steph's bookshelf: all en-US Sun, 06 Apr 2025 10:31:03 -0700 60 steph's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Wild Love (Rose Hill, #1) 210356997 Rosie Belmont has been driving me wild for years. The good kind of wild. The bad kind of wild. But mostly the kind of wild that comes with wanting your best friend’s little sister and knowing you ’t have her.

After living in the city, she comes blasting back into Rose Hill like a storm. Beautiful, messy, and chaotic.

And one wide-eyed desperate plea for a job is all it takes for me to hire her.

Forbes may have labelled me the World’s Hottest Billionaire but all I care about is opening my new recording studio. Something that comes to a screeching halt when I end up face-to-face with a young girl who claims I’m her biological father.

Now I spend my days balancing business with parenting a sullen twelve-year-old all while trying desperately to keep my hands the hell off my best friend’s little sister.

I vow to keep Rosie at arm’s length. I try to stick to scowls and grumpy one-liners. But with her verbal sparring is merely foreplay—friction that turns to blistering heat.

I know damn well I dzܱ’t cross that line.

But dzܱ’t and ’t are two very different things.

And the only thing I truly ’t do is resist her.]]> 12 Elsie Silver steph 0 3.95 2024 Wild Love (Rose Hill, #1)
author: Elsie Silver
name: steph
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: currently-reading, read-in-2025
review:

]]> Just Our Luck 226446951 USA Today Bestseller

"I'm a forever fan."—Tarah DeWitt, USA Today Bestselling Author of Savor It

A lottery ticket + donuts = love in this steamy new fake dating romance from beloved author Denise Williams.

Sybil Sweet has always been lucky, but lately she ’t catch a break. After years of bouncing from job to job in search of something that feels right and from man to man in search of something special, Sybil is worried that she’s the directionless, floundering daughter her family thinks she is. All she really wants now is a little financial stability and carb comfort. Lucky for her, she’s got just enough in the bank to buy a lottery ticket, and the late-night donut store is open.

Kieran Anderson put his dreams of becoming a doctor on hold to take over running his family’s bakery, and after fighting a losing battle to save the place, he’s exhausted, broke, and no closer to getting back to school. But when a whirlwind of a woman sweeps in late one night, flirty energy gives way to more…until she runs out the next morning, leaving behind her winning lottery ticket.

Lucky for Kieran, his attempt to return the ticket looks like a grand romantic gesture and goes viral, sending sales through the roof. In an effort to keep the store afloat and to convince Sybil’s family she can make good relationship choices, they agree to fake a relationship for three months. Even with hundreds of millions of dollars, finding each other might end up being the sweetest bit of luck for both of them.]]> Denise Williams steph 0 read-in-2025, dnf
Denise Williams has written some of my favourite romance novels, but this one unfortunately didn't work for me. Sybil was difficult to like from the start, and (at least where I got up to) there was a distinct lack of character growth. Also, the way she signed herself and Kieran up to a live TV show to talk about their romance without consulting with him first and it's the next morning? I'd be so pissed off too, my goodness. I was also irritated by the whole luck aspect, and the lottery thing was so ridiculous, like winning that much money wasn't even a big deal for the most part??

Also why do Teslas/Musk keep getting mentioned in romance novels? This is the second one I've read (or I guess DNF'd) this year. ]]> 3.29 2025 Just Our Luck
author: Denise Williams
name: steph
average rating: 3.29
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: read-in-2025, dnf
review:
DNF @ 67%

Denise Williams has written some of my favourite romance novels, but this one unfortunately didn't work for me. Sybil was difficult to like from the start, and (at least where I got up to) there was a distinct lack of character growth. Also, the way she signed herself and Kieran up to a live TV show to talk about their romance without consulting with him first and it's the next morning? I'd be so pissed off too, my goodness. I was also irritated by the whole luck aspect, and the lottery thing was so ridiculous, like winning that much money wasn't even a big deal for the most part??

Also why do Teslas/Musk keep getting mentioned in romance novels? This is the second one I've read (or I guess DNF'd) this year.
]]> <![CDATA[Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)]]> 52382797
The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.]]> 492 Tamsyn Muir 125031318X steph 5 4.28 2019 Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: steph
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: read-in-2025, favourite-favourites
review:
It can only be 5 stars for this, my second read of this book this year. This time, I read the paperback as I listened to Moira Quirk narrate and it was the perfect reading experience.
]]> <![CDATA[Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) (Vera Wong, #2)]]> 220380455
Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.�

Ever since a man was found dead in Vera's teahouse, life has been good. For Vera that is. She’s surrounded by loved ones, her shop is bustling, and best of all, her son, Tilly, has a girlfriend! All thanks to Vera, because Tilly's girlfriend is none other than Officer SelenaGray. The very same Officer Gray that she had harassed while investigating the teahouse murder. Still, Vera wishes more dead bodies would pop up in her shop, but one mustn't be ungrateful, even if one is slightly...bored.

Then Vera comes across a distressed young woman who is obviously in need of her kindly guidance. The young woman is looking for a missing friend. Fortunately, while cat-sitting at Tilly and Selena's, Vera finds a treasure Selena's briefcase.Inside is a file about the death of an enigmatic influencer—who also happens to be the friend that the young woman was looking for.

Online, Xander had it a parade of private jets, fabulous parties with socialites, and a burgeoning career as a social media influencer. The only problem is, after his body is fished out of Mission Bay, the police can't seem to actually identify him. Who is Xander Lin? Nobody knows. Every contact is a dead end. Everybody claims not to know him, not even his parents.

Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, andthere is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law.]]> Jesse Q. Sutanto steph 0 4.33 2025 Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) (Vera Wong, #2)
author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
name: steph
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: read-in-2025, currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying]]> 222212792 “Do you know what happens if you laugh while crying? Hair grows out of your butthole.� It was a constant truism Youngmi Mayer’s mother would say threateningly after she would make her daughter laugh while crying. Her mother used it to cheer her up in moments when she could tell Youngmi was overtaken with grief. The humorous saying would never fail to lighten the mood, causing both daughter and mother to laugh and cry at the same time. Her mother had learned this trick from her mother, and her mother had learned this from her mother before it had also helped an endless string of her family laugh through suffering.

In I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying, Youngmi jokes through the retelling of her childhood as an offbeat biracial kid in Saipan, a place next to a place that Americans might know. She jokes through her difficult adolescence where she must parent her own mother, who married her husband because he looked like white Jesus (and the singer of The Bee Gees). And with humor and irreverence and full-throated openness, she jokes even while sharing the story of what her family went through during the last century of colonialism and war in Korea, while reflecting how years later, their wounds affect her in New York City as a single mom, all the while interrogating whiteness, gender, and sexuality.

Youngmi jokes through these stories in hopes of passing onto the reader what her family passed down to The gift of laughing while crying. The gift of a hairy butthole. Because throughout it all, the one thing she learned was one cannot exist without the other. And like a yin and yang, this duality is reflected in this whip-smart, heart-wrenching, and disarmingly funny memoir told by a bright new voice with so much heart and wisdom.

ձ> Youngmi Mayer steph 4 read-in-2025 4.57 2024 I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying
author: Youngmi Mayer
name: steph
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
March was a bit of a slumpy month for me, but I am glad I read this one! I think my experience was heightened by hearing Youngmi herself narrate this (even the way she narrated the end credits was amusing!). Hearing the Korean speech throughout was really interesting for me as a learner of Korean, because I always listen to audiobooks at 1.75× or faster... Which works perfectly for me in English but is definitely challenging in Korean, haha. Youngmi provides the English translation directly after any Korean lines, so I'd find myself replaying the rapid Korean in my head after hearing the translation and then the syllables would fall into place and I'd think, "ah, of course, that is indeed what I heard". (Note to self: study more
]]> <![CDATA[The Innkeeper Chronicles: Clean Sweep The Graphic Novel, Volume 2]]> 207294839 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author, Ilona Andrews, comes the fun, action-packed graphic novel adaptation of the fan-favorite Innkeeper Chronicles series!

Welcome back to the inn. From the outside, Dina DeMille is the epitome of normal, running a quaint Victorian bed-and-breakfast in Red Deer, Texas. But Dina is...different: her broom is a deadly weapon and her inn is a magical lodging for intergalactic guests. "Normal" is a bit of a stretch.

After discovering a pack of alien creatures who have come hunting in her community, Dina joins up with alpha-strain werewolf Sean and cosmic vampire Arland to stop the threat facing her neighbors and her inn.]]> 288 ChrossxXxRodes 1524892858 steph 4 read-in-2025
The addition of a new character was a bit pointless, but yes to more small additions like Arland exploring a supermarket, please ]]> 4.26 The Innkeeper Chronicles: Clean Sweep The Graphic Novel, Volume 2
author: ChrossxXxRodes
name: steph
average rating: 4.26
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
4.25 stars.

The addition of a new character was a bit pointless, but yes to more small additions like Arland exploring a supermarket, please
]]> <![CDATA[Magic Binds [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels #9)]]> 223504363
Kate and the former Beast Lord Curran Lennart are finally making their relationship official. But there are some steep obstacles standing in the way of their walk to the altar.

Kate’s father, Roland, has kidnapped the demigod Saiman and is slowly bleeding him dry in a never-ending bid for power. A Witch Oracle has predicted that if Kate marries the man she loves, Atlanta will burn and she will lose him forever. And the only person Kate can ask for help is long dead.

The odds are impossible. The future is grim. But Kate Daniels has never been one to play by the rules...

Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!]]> 10 Ilona Andrews steph 4 read-in-2025 4.25 stars 4.83 Magic Binds [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels #9)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.83
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
4.25 stars
]]> The Two Lies of Faven Sythe 228460271 A search for a missing person uncovers a galaxy-spanning conspiracy in this thrilling standalone space opera from award-winning author Megan E. O'Keefe.

The Black Celeste is a ghost story. A once-legendary spaceship collecting dust in a cosmic graveyard known as the Clutch. Only famed pirate Bitter Amandine knows better, and she’ll do anything to never go near it again. No matter the cost.

Faven Sythe is crystborn, a member of the near-human species tasked with charting starpaths from station to station. She’s trained to be a navigator her entire life. But when her mentor disappears, leaving behind a mysterious starpath terminating in the Clutch, she is determined to find the truth. And only Amandine has the answers.

What they will find is a conspiracy bigger than either of them. Their quest for the truth will uncover secrets Amandine has long fought to keep buried–secrets about how she survived her last encounter in the Clutch, and what’s really hidden out there amongst the stars...]]> Megan E. O'Keefe steph 0 to-read 0.0 2025 The Two Lies of Faven Sythe
author: Megan E. O'Keefe
name: steph
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Woodworking 228700215 Them’s 10 Most Anticipated Books of 2025 One of Book Riot’s and The Mary Sue’s 15 Most Anticipated Queer Books of 2025 One of The Millions�, Kirkus’s, and The AV Club's Most Anticipated Books of 2025

An unforgettable and heartwarming book-club debut following a trans high school teacher from a small town in South Dakota who befriends the only other trans woman she one of her students.

Erica Skyberg is thirty-five years old, recently divorced—and trans. Not that she's told anyone yet. Mitchell, South Dakota, isn't exactly bursting with other trans women. Instead, she keeps to herself, teaching by day and directing community theater by night. That is, until Abigail Hawkes enters her orbit.

Abigail is seventeen, Mitchell High’s resident political dissident and Only Trans Girl. It’s a role she plays faultlessly, albeit a little reluctantly. She's also annoyed by the idea of spending her senior year secretly guiding her English teacher through her transition. But Abigail remembers the uncertainty—and loneliness—that comes with it. Besides, Erica isn’t the only one struggling to shed the weight of others� expectations.

As their unlikely friendship evolves, it comes under the scrutiny of their community. And soon, both women—and those closest to them—are forced to Who are we if we choose to hide ourselves? What happens once we disappear into the woodwork?

Detransition Baby meets Fleishman is in Trouble in this remarkable debut novel from an incisive contemporary voice. A story about the awkwardness of growing up and the greatest love story of all, that between us and our friends, Woodworking is a tonic for the moment and a celebration of womanhood in all its multifaceted joy.]]> Emily St. James steph 0 to-read 4.56 2025 Woodworking
author: Emily St. James
name: steph
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magic Triumphs [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels #10)]]> 226044898
Kate has come a long way from her origins as a loner taking care of paranormal problems in post-Shift Atlanta. She's made friends and enemies. She's found love and started a family with Curran Lennart, the former Beast Lord. But her magic is too strong for the power players of the world to let her be.

Kate and her father, Roland, currently have an uneasy truce, but when he starts testing her defenses again, she knows that sooner or later a confrontation is inevitable. The Witch Oracle has begun seeing visions of blood, fire, and human bones. And when a mysterious box is delivered to Kate's doorstep, a threat of war from the ancient enemy who nearly destroyed her family, she knows her time is up.

Kate Daniels sees no other choice but to combine forces with the unlikeliest of allies. She knows betrayal is inevitable. She knows she may not survive the coming battle. But she has to try.

For her child.

For Atlanta.

For the world.

Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!]]> 10 Ilona Andrews steph 0 to-read 0.0 Magic Triumphs [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels #10)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Wooing the Witch Queen (Queens of Villainy, #1)]]> 222601023
In a Gaslamp-lit world where hags and ogres lurk in thick pine forests, three magical queens form an uneasy alliance to protect their lands from invasion…and love turns their world upside down.

Queen Saskia is the wicked sorceress everyone fears. After successfully wrestling the throne from her evil uncle, she only wants one thing: to keep her people safe from the empire next door. For that, she needs to spend more time in her laboratory experimenting with her spells. She definitely doesn’t have time to bring order to her chaotic library of magic.

When a mysterious dark wizard arrives at her castle, Saskia hires him as her new librarian on the spot. “Fabian� is sweet and a little nerdy, and his requests seem a little strange � what in the name of Divine Elva is a fountain pen? � but he’s getting the job done. And if he writes her flirtatious poetry and his innocent touch makes her skin singe, well�

Little does Saskia know that the "wizard" she’s falling for is actually an Imperial archduke in disguise, with no magical training whatsoever. On the run, with perilous secrets on his trail and a fast growing yearning for the wicked sorceress, he's in danger from her enemies and her newfound allies, too. When his identity is finally revealed, will their love save or doom each other?]]> 9 Stephanie Burgis 1250385725 steph 3 read-in-2025 3.70 2025 Wooing the Witch Queen (Queens of Villainy, #1)
author: Stephanie Burgis
name: steph
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
This was sweet and fun but did lose a bit of steam/charm for me towards the end and I found myself zoning out a little. I enjoyed the narrator's performance with the varied voices, although I see she will narrate the second book, which is about Lorelei, and Lorelai's voice was a bit annoying to listen to... So, I'm not sure I'd last a whole book listening to it.
]]> Aunt Tigress 228745546 From debut author Emily Yu-Xuan Qin comes a snarky urban fantasy novel inspired by Chinese and First Nation mythology and bursting with wit, compelling characters, and LGBTQIA+ representation

Readers of Seanan McGuire, Ilona Andrews, and Ben Aaronovitch will devour this gory story—and the sweet-as-Canadian-maple-syrup sapphic romance at its monstrous heart

Tam hasn’t eaten anyone in years.

She is now Mama’s soft-spoken, vegan daughter � everything dangerous about her is cut out, repressed. Medicated.

But when Tam’s estranged Aunt Tigress is found murdered and skinned, Tam inherits an undead fox in a shoebox and an ensemble of old enemies.

The demons, the ghosts, the gods running coffee shops by the river? Fine. The tentacled thing stalking Tam across the city? Absolutely not. And when Tam realizes the girl she’s falling in love with might be yet another loose end from her past? That’s just the brassy, beautiful cherry on top.

Because no matter how quietly she lives, Tam ’t hide from her voracious upbringing, nor the suffering she caused. As she navigates romance, redemption, and the end of the world, she ’t help but wonder�

Do monsters even deserve happy endings?

With worldbuilding inspired by Chinese folklore and the Siksiká Nation in Canada, LGBTQIA+ representation, and a sapphic romance, Aunt Tigress is at once familiar and breathtakingly innovative.]]> 17 Emily Yu-Xuan Qin steph 0 to-read 4.00 2025 Aunt Tigress
author: Emily Yu-Xuan Qin
name: steph
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magic Binds (Kate Daniels, #9)]]> 32323138
--brillianceaudio.com]]> 14 Ilona Andrews steph 4 read-in-2025 4.52 2016 Magic Binds (Kate Daniels, #9)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: read-in-2025
review:

]]> Before I Let Go (Skyland, #1) 60568143
Award-winning and bestselling "powerhouse" author Kennedy Ryan is at her absolute best in this compelling, scorching novel about hope and healing, and what it truly means to love for a lifetime (USA Today).

Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn’t solve or save everything.

It couldn’t save their marriage.

Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she’s finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another…and then more. It's hot. It's illicit. It's all good—until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?]]> Kennedy Ryan 1668611295 steph 0 read-in-2025
I don't think I've read enough second chance romance to say whether I truly like the trope or not, but I will say that here I was disappointed that we didn't really get a chance to see just why Yasmen and Josiah worked so well before everything fell apart. It seemed like the foundation of their relationship was just good sex, and I'd get whiplash from the way they'd go from trying to talk about their trauma to being horny like 0.2 seconds later. I also thought the pacing of the book overall was glacial; I felt like I'd been reading for a month, but when I checked I was barely at 50% ]]> 4.31 2022 Before I Let Go (Skyland, #1)
author: Kennedy Ryan
name: steph
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
DNF @ 73% (my library hold runs out in the morning and I don't have the motivation to speed-listen nor care enough to put it on hold again to finish another time...)

I don't think I've read enough second chance romance to say whether I truly like the trope or not, but I will say that here I was disappointed that we didn't really get a chance to see just why Yasmen and Josiah worked so well before everything fell apart. It seemed like the foundation of their relationship was just good sex, and I'd get whiplash from the way they'd go from trying to talk about their trauma to being horny like 0.2 seconds later. I also thought the pacing of the book overall was glacial; I felt like I'd been reading for a month, but when I checked I was barely at 50%
]]> A Bit Of A Stretch 50172712
Where can a tin of tuna buy you clean clothes? Which British education system struggles with 50% illiteracy? Where do teetotal Muslims attend AA meetings? Where is it easier to get 'spice' than paracetamol? Where does self-harm barely raise an eyebrow?

Welcome to Her Majesty's Prison Service, a creaking and surreal world that has been left to rot for decades in the shadows of polite society. Like most people, documentary-maker Chris Atkins didn't spend much time thinking about prisons. But after becoming embroiled in a dodgy scheme to fund his latest film, he was sent down for five years. His new home would be HMP Wandsworth, one of the oldest, largest, and most dysfunctional prisons in Europe.

Horrifying, moving, and darkly funny, this is the unvarnished depiction of what he found. With a cast of characters ranging from wily drug dealers to corrupt screws to senior officials bent on endless (and fruitless) reform, this is the reality behind the locked gates. Full of incredible and hilarious stories, A Bit of a Stretch reveals the true scale of our prison crisis and why it is costing us all.]]> 10 Chris Atkins steph 3 read-in-2025 3.97 2020 A Bit Of A Stretch
author: Chris Atkins
name: steph
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
I ended up liking this more than I thought I would. Chris Atkins' recounting of his time in prison for tax fraud was illuminating, sad, funny and infuriating. He narrates the audiobook and although I've seen people say how they dislike the way he impersonated the other inmates and officers (and I guess he does make it a little over-the-top, bordering on offensive, here and there) having recently listened to an audiobook where the narrator didn't perform at all and all the characters sounded the same, I did appreciate that Atkins tried to make his narration dynamic and interesting. I also liked the thought put into making the audiobook easy to follow, with including music to indicate when a chapter summary or a call-out box was being read versus the start of a diary entry.
]]> <![CDATA[Sweep in Peace [Dramatized Adaptation] (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2)]]> 61412809 8 Ilona Andrews steph 4 read-in-2023 Bumped up to 4.5 stars 4.46 Sweep in Peace [Dramatized Adaptation] (Innkeeper Chronicles, #2)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/06
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: read-in-2023
review:
Bumped up to 4.5 stars
]]> <![CDATA[Sweep In Peace [Dramatized Adaptation] (Innkeeper Chronicles #2)]]> 60437228 7 Ilona Andrews 1685086071 steph 4 4.5 stars 4.40 Sweep In Peace [Dramatized Adaptation] (Innkeeper Chronicles #2)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: read-in-2023, favourite-favourites, highly-recommended, read-in-2024
review:
4.5 stars
]]> <![CDATA[This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (Maggie the Undying, #1)]]> 220061020 Game of Thrones meets Outlander in This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me

When Maggie wakes up, cold, naked, and filthy in Kair Toren, a city in the kingdom of Rellas, she recognizes it immediately. It’s the world she knows intimately from the pages of an unfinished dark fantasy series she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading while waiting years for the final novel. With no idea how or why she landed in this gritty, violent world, she’s determined to survive until she can figure out how to get home with her only tools � an encyclopedic knowledge of the plot, setting, and the characters� actions, motivations, and fates: information she can sell to the highest bidder � all while staying under the radar so as not to change the very information she plans to barter.

Soon Maggie discovers another surprising “skill�: she cannot be killed (though many will try.) And as she becomes more attached to the motley band she’s somehow gathered � which includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, a dangerous soldier, and various outrageous magic creatures � she abandons all thoughts of lying low for her own good. Instead she finds herself trying to save them, and the Kingdom of Rellas from the cataclysmic war she knows is coming.]]> Ilona Andrews steph 0 to-read 5.00 2026 This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (Maggie the Undying, #1)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Clean Sweep [Dramatized Adaptation] (Innkeeper Chronicles, #1)]]> 60073139
And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night....Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.

Approximate Running Time: 6 Hours]]> 6 Ilona Andrews 1685085873 steph 4 4.38 Clean Sweep [Dramatized Adaptation] (Innkeeper Chronicles, #1)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: read-in-2023, favourite-favourites, highly-recommended, read-in-2024
review:
4.5 stars. I'll never get tired of this performance of the story
]]> <![CDATA[City of Dragons (Rain Wild Chronicles #3)]]> 17393099 425 Robin Hobb 0007273819 steph 4 read-in-2016, read-in-2019 In three words: broader, interesting, dark.

"'It's a hard way to learn, but I think that's how most of us learn about jealousy. It seems like a stupid way for anyone to feel, until someone makes you feel it.'"

The scope of City of Dragons has changed slightly from that of the last book in the Rain Wild series. In this third book, more characters come into play (including some I loved from Hobb's Liveship Traders trilogy!) and we get a chance to see what the loathsome Hest Finbok is up to. (His chapters, and some others that weren't focused on Kelsingra, were certainly rather dark...)

I really liked how the group dynamics were continuing to evolve in this story. The way the dragons (aided by their keepers) approached the challenge of learning to fly was so interesting, and seeing how the keepers' relationships were progressing also made for a great read. I didn't really care for the love triangle, but I adored some of the other couples!

Although the characters and descriptions were as great as ever (e.g. the vivid descriptions of the city of Kelsingra), the plot development was slightly lacking, much like it was in The Dragon Keeper. I agree with the reviews that describe books one and two as two halves of one longer book and books three and four as the same. So far, I'd say I'd rank the books from favourite to least favourite as Dragon Haven, The Dragon Keeper and then City of Dragons. I have really high hopes for the last book in the series, based on great reviews from friends and the fact that I enjoyed Dragon Haven so much compared to the first book!

Recommended for: people who want to continue with the Rain Wild Chronicles series.

~~~~~
Review also posted .]]> 4.12 2011 City of Dragons (Rain Wild Chronicles #3)
author: Robin Hobb
name: steph
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2019/01/10
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: read-in-2016, read-in-2019
review:
In three words: broader, interesting, dark.

"'It's a hard way to learn, but I think that's how most of us learn about jealousy. It seems like a stupid way for anyone to feel, until someone makes you feel it.'"

The scope of City of Dragons has changed slightly from that of the last book in the Rain Wild series. In this third book, more characters come into play (including some I loved from Hobb's Liveship Traders trilogy!) and we get a chance to see what the loathsome Hest Finbok is up to. (His chapters, and some others that weren't focused on Kelsingra, were certainly rather dark...)

I really liked how the group dynamics were continuing to evolve in this story. The way the dragons (aided by their keepers) approached the challenge of learning to fly was so interesting, and seeing how the keepers' relationships were progressing also made for a great read. I didn't really care for the love triangle, but I adored some of the other couples!

Although the characters and descriptions were as great as ever (e.g. the vivid descriptions of the city of Kelsingra), the plot development was slightly lacking, much like it was in The Dragon Keeper. I agree with the reviews that describe books one and two as two halves of one longer book and books three and four as the same. So far, I'd say I'd rank the books from favourite to least favourite as Dragon Haven, The Dragon Keeper and then City of Dragons. I have really high hopes for the last book in the series, based on great reviews from friends and the fact that I enjoyed Dragon Haven so much compared to the first book!

Recommended for: people who want to continue with the Rain Wild Chronicles series.

~~~~~
Review also posted .
]]> <![CDATA[Strange Practice (Dr. Greta Helsing, #1)]]> 40166894
Meet Greta Helsing, fast-talking doctor to the undead. Keeping the supernatural community not-alive and well in London has been her family's specialty for generations.

Greta Helsing inherited the family's highly specialized, and highly peculiar, medical practice. In her consulting rooms, Dr. Helsing treats the undead for a host of ills - vocal strain in banshees, arthritis in barrow-wights, and entropy in mummies. Although barely making ends meet, this is just the quiet, supernatural-adjacent life Greta's been groomed for since childhood.

Until a sect of murderous monks emerges, killing human and undead Londoners alike. As terror takes hold of the city, Greta must use her unusual skills to stop the cult if she hopes to save her practice, and her life.]]> Vivian Shaw steph 2 read-in-2025
First, I think there was such an odd sense of mismatch. Despite the cover looking like something more suited to a story set in an older time period, this book actually has a contemporary setting, so you have things like Google and modern banking methods mentioned. Second, this story is based in London and the narrator indeed sounds English, but there are terms that are more American, like sweater and elevator. I also found it a bit strange that, for a series called 'Dr. Greta Helsing', there were way more POVs than I was expecting, and because the narrator did not vary her voice at all, everyone ended up sounding the same and I had a really hard time differentiating them. All the male characters surrounding Greta (a vampire, a vampyre, a human and a demon) essentially blurred together as I was listening and the lack of a pause when the POV switched didn't help either. ]]> 3.81 2017 Strange Practice (Dr. Greta Helsing, #1)
author: Vivian Shaw
name: steph
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
I'm so disappointed I didn't enjoy this one that much. Everything about it sounded so good before I started. ☹️ Like... Urban fantasy! In London! The protagonist is a sensible and empathetic doctor in her 30s who treats supernatural creatures! Fun cast of characters! And yet overall this book failed to charm me.

First, I think there was such an odd sense of mismatch. Despite the cover looking like something more suited to a story set in an older time period, this book actually has a contemporary setting, so you have things like Google and modern banking methods mentioned. Second, this story is based in London and the narrator indeed sounds English, but there are terms that are more American, like sweater and elevator. I also found it a bit strange that, for a series called 'Dr. Greta Helsing', there were way more POVs than I was expecting, and because the narrator did not vary her voice at all, everyone ended up sounding the same and I had a really hard time differentiating them. All the male characters surrounding Greta (a vampire, a vampyre, a human and a demon) essentially blurred together as I was listening and the lack of a pause when the POV switched didn't help either.
]]> <![CDATA[Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2)]]> 52381738 Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth, and Alecto the Ninth—is an epic science fantasy that blends necromantic theory and thrilling swordplay with a wicked, sacrilegious sense of humor; a modern mix of Dune, Riddick, and Gormenghast.]]> 20 Tamsyn Muir steph 5
It's funny how "wtf did I just read" is such a common review after finishing Harrow the Ninth and here I am adding to such reviews because WTF!!

I will admit that I was a bit lost (well, even more lost, I suppose) around the middle, but I stuck with it and, well. I bought physical copies of Gideon and Harrow yesterday and I'm going to start rereading Gideon next (by reading my new paperback and listening to Moira Quirk at the same time), so that hopefully explains my rating. ]]> 4.31 2020 Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2)
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: steph
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: read-in-2025, favourite-favourites
review:
And baffled I was.

It's funny how "wtf did I just read" is such a common review after finishing Harrow the Ninth and here I am adding to such reviews because WTF!!

I will admit that I was a bit lost (well, even more lost, I suppose) around the middle, but I stuck with it and, well. I bought physical copies of Gideon and Harrow yesterday and I'm going to start rereading Gideon next (by reading my new paperback and listening to Moira Quirk at the same time), so that hopefully explains my rating.
]]> <![CDATA[Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)]]> 52057544 Gideon the Ninth is the most fun you'll ever have with a skeleton.

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as necromantic skeletons. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.]]> 17 Tamsyn Muir steph 4
My goodness, Moira Quirk is EVERYTHING. Her narration is so, so good. To the extent that, although GraphicAudio is going to be doing a full-cast adaptation of the Locked Tomb series, I'm intrigued but hesitant because Quirk is fantastic in this book and, really, how do you improve upon perfection?? From her vast range of voices to the way she narrates with such glee... I loved it all so much!

I actually DNF'd Gideon in 2019 when I tried the ebook (I made it 64 pages in before giving up), but on this attempt, the humour in Muir's writing really worked for me and was handled so well by Quirk in the narration that I couldn't help but love this book. ]]> 4.08 2019 Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: steph
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: read-in-2025, favourite-favourites
review:
WHAT A BOOOOK. Did I understand everything or follow events 100% of the time? Nope. Did I have a great time reading this anyway? Yep!!

My goodness, Moira Quirk is EVERYTHING. Her narration is so, so good. To the extent that, although GraphicAudio is going to be doing a full-cast adaptation of the Locked Tomb series, I'm intrigued but hesitant because Quirk is fantastic in this book and, really, how do you improve upon perfection?? From her vast range of voices to the way she narrates with such glee... I loved it all so much!

I actually DNF'd Gideon in 2019 when I tried the ebook (I made it 64 pages in before giving up), but on this attempt, the humour in Muir's writing really worked for me and was handled so well by Quirk in the narration that I couldn't help but love this book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Tiger and the Cage: A Memoir of a Body in Crisis]]> 61965646 For readers of Susannah Cahalan’s Brain on Fire and Porochista Khakpour’s Sick, this exquisitely wrought debut memoir recounts a lifelong struggle with chronic pain and endometriosis, while speaking more broadly to anyone who’s been told “it’s all in your head�

In Catholic grade school, Emma Bolden has a strange experience with a teacher that unleashes a short-lived, persistent coughing spell—something the medical establishment will later use against her as she struggles through chronic pain and fainting spells that coincide with her menstrual cycle.

With The Tiger and the Cage, Bolden uses her own experience as the starting point for a journey through the institutional misogyny of Western medicine—from a history of labeling women “hysterical� and parading them as curiosities to a lack of information on causes or cures for endometriosis, despite more than a century of documented cases. Recounting botched surgeries and dire side effects from pharmaceuticals affecting her and countless others, Bolden speaks to the ways people are often failed by the official narratives of institutions meant to protect them.

Bolden also interrogates a narrative commonly imposed on menstruating the expected story arc of marriage and children. She interrogates her body as a painful site she must mentally escape and a countdown she hopes to beat by having a child before a hysterectomy. Only later does she find language and acceptance for her asexality and the life she needs to lead. Through all its gripping, devastating, and beautiful threads, The Tiger and the Cage says what Bolden and so many like her have needed to I see you, and I believe you.





ձ> 367 Emma Bolden 1593767242 steph 0 to-read 4.50 2022 The Tiger and the Cage: A Memoir of a Body in Crisis
author: Emma Bolden
name: steph
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[First Time Caller: Heartstrings, Book 1]]> 225908582 'Sharp, swoon-worthy, and profoundly romantic - First Time Caller is brimming with heart' - LYLA SAGE author of DONE AND DUSTED

A hopeless romantic meets a demoralized radio host in this cosy, Sleepless in Seattle inspired love story from fan-favourite author of the LOVELIGHT series, B.K. Borison.

Aiden Valentine has a he’s fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore’s romance hotline, that’s a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom Lucie, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.

Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life—or lack thereof—she begins to question if she’s as happy as she thought. Maybe a little more romance wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending. . . even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.]]> B.K. Borison steph 0 to-read 4.14 2025 First Time Caller: Heartstrings, Book 1
author: B.K. Borison
name: steph
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Scythe & Sparrow (The Ruinous Love Trilogy #3)]]> 226443145 Discover the serial killer romance series everyone is talking about!From the no.1 New York Times bestselling author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird and Leather & Lark comes the final book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy - a friends-with-benefits dark romantic comedy.

Murder.

Mayhem.

And spice.

Doctor Fionn Kane is running from a broken heart, one he hopes to mend in small-town Nebraska, far away from his almost-fiance and his derailed surgical career. It's a simpler head down, hard work, and absolutely no romantic relationships. He wants none of the circus he left behind in Boston.

But then the real circus finds him.

Motorcycle performer Rose Evans has spent a decade on the road with the Silveria Circus, and it suits her just fine, especially when she has the urge to indulge in a little murder when she's not in the spotlight. But when a kill goes awry and she ends up with an injured leg, Rose finds herself stuck in Nebraska, at the home of the adorably nerdy town doctor.

The problem is, not every broken heart can be sewn back together.

. . . And the longer you stay in one place, the more likely your ghosts are to catch up.

***


Friends with benefits
Small town romance
Fish out of water
Forced proximity
Hurt/care
Touch her and die]]> Brynne Weaver steph 1 read-in-2025
Rounded down because this was such a frustrating reading experience. I still really like Butcher & Blackbird and might relisten at some point, but I think Weaver unfortunately failed to finish the trilogy satisfactorily with Scythe & Sparrow. Tbh it kind of feels like she didn’t really know where to take the series after the success of B&B.

Rose had such a fun intro in B&B, but her and Fionn’s story ended up falling really flat. There was a distinct lack of plot and although I liked Rose’s spirit, she was just so bad at [spoilers removed]. I guess it could be kind of interesting/funny to have a [spoilers removed]]]> 4.06 2025 Scythe & Sparrow (The Ruinous Love Trilogy #3)
author: Brynne Weaver
name: steph
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2025
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
1.5 stars.

Rounded down because this was such a frustrating reading experience. I still really like Butcher & Blackbird and might relisten at some point, but I think Weaver unfortunately failed to finish the trilogy satisfactorily with Scythe & Sparrow. Tbh it kind of feels like she didn’t really know where to take the series after the success of B&B.

Rose had such a fun intro in B&B, but her and Fionn’s story ended up falling really flat. There was a distinct lack of plot and although I liked Rose’s spirit, she was just so bad at [spoilers removed]. I guess it could be kind of interesting/funny to have a [spoilers removed]
]]> <![CDATA[A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping]]> 195510429 What if love is the best magic of all?

An enchanting novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magic - and her life - back on track, from the author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

Sera Swan was once one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her magical Guild.

Now she runs an inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep the fox in check, and longs for the magical future she lost.

Then she discovers a book that could hold the secret to restoring her power. Trouble is, the only person who can help her is Luke Larsen, the gorgeous historian she had a one-night stand with years ago - and hasn't spoken to since.

As Luke and Sera work together to reclaim her lost power, Sera starts to realise that love - and the family she's made - could be the best magic of all . . .]]> 320 Sangu Mandanna 1399709933 steph 0 to-read 4.67 2025 A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: steph
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rogue Protocol [Dramatized Adaptation]: The Murderbot Diaries 3 (Murderbot Diaries)]]> 201300396
Sci-fi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is back on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah's SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.
___


Martha Wells' Rogue Protocol is the third in the Murderbot Diaries series, starring a human-like android who keeps getting sucked back into adventure after adventure, though it just wants to be left alone, away from humanity and small talk.

Read Rogue Protocol and find out why Hugo Award winner Ann Leckie wrote, "I love Murderbot!"]]> 1 Martha Wells steph 3 read-in-2025 4.24 2018 Rogue Protocol [Dramatized Adaptation]: The Murderbot Diaries 3 (Murderbot Diaries)
author: Martha Wells
name: steph
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
3.5 stars. I feel like David Cui Cui has really settled into the Murderbot role now (although he was still great in the first two novellas too!).
]]> <![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1)]]> 198682923 1 Martha Wells steph 4 read-in-2025 Murderbot and its humans 4.08 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: steph
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
Murderbot and its humans
]]> <![CDATA[Artificial Condition [Dramatized Adaptation] The Murderbot Diaries 2]]> 198740637
It has a dark past—one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot�. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A� stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks�

Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!]]> Martha Wells steph 4 read-in-2025
So short. ]]> 4.21 2018 Artificial Condition [Dramatized Adaptation] The Murderbot Diaries 2
author: Martha Wells
name: steph
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/17
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
4.25 stars.

So short.
]]> <![CDATA[A Day of Fallen Night (The Roots of Chaos, #0)]]> 124936306 A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon sweeps readers back to the universe of Priory of the Orange Tree and into the lives of four women, showing us a course of events that shaped their world for generations to come.

Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms � but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose.

To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow � exactly where she wants to be.

The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate.

When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.

38 hours and 48 minutes]]> 39 Samantha Shannon steph 0 to-read 4.11 2023 A Day of Fallen Night (The Roots of Chaos, #0)
author: Samantha Shannon
name: steph
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Bury Your Gays 215177127 Misha knows that chasing success in Hollywood can be hell.

But finally, after years of trying to make it, his big moment is here: an Oscar nomination. And the executives at the studio for his long-running streaming series know just the thing to kick his career to the next level: kill off the gay characters, "for the algorithm," in the upcoming season finale.

Misha refuses, but he soon realizes that he’s just put a target on his back. And what’s worse, monsters from his horror movie days are stalking him and his friends through the hills above Los Angeles.

Haunted by his past, Misha must risk his entire future—before the horrors from the silver screen find a way to bury him for good.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books. This program features multicast narration.]]> 10 Chuck Tingle steph 4 read-in-2025 Me, after reading Bury Your Gays: OK, squelchy horror sounds, I do not love as much ]]> 4.16 2024 Bury Your Gays
author: Chuck Tingle
name: steph
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
Me: Omg, full cast narration, with music and sound effects! LOVE!
Me, after reading Bury Your Gays: OK, squelchy horror sounds, I do not love as much
]]> <![CDATA[Calamity (Uncharted Hearts, #1)]]> 179779006
She’s got a ramshackle spaceship, a misfit crew, and a big problem with its sexy newest member�

Temperance Reed, banished from the wealthy and dangerous Fifteen Families, just wants to keep her crew together after their feckless captain ran off with the intern. But she’s drowning in debt and revolutionary new engine technology is about to make her beloved ship obsolete.

Enter Arcadio Escajeda. Second child of the terrifying Escajeda Family, he’s the thorn in Temper’s side as they’re sent off on a scouting mission on the backwater desert planet of Herschel 2. They throw sparks every time they meet but Temper’s suspicions of his ulterior motives only serve to fuel the flames between them.

Despite volcanic eruptions, secret cultists, and deadly galactic fighters, the greatest threat on this mission may be to Temper’s heart.]]> 11 Constance Fay steph 0 to-read 3.81 2023 Calamity (Uncharted Hearts, #1)
author: Constance Fay
name: steph
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Six Deaths of the Saint 78939602
Always mindful of the debt she owes, the girl finds her worth as a weapon in the hand of the Prince. Her victories make him a king, then an emperor. The bards sing her name and her enemies fear it. But the war never ends and the cost keeps rising—how many times will she repeat her own story?]]> 30 Alix E. Harrow steph 0 to-read 4.12 2022 The Six Deaths of the Saint
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: steph
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Undercover (Into Shadow) 78950663
A fresh-faced newcomer arrives in an isolated, gang-run town and soon finds herself taking a job nobody else wants: bodyguard to a ghoul. Not just your average mindless, half-rotted shuffler, though. Lucille is a dancer who can still put on her own lipstick and whose shows are half burlesque, half gladiator match. But the stranger is no stranger to this particular ghoul. Both women are undercover in their own way. And both have something to lose if their connection comes to light.]]> Tamsyn Muir steph 0 to-read 3.84 2022 Undercover (Into Shadow)
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: steph
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Sinner (Priest, #2) 44655345 I’m not a good man, and I’ve never pretended to be. I don’t believe in goodness or God or any happy ending that isn’t paid for in advance.

What do I believe in? Money. Sex. Macallan 18.

They have words for men like me—playboy. Womanizer. Skirt chaser.

My brother used to be a priest, and he only has one word for me.

Sinner.]]> Sierra Simone 1987110595 steph 0 read-in-2025
I was not a fan of the age gap in this one, so I couldn't really get behind the romance side of things; Sean is 36 and Zenny is 21 and about to start her senior year of college, and her youth was constantly brought up. One second he would be like "no, you're far too young for me" and the next he would be telling her everything he wanted to do to her (he actually does this like 20 minutes into the book [before he finds out how he actually knows her and what her future career plans involve], so this was all very insta-lusty, which I expected, but why make her so young to his mid-thirties?). And then when they have sex, his POV has lines like "peering up at me with these big, schoolgirl eyes", which felt icky. I say 'his POV' but actually it's essentially all his POV, same as for Priest, which I still don't particularly care for. I guess the focus is supposed to be on the Bell brothers in this series, but the lack of another full POV means I keep feeling like the other character isn't fully fleshed out. I love the Bell family dynamics a lot though, from Sean and his mum (who's undergoing treatment for cancer) buddy reading romance books (so fun!), to all of Sean's interactions with his various brothers.]]> 3.99 2018 Sinner (Priest, #2)
author: Sierra Simone
name: steph
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
DNF @ 55%

I was not a fan of the age gap in this one, so I couldn't really get behind the romance side of things; Sean is 36 and Zenny is 21 and about to start her senior year of college, and her youth was constantly brought up. One second he would be like "no, you're far too young for me" and the next he would be telling her everything he wanted to do to her (he actually does this like 20 minutes into the book [before he finds out how he actually knows her and what her future career plans involve], so this was all very insta-lusty, which I expected, but why make her so young to his mid-thirties?). And then when they have sex, his POV has lines like "peering up at me with these big, schoolgirl eyes", which felt icky. I say 'his POV' but actually it's essentially all his POV, same as for Priest, which I still don't particularly care for. I guess the focus is supposed to be on the Bell brothers in this series, but the lack of another full POV means I keep feeling like the other character isn't fully fleshed out. I love the Bell family dynamics a lot though, from Sean and his mum (who's undergoing treatment for cancer) buddy reading romance books (so fun!), to all of Sean's interactions with his various brothers.
]]> I Who Have Never Known Men 217266252
As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl—the 40th prisoner—sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground.

Informed by her background as a psychoanalyst and her youth in exile, I Who Have Never Known Men is a haunting, heartbreaking post-apocalyptic novel of female friendship and intimacy, and the lengths people will go to maintain their humanity in the face of devastation. Back in print for the first time since 1997, Jacqueline Harpman’s modern classic is an important addition to the growing canon of feminist speculative literature.]]> 7 Jacqueline Harpman 1666671282 steph 4 read-in-2025 "Perhaps you never have time when you are alone. You only acquire it by watching it go by in others."

Hmm, I think 4.25 stars. Such a bleak story, but not fully lacking in hope. However, the situation the narrator finds herself in is something completely horrifying to me; I love being on my own, but I need to know that other people are around.]]> 4.04 1995 I Who Have Never Known Men
author: Jacqueline Harpman
name: steph
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
"Perhaps you never have time when you are alone. You only acquire it by watching it go by in others."

Hmm, I think 4.25 stars. Such a bleak story, but not fully lacking in hope. However, the situation the narrator finds herself in is something completely horrifying to me; I love being on my own, but I need to know that other people are around.
]]> <![CDATA[Detective Beans: and the Case of the Missing Hat]]> 210718838 Meet Detective Beans, the best kitten detective in town, equipped with his tie, brown trench coat, and—GASP. It’s gone! His detective hat is missing! Follow along to discover the charming, whimsical, and mysterious world of Detective Beans.

Meet Detective Beans (just Beans for short), a young cat sleuth dedicated to doing whatever it takes to solve the case. After a night of mystery movies with his best friend, Biscuit, Detective Beans wakes up to find his detective hat is missing. There’s only one thing to hit the streets of Cat Town and find that missing hat! Cat Town is full of suspects, from the neighborhood bird to a magician in the park, and each twist and turn in this journey leads to an interesting new encounter � and to solving a much bigger case than Beans could have imagined.

Brilliantly written and illustrated by New Zealand comic artist Li Chen, creator of the internationally popular ExtraOrdinary Comics, Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat is filled with charming cat capers, warm-hearted humor, and detective stories all in the form of a graphic novel that will entertain comics fans and middle grade readers everywhere.ձ> 0 Li Chen 1524897000 steph 4 read-in-2025 4.59 Detective Beans: and the Case of the Missing Hat
author: Li Chen
name: steph
average rating: 4.59
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
4.5 shiny stars for the best kitten detective ever, Detective Beans. � This was so, so cute!! I loved the humour and plot, and the art was absolutely adorable with such fun little details!
]]> <![CDATA[Magic Shifts [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels, #8)]]> 220559427
But when they learn that their friend Eduardo has gone missing, Kate and Curran shift their focus to investigate his disappearance. As they dig further into the merc’s business, they discover that the Mercenary Guild has gone to hell and that Eduardo’s recent assignments are connected in the most sinister way�

An ancient enemy has arisen, and Kate and Curran are the only ones who can stop it—before it takes their city apart piece by piece.

Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!]]> 9 Ilona Andrews steph 4 read-in-2025 4.69 2025 Magic Shifts [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels, #8)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.69
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
4.5 stars. Can't believe we're reaching the end of the GA adaptations already!!
]]> The Jaguar 60765706 With electrifying boldness, Sarah Holland-Batt confronts what it means to be mortal in an astonishing and deeply humane portrait of a father’s Parkinson’s Disease, and a daughter forged by grief.

Opening and closing with startling elegies set in the charged moments before and after a death, and fearlessly probing the body’s animal endurance, appetites and metamorphoses, The Jaguar is marked by Holland-Batt’s lyric intensity and linguistic mastery, along with a stark new clarity of voice.

Here, Holland-Batt is at her most exacting and uncompromising: these ferociously intelligent, insistent poems refuse to look away, and challenge us to view ruthless witness as a form of love. The Jaguar is an indelible collection by a poet at the height of her powers.]]> 144 Sarah Holland-Batt 0702265500 steph 0 to-read 4.18 2022 The Jaguar
author: Sarah Holland-Batt
name: steph
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magic Bites [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels, #1)]]> 128150474 9 Ilona Andrews 1685088961 steph 4 4.43 Magic Bites [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels, #1)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/24
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: read-in-2023, favourite-favourites, read-in-2024
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magic Breaks [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels, #7)]]> 215034855
As the mate of the Beast Lord, Curran, former mercenary Kate Daniels has more responsibilities than it seems possible to juggle. Not only is she still struggling to keep her investigative business afloat, but she must now deal with the affairs of the Pack, including preparing her people for attack from Roland, a cruel, ancient being with godlike powers.

As Roland’s long shadow looms ever nearer, Kate is called to attend a gathering of leaders from Atlanta’s supernatural factions. When one of the Masters of the Dead is found murdered by a shapeshifter, Kate is given less than twenty-four hours to hunt down the killer. And this time, if she fails, she’ll find herself embroiled in a war that could destroy everything she holds dear.


This dramatized audiobook also includes 2 short stories: Prequel and Jim's POV.]]> 11 Ilona Andrews steph 5 read-in-2024 4.80 Magic Breaks [Dramatized Adaptation] (Kate Daniels, #7)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.80
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
My love affair with GraphicAudio × Ilona Andrews continues
]]> The Built Moment 41124302 64 Lavinia Greenlaw 057134710X steph 3 read-in-2025
In this collection, Lavinia Greenlaw chronicles her father's progressing dementia in the first section, The Sea Is an Edge and an Ending. The second section � The Bluebell Horizontal � is about dealing with loss. The first section was strongest for me because it felt so cohesive and her emotions about the impending loss were so strong. The second section wasn't as much of a fave for me, but I think I could appreciate the poems more on a reread. My favourite poem was the opening one, also titled 'The sea is an edge and an ending'.

Some favourite lines:
�"My father has lost his way out of the present." (the opening line of 'The sea is an edge and an ending')
�"Is this the easiest way to let go? / Not to do it yourself but to pass the act on? (from 'His gifts')
�"He has never felt as present / as he does now that the place is empty." (from 'His home comes apart at the touch')
�"He peers at me and the space between us extends itself // so that I am where he wants me, out there in the dark / in a place without stars or fathers" (from "My father tells me to wait")
�"What of you did they have to unbuild / in order to restore the idea of a heart / as either empty or full?" (from 'Pyroxene')]]> 4.02 The Built Moment
author: Lavinia Greenlaw
name: steph
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
3.5 stars.

In this collection, Lavinia Greenlaw chronicles her father's progressing dementia in the first section, The Sea Is an Edge and an Ending. The second section � The Bluebell Horizontal � is about dealing with loss. The first section was strongest for me because it felt so cohesive and her emotions about the impending loss were so strong. The second section wasn't as much of a fave for me, but I think I could appreciate the poems more on a reread. My favourite poem was the opening one, also titled 'The sea is an edge and an ending'.

Some favourite lines:
�"My father has lost his way out of the present." (the opening line of 'The sea is an edge and an ending')
�"Is this the easiest way to let go? / Not to do it yourself but to pass the act on? (from 'His gifts')
�"He has never felt as present / as he does now that the place is empty." (from 'His home comes apart at the touch')
�"He peers at me and the space between us extends itself // so that I am where he wants me, out there in the dark / in a place without stars or fathers" (from "My father tells me to wait")
�"What of you did they have to unbuild / in order to restore the idea of a heart / as either empty or full?" (from 'Pyroxene')
]]> Matchmaker 218092608
Best friends Mason and Kimmy live through their early twenties in the early �20s, navigating a global pandemic and terrifying job market alongside making friends, dating, and playing way too many video games. But when shy and nervous Mason ’t find a boyfriend, it’s up to Kimmy to play matchmaker!

Who will it be? The cute boy down the hall with the Sailor Moon mask? A mysterious stranger from the dating profile that Kimmy masterminded? Or maybe the angsty barista from the neighborhood coffee shop?

A stubbornly hopeful and funny comic about the bonds between queer and trans friends, the families we make, and the happiness we find in each other.]]> 280 Cam Marshall steph 0 to-read 4.50 Matchmaker
author: Cam Marshall
name: steph
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Deep Sky 80054610 Yume Kitasei's The Deep Sky is an enthralling sci fi thriller debut about a mission into deep space that begins with a lethal explosion that leaves the survivors questioning the loyalty of the crew.

To save humanity, they left everything behind—except their differences.

It is the eve of Earth's environmental collapse. A single ship carries humanity's last hope: eighty elite graduates of a competitive program, who will give birth to a generation of children in deep space. But halfway to a distant but livable planet, a lethal bomb kills three of the crew and knocks The Phoenix off course. Asuka, the only surviving witness, is an immediate suspect.

Asuka already felt like an impostor before the explosion. She was the last picked for the mission, she struggled during training back on Earth, and she was chosen to represent Japan, a country she only partly knows as a half-Japanese girl raised in America. But estranged from her mother back home, The Phoenix is all she has left.

With the crew turning on each other, Asuka is determined to find the culprit before they all lose faith in the mission—or worse, the bomber strikes again. Now, in order to survive, she must burn brighter than the stars that surround her.]]> 13 Yume Kitasei 1250902657 steph 0 to-read 3.44 2023 The Deep Sky
author: Yume Kitasei
name: steph
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens: On Reading and Writing Poetry Forensically]]> 205478848
What makes reading a poem unlike reading anything else? While there are as many ways to read a poem as there are types of poetry, every poem demands a conscious attention to language. Reading poems forensically helps us bring that attention to our own writing.

In Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens, acclaimed poet and teacher Paisley Rekdal demonstrates how to observe the building blocks of a poem—including its diction, form, imagery, and rhythm—and construct an interpretation of its meaning. Through close analyses of contemporary and classic poems as well as creative exercises and specific, skill-based questions, this book shows how a poem takes shape and accrues meaning through the intersection of all its lyric elements. Lucid and generous, Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens reveals how to read and write critically, and how to appreciate—and achieve—the exhilarating craft of poetry.]]> 384 Paisley Rekdal 0393881989 steph 0 4.29 Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens: On Reading and Writing Poetry Forensically
author: Paisley Rekdal
name: steph
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: read-in-2025, currently-reading
review:

]]> Bingsu for Two 223550921 AN ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS COFFEE SHOP ROMANCE, SLOW-ROASTED TO PERFECTION. IDEAL FOR FANS OF JENNY HAN AND BETTER THAN THE MOVIES!

Meet River Langston-Lee. In the past 24 hours, he's dumped his girlfriend, walked out of his SATs, and quit his job at his parents' Seattle cafe in spectacularly disastrous fashion - even for him.

Somehow, he manages to talk his way into a job at a failing Korean cafe, Bingsu for Two. This could be his lucky break - but then he meets grumpy goth Sarang Cho, his new, no-BS co-worker, and she is as determined to make River's life hell as she is to save her family's cafe.

After River accidentally uploads a video of his chaotic co-workers to his popular fandom account, the cafe strikes viral fame. The kicker? Their new fans are putting River and Sarang together, big-time. In order to keep the internet's attention - and the cafe's new paying customers - River and Sarang must pretend that the tension between them is definitely of the romantic variety, not the considering the best way to kill you and hide your body variety.

But when Bingsu for Two's newfound success catches the attention of River's ex and his parents' cafe around the corner, he faces a choice: keep letting others control his life or stand up for the place that's become home. And a green-haired girl who's not as heartless as he originally thought . . .]]> 368 Sujin Witherspoon 1471417743 steph 4 read-in-2025
Bingsu for Two was so, so cute and funny! I had a great time reading it and was basically like ]]> 4.12 2025 Bingsu for Two
author: Sujin Witherspoon
name: steph
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
4.25 stars!

Bingsu for Two was so, so cute and funny! I had a great time reading it and was basically like
]]> The Water Outlaws 203256791 Inspired by a classic of martial arts literature, S. L. Huang's The Water Outlaws are bandits of devastating ruthlessness, unseemly femininity, dangerous philosophies, and ungovernable gender who are ready to make history—or tear it apart.

In the jianghu, you break the law to make it your own.

Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor's soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job.

Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away.

Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice—for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They’re also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats.

Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire.]]> 0 S.L. Huang steph 0 to-read 0.0 2023 The Water Outlaws
author: S.L. Huang
name: steph
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Don't Let the Forest In 220636610
Protect him. Lie for him. Kill for him.

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality—Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won’t say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork—whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew’s wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster—Thomas’s drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator…]]> 9 C.G. Drews 1470371766 steph 4 read-in-2025 3.77 2024 Don't Let the Forest In
author: C.G. Drews
name: steph
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
4.25 stars. Woah. The body horror was for sure body horror-ing!! Michael Crouch did a really good job narrating � I really felt the often frantic/desperate nature of Andrew's thoughts/speech, etc.
]]> <![CDATA[Exit Strategy [Dramatized Adaptation]: The Murderbot Diaries 4 (Murderbot Diaries)]]> 201297703
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught?]]> 3 Martha Wells steph 3 read-in-2025 4.27 Exit Strategy [Dramatized Adaptation]: The Murderbot Diaries 4 (Murderbot Diaries)
author: Martha Wells
name: steph
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
3.5 stars. As before, the first two novellas are still my fave! Will continue the series (re)read soon, I hope
]]> Jaws 29540031 10 Peter Benchley steph 1 read-in-2025, dnf "To... fantasies," he said. "Tell me about yours." His eyes were a bright liquid blue and his lips were parted in a half-smile.
Ellen laughed. "Oh, mine aren't very interesting. I imagine they're just your old, run-of-the-mill fantasies."
"There's no such thing," said Hooper. "Tell me." He was asking, not demanding, but Ellen felt that the game she had started demanded that she answer.
"Oh, you know," she said. Her stomach felt warm and the back of her neck was hot. "Just... the standard things. Rape, I guess, is one."

I'm out. DNF at 54%. From characters being introduced early on like "Patrolman Len Hendricks sat at his desk in the Amity police station, reading a detective novel called Deadly, I'm Yours. At the moment the phone rang the heroine, a girl named Whistling Dixie, was about to be raped by a motorcycle club." and "Sometimes during the summer, Brody would catch himself gazing with idle lust at one of the young, long-legged girls who pranced around town—their untethered breasts bouncing beneath the thinnest of cotton jerseys." to now this character saying she fantasises about rape and that it's scary at first until the man has got her "ready"... NOPE. I don't normally give a rating to my DNFs, and I did try to finish this one because it's for book club, but nope.]]> 3.43 1974 Jaws
author: Peter Benchley
name: steph
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1974
rating: 1
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: read-in-2025, dnf
review:
"To... fantasies," he said. "Tell me about yours." His eyes were a bright liquid blue and his lips were parted in a half-smile.
Ellen laughed. "Oh, mine aren't very interesting. I imagine they're just your old, run-of-the-mill fantasies."
"There's no such thing," said Hooper. "Tell me." He was asking, not demanding, but Ellen felt that the game she had started demanded that she answer.
"Oh, you know," she said. Her stomach felt warm and the back of her neck was hot. "Just... the standard things. Rape, I guess, is one."

I'm out. DNF at 54%. From characters being introduced early on like "Patrolman Len Hendricks sat at his desk in the Amity police station, reading a detective novel called Deadly, I'm Yours. At the moment the phone rang the heroine, a girl named Whistling Dixie, was about to be raped by a motorcycle club." and "Sometimes during the summer, Brody would catch himself gazing with idle lust at one of the young, long-legged girls who pranced around town—their untethered breasts bouncing beneath the thinnest of cotton jerseys." to now this character saying she fantasises about rape and that it's scary at first until the man has got her "ready"... NOPE. I don't normally give a rating to my DNFs, and I did try to finish this one because it's for book club, but nope.
]]> Hunted 30759349 New York Times bestselling author Meagan Spooner spins a thoroughly thrilling Beautyand the Beast story for the modern age, expertly woven with spellbinding romance, intrigue, and suspense that readers won’t soon be able to forget.

Beauty knows the Beast's forest in her bones—and in her blood. After all, her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering its secrets. So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters out of their comfortable home among the aristocracy and back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas . . . or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance. The Beast.

Deaf to her sisters� protests, Yeva hunts this strange creature back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of magical creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin, or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?]]> 9 Meagan Spooner 006266168X steph 0 to-read 3.74 2017 Hunted
author: Meagan Spooner
name: steph
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> In the Dream House 49670670
For years Carmen Maria Machado has struggled to articulate her experiences in an abusive same-sex relationship. In this extraordinarily candid and radically inventive memoir, Machado tackles a dark and difficult subject with wit, inventiveness and an inquiring spirit, as she uses a series of narrative tropes—including classic horror themes—to create an entirely unique piece of work which is destined to become an instant classic.]]> 6 Carmen Maria Machado 1684572797 steph 4 read-in-2025
One of those books I probably should have read physically (some writing I just prefer to read with my eyes, and I think Machado's might be that kind of writing for me) but the audiobook is still great! The structure of this book is really clever � the way Machado chronicles her own experiences at the hands of an abusive ex-girlfriend while also looking into the topic of abuse in queer relationships is really well done.]]> 4.33 2019 In the Dream House
author: Carmen Maria Machado
name: steph
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/15
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
(Audiobook courtesy of the Libro.fm ALC programme. Rating and review my own.)

One of those books I probably should have read physically (some writing I just prefer to read with my eyes, and I think Machado's might be that kind of writing for me) but the audiobook is still great! The structure of this book is really clever � the way Machado chronicles her own experiences at the hands of an abusive ex-girlfriend while also looking into the topic of abuse in queer relationships is really well done.
]]> <![CDATA[Magic Shifts (Kate Daniels, #8)]]> 26007272 In the latest Kate Daniels novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews, magic is coming and going in waves in post-Shift Atlanta—and each crest leaves danger in its wake�

After breaking from life with the Pack, mercenary Kate Daniels and her mate—former Beast Lord Curran Lennart—are adjusting to a very different pace. While they’re thrilled to escape all the infighting, Curran misses the constant challenges of leading the shapeshifters.

So when the Pack offers him its stake in the Mercenary Guild, Curran seizes the opportunity—too bad the Guild wants nothing to do with him and Kate. Luckily, as a veteran merc, Kate can take over any of the Guild’s unfinished jobs in order to bring in money and build their reputation. But what Kate and Curran don’t realize is that the odd jobs they’ve been working are all connected.

An ancient enemy has arisen, and Kate and Curran are the only ones who can stop it—before it takes their city apart piece by piece…]]> Ilona Andrews steph 4 read-in-2025 4.39 2015 Magic Shifts (Kate Daniels, #8)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
Ready for the GraphicAudio version at the end of the month
]]> <![CDATA[Ice Planet Barbarians (Ice Planet Barbarians, #1)]]> 37833025
You'd think being abducted by aliens would be the worst thing that could happen to me. And you'd be wrong. Because now, the aliens are having ship trouble, and they've left their cargo of human women - including me - on an ice planet.

And the only native inhabitant I've met? He's big, horned, blue, and really, really has a thing for me...

***

This edition is the COMPLETE story of ICE PLANET BARBARIANS.]]> 6 Ruby Dixon steph 2 read-in-2025 3.45 2015 Ice Planet Barbarians (Ice Planet Barbarians, #1)
author: Ruby Dixon
name: steph
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
A deeply unserious book that also has some very serious content, like having gang rape right at the beginning (why did both of the books I’ve started the year with � the other being Jaws � have to include rape?
]]> <![CDATA[The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year]]> 212091273 Knives Out gets a holiday rom-com twist in this rivals-to-lovers romance-mystery from New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter.

The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas.

Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:

She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.

He’s Mr. Big-time Thriller Guy.

She hates his guts.

He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)

But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.

That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.

She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?

As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor.

Assuming they don’t kill each other first.]]> 9 Ally Carter steph 3 read-in-2024
I feel a bit cheated though � they were enemies for all of 5 seconds LOL. Also I was getting worried that Zachary Webber was only going to be in the brief interrogation excerpts (the way the book opened with one made me think this was going to be duet style, but nope ]]> 3.87 2024 The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year
author: Ally Carter
name: steph
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
Breezed through this in 2 days to make it my last read of the year! I had a good time with it overall, hence my rating.

I feel a bit cheated though � they were enemies for all of 5 seconds LOL. Also I was getting worried that Zachary Webber was only going to be in the brief interrogation excerpts (the way the book opened with one made me think this was going to be duet style, but nope
]]> Light From Uncommon Stars 58986596
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline. As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 14 Ryka Aoki steph 4 read-in-2024 4.09 2021 Light From Uncommon Stars
author: Ryka Aoki
name: steph
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
I started out completely baffled by the story and the way it was being told. What helped though was reading a sample online and then just... going with the flow, haha. I will admit I stayed somewhat confused � the POV changes are relentless, so if I zoned out of the audiobook for even a millisecond, I'd find myself in a different POV or scene, haha. But I also found myself wanting to listen more and more despite this and grew to love the characters and just how utterly wacky this book is. There are a lot of dark and difficult aspects, e.g. the transgender violinist Katrina faces a lot of transphobia, but it's also a really heartwarming story. I understand why some people don't get on with the book, but I'm glad I stuck with it and powered through my initial confusion. Also, I don't really like doughnuts, but I kind of want some now.
]]> <![CDATA[To Shape a Dragon's Breath (Nampeshiweisit #1)]]> 63885157
The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations—until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit—a person in a unique relationship with a dragon.

Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raising—and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed.

For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges abound—both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects.

Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing—and they might just be the ones to do it.]]> 17 Moniquill Blackgoose 0593677242 steph 0 to-read 4.28 2023 To Shape a Dragon's Breath (Nampeshiweisit #1)
author: Moniquill Blackgoose
name: steph
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Bruising of Qilwa 63318400
Firuz-e Jafari is fortunate enough to have immigrated to the Free Democratic City-State of Qilwa, fleeing the slaughter of other traditional Sassanian blood magic practitioners in their homeland. Despite the status of refugees in their new home, Firuz has a good job at a free healing clinic in Qilwa, working with Kofi, a kindly new employer, and mentoring Afsoneh, a troubled orphan refugee with powerful magic.

But Firuz and Kofi have discovered a terrible new disease which leaves mysterious bruises on its victims. The illness is spreading quickly through Qilwa, and there are dangerous accusations of ineptly performed blood magic. In order to survive, Firuz must break a deadly cycle of prejudice, untangle sociopolitical constraints, and find a fresh start for their both their blood and found family.

Powerful and fascinating, The Bruising of Qilwa is the newest arrival in the era of fantasy classics such as the Broken Earth Trilogy, The Four Profound Weaves, and Who Fears Death.]]> 5 Naseem Jamnia steph 3 read-in-2024
I hear the author will hopefully be writing more in this queernorm, Persian-inspired world though, and if it's a full-length novel I'd definitely like to try it.]]> 3.70 2022 The Bruising of Qilwa
author: Naseem Jamnia
name: steph
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
I feel like the scope of the world/story was a little too big for a novella for me, which hampered my enjoyment of this book a bit!

I hear the author will hopefully be writing more in this queernorm, Persian-inspired world though, and if it's a full-length novel I'd definitely like to try it.
]]> When The Phone Rings 222230660
For three years of their arranged marriage, she and her husband never exchanged a single conversation.

One day, her life takes a harrowing turn when she’s taken hostage.

‘Don’t hang up! This isn’t a phishing call�!�

However, her husband, who was even worse than a stranger, coldly disconnected the call.

� “Call me when a body is found.�

***

You $%#£! He’s such a jerk!

Overwhelmed with anger, Heeju decides to threaten her husband anonymously.

The problem is that he was a well-known spokesperson for the Blue House.

� “Can’t you send threats on time?�

“T󲹳…�

� “Here I’m anxiously waiting for my blackmailer’s call.�

“What do you…�

� “Are you playing around with someone else besides me?�

“�?�

Wait, is this the same sociopath husband I knew?]]> Geon Eomul Nye steph 0 to-read 3.75 2022 When The Phone Rings
author: Geon Eomul Nye
name: steph
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Reading Poets: a new anthology]]> 214941054 0 Vic Pickup 1915048133 steph 3 read-in-2024
A nice variety of poets and poems, but I'd say only a few were to my taste as a reader, hence my rating. My favourite poems were '40.2' and 'Preserving' by Fiona Dignan, 'The enemy within' by Victoria Pugh (I really liked the mirrored structure of this one), and 'the something unsaid' by Megan Slater (I loved the structure of this one a lot too and how the 'unsaid' of the title was shown on page too, in a way).]]> 3.00 Reading Poets: a new anthology
author: Vic Pickup
name: steph
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
2.75 stars.

A nice variety of poets and poems, but I'd say only a few were to my taste as a reader, hence my rating. My favourite poems were '40.2' and 'Preserving' by Fiona Dignan, 'The enemy within' by Victoria Pugh (I really liked the mirrored structure of this one), and 'the something unsaid' by Megan Slater (I loved the structure of this one a lot too and how the 'unsaid' of the title was shown on page too, in a way).
]]> <![CDATA[King of Wrath (Kings of Sin #1)]]> 199455465
Vivian vive subjugada pela ambição da família. Dante é um implacável CEO que não se verga perante ninguém. Nenhum deseja um casamento de conveniência, mas ambos são forçados a aceitar o acordo. Ela é a mulher que ele nunca quis� e a fraqueza que não foi capaz de prever.

Rude, mas suave. Firme, mas suplicante. Carnal, mas terno.]]> Ana Huang steph 5 read-in-2024
OK, so. This REALLY hits a) on a reread and b) while in the middle of a When the Phone Rings watch. ]]> 4.14 2022 King of Wrath (Kings of Sin #1)
author: Ana Huang
name: steph
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
Reread, December 2024. Upped to 4.75 stars.

OK, so. This REALLY hits a) on a reread and b) while in the middle of a When the Phone Rings watch.
]]> Mexican Gothic 52739975
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

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

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 11 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 0593213874 steph 3 read-in-2024
I liked the atmosphere and the creeping sense of dread a lot, and I liked Noemi as a protagonist, but the slow pace didn't work well for me and the narrator of the audiobook was a bit flat. I also found the writing didn't give me a sense of the 1950s, but maybe that's just me!]]> 3.49 2020 Mexican Gothic
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: steph
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
2.75 stars.

I liked the atmosphere and the creeping sense of dread a lot, and I liked Noemi as a protagonist, but the slow pace didn't work well for me and the narrator of the audiobook was a bit flat. I also found the writing didn't give me a sense of the 1950s, but maybe that's just me!
]]> The Stardust Grail 214229108 Save one world. Doom her own.

Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future.

Then an old friend comes to her with a job she ’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it.

Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a dark shadow over her team of friends new and old. Someone will betray her along the way. Worse yet, in choosing to save one species, she may condemn humanity and Earth itself.]]> 12 Yume Kitasei 1250350395 steph 4 read-in-2024
The fact I enjoyed this so much despite being deep in the middle of When the Phone Rings brainrot is saying something! I loved the cast of characters and their relationships to one another so much, and Katharine Chin did an amazing job making each character distinct. I'd only heard her in a dual-narrated romance audiobook before, where her performance was good but not something very memorable for me. She *really* came into her own in The Stardust Grail though � I was so, so impressed with her range! Particular highlights were Auncle's and Wil's voices *chef's kiss*.

As with most sci-fi, it did take me a little while to get into the rhythm of the story, but once I did, I had a great time. I definitely recommend this one, and I now want to try Yume Kitasei's The Deep Sky too and also more audiobooks narrated by Katharine Chin.]]> 3.77 2024 The Stardust Grail
author: Yume Kitasei
name: steph
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/16
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
4.5 stars.

The fact I enjoyed this so much despite being deep in the middle of When the Phone Rings brainrot is saying something! I loved the cast of characters and their relationships to one another so much, and Katharine Chin did an amazing job making each character distinct. I'd only heard her in a dual-narrated romance audiobook before, where her performance was good but not something very memorable for me. She *really* came into her own in The Stardust Grail though � I was so, so impressed with her range! Particular highlights were Auncle's and Wil's voices *chef's kiss*.

As with most sci-fi, it did take me a little while to get into the rhythm of the story, but once I did, I had a great time. I definitely recommend this one, and I now want to try Yume Kitasei's The Deep Sky too and also more audiobooks narrated by Katharine Chin.
]]> <![CDATA[A Rivalry of Hearts (Fae Flings and Corset Strings, #1)]]> 217540968 One prestigious publishing contract.
A bargain of hearts and seduction.

They say never bargain with the fae. They also say don’t get drunk on fae wine. Yet romance author Edwina Danforth has managed a blunder with both on her first visit to the infamous faelands. Now she's trapped in a magic-fueled bet she barely remembers with a man she’d be happier to forget. The terms? Whoever can bed the most lovers during their month-long dueling book tour wins a coveted publishing contract.

The win should be easy for Edwina. She’s known for penning scintillating tales of whirlwind romance. There’s just one her imagination vastly exceeds her bedroom experience. But when failure means plummeting her career back into obscurity, losing isn’t an option.

Her handsome fae rival, William Haywood, poses an even greater challenge. Not only are his looks as aggravatingly perfect as his track record behind closed doors, but he has his own reasons for playing to win, and he won’t go down without a fight. Unless, of course, it’s a different kind of going down. In that case, he’s fair game.

Edwina and William clash in a rivalry of romance. But what happens when their objects of desire…turn out to be each other?

A Rivalry of Hearts is a spicy standalone adult fantasy romcom in the Fae Flings and Corset Strings series. Every book in the series can be read on its own in any order and ends with a HEA. If you like academic rivals, enemies to lovers, and quirky heroines, then you’ll love this sizzling tale.

The Fae Flings and Corset Strings series is set in the same world as The Fair Isle Trilogy and Entangled with Fae . Journey back to this beloved fae world or fall in love for the first time.]]> 12 Tessonja Odette steph 2 read-in-2024
Some books are cringe but still very entertaining. Unfortunately, A Rivalry of Hearts is just cringe, full stop. I mean, William's nickname for Edwina was 'Weenie'. ]]> 4.02 A Rivalry of Hearts (Fae Flings and Corset Strings, #1)
author: Tessonja Odette
name: steph
average rating: 4.02
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
Eh. 1.75 stars rounded up for Daphne (her dry tone and dry humour easily made her the best character for me). I actually picked up this book because I chose a Libro.fm ALC of book two in the series and thought I should read book one as well, but in hindsight I should have tried this initial book before downloading the ALC because now I don't think I want to read it (even though it focuses on Daphne, it also focuses on Monty and he was quite irritating).

Some books are cringe but still very entertaining. Unfortunately, A Rivalry of Hearts is just cringe, full stop. I mean, William's nickname for Edwina was 'Weenie'.
]]> Lights Out 219217869
I want someone with a soul as black as night. Someone who would burn the world down for me and not lose a single minute of sleep over it.

Trauma nurse Aly Cappellucci doesn’t need any more kinks. She likes the one she’s landed on just fine. To her, nothing could top the masked men she follows online. Unless one of those men was shirtless, heavily tattooed, and waiting for her in her bedroom. She dreams about being hunted by one in particular, of him chasing her down and doing deliciously dark things to her willing body. She never could have guessed that by sending one drunken text, those dreams would become her new reality.

I want things most people don’t, craving darkness and depravity instead of light and love.

Josh Hammond has spent his life avoiding the limelight, but his online persona is another story. At night, he posts masked thirst traps for his millions of fans to drool over, but one follower has caught his eye: Aly. After reading a comment begging him to break into her house wearing a mask, he decides to take her up on her offer.

Together, Aly and Josh live out their darkest fantasies, unaware that Aly has captured the attention of someone else. Someone with far more sinister intentions than a little light stalking. As Josh turns from predator to protector and the stakes heighten, he must ask himself how far he’s willing to go for the woman he’s obsessed with.]]> Navessa Allen 1666672130 steph 4 read-in-2024 Still highly entertaining ]]> 4.12 2024 Lights Out
author: Navessa Allen
name: steph
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
Reread, Dec 2024
Still highly entertaining
]]> Priest (Priest, #1) 35442608
There are many rules a priest can't break. A priest cannot marry. A priest cannot abandon his flock. A priest cannot forsake his God.

I've always been good at following rules.

Until she came. Then I learned new rules.

My name is Tyler Anselm Bell. I'm 29 years old. Six months ago I broke my vow of celibacy on the altar of my own church, and God help me, I would do it again. I am a priest, and this is my confession.

Priest is a full-length stand-alone with an HEA. For mature audiences only.]]> 8 Sierra Simone steph 3 read-in-2024
I knew going into this that it would probably be insta-lust, so that wasn't a big problem for me even though a slow-burn is superior (of course ]]> 3.60 2015 Priest (Priest, #1)
author: Sierra Simone
name: steph
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
2.75 stars.

I knew going into this that it would probably be insta-lust, so that wasn't a big problem for me even though a slow-burn is superior (of course
]]> Caught Up (Into Darkness, #2) 217562358
I wanted this woman, and I was a man who always got what he wanted.

Nico 'Junior' Trocci knows Lauren Marchetti is off limits. She is sweetness and laughter, whereas Junior exists in a world of violence and depravity. Men like him don't get to have women like her. It's why he pushed her away back in high school and has kept his distance ever since.

But when Junior looks Lauren up online, he discovers the shy, bookish girl he remembers is gone. In her place is a strikingly beautiful woman whose social media is filled with scantily clad pictures of herself and a connection to a nearby play club. Junior's innocent curiosity quickly turns into a dark obsession. But watching Lauren from a distance isn't enough; he needs to make her his.

He's ruthless; a walking red flag. Good thing red is my favorite color.

Lauren is intrigued by the mystery man who keeps showing up at her club, who tempts her white-hot desires. But as their flirty online messages stir up a deeper form of connection, Lauren worries she's developing real feelings for this brooding stranger. As their combined desire ratchets up to a breaking point, who will seduce who? And will they survive the fall?

Caught Up is a fast-paced dark romance with a morally grey male lead. Some themes and scenes may be disturbing to readers. Please check the content warning at the beginning of the book.

]]> Navessa Allen 1529442443 steph 0 to-read 4.22 2025 Caught Up (Into Darkness, #2)
author: Navessa Allen
name: steph
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves: to-read
review:
What if... Jacob Morgan is brought back as a narrator again but does an Italian accent this time (à la Dante Russo)
]]> With the Fire on High 45890422 8 Elizabeth Acevedo steph 4 read-in-2024
Another wonderful book from Acevedo! This one isn't in verse like The Poet X but her poetic performance style is still evident in the narration, which I really loved. The writing, characters, family, food, narration � all of it combined to make a great recipe for this story. The ending felt a little abrupt, but I still loved this overall and would have happily listened for longer.]]> 4.21 2019 With the Fire on High
author: Elizabeth Acevedo
name: steph
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
4.5 stars.

Another wonderful book from Acevedo! This one isn't in verse like The Poet X but her poetic performance style is still evident in the narration, which I really loved. The writing, characters, family, food, narration � all of it combined to make a great recipe for this story. The ending felt a little abrupt, but I still loved this overall and would have happily listened for longer.
]]> Family Lore 199548234
But Flor isn't the only person with secrets. Matilde has tried for decades to cover the extent of her husband's infidelity, but she now must confront the true state of her marriage. Pastora is typically the most reserved sister, but Flor's wake motivates this driven woman to attempt to solve her sibling's problems. Camila is the youngest sibling, often the forgotten one, but she's decided she no longer wants to be taken for granted.

And the next generation, cousins Ona and Yadi, face tumult of their Yadi, reuniting with her first love, who was imprisoned when they were both still kids; and Ona, married for years and attempting to conceive.

Spanning the three days prior to the wake, Family Lore traces the lives of each of the Marte women, weaving together past and present, Santo Domingo and New York City. Told with Elizabeth Acevedo's inimitable and incandescent voice, this is an indelible portrait of sisters and cousins, aunts and nieces - one family's journey through their history helping them better navigate all that is to come.]]> Elizabeth Acevedo steph 0 to-read 3.57 2023 Family Lore
author: Elizabeth Acevedo
name: steph
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Clap When You Land 53402139 Finalist in Best Young Adult Audiobook at the Audie Awards 2020 for WITH THE FIRE ON HIGH

The stunning new novel in verse from the 2019 Carnegie Medal winning and Waterstones Book Prize shortlisted author of THE POET X

Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people...

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal's office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance - and Papi's secrets - the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they've lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.

In a dual narrative novel in verse that brims with both grief and love, award-winning and bestselling author Elizabeth Acevedo writes about the devastation of loss, the difficulty of forgiveness, and the bittersweet bonds that shape our lives.]]> 6 Elizabeth Acevedo 1471409376 steph 0 to-read 4.09 2020 Clap When You Land
author: Elizabeth Acevedo
name: steph
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Beautiful in the Mouth 21137823 Thomas Lux selected this debut collection as winner of BOA's A. Poulin, Jr., Poetry Prize. In his foreword he writes, "I was immediately struck by the boldness of imagination, the strange cadences, and wild music of these poems. We should be glad that young poets like Keetje Kuipers are making their voices heard not by tearing up the old language but by making the old language new."

Keetje Kuipers, a native of the Northwest, earned her BA at Swarthmore College and MFA at the University of Oregon. A Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, she divides her time between Stanford and Missoula, Montana.

]]> 97 Keetje Kuipers steph 4 read-in-2024
This is a really good collection, full of desire, grief, passion. Kuipers knows how to make the reader feel with her words, and I thought the foreword by Thomas Lux was apt � he says “There are a handful of traditional sonnets, each beautifully tuned, made so well that you might not know they are sonnets on first reading, which is the point of the craft, of a received form: to do its job, not to announce itself.�. And indeed there were several poems I then had to reread to appreciate the form anew afterwards.

I’ll keep my eye on this poet! I’d definitely like to read more of her work.]]> 4.14 2010 Beautiful in the Mouth
author: Keetje Kuipers
name: steph
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
4.25 stars.

This is a really good collection, full of desire, grief, passion. Kuipers knows how to make the reader feel with her words, and I thought the foreword by Thomas Lux was apt � he says “There are a handful of traditional sonnets, each beautifully tuned, made so well that you might not know they are sonnets on first reading, which is the point of the craft, of a received form: to do its job, not to announce itself.�. And indeed there were several poems I then had to reread to appreciate the form anew afterwards.

I’ll keep my eye on this poet! I’d definitely like to read more of her work.
]]> <![CDATA[The Wild Robot (The Wild Robot, 1)]]> 27247532 Can a robot survive in the wilderness?
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is--but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a fierce storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.
As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home--until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.

From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.
]]> 4 Peter Brown 1478938358 steph 3 read-in-2024 4.01 2016 The Wild Robot (The Wild Robot, 1)
author: Peter Brown
name: steph
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/22
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
2.75 stars. Cute, but I definitely enjoyed the film a lot more.
]]> The Poet X Lib/E 36955722
Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers--especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about.

With Mami's determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school's slam poetry club, she doesn't know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out. But she still can't stop thinking about performing her poems.

Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

Read by the author.

"Crackles with energy and snaps with authenticity and voice." --Justina Ireland, author of Dread Nation

"An incredibly potent debut." --Jason Reynolds, author of the National Book Award Finalist Ghost

"Acevedo has amplified the voices of girls en el barrio who are equal parts goddess, saint, warrior, and hero." --Ibi Zoboi, author of American Street]]> 4 Elizabeth Acevedo 1538500213 steph 4 read-in-2024
I started listening to this book and got around 70% through (the audiobook is only 4 hours!) before running to my library to pick up a paperback as well. Then I started the book from the beginning again, this time listening and reading, slowly, to savour the words and sounds. So that probably tells you how much I enjoyed this!

I have very little experience with slam poetry, aside from watching a few Button Poetry videos on YouTube here and there. When I'm reading poems, I love seeing poets choose specific line breaks (a really clean, purposeful line break � oof. Gets me every time!) and play around with spacing and form. When I listen to slam poetry, I'm looking for something else, more for the way the poems are performed and the way specific lines are spoken with passion and heart. Which is exactly what Acevedo does here with The Poet X. The way she delivered some of the lines/phrases/stanzas � wow. I did enjoy reading along as well though, as she did play around with structure; the ants poems stood out to me, for example, with single-word lines meandering across the pages, and I also really liked the contrapuntal poem at the end. Acevedo explains in the audiobook how that poem can be read across the columns or down one column and then the next, i.e. the reader can choose. This explanation isn't in the paperback as far as I can see!

Acevedo always gets a lot of praise and I can absolutely see why. This won't be my last book by her for sure!]]> 4.55 2018 The Poet X Lib/E
author: Elizabeth Acevedo
name: steph
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
4.5 stars.

I started listening to this book and got around 70% through (the audiobook is only 4 hours!) before running to my library to pick up a paperback as well. Then I started the book from the beginning again, this time listening and reading, slowly, to savour the words and sounds. So that probably tells you how much I enjoyed this!

I have very little experience with slam poetry, aside from watching a few Button Poetry videos on YouTube here and there. When I'm reading poems, I love seeing poets choose specific line breaks (a really clean, purposeful line break � oof. Gets me every time!) and play around with spacing and form. When I listen to slam poetry, I'm looking for something else, more for the way the poems are performed and the way specific lines are spoken with passion and heart. Which is exactly what Acevedo does here with The Poet X. The way she delivered some of the lines/phrases/stanzas � wow. I did enjoy reading along as well though, as she did play around with structure; the ants poems stood out to me, for example, with single-word lines meandering across the pages, and I also really liked the contrapuntal poem at the end. Acevedo explains in the audiobook how that poem can be read across the columns or down one column and then the next, i.e. the reader can choose. This explanation isn't in the paperback as far as I can see!

Acevedo always gets a lot of praise and I can absolutely see why. This won't be my last book by her for sure!
]]> <![CDATA[The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy, #1)]]> 7622904 427 N.K. Jemisin 0316075973 steph 0 to-read 3.83 2010 The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (The Inheritance Trilogy, #1)
author: N.K. Jemisin
name: steph
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (Hart and Mercy, #1)]]> 59801758
Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest.

After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend�. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.

If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most—Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares—each other?

Set in a world full of magic and demigods, donuts and small-town drama, this enchantingly quirky, utterly unique fantasy is perfect for readers of The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Invisible Library.]]> Megan Bannen 1668607972 steph 0 to-read 4.03 2022 The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (Hart and Mercy, #1)
author: Megan Bannen
name: steph
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Blood Over Bright Haven 208430658 Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.

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

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

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

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

(Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)]]> 430 M.L. Wang 0593873351 steph 1 read-in-2024
The opening chapters to this story were incredible and I was instantly hooked � we see the horror of Thomil's attempt at crossing to the city of Tiran with his family and begin to see the struggles Sciona faces as a woman there practising magic, which is otherwise dominated by men.

Pretty quickly, however, Sciona started to really grate on me. I couldn’t stand her constant looking down on Thomil as lesser, as stupid, as savage, one of the lowly Kwen, whereas she is smart, pious, one of the majestic Tiranish in this glorious city. I get that this is realistic for those who are sheltered and don’t know any better, etc. � unlearning ingrained prejudices is absolutely very difficult. However, because the book is almost entirely Sciona’s POV (third person), it was both exhausting hearing her constant dismissive thoughts about the Kwen and also very unbalanced because Thomil was not given that same intimate page time (he only had a few short sections). Sciona does (somewhat) unlearn her prejudices � I say ‘somewhat� because at 82% she is literally still like "God, the Kwen! Sciona hadn't stopped to think about how they would react. Even when Thomil had tried to make her think about it, her mind had slid past the thought." ]]> 4.41 2023 Blood Over Bright Haven
author: M.L. Wang
name: steph
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
1.5 stars.

The opening chapters to this story were incredible and I was instantly hooked � we see the horror of Thomil's attempt at crossing to the city of Tiran with his family and begin to see the struggles Sciona faces as a woman there practising magic, which is otherwise dominated by men.

Pretty quickly, however, Sciona started to really grate on me. I couldn’t stand her constant looking down on Thomil as lesser, as stupid, as savage, one of the lowly Kwen, whereas she is smart, pious, one of the majestic Tiranish in this glorious city. I get that this is realistic for those who are sheltered and don’t know any better, etc. � unlearning ingrained prejudices is absolutely very difficult. However, because the book is almost entirely Sciona’s POV (third person), it was both exhausting hearing her constant dismissive thoughts about the Kwen and also very unbalanced because Thomil was not given that same intimate page time (he only had a few short sections). Sciona does (somewhat) unlearn her prejudices � I say ‘somewhat� because at 82% she is literally still like "God, the Kwen! Sciona hadn't stopped to think about how they would react. Even when Thomil had tried to make her think about it, her mind had slid past the thought."
]]> <![CDATA[Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire]]> 213666631
What is intimacy? More than sex, more than romantic love, the pieces in this stunning and illuminating new anthology offer broader and more inclusive definitions of what it can mean to be intimate with another person. Explorations of caregiving, community, access, and friendship offer us alternative ways of thinking about the connections we form with others—a vital reimagining in an era when forced physical distance is at times a necessary norm.

But don't there's still sex to consider—and the numerous ways sexual liberation intersects with disability justice. Plunge between these pages and you'll also find disabled sexual discovery, disabled love stories, and disabled joy. These twenty-five stunning original pieces—plus other modern classics on the subject, all carefully curated by acclaimed activist Alice Wong—include essays, photo essays, poetry, drama, and a full spectrum of the dreams, fantasies, and deeply personal realities of a wide range of beautiful bodies and minds. Disability Intimacy will free your thinking, invigorate your spirit, and delight your desires.]]> 12 Alice Wong steph 4 read-in-2024
As with most collections, I liked some essays more than others (some felt a little too... generalised, maybe, so I felt a bit distanced from them?). The ones that stood out the most to me included 'Rosasharon Teaches Me to Breathe: On Animals, Disabilities, and Intimacies' by Ada Hubrig, 'Care during COVID: Photo Essay on Interdependence' by Kennedy Healy and Marley Molkentin, 'The Most Valuable Thing I Can Teach My Kid Is How to Be Lazy' by Elliot Kukla, 'Staring at Curvature' by Travis Chi Wing Lau, and 'Profoundly Together' by The Redwoods.

I'll definitely have to pick up Wong's Disability Visibility sooner rather than later!]]> 4.12 2024 Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire
author: Alice Wong
name: steph
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
Great collection! I loved the variety of experiences, identities, disabilities, etc. included showing disability intimacy in all its various forms. I also liked that the formats were greatly varied too; in addition to standard essays there were photo essays, poems, snippets of erotica writing, etc.

As with most collections, I liked some essays more than others (some felt a little too... generalised, maybe, so I felt a bit distanced from them?). The ones that stood out the most to me included 'Rosasharon Teaches Me to Breathe: On Animals, Disabilities, and Intimacies' by Ada Hubrig, 'Care during COVID: Photo Essay on Interdependence' by Kennedy Healy and Marley Molkentin, 'The Most Valuable Thing I Can Teach My Kid Is How to Be Lazy' by Elliot Kukla, 'Staring at Curvature' by Travis Chi Wing Lau, and 'Profoundly Together' by The Redwoods.

I'll definitely have to pick up Wong's Disability Visibility sooner rather than later!
]]> Shadowfever (Fever, #5) 11493176
What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh -- a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.

Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.]]> 671 Karen Marie Moning 0575108584 steph 5 read-in-2019, read-in-2024 4.44 2011 Shadowfever (Fever, #5)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: steph
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/07
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves: read-in-2019, read-in-2024
review:
Hmm, I think slightly lowered to 4.75 for this reread - the book is a little too long and the tense changes do bug me a little
]]> Metal from Heaven 220499061 For fans of� The Princess Bride and Gideon the Ninth: a bloody� lesbian revenge tale and political fantasy set in a glittering world transformed by industrial change � and simmering class warfare.

Ichorite is progress. More durable and malleable than steel, ichorite is the lifeblood of a dawning industrial revolution. Yann I. Chauncey owns the sole means of manufacturing this valuable metal, but his workers, who risk their health and safety daily, are on strike. They demand Chauncey research the hallucinatory illness befalling them, a condition they call “being lustertouched.� Marney Honeycutt, a lustertouched child worker, stands proud at the picket line with her best friend and family. That’s when Chauncey sends in the guns. Only Marney survives the massacre. She vows bloody vengeance. A decade later, Marney is the nation’s most notorious highwayman, and Chauncey’s daughter seeks an opportune marriage. Marney’s rage and the ghosts of her past will drive her to masquerade as an aristocrat, outmaneuver powerful suitors, and win the heart of his daughter, so Marney can finally corner Chauncey and satisfy her need for revenge. But war ferments in the north, and deeper grudges are surfacing. . .

H. A. Clarke’s adult fantasy debut, writing as August Clarke, Metal from Heaven is a punk-rock murder ballad tackling labor issues and radical empowerment against the relentless grind of capitalism.]]> 15 August Clarke steph 0 to-read 3.50 2024 Metal from Heaven
author: August Clarke
name: steph
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Native Guard: Poems 11278811
Former U.S. Poet Laureate, Natasha Trethewey’s Native Guard is a deeply personal volume that brings together two legacies of the Deep South.

Through elegaic verse that honors her mother and tells of her own fraught childhood, Natasha Trethewey confronts the racial legacy of her native Deep South�--where one of the first black regiments, The Louisiana Native Guards, was called into service during the Civil War.

The title of the collection refers to the black regiment whose role in the Civil War has been largely overlooked by history. As a child in Gulfport, Mississippi, in the 1960s, Trethewey could gaze across the water to the fort on Ship Island where Confederate captives once were guarded by black soldiers serving the Union cause.

The racial legacy of the South touched Trethewey’s life on a much more immediate level, too. Many of the poems in Native Guard pay loving tribute to her mother, whose marriage to a white man was illegal in her native Mississippi in the 1960s. Years after her mother’s tragic death, Trethewey reclaims her memory, just as she reclaims the voices of the black soldiers whose service has been all but forgotten.

Trethewey's resonant and beguiling collection is a haunting conversation between personal experience and national history.]]> 59 Natasha Trethewey steph 0 to-read 4.35 2006 Native Guard: Poems
author: Natasha Trethewey
name: steph
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Thrall: Poems 16592708 96 Natasha Trethewey 054784042X steph 4 read-in-2024
The cover of this collection is perfect, because many of the poems examine pieces of art throughout the years with both Black and white subjects. Here, Trethewey explores racial identity and history, and her relationship with her white father. I did notice when I first borrowed this that Thrall is somewhat of a follow-up to her collection Native Guard, in which she covers her relationship with her Black mother, so I will definitely have to go back and try that one too! I really like the weight of Trethewey's writing, the elegance of it, and her choices of line breaks were often exquisite.

Favourite poems: Elegy, Miracle of the Black Leg, Taxonomy, Vespertina Cognitio.]]> 3.83 2012 Thrall: Poems
author: Natasha Trethewey
name: steph
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/31
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
4.25 stars.

The cover of this collection is perfect, because many of the poems examine pieces of art throughout the years with both Black and white subjects. Here, Trethewey explores racial identity and history, and her relationship with her white father. I did notice when I first borrowed this that Thrall is somewhat of a follow-up to her collection Native Guard, in which she covers her relationship with her Black mother, so I will definitely have to go back and try that one too! I really like the weight of Trethewey's writing, the elegance of it, and her choices of line breaks were often exquisite.

Favourite poems: Elegy, Miracle of the Black Leg, Taxonomy, Vespertina Cognitio.
]]> <![CDATA[The Bone Shard Emperor (The Drowning Empire, #2)]]> 59083128
In 'THE BONE SHARD EMPEROR', book two in the action-packed magical fantasy The Drowning Empire series, a heroine at the head of a powerful empire confronts a raging battle as she's forced to do whatever it takes to restore peace.

The Emperor is Dead. Long live the Emperor.

Lin Sukai finally sits on the throne she won at so much cost, but her struggles are only just beginning. Her people don't trust her. Her political alliances are weak. And in the northeast of the Empire, a rebel army of constructs is gathering, its leader determined to take the throne by force.

Yet an even greater threat is on the horizon, for the Alanga - the powerful magicians of legend - have returned to the Empire. They claim they come in peace, and Lin will need their help to defeat the rebels and restore order.

But can she trust them?


©2021 Andrea Stewart (P)2021 Orbit]]> 14 Andrea Stewart steph 3 read-in-2024
I will probably still try the final book (Mephi and Jovis are still a highlight, and the overall plot is still quite interesting). But maybe not right now...]]> 4.13 2021 The Bone Shard Emperor (The Drowning Empire, #2)
author: Andrea Stewart
name: steph
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
I basically inhaled the first book, but this one let me down quite a bit. I found it dragged a lot and didn't keep my interest enough, and the romance was very meh (I wish it hadn't been included...).

I will probably still try the final book (Mephi and Jovis are still a highlight, and the overall plot is still quite interesting). But maybe not right now...
]]> Dreamfever (Fever, #4) 12422921 453 Karen Marie Moning 0575108568 steph 4 read-in-2019, read-in-2024 4.35 2009 Dreamfever (Fever, #4)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: steph
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves: read-in-2019, read-in-2024
review:
That ending still makes me scream
]]> <![CDATA[The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)]]> 58045772
Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people.]]> Andrea Stewart 1549107348 steph 4 read-in-2024
*Mephi voice* "Very good."

What a thoroughly engaging debut, helped a lot by the presence of a delightful animal companion in the form of Mephi, a cat-/otter-like(?) sort of creature. ]]> 3.79 2020 The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)
author: Andrea Stewart
name: steph
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
4.25 stars.

*Mephi voice* "Very good."

What a thoroughly engaging debut, helped a lot by the presence of a delightful animal companion in the form of Mephi, a cat-/otter-like(?) sort of creature.
]]> <![CDATA[The House at Watch Hill (The Watch Hill Trilogy, #1)]]> 219415620 THE HOUSE AT WATCH HILL was a patient beast, born of dichotomy, a familiar stranger, a beautiful monstrosity. It seduced before it terrified.

And it would never be done with me... I was the sweetest thing the evil in those walls ever tasted.

****

Zo Grey is still reeling from the sudden death of her mother when she receives a call from an unknown attorney in Divinity, Louisiana, o­ffering her an inheritance from a long-lost relative. With nothing left to lose, Zo heads to Divinity and discovers a sprawling mansion that seems to pull inward � Watch Hill, an entity cloaked in shadows and laden with secrets. But there's a catch: she must endure three years alone within its ominous walls to claim her fortune.

As Zo delves deeper into the mansion's mysteries, she encounters a sinister, red-eyed owl, a captivating Scottish groundskeeper, doors that go nowhere, others that are impossible to open, and a turret into which there is no visible means of ingress, all while the townsfolk whisper of dark legends.

Unaware of her own ties to the house, Zo must confront ancient evils and unlock something deep and dark within herself . . . before evil consumes her completely.]]> 384 Karen Marie Moning 1399627104 steph 3 read-in-2024
Fever is one of my favourite series, but only up to book five, as it goes downhill after that; the last one I read (book 9 of 11) I only rated 2 stars. Still, I was excited to discover that KMM is starting a new series, and, overall, I did like The House at Watch Hill. It's hard not to compare it to Fever though, especially as there are quite a few similarities. I'll list some below, so please skip the following points if you don't want such spoilers!
- Zo in Watch Hill loses her mother; Mac in Fever, her sister
- Hidden powers (witch versus sidhe-seer)
- Light and Dark houses
- Past Zo, future Zo; Mac 1.0, Mac 2.0...
- A... Book (I don't think the one in Watch Hill is as significant as the one in Fever, but I could be proved wrong later)
- Zo is somewhat reluctant to swear, same as Mac, and her narration also has a tendency to be question-heavy (which I guess makes sense, as both characters are discovering their hidden powers and things they didn't know about their world, but it still felt a bit same-y)

I was also pretty disappointed with the side characters. Zo's best friend is kind of written like a token character of colour, and the love interests are bland (the one I found most intriguing is barely in the story). There's no romance at all, exactly, but Zo has quite a lot of horny thoughts about men, which does get explained but was a bit tiring to read. ]]> 3.51 2024 The House at Watch Hill (The Watch Hill Trilogy, #1)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: steph
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
3.25 stars.

Fever is one of my favourite series, but only up to book five, as it goes downhill after that; the last one I read (book 9 of 11) I only rated 2 stars. Still, I was excited to discover that KMM is starting a new series, and, overall, I did like The House at Watch Hill. It's hard not to compare it to Fever though, especially as there are quite a few similarities. I'll list some below, so please skip the following points if you don't want such spoilers!
- Zo in Watch Hill loses her mother; Mac in Fever, her sister
- Hidden powers (witch versus sidhe-seer)
- Light and Dark houses
- Past Zo, future Zo; Mac 1.0, Mac 2.0...
- A... Book (I don't think the one in Watch Hill is as significant as the one in Fever, but I could be proved wrong later)
- Zo is somewhat reluctant to swear, same as Mac, and her narration also has a tendency to be question-heavy (which I guess makes sense, as both characters are discovering their hidden powers and things they didn't know about their world, but it still felt a bit same-y)

I was also pretty disappointed with the side characters. Zo's best friend is kind of written like a token character of colour, and the love interests are bland (the one I found most intriguing is barely in the story). There's no romance at all, exactly, but Zo has quite a lot of horny thoughts about men, which does get explained but was a bit tiring to read.
]]> Somna 200517990
Ingrid is unhappily married to Roland, the town's bailiff and chief witch hunter, who is on a single-minded quest to purge the 'heretics' in their midst. After a prominent town leader is found murdered, accusations fly and no one is above reproach from Roland's deadly crusade. Ingrid has her suspicions about who the real murderer is, but even as she pursues the truth, she's pursued herself by a shadowy figure. Ingrid finds that she's drawn to the foreboding phantom in ways she can't resist- does this dark and tempting strangermay hold the key to the mystery...or will he damn Ingrid's soul to the blackest circle of Hell?

From the masterful minds of Becky Cloonan (BY CHANCE OR PROVIDENCE, Wonder Woman) and Tula Lotay (BARNSTORMERS) comes an intoxicating blend of history, eroticism, and the supernatural in SOMNA-an evocative masterpiece that draws inspiration from cinematic folk-horror gems like Midsommar and The Witch- and will transport readers to a world where passion and spirits intertwine, enrapturing your senses and leave you craving more. For fans of The Witch and Midsommar.]]> 168 Becky Cloonan 1962265013 steph 0 to-read 3.87 2024 Somna
author: Becky Cloonan
name: steph
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Where We Started (Stone Riders MC, #1)]]> 219646939
I didn't really consider myself part of my father's legacy...until I found out what he left behind in his will: property, ten acres to be exact, which included the headquarters for his beloved motorcycle club. I had no idea that accepting the terms of my inheritance would thrust me into a battle with the new club president, Wesley Ryan. He's unfathomably handsome, menacing, and formidable in every way. But his derision toward me only makes me cling that much tighter to my birthright. That is, it did until he decides to play dirty.

Wes doesn't just taunt me by bringing up our past, he wants us to go all the way back to where we started. Back to when we were nine and I was just the girl next door who snuck into his treehouse. Back to when he'd fight the boys who made me cry. Back to when he first kissed me and stole my heart. I have to remember Wes wants to claim my father's property, not me. I walked away once. I just have to prove I'm strong enough to do it again.]]> 11 Ashley Munoz steph 3 read-in-2024 4.00 2023 Where We Started (Stone Riders MC, #1)
author: Ashley Munoz
name: steph
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
Hmm, I think 3.5 stars. I liked the characters (well, mostly! They were also quite frustrating in their own ways, haha) and the way the story was told through past and present chapters, but I wasn't really feeling the whole motorcycle club aspect, which is obviously a large part of the story.
]]> Faefever (Fever, #3) 13004491 370 Karen Marie Moning 0575108533 steph 4 read-in-2019, read-in-2024
That ending ]]> 4.24 2008 Faefever (Fever, #3)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: steph
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/10/12
shelves: read-in-2019, read-in-2024
review:
4.5 stars.

That ending
]]> The Great Gatsby 60448902
The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, the novel depicts narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and Gatsby's obsession to reunite with his former lover, Daisy Buchanan.

A youthful romance Fitzgerald had with socialite Ginevra King, and the riotous parties he attended on Long Island's North Shore in 1922 inspired the novel. Following a move to the French Riviera, he completed a rough draft in 1924. He submitted the draft to editor Maxwell Perkins, who persuaded Fitzgerald to revise the work over the following winter. After his revisions, Fitzgerald was satisfied with the text, but remained ambivalent about the book's title and considered several alternatives. The final title he desired was Under the Red, White, and Blue. Painter Francis Cugat's final cover design impressed Fitzgerald who incorporated a visual element from the art into the novel.

Gatsby continues to attract popular and scholarly attention. The novel was most recently adapted to film in 2013 by director Baz Luhrmann, while contemporary scholars emphasize the novel's treatment of social class, inherited wealth compared to those who are self-made, race, environmentalism, and its cynical attitude towards the American dream. The Great Gatsby is widely considered to be a literary masterpiece and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel.]]> F. Scott Fitzgerald steph 2 read-in-2016, read-in-2024 3.43 1925 The Great Gatsby
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: steph
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1925
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/10/12
shelves: read-in-2016, read-in-2024
review:
I really liked Buchanan's narration (a nice variety of voices, and overall his narration was very lively and interesting to listen to), but the story is so dull
]]> Swimming Between Islands 123001641 'Read Charlotte Eichler's poems slowly, so that you can really take note of them, because they're astonishing,' said Laura Scott, responding to Eichler's poems in New Poetries VIII. Anthony Vahni Capildeo characterised her first pamphlet as 'modern pastoral, not nostalgic, and well beyond the ordinary domestic lyric'. Swimming Between Islands gathers this work with a substantial collection of new poems.
In Eichler's poems, the first person singular is relational, social; it refuses to mark one consciousness neatly off from another. The poems' perspective is often plural, a 'we' which is one minute a couple considering marriage, the next, childhood friends divining the future from ladybirds and four-leafed clovers. The reader is invited to come close, and then right into the centre of the poem; the book progresses towards ever wilder, more isolated places in Scotland, Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska, where 'we are / the gannets are white flares / hitting the water / under a fishbone sky'.]]> 80 Charlotte Eichler 1800171382 steph 3 read-in-2024
Nice collection, but the first poem was the strongest for me and none of the others quite reached the same level. I will still look out for more from this poet in the future though, especially her nature-focused work!]]> 3.00 2023 Swimming Between Islands
author: Charlotte Eichler
name: steph
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/09
date added: 2024/10/09
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
3.5 stars.

Nice collection, but the first poem was the strongest for me and none of the others quite reached the same level. I will still look out for more from this poet in the future though, especially her nature-focused work!
]]> Only for the Week 211692247
And now a toast from the maid of honor, Janelle Cross!

Hi everyone, thank you for being here.

Some of you may know me as the sister of the bride.

Some of you may know me as the ex-girlfriend of the groom.

But I'm willing to bet none of you know me as the woman secretly sleeping with the best man.

I am.

I know, I'm just as surprised as you.

It was only supposed to be for the week; but every kiss, adventure, and stolen moment with Rome Martin feels like it could last forever.

Oh well. What happens in Tulum stays in Tulum.

Right?]]> 8 Natasha Bishop steph 3 read-in-2024
Apparently this went viral on TikTok or something, and I guess I can see why - lots of family drama/dynamics and spicy content. I liked both leads and the narration for the most part (more on that in a sec) but I didn't feel like I got a good sense of the characters separately, as the setting was a holiday one right from the beginning and they were pretty much immediately lusting after one another. ]]> 4.15 2023 Only for the Week
author: Natasha Bishop
name: steph
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/08
date added: 2024/10/08
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
3.5 stars.

Apparently this went viral on TikTok or something, and I guess I can see why - lots of family drama/dynamics and spicy content. I liked both leads and the narration for the most part (more on that in a sec) but I didn't feel like I got a good sense of the characters separately, as the setting was a holiday one right from the beginning and they were pretty much immediately lusting after one another.
]]> Bloodfever (Fever, #2) 12617119 In her fight to stay alive, MacKayla must find the Sinsar Dubh--a million-year-old book of the blackest magic imaginable, which holds the key to power over the worlds of both the Fae and Man. Pursued by assassins, surrounded by mysterious figures she knows she can't trust, Mac finds herself torn between two deadly and powerful men: V'lane, the immortal Fae Prince, and Jericho Barrons, a man as irresistible as he is dangerous.
For centuries the shadowy realm of the Fae has coexisted with that of humans. Now the walls between the two are coming down, and Mac is the only thing that stands between them.]]> 296 Karen Marie Moning 0575108517 steph 4 read-in-2019, read-in-2024 4.07 2007 Bloodfever (Fever, #2)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: steph
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/06
date added: 2024/10/06
shelves: read-in-2019, read-in-2024
review:
Upping from 4 to 4.25 stars for this, my fourth read.
]]> <![CDATA[That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (Mead Mishaps, #1)]]> 157628633 Spice trader Cinnamon's quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon in this irreverently quirky rom-com fantasy that is sweet, steamy, and funny as hell—perfect for fans ofLegends & LattesandThe Dragon's Bride.

All she wanted to do was live her life in peace—maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn't involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the Goddess has favorite, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them...

After saving the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, all Fallon wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And, who can blame him? But he's dragging Cinnamon along for the ride.On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt.]]> 7 Kimberly Lemming 1668635453 steph 3 read-in-2024 "Was tearing off limbs some kind of show of affection for demons? How over the top."

The main character is called Cinnamon, her brothers are Chili and Cumin, her best friend is Brie (who of course is a cheese maker and has a cheese stall), and she has two horses called Crash and Smash. What's not to like? ]]> 3.51 2021 That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (Mead Mishaps, #1)
author: Kimberly Lemming
name: steph
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/06
date added: 2024/10/06
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
"Was tearing off limbs some kind of show of affection for demons? How over the top."

The main character is called Cinnamon, her brothers are Chili and Cumin, her best friend is Brie (who of course is a cheese maker and has a cheese stall), and she has two horses called Crash and Smash. What's not to like?
]]> Loop of Jade 27169999 *WINNER OF THE T. S. ELIOT PRIZE 2015**WINNER OF THE SUNDAY TIMES / PETERS FRASER + DUNLOP YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2015**SHORTLISTED FOR THE FORWARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST COLLECTION 2015*There is a Chinese proverb that ‘It is more profitable to raise geese than daughters.� But geese, like daughters, know the obligation to return home. In her exquisite first collection, Sarah Howe explores a dual heritage, journeying back to Hong Kong in search of her roots.With extraordinary range and power, the poems build into a meditation on hybridity, intermarriage and love � what meaning we find in the world, in art, and in each other. Crossing the bounds of time, race and language, this is an enthralling exploration of self and place, of migration and inheritance, and introduces an unmistakable new voice in British poetry.]]> 80 Sarah Howe steph 4
This collection has such a painter's touch. Not just in some of the words Howe used (which I ended up googling, haha), like 'encaustic' and 'sinople', but also the way she writes so vividly, so richly. I loved the narrative thread in this collection so much and the way Howe explores her identity and history.

Some of my favourite lines:
"I counted out the change in Cantonese.
Yut, ye, sam, sei. Like a baby. The numbers
are the scraps that stay with me."

"He lifts his eyes to read
my face. They flicker his uncertainty
as he makes out eyes, the contour of a nose:
half-recognition. These bare moments �
something like finding family."

"I had one of those blurrings � glitch, then focus �
like at a put-off optician's trip, when you realise

how long you've been seeing things wrongly."

"Maybe holding back
is just another kind

of need."

"The easels tilt their flatness to the sky, as
if to chase the sun"

"Language revolves like a ream
of stars."

"I rolled their sounds around my mouth
till they were strange again, like savouring
those New Year candies � small translucent moons
waning on the tongue."

My favourite poems were 'Crossing from Guangdong', '(c) Tame', 'Night in Arizona', 'Islands' and 'Yangtze'. 'Crossing from Guangdong' and 'Islands' I found quite similar and so it was interesting that they're the second poem and the second-to-last poem, respectively. They're much longer than I generally like my poems, but wow. Such beautiful writing � I was completely swept away.]]> 4.19 2015 Loop of Jade
author: Sarah Howe
name: steph
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves: read-in-2024, highly-recommended
review:
4.25 stars.

This collection has such a painter's touch. Not just in some of the words Howe used (which I ended up googling, haha), like 'encaustic' and 'sinople', but also the way she writes so vividly, so richly. I loved the narrative thread in this collection so much and the way Howe explores her identity and history.

Some of my favourite lines:
"I counted out the change in Cantonese.
Yut, ye, sam, sei. Like a baby. The numbers
are the scraps that stay with me."

"He lifts his eyes to read
my face. They flicker his uncertainty
as he makes out eyes, the contour of a nose:
half-recognition. These bare moments �
something like finding family."

"I had one of those blurrings � glitch, then focus �
like at a put-off optician's trip, when you realise

how long you've been seeing things wrongly."

"Maybe holding back
is just another kind

of need."

"The easels tilt their flatness to the sky, as
if to chase the sun"

"Language revolves like a ream
of stars."

"I rolled their sounds around my mouth
till they were strange again, like savouring
those New Year candies � small translucent moons
waning on the tongue."

My favourite poems were 'Crossing from Guangdong', '(c) Tame', 'Night in Arizona', 'Islands' and 'Yangtze'. 'Crossing from Guangdong' and 'Islands' I found quite similar and so it was interesting that they're the second poem and the second-to-last poem, respectively. They're much longer than I generally like my poems, but wow. Such beautiful writing � I was completely swept away.
]]> <![CDATA[One Fell Sweep [Dramatized Adaptation] (Innkeeper Chronicles, #3)]]> 61070764 8 Ilona Andrews 1685086381 steph 5 4.49 One Fell Sweep [Dramatized Adaptation] (Innkeeper Chronicles, #3)
author: Ilona Andrews
name: steph
average rating: 4.49
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/04
date added: 2024/10/04
shelves: read-in-2023, favourite-favourites, highly-recommended, read-in-2024
review:
More Arland, more Orro, the introduction of Maud and Helen... What more can I ask for
]]> All the Birds, Singing 18586478
It could be anything. There are foxes in the woods, a strange boy and a strange man, rumours of an obscure, formidable beast. And there is Jake’s unknown past, perhaps breaking into the present, a story hidden thousands of miles away and years ago, in a landscape of different colour and sound, a story held in the scars that stripe her back.

Winner of the Miles Franklin Award

Winner of the Encore Award

Winner of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award

Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Prize

Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize

Longlisted for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction]]> 229 Evie Wyld 0099572370 steph 0 to-read, to-borrow-to-read 3.72 2013 All the Birds, Singing
author: Evie Wyld
name: steph
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/02
shelves: to-read, to-borrow-to-read
review:

]]> Darkfever (Fever, #1) 10908954 "My name is MacKayla, Mac for short. I'm a sidhe-seer, one who sees the Fae, a fact I accepted only recently and very reluctantly.

My philosophy is pretty simple - any day nobody's trying to kill me is a good day in my book. I haven't had many good days lately. Not since the walls between Man and Fae came down. But then, there's not a sidhe-seer alive who's had a good day since then."

When MacKayla's sister was murdered, she left a single clue to her death, a cryptic message on Mac's cell phone. Journeying to Ireland in search of answers, Mac is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to master a power she had no idea she possessed - a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae.

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister's death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho...while at the same time, the ruthless V'lane - an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women - closes in on her. As the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac's true mission becomes clear: to find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book - because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control both worlds in their hands.]]> 342 Karen Marie Moning 0575108495 steph 4 3.69 2006 Darkfever (Fever, #1)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: steph
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/29
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: read-in-2015, read-in-2016, highly-recommended, favourite-favourites, read-in-2017, read-in-2019
review:
Reread, September 2024: This already felt quite dated back when I read it in the years 2015 to 2019, and it’s definitely even more so now, but!! I still really enjoyed this. The world-building is
]]> Summer Bird Blue 40515931 “A lyrical novel about grief, love, and finding oneself in the wake of a tragic loss.� �Bustle
“Gorgeous prose and heartbreaking storytelling.� �Paste Magazine
“Grabs your heart and won’t let go.� �Book Riot

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

Three starred reviews for this stunning novel about a mixed-race teen who struggles to find her way back to her love of music in the wake of her sister’s death, from the author of the William C. Morris Award finalist Starfish.

Rumi Seto spends a lot of time worrying she doesn’t have the answers to everything. What to eat, where to go, whom to love. But there is one thing she is absolutely sure of—she wants to spend the rest of her life writing music with her younger sister, Lea.

Then Lea dies in a car accident, and her mother sends her away to live with her aunt in Hawaii while she deals with her own grief. Now thousands of miles from home, Rumi struggles to navigate the loss of her sister, being abandoned by her mother, and the absence of music in her life. With the help of the “boys next door”—a teenage surfer named Kai, who smiles too much and doesn’t take anything seriously, and an eighty-year-old named George Watanabe, who succumbed to his own grief years ago—Rumi attempts to find her way back to her music, to write the song she and Lea never had the chance to finish.

Aching, powerful, and unflinchingly honest, Summer Bird Blue explores big truths about insurmountable grief, unconditional love, and how to forgive even when it feels impossible.]]> 385 Akemi Dawn Bowman 1481487779 steph 5 4.00 2018 Summer Bird Blue
author: Akemi Dawn Bowman
name: steph
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2020/10/22
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: read-in-2020, highly-recommended
review:

]]> Moby-Dick; or, The Whale 6616360
This edition includes a foreword by Nathaniel Philbrick, author of the phenomenal bestseller In the Heart of the Sea, an introduction by Andrew Delbanco, and Notes and Explanatory Commentary by Tom Quirk.

Enriched eBook Features Editor Mary K. Bercaw Edwards provides the following speciallycommissioned features for this Enriched eBook Classic:

* Chronology

* Filmography of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick(1851)

* Nineteenth-Century Reviews

* Suggested Further Reading

* Moby-Dick in Popular Culture

* Melville’s Whaling Years

* Cannibal Talk in Moby-Dick

* Sermons in Moby-Dick

* Enriched eBook Notes

* Illustrationsfor Moby-Dick

The enriched eBook format invites readers to go beyond the pages of these beloved works and gain more insight into the life and times of an author and the period in which the book was originally written for a rich reading experience.]]> 546 Herman Melville 1101100435 steph 0 to-read, to-borrow-to-read 3.82 1851 Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
author: Herman Melville
name: steph
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1851
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: to-read, to-borrow-to-read
review:

]]>