ~Joyce Carol Oates

Jeannine Ouellette’s memoir glows with incandescent storytelling centered around memories, motherhood, and resilience. The Part That Burns proves that life isn’t lived in a linear way. Girlhood and womanhood can exist simultaneously, our former selves meeting our present selves. Ouellette’s writing is ablaze with a burnished beauty.� ~Michele Filgate, editor of What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About

Vital, full of energy and wisdom, Jeannine Ouellette's memoir crackles with excitement. From the shores of Lake Superior to the mountains of Wyoming to the banks of the Mississippi River, this is a story of American migration—not just of families but of spirits. I loved the brave little girl at the heart of this story, so will you." ~Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder and The Butterfly Girl

With a poet's voice and an uncanny knack for mining memory, Ouellette's memoir-in-fragments evokes pain and beauty in equal measure. Ouellette understands the elliptical nature of memory, the way years and experience can transform our understanding of the things we did as children and the things that were done to us. She loops back and forth in time to the same seminal experiences, adding layers of depth and understanding, and in so doing shows us how her wild determination to overcome the trauma of her childhood results in a life lived on her own terms. Full of love, loss, and hard-won redemption, The Part That Burns is a fiercely beautiful memoir. ~Alison McGhee, New York Times bestselling author of The Opposite of Fate and Someday.

A writer with an extraordinary gift for prose that's complex, imagistic, and startling. ~Richard McCann, author of Mother of Sorrows

At turns tender and devastating, these essays are finely carved vignettes that, laid together, form a powerful portrait of one woman's path from hard girlhood to motherhood, the grace and mettle it takes not only to survive but to flourish. ~Melissa Febos, author of Abandon Me and Girlhood

Powerful and urgent, this is truly a book for our time: It teases beauty out of ugliness; it shows the courage of everyday survival; it creates wholeness out of fragments. With her gorgeous and precise prose, Ouellette shows that when faced with abuse we can do more than merely endure � we can fight back, we can flourish, we can thrive. ~Sue William Silverman, author of How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences

In The Part that Burns, Jeannine Ouellette has gifted an entrancing and courageous story to those who have ever felt forced to silence memories of childhood sexual abuse. She is a child, searching wild, unending landscapes for doorways to other dimensions of understanding and safety. She is a young wife, then a young mother, hypnotically looping back again and again to make sense of the memories that won’t let her go. Like lacy tumbleweeds finally uprooted and taking to air, this too is a story of flight. Her flight on black-as-space country roads; her flight to reach a faraway mother figure who once said she cared; and the flight of her deepest-down words, finally taking to air for those who must hear them. This is a story about giving voice to all the pieces of one’s life, rendered with devastating beauty, heart, and artistry. ~ Diane Zinna, author of The All-Night Sun]]> 172 Jeannine Ouellette Lori 0 4.23 2021 The Part That Burns
author: Jeannine Ouellette
name: Lori
average rating: 4.23
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]]> Bell Hammers 48731251 Carpenters take on an oil company using practical jokes. Based on interviews with the author's grandfather.

"Schaubert recounts a mischievous man's eight decades in Illinois's Little Egypt region in his picaresque debut. Remmy's life of constant schemes and pranks and a lifelong feud with classmate Jim Johnstone and the local oil drilling company proves consequential. This is a hoot."
- Publisher's Weekly

PRANKS. OIL. PROTEST. JOKES BETWEEN NEWLYWEDS.

AND ONE HILARIOUS SIEGE OF A MAJOR CORPORATION.

Remmy grows up with Beth in Bellhammer, Illinois as oil and coal companies rob the land of everything that made it paradise. Under his Grandad, he learns how to properly prank his neighbors, friends, and foes. Beth tries to fix Remmy by taking him to church. Under his Daddy, Remmy starts the Bell Hammer Construction Company, which depends on contracts from Texarco Oil. And Beth argues with him about how to build a better business. Together, Remmy and Beth start to build a great neighborhood of "merry men" carpenters: a paradise of s’mores, porch furniture, newborn babies, and summer trips to Branson where their boys pop the tops off of the neighborhood’s two hundred soda bottles. Their witty banter builds a kind of castle among a growing nostalgia.

Then one of Jim Johnstone’s faulty Texarco oil derricks falls down on their house and poisons their neighborhood's well.

Poisoned wells escalate to torched dog houses. Torched dog houses escalate to stolen carpentry tools and cancelled contracts. Cancelled contracts escalate to eminent domain. Sick of the attacks from Texaco Oil on his neighborhood, Remmy assembles his merry men:

"We need the world's greatest prank. One grand glorious jest that'll bloody the nose of that tyrant. Besides, pranks and jokes don't got no consequences, right?"]]> 334 Lancelot Schaubert 1949547027 Lori 0 4.20 2020 Bell Hammers
author: Lancelot Schaubert
name: Lori
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Artstars: Stories (Blue Light Books)]]> 42462532 The Artstars are set in creative communities—an art school, an illegal loft studio, a guerrilla street performance troupe—where teamwork and professional jealousy mix, and the artists grapple with economic realities and evolving expectations. A middle-aged poet, reeling from 9-11, fights homesickness, writer's block, and ladybugs at an artist's colony. A new empty-nester finds a creative outlet in her community garden, but gets tangled up in garden politics. As the characters pass through each other's stories, making messes and helping mop them up, some find inspiration in accidents; others are ready to quit art completely. Together, they stumble through the creative process, struggling to make art and find the spark of something new and original within themselves. In a world where the odds of becoming a star are nearly impossible, The Artstars tells the stories of those who dare to dream.]]> 171 Anne Elliott 0253044367 Lori 0 4.63 2019 The Artstars: Stories (Blue Light Books)
author: Anne Elliott
name: Lori
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Party! Patio! (Dick Swap Book 2)]]> 26132795 43 Andy Boring Lori 0 2.95 2014 Party! Patio! (Dick Swap Book 2)
author: Andy Boring
name: Lori
average rating: 2.95
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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]]> Word has it: Poems (Nirala) 40375966
"Ruth Danon gives us one of her most darkly oracular works...The poems are acid, ingenious, and unsentimental."--Andrew Levy

"Deep and skeptical, natural and magical, melancholic and beautiful, Danon's oracle makes a truly compelling statement--one to be heeded, one to be savored."--Stephen Massimilla

"Ruth Danon's extraordinary poems take us directly into states of feeling and perception that are subtle and profound...These are necessary poems."--Chase Twichell]]> 85 Ruth Danon 8182500974 Lori 0 5.00 Word has it: Poems (Nirala)
author: Ruth Danon
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]]> Dick Swap 21937695 34 Andy Boring Lori 0 2.72 2012 Dick Swap
author: Andy Boring
name: Lori
average rating: 2.72
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> How Is Travel A Folded Form? 40360811 88 Erika Howsare 0996907467 Lori 0 unsolicited, own-not-yet-read 0.0 How Is Travel A Folded Form?
author: Erika Howsare
name: Lori
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]]> <![CDATA[Dog Watches: Stories from the Sea]]> 42821808 144 Rolf Yngve Lori 0 unsolicited, own-not-yet-read 5.00 Dog Watches: Stories from the Sea
author: Rolf Yngve
name: Lori
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]]> Treading The Uneven Road 43565972
The collection is not only about the characters need for salvation but it is about a society that is unraveling. In Amends, we hear about the Bishop who has fathered a child. A priest is beckoned by a dying man to be mocked. The world inside and outside the village is changing. In every story the characters need to make a choice on how they might carry on.]]> 206 L.M. Brown Lori 0 4.40 Treading The Uneven Road
author: L.M. Brown
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]]> Welcome to Lagos 31525607
As they strive to find their places in the city, they become embroiled in a political scandal. Ahmed Bakare, editor of the failing Nigerian Journal, is determined to report the truth. Yet government minister Chief Sandayo will do anything to maintain his position. Trapped between the two, they are forced to make a life-changing decision.

Full of shimmering detail, Welcome to Lagos is a stunning portrayal of an extraordinary city, and of seven lives that intersect in a breathless story of courage and survival.]]> 368 Chibundu Onuzo 0571268943 Lori 0 3.72 2017 Welcome to Lagos
author: Chibundu Onuzo
name: Lori
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Stone Tide: Adventures at the End of the World]]> 34822467
When Gareth E. Rees moves to a dilapidated Victorian house in Hastings he begins to piece together an occult puzzle connecting Aleister Crowley, John Logie Baird and the Piltdown Man hoaxer. As freak storms and tidal surges ravage the coast, Rees is beset by memories of his best friend's tragic death in St Andrews twenty years earlier. Convinced that apocalypse approaches and his past is out to get him, Rees embarks on a journey away from his family, deep into history and to the very edge of the imagination. Tormented by possessed seagulls, mutant eels and unresolved guilt, how much of reality can he trust?

The Stone Tide is a novel about grief, loss, history and the imagination. It is about how people make the place and the place makes the person. Above all it is about the stories we tell to make sense of the world.]]> Gareth E. Rees 1910312282 Lori 0 3.95 2018 The Stone Tide: Adventures at the End of the World
author: Gareth E. Rees
name: Lori
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
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]]> The Conviction of Cora Burns 41943878
Cora was born in a prison. But is this where she belongs?

Birmingham, 1885.

Born in a gaol and raised in a workhouse, Cora Burns has always struggled to control the violence inside her.

Haunted by memories of a terrible crime, she seeks a new life working as a servant in the house of scientist Thomas Jerwood.

Here, Cora befriends a young girl, Violet, who seems to be the subject of a living experiment. But is Jerwood also secretly studying Cora�?

With the power and intrigue of Laura Purcell’s The Silent Companions and Sarah Schmidt’s See What I Have Done, Carolyn Kirby’s stunning debut takes the reader on a heart-breaking journey through Victorian Birmingham and questions where we first learn violence: from our scars or from our hearts.]]> 320 Carolyn Kirby 0857302949 Lori 0 3.74 2019 The Conviction of Cora Burns
author: Carolyn Kirby
name: Lori
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> The Wooden Heart 32801166
Now in a desperate struggle to heal the wounds of the past, he finds himself locked in a race for retribution... will he succeed... will he have enough time?


Now in a desperate struggle to heal the wounds of the past, he finds himself is locked in a race for retribution...will he succeed...will he have enough time?]]> 45 Daniel Abrahams Lori 0 4.10 The Wooden Heart
author: Daniel Abrahams
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]]> Into that Good Night 39664148 324 Crystal Odelle 1628728485 Lori 0 4.11 2018 Into that Good Night
author: Crystal Odelle
name: Lori
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2018
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]]> Vault: A Poem 36454218
"Find here: poetry’s virtues/pleasures. Gorgeous witness. Silence muscled with qualities. Net of attentiveness rippling outward from the meeting of the seer and the seen. Kin to The Tempest: the wondrous woven of the mundane. The strength of purpose and hearkening needed to walk in beauty’s strangeness. Its sensuousness; its intimacy (especially with necessity) that supples its language. Patience of soul spun into physical brilliance. Time present and antique, interior and exterior, “feather of hair in one hand, / scissors in another, not the heart / beating but what might return over the heart.� These are the most beautiful poems I know." --Liz Waldner]]> 68 Kathleen Peirce 1934832618 Lori 0 4.00 Vault: A Poem
author: Kathleen Peirce
name: Lori
average rating: 4.00
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]]> Midnight at the Electric 32075663 Divided by time. Ignited by a spark.

Kansas, 2065. Adri has secured a slot as a Colonist—one of the lucky few handpicked to live on Mars. But weeks before launch, she discovers the journal of a girl who lived in her house over a hundred years ago, and is immediately drawn into the mystery surrounding her fate. While Adri knows she must focus on the mission ahead, she becomes captivated by a life that’s been lost in time…and how it might be inextricably tied to her own.

Oklahoma, 1934. Amidst the fear and uncertainty of the Dust Bowl, Catherine fantasizes about her family’s farmhand, and longs for the immortality promised by a professor at a traveling show called the Electric. But as her family’s situation becomes more dire—and the suffocating dust threatens her sister’s life—Catherine must find the courage to sacrifice everything she loves in order to save the one person she loves most.

England, 1919. In the recovery following the First World War, Lenore struggles with her grief for her brother, a fallen British soldier, and plans to sail to America in pursuit of a childhood friend. But even if she makes it that far, will her friend be the person she remembers, and the one who can bring her back to herself?

While their stories spans thousands of miles and multiple generations, Lenore, Catherine, and Adri’s fates are entwined.]]> 259 Jodi Lynn Anderson 0062393545 Lori 0 3.91 2017 Midnight at the Electric
author: Jodi Lynn Anderson
name: Lori
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> Leech Girl Lives 35701024
Inspector Margo Chicago is the smartest, surliest art safety inspector in the Bublinaplex, and things aren't going her way. The guy she thinks she’s in love with has been banished. Her boss has been poisoned. Her cyborg has a limp.

Oh, and her arms have been devoured and replaced by a pair of enormous leeches.

As if that isn’t enough, it’s now up to Margo to save the Bublinaplex from art terrorists whose newest installation could drive humanity to extinction.

But things in the Bublinaplex are not as they seem. And when Margo uncovers the city’s murderous secrets, she must face a choice: Should she save the Bublinaplex? Or should she join the revolution dedicated to destroying it?]]> 322 Rick Claypool 0998712078 Lori 0 4.41 Leech Girl Lives
author: Rick Claypool
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average rating: 4.41
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]]> The Roar of the River 36005532 Joe Milazzo , author of Crepuscule W/ Nellie and The Habiliments The Roar of the River is a lucid dream, a winding and watery tale of a vengeful river. Teeming with life and aroar with many strange voices, this novel is absolutely relentless. Armenteros is a master who has given his readers something wholly new.
William Walsh , author of Forty-four American Boys , Pathologies , and Unknown Arts Beautifully written and crafted, The Roar of the River is a mythic incantation of the relationship between nature and culture. Armenteros evokes the dreamscapes and desires of Marquez, Joyce, and Ballard while asserting his own distinctive voice.
D. Harlan Wilson , author of Battles without Honor or Humanity and An Abstraction]]> 224 Jorge Armenteros Lori 0 4.75 The Roar of the River
author: Jorge Armenteros
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]]> A History of Flamboyance 32186138 A History of Flamboyance is a creation myth. It’s a history insofar as its speakers, submerged in traumas and appetites and ecstasies, cast around in search of precedents and raisons d’etre, and find mostly shreds of legends and a ramshackle faith. A Black queer self contends with the unmapped wilderness of its existence and plots a course through various intimacies equally dangerous and illuminating. Here, flamboyance is not a performance as much as it is an affect of precarity—of feeling combustible, volatile, always on the verge of blazing out or collapsing in wisps. These speakers—the quiet son, the choirboy, the lover, the cutter—are all faces of the same exile.]]> 38 Justin Phillip Reed Lori 0 4.80 2016 A History of Flamboyance
author: Justin Phillip Reed
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average rating: 4.80
book published: 2016
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]]> <![CDATA[The Origins of Benjamin Hackett]]> 33136226
In the summer of �96, Benjamin Hackett has come of age, technically. And in the midst of the celebratory hangover, his world is whipped out from under his feet. His parents have finally shared their lifelong secret with him; he’s adopted.

At the age of eighteen, the boy still has some growing up to do, and with the help of JJ, his loquacious consigliore and bodyguard, he embarks on an adventure that’ll put to bed a lifetime of lies.

Over the course of five days, they find themselves caught up in the darker side of Cork. But when they sweep through the misfits blocking their way and finally discover the truth of it…now that’s the greatest shock of all.

The Origins of Benjamin Hackett is a tender tale of heartache and displacement told through a wry and courageous voice. Set in Ireland, it’s a timely reminder that the world hasn’t moved on just as fast as we fancy. Now, in this emotionally charged story, Gerald O’Connor explores conditioned guilt and its consequences in a country still hiding from the sins of its past.

Praise for THE ORIGINS OF BENJAMIN HACKETT...

"The Origins of Benjamin Hacket by Gerald O'Connor is a raucous and riotous coming of age story that is brutal, tender and hilarious." -- Paul D. Brazill, author of A Case of Noir and Guns of Brixton

"O'Connor doles out killer dialogue that adds oodles of character to this hero's journey. Told with the lilt and panache of Joseph O'Connor and Dermot Bolger in their novels of the 90s, Gerald O'Connor is the new and improved voice we've been waiting for." -- Gerard Brennan, author of Undercover and Wee Rockets

"Visceral writing that inherits a long Irish tradition. O'Connor's narrative contains sharp characterisation, and has an assured voice, while dramatising conditioned guilt with humour and style." -- Richard Godwin, author of Apostle Rising, Mr. Glamour and One Lost Summer and others

"If you're expecting the usual coming-of-age tale, you're in for a big shock. This is a tale big on heart and one which the author, Gerald O'Connor, has hied religiously to the advice of Harry Crews for writers, to leave out the parts readers skip. None of those parts remain in these pages. An auspicious debut!" -- Les Edgerton, author of The Death of Tarpons, The Bitch, The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic Kidnapping, Bomb, and others]]> 282 Gerald M. O'Connor 1943402469 Lori 0 4.00 2017 The Origins of Benjamin Hackett
author: Gerald M. O'Connor
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]]> Afterlife 33816696 Between life and death lies an epic war, a relentless manhunt through two worlds� and an unforgettable love story.

The last thing FBI agent Will Brody remembers is the explosion � a thousand shards of glass surfing a lethal shock wave. He wakes without a scratch. The building is in ruins. His team is gone. Outside, Chicago is dark. Cars lie abandoned. No planes cross the sky. He’s relieved to spot other people � until he sees they’re carrying machetes.

Welcome to the afterlife.

Claire McCoy stands over the body of Will Brody. As head of an FBI task force, she hasn’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. A terrorist has claimed eighteen lives and thrown the nation into panic. Against this horror, something reckless and beautiful happened. She fell in love� with Will Brody. But the line between life and death is narrower than any of us suspect � and all that matters to Will and Claire is getting back to each other.

From the author of the million-copy bestselling Brilliance Trilogy comes a mind-bending thriller that explores our most haunting and fundamental question: What if death is just the beginning?]]> 320 Marcus Sakey 147782071X Lori 0 3.80 2017 Afterlife
author: Marcus Sakey
name: Lori
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> The Killbug Eulogies 34409601
Archon's speeches explore the strange obsessions the men have developed since the war began--from archiving killbug death psalms to trying to seduce the enemy. Did these manias somehow redeem them, or only bring them quicker to their messy ends?

But more importantly: Why does Archon keep having such terrible luck?]]> 300 Will Madden 0998140473 Lori 0 4.57 2017 The Killbug Eulogies
author: Will Madden
name: Lori
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> The Year of the Comet 29633623 Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

From the critically acclaimed author of Oblivion comes Year of the Comet, a story of a Russian boyhood and coming of age as the Soviet Union is on the brink of collapse. An idyllic childhood takes a sinister turn. Rumors of a serial killer haunt the neighborhood, families pack up and leave town without a word of warning, and the country begins to unravel. Policemen stand by as protesters overtake the streets, knowing that the once awe-inspiring symbols of power they wear on their helmets have become devoid of meaning. Lebedev depicts a vast empire coming apart at the seams, transforming a very public moment into something tender and personal, and writes with stunning beauty and shattering insight about childhood and the growing consciousness of a boy in the world.

Sergei Lebedev was born in Moscow in 1981 and worked for seven years on geological expeditions in Russia and Central Asia. Lebedev is a poet, essayist and journalist. Oblivion, his first novel, was published in 2016 by New Vessel Press, to great acclaim.


]]> 245 Sergei Lebedev 193993141X Lori 0 3.56 2017 The Year of the Comet
author: Sergei Lebedev
name: Lori
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> Salamanders of the Silk Road 31922093
Now, he's an unemployed surreal estate agent headed down to a mildew-infested beach house off the coast of Florida, where he can brood over his past--and seek a way out of his endless existence.

About the author: Christopher Smith was born on the blood-red clay of North Alabama and raised on the concrete sprawl of South Jersey. He has a master's degree in English from Auburn University, where he met his future wife, Kate, at the college newspaper. Smith lives in Clarksville, TN, where he works as an editor at The Tennessean. This is his first novel.]]> 338 Christopher Smith 1941360084 Lori 0 3.92 Salamanders of the Silk Road
author: Christopher Smith
name: Lori
average rating: 3.92
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]]> <![CDATA[Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths]]> 32337403 Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths is a collection of folkloric poems centered on the historical, mythological, gendered and geographic experiences of a first generation American woman. From the border in the Dominican Republic, to the bustling streets of New York City, Acevedo considers how some bodies must walk through the world as beastly beings. How these forgotten myths be both blessing and birthright.

Finalist, Vinyl 45 Chapbook Contest, 2015
Honorable Mention, The Eric Hoffer Chapbook Award, 2017]]> 42 Elizabeth Acevedo 1936919451 Lori 0 4.31 2016 Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths
author: Elizabeth Acevedo
name: Lori
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> Exes 31213485
A former movie star impersonates himself; an ex-con looks after a summer home perched atop a rock in the bay; a broken-hearted Salutatorian airs thirteen years� worth of dirty laundry at his school’s commencement; an adjunct struggles to make room for her homeless and self-absorbed mother while revisiting a salacious high school love affair; a recent widower, with the help of a clever teen, schemes to rid his condo’s pond of Canada geese.

Clay compiles their stories, invasively providing context in the form of footnotes that lead always, somehow, back to Eli. Behind Clay’s task � which seems insane, definitely doomed, and, as the pages turn, increasingly suspect � burns his desire to understand his brother‘s death and the city that has defined and ruined them both.

Full of brainy detours and irreverent asides, Exes is a powerful investigation of grief, love, and our deeply held yet ever-changing notions of home.]]> 224 Max Winter 1936787407 Lori 0 3.09 2017 Exes
author: Max Winter
name: Lori
average rating: 3.09
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> Our Dreams Might Align 32884603 Our Dreams Might Align, is loss and longing, is magic and what's beyond what we can see. Each story breathes into existence a new, magical world. A man makes snakes fall in love, girls prepare for the apocalypse, a couple adopts a pair of baby Komodo dragons, a husband transcends reality. These stories transport readers from the Black Forest of Germany to the rugged Isle of Skye to the depths of the ocean and deep space, all the while united by a sense of awe and deep curiosity for the natural world and our place within it.

"Dana Diehl’s stories are pure obsession-fueled magic, each one an engine of possibility powered by her intense curiosity, her love of knowledge, her limitless imagination. Our Dreams Might Align is a map disguised as a book of stories, come with humor and heart to lead us back to somewhere like the best days of childhood, a world almost unbearably alive with mystery and wonder."

—Matt Bell, author of Scrapper

"In fifteen remarkable stories, Dana Diehl releases a new language for sadness and wonder. As I read, a robin flew through my temporal lobe. Each tale left me wanting another. In a world in which our existence is threatened, she plays Scheherazade, bringing us through dark nights."

—Catherine Zobal Dent, author of Unfinished Stories of Girls

"Diehl's breathtaking stories explore both the natural world and the human heart with a scientist's passionate inquiry and a poet's exquisite precision. This is a gorgeous debut collection that illuminates deep oceans and deep space, the amorous bite of a cobra rattler, and our profound desire to love and be loved."

—Tara Ison, author of Ball

"In Dana Diehl’s debut collection, Our Dreams Might Align, a dazzling panoply of characters takes risks and makes choices in a more-than-humanly scaled universe. With poetic exactitude and exceptional scientific vision, Diehl brilliantly evokes geologic time, the migration of whales, space exploration, post-prison life, baby Komodo dragons, snakes and the subtle laws of physics, arranging these, helix-like, around a human instinct for hope, illumined, and sometimes faulted by, love."

—Melissa Pritchard, author of A Solemn Pleasure]]> 143 Dana Diehl Lori 0 4.47 2016 Our Dreams Might Align
author: Dana Diehl
name: Lori
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> The Gift Garden 33136742
Her world lies beyond these walls. Beyond him.

Consumed by a malignant jealousy, he watches as she fades away. Trying to hold on to her. To reach her. To restore her.

He must struggle against the garden and its gifts. The buried remnants of his failure. The fruit of a twisted tree. Find his way back to her.]]> 79 Kenny Mooney 1534852980 Lori 0 4.50 The Gift Garden
author: Kenny Mooney
name: Lori
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Shattering Glass (How to Survive Your First Year of College)]]> 18816440 440 Connor Coyne 0989920208 Lori 0 4.29 2013 Shattering Glass (How to Survive Your First Year of College)
author: Connor Coyne
name: Lori
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Devil's Country (Arlo Baines #1)]]> 31184478 Former Texas Ranger Arlo Baines didn’t come to the tiny West Texas town of Piedra Springs to cause trouble. After his wife and children were murdered, Arlo just wants to be left alone. Moving from place to place seems to be the only thing that eases the pain of his family’s violent end.

But a chance encounter outside a bar forces him to rescue a terrified woman and her children from mysterious attackers. When the woman turns up murdered the next day—her children missing—Arlo becomes the primary suspect in exactly the same type of crime he is trying desperately to forget.

Haunted by the fate of his family, and with the police questioning the existence of the dead woman’s children, Arlo decides it’s his duty to find them. The question is, just how deep will he have to sink into the dusty secrets of Piedra Springs to save them and clear his name?

]]> 304 Harry Hunsicker 1503941906 Lori 0 3.81 2017 The Devil's Country (Arlo Baines #1)
author: Harry Hunsicker
name: Lori
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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]]> Hunter of the Dead 31306024
Vampire leaders of the thirteen Houses attribute the string of recent losses to over-zealous vampire hunters. Only Cicatrice, the most ancient and powerful vampire in the world, suspects that the semi-legendary Hunter of the Dead may be the real culprit.

Carter Price, a vampire hunter who despises the way his profession is becoming centralized and corporatized, begins to suspect the Hunter of the Dead is back, too � and no longer distinguishing between vampires and mortals. Against his better judgment, Price agrees to work with Cicatrice.

The uneasy allies attempt to uncover the truth about the Hunter, while a vampire civil war brews in the background. But perhaps most difficult of all, they must contend with their new apprentices, who seem to be falling in love with each other against every rule of man and monster…]]> 314 Stephen Kozeniewski Lori 0 4.06 2016 Hunter of the Dead
author: Stephen Kozeniewski
name: Lori
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> Deer Michigan 32805944 128 Jack C. Buck Lori 0 4.65 Deer Michigan
author: Jack C. Buck
name: Lori
average rating: 4.65
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]]> Stony River 28818700 320 Tricia Dower 1935248863 Lori 0 4.60 2012 Stony River
author: Tricia Dower
name: Lori
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> The Cauliflower 26792270 From Man Booker-shortlisted, IMPAC Award-winning author Nicola Barker comes an exuberant, multi-voiced new novel mapping the extraordinary life and legacy of a 19th-century Hindu saint

He is only four years older, but still I call him Uncle, and when I am with Uncle I have complete faith in him. I would die for Uncle. I have an indescribable attraction towards Uncle. . . . It was ever thus.

To the world, he is Sri Ramakrishna--godly avatar, esteemed spiritual master, beloved guru (who would prefer not to be called a guru), irresistible charmer. To Rani Rashmoni, she of low caste and large inheritance, he is the brahmin fated to defy tradition and preside over the temple she dares to build, six miles north of Calcutta, along the banks of the Hooghly for Ma Kali, goddess of destruction. But to Hriday, his nephew and longtime caretaker, he is just Uncle--maddening, bewildering Uncle, prone to entering ecstatic trances at the most inconvenient of times, known to sneak out to the forest at midnight to perform dangerous acts of self-effacement, who must be vigilantly safeguarded not only against jealous enemies and devotees with ulterior motives, but also against that most treasured yet insidious of sulfur-rich vegetables: the cauliflower.

Rather than puzzling the shards of history and legend together, Barker shatters the mirror again and rearranges the pieces. The result is a biographical novel viewed through a kaleidoscope. Dazzlingly inventive and brilliantly comic, irreverent and mischievous, The Cauliflower delivers us into the divine playfulness of a 21st-century literary master.]]> 304 Nicola Barker 162779719X Lori 0 3.20 2016 The Cauliflower
author: Nicola Barker
name: Lori
average rating: 3.20
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> One Hundred Shadows 30967023
An oblique, hard-edged novel tinged with offbeat fantasy, One Hundred Shadows is set in a slum electronics market in central Seoul � an area earmarked for demolition in a city better known for its shiny skyscrapers and slick pop videos. Here, the awkward, tentative relationship between Eungyo and Mujae, who both dropped out of formal education to work as repair-shop assistants, is made yet more uncertain by their economic circumstances, while their matter-of-fact discussion of a strange recent development � the shadows of the slum’s inhabitants have started to ‘rise� � leaves the reader to make up their own mind as to the nature of this shape-shifting tale.

Hwang’s spare prose is illuminated by arresting images, quirky dialogue and moments of great lyricism, crafting a deeply affecting novel of perfectly calibrated emotional restraint. Known for her interest in social minorities, Hwang eschews the dreary realism usually employed for such issues, without her social criticism being any less keen. As well as an important contribution to contemporary working-class literature, One Hundred Shadows depicts the little-known underside of a society which can be viciously superficial, complicating the shiny, ultra-modern face which South Korea presents to the world.]]> 147 Hwang Jungeun 1911284029 Lori 0 3.60 2010 One Hundred Shadows
author: Hwang Jungeun
name: Lori
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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]]> NowTrends 13042343 NowTrends, a reporter is sent to Chengdu, China, to interview a young, drug-addled starlet and finds that a fellow journalist with questionable political ties has been imprisoned; a struggling, Japanese artist is asked by government officials to invent a cartoon character that will prove as popular as Disney's Mickey Mouse; and a man carries 2100 milliliters of his own urine as he encounters heckling youths, Meg Whitman, and his father, who may or may not be dead. Greenfeld writes beautifully crafted stories with an authority, humor, and confidence reminiscent of Bret Easton Ellis, Phillip Roth, and Ernest Hemingway. His stories have been chosen for inclusion in Best American Short Stories 2009 and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2012.]]> 352 Karl Taro Greenfeld 0982530153 Lori 0 4.32 2011 NowTrends
author: Karl Taro Greenfeld
name: Lori
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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]]> Selected Tweets 25348227
SHEILA How do you imagine people read Twitter?

TAO On their phones I think mostly. I think I've read the most Twitter while laying in bed or on my back, or just laying in places, like in parks or in airports. Maybe not the most, but a lot. I've dropped my phone on my face many times. I think other people must too, but I rarely hear about this.

SHEILA What do you think about before you tweet? You once told me that you tweet what makes you feel uncomfortable. So which tweets do you reject, which do you accept?

MIRA I wouldn't necessarily say that I tweet what makes me feel uncomfortable, I think it's more that I feel comfortable tweeting things that I would never feel comfortable saying in a real life conversation, or even in other places on the internet. For reasons that I don't fully understand, Twitter is a place where I don't feel ashamed to say my most shameful thoughts...

(From "What Would Twitter Do," Tao Lin and Mira Gonzalez interviewed by Sheila Heti)]]> 424 Tao Lin Lori 0 3.88 2015 Selected Tweets
author: Tao Lin
name: Lori
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> Over For Rockwell 27163863 344 Uzodinma Okehi 0989695042 Lori 0 4.33 2015 Over For Rockwell
author: Uzodinma Okehi
name: Lori
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> The Remnants 25943059 The Remnants cartwheels rambunctiously through the lives of wood-splitters, garment-menders, and chervil farmers, while exposing an electrical undercurrent of secrets, taboos, and unfulfilled longings. With his signature wit and wordplay, Robert Hill delivers a bittersweet gut-buster of an elegy to the collective memory of a community.
]]> 272 Robert Hill 1942436157 Lori 0 3.21 2016 The Remnants
author: Robert Hill
name: Lori
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> Angels of Detroit 26073019
In razor-sharp, beguiling prose, Angels of Detroit draws us into the lives of multiple characters struggling to define their futures in this desolate a scrappy group of activists trying to save the city with placards and protests; a curious child who knows the blighted city as her own personal playground; an elderly great-grandmother eking out a community garden in an oil-soaked patch of dirt; a carpenter with an explosive idea of how to give the city a new start; a confused idealist who has stumbled into debt to a human trafficker; a weary corporate executive who believes she is doing right by the city she remembers at its prime--each of their desires is distinct, and their visions for a better city are on a collision course.

In this propulsive, masterfully plotted epic, an urban wasteland whose history is plagued with riots and unrest is reimagined as an ambiguous new frontier--a site of tenacity and possible hope. Driven by struggle and suspense, and shot through with a startling empathy, Christopher Hebert's magnificent second novel unspools an American story for our time.]]> 423 Christopher Hebert 1632863634 Lori 0 2.80 2016 Angels of Detroit
author: Christopher Hebert
name: Lori
average rating: 2.80
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Hidden Keys (Quincunx, #4)]]> 29363400
A Japanese screen, a painting that plays music, a bottle of aquavit, a framed poem and a model of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater: Tancred is lured in to this beguiling quest, and even though Willow dies before the puzzle is solved, he presses on.

As he tracks down the treasure, he must enlist the help of Alexander von Würfel, conceptual artist and taxidermist to the wealthy, and fend off Willow’s heroin dealers, a young albino named ‘Nigger� Colby and his sidekick, Sigismund ‘Freud� Luxemburg, a clubfooted psychopath, both of whom are eager to get their hands on this supposed pot of gold. And he must mislead Detective Daniel Mandelshtam, his most adored friend.

Inspired by a reading of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, The Hidden Keys questions what it means to be honourable, what it means to be faithful and what it means to sin.]]> 232 André Alexis 1552453251 Lori 0 3.77 2016 The Hidden Keys (Quincunx, #4)
author: André Alexis
name: Lori
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> i be, but i ain't 30315389 i be, but i ain’t is a manual for the queered Black body in neo-bellum America. Following the character “mutt,� and resurrecting the haint Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, i be, but i ain’t is a search party hosted by this pair, both in pursuit of understanding what a Black body means in this landscape. Is it property? A nuisance comparable to a cockroach? A zombie in Richard Pryor’s suit? A sexed commodity? Traversing LA, Ghana, Mississippi and Brooklyn, i be, but i ain’t aims to contend with the armament left from unfinished wars, havens and points of no return.]]> 88 Aziza Barnes 1936919397 Lori 0 4.28 2016 i be, but i ain't
author: Aziza Barnes
name: Lori
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> Beneath The Coyote Hills 30209537 A great part of this novel’s charm is this thoughtful, hilarious, imaginative, and enterprising community of like minded misfits and outcasts who befriend Tommy and who look out for each other. The total result for the reader is a compelling POV and a fascinating and inventive narrative.
Elan Barnehama , The Huffington Post Beneath the Coyote Hills has cost me a sleepless night that I can scarcely afford, and has left me cold with awe at the unwavering skill and subtlety of the narrative. The sheer scope of the author's imagination, and the almost impossibly delicate poetic weight of the prose, has made the discovery of William Luvaas' writing one of the genuine joys of my reading-year. He is a remarkable writer, comfortably among the finest at work in America today, and this novel is a towering and maybe career-defining achievement, art of the highest order.
Billy O'Callaghan , Irish Book Award-winning author of The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind With his third published novel, Beneath the Coyote Hills , master storyteller William Luvaas demonstrates once again his remarkable talent for creating over-the-top characters and tragic lives that feel entirely true and believable. And he does so in his signature lyrical style of writing, brilliantly enhanced here by grace notes of hyperbole and humor and anti-heroic irony, juxtaposed with imagery that's realistic, viscerally affective, and relentless.
Clare MacQueen , Publisher of KYSO Flash and editor at Serving House Journal]]> 252 William Luvaas 194468218X Lori 0 3.50 Beneath The Coyote Hills
author: William Luvaas
name: Lori
average rating: 3.50
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]]> <![CDATA[World of Warcraft (Boss Fight Books, #12)]]> 30001654
Now that Lisi has founded his own game development studio, WoW remains his most powerful example of just how immersive and consuming a game can be. Based on research, interviews, and the author's own experience in a hardcore raiding guild, Lisi's book examines WoW's origins, the addictive power of its gameplay loop, the romances WoW has both facilitated and shaken, the enabling power of anonymity, and the thrill of conquering BlizzCon with guildmates you've known for years and just met for the first time.]]> 76 Daniel Lisi 1940535123 Lori 0 3.69 2016 World of Warcraft (Boss Fight Books, #12)
author: Daniel Lisi
name: Lori
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> Blues Triumphant 30315448 Blues Triumphant ask the question, “What am I most afraid to say?� and then these poems say it. Blues Triumphant is about triumph in spite of motherhood’s demands, in spite of family dysfunction, in spite of depression and anxiety, in spite of heartbreak, in spite of racism and identity crises, in spite of it all, seeking, finding and celebrating the spaces where one feels most alive.]]> 96 Jonterri Gadson 1936919370 Lori 0 4.12 2016 Blues Triumphant
author: Jonterri Gadson
name: Lori
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dig: A Novel Based on True Events]]> 25893746
A literary adventure that tells the story of a priceless buried treasure discovered in England on the eve of World War II

In the long, hot summer of 1939, Britain is preparing for war, but on a riverside farm in Suffolk there is excitement of another kind. Mrs. Pretty, the widowed owner of the farm, has had her hunch confirmed that the mounds on her land hold buried treasure. As the dig proceeds, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary find.

This fictional recreation of the famed Sutton Hoo dig follows three months of intense activity when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure. As the war looms ever closer, engraved gold peeks through the soil, and each character searches for answers in the buried treasure. Their threads of love, loss, and aspiration weave a common awareness of the past as something that can never truly be left behind.]]> 259 John Preston 1590517806 Lori 0 3.66 2007 The Dig: A Novel Based on True Events
author: John Preston
name: Lori
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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]]> Coffin Riders 25256662
He drops down to the underworld, a place called Paradise Cove, an assisted afterlife facility masquerading as a cheap hotel deep in the bowels of the earth. A modern day Dante, Bloom searches desperately for a way out of hell. He journeys through the nine known underworlds in a mad search for his lady love to take the revenge he thinks he is owed.

Death is a the deeper you go the worse it gets.
]]> 112 James W. Bodden Lori 0 3.80 2015 Coffin Riders
author: James W. Bodden
name: Lori
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[# I'm Zombie: A Zombie Mosaic Novel]]> 28571283 312 Tony Newton 178535096X Lori 0 2.50 # I'm Zombie: A Zombie Mosaic Novel
author: Tony Newton
name: Lori
average rating: 2.50
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]]> Head of Words 18303394
Life is peachy for twenty-something Daniel Barker, who lives with his offbeat group of friends in a small flat in Bristol. From the eccentric Franz to the dominatrix Polly and the psychotic Shane, they all bring colour and excitement to his life. Together they are family, inseparable.

But as space reaches a premium and tensions begin to rise, Dan's whole world threatens to implode around him.

The real nightmare is about to begin �

Veering from brutal to comic via tragedy, disaster and love, Head of Words is the story of one man’s path to understanding upon a rollercoaster of life that threatens to both destroy him and set him free.

Chris Ward is the acclaimed author of the Tube Riders Trilogy and The Man Who Built the World. Visit Chris's Author Page for information on more great titles or find Chris on Facebook at Chris Ward (Fiction Writer).]]> 314 Chris Ward 1482662639 Lori 0 4.00 2013 Head of Words
author: Chris Ward
name: Lori
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/15
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review:

]]> Multiple Listings 23492619
Nicki Daniels owns a home appraisal business, but real estate is her true passion: she lives for open houses and really knows her way around a floor plan. And especially at this juncture of her life, real estate has come to signify the stability she is trying to build with her teenage son, Cody, and her much younger boyfriend, Jake. She’s finally ready to find the perfect house for the three of them and work on a new business venture with Jake that she thinks will jump-start their lives together.

Meanwhile, Ronnie, a longtime inmate at a nearby correctional facility, is getting some good news for once—there was a mistake in his sentencing, and he’s eligible to get out of prison. After a sixty-day stay in a halfway house, Ronnie decides his best option to avoid homelessness is to move in with his estranged daughter: Nicki. Even though they haven’t spoken in years, her door is always open to him, right?

Inspired by the author’s life and imbued with wit and profound insight into relationships, Multiple Listings speaks poignantly—and often hilariously—about the ties that bind families of all types together.]]> 336 Tracy McMillan 147678552X Lori 0 3.50 2015 Multiple Listings
author: Tracy McMillan
name: Lori
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Pennies from Burger Heaven (Burger Heaven series #1)]]> 28162319
In the tradition of The Lovely Bones and Room, Pennies from Burger Heaven tells a dark story through the eyes of a child. With wit and wisdom, Copper Daniels will steal your heart, then break it in two.

Awards for Pennies from Burger Heaven:

*Winner � Writers� League of Texas: Best Mainstream Novel

*Winner � Frontiers in Writing: Best Mainstream Novel

*Winner � Frontiers in Writing: Best of Show

“Against the gritty backdrop of an inner-city ghetto rises the unforgettable voice of eleven-year-old Copper ‘Penny� Daniels, offering poignant and heartbreaking insights into the horrors and trials of homeless life on the streets, finding heaven where you least expect it, and help in those you never thought to ask.�
� A.G. Howard, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Splintered Series

“At once disturbing and exhilarating, heartbreaking and heartwarming, Pennies is the story of an undying love between a mother and daughter. It grabs you by the heartstrings from the start and won't let you go, even after you've read the last word."
- Ken Oder, author of The Closing and Old Wounds to the Heart

“Debut novelist McKay infuses Pennies from Burger Heaven with wit, charm and moxie, so much so that the achingly beautifulness of Copper Daniels� life sneaks up on you. All of this wrapped around a mystery that is fast-paced and rife with tension, with a satisfying series of twists. Can’t wait for the next Burger Heaven novel.�
-- Pamela Fagan Hutchins, author of the Katie & Annalise mystery series


“[Pennies from Burger Heaven] gave me shivers on the first page…[Marcy McKay’s] writing is beautiful and emotional, without being sappy.�
� Frontiers in Writing

“UԱܳٻǷɲԲ.�
� Texas Writers� League Annual Manuscript Contest]]> 339 Marcy McKay 1939889324 Lori 0 4.57 2015 Pennies from Burger Heaven (Burger Heaven series #1)
author: Marcy McKay
name: Lori
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> A Danger to God Himself 27407888
Mormon missionary/onetime hedonist Kenny Feller has realized that God isn’t about to give him an ounce of the miracle power he needs to succeed on his mission—as promised. What’s more, he’s concluded that, frankly, people aren’t worth the trouble. Then his new junior companion shows up—the wisecracking Jared Baserman—and immediately starts hearing heavenly voices and seeing fantastic visions. For Kenny, it is immediately clear that God has sent Jared to propel him into Mormon Manhood.

But Kenny’s not the only person who takes note. Interests both virtuous and malevolent cozy up to Kenny and Jared, eager to make use of Jared’s gifting. At first, Kenny takes this as a sign that his perceptions of Jared are spot on. God is using Jared.

But something’s not quite right.

Specifically, why in the hell would God choose someone as slope-shouldered as Jared—someone so unreligious, so strange—to be a channel for His supernatural power? He doesn’t even read the Book of Mormon. Plus he smells funny. As their tracting grows fruitless and Jared’s messages grow more bizarre, Kenny begins to Is Jared really touched by God?

And, if so—does God know what the !#%$@! He's doing?

A Danger to God Himself is a hilarious takedown of religious certainty, a life-affirming tale set in 1970s Washington state—equal parts spiritual road map and coming-of-age tale and dark comedy.

Buy A Danger to God Himself today and take a wild ride!]]> 269 John Draper Lori 0 3.14 A Danger to God Himself
author: John Draper
name: Lori
average rating: 3.14
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rating: 0
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]]> A Stalled Ox (1888: Novellas) 27942178
“In the tradition of Serling and Bradbury, A Stalled Ox is a gruesome, yet beautiful story that wraps a complex morality tale in an engaging and fast-paced horror story with a touch of espionage. Crafting a world where no one is truly innocent, Moses invites the reader to follow Agent Howard Harrington as he discovers what true evil is.”]]> 120 Dean Moses 0692566767 Lori 0 4.48 A Stalled Ox (1888: Novellas)
author: Dean Moses
name: Lori
average rating: 4.48
book published:
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Shadow of the Colossus (Boss Fight Books, #10)]]> 28005496
But why is Shadow still utterly unique over a decade later? Nick Suttner examines this question and others while journeying across Shadow’s expanses—stopping along the way to speak to developers about the game’s influence, examine the culture around its unfinished mysteries, and investigate the game's colossal impact on his own beliefs about games, art, and life.]]> 194 Nick Suttner 1940535107 Lori 0 3.68 2015 Shadow of the Colossus (Boss Fight Books, #10)
author: Nick Suttner
name: Lori
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/15
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]]> Space Bush 17050784 218 Andrew Armacost 1937327116 Lori 0 4.27 2012 Space Bush
author: Andrew Armacost
name: Lori
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> The Clasp 23848037
In the midst of all this semi-merriment, Victor passes out in the mother of the groom’s bedroom. He wakes to her jovially slapping him across the face. Instead of a scolding, she offers Victor a story she’s never even told her son, about a valuable necklace that disappeared during the Nazi occupation of France.

And so a madcap adventure is set into motion, one that leads Victor, Kezia, and Nathaniel from Miami to New York and L.A. to Paris and across France, until they converge at the estate of Guy de Maupassant, author of the classic short story The Necklace.

Heartfelt, suspenseful, and told with Sloane Crosley’s inimitable spark and wit, The Clasp is a story of friends struggling to fit together now that their lives haven’t gone as planned, of how to separate the real from the fake. Such a task might be possible when it comes to precious stones, but is far more difficult to pull off with humans.]]> 384 Sloane Crosley 0374124418 Lori 0 3.02 2015 The Clasp
author: Sloane Crosley
name: Lori
average rating: 3.02
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Last Painting of Sara de Vos]]> 25664459 The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, he deftly bridges the historical and the contemporary, tracking a collision course between a rare landscape by a female Dutch painter of the golden age, an inheritor of the work in 1950s Manhattan, and a celebrated art historian who painted a forgery of it in her youth.

In 1631, Sara de Vos is admitted as a master painter to the Guild of St. Luke's in Holland, the first woman to be so recognized. Three hundred years later, only one work attributed to de Vos is known to remain--a haunting winter scene, At the Edge of a Wood, which hangs over the bed of a wealthy descendant of the original owner. An Australian grad student, Ellie Shipley, struggling to stay afloat in New York, agrees to paint a forgery of the landscape, a decision that will haunt her. Because now, half a century later, she's curating an exhibit of female Dutch painters, and both versions threaten to arrive. As the three threads intersect, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos mesmerizes while it grapples with the demands of the artistic life, showing how the deceits of the past can forge the present.]]> 304 Dominic Smith 0374106681 Lori 0 3.79 2016 The Last Painting of Sara de Vos
author: Dominic Smith
name: Lori
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/15
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]]> Homefront (Transgenic Wars) 20893838 Homefront is an uncompromising adventure story about what it truly means to be human. Jantine is a Beta, a genetically modified super soldier charged with establishing a hidden colony on Earth. When her expedition arrives in the middle of a civil war, she must choose her allies wisely or be exterminated. Featuring complex characters and edge-of-your-seat action sequences, Homefront will have readers guessing until the last page.]]> 382 Scott James Magner 1630230030 Lori 0 3.89 2014 Homefront (Transgenic Wars)
author: Scott James Magner
name: Lori
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Archangel (The Chronicles of Ubastis)]]> 22929007
The Ubasti colonists barely get by on their own. To acquire the tools and supplies they truly need, the colonists are relegated to selling whatever they can to outside investors. For xenobiologist Vashti Loren, this means bringing Offworlders on safari to hunt the specimens she and her fellow biologists so desperately need to study.

Haunted by the violent death of her husband, the heroic and celebrated Lasse Undset, Vashti must protect herself, her daughter, and all of Ubastis in order to draw alliances with old enemies, re-evaluate old friends, and take planet-wide action against those who threaten her world. Vashti stands at the threshold of humanity's greatest hope, and she alone understands the darkness of guarding paradise.]]> 301 Marguerite Reed 1630230111 Lori 0 3.79 2015 Archangel (The Chronicles of Ubastis)
author: Marguerite Reed
name: Lori
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Family Resemblance: An Anthology & Exploration of 8 Hybrid Literary Genres]]> 25774975 and creative zeal—an essential guidebook to a developing field.]]> 464 Marcela Sulak Lori 0 4.46 2015 Family Resemblance: An Anthology & Exploration of 8 Hybrid Literary Genres
author: Marcela Sulak
name: Lori
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> Jumpstart Your Novel 25813755 What's the second easiest thing about being a writer? Putting your hands on a keyboard!
What's the hardest thing about being a writer? Making words come out of your brain!

It doesn’t matter if you’ve just started thinking about writing a novel or have done a dozen of them; getting started on a new project is always the hardest part. That’s where Jumpstart Your Novel saves the day. Inside this book, you’ll discover a technique that will help you outline an entire novel in a little under two hours. That’s less time that it takes to sit through a movie (with previews), get across town in rush hour traffic, or vacuum your cat!

Using a simple Nine Box Model, you'll organize your thoughts so effectively that brainstorming a novel will seem as simple as following the directions on the back of a box of cake mix. Idea stacking, plot spinning, pants all of these tools will be at your disposal as you settle into that writing chair and start your brain fire!]]> 118 Mark Teppo 1630231053 Lori 0 4.16 2015 Jumpstart Your Novel
author: Mark Teppo
name: Lori
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Drafter (The Peri Reed Chronicles, #1)]]> 23492477 Bourne Identity meets Minority Report in this first highly anticipated installment in number-one New York Times best-selling author Kim Harrison's sexy new romantic suspense trilogy, featuring a brilliant special task agent at the top of her field and set in a futuristic Detroit.

During a routine but dangerous Opti task, Peri Reed finds out her trusted partner has made her a corrupt agent. Her unique ability to jump back 40 seconds in time to correct a mistake leaves her vulnerable when her partner, who is responsible for replacing her memory of the event, gives her a false one. But Peri lives and dies on her intuition, and she begins to piece her twisted reality together as she flees her one-time secure situation at Opti and tries to find the truth with a sullen but talented psychologist named Silas who works for the very agency trying to bring the Opti corruption to light.

With Howard, tech and med specialist, and Taf, gun-toting daughter of the opposing grass-roots agency, Silas and Peri try to rebuild her memory of the night she killed her partner, knowing it will put her mental stability in danger. Peri remembers, and thoughts of revenge keep her alive and moving forward as she tries to put an end to Opti, working with the very faction that wants to see her dead.]]> 422 Kim Harrison 1501108697 Lori 0 3.58 2015 The Drafter (The Peri Reed Chronicles, #1)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lori
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/15
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]]> Recovered 25592797
This is a fun, fast-moving book. It explores how family, relationships and friendship become compromised by ambition and greed.]]> 220 Adrian James Lori 0 4.00 2015 Recovered
author: Adrian James
name: Lori
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> What A Load Of Rubbish 26533946 162 Martin R. Etheridge 1910782181 Lori 0 3.00 2015 What A Load Of Rubbish
author: Martin R. Etheridge
name: Lori
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> The Guilty One 24000899
Maris’s safe suburban world was shattered the day her daughter was found murdered, presumably at the hands of the young woman’s boyfriend. Her marriage crumbling, her routine shattered, Maris walks away from her pampered life as a Bay Area mom the day she receives a call from Ron, father of her daughter’s killer. Wracked with guilt over his son’s actions (and his own possible contribution to them), he asks Maris a single question: should he jump?

With a man’s life in her hands, Maris must decide, perhaps for the first time, what she truly wants. Retribution? Forgiveness? Or something more? Having lost everything, she’s finally free to recreate herself without the confining labels of “wife,� “mother,� or “mourner.� But will this shocking offer free her, or destroy her?]]> 304 Sophie Littlefield 1476757836 Lori 0 3.34 2015 The Guilty One
author: Sophie Littlefield
name: Lori
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/15
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath]]> 25779845 The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath introduces Wilson A. Lavender, father of three, instructor of women’s studies, and self-proclaimed genius who is beginning to think he knows nothing about women. He spends much of his time in his office not working on his dissertation, a creative piece titled “The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath.� A sober alcoholic, he also spends much of his time not drinking, until he hooks up with his office mate, Alice Cherry, an undercover stripper who introduces him to “the buffer”—the chemical solution to his woes.

Wilson’s wife, Katie, is an anxious hippie, genuine earth mother, and recent PhD with no plans other than to read People magazine, eat chocolate, and seduce her young neighbor—a community college student who has built a bar in his garage. Intelligent and funny, Katie is haunted by a violent childhood. Her husband’s “tortured genius� both exhausts and amuses her.

The Lavenders� stagnant world is roiled when Katie’s pregnant sister, January, moves in. Obsessed with her lost love, �80s rocker Stevie Flame, January is on a quest to reconnect with her glittery, big-haired past. A free spirit to the point of using other people’s toothbrushes without asking, she drives Wilson crazy.

Exploring the landscape of family life, troubled relationships, dreams of the future, and nightmares of the past, Knutsen has conjured a literary gem filled with humor and sorrow, Aqua Net and Scooby-Doo, diapers and benzodiazepines—all the detritus and horror and beauty of modern life.]]> 384 Kimberly Knutsen 0875807259 Lori 0 4.30 2015 The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath
author: Kimberly Knutsen
name: Lori
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Negro and an Ofay (The Tales of Elliot Caprice)]]> 26011993
Desperate for money, he accepts a job from the son of a deadly Jewish mobster and eventually crosses paths with a powerful family from Chicago’s North Shore. A captain of industry is dead, and the key to his estate disappeared with the chauffeur. There’s good money in it if Elliot finds him, but the mixed-race son of Illinois farm country must return to the Windy City with the cops on his heels, the Syndicate at his throat, and the wealthy and powerful at his back.

Good thing he’s used to playing both sides to the middle.]]> 261 Danny Gardner 0692477373 Lori 0 4.56 2017 A Negro and an Ofay (The Tales of Elliot Caprice)
author: Danny Gardner
name: Lori
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: unsolicited, arc-reviewers-copy, own-not-yet-read, signed-by-author
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]]>