Frances's bookshelf: all

Frances's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 29 Apr 2025 12:25:46 -0700 60 Frances's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Unmaking of June Farrow 100183621
In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm - and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow's disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It's been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren't there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere - the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother's death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother's decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she's been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant novel of romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible--a story you will never forget.]]> 321 Adrienne Young 0593598687 Frances 0 currently-reading 4.24 2023

author: Adrienne Young
name: Frances
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Dutch House 44569767 The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades,��The Dutch House��is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

]]> 353 Ann Patchett 0062963694 Frances 4
The glaring absence of what Maeve wanted from life, and what her dreams were. That ultimately she DID get it, and how disappointing it was for her brother. And then separately, how triumphs feel when they come too late and the different forms they can take.

This book is about love and how it can change you (or others) into someone you don’t recognize, but also how maybe that’s just time? And maturity. So then it becomes less about love in the abstract, and instead about its very tangible and long lasting impacts. ]]> 4.25 2019 The Dutch House

author: Ann Patchett
name: Frances
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: historical, kindle, library, literature
review:
Not my favorite Patchett, and still just so good. The core here is about the foundational relationship between a brother and sister deeply committed to each other, and yet still how much went unspoken between the two. It’s sort of the literary fiction version of “this book wouldn’t have happened if two people had a quick conversation��.

The glaring absence of what Maeve wanted from life, and what her dreams were. That ultimately she DID get it, and how disappointing it was for her brother. And then separately, how triumphs feel when they come too late and the different forms they can take.

This book is about love and how it can change you (or others) into someone you don’t recognize, but also how maybe that’s just time? And maturity. So then it becomes less about love in the abstract, and instead about its very tangible and long lasting impacts.
]]> The Boys' Club 48716980 Sweetbitter meets The Firm in this buzzy, page-turning debut novel—already optioned to Netflix—about sex and power in the halls of corporate America.

Alex Vogel has always been a high achiever who lived her life by the book—star student and athlete in high school, prelaw whiz in college, Harvard Law School degree. Accepting a dream offer at the prestigious Manhattan law firm of Klasko & Fitch, she promises her sweet and supportive longtime boyfriend that the job won’t change her.��Yet Alex is seduced by the firm’s money and energy . . . and by her cocksure male colleagues, who quickly take notice of the new girl. She’s never felt so confident and powerful—even the innuendo-laced banter with clients feels fun. In the firm’s most profitable and competitive division, Mergers and Acquisitions, Alex works around the clock, racking up billable hours and entertaining clients late into the evening. While the job is punishing, it has its perks, like a weekend trip to Miami, a ride in a client’s private jet, and more expense-account meals than she can count.��

But as her clients�� expectations and demands on her increase, and Alex finds herself magnetically drawn to a handsome coworker despite her loving relationship at home, she begins to question everything—including herself. She knows the corporate world isn’t black and white, and that to reach the top means playing by different rules. But who made those rules? And what if the system rigged so that women can’t win, anyway?��

When something happens that reveals the dark reality of the firm, Alex comes to understand the ways women like her are told—explicitly and implicitly—how they need to behave to succeed in the workplace. Now, she can no longer stand by silently—even if doing what’s right means putting everything on the line to expose the shocking truth.]]> 416 Erica Katz 0062961489 Frances 0 to-read 3.91 2020 The Boys' Club

author: Erica Katz
name: Frances
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> First Lie Wins 164444179 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593492918.

Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn’t like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge. . . .]]> 340 Ashley Elston Frances 0 to-read 3.97 2024 First Lie Wins

author: Ashley Elston
name: Frances
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> This Time Tomorrow 59089704 What if you could take a vacation to your past?

With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, beloved New York Times bestseller Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes, and a different kind of love story.

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it's her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?]]> 310 Emma Straub 052553900X Frances 0 to-read 3.78 2022 This Time Tomorrow

author: Emma Straub
name: Frances
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Enchanted Greenhouse 217388100
Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium.

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

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

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

Funny, kind, and forgiving, The Enchanted Greenhouse is a story about giving second chances—to others and to yourself.]]> 384 Sarah Beth Durst 1250333989 Frances 0 to-read 4.45 2025

author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Frances
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Spellshop 199269577 The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

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

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

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

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

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.]]> 384 Sarah Beth Durst Frances 5
Why? Because I finished this book and then IMMEDIATELY STARTED OVER AGAIN. Because I was so effusive about it, my husband went off and bought me a hard copy (I’ll “misplace�� the dust jacket, which looks AI generated).

This book is so EXACTLY what it should be: a cozy lil fantasy. The blurb makes it sound like it’s all jam and romance, and yeah there’s some of that. But it’s mostly about a woman figuring out how to restart her life and being Pleasantly Surprised that it’s working out.

It’s gentle. There’s lovely and supportive friendships. There’s not a single rough edge. I’d recommend this to ANYONE feeling the least bit fragile. Because this book won’t fix it, but it’ll make you feel like you’re sitting in the sun for a little while with a friend. ]]> 4.05 2024 The Spellshop

author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Frances
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/25
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: fantastical, favorites, san-francisco
review:
Yeah that’s RIGHT. It’s FIVE ENTIRE STARS.

Why? Because I finished this book and then IMMEDIATELY STARTED OVER AGAIN. Because I was so effusive about it, my husband went off and bought me a hard copy (I’ll “misplace�� the dust jacket, which looks AI generated).

This book is so EXACTLY what it should be: a cozy lil fantasy. The blurb makes it sound like it’s all jam and romance, and yeah there’s some of that. But it’s mostly about a woman figuring out how to restart her life and being Pleasantly Surprised that it’s working out.

It’s gentle. There’s lovely and supportive friendships. There’s not a single rough edge. I’d recommend this to ANYONE feeling the least bit fragile. Because this book won’t fix it, but it’ll make you feel like you’re sitting in the sun for a little while with a friend.
]]> An Academy for Liars 203956639 A student will find that the hardest lessons sometimes come outside the classroom in this stunning dark academia novel from the acclaimed author of The Year of the Witching and House of Hunger.

Lennon Carter’s life is falling apart.

Then she gets a mysterious phone call inviting her to take the entrance exam for Drayton College, a school of magic hidden in a secret pocket of Savannah. Lennon has been chosen because—like everyone else at the school—she has the innate gift of persuasion, the ability to wield her will like a weapon, using it to control others and, in rare cases, matter itself.

After passing the test, Lennon begins to learn how to master her devastating and unsettling power. But despite persuasion’s heavy toll on her body and mind, she is wholly captivated by her studies, by Drayton’s lush, moss-draped campus, and by her brilliant classmates. But even more captivating is her charismatic adviser, Dante, who both intimidates and enthralls her.

As Lennon continues in her studies her control grows, and she starts to uncover more about the secret world she has entered into, including the disquieting history of Drayton College, and the way her mentor’s tragic and violent past intertwines with it. She is increasingly disturbed by what she learns. For it seems that the ultimate test is to embrace absolute power without succumbing to corruption . . . and it's a test she's terrified she is going to fail.]]> 464 Alexis Henderson 0593638301 Frances 3 fantastical, kindle, library
But…I don’t think the world building was consistent. The characterization was lopsided. The stakes unclear. And it became a slog. ]]> 3.45 2024 An Academy for Liars

author: Alexis Henderson
name: Frances
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/16
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library
review:
I wish this was like, 60% better. The idea was there! Southern gothic academia! Mind control but call it persuasion! Conflicted protagonist!

But…I don’t think the world building was consistent. The characterization was lopsided. The stakes unclear. And it became a slog.
]]> The Cartographers 55004093 What is the purpose of a map?

Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.

But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence... because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.

But why?

To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps...

From the critically acclaimed author of The Book of M, a highly imaginative thriller about a young woman who discovers that a strange map in her deceased father’s belongings holds an incredible, deadly secret—one that will lead her on an extraordinary adventure and to the truth about her family’s dark history.]]> 392 Peng Shepherd 0062910698 Frances 3 fantastical, kindle, library
The “big villain reveal�� was extremely obvious extremely early, and it ruined the climax for me.

The romance was overtly present but a huge afterthought.

The characterization was SUPER lopsided.

The premise is fantastic!! I think this is something that would have killed as a novella, probably. As a novel I was left wanting a pretty substantial rewrite. ]]> 3.62 2022 The Cartographers

author: Peng Shepherd
name: Frances
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/28
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library
review:
Disappointing execution!

The “big villain reveal�� was extremely obvious extremely early, and it ruined the climax for me.

The romance was overtly present but a huge afterthought.

The characterization was SUPER lopsided.

The premise is fantastic!! I think this is something that would have killed as a novella, probably. As a novel I was left wanting a pretty substantial rewrite.
]]> Gifted & Talented 211004124 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes the story of three siblings who, upon the death of their father, are forced to reckon with their long-festering rivalries, dangerous abilities, and the crushing weight of all their unrealized adolescent potential.

Where there’s a will, there’s a war.

Thayer Wren, the brilliant CEO of Wrenfare Magitech and so-called father of modern technology, is dead. Any one of his three telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children would be a plausible inheritor to the Wrenfare throne.

Or at least, so they like to think.

Meredith, textbook accomplished eldest daughter and the head of her own groundbreaking biotech company, has recently cured mental illness. You're welcome! If only her father's fortune wasn't her last hope for keeping her journalist ex-boyfriend from exposing what she really is: a total fraud.

Arthur, second-youngest congressman in history, fights the good fight every day of his life. And yet, his wife might be leaving him, and he's losing his re-election campaign. But his dead father’s approval in the form of a seat on the Wrenfare throne might just turn his sinking ship around.

Eilidh, once the world's most famous ballerina, has spent the last five years as a run-of-the-mill marketing executive at her father’s company after a life-altering injury put an end to her prodigious career. She might be lacking in accolades compared to her siblings, but if her father left her everything, it would finally validate her worth—by confirming she'd been his favorite all along.

On the pipeline of gifted kid to clinically depressed adult, nobody wins—but which Wren will come out on top?]]> 512 Olivie Blake 1250883407 Frances 0 to-read 3.84 2025 Gifted & Talented

author: Olivie Blake
name: Frances
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace]]> 11300085
Through the insightful essays in An Everlasting Meal, Tamar Adler issues a rallying cry to home cooks.

In chapters about boiling water, cooking eggs and beans, and summoning respectable meals from empty cupboards, Tamar weaves philosophy and instruction into approachable lessons on instinctive cooking. Tamar shows how to make the most of everything you buy, demonstrating what the world’s great chefs that great meals rely on the bones and peels and ends of meals before them.

She explains how to smarten up simple food and gives advice for fixing dishes gone awry. She recommends turning to neglected onions, celery, and potatoes for inexpensive meals that taste full of fresh vegetables, and cooking meat and fish resourcefully.

By wresting cooking from doctrine and doldrums, Tamar encourages readers to begin from wherever they are, with whatever they have. An Everlasting Meal is elegant testimony to the value of cooking and an empowering, indispensable tool for eaters today.]]> 272 Tamar Adler 143918187X Frances 0 to-read 4.18 2011 An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace

author: Tamar Adler
name: Frances
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hello, Cruel World!: Science-Based Strategies for Raising Terrific Kids in Terrifying Times]]> 218153875
Award-winning science journalist Melinda Wenner Moyer battled insomnia night after night, her thoughts spiraling around this exact problem. So she decided to do what she does best - learn from parenting experts and find the solution. Just as she did in her breakout book, How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes, Moyer again interviewed researchers across multiple fields - from psychology to education, information literacy, business, and even addiction. What she even in a world full of assholes, we can still teach our kids how to take care of themselves, fight for what they believe in, manage uncertain times, and even bridge divides most adults aren't equipped to do.

In Hello, Cruel World!, Moyer provides those exact comprehensive, science-backed tools to help our children handle the world they will inherit. By using the three core attributes children need to succeed in our flawed world - coping mechanisms, connection techniques, and cultivation practices - our kids can learn to set boundaries, take responsibility for their actions, build healthy relationships in turbulent times, and much more. By being activists in our parenting, we can set our kids up to not just survive a shitty environment, but give them a fighting chance to make it a better world for future generations.]]> 320 Melinda Wenner Moyer 0593719360 Frances 0 to-read 5.00 Hello, Cruel World!: Science-Based Strategies for Raising Terrific Kids in Terrifying Times

Hello, Cruel World!: Science-Based Strategies for Raising Terrific Kids in Terrifying Times

author: Melinda Wenner Moyer
name: Frances
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Tartufo 212924015
After nearly losing the election to a geriatric but wildly popular donkey named Maurizio, newly installed Mayor Delizia Miccuci can’t help but feel like the sun has finally set on the rural Italian village of Lazzarini Boscarino. Tourists only stop by to ask for directions, Nonna Amara’s cherished ristorante is long shuttered, and the town hall is disgustingly overrun with glis glis poo—even Postman Duccio has been disgraced. All that’s left is Bar Celebrità, a rustic establishment where weary locals gather to quibble over decades-long disputes, submit their poor stomachs to bartender Giuseppina’s volcanic espresso, and wonder what will become of the place where together they’ve spent their entire lives.

Little do the villagers know that, mere miles away in the forest, local truffle hunter Giovanni Scarpazza has just happened upon something that could change everything. Swollen to massive proportions, soaking the atmosphere in its pungent fumes, potentially worth six figures in certain international circles, a truffle—un tartufo, that is—sits beneath the soil with the power to either be the greatest gift or the foulest curse the village has ever seen—they’re not completely sure which since Giuseppina’s psychic was a bit unclear on the matter.

Tartufo is much more than a charming romp through the foothills of Tuscany. Written in the same enchanting style and raucous humor that defines Hollow Kingdom and Feral Creatures, Buxton’s newest story is a reflection on the interconnectedness of life in all its manifestations—and how holding on to harmony in the face of hardship can grow something beautiful and rare beneath the surface.]]> 352 Kira Jane Buxton 1538770814 Frances 0 to-read 3.76 2025 Tartufo

author: Kira Jane Buxton
name: Frances
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Margo's Got Money Troubles 199796715
Margo braucht Geld. Seit sie ungewollt von ihrem Collegeprofessor, der sie jetzt mit dem Kind alleinlässt, schwanger wurde, mehr denn je. Wie Margo es auch dreht und wendet, kein Job scheint passend zu sein, oder könnte auch nur ansatzweise ihr Leben mit einem Baby finanzieren. Durch einen Zufall wird sie auf die Plattform OnlyFans aufmerksam, und Margo ist fasziniert von dieser Welt, in der Frauen mit sich und ihrem Körper experimentieren, und offenbar gut dabei verdienen. Also beginnt auch sie, Inhalte zu produzieren. Dabei erhält sie Unterstützung von ihrer Mitbewohnerin Suzie, einem großen Cosplay-Fan, und auch von ihrem Vater Jinx, einem Ex-Wrestlingprofi. Ehe sie sich versieht, ist Margo ein Online-Phänomen. Könnte dies die Antwort auf all ihre Probleme sein, oder hat der Internet-Ruhm einen zu hohen Preis?]]> 368 Rufi Thorpe 0063356600 Frances 3 library, literature
It feels like this was peculiarly American. She’s so ALONE. She has loved ones that are completely unreliable. Her old friends abandon her and her new friends are totally enigmatic. Her parents are lost causes. She has some kindness in her life, but enough intelligence to recognize that everything is incredibly fragile. She adores her baby and is exhausted and also can’t imagine not having him but also needs to figure her shit out immediately because she’s also a child!

I feel like I should be giving this 4 stars but I just didn’t enjoy reading it that much. It was GOOD but I didn’t think anything about it was funny. Absurd? Yes. ]]> 3.93 2024 Margo's Got Money Troubles

author: Rufi Thorpe
name: Frances
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: library, literature
review:
This took me longer to get through than it should have because I never wanted to read it before falling asleep. Too stressful. And not because it’s a thriller or because she kept making bad choices, but because it was so sad!

It feels like this was peculiarly American. She’s so ALONE. She has loved ones that are completely unreliable. Her old friends abandon her and her new friends are totally enigmatic. Her parents are lost causes. She has some kindness in her life, but enough intelligence to recognize that everything is incredibly fragile. She adores her baby and is exhausted and also can’t imagine not having him but also needs to figure her shit out immediately because she’s also a child!

I feel like I should be giving this 4 stars but I just didn’t enjoy reading it that much. It was GOOD but I didn’t think anything about it was funny. Absurd? Yes.
]]> <![CDATA[The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year]]> 204982650 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

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 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 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.]]> 303 Ally Carter 0063276739 Frances 3 humor, library Christmas yes, locked room yes, writers yes, england yes. ]]> 4.11 2024 The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year

author: Ally Carter
name: Frances
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: humor, library
review:
Here’s what I don’t get. Why have her be abused?? She could be just as vulnerable coming out of a normal divorce but instead the protagonist is frail and shrinking and sad in an otherwise DELIGHTFUL romp.
Christmas yes, locked room yes, writers yes, england yes.
]]> <![CDATA[The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches]]> 60018635 A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family--and a new love--changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....
]]> 318 Sangu Mandanna 059343935X Frances 4 fantastical, kindle, library
To borrow from S, this was like coffee cake when you REALLY WANT coffee cake but you made it yourself so it's actually delicious. ]]> 4.04 2022 The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Frances
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library
review:
This was the SWEETEST. It stops just short of cloyingly sweet, and I skimmed the sex scenes because that's not where the author's skillset lies, but the coziness! Tea is a main component! Found family! A DOG. After slogging through merely a quarter of my previous read, I gave up because I was so excited about reading this one next.

To borrow from S, this was like coffee cake when you REALLY WANT coffee cake but you made it yourself so it's actually delicious.
]]> <![CDATA[A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping]]> 123029113 A whimsical and heartwarming novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track, from the national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

Sera Swan used to be one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her Guild. Now she (slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps her aunt run an enchanted inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep said talking fox in check, and longs for the future that seems lost to her. But then she finds out about an old spell that could hold the key to restoring her power��

Enter Luke Larsen, handsome and icy magical historian, who arrives on a dark winter evening and might just know how to unlock the spell’s secrets. Luke has absolutely no interest in getting involved in the madcap goings-on of the inn and is definitely not about to let a certain bewitching innkeeper past his walls, so no one is more surprised than he is when he agrees to help Sera with her spell. Worse, he might actually be thawing.

Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sera Swan is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone...and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.]]> 336 Sangu Mandanna Frances 0 to-read 4.37 2025 A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping

author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Frances
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fool's Assassin (The Fitz and the Fool, #1)]]> 41021196
But behind the facade of respectable middle-age lies a turbulent and violent past. For Tom Badgerlock is actually FitzChivalry Farseer, bastard scion of the Farseer line, convicted user of Beast-magic, and assassin. A man who has risked much for his king and lost more��

On a shelf in his den sits a triptych carved in memory stone of a man, a wolf and a fool. Once, these three were inseparable friends: Fitz, Nighteyes and the Fool. But one is long dead, and one long-missing.

Then one Winterfest night a messenger arrives to seek out Fitz, but mysteriously disappears, leaving nothing but a blood-trail. What was the message? Who was the sender? And what has happened to the messenger?

Suddenly Fitz's violent old life erupts into the peace of his new world, and nothing and no one is safe.]]> 706 Robin Hobb 0553392433 Frances 0 to-read 4.48 2014 Fool's Assassin (The Fitz and the Fool, #1)

Fool's Assassin (The Fitz and the Fool, #1)

author: Robin Hobb
name: Frances
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Win (Windsor Horne Lockwood III, #1)]]> 53916157 The new novel from Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author and creator of The Stranger on Netflix.

From a #1 New York Times bestselling author comes this thrilling story that shows what happens when a dead man's secrets fall into the hands of vigilante antihero—drawing him down a dangerous road.

Over twenty years ago, the heiress Patricia Lockwood was abducted during a robbery of her family's estate, then locked inside an isolated cabin for months. Patricia escaped, but so did her captors �� and the items stolen from her family were never recovered.

Until now. On the Upper West Side, a recluse is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, alongside two objects of note: a stolen Vermeer painting and a leather suitcase bearing the initials WHL3. For the first time in years, the authorities have a lead �� not only on Patricia's kidnapping, but also on another FBI cold case �� with the suitcase and painting both pointing them toward one man.

Windsor Horne Lockwood III �� or Win, as his few friends call him �� doesn't know how his suitcase and his family's stolen painting ended up with a dead man. But his interest is piqued, especially when the FBI tells him that the man who kidnapped his cousin was also behind an act of domestic terrorism �� and that the conspirators may still be at large. The two cases have baffled the FBI for decades, but Win has three things the FBI doesn't: a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice.]]> 375 Harlan Coben 1538748215 Frances 0 to-read 3.95 2021 Win (Windsor Horne Lockwood III, #1)

author: Harlan Coben
name: Frances
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Rules of Fortune 217905433 “A gripping novel about power, money, and secrets.�� —Mindy Kaling

A daughter’s investigation into her family history threatens to destroy their legacy in a gripping novel about power, money, and secrets by the author of Token Black Girl.

On their Martha’s Vineyard estate, the Carter family prepares to celebrate. But when the billionaire patriarch dies right before his seventieth birthday, the media is quick to question the future of the multi-industry conglomerate that makes the Carters living legends. Amid the succession crisis, his daughter, Kennedy, is questioning her father’s past.

Kennedy is an aspiring filmmaker, and the documentary she’d planned to present at her father’s party begins an inquest into the life of a man she never really knew. A thoughtful outlier in an elite and fiercely guarded dynasty, she’s not interested in keeping up the appearances that define her impeccably poised mother or in the capitalist games her ruthless brother plays. Kennedy wants only to understand the origins of their empire, and the lethally ambitious man behind it. That understanding comes at a cost.

As a twisted history emerges, the fault lines in the family grow. Torn between morality and the promise of maintaining wealth, Kennedy must decide what’s most important—the Carter legacy or exposing the shocking truth of how it was built.]]> 293 Danielle Prescod 1662520131 Frances 0 to-read 3.65 2025 The Rules of Fortune

author: Danielle Prescod
name: Frances
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires]]> 44077284 Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she—and her book club—are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.]]> 404 Grady Hendrix 1683691431 Frances 4 fantastical, kindle, library
I was too stressed out to read this before bed. I needed to have activities between reading and sleeping, so it took me longer than usual to get through but I often BOOKED through my chapters. There’s so much here - the sexism and misogyny and racism and crushing despair and how it all came together to protect the purest evil.

WHEW. ]]> 3.84 2020 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

author: Grady Hendrix
name: Frances
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library
review:
The thing with horror, is that you never know whether the author is going to break the contract with the reader. Sure, there could be clear good/bad guys but you don’t actually know if it’s going to all work out. If your characters are gonna make it through.

I was too stressed out to read this before bed. I needed to have activities between reading and sleeping, so it took me longer than usual to get through but I often BOOKED through my chapters. There’s so much here - the sexism and misogyny and racism and crushing despair and how it all came together to protect the purest evil.

WHEW.
]]> <![CDATA[The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession]]> 62873378 One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first the story of the world’s most prolific art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser.

In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Breitwieser’s strange world—unlike most thieves, he never stole for money, keeping all his treasures in a single room where he could admire them.

For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.

In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser’s strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart’s content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict’s need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend’s pleas to stop—until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.

This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.]]> 224 Michael Finkel 0525657320 Frances 0 to-read 3.92 2023 The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession

The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession

author: Michael Finkel
name: Frances
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Rom-Commers 195790586 She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates―The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!―it’s a break too big to pass up.

Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.�� Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?]]> 336 Katherine Center 1250283809 Frances 3 humor, library, literature
I mean, not like PERFECT perfect. Emma is too much of a martyr and not as funny or whimsical as she thinks. The relationship is believable but the two leads aren’t, really. But still! Exactly what I hoped for when I picked it up. ]]> 4.06 2024 The Rom-Commers

author: Katherine Center
name: Frances
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: humor, library, literature
review:
Ahhhhhh. Like a delightfully cool glass of water when you’re a lil parched. A treat. Exactly what you want when you want it. A rom-com that keeps the contract with the reader. Everything is beautiful and nothing hurts.

I mean, not like PERFECT perfect. Emma is too much of a martyr and not as funny or whimsical as she thinks. The relationship is believable but the two leads aren’t, really. But still! Exactly what I hoped for when I picked it up.
]]> <![CDATA[Where the Library Hides (Secrets of the Nile, #2)]]> 203578814 Where the Library Hides is Isabel Ibañez's stunning conclusion to the story that started in What the River Knows. A lush immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, and a rivals-to-lovers romance like no other!

"Ana Osorio and Ahmed Hamad are consistently excellent as they deliver this audiobook."��AudioFile

Inez Olivera traveled across the world to Egypt, seeking answers into her parents' recent and mysterious deaths. But all her searching led her down a perilous road, filled with heartache, betrayal, and a dangerous magic that pulled her deep into the past.

When Tío Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she’s left with only one option to consider.

Marriage to Whitford Hayes.

Former British soldier, her uncle’s aide de camp, and one time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her.

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books.]]> 400 Isabel Ibañez 1250822998 Frances 3
I like this idea though that magic is drifting away and now it’s mostly junk that’s left. That’s a FUN idea! Just the mystery and characters and plot need better fleshing out. ]]> 3.84 2024 Where the Library Hides (Secrets of the Nile, #2)

Where the Library Hides (Secrets of the Nile, #2)

author: Isabel Ibañez
name: Frances
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: historical, kindle, library, mystery, fantastical
review:
There’s another review for this book that says “Rick and Evie O’Connell would NEVER�� and HONESTLY.

I like this idea though that magic is drifting away and now it’s mostly junk that’s left. That’s a FUN idea! Just the mystery and characters and plot need better fleshing out.
]]> <![CDATA[The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)]]> 16328
The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. The widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of Veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling case involving blackmail and death that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells�� before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his career.

Librarian's note: the first fifteen novels in the Hercule Poirot series are 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920; 2) The Murder on the Links, 1923; 3) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926; 4) The Big Four, 1927; 5) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1928; 6) Peril at End House, 1932; 7) Lord Edgware Dies, 1933; 8) Murder on the Orient Express, 1934; 9) Three Act Tragedy, 1935; 10) Death in the Clouds, 1935; 11) The A.B.C. Murders, 1936; 12) Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936; 13) Cards on the Table, 1936; 14) Dumb Witness, 1937; and 15) Death on the Nile, 1937. These are just the novels; Poirot also appears in this period in a play, Black Coffee, 1930, and two collections of short stories, Poirot Investigates, 1924, and Murder in the Mews, 1937. Each novel, play and short story has its own entry on ŷ��.]]> 288 Agatha Christie 1579126278 Frances 4
It's like watching Casablanca or Star Wars - they only look cliched in hindsight.

What they are, is pioneering. Poirot never disappoints - the only time I was jarred out of the experience was the random anti-semitic comment. Weird!]]> 4.26 1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)

author: Agatha Christie
name: Frances
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1926
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/29
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: historical, kindle, library, mystery
review:
When the reader takes a beat to remember that Agatha Christie revolutionized the mystery genre a number of times, is it any wonder that this book serves as inspiration to countless generations?

It's like watching Casablanca or Star Wars - they only look cliched in hindsight.

What they are, is pioneering. Poirot never disappoints - the only time I was jarred out of the experience was the random anti-semitic comment. Weird!
]]> <![CDATA[Slowing: Discover Wonder, Beauty, and Creativity through Slow Living]]> 209155118 An inviting guide to reclaiming your time and discovering the wondrous pleasures of slow living.

What beautiful possibilities await us when we slow down?

For author and Slow Stories podcast host Rachel Schwartzmann, slowing down has changed her story in ways she could have never imagined. In this poignant and timely collection, she invites us to step away from the turmoil of daily life and awaken to the pleasures of living and creating with intention.

Her captivating essays reveal how slowing down positively affects our minds, relationships, and work, and contributions from a wide range of luminous voices in art, food, design, and beyond—including Sophia Roe, Leah Thomas, and Jezz Chung—explore the magic that emerges when we intentionally shift our relationship to time and productivity culture. Throughout, readers will also find simple-to-follow guided practices for creativity, journaling, and introspection to help them discover their true rhythm and moments of wonder.

Page after page, Slowing is a balm for the stresses of modern life and a rousing call to experience the beauty and joy of slow living.

SELF-CARE TECHNIQUES: Featuring 52 stories—one for every week of the year—Slowing cultivates awareness, calm, and joy. Readers can immerse themselves in various narratives and practices for well-being and find what best fits their lifestyle and needs.

FRESH APPROACH: Combining evocative storytelling, guided prompts, and inspiring design, Slowing offers a distinctive lens on time and attention—and is an authentic resource for anyone in need of encouragement to connect and be present.

DIGITAL DETOX: Slowing offers an enriching alternative for readers exhausted by social media and invites them to experience the joys of slowing their scroll.

WELLNESS GIFT: This beautifully designed hardcover book is infinitely giftable to friends, family, partners, co-workers, students, or anyone who needs a gentle pick-me-up.

Perfect for:
- People looking for resources on rest, creativity, and personal growth
- Anyone interested in digital detoxing and stress relief
- Thoughtful get-well, birthday, or friendship gift
- Fans of Wintering, Enchantment, Saving Time, and How to Do Nothing]]> 256 Rachel Schwartzmann 1797223755 Frances 3
I think for me, the idea of slowing down still incorporates some aspect of activity. That the act of stepping away from screens or from ambition means that there is now SPACE for something else that is more meaningful for you, whether that's hobbies or relationships or what have you. The author instead advocates that now there's space for you to...do what? Journal very specifically? There are over 300 daily journal prompts, and I didn't have a desire to dive deeply into any of them.

And maybe that's because I've never been so profoundly burnt out that all I want to do is stare at the wall or at the sky, alone with my thoughts.

Or maybe that's because I am the type of person who'll get her fill of looking at the sky in the moments between. And that's enough for me. ]]> 3.61 2024 Slowing: Discover Wonder, Beauty, and Creativity through Slow Living

Slowing: Discover Wonder, Beauty, and Creativity through Slow Living

author: Rachel Schwartzmann
name: Frances
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: kindle, library, non-fiction, social-studies
review:
This was, perhaps, TOO gentle for me.

I think for me, the idea of slowing down still incorporates some aspect of activity. That the act of stepping away from screens or from ambition means that there is now SPACE for something else that is more meaningful for you, whether that's hobbies or relationships or what have you. The author instead advocates that now there's space for you to...do what? Journal very specifically? There are over 300 daily journal prompts, and I didn't have a desire to dive deeply into any of them.

And maybe that's because I've never been so profoundly burnt out that all I want to do is stare at the wall or at the sky, alone with my thoughts.

Or maybe that's because I am the type of person who'll get her fill of looking at the sky in the moments between. And that's enough for me.
]]> The Dead Cat Tail Assassins 127305606 The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.

Nor do they have tails.

But they are most assuredly dead.

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

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

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

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

The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A ﬁnal death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.]]> 213 P. Djèlí Clark 1250767040 Frances 3 fantastical, kindle, library
Which I suppose is the test of a novella! Scout the waters for a longer work! I think I get frustrated when the world building far exceeds the plot, and that’s what happened here. Also it’s weird when the protagonist is THIS sarcastic. ]]> 3.84 2024 The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

author: P. Djèlí Clark
name: Frances
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library
review:
This was…cute? I wasn’t expecting something quite so lighthearted and silly, given the whole “dead assassin�� thing, and I come away wanting to live in the world a bit longer, a bit more seriously.

Which I suppose is the test of a novella! Scout the waters for a longer work! I think I get frustrated when the world building far exceeds the plot, and that’s what happened here. Also it’s weird when the protagonist is THIS sarcastic.
]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)]]> 16054217 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]> 561 Deborah Harkness 0670025593 Frances 4 kindle, fantastical 4.15 2014 The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)

author: Deborah Harkness
name: Frances
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2014/08/21
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: kindle, fantastical
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe, #1)]]> 52504334 Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award-winner P. Djèlí Clark returns to his popular alternate Cairo universe for his fantasy novel debut, A Master of Djinn

Cairo, 1912: Though Fatma el-Sha’arawi is the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities, she’s certainly not a rookie, especially after preventing the destruction of the universe last summer.

So when someone murders a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, Agent Fatma is called onto the case. Al-Jahiz transformed the world 50 years ago when he opened up the veil between the magical and mundane realms, before vanishing into the unknown. This murderer claims to be al-Jahiz, returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions. His dangerous magical abilities instigate unrest in the streets of Cairo that threaten to spill over onto the global stage.

Alongside her Ministry colleagues and her clever girlfriend Siti, Agent Fatma must unravel the mystery behind this imposter to restore peace to the city -or face the possibility he could be exactly who he seems…]]> 438 P. Djèlí Clark 1250267676 Frances 3 I go back and forth on whether this was 3 or 4 stars. I REALLY liked the alternative history take, with “what would happen to colonialism if djinn��. The romance was nice, the mystery beyond predictable. I hope the partnership with Hadia continues to evolve, but overall I liked the premise enough to keep going. ]]> 4.01 2021 A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe, #1)

A Master of Djinn (Dead Djinn Universe, #1)

author: P. Djèlí Clark
name: Frances
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/05/21
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: fantastical, historical, kindle
review:
I was feeling mostly a little bored for the majority here. It wasn’t until the last 30% or so that it really picked up - there were too many loose threads and characters.
I go back and forth on whether this was 3 or 4 stars. I REALLY liked the alternative history take, with “what would happen to colonialism if djinn��. The romance was nice, the mystery beyond predictable. I hope the partnership with Hadia continues to evolve, but overall I liked the premise enough to keep going.
]]> <![CDATA[Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste]]> 31580409
Like many of us, tech reporter Bianca Bosker saw wine as a way to unwind at the end of a long day, or a nice thing to have with dinner and that was about it. Until she stumbled on an alternate universe where taste reigned supreme, a world in which people could, after a single sip of wine, identify the grape it was made from, in what year, and where it was produced down to the exact location, within acres. Where she tasted wine, these people detected not only complex flavor profiles, but entire histories and geographies. Astounded by their fanatical dedication and seemingly superhuman sensory powers, Bosker abandoned her screen-centric life and set out to discover what drove their obsession, and whether she, too, could become a cork dork.

Thus begins a year and a half long adventure that takes the reader inside elite tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, a California winery that manipulates the flavor of its bottles with ingredients like Mega Purple, and even a neuroscientist's fMRI machine as Bosker attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what's the big deal about wine? Funny, counter intuitive, and compulsively readable, Cork Dork illuminates not only the complex web of wine production and consumption, but how tasting better can change our brains and help us live better.]]> 346 Bianca Bosker 0698195906 Frances 0 to-read, to-buy 3.91 2017 Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste

author: Bianca Bosker
name: Frances
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read, to-buy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See]]> 156741696 The author of Cork Dork takes readers on another fascinating, hilarious, and revelatory journey—this time burrowing deep inside the impassioned, secretive world of art and artists.

An award-winning journalist obsessed with obsession, Bianca Bosker’s existence was upended when she wandered into the art world—and couldn’t look away. Intrigued by artists who hyperventilate around their favorite colors and art fiends who max out credit cards to show hunks of metal they think can change the world, Bosker grew fixated on understanding why art matters and how she—or any of us—could engage with it more deeply.

In Get the Picture, Bosker throws herself into the nerve center of art and the people who live for it: gallerists, collectors, curators, and, of course, artists themselves—the kind who work multiple jobs to afford their studios while scrabbling to get eyes on their art. As she stretches canvases until her fingers blister; talks her way into A-list parties full of billionaire collectors; has her face sat on by a nearly naked performance artist; and forces herself to stare at a single sculpture for hours on end while working as a museum security guard, she discovers not only the inner workings of the art-canonization machine but a more expansive way of living.

Probing everything from cave paintings to Instagram and from the science of sight to the importance of beauty as it examines art’s role in our culture, our economy, and our hearts, Get the Picture is a rollicking adventure that will forever change the way you see.]]> 370 Bianca Bosker 0525562206 Frances 4
One of those books that makes you feel validated. For the first time, I feel like appreciating Art is a learnable skill and that makes me add this (and her backlist) to my ToBuy list.

Was this a lot of inside-baseball? God yes. Would this have been better as a newsletter with images? Almost certainly (although I wouldn’t have know to subscribe tbh). I hope that the author and the host of The Lonely Palette got together. Bottom line, I want to reread this with a browser open and month of museum time in front of me.

This still didn’t grant me the courage to go inside a gallery though. ]]> 4.09 2024 Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See

Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See

author: Bianca Bosker
name: Frances
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/15
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: historical, library, non-fiction, social-studies, to-buy
review:
Yessssssss.

One of those books that makes you feel validated. For the first time, I feel like appreciating Art is a learnable skill and that makes me add this (and her backlist) to my ToBuy list.

Was this a lot of inside-baseball? God yes. Would this have been better as a newsletter with images? Almost certainly (although I wouldn’t have know to subscribe tbh). I hope that the author and the host of The Lonely Palette got together. Bottom line, I want to reread this with a browser open and month of museum time in front of me.

This still didn’t grant me the courage to go inside a gallery though.
]]> <![CDATA[It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told)]]> 195790756 An inclusive and essential guide to reproductive health—including period problems, pelvic pain, menopause, fertility, sexual health, vaginal and urinary conditions, and overall wellbeing―from leading expert Dr. Karen Tang

Reproductive healthcare, from abortion to gender-affirming care, is under siege. The onus continues to fall on patients to find and advocate for the care they need. Dr. Karen Tang is on a mission to transform how women engage with their bodies and their healthcare.

Did you know that one in three women experiences menstrual abnormalities or pelvic issues, yet these conditions are overwhelmingly misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or dismissed? The root causes for these issues, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and pelvic-floor muscle dysfunction, don’t receive the stream of funding for research and new treatments that other conditions do, despite the potential to affect up to half the population.

It’s Not Hysteria is a comprehensive guide to common conditions and potential treatment options, with practical tools such as symptom prompts and sample questions to ask one's provider. In the face of uncertainty and misinformation, It’s Not Hysteria is destined to become a new classic that educates and empowers.]]> 384 Karen Tang 1250894158 Frances 5
Because basically what it is, is an extremely accessible textbook of the most common issues women will experience, including symptoms and treatments and most critically how to talk to your doctor about it and what to expect. ]]> 4.20 2024 It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told)

It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told)

author: Karen Tang
name: Frances
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: library, non-fiction, science, social-studies, to-buy
review:
HUGE fan of this. This should be a staple of everyone’s home. Required reading. On all the lists.

Because basically what it is, is an extremely accessible textbook of the most common issues women will experience, including symptoms and treatments and most critically how to talk to your doctor about it and what to expect.
]]> In a Holidaze 50892287 Alternate cover edition can be found here

One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in In a Holidaze, the quintessential holiday romantic novel by Christina Lauren, the New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners..

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…but not for Maelyn Jones. She’s living with her parents, hates her going-nowhere job, and has just made a romantic error of epic proportions.

But perhaps worst of all, this is the last Christmas Mae will be at her favorite place in the world—the snowy Utah cabin where she and her family have spent every holiday since she was born, along with two other beloved families. Mentally melting down as she drives away from the cabin for the final time, Mae throws out what she thinks is a simple plea to the universe: Please. Show me what will make me happy.

The next thing she knows, tires screech and metal collides, everything goes black. But when Mae gasps awake…she’s on an airplane bound for Utah, where she begins the same holiday all over again. With one hilarious disaster after another sending her back to the plane, Mae must figure out how to break free of the strange time loop—and finally get her true love under the mistletoe.

Jam-packed with yuletide cheer, an unforgettable cast of characters, and Christina Lauren’s trademark hijinks, this swoon-worthy romantic read will make you believe in the power of wishes and the magic of the holidays.
]]> 307 Christina Lauren 198212394X Frances 2 kindle, library, humor 3.65 2020 In a Holidaze

author: Christina Lauren
name: Frances
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: kindle, library, humor
review:
This was really closer to 2.5 for me, but I’m rounding down. I was disappointed after liking the Paradise Problem so much! I think the biggest issue was that Mae didn’t seem to see anything clearly except her “love�� of Andrew. Job nope. There was NO mention of any kind of social life. We never get any backstory of most of the other family members, including her dad and brother. We never figure out what the hell was going on with Theo and her, and by the end of it all I was mostly frustrated that that inciting incident never goes anywhere. Not even that Christmas-y!
]]> The Work 201628532
A stunning debut novel about art, power, love and money from the acclaimed and bestselling author of Eggshell Skull.'This novel isn't just good; it's superb. Assured, and powerful, and intelligent, and very, VERY hard to put down. I consumed it in a passion.' �� Annabel Crabb'Smart, witty and super steamy, The Work oozes intelligence and pulses with energy. I devoured it!' �� Emily Maguire'A completely exhilarating, powerful, mesmerising novel, filled with ALL my favourite sex, art and New York City.' �� Jessie Tu'A glamorous and dirty capitalist fever dream �� complex, opulent and horny.' �� Ella Baxter'Caoilinn Hughes' The Orchid and the Wasp meets Andrew Lipstein's Last Resort. A smart, sexy page-turner.' �� Madeleine Gray'Work, power, passion, intimacy and vulnerabilities collide, and best of all, SMUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' �� Flex Mami'A brilliant meditation on the gap between the person we wish to be and who we actually are. I was completely gripped.' �� Bridie Jabour'An ambitious and meticulously modern fable about art, sex, money, power and the perils of self-curation.' �� Gina Rushton'Pacy, racy and high-octane, The Work delves into the volatile world of contemporary art, forcefully exposing it as a bedfellow to the world of high finance.' �� Caoilinn Hughes]]> 386 Bri Lee 176106939X Frances 0 to-read 3.32 2024

author: Bri Lee
name: Frances
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Sentence 56816904
Louise Erdrich's latest novel, The Sentence, asks what we owe to the living, the dead, to the reader and to the book. A small independent bookstore in Minneapolis is haunted from November 2019 to November 2020 by the store's most annoying customer. Flora dies on All Souls' Day, but she simply won't leave the store. Tookie, who has landed a job selling books after years of incarceration that she survived by reading with murderous attention, must solve the mystery of this haunting while at the same time trying to understand all that occurs in Minneapolis during a year of grief, astonishment, isolation, and furious reckoning.

The Sentence begins on All Souls' Day 2019 and ends on All Souls' Day 2020. Its mystery and proliferating ghost stories during this one year propel a narrative as rich, emotional, and profound as anything Louise Erdrich has written]]> 387 Louise Erdrich 006267112X Frances 4
One of the things I most appreciated was how many different ways Erdich plays with the meaning of "sentence". From Flora's book to her death to the bookstore to Tookie's incarceration. From how a sentence can be thought of as part of a conversation, or paragraph, or book. From how long it can seem (COVID), to how short (childhood).

I loved how all the characters evolve, but especially how Tookie truly sits with herself and her pain and how she decides what's most important. Good one to end the year on. ]]> 3.92 2021 The Sentence

author: Louise Erdrich
name: Frances
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: historical, kindle, library, literature, social-studies, to-buy
review:
It's always a little odd when you read your first book by an acclaimed writer with a sizeable backlist. Their voice is so distinct, and practiced but it also kind of feels like you came in to an existing conversation, and you're unobtrusively trying to catch up.

One of the things I most appreciated was how many different ways Erdich plays with the meaning of "sentence". From Flora's book to her death to the bookstore to Tookie's incarceration. From how a sentence can be thought of as part of a conversation, or paragraph, or book. From how long it can seem (COVID), to how short (childhood).

I loved how all the characters evolve, but especially how Tookie truly sits with herself and her pain and how she decides what's most important. Good one to end the year on.
]]> <![CDATA[Passementerie: Handcrafting Contemporary Trimmings, Fringes, Tassels, and More]]> 198286667
In this hands-on introduction to one of the rarest of textile crafts, artist and designer Ashdown combines her mastery of the centuries-old skills with a vibrant, contemporary aesthetic. Learn centuries-old methods and how to apply them to make contemporary ornamental trimmings.

�� 11 guided projects for home and wardrobe, from Chanel-style jacket fringe to braided edging for a window blind.
�� For beginner and intermediate weavers; requires only a simple frame loom, like those commonly sold by craft retailers
�� Additional audiences include fashion/clothing-focus crafters, textile artists, embroiderers, and knitters]]> 160 Elizabeth Ashdown 0764367188 Frances 0 to-read 4.20 Passementerie: Handcrafting Contemporary Trimmings, Fringes, Tassels, and More

Passementerie: Handcrafting Contemporary Trimmings, Fringes, Tassels, and More

author: Elizabeth Ashdown
name: Frances
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts]]> 205363955 Meditations for Mortals takes us on a liberating journey towards a more meaningful life �� one that begins not with fantasies of the ideal existence, but with the reality in which we actually find ourselves.

Addressing the fundamental questions about how to live, it offers a powerful new way to take action on what counts: a guiding philosophy of life Oliver Burkeman calls ‘imperfectionism��. How can we embrace our non-negotiable limitations? Or make good decisions when there’s always too much to do? What if purposeful productivity were often about letting things happen, not making them happen?

Reflecting on ideas drawn from philosophy, religion, literature, psychology, and self-help, Burkeman explores practical tools and shifts in perspective. The result is a bracing challenge to much familiar advice, and a profound yet entertaining crash course in living more fully.

To be read either as a four-week ‘retreat of the mind�� or devoured in one or two sittings, Meditations for Mortals will be a source of solace and inspiration, and an aid to a saner, freer, and more enchantment-filled life. In anxiety-inducing times, it is rich in truths we have never needed more.]]> 208 Oliver Burkeman 0374611998 Frances 0 to-read 4.26 2024 Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts

Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts

author: Oliver Burkeman
name: Frances
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Absolute Book 54735156
A policeman, Jacob Berger, questions her about a cold case. Then there are questions about a fire in the library at her grandparents' house and an ancient scroll box known as the Firestarter, as well as threatening phone calls and a mysterious illness. Finally a shadowy young man named Shift appears, forcing Taryn and Jacob toward a reckoning felt in more than one world.

The Absolute Book is epic, action-packed fantasy in which hidden treasures are recovered, wicked things resurface, birds can talk, and dead sisters are a living force. It is a book of journeys and returns, from contemporary England to Auckland, New Zealand; from a magical fairyland to Purgatory. Above all, it is a declaration of love for stories and the ways in which they shape our worlds and create gods out of morals.]]> 640 Elizabeth Knox 0593296737 Frances 0 to-read 3.03 2019 The Absolute Book

author: Elizabeth Knox
name: Frances
average rating: 3.03
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Witches of New York (Witches of New York, #1)]]> 20053031 The Birth House and The Virgin Cure is back with her most beguiling novel yet, luring us deep inside the lives of a trio of remarkable young women navigating the glitz and grotesqueries of Gilded-Age New York by any means possible, including witchcraft...

The year is 1880. Two hundred years after the trials in Salem, Adelaide Thom ('Moth' from The Virgin Cure) has left her life in the sideshow to open a tea shop with another young woman who feels it's finally safe enough to describe herself as a witch: a former medical student and "gardien de sorts" (keeper of spells), Eleanor St. Clair. Together they cater to Manhattan's high society ladies, specializing in cures, palmistry and potions--and in guarding the secrets of their clients.

All is well until one bright September afternoon, when an enchanting young woman named Beatrice Dunn arrives at their door seeking employment. Beatrice soon becomes indispensable as Eleanor's apprentice, but her new life with the witches is marred by strange occurrences. She sees things no one else can see. She hears voices no one else can hear. Objects appear out of thin air, as if gifts from the dead. Has she been touched by magic or is she simply losing her mind?

Eleanor wants to tread lightly and respect the magic manifest in the girl, but Adelaide sees a business opportunity. Working with Dr. Quinn Brody, a talented alienist, she submits Beatrice to a series of tests to see if she truly can talk to spirits. Amidst the witches' tug-of-war over what's best for her, Beatrice disappears, leaving them to wonder whether it was by choice or by force.

As Adelaide and Eleanor begin the desperate search for Beatrice, they're confronted by accusations and spectres from their own pasts. In a time when women were corseted, confined and committed for merely speaking their minds, were any of them safe?]]> 529 Ami McKay Frances 0 to-read 3.80 2016 The Witches of New York (Witches of New York, #1)

The Witches of New York (Witches of New York, #1)

author: Ami McKay
name: Frances
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches, #1)]]> 11901
Demonstrating, once again, her gift for spellbinding storytelling and the creation of legend, Anne Rice makes real for us a great dynasty of witches—a family given to poetry and to incest, to murder and to philosophy; a family that, over the ages, is itself haunted by a powerful, dangerous, and seductive being.

On the veranda of a great New Orleans house, now faded, a mute and fragile woman sits rocking... and The Witching Hour begins.

It begins in our time with a rescue at sea.��Rowan Mayfair, a beautiful woman, a brilliant practitioner of neurosurgery—aware that she has special powers but unaware that she comes from an ancient line of witches—finds the drowned body of a man off the coast of California and brings him to life.��He is Michael Curry, who was born in New Orleans and orphaned in childhood by fire on Christmas Eve, who pulled himself up from poverty, and who now, in his brief interval of death, has acquired a sensory power that mystifies and frightens him.

As these two, fiercely drawn to each other, fall in love and—in passionate alliance—set out to solve the mystery of her past and his unwelcome gift, the novel moves backward and forward in time from today's New Orleans and San Francisco to long-ago Amsterdam and a château in the France of Louis XIV.��An intricate tale of evil unfolds—an evil unleashed in seventeenth-century Scotland, where the first "witch," Suzanne of the Mayfair, conjures up the spirit she names Lasher... a creation that spells her own destruction and torments each of her descendants in turn.

From the coffee plantations of Port au Prince, where the great Mayfair fortune is made and the legacy of their dark power is almost destroyed, to Civil War New Orleans, as Julien—the clan's only male to be endowed with occult powers—provides for the dynasty its foothold in America, the dark, luminous story encompasses dramas of seduction and death, episodes of tenderness and healing.��And always—through peril and escape, tension and release—there swirl around us the echoes of eternal war: innocence versus the corruption of the spirit, sanity against madness, life against death.��With a dreamlike power, the novel draws us, through circuitous, twilight paths, to the present and Rowan's increasingly inspired and risky moves in the merciless game that binds her to her heritage. And in New Orleans, on Christmas Eve, this strangest of family sagas is brought to its startling climax.]]> 1207 Anne Rice 0099471426 Frances 0 to-read 4.11 1990 The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches, #1)

The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches, #1)

author: Anne Rice
name: Frances
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Small Town, Big Magic (Witchlore, #1)]]> 59952170
Witches aren't real. Right?

No one has civic pride quite like Emerson Wilde. As a local indie bookstore owner and youngest-ever Chamber of Commerce president, she’d do anything for her hometown of St. Cyprian, Missouri. After all, Midwest is best! She may be descended from a witch who was hanged in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials, but there’s no sorcery in doing your best for the town you love.
Or is there?

As she preps Main Street for an annual festival, Emerson notices strange things happening around St. Cyprian. Strange things that culminate in a showdown with her lifelong arch-rival, Mayor Skip Simon. He seems to have sent impossible, paranormal creatures after her. Creatures that Emerson dispatches with ease, though she has no idea how she’s done it. Is Skip Simon…a witch? Is Emerson?

It turns out witches are real, and Emerson is one of them. She failed a coming-of-age test at age eighteen—the only test she’s ever failed!—and now, as an adult, her powers have come roaring back.

But she has little time to explore those powers, or her blossoming relationship with her childhood friend, cranky-yet-gorgeous local farmer Jacob North: an ancient evil has awakened in St. Cyprian, and it’s up to Emerson and her friends—maybe even Emerson herself—to save everything she loves.]]> 411 Hazel Beck 1525804715 Frances 0 to-read 3.27 2022 Small Town, Big Magic (Witchlore, #1)

author: Hazel Beck
name: Frances
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> In the Shadow Garden 60021450 Three generations of witches must discover where their magic went wrong as secrets resurface that could solve a twenty-year-old mystery in this riveting debut,��perfect for fans of��Practical Magic��Ի��Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe.

There's something magical about Yarrow, Kentucky.��The three empathic witches of the Haywood family are known for their shadow garden—from strawberries that taste like chocolate to cherry tomatoes with hints of basil and oregano. Their magic can cure any heartache, and the fruits of their garden bring a special quality to the local bourbon distillery. On one day every year, a shot of Bonner bourbon will make your worst memory disappear.

But twenty years ago, the town gave up more than one memory for the year; they forgot an entire summer. One person died. One person disappeared. And no one has any idea why.

As secrets from that fateful summer start to come to light,��there must be a reckoning between the rival Haywood and Bonner families. But the only clue Irene Haywood has is in her tea leaves: a stranger’s arrival will bring either love or betrayal…]]> 336 Liz Parker 1538708795 Frances 0 to-read 3.87 2022 In the Shadow Garden

author: Liz Parker
name: Frances
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Crescent Moon Tearoom 207293850 A cozy and uplifting debut novel about three clairvoyant sisters who face an unexpected twist of Fate at the bottom of their own delicate porcelain cups.

Ever since the untimely death of their parents, Anne, Beatrix, and Violet Quigley have made a business of threading together the stories that rest in the swirls of ginger, cloves, and cardamom at the bottom of their customers�� cups. Their days at the teashop are filled with talk of butterflies and good fortune intertwined with the sound of cinnamon shortbread being snapped by laced fingers.

That is, until the Council of Witches comes calling with news that the city Diviner has lost her powers, and the sisters suddenly find themselves being pulled in different directions. As Anne’s magic begins to develop beyond that of her sisters��, Beatrix’s writing attracts the attention of a publisher, and Violet is enchanted by the song of the circus—and perhaps a mischievous trapeze artist threatening to sweep her off her feet. It seems a family curse that threatens to separate the sisters is taking effect.

With dwindling time to rewrite their future and help three other witches challenge their own destinies, the Quigleys set out to bargain with Fate. But in focusing so closely on saving each other, will they lose sight of themselves?]]> 336 Stacy Sivinski 1668058391 Frances 0 to-read 3.63 2024 The Crescent Moon Tearoom

author: Stacy Sivinski
name: Frances
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cackle 61058915 The Return.
��
All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start. She accepts a teaching position that moves her from Manhattan to a small village upstate. She’s stunned by how perfect and picturesque the town is. The people are all friendly and warm. Her new apartment is dreamy too, minus the oddly persistent spider infestation.��
��
Then Annie meets Sophie. Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie, who takes a special interest in Annie, who wants to be her friend. More importantly, she wants Annie to stop apologizing and start living for herself. That’s how Sophie lives. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, wanting to spend more and more time with her, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem…a little afraid of her. And like, okay. There are some things. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain power…but she couldn’t be…could she?]]> 319 Rachel Harrison 0593202031 Frances 0 to-read 3.71 2021 Cackle

author: Rachel Harrison
name: Frances
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Rewitched 210847437 Belladonna Blackthorn hasn’t lost her magical spark . . . but she hasn’t seen it in a while, either.

Balancing work at her beloved Lunar Books with protecting it from her toxic boss, who’s running it into the ground, and all the while concealing her witchcraft from the non-wicches around her �� Belle is burnt out. Perfecting the potential of her magic is the last thing on her mind.

But when her 30th birthday brings a summons from her coven, and a trial that tests her worthiness as a witch, Belle risks losing her magic forever. With the month of October to fix things, and signs that dark forces may be working against her, Belle will need all the help she can get �� from the women in her life, from an unlikely mentor figure, and even an (infuriatingly handsome) watchman who’s sworn to protect her . . .

With found family, slow burn romance and an uplifting message about self-love, this is the cosy, autumnal read that you've been waiting for.]]> 384 Lucy Jane Wood 059382007X Frances 0 to-read 3.81 2024 Rewitched

author: Lucy Jane Wood
name: Frances
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age]]> 24612127
We live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed conversation for mere connection.

Preeminent author and researcher Sherry Turkle has been studying digital culture for over thirty years. Long an enthusiast for its possibilities, here she investigates a troubling consequence: at work, at home, in politics, and in love, we find ways around conversation, tempted by the possibilities of a text or an email in which we don’t have to look, listen, or reveal ourselves.

We develop a taste for what mere connection offers. The dinner table falls silent as children compete with phones for their parents�� attention. Friends learn strategies to keep conversations going when only a few people are looking up from their phones. At work, we retreat to our screens although it is conversation at the water cooler that increases not only productivity but commitment to work. Online, we only want to share opinions that our followers will agree with �� a politics that shies away from the real conflicts and solutions of the public square.

The case for conversation begins with the necessary conversations of solitude and self-reflection. They are endangered: these days, always connected, we see loneliness as a problem that technology should solve. Afraid of being alone, we rely on other people to give us a sense of ourselves, and our capacity for empathy and relationship suffers. We see the costs of the flight from conversation everywhere: conversation is the cornerstone for democracy and in business it is good for the bottom line. In the private sphere, it builds empathy, friendship, love, learning, and productivity.

But there is good news: we are resilient. Conversation cures.

Based on five years of research and interviews in homes, schools, and the workplace, Turkle argues that we have come to a better understanding of where our technology can and cannot take us and that the time is right to reclaim conversation. The most human—and humanizing—thing that we do.

The virtues of person-to-person conversation are timeless, and our most basic technology, talk, responds to our modern challenges. We have everything we need to start, we have each other.]]> 448 Sherry Turkle 1594205558 Frances 0 to-read 3.79 2015 Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age

Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age

author: Sherry Turkle
name: Frances
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)]]> 150247395
Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears--quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.]]> 410 Robert Jackson Bennett 1984820702 Frances 4
Will read the next!]]> 4.28 2024 The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)

author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Frances
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library, sci-fi
review:
Weird to describe a murder mystery as breezy, but this one gloriously tripped along. Ana and Din were great as improved-upon Holmes/Watson, and the world building was FASCINATING. I love this genre: mashups of two distinct types of storytelling that take advantage of the best parts while trusting the reader to figure it out. The fantasy / sci-fi aspect was super rich, and the clues for the mystery were all there.

Will read the next!
]]> <![CDATA[A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan, #2)]]> 212078448 The brilliant detective Ana Dolabra may have finally met her match in the gripping sequel to The Tainted Cup—from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy.

In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, an impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remained locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are all under constant guard.

To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial investigator, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.

Before long, Ana’s discovered that they’re not investigating a disappearance, but a murder—and that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and who can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future.

Worse still, the killer seems to be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud. Here, the Empire's greatest minds dissect fallen Titans to harness the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the destruction would be terrible indeed—and the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.

Din has seen Ana solve impossible cases before. But this time, with the stakes higher than ever and Ana seemingly a step behind their adversary at every turn, he fears that his superior has finally met an enemy she can’t defeat.]]> 432 Robert Jackson Bennett 1399725424 Frances 0 to-read 4.60 2025 A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan, #2)

A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan, #2)

author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Frances
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence]]> 44774807 "Pollan keeps you turning the pages . . . cleareyed and assured." --New York Times

A #1 New York Times Bestseller, New York Times Book Review 10 Best Books of 2018, and New York Times Notable Book

A brilliant and brave investigation into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs--and the spellbinding story of his own life-changing psychedelic experiences

When Michael Pollan set out to research how LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are being used to provide relief to people suffering from difficult-to-treat conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety, he did not intend to write what is undoubtedly his most personal book. But upon discovering how these remarkable substances are improving the lives not only of the mentally ill but also of healthy people coming to grips with the challenges of everyday life, he decided to explore the landscape of the mind in the first person as well as the third. Thus began a singular adventure into various altered states of consciousness, along with a dive deep into both the latest brain science and the thriving underground community of psychedelic therapists. Pollan sifts the historical record to separate the truth about these mysterious drugs from the myths that have surrounded them since the 1960s, when a handful of psychedelic evangelists inadvertently catalyzed a powerful backlash against what was then a promising field of research.

A unique and elegant blend of science, memoir, travel writing, history, and medicine, How to Change Your Mind is a triumph of participatory journalism. By turns dazzling and edifying, it is the gripping account of a journey to an exciting and unexpected new frontier in our understanding of the mind, the self, and our place in the world. The true subject of Pollan's mental travelogue is not just psychedelic drugs but also the eternal puzzle of human consciousness and how, in a world that offers us both suffering and joy, we can do our best to be fully present and find meaning in our lives.]]> 464 Michael Pollan 0735224153 Frances 4
He makes many extremely compelling arguments for the use of therapeutic psychedelics - so compelling, that I was actually surprised. Therapy for the betterment of well people is something that I find intriguing, and the connections he found himself making sound very interesting. However, it's the evidence (not necessarily arguments) he puts forth for the use of psychedelics in the treatment of addiction and trauma that are the most profoundly impactful, and it makes me hopeful for the future of the field.

The bottom line is, if you're even remotely curious about psychedelics this is the book for you.]]> 4.41 2018 How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

author: Michael Pollan
name: Frances
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2019/06/21
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: non-fiction, san-francisco, science, social-studies
review:
I didn't know what to expect here. On the one hand, reading about people's drug trips is inherently boring. On the other hand, Michael Pollan! Reading with an open mind is usually a plus - in this case, I'd say it's required.

He makes many extremely compelling arguments for the use of therapeutic psychedelics - so compelling, that I was actually surprised. Therapy for the betterment of well people is something that I find intriguing, and the connections he found himself making sound very interesting. However, it's the evidence (not necessarily arguments) he puts forth for the use of psychedelics in the treatment of addiction and trauma that are the most profoundly impactful, and it makes me hopeful for the future of the field.

The bottom line is, if you're even remotely curious about psychedelics this is the book for you.
]]> Early Thirties 214152259 A hilarious and painfully relatable debut novel about two thirtysomething best friends�� messy search for connection and love in New York, perfect for fans of Rebecca Serle, Gabrielle Zevin, and Dolly Alderton.

Sometimes friendship can be its own love story.

Victor and Zoey are getting old, well old-er, and it’s beginning to be a real problem.

Best friends for a decade, they have seen each other through bad dates and office drama, late nights and hungover brunches, during their years together in New York City.

As their wild twenties come to a close, though, the dynamic between the two is shifting. Coming off a tough breakup, Victor dedicates his energies toward building a career writing celebrity profiles for one of the last glossy magazines left, while Zoey navigates the terrain at her nascent fashion startup, questioning her future with her fiancé. The friends and acquaintances in their orbit—authors, influencers, “It girls”—are also searching for a sense of belonging, amidst anxieties and self-doubt.

But when tragedy befalls Victor, his once unbreakable bond with Zoey really starts to crack. They find themselves ignoring their ongoing text thread and pushing away what might be the most meaningful relationship of their lives. An immersive, hilarious, and heartbreaking story, this is a debut novel about best friendship, finding yourself, and realizing growing up has as much to do with the person you were as it does with the person you are desperately trying to become.]]> 336 Josh Duboff 1668059932 Frances 0 to-read 3.23 Early Thirties

author: Josh Duboff
name: Frances
average rating: 3.23
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Our Infinite Fates 210395729 They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one.

Evelyn remembers all her past lives. She also remembers that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being whose soul―and survival―is tethered to hers.

The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her for bone marrow transplants in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to:

1. Find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life―before they find her first.
2. Figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse.
3. Try not to fall in love.

The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue meets This is How You Lose The Time War in this fantastical love story that defies death as two souls reincarnate through the centuries.]]> 352 Laura Steven 1250333881 Frances 0 to-read 3.76 2025 Our Infinite Fates

author: Laura Steven
name: Frances
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Great Big Beautiful Life 218559595 Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.]]> 432 Emily Henry Frances 0 to-read 4.21 2025 Great Big Beautiful Life

author: Emily Henry
name: Frances
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Funny Story 194803835 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry 0593441281 Frances 4
Characters are clever and funny and goodhearted. The villains aren’t evil, really just dumb. People want the best for their loved ones. The spice isn’t that cringy, again, it centers on a LIBRARIAN.

FOUR STARS. ]]> 4.18 2024 Funny Story

author: Emily Henry
name: Frances
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: humor, kindle, library, to-buy
review:
Am excellent example of the EmHen genre: the reader blazes through this idyllic quintessential middle-small-town America. Everyone makes enough to survive and then some while working at a job they’re passionate about (a librarian!!!!!!).

Characters are clever and funny and goodhearted. The villains aren’t evil, really just dumb. People want the best for their loved ones. The spice isn’t that cringy, again, it centers on a LIBRARIAN.

FOUR STARS.
]]> <![CDATA[A Queen in Hiding (The Nine Realms, #1)]]> 45046606
But to do it she must win the favor of the spirits who play in mortal affairs, assemble an unlikely group of rebels, and wrest the throne from a corrupt aristocracy whose rot has spread throughout her kingdom.]]> 477 Sarah Kozloff 1250168546 Frances 2 fantastical, kindle, library
On the one hand, there needed to be more: more character development, more world building, more plot momentum.

It also needed LESS. Fewer extraneous characters and an entire plot that I’ll mention here because it’s SPOILED IN THE BLURB. We know she’s an orphan! It says so in the description of the book! WHY DO WE SPEND SO LONG WITH HER PARENTS. WHY. Kozloff tries play it for feels, but…the reader knows it was coming from the jump??? It also does NOT need this not-remotely-subtle thing with the hair color as a stand in for race. That’s dumb.

Another series where if it’s convenient and I’m stumped for the next read, I’ll pick up the sequel, but I’m not gunning for it. ]]> 3.77 2020 A Queen in Hiding (The Nine Realms, #1)

author: Sarah Kozloff
name: Frances
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library
review:
HMMM.

On the one hand, there needed to be more: more character development, more world building, more plot momentum.

It also needed LESS. Fewer extraneous characters and an entire plot that I’ll mention here because it’s SPOILED IN THE BLURB. We know she’s an orphan! It says so in the description of the book! WHY DO WE SPEND SO LONG WITH HER PARENTS. WHY. Kozloff tries play it for feels, but…the reader knows it was coming from the jump??? It also does NOT need this not-remotely-subtle thing with the hair color as a stand in for race. That’s dumb.

Another series where if it’s convenient and I’m stumped for the next read, I’ll pick up the sequel, but I’m not gunning for it.
]]> Writers & Lovers 50395093 New York Times bestselling author of Euphoria.

Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman.

Blindsided by her mother’s sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 without a plan. Her mail consists of wedding invitations and final notices from debt collectors. A former child golf prodigy, she now waits tables in Harvard Square and rents a tiny, moldy room at the side of a garage where she works on the novel she’s been writing for six years. At thirty-one, Casey is still clutching onto something nearly all her old friends have let go of: the determination to live a creative life. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more. Casey’s fight to fulfill her creative ambitions and balance the conflicting demands of art and life is challenged in ways that push her to the brink.

Writers & Lovers follows Casey—a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist—in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis. Written with King’s trademark humor, heart, and intelligence, Writers & Lovers is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.]]> 295 Lily King 0802148557 Frances 5
I hesitate to call this feel good, for fear of belittling it, but it WAS. I liked Casey and her horror of a room, I liked her anxiety, I liked her messiness, I liked her self-belief and audacity, I loved Muriel and Harry, I liked the setting in Boston 1997 because it was simultaneously quaint and terrible.

I loved the ending. I don’t know why this seems to have flown under the radar but it was GREAT. ]]> 4.20 2020 Writers & Lovers

author: Lily King
name: Frances
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: kindle, library, literature, to-buy
review:
One of the first literary fiction reads I’ve picked up from Libby that I’m adding to my “hard-copy-to-buy�� list in a WHILE.

I hesitate to call this feel good, for fear of belittling it, but it WAS. I liked Casey and her horror of a room, I liked her anxiety, I liked her messiness, I liked her self-belief and audacity, I loved Muriel and Harry, I liked the setting in Boston 1997 because it was simultaneously quaint and terrible.

I loved the ending. I don’t know why this seems to have flown under the radar but it was GREAT.
]]> <![CDATA[Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan, #1)]]> 53138099 Finlay Donovan is Killing It.

Finlay Donovan is killing it . . . except, she’s really not. She’s a stressed-out single-mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: the new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors.

When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer, and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet . . . Soon, Finlay discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation.

Fast-paced, deliciously witty, and wholeheartedly authentic in depicting the frustrations and triumphs of motherhood in all its messiness, hilarity, and heartfelt moment, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is the first in a brilliant new series from YA Edgar Award nominee Elle Cosimano.]]> 355 Elle Cosimano 1250241707 Frances 2
I’d give the sequel a shot on Libby if it was immediately available and I didn’t have anything else to read. Which isn’t a rousing endorsement. But it’s also the first in the series! Maybe it gets better?]]> 3.99 2021 Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan, #1)

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan, #1)

author: Elle Cosimano
name: Frances
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: humor, kindle, library, mystery
review:
A weird one to reflect on because on the one hand, I was entertained and I liked that she had a best friend who believed in her and she actually valued that relationship and worked on it. And on the other hand, this is a writing exercise that got all the way through to publication.

I’d give the sequel a shot on Libby if it was immediately available and I didn’t have anything else to read. Which isn’t a rousing endorsement. But it’s also the first in the series! Maybe it gets better?
]]> The Book of Doors 156009464
Cassie Andrews works in a New York City bookshop, shelving books, making coffee for customers, and living an unassuming, ordinary life. Until the day one of her favorite customers—a lonely yet charming old man—dies right in front of her. Cassie is devastated. She always loved his stories, and now she has nothing to remember him by. Nothing but the last book he was reading.

But this is no ordinary book��

It is the Book of Doors.

Inscribed with enigmatic words and mysterious drawings, it promises Cassie that any door is every door. You just need to know how to open them.

Then she’s approached by a gaunt stranger in a rumpled black suit with a Scottish brogue who calls himself Drummond Fox. He’s a librarian who keeps watch over a unique set of rare volumes. The tome now in Cassie’s possession is not the only book with great power, but it is the one most coveted by those who collect them.

Now Cassie is being hunted by those few who know of the Special Books. With only her roommate Izzy to confide in, she has to decide if she will help the mysterious and haunted Drummond protect the Book of Doors—and the other books in his secret library’s care—from those who will do evil. Because only Drummond knows where the unique library is and only Cassie’s book can get them there.

But there are those willing to kill to obtain those secrets. And a dark force—in the form of a shadowy, sadistic woman—is at the very top of that list.]]> 404 Gareth Brown 0063323982 Frances 0 to-read 4.01 2024 The Book of Doors

author: Gareth Brown
name: Frances
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Wedding People 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women can’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Frances 0 to-read 4.11 2024 The Wedding People

author: Alison Espach
name: Frances
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past]]> 208894905 A vivid collection of surprising true stories that brings to life long-forgotten icons, heroes who never got their due, and ordinary people who never made it to the history books, from the creator of the popular podcast The Memory Palace. What was Dreamland, Brooklyn's most popular attraction, like before it burned down? Whatever happened to Shipwreck Kelly? What were the glistening orbs John Glenn saw from his capsule on his first trip to space? For more than a decade, Nate DiMeo has brought the big and small of American history to life in The Memory Palace, a podcast of crystalline short stories that are all completely true. In this beautifully designed collection, where DiMeo takes advantage of the visual form of a book by creating striking juxtapositions between images and text, he gathers the best of the show and adds brand-new stories exclusive to the book, which especially take their inspiration from photographs and the emergence of photography.��The collection adds up to a unique take on the past that asks what gets to count as history in the first place, draws deep meaning from forgotten lives, and often dives into past crazes and the sometimes humorous and sometimes devastating fact that what or who is popular in one moment can become a barely remembered curiosity in the next. He resurrects stories that deserve to be memorialized, like that of the Surfmen of the Outer Banks who saved countless sailors' lives and the workers who risked theirs daily to dig the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.��Each one of these poignant, vivid stories brings the past completely alive with the potential to shift our perspectives on the world today and to send readers out searching for all of the hidden stories it contains, just beyond the surface.]]> 336 Nate DiMeo 0593446151 Frances 0 to-read 4.35 2024 The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past

The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past

author: Nate DiMeo
name: Frances
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris]]> 198562146 When you’re a woman of a certain age, you are only promised��that everything will get worse.��But what if everything you’ve been told is a lie?

Come to Paris, August 2021, when the City of Lights was still empty of tourists and a thirst for long-overdue pleasure gripped those who wandered its streets.

After New York City emptied out in March 2020, Glynnis MacNicol, aged forty-six, unmarried with no children, spent sixteen months alone in her tiny Manhattan apartment. The isolation was punishing. A year without touch. Women are warned of invisibility as they age, but this was an extreme loneliness no one can prepare you for. When the opportunity to sublet a friend’s apartment in Paris arose, MacNicol jumped on it. Leaving felt less like a risk than a necessity.

What follows is a decadent, joyful, unexpected journey into one woman’s pursuit of radical enjoyment.

The weeks in Paris are filled with friendship and food and sex. There is dancing on the Seine; a plethora of gooey cheese; midnight bike rides through empty Paris; handsome men; afternoons wandering through the empty Louvre; nighttime swimming in the ocean off a French island. And yes, plenty of nudity.

In the spirit of Nora Ephron and Deborah Levy (think Colette . . . if she’d had access to dating apps), I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself is an intimate, insightful, powerful, and endlessly pleasurable memoir of an intensely lived experience whose meaning and insight expand far beyond the personal narrative. MacNicol is determined to document the beauty, excess, and triumph of a life that does not require permission.

The pursuit of enjoyment is a political act, both a right and a responsibility. Enjoying yourself—as you are—is not something the world tells you is possible, but it is.

Here’s the proof.]]> 286 Glynnis MacNicol 0593655761 Frances 4
But the two women’s paths are weirdly aligned, craving so much, and one goes through it with self-awareness and kindness and the other doesn’t. I’ll take MacNicol every time.

I also just flat out liked her narrative structure, her love of Paris, and her appreciation of the relationships she’s nurturing and how much WORK goes in to doing so.

I liked this more than I anticipated!]]> 3.71 2024 I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris

I'm Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself: One Woman's Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris

author: Glynnis MacNicol
name: Frances
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: kindle, library, non-fiction, social-studies
review:
Objectively I understand that it’s not really correct to compare this and All Fours, by Miranda July. July’s protagonist is fictional: exaggerated for effect. She SHOULDN’T be as believable as MacNicol, an actual real person.

But the two women’s paths are weirdly aligned, craving so much, and one goes through it with self-awareness and kindness and the other doesn’t. I’ll take MacNicol every time.

I also just flat out liked her narrative structure, her love of Paris, and her appreciation of the relationships she’s nurturing and how much WORK goes in to doing so.

I liked this more than I anticipated!
]]> How to End a Love Story 63247365
“Emotional, relatable and binge-worthy." –Tessa Bailey

“I’ll read anything she writes. An absolute star." –Emily Henry

“I was hooked on the very first page. Don't miss this one!" �� Carley Fortune

Two writers with a complicated history end up working on the same TV show. Can they write themselves a new ending? A sexy and emotional enemies-to-lovers romance guaranteed to pull on your heartstrings and give you a book hangover from brilliant new voice Yulin Kuang

Helen Zhang hasn’t seen Grant Shepard once in the thirteen years since the tragic accident that bound their lives together forever.

Now a bestselling author, Helen pours everything into her career. She’s even scored a coveted spot in the writers�� room of the TV adaptation of her popular young adult novels, and if she can hide her imposter syndrome and overcome her writer’s block, surely the rest of her life will fall into place too. LA is the fresh start she needs. After all, no one knows her there. Except��

Grant has done everything in his power to move on from the past, including building a life across the country. And while the panic attacks have never quite gone away, he’s well liked around town as a screenwriter. He knows he shouldn’t have taken the job on Helen’s show, but it will open doors to developing his own projects that he just can’t pass up.

Grant’s exactly as Helen remembers him—charming, funny, popular, and lovable in ways that she’s never been. And Helen’s exactly as Grant remembers too—brilliant, beautiful, closed off. But working together is messy, and electrifying, and Helen’s parents, who have never forgiven Grant, have no idea he’s in the picture at all.

When secrets come to light, they must reckon with the fact that theirs was never meant to be any kind of love story. And yet�� the key to making peace with their past—and themselves—might just lie in holding on to each other in the present.]]> 384 Yulin Kuang Frances 3 kindle, library, literature
I wanted there to be more, but I think that’s just me wanting more kid-of-immigrants-finds-balance, and this was a fizzy Hollywood romance. And that’s the whole point. It shouldn’t need to be everything, it can afford to be fine. ]]> 3.61 2024 How to End a Love Story

author: Yulin Kuang
name: Frances
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves: kindle, library, literature
review:
Ya know, with a few caveats I liked this one! The cast of characters is vividly, if a bit stereotypically - drawn: Helen is uptight/smart, Grant is hot/unattainable, Nicole is kind/witty, Suraya is mom/brisk. The pacing keeps moving, even if the spicy scenes are just meh. It works!

I wanted there to be more, but I think that’s just me wanting more kid-of-immigrants-finds-balance, and this was a fizzy Hollywood romance. And that’s the whole point. It shouldn’t need to be everything, it can afford to be fine.
]]> Mouth to Mouth 55886036 192 Antoine Wilson 1982181826 Frances 3 kindle, library, literature
“A��徱��پ��Բ��?

“A literary puzzle��?

The reviews for this book are glowing, but frankly opaque. This was fine? It’s believable in the way that stories that happened to someone else are - like, sure. Plausible. Brief, but I can see how one could run into an old acquaintance and then be trapped into a prolonged conversation at an airport.

It’s weird - I don’t think this is one that will stick with me, but points on execution I guess. ]]> 3.91 2022 Mouth to Mouth

author: Antoine Wilson
name: Frances
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves: kindle, library, literature
review:
“A taut thriller��?

“A��徱��پ��Բ��?

“A literary puzzle��?

The reviews for this book are glowing, but frankly opaque. This was fine? It’s believable in the way that stories that happened to someone else are - like, sure. Plausible. Brief, but I can see how one could run into an old acquaintance and then be trapped into a prolonged conversation at an airport.

It’s weird - I don’t think this is one that will stick with me, but points on execution I guess.
]]> Fang Fiction 204640575 She’s out for adventure. He’s out for blood.

The world of your favorite fantasy novels is real, and you’re invited to visit. The only catch? It’s filled with thirsty vampires. Devour this page-turning romance from the bestselling author of One to Watch.

Tess Rosenbloom is no stranger to the dark. An assault survivor and grad school dropout, she spends her nights managing a chic Brooklyn hotel and her days curled up with her favorite vampire novels, Blood Feud. Tess even dabbles in online conspiracies that Blood Feud is real—it’s fun to hunt for clues! But deep down, Tess doesn’t believe vampires actually exist��

Until one walks through her door.

It turns out Blood Feud is real, and the sexy villain of the novels is trapped. Eager to escape her life, Tess agrees to help rescue him, and soon she’s in a fantasia of lavish palaces and enchanted forests, on a secret island where the sun never shines and she’s surrounded by deadly vampires—and against her better judgment, she’s falling in love with one of them. (And unbeknownst to Tess, her estranged best friend is having a sapphic affair with a beautiful vampire of her own back in New York.)

Visiting the world of your favorite story is any fan’s dream, but will Tess be able to outrun the demons of her past (and vampires of her present) before it becomes a nightmare? In this darkly glamorous rom-com, Tess will find out whether it’s worth risking her neck—and her heart—for a chance to reclaim her future.]]> 400 Kate Stayman-London 0593729129 Frances 4 fantastical, kindle, library
I was surprised at the end to read that this was Buffy, and not say, a reworked ACOTAR fan fiction but sure. It sort of worked for me! Silly with some hand-waving to more serious themes. If you’re okay with novels that don’t take themselves too seriously, check this out. ]]> 3.52 2024 Fang Fiction

author: Kate Stayman-London
name: Frances
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/27
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library
review:
Part of the reason I’m rating this so highly is because of the Sheer Audacity???? The pitch to her agent was apparently “a girl wakes up in Buffy��, and she was actually able to get through the fan fiction of it all and come up with something pretty good!

I was surprised at the end to read that this was Buffy, and not say, a reworked ACOTAR fan fiction but sure. It sort of worked for me! Silly with some hand-waving to more serious themes. If you’re okay with novels that don’t take themselves too seriously, check this out.
]]> <![CDATA[The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore]]> 201751300 An affectionate and engaging history of the American bookstore and its central place in American cultural life, from department stores to indies, from highbrow dealers trading in first editions to sidewalk vendors, and from chains to special-interest community destinations

Bookstores have always been unlike any other kind of store, shaping readers and writers, and influencing our tastes, thoughts, and politics. They nurture local communities while creating new ones of their own. Bookshops are powerful spaces, but they are also endangered ones. In The Bookshop, we see those stakes: what has been, and what might be lost.

Evan Friss’s history of the bookshop draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers to offer a fascinating look at this institution beloved by so many. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin’s first bookstore in Philadelphia and takes us to a range of booksellers including The Strand, Chicago’s Marshall Field & Company, Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores like Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, sidewalk sellers of used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Parnassus. The Bookshop is also a history of the leading figures in American bookselling, often impassioned eccentrics, and a history of how books have been marketed and sold over more than two centuries—including, for example, a 3,000-pound elephant who appeared to sign books at Marshall Field’s in 1944.

The Bookshop is a love letter to bookstores, a charming chronicle for anyone who cherishes these sanctuaries of literature, and essential reading to understand how these vital institutions have shaped American life—and why we still need them.]]> 416 Evan Friss 0593299922 Frances 0 to-read 3.92 2024 The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore

The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore

author: Evan Friss
name: Frances
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Husbands 193781998 An exuberant debut, The Husbands delights in how do we navigate life, love, and choice in a world of never-ending options?

When Lauren returns home to her flat in London late one night, she is greeted at the door by her husband, Michael. There’s only one problem—she’s not married. She’s never seen this man before in her life. But according to her friends, her much-improved decor, and the photos on her phone, they’ve been together for years.

As Lauren tries to puzzle out how she could be married to someone she can’t remember meeting, Michael goes to the attic to change a lightbulb and abruptly disappears. In his place, a new man emerges, and a new, slightly altered life re-forms around her. Realizing that her attic is creating an infinite supply of husbands, Lauren confronts the question: If swapping lives is as easy as changing a lightbulb, how do you know you’ve taken the right path? When do you stop trying to do better and start actually��living?]]> 352 Holly Gramazio 0385550618 Frances 4 kindle, library, literature
I think the primary reason I liked this book as much as I did was because I liked the protagonist! Lauren is normal! She wants a normal little life and she wants someone to share it with and she doesn’t have grand aspirations she just wants someone with a hobby who is, also, crucially, normal. She pines after the one who got away and tries to get him back, hopelessly. She hates people for no reason, and good reason, and it basically all comes down to timing and luck.

Which is accurate. ]]> 3.50 2024 The Husbands

author: Holly Gramazio
name: Frances
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves: kindle, library, literature
review:
3.5 stars, really but I’m rounding up. I expected this to be a little more loaded with meaning and metaphor than it ended up being, but I think that worked to its benefit. It definitely made it more readable. The fact that she was married to all these men and thus was experiencing normal life with them rather than the buzz of dating was a sensible choice by the author.

I think the primary reason I liked this book as much as I did was because I liked the protagonist! Lauren is normal! She wants a normal little life and she wants someone to share it with and she doesn’t have grand aspirations she just wants someone with a hobby who is, also, crucially, normal. She pines after the one who got away and tries to get him back, hopelessly. She hates people for no reason, and good reason, and it basically all comes down to timing and luck.

Which is accurate.
]]> All Fours 197798168
A semifamous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to New York. Twenty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, beds down in a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in a temporary reinvention that turns out to be the start of an entirely different journey.

Miranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, All Fours tells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, All Fours transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.]]> 336 Miranda July 0593190262 Frances 2
I GET that she has a journeying soul, and has experienced trauma. But she’s SO self-centered she’s like a parody of a person. I GET that this whole story is intended to be understood as an analogy to the rollercoaster of menopause and perimenopause, but it’s like she heard that explanation and was like SWEET AN EXCUSE.

She irritated me. I had no patience for her, and worse I had no sympathy. I can grant her pity but honestly she seems like the type of person who doesn’t distinguish between the two, as long as she’s the center of attention anyway. ]]> 3.52 2024 All Fours

author: Miranda July
name: Frances
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves: kindle, library, literature, historical
review:
Ok that’s it. It is time for me to acknowledge that Miranda July is not for me. I see the hype, I respect the hype, I can even understand why it’s there, but I always end up experiencing her prose through a pane of glass that I fundamentally have no interest breaking.

I GET that she has a journeying soul, and has experienced trauma. But she’s SO self-centered she’s like a parody of a person. I GET that this whole story is intended to be understood as an analogy to the rollercoaster of menopause and perimenopause, but it’s like she heard that explanation and was like SWEET AN EXCUSE.

She irritated me. I had no patience for her, and worse I had no sympathy. I can grant her pity but honestly she seems like the type of person who doesn’t distinguish between the two, as long as she’s the center of attention anyway.
]]> Wives Like Us 61896550
If you think the English countryside is all green wellies, muddy Land Rovers, and grey-haired ladies in tweed, then you’ve never visited The Bottoms.

Welcome to the rose-strewn county of Oxfordshire, and the tony Cotswold villages of Little Bottom, Middle Bottom, Great Bottom, and Monkton Bottom, recently annexed by a glittering new breed of female: the Country Princess.

Following a ghastly row about a missing suite of diamonds, Tata Hawkins has flounced out of Monkton Bottom Manor with her daughter, Minty, and Executive Butler Ian Palmer in tow, decamping to The Old Coach House to teach her husband, Bryan, a lesson.

But things don’t go to plan. Bryan disappears to Venice with a bikini designer; Selby Fairfax, the glamorous American divorcée who has inherited the beautiful estate next door—Great Bottom Park—is refusing Tata’s overtures at friendship; Tata’s two best friends, Sophie Thompson and Fernanda Ovington-Williams, are distracted by their own problems; worst of all, Ian has nowhere to store his collection of vintage Gucci loafers.

Will Tata ever return to the comforts of the Manor? Will Sophie’s husband start appreciating her? Will Fernanda ever find a replacement Manny for her friendless son, Luca? Will Selby believe in love again? With the help of a pig farmer-ess moonlighting as a Personal Assistant, a male model moonlighting as a stable hand, a London barrister moonlighting as a gentleman farmer, and a hypochondriac American tech mogul lying in a hospital bed, is there any hope that Ian can restore harmony to The Bottoms?]]> 368 Plum Sykes 0062429086 Frances 2
I came away thinking Kevin Kwan did this already, and did it better. Bottom line, you can’t just take Crazy Rich Asians, but make it Oxfordshire. It’s flat out dull. ]]> 3.42 2024 Wives Like Us

author: Plum Sykes
name: Frances
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/13
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves: kindle, library, literature, humor
review:
Initially at 3 stars, I’ve bumped it down to 2 even though it wasn’t like I didn’t mildly smirk at various points. Ian knew his value and worth and didn’t have hang ups about it! Refreshing but also…not that believable? The inoffensive Sophie was actually TOO inoffensive, and it came back to bite her in the ass. And don’t even get me started on The Americans.

I came away thinking Kevin Kwan did this already, and did it better. Bottom line, you can’t just take Crazy Rich Asians, but make it Oxfordshire. It’s flat out dull.
]]> <![CDATA[Questions I Ask When I Want to Talk About Myself]]> 25569276 The Office flibbertigibbet)��and she loves to listen (back when she was babysitting for a living, her charges found in her an enthusiastic sounding-board for listing the pros and cons of marrying each band member of ‘N Sync).

In this deck of conversation starters, Mindy discusses her views on 50 witty and relatable subjects, along with accompanying questions to get you and your friends talking about things that really matter (best friend rights and responsibilities, how guys have to do almost nothing to be great, and other universal truths).]]> 50 Mindy Kaling Frances 0 to-read 4.06 Questions I Ask When I Want to Talk About Myself

Questions I Ask When I Want to Talk About Myself

author: Mindy Kaling
name: Frances
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)]]> 178864
A mind-bending code hidden in the works of Leonardo da Vinci. A desperate race through the cathedrals and castles of Europe. An astonishing truth concealed for centuries�� unveiled at last.

While in Paris on business, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon receives an urgent late-night phone call. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, a baffling cipher found near the body. As Langdon and a gifted French cryptologist, Sophie Neveu, sort through the bizarre riddles, they are stunned to discover a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci–clues visible for all to see and yet ingeniously disguised by the painter.

The stakes are raised when Langdon uncovers a startling link: the late curator was involved in the Priory of Sion—an actual secret society whose members included Sir Isaac Newton, Botticelli, Victor Hugo, and Da Vinci, among others. Langdon suspects they are on the hunt for a breathtaking historical secret, one that has proven through the centuries to be as enlightening as it is dangerous. In a frantic race through Paris, and beyond, Langdon and Neveu find themselves matching wits with a faceless powerbroker who appears to anticipate their every move. Unless they can decipher the labyrinthine puzzle, the Priory's secret—and an explosive ancient truth—will be lost forever.

Instantly catapulted to the top of the bestseller lists around the world, The Da Vinci Code is simultaneously lightning-paced, intelligent, and intricately layered with remarkable research and detail. From secrets embedded in the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, to the symbols of ancient Egypt, to the architecture of landmarks such as the Louvre, Westminster Abbey, Rosslyn Chapel, and more, this fully illustrated collector's edition delivers the complete reading experience of Dan Brown's riveting novel—from the opening pages to the unpredictable and stunning conclusion.
(front flap)]]> 467 Dan Brown 0385513755 Frances 0 san-francisco, mystery 4.03 2003 The Da Vinci Code (Robert Langdon, #2)

author: Dan Brown
name: Frances
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves: san-francisco, mystery
review:

]]> The Paradise Problem 199897857
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam “West�� Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she’d signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents—his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.]]> 352 Christina Lauren Frances 4 kindle, library, humor
I liked the protagonists! I liked the family drama! I even like that the villain was SUCH A VILLAIN, with zero complications!

I'd call this lightly spicy, but I'm taking off a full star for the **euphemism** which I FORGOT was a thing in this genre and, as always, is SUPER distracting. Why can't you just BE NORMAL, romance authors??? But I breezed through it anyway.]]> 4.19 2024 The Paradise Problem

author: Christina Lauren
name: Frances
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves: kindle, library, humor
review:
Ya know!! I liked this WAY more than I expected. This was delightful!! Was it wildly implausible? Of course, but it's a Romance! That's basically what it says on the tin!

I liked the protagonists! I liked the family drama! I even like that the villain was SUCH A VILLAIN, with zero complications!

I'd call this lightly spicy, but I'm taking off a full star for the **euphemism** which I FORGOT was a thing in this genre and, as always, is SUPER distracting. Why can't you just BE NORMAL, romance authors??? But I breezed through it anyway.
]]> The Silent Patient 40097951
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.]]> 336 Alex Michaelides 1250301696 Frances 2 mystery
THIS WAS NOT GOOD.

The narrator is whiny. The relationships strain credulity. The character development is nonexistent. The twist is not foreshadowed OR subtextual it is LITERAL TEXT.

2.5 million ratings. NYT Bestseller. ŷ�� Choice Award winner.

WHY. ]]> 4.17 2019 The Silent Patient

author: Alex Michaelides
name: Frances
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves: mystery
review:
��??

THIS WAS NOT GOOD.

The narrator is whiny. The relationships strain credulity. The character development is nonexistent. The twist is not foreshadowed OR subtextual it is LITERAL TEXT.

2.5 million ratings. NYT Bestseller. ŷ�� Choice Award winner.

WHY.
]]> Lonely Castle in the Mirror 54633169 Seven students find unusual common ground in this warm, puzzle-like Japanese bestseller laced with gentle fantasy and compassionate insight.

Bullied to the point of dropping out of school, Kokoro's days blur together as she hides in her bedroom, unable to face her family or friends. As she spirals into despair, her mirror begins to shine; with a touch, Kokoro is pulled from her lonely life into a resplendent, bizarre fairytale castle guarded by a strange girl in a wolf mask. Six other students have been brought to the castle, and soon this marvelous refuge becomes their playground.

The castle has a hidden room that can grant a single wish, but there are rules to be followed, and breaking them will have dire consequences. As Kokoro and her new acquaintances spend more time in their new sanctuary, they begin to unlock the castle's secrets and, tentatively, each other's.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a mesmerizing, heart-warming novel about the unexpected rewards of embracing human connection.]]> 355 Mizuki Tsujimura 0857527282 Frances 3
This is a book for CHILDREN ohhhhhhh.

As with many / most translations, there’s a lot of odd phrasing and interactions that seem too formal for a group of friends. I thought this was another example of me not understanding why something became such a huge best seller in another country until literally the author’s note at the very end.

This was written for children (and parents of children) struggling with mental health, and the many and varied impossible reasons someone might be struggling. Family drama or bullying or abuse or a million other reasons why a kid might cling to any sort of refuge where others are dealing with the same stuff.

The fantasy is SUPER hand-wavy, and truly not the point anyway. I just think I might have set appropriate expectations for my reading experience knowing the intended audience. ]]> 4.25 2017 Lonely Castle in the Mirror

author: Mizuki Tsujimura
name: Frances
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves: fantastical, kid-stuff, literature, san-francisco, social-studies
review:
Ohhhhhhhh.

This is a book for CHILDREN ohhhhhhh.

As with many / most translations, there’s a lot of odd phrasing and interactions that seem too formal for a group of friends. I thought this was another example of me not understanding why something became such a huge best seller in another country until literally the author’s note at the very end.

This was written for children (and parents of children) struggling with mental health, and the many and varied impossible reasons someone might be struggling. Family drama or bullying or abuse or a million other reasons why a kid might cling to any sort of refuge where others are dealing with the same stuff.

The fantasy is SUPER hand-wavy, and truly not the point anyway. I just think I might have set appropriate expectations for my reading experience knowing the intended audience.
]]> <![CDATA[We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders, #1)]]> 203956647 A brand new series. An iconic new detective duo. And a puzzling new murder to solve...

Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar habits and routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him when he comes home. His days of adventure are over: adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s business now.

Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. As a private security officer, she doesn’t stay still long enough for habits or routines. She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Which was meant to be an easy job...

Then a dead body, a bag of money, and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending an SOS to the only person she trusts. A breakneck race around the world begins, but can Amy and Steve stay one step ahead of a lethal enemy?

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 059365322X.]]> 400 Richard Osman Frances 4 mystery, to-buy One thing I’m digging is this extremely slow burn romance between Adam and Amy, and the potential of a relationship that could be built between Adam and Steve (unlike in TMC).
The mystery - gentle.
The characters - British.
The humor - sarcastic.
The coziness? Off the charts. ]]> 4.06 2024 We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders, #1)

author: Richard Osman
name: Frances
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/16
shelves: mystery, to-buy
review:
I think Richard Osman might be my favorite prolific author at this point, and certainly one I’d recommend to literally anyone who loves a good mystery. This was sweet! You see it coming a mile away! I want to read about the exotic adventures of Steven and Trouble, and watch Adam and Amy figure their shit out!
One thing I’m digging is this extremely slow burn romance between Adam and Amy, and the potential of a relationship that could be built between Adam and Steve (unlike in TMC).
The mystery - gentle.
The characters - British.
The humor - sarcastic.
The coziness? Off the charts.
]]> The Bandit Queens 199148360
"A radically feel-good story about the murder of no-good husbands by a cast of unsinkable women.”�� The New York Times Book Review

Five years ago, Geeta lost her no-good husband. As in, she actually lost him—he walked out on her and she has no idea where he is. But in her remote village in India, rumor has it that Geeta killed him. And it’s a rumor that just won’t die.

It turns out that being known as a “self-made�� widow comes with some perks. No one messes with her, harasses her, or tries to control ( ahem, marry) her. It’s even been good for business; no one dares to not buy her jewelry.

Freedom must look good on Geeta, because now other women are asking for her “expertise,�� making her an unwitting consultant for husband disposal.

And not all of them are asking nicely.

With Geeta’s dangerous reputation becoming a double-edged sword, she has to find a way to protect the life she’s built—but even the best-laid plans of would-be widows tend to go awry. What happens next sets in motion a chain of events that will change everything, not just for Geeta, but for all the women in their village.

Filled with clever criminals, second chances, and wry and witty women, Parini Shroff’s The Bandit Queens is a razor-sharp debut of humor and heart that readers won’t soon forget.]]> 384 Parini Shroff 0593498976 Frances 4
1. I had pretty low expectations sure, but this surpassed them with surprising ease!
2. The characters were all pretty well developed without being caricatures!
3. The romance was believable but served mostly to add to the female relationships, rather than distract from them!
4. The ending was very good! And satisfying!

I’d recommend this. It’s kind of hard to pin down - probably the closest thing might be a beach read? Maybe akin to a Curtis Sitenfeld? I liked it. ]]> 3.90 2023 The Bandit Queens

author: Parini Shroff
name: Frances
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves: literature, san-francisco, social-studies
review:
I’m rating this highly for a few small reasons that seem to have all piled up together:

1. I had pretty low expectations sure, but this surpassed them with surprising ease!
2. The characters were all pretty well developed without being caricatures!
3. The romance was believable but served mostly to add to the female relationships, rather than distract from them!
4. The ending was very good! And satisfying!

I’d recommend this. It’s kind of hard to pin down - probably the closest thing might be a beach read? Maybe akin to a Curtis Sitenfeld? I liked it.
]]> The Familiar 133286777 From the New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House, Hell Bent, and creator of the Grishaverse series comes a highly anticipated historical fantasy set during the Spanish Golden Age

In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to better the family's social position.

What begins as simple amusement for the bored nobility takes a perilous turn when Luzia garners the notice of Antonio Pérez, the disgraced secretary to Spain's king. Still reeling from the defeat of his armada, the king is desperate for any advantage in the war against England's heretic queen—and Pérez will stop at nothing to regain the king's favor.

Determined to seize this one chance to better her fortunes, Luzia plunges into a world of seers and alchemists, holy men and hucksters, where the line between magic, science, and fraud is never certain. But as her notoriety grows, so does the danger that her Jewish blood will doom her to the Inquisition's wrath. She will have to use every bit of her wit and will to survive—even if that means enlisting the help of Guillén Santangel, an embittered immortal familiar whose own secrets could prove deadly for them both.]]> 387 Leigh Bardugo 125088425X Frances 3
I wanted her to have spent maybe another 6-8 months working on the draft here. There’s so much goodness: i loved the refranes. I liked Luzia’s sharpness that verged on brittleness, except for how she managed to white-knuckle her life together. Victoria and Marius�� relationship made glorious sense.

But it seemed like while the characters and relationships were super solid, the historical context and world building was lacking. I wanted WAY more history of what happened to folks accused during the inquisition. Perez, a historical figure, was shoehorned in. I think it could have benefited with just a little more attention paid to polishing. ]]> 3.74 2024 The Familiar

author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Frances
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/10/04
shelves: fantastical, historical, literature, san-francisco
review:
So I loved Ninth House enough that it guaranteed I’d read anything Leigh Bardugo wrote for adults. I was excited for a standalone, and this was fine!

I wanted her to have spent maybe another 6-8 months working on the draft here. There’s so much goodness: i loved the refranes. I liked Luzia’s sharpness that verged on brittleness, except for how she managed to white-knuckle her life together. Victoria and Marius�� relationship made glorious sense.

But it seemed like while the characters and relationships were super solid, the historical context and world building was lacking. I wanted WAY more history of what happened to folks accused during the inquisition. Perez, a historical figure, was shoehorned in. I think it could have benefited with just a little more attention paid to polishing.
]]> <![CDATA[Sweet Tooth: 100 Desserts to Save Room For (A Baking Book)]]> 203956772 The must-have, must-bake cookbook for those who always save room for dessert! 100 stunning, delicious, and easy recipes that will satisfy all sweet tooths in the debut cookbook from the wildly popular baker and social media star behind Broma Bakery.Sarah Fennel began her blog Broma Bakery as a hobby that combined her love for baked goods with photography, and it quickly grew as millions of readers fell in love with her reliable recipes for nostalgic dishes with a modern twist, like Red Wine Brownies, Strawberry Shortcake Cake, and Sugar Cookie Bars. Her easy-to-follow recipes and videos keep bakers coming back for seconds, thirds, and fourths…In her first cookbook, packed with brand new recipes, as well as��some classic fan favorites (like the famous Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!),��you’ll find recipes for exactly what you’re craving, whether it’s a quick, weeknight bake in After-Dinner Treats (Weeknight Chocolate Cake, anyone?) or a show-stopper in Almost Too Pretty to Eat��(Baklava Cheesecake).��Explore playful and irresistible flavor combinations in Elevated Nostalgia (Giant Brown Sugar-Cinnamon Pop-Tart), Inventive Sweets (Tiramisu Icebox Cake), Brunch Bakes (Raspberry Croissant Bread Pudding), and Holiday Baking (Hot Chocolate Cookies). Readers will also find a whole chapter of single-serve desserts like Single-Serve Snickerdoodle Cookie and Small-Batch Blueberry Muffins.��Whether you’re a new or experienced cook, the tips and insights throughout the book will make your cakes fluffier��and crusts flakier, while ensuring you never overbake anything again. Plus, find an essential baker’s pantry, storage guides, and game-changing baking tools that’ll stock your kitchen once and for all. Useful, entertaining, and with “I can’t believe it was so simple!�� instructions along with more than 150 gorgeous photos, Sweet Tooth is for bakers of all levels. The only requirement? A deep, unwavering love for dessert.]]> 288 Sarah Fennel 0593581997 Frances 0 to-read 4.53 Sweet Tooth: 100 Desserts to Save Room For (A Baking Book)

Sweet Tooth: 100 Desserts to Save Room For (A Baking Book)

author: Sarah Fennel
name: Frances
average rating: 4.53
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The City in Glass 209439468 In this new standalone, Hugo Award-winning author Nghi Vo introduces a beguiling fantasy city in the tradition of Calvino, Mieville, and Le Guin.

A demon. An angel. A city that burns at the heart of the world.

The demon Vitrine—immortal, powerful, and capricious—loves the dazzling city of Azril. She has mothered, married, and maddened the city and its people for generations, and built it into a place of joy and desire, revelry and riot.

And then the angels come, and the city falls.

Vitrine is left with nothing but memories and a book containing the names of those she has lost—and an angel, now bound by her mad, grief-stricken curse to haunt the city he burned.

She mourns her dead and rages against the angel she longs to destroy. Made to be each other’s devastation, angel and demon are destined for eternal battle. Instead, they find themselves locked in a devouring fascination that will change them both forever.

Together, they unearth the past of the lost city and begin to shape its future. But when war threatens Azril and everything they have built, Vitrine and her angel must decide whether they will let the city fall again.

The City in Glass is both a brilliantly constructed history and an epic love story, of death and resurrection, memory and transformation, redemption and desire strong enough to burn a world to ashes and build it anew.]]> 216 Nghi Vo 1250348277 Frances 0 to-read 3.74 2024 The City in Glass

author: Nghi Vo
name: Frances
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Wizard of the Kremlin 125082593
Known as the “Wizard of the Kremlin,�� the enigmatic Vadim Baranov was a TV producer before becoming a political advisor to Putin, aka “The Czar.�� After his resignation from this position, legends about him multiply, with no one able to distinguish truth from fiction. Until one night, when he tells his story to the narrator of this book��

He immerses us in the heart of the Russian state, where sycophants and oligarchs have been engaging in open warfare, and where Vadim, now the regime’s main spin doctor, turns an entire country into an avant-garde political stage. Yet Vadim is not as ambitious as the others. Entangled in the increasingly dark secrets of the regime he has helped create, he will do anything to get out, guided by the memory of his grandfather, an eccentric aristocrat who survived the Revolution, and the mesmerizing, merciless Ksenia, whom he has fallen in love with.

Giuliano da Empoli, once a senior advisor to Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi, draws on his experience behind the scenes to create an authentic, compelling portrait of power and how it corrupts.]]> 297 Giuliano da Empoli 1635423961 Frances 2
I couldn’t get into it and kept falling asleep and I’m someone interested in why Putin is such a maniac! This didn’t do a good job of describing why he’s so fixated on Ukraine, and frankly was pretty insulting to Russians by depicting them as so complacent as to be complicit. ]]> 3.97 2022 The Wizard of the Kremlin

author: Giuliano da Empoli
name: Frances
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/24
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: literature, san-francisco, social-studies
review:
I wonder if this was a case of a poor translation- if the writing of the original was smooth enough and engaging enough to make up for the lack of characterization, plot, relationship, or world-building.

I couldn’t get into it and kept falling asleep and I’m someone interested in why Putin is such a maniac! This didn’t do a good job of describing why he’s so fixated on Ukraine, and frankly was pretty insulting to Russians by depicting them as so complacent as to be complicit.
]]> <![CDATA[Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking: Everything You Need to Know to Make Fabulous Food]]> 18870042
Each chapter will concentrate on a different area of cooking--from the classics to the secret of cooking with Chili and spice, through roasting, baking, and helpful sections on cooking good food for less and cooking for a crowd. Woven into the book will be useful tricks and tips--from ways to save time and money, to cleaning and prepping ingredients, to pan frying like a pro.

Stuffed full of delicious recipes, invaluable tips and lashings of Gordon's trademark cheeky wit, Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking is the ultimate cooking lesson from the ultimate chef.]]> 618 Gordon Ramsay 145552526X Frances 0 to-read, cookbooks 4.20 2012 Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking: Everything You Need to Know to Make Fabulous Food

Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking: Everything You Need to Know to Make Fabulous Food

author: Gordon Ramsay
name: Frances
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: to-read, cookbooks
review:

]]> Siren Queen 58724597
Luli Wei is beautiful, talented, and desperate to be a star. Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, she knows how dangerous the movie business is and how limited the roles are for a Chinese American girl from Hungarian Hill—but she doesn’t care. She’d rather play a monster than a maid.

But in Luli’s world, the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones on screen. The studios want to own everything from her face to her name to the women she loves, and they run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic, powered by the endless sacrifice of unlucky starlets like her. For those who do survive to earn their fame, success comes with a steep price. Luli is willing to do whatever it takes—even if that means becoming the monster herself.

Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page.]]> 280 Nghi Vo 1250788838 Frances 4
The only way to write a story like this is to make it beautiful, and it IS. Luli is waspish and generous and brave and cowardly all at the same time, and she surrounds herself with folks who balance that as much as she can.

You don't read this for the plot, or the character development, or the writing even: you read it for the world-building. It wasn't propulsive, or cozy, or funny, or anything - it was interesting, and I wasn't bored. And for that I liked it. ]]> 3.68 2022 Siren Queen

author: Nghi Vo
name: Frances
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/17
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves: fantastical, historical, san-francisco
review:
The main idea - a world in which everyone takes for granted spells and luck and hauntings and other-wordly eldritch creatures - has definitely been done before, but I truly can't think of an occasion where it has been done this well. Taking literally the idea of movie magic and extrapolating into what horrors and legends that might generate against the backdrop of the 30s just added to the magic. AND THEN on top of that a romance?

The only way to write a story like this is to make it beautiful, and it IS. Luli is waspish and generous and brave and cowardly all at the same time, and she surrounds herself with folks who balance that as much as she can.

You don't read this for the plot, or the character development, or the writing even: you read it for the world-building. It wasn't propulsive, or cozy, or funny, or anything - it was interesting, and I wasn't bored. And for that I liked it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club, #4)]]> 63122042
On Boxing Day, a dangerous package is smuggled across the English coast. When it goes missing, chaos is unleashed. The body count starts to rise �� including someone close to the Thursday Murder Club--as our gang face an impossible search, and their most deadly opponents yet.

With the clock ticking down and a killer heading to Cooper’s Chase, has their luck finally run out? And who will be “The Last Devil To Die��?]]> 362 Richard Osman Frances 4
This should not have been so surprising to me - it’s 4 retirees who solve murders: people are going to die. And we knew this was coming.

But MAN. I am Heartbroken.

A not-insignificant part of me is offended that this gorgeous discussion of grief and love at the end of life is stuck in the 4th book in a gentle cozy pulpy mystery series; it deserves so much more. ]]> 4.58 2023 The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club, #4)

The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club, #4)

author: Richard Osman
name: Frances
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/13
date added: 2024/09/13
shelves: kindle, library, mystery, to-buy
review:
Oh man. I ugly-cried through most of this book.

This should not have been so surprising to me - it’s 4 retirees who solve murders: people are going to die. And we knew this was coming.

But MAN. I am Heartbroken.

A not-insignificant part of me is offended that this gorgeous discussion of grief and love at the end of life is stuck in the 4th book in a gentle cozy pulpy mystery series; it deserves so much more.
]]> The Paris Novel 195430688
Stella reached for an oyster, tipped her head and tossed it back. It was cool and slippery, the flavor so briny it was like diving into the ocean... Oysters, she thought, where have they been all my life?

When her estranged mother dies, Stella is left with an unusual a one-way plane ticket and a note reading Go to Paris . But Stella is hardly cut out for adventure; a childhood trauma has kept her confined to the strict routines of her comfort zone. When her boss encourages her to take time off, Stella resigns herself to honoring her mother’s last wishes.

Alone in a foreign city, Stella falls into old habits, living cautiously and frugally. Then she stumbles across a vintage store where she tries on a fabulous Dior dress. The shopkeeper insists that this dress was meant for Stella and, for the first time in her life, Stella does something impulsive. She buys the dress and together they embark on an adventure.

Her first iconic brasserie Les Deux Magots, where Stella tastes her first oysters, and then meets an octogenarian art collector who decides to take her under his wing. As Jules introduces her to a veritable who’s who of the 1980s Paris literary, art, and culinary worlds, Stella begins to understand what it might mean to live a larger life.

As weeks—and many decadent meals—go by, Stella ends up living as a “tumbleweed�� at famed bookstore Shakespeare & Company, uncovers a hundred-year-old mystery in a Manet painting, and discovers a passion for food that may be connected to her past. A feast for the senses, this novel is a testament to living deliciously, taking chances, and finding your true home.]]> 288 Ruth Reichl 0812996305 Frances 5 kindle, library, to-buy
Friends. This was so gooooood. It felt like a warm and reassuring hug. It was uncomplicated and still subtle. It was fun and light but with an edge of darkness, enough to cut the saccharine (mostly). And there were still glorious descriptions of food.

I’m rating this so highly because not only was I delighted with my reading experience, but because Reichl didn’t try to be anything she’s not. It’s not that she didn’t stretch herself - I’m sure she did, and she describes how much fun she had in the acknowledgements. It’s that it’s a feel good book that makes no apologies and for that I love it. ]]> 3.67 2024 The Paris Novel

author: Ruth Reichl
name: Frances
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/11
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: kindle, library, to-buy
review:
I cannot be the only person who had…trepidations. One of our great food writers…writing a novel…about a dress��?

Friends. This was so gooooood. It felt like a warm and reassuring hug. It was uncomplicated and still subtle. It was fun and light but with an edge of darkness, enough to cut the saccharine (mostly). And there were still glorious descriptions of food.

I’m rating this so highly because not only was I delighted with my reading experience, but because Reichl didn’t try to be anything she’s not. It’s not that she didn’t stretch herself - I’m sure she did, and she describes how much fun she had in the acknowledgements. It’s that it’s a feel good book that makes no apologies and for that I love it.
]]> Trust 123018721 WINNER of the Pulitzer Prize
The Sunday Times Bestseller
Best Books of 2022 pick - New York Times, Obama, TIME, Slate, Oprah Daily, Kirkus, LA Times, EW, Sarah Jessica Parker

Read by a full cast of narrators, Trust by Hernan Diaz is a sweeping, unpredictable novel about power, wealth and truth, set against the backdrop of turbulent 1920s New York. Perfect for fans of Succession.

Can one person change the course of history?

A Wall Street tycoon takes a young woman as his wife. Together they rise to the top in an age of excess and speculation. But now a novelist is threatening to reveal the secrets behind their marriage, and this wealthy man’s story - of greed, love and betrayal - is about to slip from his grasp.

Composed of four competing versions of this deliciously deceptive tale, Trust brings us on a quest for truth while confronting the lies that often live buried in the human heart.

'One of the great puzzle-box novels, it’s the cleverest of conceits, wrapped up in a page-turner' �� Telegraph

'Genius' �� Lauren Groff, author of Matrix]]> 416 Hernan Diaz 0593420322 Frances 4
A not-particularly-savvy reader is going to know that there’s something fishy going on pretty much immediately. Suspicions will grow throughout the first book.

In the second book, this same reader is going to spend much of the time confused as to why the man married a…child? This wife he adored but was so simple-minded she couldn’t leave the house? To say that the condescension was laid on thickly would be a vast understatement.

In the 3rd book, the condescension continues but with the added benefit of 3rd party perspective so if the reader hasn’t figured out where this is all going, THERE ARE YET MORE CLUES.

By the time we get to the 4th book, I think Diaz wants the reader to feel clever and vindicated but it’s trite and enraging. Because they treated the financial system like a fun lil math problem, and never realized the consequences. ]]> 3.84 2022 Trust

author: Hernan Diaz
name: Frances
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/10
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: historical, literature, san-francisco
review:
So. A Pulitzer Prize Winner. It was compelling and propulsive and I enjoyed it. I’m curious to talk to someone who LOVED IT because for me it was kind of heavy handed. 4 stars, which is generous but Ida and Mildred and Helen were beautifully drawn characters at every stage.

A not-particularly-savvy reader is going to know that there’s something fishy going on pretty much immediately. Suspicions will grow throughout the first book.

In the second book, this same reader is going to spend much of the time confused as to why the man married a…child? This wife he adored but was so simple-minded she couldn’t leave the house? To say that the condescension was laid on thickly would be a vast understatement.

In the 3rd book, the condescension continues but with the added benefit of 3rd party perspective so if the reader hasn’t figured out where this is all going, THERE ARE YET MORE CLUES.

By the time we get to the 4th book, I think Diaz wants the reader to feel clever and vindicated but it’s trite and enraging. Because they treated the financial system like a fun lil math problem, and never realized the consequences.
]]> <![CDATA[The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5)]]> 203518955 Diana Bishop journeys to the darkest places within herself—and her family history—in the highly anticipated fifth novel of the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling All Souls series.

Deborah Harkness first introduced the world to Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and witch, and vampire geneticist Matthew de Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches. Drawn to each other despite long-standing taboos, these two otherworldly beings found themselves at the center of a battle for a lost, enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782. Since then, they have fallen in love, traveled to Elizabethan England, dissolved the Covenant between the three species, and awoken the dark powers within Diana’s family line.

Now, Diana and Matthew receive a formal demand from the Congregation: They must test the magic of their seven-year-old twins, Pip and Rebecca. Concerned with their safety and desperate to avoid the same fate that led her parents to spellbind her, Diana decides to forge a different path for her family’s future and answers a message from a great-aunt she never knew existed, Gwyneth Proctor, whose invitation simply reads: It’s time you came home, Diana.

On the hallowed ground of Ravenswood, the Proctor family home, and under the tutelage of Gwyneth, a talented witch grounded in higher magic, a new era begins for Diana: a confrontation with her family’s dark past, and a reckoning for her own desire for even greater power—if she can let go, finally, of her fear of wielding it.]]> 444 Deborah Harkness 0593724771 Frances 4 fantastical, kindle
I also really appreciated how the marriage between Diana and Matthew evolved - it’s still wildly romantic, but Matthew’s overbearing tendencies are toned down, and they just keep choosing vulnerability and each other. I loved it.

The ending was weak - I get it, it’s setting up the next in the series, but still. Swing all the way through, Harkness.
]]> 3.95 2024 The Black Bird Oracle (All Souls, #5)

author: Deborah Harkness
name: Frances
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/05
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves: fantastical, kindle
review:
I loved probably 75% of this. It felt cozy and warm - Diana is spending time with her family, and you could TELL that Ravenswood was clearly intended to recall the glorious witchy house from the Practical Magic movie. It felt alive to me - the descriptions of the gardens and the barn and the forest all coming together harmoniously just in time for Halloween.

I also really appreciated how the marriage between Diana and Matthew evolved - it’s still wildly romantic, but Matthew’s overbearing tendencies are toned down, and they just keep choosing vulnerability and each other. I loved it.

The ending was weak - I get it, it’s setting up the next in the series, but still. Swing all the way through, Harkness.

]]> Conversations with Friends 32766661 A sharply intelligent novel about two college students and the strange, unexpected connection they forge with a married couple.

Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed, and darkly observant. A college student and aspiring writer, she devotes herself to a life of the mind--and to the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi, her best friend and comrade-in-arms. Lovers at school, the two young women now perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin, where a journalist named Melissa spots their potential. Drawn into Melissa's orbit, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman's sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband. Private property, Frances believes, is a cultural evil--and Nick, a bored actor who never quite lived up to his potential, looks like patriarchy made flesh. But however amusing their flirtation seems at first, it gives way to a strange intimacy neither of them expect. As Frances tries to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally even with Bobbi. Desperate to reconcile herself to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances's intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new: a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment.

Written with gem-like precision and probing intelligence, Conversations With Friends is wonderfully alive to the pleasures and dangers of youth."]]> 310 Sally Rooney 0451499050 Frances 4 literature, san-francisco
I liked how introspective she was: how she wondered if she had any personality at all, or was she just a reflection of her environment. I liked the rambling philosophical discussions about love and politics, so recognizably our early 20s. I liked her tendency to insist that her friends were special, destined for greatness.

Here’s what I did not like: the final sentence of the blurb on the back of the book, and why it took me so long to get interested that I’m now late to the Sally Rooney party: “the messy edges of female friendship��. I hate this kind of blanket statement. Female friendship isn’t this bizarrely complicated, competitive thing - and describing a book like this in an effort to make it part of the millennial zeitgeist is LAZY.]]> 3.68 2017 Conversations with Friends

author: Sally Rooney
name: Frances
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2019/08/25
date added: 2024/08/28
shelves: literature, san-francisco
review:
Excellent, excellent read, devoured over a single weekend. I might be biased, as this is I believe the only book I can recall reading with a character’s name that matches my own. I’m not going to lie, seeing “Frances, did you fuck my husband?�� in print gave me a lil thrill.

I liked how introspective she was: how she wondered if she had any personality at all, or was she just a reflection of her environment. I liked the rambling philosophical discussions about love and politics, so recognizably our early 20s. I liked her tendency to insist that her friends were special, destined for greatness.

Here’s what I did not like: the final sentence of the blurb on the back of the book, and why it took me so long to get interested that I’m now late to the Sally Rooney party: “the messy edges of female friendship��. I hate this kind of blanket statement. Female friendship isn’t this bizarrely complicated, competitive thing - and describing a book like this in an effort to make it part of the millennial zeitgeist is LAZY.
]]> Lies and Weddings 197144545 A forbidden affair erupts dramatically amid a decadent Hawaiian wedding in this hilarious, sophisticated, and thrillingly plotted story of love, money, murder, sex—and the lies we tell about them all.
��
Rufus Leung Gresham, future Earl of Greshambury and son of a former Hong Kong supermodel, has a problem: his family fortune, the legendary Gresham Trust, has been depleted by decades of profligate spending. While magazine covers and Instagram stories display impeccably designed manors and shiny new yachts, the secret reality holds nothing more than a gargantuan mountain of debt. The only solution, put forth by Rufus’s scheming mother, is for Rufus to seduce a woman with money, thereby securing the family's precarious financial future.

Should he marry Solène de Courcy, a French hotel heiress with honey-blond tresses and a royal bloodline? Should he pursue Martha Dung, the tattooed venture capital genius who passes out billions like lollipops? Or should he follow his heart, betray his family, squander his legacy, and finally confess his love to the literal girl next door, the humble daughter of a doctor, Eden Tong?

When the Gresham family descends on the Big Island of Hawaii to host a veritable who's who of sultans, barons, and oligarchs for the wedding of the decade, Rufus must merely flex his famous abs to bewitch the heiress of his choice. But instead a hot mic exposes a secret tryst, a volcanic eruption burns through the nuptials, and the Gresham family's plans—and their reputation—go up in flames.

Can the once-great earldom rise from the ashes? Or will a secret tragedy, hidden for two decades, reveal a shocking twist? Spanning the black sand beaches of Hawaii, the red city of Marrakech, the Los Angeles bachelor pad of a billionaire playboy, and the inner sanctum of England’s oldest family estate, Lies and Weddings reveals an enthralling family saga that is as scandalous and satirical as it is full of heart.]]> 437 Kevin Kwan 0385546297 Frances 4
I’m adding to my to-buy list. This will join my comfort reads. ]]> 3.69 2024 Lies and Weddings

author: Kevin Kwan
name: Frances
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/21
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves: library, fantastical, kindle, to-buy
review:
This was a triumphant, ridiculous, profoundly silly return to form for Kwan after Sex and Vanity. I blazed through it - the peripheral characters are always so ridiculous, I enjoyed the few stable adults who are always restful islands amidst chaos, and for some reason Eden’s poise felt more believable than his past protagonists (because she’s a doctor? Whatever).

I’m adding to my to-buy list. This will join my comfort reads.
]]> <![CDATA[Coup: A Story of Violence and Resistance in Bolivia]]> 59732768
In three dramatic weeks in October and November 2019, the fourteen years of progressive change that Evo Morales�� pink tide government had worked to implement in Bolivia and beyond came to a screeching halt. President Morales was forced to resign after protests against his re-election to a fourth term in allegedly fraudulent elections erupted among the urban middle classes, anti-indigenous racists, and prominent conservative politicians. The country’s far right used the ensuing crisis to orchestrate a successful coup, with military and police backing, paving the way for a repressive “transition�� government led by Jeanine Áñez to take power. The Áñez government quelled popular protests with lethal force, shut down critical media outlets, and targeted members of Morales�� political party, the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS). Despite postponing elections three times, the Áñez government was eventually forced to call elections in October 2020. The MAS swept back into power, winning elections with 55% of the vote and returning democracy to the country.

This book tells the story of this year of upheaval in Bolivia, providing a critical analysis of the 14 years of the MAS government that preceded it as well as the MAS return to power in 2020. It includes personal stories and commentary from women and men on the streets, leaders in social movements, members of the MAS party and government, survivors of Áñez’s abuses, and intellectuals.]]> 250 Thomas Becker 164259587X Frances 3 4.27 Coup: A Story of Violence and Resistance in Bolivia

Coup: A Story of Violence and Resistance in Bolivia

author: Thomas Becker
name: Frances
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/19
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves: historical, library, non-fiction, reference, social-studies
review:
An extremely detailed look at what’s been going on in Bolivia in the last few years. The only thing I might have wished for was a comparison with what the mainstream media was saying: there were a few references to the media being absent from protests, but present to parrot what the government wanted. It would have been helpful to have a better understanding of how far apart the two realities were: Indigenous vs right-wing. Did we manage to land in the middle?
]]> <![CDATA[Death in Venice and Other Stories]]> 53065 Death in Venice tells the story of a man who falls into foolish love, only to reap his own ruin. Gustav von Aschenbach, a dignified but lonely writer in the twilight of his life, is enjoying a Venetian vacation when he notices the taut, lean figure of a Polish boy. His name is Tadzio—and he embodies the sleek perfection of youth. Aschenbach finds himself completely and hopelessly obsessed with this ideal. Death in Venice brims with mythical imagery, exploring the themes of beauty and decay, passion and pestilence.
��
This translation of Nobel laureate Thomas Mann’s work by Jefferson S. Chase includes an additional novella, Tonio Kröger, and the short stories “Tristan,�� “Man and Dog: An Idyll,�� “Hour of Hardship,�� “Tobias Mindernickel,�� and “The Child Prodigy.��
��
Translated and with an Introduction by Jefferson S. Chase and an Afterword by Martin Swales
��
��]]> 316 Thomas Mann 0451530322 Frances 2
I actually just think this guy would have preferred publishing his journal, he was that enamored of his own writing about absolutely nothing. He wanted essays, not character development. Or if he DID want character development, he wanted it in one tiny particular area.

Also, none of the forewords or anything mentioned the fact that the “younger man�� in Death in Venice is FOURTEEN. ]]> 3.64 Death in Venice and Other Stories

author: Thomas Mann
name: Frances
average rating: 3.64
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2018/12/28
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves:
review:
Omg. Agonizing. This gets an ENTIRE ADDITIONAL STAR just for the story about the dog at the very end.

I actually just think this guy would have preferred publishing his journal, he was that enamored of his own writing about absolutely nothing. He wanted essays, not character development. Or if he DID want character development, he wanted it in one tiny particular area.

Also, none of the forewords or anything mentioned the fact that the “younger man�� in Death in Venice is FOURTEEN.
]]> <![CDATA[The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store]]> 65678550
Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which served the neighborhood's quirky collection of blacks and European immigrants, helped by her husband, Moshe, a Romanian-born theater owner who integrated the town's first dance hall. When the state came looking for a deaf black child, claiming that the boy needed to be institutionalized, Chicken Hill's residents—roused by Chona's kindess and the courage of a local black worker named Nate Timblin—banded together to keep the boy safe.

As the novel unfolds, it becomes clear how much the people of Chicken Hill have to struggle to survive at the margins of white Christian America and how damaging bigotry, hypocrisy, and deceit can be to a community. When the truth is revealed about the skeleton, the boy, and the part the town’s establishment played in both, McBride shows that it is love and community—heaven and earth—that ultimately sustain us.]]> 385 James McBride 0593422945 Frances 5
I assume (mostly accurately tbh) that I won’t enjoy most award-winning books. Either because they’ll be too depressing or too long or too dense or whatever. But this was woooonderful.

Two cultures with so much in common bridged by people with the intelligence and courage to see and act in service of their communities. Interesting, realized characters. Literary fiction with action and villains. Beautiful. I want more of this world and these people. ]]> 3.83 2023 The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store

author: James McBride
name: Frances
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/15
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves: historical, library, literature, to-buy
review:
Are you like me? Did you put this on your to-read list several months ago only to pick it up and then put it down every single time you went to the bookstore/library? Is the same true for much of McBride’s backlist? You’ll get to it when you get to it, right?

I assume (mostly accurately tbh) that I won’t enjoy most award-winning books. Either because they’ll be too depressing or too long or too dense or whatever. But this was woooonderful.

Two cultures with so much in common bridged by people with the intelligence and courage to see and act in service of their communities. Interesting, realized characters. Literary fiction with action and villains. Beautiful. I want more of this world and these people.
]]> Argylle 195608705 A luxury train speeding towards Moscow and a date with destiny.

A CIA plane downed in the jungles of the Golden Triangle.

A Nazi hoard entombed in the remote mountains of South-West Poland.

A missing treasure, the eighth wonder of the world, lost for seven decades.

One Russian magnate's dream of restoring a nation to greatness has set in motion a chain of events which will take the world to the brink of chaos. Only Frances Coffey, the CIA's most legendary spymaster, can prevent it. But to do so, she needs someone special. Enter Argylle, a troubled agent with a tarnished past who may just have the skills to take on one of the most powerful men in the world. If only he can save himself first...]]> 384 Elly Conway 0593600010 Frances 2 library, mystery
There were nods to each of the key components necessary for a novel: a nod to character development (the protagonist is an orphan); a nod to geopolitical intrigue (the villain is a Putin ripoff); even a nod to history: Nazis. I’m trying to figure out why I didn’t really enjoy the experience here, and I think it’s because it comes across too deadened, the way a movie dictated entirely by the studio leaves the viewer feeling like there’s no point of view and the movie was directed by committee.

So 2 stars. But I’ll still watch the movie, and read any follow-ups because of curiosity. ]]> 3.21 2024 Argylle

author: Elly Conway
name: Frances
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: library, mystery
review:
’m…a little flummoxed. This read like the novelization of the prequel movie in a junky action series. The kind of junky action series intended to go straight to cable.

There were nods to each of the key components necessary for a novel: a nod to character development (the protagonist is an orphan); a nod to geopolitical intrigue (the villain is a Putin ripoff); even a nod to history: Nazis. I’m trying to figure out why I didn’t really enjoy the experience here, and I think it’s because it comes across too deadened, the way a movie dictated entirely by the studio leaves the viewer feeling like there’s no point of view and the movie was directed by committee.

So 2 stars. But I’ll still watch the movie, and read any follow-ups because of curiosity.
]]> Sandwich 200028726 From the beloved author of We All Want Impossible Things, a moving, hilarious story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch, and learning to let go.

For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.

This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.

It's one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.]]> 240 Catherine Newman 0063345161 Frances 5 library, literature, to-buy
I especially connected with the anticipatory grief aspect of love - it can make it so difficult to remain in the moment because you can feel it slipping away. ]]> 3.55 2024 Sandwich

author: Catherine Newman
name: Frances
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/11
date added: 2024/08/11
shelves: library, literature, to-buy
review:
I think that if Newman were a less talented author, this would have been unbearably sentimental. SO MANY FEELINGS! However, her instinct to lean into the humor and humiliations of menopause made me laugh out loud with delight and horror and “oh god it’s coming for all of us�� even as I wept at the depth of impossible everything Rocky feels.

I especially connected with the anticipatory grief aspect of love - it can make it so difficult to remain in the moment because you can feel it slipping away.
]]> Long Island Compromise 55777544 “Were we gangsters? No. But did we know how to start a fire?��

In 1980, a wealthy businessman named Carl Fletcher is kidnapped from his driveway, brutalized, and held for ransom. He is returned to his wife and kids less than a week later, only slightly the worse, and the family moves on with their lives, resuming their prized places in the saga of the American dream, comforted in the realization that though their money may have been what endangered them, it is also what assured them their safety.

But now, nearly forty years later, it’s clear that perhaps nobody ever got over anything, after all. Carl has spent the ensuing years secretly seeking closure to the matter of his kidnapping, while his wife, Ruth, has spent her potential protecting her husband’s emotional health. Their three grown children aren’t doing much better: Nathan’s chronic fear won’t allow him to advance at his law firm; Beamer, a Hollywood screenwriter, will consume anything—substance, foodstuff, women—in order to numb his own perpetual terror; and Jenny has spent her life so bent on proving that she’s not a product of her family’s pathology that she has come to define it. As they hover at the delicate precipice of a different kind of survival, they learn that the family fortune has dwindled to just about nothing, and they must face desperate questions about how much their wealth has played a part in both their lives�� successes and failures.

Long Island Compromise spans the entirety of one family’s history, winding through decades and generations, all the way to the outrageous present, and confronting the mainstays of American Jewish life: tradition, the pursuit of success, the terror of history, fear of the future, old wives�� tales, evil eyes, ambition, achievement, boredom, dybbuks, inheritance, pyramid schemes, right-wing capitalists, beta-blockers, psychics, and the mostly unspoken love and shared experience that unite a family forever.]]> 464 Taffy Brodesser-Akner 0593133498 Frances 4 literature, library
The comparisons to The Corrections are inevitable and...correct, but also don't give this intensely absorbing read enough credit. For one thing, I didn't get the feeling that the siblings and parents all hated each other (although there is CERTAINLY a good deal of disdain), but rather that they were so wrapped up in their own drama and problems and CHOICES that nothing really penetrated that. Like, there were ZERO healthy relationships here, except MAYBE Nathan and Alyssa and that wasn't, like, perfect.

That all being said. I was absorbed. I read both Beamer's and Nathan's portions through my fingers and CRINGED. I saw Ruth and Phyllis and couldn't do more than pity them. I saw Beamer hating himself so much while loving his children, badly. I saw Nathan being terrified of everything EXCEPT his relationship with Alyssa, badly. And I saw Jenny hating Society, and refusing to be a part of it, also badly!

I should have really not enjoyed this, but I did because I think it was well done. The writing is propulsive. I don't *think* the end is a cop out as much as a reflection of how rich people just...live.]]> 3.72 2024 Long Island Compromise

author: Taffy Brodesser-Akner
name: Frances
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/07
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: literature, library
review:
Phew. Okay.

The comparisons to The Corrections are inevitable and...correct, but also don't give this intensely absorbing read enough credit. For one thing, I didn't get the feeling that the siblings and parents all hated each other (although there is CERTAINLY a good deal of disdain), but rather that they were so wrapped up in their own drama and problems and CHOICES that nothing really penetrated that. Like, there were ZERO healthy relationships here, except MAYBE Nathan and Alyssa and that wasn't, like, perfect.

That all being said. I was absorbed. I read both Beamer's and Nathan's portions through my fingers and CRINGED. I saw Ruth and Phyllis and couldn't do more than pity them. I saw Beamer hating himself so much while loving his children, badly. I saw Nathan being terrified of everything EXCEPT his relationship with Alyssa, badly. And I saw Jenny hating Society, and refusing to be a part of it, also badly!

I should have really not enjoyed this, but I did because I think it was well done. The writing is propulsive. I don't *think* the end is a cop out as much as a reflection of how rich people just...live.
]]> Lush Life 1862313 A National Bestseller
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

Lush Life is a tale of two Lower East Sides: one a high-priced bohemia, the other a home to hardship, its residents pushed to the edges of their time-honored turf. When a cocky young hipster is shot to death by a street kid from the other lower east side, the crime ripples through every stratum of the city in this brilliant and kaleidoscopic portrait of the new New York.]]> 464 Richard Price 0374299250 Frances 0 to-read 3.73 2008 Lush Life

author: Richard Price
name: Frances
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Spellman Files (The Spellmans, #1)]]> 129117
Part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends").

But when Izzy's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy's new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there's a hitch: she must take one last job before they'll let her go -- a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life.]]> 6 Lisa Lutz 0743571355 Frances 0 to-read 3.88 2007 The Spellman Files (The Spellmans, #1)

author: Lisa Lutz
name: Frances
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Ministry of Time 199798179 A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all:

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats�� from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge��: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as ��1847�� or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,�� “Spotify,�� and “the collapse of the British Empire.�� But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.]]> 339 Kaliane Bradley 1668045141 Frances 4 library, sci-fi, to-buy
Where we DO spend time is the budding and then SUPER HOT relationship between our protagonist and the Officer. I was prepared for your nice, quiet romance - a love story with some polite hand waving. My friends, while we don’t have anything that you’d expect to see in your average fairy / dragon smut I was very pleasantly surprised by how well she writes passion! It was hot! An entire extra star for the hot romance!

There were some stylistic choices I didn’t agree with (too much “had I but known what was coming�� every dozen pages), but different! Enjoyable! A wonderful debut!!]]> 3.54 2024 The Ministry of Time

author: Kaliane Bradley
name: Frances
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/08/03
shelves: library, sci-fi, to-buy
review:
Thankfully, we have here a time-travel book that adheres to the most important rule of time-travel: don’t worry about it. There’s no explanation of mechanics or math or what happens to the world once we start messing with things: all of that is barely important.

Where we DO spend time is the budding and then SUPER HOT relationship between our protagonist and the Officer. I was prepared for your nice, quiet romance - a love story with some polite hand waving. My friends, while we don’t have anything that you’d expect to see in your average fairy / dragon smut I was very pleasantly surprised by how well she writes passion! It was hot! An entire extra star for the hot romance!

There were some stylistic choices I didn’t agree with (too much “had I but known what was coming�� every dozen pages), but different! Enjoyable! A wonderful debut!!
]]> Vengeful (Villains, #2) 26856502 A super-powered collision of extraordinary minds and vengeful intentions��#1 New York Times bestselling author V. E. Schwab returns with the thrilling follow-up to Vicious.

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella's rise, new enmities create opportunity--and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.]]> 462 Victoria E. Schwab Frances 2 fantastical, kindle, library
I have to get over the thing where if I start a series, I read the follow-ups EVEN IF I DONT LIKE THE FIRST ONE.

This is a world focused on what happens if you survive the worst moments of your life. And instead of it becoming a transformative moment for the better…it makes monsters of most people? As in, everyone in this series is terrible and commits murder extremely casually and selfishly.

The only lightness exists between a girl and her dog, and the dog doesn’t say much. I think what bothers me is how bleak a view of human nature this is - I’m always going to struggle when a group is viewed as sub- or non-human so explicitly, and everyone just seems to…go along with it?!

Two stars because I suppose I finished it but ]]> 4.13 2018 Vengeful (Villains, #2)

author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Frances
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library
review:
HEAVY SIGH.

I have to get over the thing where if I start a series, I read the follow-ups EVEN IF I DONT LIKE THE FIRST ONE.

This is a world focused on what happens if you survive the worst moments of your life. And instead of it becoming a transformative moment for the better…it makes monsters of most people? As in, everyone in this series is terrible and commits murder extremely casually and selfishly.

The only lightness exists between a girl and her dog, and the dog doesn’t say much. I think what bothers me is how bleak a view of human nature this is - I’m always going to struggle when a group is viewed as sub- or non-human so explicitly, and everyone just seems to…go along with it?!

Two stars because I suppose I finished it but
]]> Normal People 49833634
A year later, they're both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.]]> 305 Sally Rooney 1984822187 Frances 4 literature
Here we have an extremely complex relationship, and truly the only way I feel it’s that relatable is that the reader has to step back and just say ah yeah. This could all be addressed with honesty, vulnerability, and maturity between 2 adults: however, because these are literal children in college, none of that happens. Instead of frustration, Rooney has me feeling sympathy! Instead of being annoyed, I am delighted by their middling efforts to navigate a social scene neither are interested in, but are nonetheless invested.

And despite the fact I’m not from rural Ireland, attending a prestigious university on scholarship, not the son of a young single mom, not the daughter in an abusive family, I am none the less caught and compulsively moved forward. ]]> 3.75 2018 Normal People

author: Sally Rooney
name: Frances
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/14
date added: 2024/07/14
shelves: literature
review:
I remember reading conversations with friends, Sally Rooney’s other wildly popular book and yeah! I liked it! I was inclined to like it, sure (the main character’s name was Frances) but the writing was skilled and the relationships complex and relatively relatable.

Here we have an extremely complex relationship, and truly the only way I feel it’s that relatable is that the reader has to step back and just say ah yeah. This could all be addressed with honesty, vulnerability, and maturity between 2 adults: however, because these are literal children in college, none of that happens. Instead of frustration, Rooney has me feeling sympathy! Instead of being annoyed, I am delighted by their middling efforts to navigate a social scene neither are interested in, but are nonetheless invested.

And despite the fact I’m not from rural Ireland, attending a prestigious university on scholarship, not the son of a young single mom, not the daughter in an abusive family, I am none the less caught and compulsively moved forward.
]]> Vicious (Villains, #1) 40874032 A masterful tale of ambition, jealousy, desire, and superpowers.

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

In Vicious, V. E. Schwab brings to life a gritty comic-book-style world in vivid prose: a world where gaining superpowers doesn't automatically lead to heroism, and a time when allegiances are called into question.]]> 402 Victoria E. Schwab Frances 2 fantastical, kindle, library
I think I tended to forget that this is marketed as YA, which means that expectations should be lower (or something) but I consistently felt like there was a wall preventing any kind of connection with the characters. ]]> 4.17 2013 Vicious (Villains, #1)

author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Frances
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/30
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves: fantastical, kindle, library
review:
Addie LaRue was good enough (and popular enough) that it had me going into the backlog of the author’s work to see if there was anything here. Per her other series I’ve enjoyed, the world building is interesting but I’m left a little cold by the relationships between the characters. I wanted WAY more Sydney and Serena and wayyyyy less of Eli and Victor. I’ll finish the duology because of Libby’s low stakes, but I’m not pumped about it or anything. Because speaking of stakes, this weirdly didn’t…have any.

I think I tended to forget that this is marketed as YA, which means that expectations should be lower (or something) but I consistently felt like there was a wall preventing any kind of connection with the characters.
]]> <![CDATA[The Avant Gardens: Gardens Beyond Wild Expectations, Visionaries, and Landscape Architecture]]> 99775187 272 Gestalten 3967040968 Frances 0 4.60

The Avant Gardens: Gardens Beyond Wild Expectations, Visionaries, and Landscape Architecture

author: Gestalten
name: Frances
average rating: 4.60
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:

]]> The Devil in Silver 17262469
Pepper is the surprised inmate of a mental institution in Queens, New York. In the darkness of his room, on his first night, a terrifying creature with the body of an old man and the head of a bison nearly kills him before being hustled away by the hospital staff. It’s no delusion: The other patients confirm that a devil roams the hallways when the sun goes down. Pepper rallies three other inmates in a plot to kill the monster that’s stalking them. But can the Devil die?

The Devil in Silver is a thrillingly suspenseful literary work about friendship, love, and the courage to slay our own demons.]]> 412 Victor LaValle 0812982258 Frances 4 san-francisco, social-studies
This can't be what it's truly like, right?
]]> 3.67 2012 The Devil in Silver

author: Victor LaValle
name: Frances
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/09
date added: 2024/06/25
shelves: san-francisco, social-studies
review:
I'm surprised at how much I liked this book? I started it on the plane, and I just couldn't look away. The blurb is accurate - it is painfully compassionate. Which, y'know. Odd for a horror novel. The idea of losing this much autonomy so quickly and randomly is what is so terrifying and effective here.

This can't be what it's truly like, right?

]]>