Lauren's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 22 Aug 2024 08:01:54 -0700 60 Lauren's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Mansfield Park 85635 Mansfield Park deals with money and marriage, and how strongly they affect each other. Shy, fragile Fanny Price is the consummate "poor relation." Sent to live with her wealthy uncle Thomas, she clashes with his spoiled, selfish daughters and falls in love with his son. Their lives are further complicated by the arrival of a pair of witty, sophisticated Londoners, whose flair for flirtation collides with the quiet, conservative country ways of Mansfield Park.

Written a decade after her previous novel, Mansfield Park retains Austen’s familiar compassion and humor but offers a far more complex exploration of moral choices and their emotional consequences.]]> 427 Jane Austen 1593081545 Lauren 0 own, classics, to-read 3.80 1814 Mansfield Park
author: Jane Austen
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1814
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves: own, classics, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4)]]> 8130423 In this fourth installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near. Even the safe haven of Camp Half-Blood grows more vulnerable by the minute as Kronos's army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop the invasion, Percy and his demigod friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth - a sprawling underground world with stunning surprises at every turn.]]> 361 Rick Riordan Lauren 4 own, 2008, middle-grade 4.44 2008 The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2008/08/13
date added: 2023/10/16
shelves: own, 2008, middle-grade
review:

]]> Cross (Dark Kings #3) 58805718 Have you ever stood next to a fire and felt the heat of it on your skin? Stared into the flames and thought how amazing it would be to be that free? It changes direction with the wind, destroying everything in its wake.

That's what she felt like.

Alexa was a wildfire that torched everything she touched, and I couldn't wait to be consumed by her.

She was off-limits. Even though I promised to stay away, I couldn't resist. She was the spark I had been missing in my life. The fire I craved. I knew from an early age I was destined to burn in hell, but she was born to walk through fire.

ALEXA
I was single-minded, focused, and independent. Just how my mother raised me. I didn't have time for anything other than myself and work.

Funny how everything can change in an instant when you least expect it.

A King entered my life.

What was supposed to be one night ended up being too many to count. He was afraid that I'd see his darkness, but I couldn't get enough of him.

After all, a fire burns the brightest in the dark of night. And it only takes one match to cause total devastation.

CROSS is the third book in the Dark Kings Series and can be read as a standalone. Due to mature content and themes this book is recommended for readers aged eighteen and over. This novel may contain triggers.]]> Shantel Tessier Lauren 4 4.45 Cross (Dark Kings #3)
author: Shantel Tessier
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/19
date added: 2023/08/19
shelves:
review:

]]> Year of Wonders 4965
Through Anna's eyes we follow the story of the fateful year of 1666, as she and her fellow villagers confront the spread of disease and superstition.

As death reaches into every household and villagers turn from prayers to murderous witch-hunting, Anna must find the strength to confront the disintegration of her community and the lure of illicit love.

As she struggles to survive and grow, a year of catastrophe becomes instead annus mirabilis, a "year of wonders."

Inspired by the true story of Eyam, a village in the rugged hill country of England, Year of Wonders is a richly detailed evocation of a singular moment in history. ]]> 304 Geraldine Brooks 0142001430 Lauren 0 to-read 4.00 2001 Year of Wonders
author: Geraldine Brooks
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Stormy Weather (Skink #3) 13061
"Hysterically funny...Hiaasen at his satirical best." - USA Today

Two honeymooners wake up early, make love twice, and brace themselves for a spectacle they won't be watching from the sidelines. A seductive con artiste stumbles into a scam that promises more cool cash than the lottery. A shotgun-toting mobile home salesman is about to close a deal with disaster. A law school dropout will be chasing one Gaboon viper, a troop of storm-shocked monkeys, and a newfound love life, while tourists by the thousands bail from the Florida Keys. We're now entering the hurricane zone, where hell and hilarity rule. And in the hands of the masterful, merciless Carl Hiaasen, we're going to have some weather.]]> 388 Carl Hiaasen 0446677167 Lauren 4 own 3.94 1995 Stormy Weather (Skink #3)
author: Carl Hiaasen
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2003/01/01
date added: 2023/07/29
shelves: own
review:

]]> Coraline 1967070
But there's another mother there and another father, and they want her to stay and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go. Coraline will have to fight with all her wit and all the tools she can find if she is to save herself and return to her ordinary life.

This beloved tale has now become a visual feast. Acclaimed artist P. Craig Russell brings Neil Gaiman's enchanting nationally bestselling children's book Coraline to new life in this gorgeously illustrated graphic novel adaptation]]> 192 P. Craig Russell 006082543X Lauren 0 to-read 4.07 2008 Coraline
author: P. Craig Russell
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Complete Short Stories 991352
The Complete Short Stories is a collection to be loved and cherished, from one of the finest short story writers of the twentieth century.]]> 455 Muriel Spark 0141005971 Lauren 0 to-read 3.76 1958 The Complete Short Stories
author: Muriel Spark
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1958
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sweet Obsession (Ruthless Games, #1)]]> 57378459 I saved his life.
Now he’s invaded mine.

Two years ago, a split-second decision changed everything. I risked my life for a man I didn’t even know and nearly died for it.

I’ve tried to forget him. To forget that whole night.

But he hasn’t forgotten me.
He’s been watching.
Obsessing.
Craving.

And when he crashes back into my life like a wrecking ball, accompanied by two dark shadows—men he calls his brothers—the life I’ve been trying to rebuild for myself shatters into a thousand sharp-edged pieces.

He believes our souls are bound by blood, and he’s come back to claim what’s his.

Two years ago, I saved Marcus Constantine’s life.

Now I wish I hadn’t.


This is the first book in the Ruthless Games series, a dark reverse harem romance. It contains sexual situations, violence, and dark subject matter.]]> 308 Callie Rose Lauren 0 to-read 3.85 2020 Sweet Obsession (Ruthless Games, #1)
author: Callie Rose
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #2)]]> 5663461
Readers will love their evolving relationship, at turns passionate, tender, and fierce, as well as the heart-pounding pace as the two try to escape their enemies.]]> 468 J.R. Ward 1101128542 Lauren 0 4.37 2006 Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #2)
author: J.R. Ward
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2021/10/18
date added: 2021/10/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Goodbye Is a Second Chance (Sons of Sin #1)]]> 57597911
Sons of Sin- the hottest new band on tour. But their bassist strums a sour chord when he gets a glimpse of their wardrobe assistant.

Angel
Betrayal after betrayal leaves me knowing damn well women can’t be trusted for more than a good time and a quick goodbye. Now, I live for my music, my band, and the highs of rock n roll. Seeing her again after all these years is like a kick in the balls. Over and over again. I never understood what happened all those years ago. I just know this girl broke my damn heart and left me feeling abandoned like no other. Now with her front and center every day, I will get the answers I deserved all those years ago.

Josie
How do you recover when your life is torn apart? I should be an old hand at it, with my past. But now, I’m as close to rock bottom as I can get without crashing. I don’t know if I can handle even one more thing going wrong. And then I see him again. What do you get when you run into the man that you hate more than anything? You avoid eye contact. That is until you can't. Now I'm stuck working for his band while they tour the country. Being around Angel brings back so many memories and a lot of insecurities I thought I was over, and I know I’m not going to come out intact.. I'm not sure how long this will last without one of us killing the other.


Two damaged souls, once bound by friendship and love, torn apart by deceit. Now the bitterest of enemies, Josie and Angel are forced into daily contact. Forced to spend time together. Forced to face a painful past. But will taking a chance on their future mean saying goodbye to their past, or to each other?]]> 333 Nola Marie Lauren 0 to-read 4.05 Goodbye Is a Second Chance (Sons of Sin #1)
author: Nola Marie
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Poison Study (Study, #1) 60510 Choose: A quick death� or slow poison...

About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.

And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.

As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can't control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren't so clear...]]> 427 Maria V. Snyder 0778324338 Lauren 3 4.09 2005 Poison Study (Study, #1)
author: Maria V. Snyder
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2020/03/24
shelves: 2020, borrowed-public-lib, fantasy-myth-fable, magic, series, young-adult
review:

]]> The Bone Houses 36524503 stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as "bone houses," and legend says that they're the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.]]> 335 Emily Lloyd-Jones 0316418412 Lauren 4 3.99 2019 The Bone Houses
author: Emily Lloyd-Jones
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2020/03/18
shelves: borrowed-public-lib, fantasy-myth-fable, young-adult, 2020
review:

]]> The Lie Tree 29858018 Costa Book of the This novel of science, magic, murder, and a determined Victorian-era teenager is a “heady concoction . . . absolutely unforgettable� (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Faith Sunderly leads a double life. To most people, she is modest and well mannered—a proper young lady who knows her place. But inside, Faith is burning with questions and curiosity. She keeps sharp watch of her surroundings and, therefore, knows secrets no one suspects her of knowing—like the real reason her family fled to the close-knit island of Vane. And that her father’s death was no accident. In pursuit of revenge and justice for the father she idolizes, Faith hunts through his possessions, where she discovers a strange tree. A tree that bears fruit only when she whispers a lie to it. The fruit, in turn, delivers a hidden truth. The tree might hold the key to her father’s murder. Or, it might lure the murderer directly to Faith herself, for lies—like fires, wild and crackling—quickly take on a life of their own.“Frances Hardinge has joined the ranks of those writers of young-adult fiction, like Philip Pullman, whose approach to fantasy proves so compelling that they quickly develop an adult following, and The Lie Tree is a good demonstration of why this is so . . . [a] page-turner.� —Locus“The time is nineteenth-century England just after Darwin’s theory of evolution has thrown the scientific world into turmoil; the setting is the fictional island of Vane, between land and sea; the main character is a fourteen-year-old girl caught between society’s expectations and her fierce desire to be a scientist. . . . A stunner.� —The Horn Book (starred review)“A murder mystery that dazzles at every level, shimmering all the more brightly the deeper down into it you go.� —Chicago Tribune“Haunting, and darkly funny . . . features complex, many-sided characters and a clear-eyed examination of the deep sexism of the period, which trapped even the most intelligent women in roles as restrictive as their corsets.� —Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Hardinge, who can turn a phrase like no other, melds a haunting historical mystery with a sharp observation on the dangers of suppressing the thirst for knowledge.� —School Library Journal (starred review)]]> 400 Frances Hardinge 1613128991 Lauren 5 3.86 2015 The Lie Tree
author: Frances Hardinge
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2020/03/09
date added: 2020/03/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Snow White Red-Handed (Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery, #1)]]> 22238665 Miss Ophelia Flax is a Victorian actress who knows all about making quick changes and even quicker exits. But to solve a fairy-tale crime in the haunted Black Forest, she’ll need more than a bit of charm�

1867: After being fired from her latest variety hall engagement, Ophelia acts her way into a lady’s maid position for a crass American millionaire. But when her new job whisks her off to a foreboding castle straight out of a Grimm tale, she begins to wonder if her fast-talking ways might have been too hasty. The vast grounds contain the suspected remains of Snow White’s cottage, along with a disturbing dwarf skeleton. And when her millionaire boss turns up dead—poisoned by an apple—the fantastic setting turns into a once upon a crime scene.

To keep from rising to the top of the suspect list, Ophelia fights through a bramble of elegant lies, sinister folklore, and priceless treasure, with only a dashing but mysterious scholar as her ally. And as the clock ticks towards midnight, she’ll have to break a cunning killer’s spell before her own time runs out…]]> 338 Maia Chance 069814001X Lauren 0 currently-reading 3.53 2014 Snow White Red-Handed (Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery, #1)
author: Maia Chance
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/06/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3)]]> 13206828
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.]]> 552 Marissa Meyer 0312642970 Lauren 3 4.40 2014 Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/06/10
shelves: 2019, audiobook, borrowed-public-lib, fairytale-retellings, series, young-adult
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)]]> 13206760
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother, or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana.

The adventure continues in this fresh fairytale retelling that combines elements of Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood.]]> 454 Marissa Meyer 0312642962 Lauren 3 4.24 2013 Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/06/10
shelves: 2019, borrowed-public-lib, fairytale-retellings, series, young-adult
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)]]> 36381037
She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.]]> 400 Marissa Meyer Lauren 0 4.11 2012 Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/06/10
shelves: 2019, fairytale-retellings, series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4)]]> 24917919
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer's national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.]]> 603 Marissa Meyer 1250068754 Lauren 0 currently-reading 4.41 2015 Winter (The Lunar Chronicles, #4)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/06/08
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)]]> 16071020
The second book in the #1 New York Times- and USA Today- Bestselling Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer! Our cyborg heroine teams up with two new characters, Scarlet and Wolf, to defend Earth against a wicked space queen.

"An interesting mash up of fairy tales and science fiction . . . a cross between Cinderella, Terminator, and Star Wars."―Entertainment Weekly on the Lunar Chronicles

"Prince Charming among the cyborgs." ―The Wall Street Journal on the Lunar Chronicles

Cinder is back and trying to break out of prison―even though she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive if she does―in this second installment from Marissa Meyer.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother, or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana.

The adventure continues in this fresh fairytale retelling that combines elements of Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood.]]> 332 Marissa Meyer Lauren 0 currently-reading 4.29 2013 Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/06/01
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ella Enchanted (Ella Enchanted, #1)]]> 24337
Gail Carson Levine's examination of traditional female roles in fairy tales takes some satisfying twists and deviations from the original. Ella is bound by obedience against her will, and takes matters in her own hands with ambition and verve. Her relationship with the prince is balanced and based on humor and mutual respect; in fact, it is she who ultimately rescues him. Ella Enchanted has won many well-deserved awards, including a Newbery Honor.]]> 240 Gail Carson Levine 0590920685 Lauren 4 4.01 1997 Ella Enchanted (Ella Enchanted, #1)
author: Gail Carson Levine
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/06/01
shelves: 2019, fairytale-retellings, fantasy-myth-fable, magic, middle-grade, own
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)]]> 23395680
The year is 2575, and two rival mega-corporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than a speck at the edge of the universe. Now with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra � who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to evacuate with a hostile warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A plague has broken out and is mutating with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a web of data to find the truth, it’s clear the only person who can help her is the ex-boyfriend she swore she’d never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents � including emails, maps, files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more � Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.]]> 608 Amie Kaufman 0553499114 Lauren 5 4.23 2015 Illuminae (The Illuminae Files, #1)
author: Amie Kaufman
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/06/01
shelves: 2018, nontraditional-format, own, sci-fi, series, used-for-class, young-adult, 2019, re-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Akata Witch (The Nsibidi Scripts, #1)]]> 7507944 Akata Witch transports the reader to a magical place where nothing is quite as it seems. Born in New York, but living in Aba, Nigeria, twelve-year old Sunny is understandably a little lost. She is albino and thus, incredibly sensitive to the sun. All Sunny wants to do is be able to play football and get through another day of school without being bullied. But once she befriends Orlu and Chichi, Sunny is plunged in to the world of the Leopard People, where your worst defect becomes your greatest asset. Together, Sunny, Orlu, Chichi and Sasha form the youngest ever Oha Coven. Their mission is to track down Black Hat Otokoto, the man responsible for kidnapping and maiming children. Will Sunny be able to overcome the killer with powers stronger than her own, or will the future she saw in the flames become reality?]]> 349 Nnedi Okorafor 0670011967 Lauren 4 4.02 2011 Akata Witch (The Nsibidi Scripts, #1)
author: Nnedi Okorafor
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2019/06/01
shelves: 2018, author-of-color, magic, own, protagonist-of-color, used-for-class, young-adult, 2019, fantasy-myth-fable, series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Skeleton Creek (Skeleton Creek, #1)]]> 4885565 A breakthrough new series from bestselling author Patrick Carman, featuring text and technology in an innovative new way.

Strange things are happening in Skeleton Creek... and Ryan and Sarah are trying to get to the heart of it. But after an eerie accident leaves Ryan housebound and forbidden to see Sarah, their investigation takes two tracks: Ryan records everything in his journal, while Sarah uses her videocam to search things out... and then email the clips for Ryan to see.

In a new, groundbreaking format, the story is broken into two parts � Ryan's text in the book, and Sarah's videos on a special website, with links and passwords given throughout the book.]]> 185 Patrick Carman 0545075661 Lauren 3 4.08 2009 Skeleton Creek (Skeleton Creek, #1)
author: Patrick Carman
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2019/06/01
shelves: 2018, mystery-crime, series, thriller, used-for-class, young-adult, 2019, own
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives]]> 33155325 One teenager with a lighter.
One moment that changes both of their lives forever.

If it weren't for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The case garnered international attention, thrusting both teenagers into the spotlight.]]> 320 Dashka Slater 0374303231 Lauren 5 4.10 2017 The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives
author: Dashka Slater
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/06/01
shelves: 2019, nonfiction, own, used-for-class, young-adult
review:

]]> I Am Alfonso Jones 34099859
When Alfonso wakes up in the afterlife, he’s on a ghost train guided by well-known victims of police shootings, who teach him what he needs to know about this subterranean spiritual world. Meanwhile, Alfonso’s family and friends struggle with their grief and seek justice for Alfonso in the streets. As they confront their new realities, both Alfonso and those he loves realize the work that lies ahead in the fight for justice.

In the first graphic novel for young readers to focus on police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, as in Hamlet, the dead shall speak—and the living yield even more surprises.

Foreword by Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy.]]> 168 Tony Medina 1620142635 Lauren 5 4.05 2017 I Am Alfonso Jones
author: Tony Medina
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/06/01
shelves: 2019, author-of-color, graphic-novels, own, protagonist-of-color, used-for-class, young-adult
review:

]]> Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1) 28954189 Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art� of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

An alternate cover edition of ISBN: 9781442472426]]> 435 Neal Shusterman Lauren 5 4.32 2016 Scythe (Arc of a Scythe, #1)
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2019/06/01
shelves: 2018, author-of-color, dystopian, sci-fi, series, used-for-class, young-adult, 2019
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Truly Devious (Truly Devious, #1)]]> 38898759 New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart.

Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,� he said, “where learning is a game.�

Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.� It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.

True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. 

The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three.

Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * Junior Library Guild Selection * 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * 2019 ALA's Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Young Adult Winner * Seventeen Best YA Book of 2018]]> 432 Maureen Johnson Lauren 0 currently-reading 3.94 2018 Truly Devious (Truly Devious, #1)
author: Maureen Johnson
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/04/06
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Memories of My Melancholy Whores]]> 5947099
Tender, knowing, and slyly comic, Memories of My Melancholy Whores is an exquisite addition to the master’s work.
--back cover]]> 115 Gabriel García Márquez 1400095948 Lauren 0 to-read 3.59 2004 Memories of My Melancholy Whores
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Master Magician (The Paper Magician, #3)]]> 23485372
While all seems set for Ceony to complete her apprenticeship and pass her upcoming final magician’s exam, life quickly becomes complicated. To avoid favoritism, Emery sends her to another paper magician for testing, a Folder who despises Emery and cares even less for his apprentice. To make matters worse, a murderous criminal from Ceony’s past escapes imprisonment. Now she must track the power-hungry convict across England before he can take his revenge. With her life and loved ones hanging in the balance, Ceony must face a criminal who wields the one magic that she does not, and it may prove more powerful than all her skills combined.

The whimsical and captivating follow-up to The Paper Magician and The Glass Magician, The Master Magician will enchant readers of all ages.]]> 226 Charlie N. Holmberg 1477878696 Lauren 0 to-read 3.92 2015 The Master Magician (The Paper Magician, #3)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files Omnibus Volume 1]]> 25266691 534 Jim Butcher 1606906631 Lauren 0 to-read 4.21 2015 Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files Omnibus Volume 1
author: Jim Butcher
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crossroads of Twilight (The Wheel of Time, #10)]]> 113435 The Wheel of Time from the New York Times #1 bestselling author Robert Jordan, the world and the characters stand at a crossroads, and the world approaches twilight, when the power of the Shadow grows stronger.

Fleeing from Ebou Dar with the kidnapped Daughter of the Nine Moons, whom he is fated to marry, Mat Cauthon learns that he can neither keep her nor let her go, not in safety for either of them, for both the Shadow and the might of the Seanchan Empire are in deadly pursuit.

Perrin Aybara seeks to free his wife, Faile, a captive of the Shaido, but his only hope may be an alliance with the enemy. Can he remain true to his friend Rand and to himself? For his love of Faile, Perrin is willing to sell his soul.

At Tar Valon, Egwene al'Vere, the young Amyrlin of the rebel Aes Sedai, lays siege to the heart of Aes Sedai power, but she must win quickly, with as little bloodshed as possible, for unless the Aes Sedai are reunited, only the male Asha'man will remain to defend the world against the Dark One, and nothing can hold the Asha'man themselves back from total power except the Aes Sedai and a unified White Tower.

In Andor, Elayne Trakland fights for the Lion Throne that is hers by right, but enemies and Darkfriends surround her, plotting her destruction. If she fails, Andor may fall to the Shadow, and the Dragon Reborn with it.

Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn himself, has cleansed the Dark One's taint from the male half of the True Source, and everything has changed. Yet nothing has, for only men who can channel believe that saidin is clean again, and a man who can channel is still hated and feared-even one prophesied to save the world. Now, Rand must gamble again, with himself at stake, and he cannot be sure which of his allies are really enemies.
]]> 704 Robert Jordan 0312864590 Lauren 0 3.77 2003 Crossroads of Twilight (The Wheel of Time, #10)
author: Robert Jordan
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves: epic-fantasty, own, on-kindle, to-read
review:

]]> The Lie Tree 23592175 The leaves were cold and slightly clammy. There was no mistaking them. She had seen their likeness painstakingly sketched in her father's journal. This was his greatest secret, his treasure and his undoing. The Tree of Lies. Now it was hers, and the journey he had never finished stretched out before her.

When Faith's father is found dead under mysterious circumstances, she is determined to untangle the truth from the lies. Searching through his belongings for clues, she discovers a strange tree. A tree that feeds off whispered lies and bears fruit that reveals hidden secrets.

But as Faith's untruths spiral out of control, she discovers that where lies seduce, truths shatter...]]> 410 Frances Hardinge 144726410X Lauren 0 own, young-adult 3.83 2015 The Lie Tree
author: Frances Hardinge
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves: own, young-adult
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2)]]> 33555224
Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order� scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish� so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world. But will it help solve those problems, or simply watch as perfection goes into decline?]]> 504 Neal Shusterman 1442472456 Lauren 0 4.38 2018 Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2)
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves: 2018, author-of-color, dystopian, own, sci-fi, young-adult
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Gemina (The Illuminae Files, #2)]]> 29236299
The sci-fi saga that began with the breakout bestseller Illuminae continues on board the Jump Station Heimdall, where two new characters will confront the next wave of the BeiTech assault.

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.]]> 659 Amie Kaufman 0553499165 Lauren 5 4.41 2016 Gemina (The Illuminae Files, #2)
author: Amie Kaufman
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves: 2018, nontraditional-format, own, sci-fi, used-for-class, young-adult
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1)]]> 32075671 An alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062498533 can be found here.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl's struggle for justice.]]> 454 Angie Thomas 0062498533 Lauren 0 2018 4.46 2017 The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1)
author: Angie Thomas
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves: 2018
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2)]]> 36126072 Scythe from New York Times bestseller Neal Shusterman, author of the Unwind dystology.

The Thunderhead cannot interfere in the affairs of the Scythedom. All it can do is observe—it does not like what it sees.

A year has passed since Rowan had gone off grid. Since then, he has become an urban legend, a vigilante snuffing out corrupt scythes in a trial by fire. His story is told in whispers across the continent.

As Scythe Anastasia, Citra gleans with compassion and openly challenges the ideals of the “new order.� But when her life is threatened and her methods questioned, it becomes clear that not everyone is open to the change.

Will the Thunderhead intervene?

Or will it simply watch as this perfect world begins to unravel?]]> 393 Neal Shusterman 1442472472 Lauren 5 4.47 2018 Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2)
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/12/26
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Royal Institute of Magic - Box Set (Books 1-3): An Epic Fantasy Adventure]]> 30329637 Like most people, Ben Greenwood has never heard of the Royal Institute of Magic. But that is all about to change... Two years after his parents� sudden disappearance, Ben Greenwood stumbles upon a cryptic letter that could shed some light on their whereabouts. But before he can track them down, he’ll need to find the mysterious organization that sent the The Royal Institute of Magic. To succeed, he'll have to navigate a land filled with fantastic creatures and spellshooters, where magic can be bought and sold, to unravel an ancient family secret that could hold the key to defeating an evil the Institute has been fighting for the last five hundred years. Royal Institute of Magic is a middle-grade fantasy series that appeals to both young and adult audiences who enjoy magic, mystery and adventure. This bundle - Book 1: Elizabeth's Legacy - Book 2: The Shadowseeker - Book 3: The Protectors]]> 1131 Victor Kloss Lauren 0 to-read 4.46 Royal Institute of Magic - Box Set (Books 1-3): An Epic Fantasy Adventure
author: Victor Kloss
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Hate U Give 32497607
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Angie Thomas’s searing debut about an ordinary girl in extraordinary circumstances addresses issues of racism and police violence with intelligence, heart, and unflinching honesty. Soon to be a major motion picture from Fox 2000/Temple Hill Productions.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.]]> 12 Angie Thomas Lauren 5 4.48 2017 The Hate U Give
author: Angie Thomas
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2018/12/26
shelves: realistic, used-for-class, young-adult
review:

]]> City of Glass 89053 A graphic novel classic with a new introduction by Art Spiegelman

Quinn writes mysteries. The Washington Post has described him as a “post-existentialist private eye.� An unknown voice on the telephone is now begging for his help, drawing him into a world and a mystery far stranger than any he ever created in print.

Adapted by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli, with graphics by David Mazzucchelli, Paul Auster’s groundbreaking, Edgar Award-nominated masterwork has been astonishingly transformed into a new visual language.
]]> 138 Paul Karasik 0312423608 Lauren 0 to-read 4.00 1994 City of Glass
author: Paul Karasik
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Speak 91445
I am an outcast.]]> 198 Laurie Halse Anderson 0142407321 Lauren 5 own, 2009, young-adult 4.02 1999 Speak
author: Laurie Halse Anderson
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2009/01/05
date added: 2016/11/29
shelves: own, 2009, young-adult
review:
WOW. See my full review .
]]> <![CDATA[The Gallows Bird (Patrik Hedström, #4)]]> 8588795
A local woman is killed in a tragic car crash, but it isn’t a clear-cut drunk driving case. The victim’s blood contains high alcohol levels, yet she rarely drank a drop. Meanwhile, a new television series begins shooting in Fjällbacka, and as cameras shadow the stars� every move, tempers start to flare. When a drunken party ends with an unpopular contestant’s murder, all eyes turn to the cast and crew. Could there be a murderer among them? The ratings spike as the country tunes in to a real life murder mystery.

Detective Patrik Hedstrom finds himself increasingly unable to focus on the strange circumstances of the first case, but what if that holds the key to a series of other unsolved cases across Sweden? Under the unforgiving media spotlight, Patrik tackles his most challenging investigation yet.]]> 384 Camilla Lackberg 0007254008 Lauren 5 3.76 2006 The Gallows Bird (Patrik Hedström, #4)
author: Camilla Lackberg
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2011/11/01
date added: 2016/09/13
shelves: 2011, series, mystery-crime, own
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Stonecutter (Patrik Hedström, #3)]]> 8554156
The remote resort of Fjällbacka has seen its share of tragedy, though perhaps none worse than that of the little girl found in a fisherman's net. But this was no accidental drowning ...

Local detective Patrik Hedström has just become a father. It is his grim task to discover who could be behind the murder of a child both he and his partner Erica knew well.

What he does not know is how the case will reach into the dark heart of Fjällbacka and tear aside its idyllic façade, perhaps forever.]]> 480 Camilla Läckberg 0007253974 Lauren 4 3.84 2005 The Stonecutter (Patrik Hedström, #3)
author: Camilla Läckberg
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2011/11/01
date added: 2016/09/13
shelves: 2011, mystery-crime, own, series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)]]> 6361415
But Bill has a disability of his own: He's a vampire with a bad reputation. He hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, all suspected of--big surprise--murder. And when one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next....]]> 326 Charlaine Harris 0575089369 Lauren 4 3.64 2001 Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)
author: Charlaine Harris
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/25
date added: 2016/08/31
shelves: 2010, re-read, own, fantasy-myth-fable, romance, series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Five People You Meet in Heaven]]> 175343
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes a novel that explores unexpected connections and the idea that heaven is more than a place: it's an answer.]]> 196 Mitch Albom Lauren 3 own 3.75 2003 The Five People You Meet in Heaven
author: Mitch Albom
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2004/11/01
date added: 2016/08/28
shelves: own
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Strain (The Strain Trilogy, #1)]]> 6561983 An epic battle for survival begins between man and vampire in The Strain—the first book in a heart-stopping trilogy from one of Hollywood’s most inventive storytellers and a critically acclaimed thriller writer. Guillermo del Toro, the genius director of the Academy Award-winning Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy, and Hammett Award-winning author Chuck Hogan have joined forces to boldly reinvent the vampire novel. Brilliant, blood-chilling, and unputdownable, The Strain is a nightmare of the first order.

]]> 612 Guillermo del Toro Lauren 0 3.91 2009 The Strain (The Strain Trilogy, #1)
author: Guillermo del Toro
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2010/01/07
date added: 2016/08/11
shelves: on-kindle, own, couldnt-finish
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Glass Magician (The Paper Magician, #2)]]> 22910024 Three months after returning Magician Emery Thane’s heart to his body, Ceony Twill is well on her way to becoming a Folder. Unfortunately, not all of Ceony’s thoughts have been focused on paper magic. Though she was promised romance by a fortuity box, Ceony still hasn’t broken the teacher-student barrier with Emery, despite their growing closeness.

When a magician with a penchant for revenge believes that Ceony possesses a secret, he vows to discover it…even if it tears apart the very fabric of their magical world. After a series of attacks target Ceony and catch those she holds most dear in the crossfire, Ceony knows she must find the true limits of her powers…and keep her knowledge from falling into wayward hands.

The delightful sequel to Charlie N. Holmberg’s The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician will charm readers young and old alike.

]]> 224 Charlie N. Holmberg 147787593X Lauren 3 4.08 2014 The Glass Magician (The Paper Magician, #2)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2016/07/23
date added: 2016/07/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Born in Blood & Fire: A Concise History of Latin America]]> 8930010 400 John Charles Chasteen 0393911543 Lauren 5
This book is definitely written for an undergraduate audience, but anyone who is unfamiliar with Latin American history, this is a good place to start. It's very well-written and easy to read, but not written simplistically.]]> 3.94 2000 Born in Blood & Fire: A Concise History of Latin America
author: John Charles Chasteen
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2013/03/18
date added: 2016/07/17
shelves: 2013, borrowed-public-lib, for-school, nonfiction, history, latin-america
review:
As someone who never had exposure to Latin American history in high school or undergrad (sigh...both a product of American schools and my own choices), this was a great book to start getting myself up to speed. Chasteen does an excellent job of summarizing and explaining the main historical themes across the Latin American area without being reductionist. He also gave one of the best explanations of cultural hegemony I've ever read.

This book is definitely written for an undergraduate audience, but anyone who is unfamiliar with Latin American history, this is a good place to start. It's very well-written and easy to read, but not written simplistically.
]]> Divergent (Divergent, #1) 8306857 In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue--Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is--she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are--and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

]]> 487 Veronica Roth 0062024027 Lauren 5 4.28 2011 Divergent (Divergent, #1)
author: Veronica Roth
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2011/10/01
date added: 2016/05/28
shelves: 2011, dystopian, series, young-adult
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #2)]]> 6441303 After fleeing Ojai, Nicholas, Sophie, Josh, and Scatty emerge in Paris, the City of Lights. Home for Nicholas Flamel. Only this homecoming is anything but sweet. Perenell is still locked up back in Alcatraz and Paris is teeming with enemies. Nicollo Machiavelli, immortal author and celebrated art collector, is working for Dee. He s after them, and time is running out for Nicholas and Perenell. For every day spent without the Book of Abraham the Mage, they age one year their magic becoming weaker and their bodies more frail. For Flamel, the Prophesy is becoming more and more clear.
It s time for Sophie to learn the second elemental magic: Fire Magic. And there s only one man who can teach it to her: Flamel s old student, the Comte de Saint-Germain alchemist, magician, and rock star. Josh and Sophie Newman are the world s only hope if they don t turn on each other first.
Readers will be swept up by a plot that moves smartly along, leaving a wide trail of destruction and well-timed revelations. "Kirkus Reveiws," Starred
Read the whole series!
"The Alchemyst"
"The Magician"
"The Sorceress"
"The Necromancer"
"The Warlock"
"The Enchantress" "From the Hardcover edition.""]]> 464 Michael Scott 0385737289 Lauren 5 4.03 2008 The Magician (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, #2)
author: Michael Scott
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2010/06/13
date added: 2016/03/30
shelves: 2010, own, re-read, young-adult
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)]]> 5552635
As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life—sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition—its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.]]> 286 Elizabeth Strout 0812971833 Lauren 0 own, to-read 3.75 2008 Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)
author: Elizabeth Strout
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/02/20
shelves: own, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Introducing Critical Theory: A Graphic Guide (Graphic Guides)]]> 6623910 175 Stuart Sim 1848310595 Lauren 3 3.67 1997 Introducing Critical Theory: A Graphic Guide (Graphic Guides)
author: Stuart Sim
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.67
book published: 1997
rating: 3
read at: 2013/08/07
date added: 2016/02/19
shelves: 2013, graphic-novels, critical-theory, own, reference
review:
It does what it is meant to do and no more. It gives a bare-bones overview of the progression of critical theory. Considering the number of theories this covers, this is a helpful first look at the discipline. It's a good place to create a conceptual map before delving more deeply into different theories.
]]> The Necklace and Other Tales 616035 Includes The Necklace, Butterball, The Tellier House, On the Water, Mademoiselle Fifi, The Mask, The Inn, A Day in the Country, The Hand, The Jewels, The Model, The Entity (The Horla)

These stories—poignant scrutinies of social pretension, wicked tales of lust and love, and harrowing examinations of terror and madness—display the full genius of Guy de Maupassant in an enthralling new translation by Joachim Neugroschel. They reveal Maupassant’s remarkable range, his technical perfection, his sexual realism, and his ability to create whole worlds and sum up intricate universes of feeling in a few pages]]> 224 Guy de Maupassant 0375757171 Lauren 3 3.92 1884 The Necklace and Other Tales
author: Guy de Maupassant
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1884
rating: 3
read at: 2009/09/03
date added: 2015/11/13
shelves: for-school, own, short-story-collection, 2009, literary, classics
review:

]]> The Circle (Engelsfors #1) 25719126
Minoo wakes up outside her house, still in her pajamas, and is drawn by an invisible force to an abandoned theme park on the outskirts of town. Soon five of her classmates—Vanessa, Linnéa, Anna-Karin, Rebecka, and Ida—arrive, compelled by the same force. A mystical being takes over Ida’s body and tells them they are fated to fight an ancient evil that is hunting them. As the weeks pass, each girl discovers she has a unique magical ability. They begin exploring their powers. The six are wildly different and definitely not friends . . . but they are the Chosen Ones.

In this gripping first installment of The Engelsfors Trilogy, a parallel world emerges in which teenage dreams, insanely annoying parents, bullying, revenge, and love collide with dangerous forces and ancient magic. An international sensation with rights sold in 26 countries, The Circle is razor-sharp and remarkable from start to finish.

For more information visit: ]]> 608 Sara Bergmark Elfgren Lauren 0 to-read 3.95 2011 The Circle (Engelsfors #1)
author: Sara Bergmark Elfgren
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/10/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Giver (The Giver, #1) 1154167
4 hours, 48 minutes]]> 5 Lois Lowry 080726203X Lauren 5 3.95 1993 The Giver (The Giver, #1)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1993
rating: 5
read at: 2009/03/29
date added: 2015/08/30
shelves: 2009, audiobook, young-adult, digital-audio
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Archived (The Archived, #1)]]> 10929432 Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was: a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn't just dangerous—it's a constant reminder of those Mac has lost, Da's death was hard enough, but now that her little brother is gone too, Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself may crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.]]> 327 Victoria E. Schwab 1423157311 Lauren 4
It had a creepy, Neil Gaiman-type quality to it, which I really liked. Apparently it is part of series (OF COURSE) so I guess I'll try to keep going.]]> 3.96 2013 The Archived (The Archived, #1)
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/08/19
date added: 2015/08/19
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, fantasy-myth-fable, series, young-adult, dark
review:
The premise of this book was fascinating to me, particularly because it deals with memory and the containment of memory. I just happened to see this on the library shelf and thought, memories storied in bodies stored on library shelves--you have my attention. I don't really agree with its philosophy of memory, but its really for academic reasons and that doesn't affect the enjoyment of the story.

It had a creepy, Neil Gaiman-type quality to it, which I really liked. Apparently it is part of series (OF COURSE) so I guess I'll try to keep going.
]]> Insurgent (Divergent, #2) 11735983
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian DIVERGENT series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.]]> 525 Veronica Roth 0007442912 Lauren 2
I think what bugs me is that the crux of the reveal is really just centered on filling in the holes from the incomplete world-building from the first book--pointing to sort-of answers to all the questions that the characters should have been asking previously but weren't. I'm still reading the third book because I've gotten this far and I'm sure I'll watch the movie, but I wish there were more substance and less "why can't Four and I trust each other if we love each other blah blah blah". YA books could be so much more than girl protagonists being confused about boys. Sure, it might be realistic in some respects, but that doesn't make it interesting and it certainly doesn't make it forward-thinking.

I also don't agree with the color-blind society metaphor that the busting up of the faction system represents. I don't know that she intended it to be that clear cut of a relationship, but there are some problems with how it is playing out, regardless of her intentions. I'd love to see her imagine something other than the either-or choice (factions/no factions:race inequality/color-blindness). If she could draw out more on the differences between being factionless and there being no factions, that could be interesting.]]> 3.97 2012 Insurgent (Divergent, #2)
author: Veronica Roth
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2015/08/18
date added: 2015/08/19
shelves: on-kindle, own, dystopian, series, young-adult, 2015
review:
I don't know if it is because I read this at the gym, or that I had absolutely no recollection of reading this previously, though according to goodreads and my kindle I had, or that I'd just watched the movie which was different in significant (and somewhat more interesting but mostly just more visually concrete) ways, but I couldn't get overly excited about this. Tris' inner monologue is just so blah.

I think what bugs me is that the crux of the reveal is really just centered on filling in the holes from the incomplete world-building from the first book--pointing to sort-of answers to all the questions that the characters should have been asking previously but weren't. I'm still reading the third book because I've gotten this far and I'm sure I'll watch the movie, but I wish there were more substance and less "why can't Four and I trust each other if we love each other blah blah blah". YA books could be so much more than girl protagonists being confused about boys. Sure, it might be realistic in some respects, but that doesn't make it interesting and it certainly doesn't make it forward-thinking.

I also don't agree with the color-blind society metaphor that the busting up of the faction system represents. I don't know that she intended it to be that clear cut of a relationship, but there are some problems with how it is playing out, regardless of her intentions. I'd love to see her imagine something other than the either-or choice (factions/no factions:race inequality/color-blindness). If she could draw out more on the differences between being factionless and there being no factions, that could be interesting.
]]> <![CDATA[The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4)]]> 12127810 Hazel stands at a crossroads. She and the remaining crew of the Argo II could return home with the Athena Parthenos statue and try to stop Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter from going to war. Or they could continue their quest to find the House of Hades, where they might be able to open the Doors of Death, rescue their friends Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus, and prevent monsters from being reincarnated in the mortal world. Whichever road they decide to take, they have to hurry, because time is running out. Gaea, the bloodthirsty Earth Mother, has set the date of August 1 for her rise to power.

Annabeth and Percy are overwhelmed. How will the two of them make it through Tartarus? Starving, thirsty, and in pain, they are barely able to stumble on in the dark and poisonous landscape that holds new horrors at every turn. They have no way of locating the Doors of Death. Even if they did, a legion of Gaea's strongest monsters guards the Doors on the Tartarus side. Annabeth and Percy can't exactly launch a frontal assault.

Despite the terrible odds, Hazel, Annabeth, Percy, and the other demigods of the prophecy know that there is only one choice: to attempt the impossible. Not just for themselves, but for everyone they love. Even though love can be the riskiest choice of all.

Join the demigods as they face their biggest challenges yet in The House of Hades, the hair-raising penultimate book in the best-selling Heroes of Olympus series.]]> 597 Rick Riordan 1423146727 Lauren 4 4.56 2013 The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus, #4)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/08/17
date added: 2015/08/19
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, fantasy-myth-fable, middle-grade, series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels, #2)]]> 12029129
Seventh grade has been surprisingly quiet for Percy Jackson. Not a single monster has set foot on his New York prep-school campus. But when an innocent game of dodgeball among Percy and his classmates turns into a death match against an ugly gang of cannibal giants, things get...well, ugly. And the unexpected arrival of his friend Annabeth brings more bad news: the magical borders that protect Camp Half-Blood have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and unless a cure is found, the only safe haven for demigods will be destroyed.

In the follow-up to the wildly popular The Lightning Thief, The Graphic Novel, Percy and his friends must journey into the Sea of Monsters to save their camp. But first, Percy will discover a stunning new secret about his family--one that makes him question whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor or simply a cruel joke.

Featuring a faithful adaptation by Robert Venditti, stunning artwork by Attila Futaki, and sumptuous colors by newcomer Tamas Gaspar, Rick Riordan's blockbuster book comes to life in The Sea of Monsters, The Graphic Novel .]]> 128 Robert Venditti 142314550X Lauren 3 4.30 2013 The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels, #2)
author: Robert Venditti
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/14
date added: 2015/08/14
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, fantasy-myth-fable, middle-grade, graphic-novels, series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels, #1)]]> 7736086
Mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking out of the pages of twelve-year-old Percy Jackson's textbooks and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Now, he and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus.

Series creator Rick Riordan joins forces with some of the biggest names in the comic book industry to tell the story of a boy who must unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.]]> 135 Robert Venditti 1423116968 Lauren 3 4.43 2010 The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels, #1)
author: Robert Venditti
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/13
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, fantasy-myth-fable, middle-grade, graphic-novels, series
review:
Fun to see in graphic novel form, but I kind of wish they'd put more of the story into it. It seems to assume you've read the book--I'm not sure the world would make much sense if you started with the comic.
]]> <![CDATA[The Witch with No Name (The Hollows, #13)]]> 20426917 At long last... The final book in the New York Times bestselling Hollows series by Kim Harrison!

Rachel Morgan's come a long way from the clutzy runner of Dead Witch Walking. She's faced vampires and werewolves, banshees, witches, and soul-eating demons. She's crossed worlds, channeled gods, and accepted her place as a day-walking demon. She's lost friends and lovers and family, and an old enemy has become something much more.

But power demands responsibility, and world-changers must always pay a price. That time is now.

To save Ivy's soul and the rest of the living vampires, to keep the demonic ever after and our own world from destruction, Rachel Morgan will risk everything.]]> 462 Kim Harrison 006195795X Lauren 3
[spoilers removed]]]> 4.41 2014 The Witch with No Name (The Hollows, #13)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/10
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves:
review:
I don't want to say I was disappointed in this book, because again I really enjoyed reading it. I just never got into the mystics/wild magic story line, though it becomes clear in this book that she is using it to wrap up all the conflict in Rachel's life so that the story can presumably end.

[spoilers removed]
]]> <![CDATA[The Undead Pool (The Hollows, #12)]]> 17285883
Rachel must stop the occurrences before the undead vampire masters who keep the rest of the undead under control are lost and it becomes all-out supernatural war. However, the only way to do so is through the ancient elven wild magic, which carries its own perils.]]> 423 Kim Harrison 0061957933 Lauren 4 4.42 2014 The Undead Pool (The Hollows, #12)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2015/08/06
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves: 2015, own, magic, series, urban-fantasy
review:
Although I ultimately enjoyed the book, the stuff withe the mystics and wild magic wasn't as interesting to me as the demon world magic (though why she goes this route makes more sense in the final book).
]]> Ever After (The Hollows, #11) 15853906
Satisfying and sexy, a visit to the Hollows will take readers on a wild journey that will capture their imagination. Fans of Charlaine Harris and Stephenie Meyer won't be able to resist Kim Harrison's alternative universe—urban fantasy Cincinnati complete with vampires, witches, and other enchanting creatures � where spine-tingling adventures and fast-paced action are the norm.]]> 448 Kim Harrison Lauren 4 4.50 2013 Ever After (The Hollows, #11)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/08/03
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond]]> 16079375 Into the Woods, her first collection of short stories.

Rachel is here, as are Jenks the pixie, elven tycoon Trent Kalamack, and an unholy host of vampires, demons, shapeshifters, ghosts, and other assorted supernatural beings, friends and foes. Into the Woods combines original work, including a new Hollows novella, as well as all of Kim Harrison's previously published short fiction gathered together in one volume for the very first time.


The Bespelled � [The Hollows short fiction] � (2008) � short story by Kim Harrison
Two Ghosts for Sister Rachel � [The Hollows short fiction] � (2007) � novella by Kim Harrison
Undead in the Garden of Good and Evil � [The Hollows short fiction] � (2006) � novella by Kim Harrison
Dirty Magic � [The Hollows short fiction] � (2008) � short story by Kim Harrison
The Bridges of Eden Park � [The Hollows short fiction] � (2007) � short story by Kim Harrison
Ley Line Drifter � [The Hollows short fiction] � (2009) � novella by Kim Harrison
Million Dollar Baby � [The Hollows short fiction] � novella by Kim Harrison
Pet Shop Boys � (2012) � novelette by Kim Harrison
Temson Estates � short story by Kim Harrison
Spider Silk � novelette by Kim Harrison
Grace � novelette by Kim Harrison]]> 528 Kim Harrison Lauren 3 4.32 2009 Into the Woods: Tales from the Hollows and Beyond
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/01
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, magic, re-read, urban-fantasy, series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Perfect Blood (The Hollows, #10)]]> 12843464 438 Kim Harrison Lauren 0 4.41 2012 A Perfect Blood (The Hollows, #10)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2015/07/30
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, magic, re-read, series, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> Pale Demon (The Hollows, #9) 10374257 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison takes her indomitable heroine on a wild journey of dark magic and supernatural adventure.

Pale Demon
Condemned and shunned for black magic, Rachel Morgan has three days to get to the annual witches' convention and clear her name, or be trapped in the demonic ever-after...forever after.

But a witch, an elf, a living vampire, and a pixy in one car going across the country? Talk about a recipe for certain disaster, even without being the targets for assassination.

For after centuries of torment, a fearsome demon walks in the sunlight - freed at last to slay the innocent and devour souls. But his ultimate goal is Rachel Morgan, and in the fight for survival that follows, even embracing her own demonic nature may not be enough to save her.]]> 439 Kim Harrison Lauren 4 4.45 2011 Pale Demon (The Hollows, #9)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/29
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, magic, re-read, series, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows, #8)]]> 6547188
Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment—at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.

It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.]]> 487 Kim Harrison 0061138037 Lauren 0 4.37 2010 Black Magic Sanction (The Hollows, #8)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2015/07/28
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, magic, re-read, series, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows, #6)]]> 2800881 When you dance with demons, you lay your soul on the line...

In the Hollows, where the natural and the supernatural co-exist - not always peacefully - desperate times often call for unorthodox measures. But bounty hunter-witch Rachel Morgan did the absolutely unthinkable to save the lives of her friends: she willingly trafficked in forbidden demon magic. And now her sins have come home to haunt her.

As Rachel hunts for the truth behind a terrifying murder, the discovery of a shocking family secret is about to throw her entire life into question. And the long-lost ancient knowledge she seeks resides in the demonic ever-after. But there are some lines that should never be crossed--like the one Rachel Morgan's stepping over...again!


This Mass Market Paperback Edition includes "The Bespelled": a Ceri/Al short story (Rachel Morgan/The Hollows #6.1)]]> 496 Kim Harrison 0061149829 Lauren 4 4.27 2008 The Outlaw Demon Wails (The Hollows, #6)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/27
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, magic, series, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[For a Few Demons More (The Hollows, #5)]]> 30259 456 Kim Harrison 0060788380 Lauren 4 4.33 2007 For a Few Demons More (The Hollows, #5)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/25
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, urban-fantasy, magic
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows, #4)]]> 30260
Now a mortal lover who abandoned Rachel has returned, haunted by his secret past. And there are those who covet what Nick possesses -- savage beasts willing to destroy the Hollows and everyone in it if necessary.

Forced to keep a low profile or eternally suffer the wrath of a vengeful demon, Rachel must nevertheless act quickly. For the pack is gathering for the first time in millennia to ravage and to rule. And suddenly more than Rachel's soul is at stake.]]> 510 Kim Harrison 0060788194 Lauren 4 Jenks!! 4.27 2006 A Fistful of Charms (The Hollows, #4)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/22
date added: 2015/07/22
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, magic, on-kindle, urban-fantasy, series
review:
Jenks!!
]]> <![CDATA[Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows, #3)]]> 30263 There's no witch in Cincinnati tougher, sexier, or more screwed up than bounty hunter Rachel Morgan, who's already put her love life and soul in dire jeopardy through her determined efforts to bring criminal night creatures to justice.

Between "runs," she has her hands full fending off the attentions of her blood-drinking partner, keeping a deadly secret from her backup, and resisting a hot new vamp suitor.

Rachel must also take a stand in the war that's raging in the city's underworld, since she helped put away its former vampire kingpin - and made a deal with a powerful demon to do so that could cost her an eternity of pain, torment, and degradation.

And now her dark "master" is coming to collect his due.]]> 501 Kim Harrison 006057299X Lauren 4 4.29 2005 Every Which Way But Dead (The Hollows, #3)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/21
date added: 2015/07/21
shelves: borrowed-public-lib, on-kindle, magic, series, urban-fantasy, 2015
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows, #2)]]> 2181139 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison has enchanted readers with her sassy, sexy, action-packed tales of the Hollows. And now in hardcover for the first time, the second adventure continues with

The Good, the Bad, and the Undead


It's a tough life for witch Rachel Morgan, sexy, independent bounty hunter, prowling the darkest shadows of downtown Cincinnati for criminal creatures of the night.

She can handle the leather-clad vamps and even tangle with a cunning demon or two. But a serial killer who feeds on the experts in the most dangerous kind of black magic is definitely pushing the limits.

Confronting an ancient, implacable evil is more than just child's play - and this time, Rachel will be lucky to escape with her very soul.]]> 405 Kim Harrison 0061567310 Lauren 3 4.21 2005 The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows, #2)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/20
date added: 2015/07/20
shelves: on-kindle, urban-fantasy, magic, series, borrowed-public-lib, 2015
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3)]]> 12127750 Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy—after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera—it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can't blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon. With its steaming bronze dragon figurehead, Leo's fantastical creation doesn't appear friendly. Annabeth hopes that the sight of their praetor Jason on deck will reassure the Romans that the visitors from Camp Half-Blood are coming in peace.

And that's only one of her worries. In her pocket, Annabeth carries a gift from her mother that came with an unnerving command: Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me. Annabeth already feels weighed down by the prophecy that will send seven demigods on a quest to find—and close—the Doors of Death. What more does Athena want from her?

Annabeth's biggest fear, though, is that Percy might have changed. What if he's now attached to Roman ways? Does he still need his old friends? As the daughter of the goddess of war and wisdom, Annabeth knows she was born to be a leader—but never again does she want to be without Seaweed Brain by her side

Narrated by four different demigods, The Mark of Athena is an unforgettable journey across land and sea to Rome, where important discoveries, surprising sacrifices, and unspeakable horrors await. Climb aboard the Argo II, if you dare. . . .]]> 586 Rick Riordan 1423140605 Lauren 4 4.47 2012 The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus, #3)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/17
date added: 2015/07/17
shelves: borrowed-public-lib, fantasy-myth-fable, series, middle-grade, 2015
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2)]]> 9520360 PERCY IS CONFUSED. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth.

HAZEL IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem—when the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for an evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wishes she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams.

FRANK IS A KLUTZ. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery—although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially in front of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely—enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart.

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophesy of Seven.]]> 521 Rick Riordan 1423140591 Lauren 4 4.41 2011 The Son of Neptune (The Heroes of Olympus, #2)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/15
date added: 2015/07/15
shelves: borrowed-public-lib, middle-grade, fantasy-myth-fable, 2015, series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows, #1)]]> 2189157 New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison has enchanted readers with her sassy, sexy, action-packed tales of the Hollows. And now for the first time in hardcover the novel that started it all.

Dead Witch Walking


The underground population of witches, vampires, werewolves - creatures of dreams and nightmares - has lived beside humans for centuries, hiding their powers. But after a genetically engineered virus wipes out a large part of humanity, many of the "Inderlanders" reveal themselves, changing everything.

Rachel Morgan, with and bounty hunter with the Inderland Runner Services, is one of the best at apprehending supernatural lawbreakers throughout Cincinnati, but when it comes to following the rules, she falls desperately short. Determined to buck the system, she quits and takes off on the run with an I.S. contract on her head and is reluctantly forced to team up with Ivy, Inderland's best runner...and a living vampire. But this witch is way out of her league, and to clear her name, Rachel must evade shape-changing assassins, outwit a powerful businessman/crime lord, and survive a vicious underground fight-to-the-death...not to mention her own roommate.]]> 353 Kim Harrison 0061567191 Lauren 3 3.98 2004 Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows, #1)
author: Kim Harrison
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/14
date added: 2015/07/15
shelves: borrowed-public-lib, magic, re-read, urban-fantasy, 2015
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rithmatist (The Rithmatist #1)]]> 22443261
As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students learn the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing—kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery—one that will change Rithmatics—and their world—forever.]]> 386 Brandon Sanderson 1743532806 Lauren 4 4.25 2013 The Rithmatist (The Rithmatist #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/18
date added: 2015/07/14
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, fantasy-myth-fable, magic, series, young-adult
review:
Overall a fun read, but there were a few things to quibble over. I wasn't very impressed with his handling of sexism as an issue in this world. His inability to make his female characters well-rounded hobbled his effort. Also, we get it, girls can do anything boys can do...let's shoot for a more complex message, ok? I also thought his world building efforts to establish (and try to turn upside down) the connection between race and culture was ham-handed. Having said that, I thought the magic part was creative and well-done. I am sorry to see that the next book isn't being published for some time. I hope he takes the time to work on the complexity of the ideas--I think a YA audience could handle and appreciate it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)]]> 7624272 Jason has a problem.
He doesn't remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper. His best friend is a kid named Leo, and they're all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad kids", as Leo puts it. What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret.
Her father, a famous actor, has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he's in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn't recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?

Leo has a way with tools.
His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What's troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god.]]> 14 Rick Riordan 0307711773 Lauren 5 4.35 2010 The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2015/07/13
date added: 2015/07/14
shelves: 2010, middle-grade, series, fantasy-myth-fable, 2015, borrowed-public-lib, own, re-read
review:
Still fun the second time around. I'll be interested to see how Piper's character develops over the series (I only previously made it to the second book) because I was sometimes annoyed with how she didn't want to be helpless, but yet often (but not always) was. I get that a big theme here is learning to rely on and trust your friends, and the boys also showed vulnerability--but they are never really damsels in distress, they are never hurt on the exterior the way that Piper is. It didn't make me mad--I think it is actually quite realistic for girls to believe themselves to be as capable in every way as boys, yet when faced with certain challenges find themselves without the means or power to accomplish what they want and thus have to figure out how to deal with that. But if we are going for fantastic representations here, then let's go for it--which is why I'll be interested to see how she develops. As a daughter of Aphrodite, she has to face the sexist contradiction between beauty and (mental or physical) capability head on. I'll be interested to see how that plays out.
]]> <![CDATA[Wheel of Time Reread: Books 7-9]]> 17405411
Volume 3 of the collected Tor.com Wheel of Time Reread covers books 7 through 9 of The Wheel of Time: A Crown of Swords, The Path of Daggers, and Winter's Heart.]]> 32 Leigh Butler 1466839929 Lauren 3 on-kindle, own, 2015 4.05 2013 Wheel of Time Reread: Books 7-9
author: Leigh Butler
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/05
date added: 2015/07/13
shelves: on-kindle, own, 2015
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #3)]]> 685386 292 Charlaine Harris 0441010512 Lauren 4 own, 2008 See my review <a>here</a>. 3.90 2003 Club Dead (Sookie Stackhouse, #3)
author: Charlaine Harris
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2008/11/04
date added: 2015/07/09
shelves: own, 2008
review:
See my review here.
]]> <![CDATA[Wheel of Time Reread: Books 5-6]]> 17405410
Volume 2 of the collected Tor.com Wheel of Time Reread covers books 5 and 6 of The Wheel of Time: The Fires of Heaven and Lord of Chaos.]]> 32 Leigh Butler 1466839910 Lauren 3 own, on-kindle, 2015 4.00 2013 Wheel of Time Reread: Books 5-6
author: Leigh Butler
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/06/30
date added: 2015/07/01
shelves: own, on-kindle, 2015
review:

]]> Shadowfell (Shadowfell, #1) 8452340
During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death--but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban's release from Keldec's rule. Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.]]> 410 Juliet Marillier 0375869549 Lauren 4 3.91 2012 Shadowfell (Shadowfell, #1)
author: Juliet Marillier
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2015/06/30
date added: 2015/07/01
shelves: borrowed-public-lib, faerie, series, young-adult, 2015
review:
The first couple of chapters don't really do justice to the rest of the book. The romance aspect of it gave me a few eye rolls, but I thought the world-building was pretty good and by the middle of the book I was definitely invested in the characters. On to the next in the series!
]]> <![CDATA[Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times]]> 18332010
Londinium is a smoky, dark, and dangerous place, home to mischievous metal fairies and fearsome clockwork dragons that breathe scalding steam. The people wear goggles to protect their eyes, brass grill insets in their nostrils to filter air, or mechanical limbs to replace missing ones.

Over it all rules the Lady, and the Lady has demanded a new son—a perfect flesh-and-blood child. She has chosen Jack.

Jack’s wonder at the magic and steam-powered marvels in Londinium lasts until he learns he is the pawn in a very dangerous game. The consequences are deadly, and his only hope of escape, of returning home, lies with a legendary clockwork bird.

The Gearwing grants wishes—or it did, before it was broken—before it was killed. But some things don’t stay dead forever.
]]> 314 Emma Trevayne 1442498773 Lauren 0 to-read 3.62 2014 Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times
author: Emma Trevayne
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Forbidden Library (The Forbidden Library, #1)]]> 17987501 The Forbidden Library kicks off an action-packed  fantasy series with classic appeal, a resourceful heroine, a host of magical creatures, and no shortage of narrow escapes--perfect for fans of Story Thieves,ĚýCoraline, Inkheart, and Harry Potter.

Alice always thought fairy tales had happy endings. That--along with everything else--changed the day she met her first fairy

When Alice's father goes down in a shipwreck, she is sent to live with her uncle Geryon--an uncle she's never heard of and knows nothing about. He lives in an enormous manor with a massive library that is off-limits to Alice. But then she meets a talking cat. And even for a rule-follower, when a talking cat sneaks you into a forbidden library and introduces you to an arrogant boy who dares you to open a book, it's hard to resist. Especially if you're a reader to begin with. Soon Alice finds herself INSIDE the book, and the only way out is to defeat the creature imprisoned within.

It seems her uncle is more than he says he is. But then so is Alice.]]> 376 Django Wexler 0803739753 Lauren 0 to-read 3.81 2014 The Forbidden Library (The Forbidden Library, #1)
author: Django Wexler
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Wheel of Time Reread: Books 1-4]]> 17405408
Volume 1 of the collected Tor.com Wheel of Time Reread covers books 1 through 4 of The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn, and The Shadow Rising.]]> 32 Leigh Butler 1466838590 Lauren 3 on-kindle, own, 2015 4.12 2013 Wheel of Time Reread: Books 1-4
author: Leigh Butler
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/06/27
date added: 2015/06/27
shelves: on-kindle, own, 2015
review:

]]> Incarceron (Incarceron, #1) 6727322
Incarceron is a prison so vast that it contains not only cells, but also metal forests, dilapidated cities, and vast wilderness. Finn, a seventeen-year-old prisoner, has no memory of his childhood and is sure that he came from Outside Incarceron. Very few prisoners believe that there is an Outside, however, which makes escape seems impossible.

And then Finn finds a crystal key that allows him to communicate with a girl named Claudia. She claims to live Outside- she is the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, and doomed to an arranged marriage. Finn is determined to escape the prison, and Claudia believes she can help him. But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye. Escape will take their greatest courage and cost more than they know.]]> 442 Catherine Fisher 0803733968 Lauren 4 3.64 2007 Incarceron (Incarceron, #1)
author: Catherine Fisher
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2015/06/19
date added: 2015/06/25
shelves: 2010, own, young-adult, dystopian, romance, borrowed-public-lib, re-read, 2015
review:

]]> Sapphique (Incarceron, #2) 4499214
Incarceron, the living prison, has lost one of its inmates to the outside world: Finn's escaped, only to find that Outside is not at all what he expected. Used to the technologically advanced, if violently harsh, conditions of the prison, Finn is now forced to obey the rules of Protocol, which require all people to live without technology. To Finn, Outside is just a prison of another kind, especially when Claudia, the daughter of the prison's warden, declares Finn the lost heir to the throne. When another claimant emerges, both Finn's and Claudia's very lives hang on Finn convincing the Court of something that even he doesn't fully believe.

Meanwhile, Finn's oathbrother Keiro and his friend Attia are still trapped inside Incarceron. They are searching for a magical glove, which legend says Sapphique used to escape. To find it, they must battle the prison itself, because Incarceron wants the glove too.]]> 470 Catherine Fisher 0340893613 Lauren 4 3.70 2008 Sapphique (Incarceron, #2)
author: Catherine Fisher
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2015/06/21
date added: 2015/06/25
shelves: 2011, 2015, young-adult, series, fantasy-myth-fable, dystopian, borrowed-public-lib
review:

]]> Heap House (Iremonger, #1) 17977053 The Iremongers have taken up what was not wanted and wanted it.

Clod is an Iremonger. He lives in the Heaps, a vast sea of lost and discarded items collected from all over London. At the centre is Heap House, a puzzle of houses, castles, homes and mysteries reclaimed from the city and built into a living maze of staircases and scurrying rats. The Iremongers are a mean and cruel family, robust and hardworking, but Clod has an illness. He can hear the objects whispering. His birth object, a universal bath plug, says 'James Henry', Cousin Tummis's tap is squeaking 'Hilary Evelyn Ward-Jackson' and something in the attic is shouting 'Robert Burrington' and it sounds angry.

A storm is brewing over Heap House. The Iremongers are growing restless and the whispers are getting louder. When Clod meets Lucy Pennant, a girl newly arrived from the city, everything changes. The secrets that bind Heap House together begin to unravel to reveal a dark truth that threatens to destroy Clod's world.]]> 410 Edward Carey 1471401561 Lauren 4
The atmosphere reminded me a bit of A Series of Unfortunate Events. It is the first book of a trilogy and, although there is a bit of a cliffhanger, it is more self-contained than many other series books.

]]> 3.68 2013 Heap House (Iremonger, #1)
author: Edward Carey
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2015/06/25
date added: 2015/06/25
shelves: 2015, borrowed-public-lib, fantasy-myth-fable, middle-grade, series
review:
Overall I thought it was a fun read. The world-building was interesting, with a dark and creepy feel to it. The central mystery of the "birth objects" was fun to watch unravel. There is certainly a kind of commentary here about materialism and our connection to and undoing by seemingly innocent objects.

The atmosphere reminded me a bit of A Series of Unfortunate Events. It is the first book of a trilogy and, although there is a bit of a cliffhanger, it is more self-contained than many other series books.


]]> <![CDATA[The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician, #1)]]> 20727654
Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined—animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.

An Excisioner—a practitioner of dark, flesh magic—invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.

From the imaginative mind of debut author Charlie N. Holmberg, The Paper Magician is an extraordinary adventure both dark and whimsical that will delight readers of all ages.]]> 222 Charlie N. Holmberg 1477823832 Lauren 2 3.61 2014 The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician, #1)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at: 2015/06/18
date added: 2015/06/18
shelves: 2015, fantasy-myth-fable, historical, romance, young-adult
review:
It wasn't terrible, it is just that it turned into a lame romance that made no sense halfway through. There was not nearly enough world building which is a shame because it has a compelling idea about magic. I'll probably read the next one to see if that improves at all.
]]> <![CDATA[The Angel's Game (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #2)]]> 8137514 The Shadow of the Wind comes a riveting new masterpiece about love, literature, and betrayal.

In this powerful, labyrinthian thriller, David MartĂ­n is a pulp fiction writer struggling to stay afloat. Holed up in a haunting abandoned mansion in the heart of Barcelona, he furiously taps out story after story, becoming increasingly desperate and frustrated; thus, when he is approached by a mysterious publisher offering a book deal that seems almost too good to be real, David leaps at the chance. But as he begins the work, and after a visit to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, he realizes there is a connection between his book and the shadows that surround his dilapidated home and that the publisher may be hiding a few troubling secrets of his own. Once again, Ruiz ZafĂłn ventures into a dark, gothic Barcelona and creates a breathtaking tale of intrigue, romance, and tragedy.]]> 544 Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn Lauren 0 to-read 3.84 2008 The Angel's Game (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #2)
author: Carlos Ruiz ZafĂłn
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Visible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self (Studies in Feminist Philosophy)]]> 1080912 Visible Identities fills this gap. Drawing on both philosophical sources as well as theories and empirical studies in the social sciences, MartĂ­n Alcoff
makes a strong case that identities are not like special interests, nor are they doomed to oppositional politics, nor do they inevitably lead to conformism, essentialism, or reductive approaches to judging others. Identities are historical formations and their political implications are open to
interpretation. But identities such as race and gender also have a powerful visual and material aspect that eliminativists and social constructionists often underestimate.

Visible Identities offers a careful analysis of the political and philosophical worries about identity and argues that these worries are neither supported by the empirical data nor grounded in realistic understandings of what identities are. MartĂ­n Alcoff develops a more realistic characterization
of identity in general through combining phenomenological approaches to embodiment with hermeneutic concepts of the interpretive horizon. Besides addressing the general contours of social identity, MartĂ­n Alcoff develops an account of the material infrastructure of gendered identity, compares and
contrasts gender identities with racialized ones, and explores the experiential aspects of racial subjectivity for both whites and non-whites. In several chapters she looks specifically at Latino identity as well, including its relationship to concepts of race, the specific forms of anti-Latino
racism, and the politics of mestizo or hybrid identity.
]]> 326 Linda MartĂ­n Alcoff 0195137353 Lauren 0 to-read 3.99 2005 Visible Identities: Race, Gender, and the Self (Studies in Feminist Philosophy)
author: Linda MartĂ­n Alcoff
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Physics of the Impossible 1168341
One hundred years ago, scientists would have said that lasers, televisions, and the atomic bomb were beyond the realm of physical possibility. In Physics of the Impossible, the renowned physicist Michio Kaku explores to what extent the technologies and devices of science fiction that are deemed equally impossible today might well become commonplace in the future.

From teleportation to telekinesis, Kaku uses the world of science fiction to explore the fundamentals—and the limits—of the laws of physics as we know them today. He ranks the impossible technologies by categories—Class I, II, and III, depending on when they might be achieved, within the next century, millennia, or perhaps never. In a compelling and thought-provoking narrative, he explains:
· How the science of optics and electromagnetism may one day enable us to bend light around an object, like a stream flowing around a boulder, making the object invisible to observers “downstream�
· How ramjet rockets, laser sails, antimatter engines, and nanorockets may one day take us to the nearby stars
· How telepathy and psychokinesis, once considered pseudoscience, may one day be possible using advances in MRI, computers, superconductivity, and nanotechnology
· Why a time machine is apparently consistent with the known laws of quantum physics, although it would take an unbelievably advanced civilization to actually build one
Kaku uses his discussion of each technology as a jumping-off point to explain the science behind it. An extraordinary scientific adventure, Physics of the Impossible takes readers on an unforgettable, mesmerizing journey into the world of science that both enlightens and entertains.]]> 329 Michio Kaku 0385520697 Lauren 0 to-read 4.09 2008 Physics of the Impossible
author: Michio Kaku
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)]]> 5291539
Stieg Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into a complex and atmospheric novel.]]> 590 Stieg Larsson 0307454541 Lauren 5 4.07 2005 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2010/05/28
date added: 2015/05/20
shelves: 2010, own, re-read, series, mystery-crime
review:

]]> Let the Right One In 4907587 472 John Ajvide Lindqvist 0312355297 Lauren 4 4.04 2004 Let the Right One In
author: John Ajvide Lindqvist
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2010/04/13
date added: 2015/05/20
shelves: borrowed-public-lib, 2010, paranormal
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Drowning (Patrik Hedström, #6)]]> 13116522 The Mermaid, has been published to rave reviews. So why is he as distant and unhappy as ever? 

When crime writer Erica Falck, who helped Christian discover and develop his talents, learns he has been receiving anonymous threats, she investigates not just the messages but also the young author mysterious past. Then, one of Christian’s closet friends, Magnus, goes missing.

Erica’s husband, Detective Patrik Hedström, has his worst suspicions confirmed as the mind-games aimed at Christian become a disturbing reality. Christian's group of friends—a “gang of four� from childhood—is a tangled web of relationships, love triangles, and family secrets that Erica and Patrick must unravel in order to discover what really happened to Magnus and who is still threatening Christian.

But, with the victims themselves concealing evidence, the investigation is going nowhere. Is their silence driven by fear or guilt? What is the secret they would rather die to protect than live to see revealed?]]> 489 Camilla Läckberg 0007460848 Lauren 4
Also, the cliffhanger ending really annoyed me. There's no need for that nonsense. I'd be reading the next one regardless. [spoilers removed]]]> 3.87 2008 The Drowning (Patrik Hedström, #6)
author: Camilla Läckberg
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2013/01/10
date added: 2015/05/04
shelves: mystery-crime, own, series, 2013
review:
Another great installment from this series. I like the way the story unfolds, although it can be frustrating because I'm like how many times can the reason be "they're holding something back" for being stuck at solving the mystery. I suppose it is accurate--most people don't willingly give up incriminating information. But still.

Also, the cliffhanger ending really annoyed me. There's no need for that nonsense. I'd be reading the next one regardless. [spoilers removed]
]]> <![CDATA[The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time, #4)]]> 893763
In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?

In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.

In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.

In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.

Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn.....]]> 701 Robert Jordan 0312854315 Lauren 5 Wow. Just wow. 4.31 1992 The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time, #4)
author: Robert Jordan
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at: 2013/01/23
date added: 2014/06/28
shelves: 2013, fantasy-myth-fable, own, series
review:
Wow. Just wow.
]]> <![CDATA[The Adoration of Jenna Fox (Jenna Fox Chronicles, #1)]]> 6738968 Everything is different

Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox has just awoken from a year-long coma - so she's been told - and she is still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. But what happened before that? She's been given home movies chronicling her entire life, which spark memories to surface. But are the memories really hers? And why won't anyone in her family talk about the accident? Jenna is becoming more curious. But she is also afraid of what she might find out if she ever gets up the courage to ask her questions.

What happened to Jenna Fox? And who is she really?]]> 278 Mary E. Pearson 0312594410 Lauren 5 2010, young-adult, dystopian 3.64 2008 The Adoration of Jenna Fox (Jenna Fox Chronicles, #1)
author: Mary E. Pearson
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2010/01/30
date added: 2014/06/09
shelves: 2010, young-adult, dystopian
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse, #12)]]> 12381269
There's a thing or two she'd like to say about that, but she has to keep quiet--Felipe de Castro, the vampire king of Louisiana (and Arkansas and Nevada), is in town. It's the worst possible time for a human body to show up in Eric's front yard--especially the body of the woman whose blood he just drank.

Now it's up to Sookie and Bill, the official Area Five investigator, to solve the murder. Sookie thinks that, at least this time, the dead girl's fate has nothing to do with her. But she is wrong. She has an enemy, one far more devious than she would ever suspect, who's set out to make Sookie's world come crashing down.]]> 336 Charlaine Harris 1937007448 Lauren 2 3.57 2012 Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse, #12)
author: Charlaine Harris
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2012/05/09
date added: 2014/05/19
shelves: own, 2012, series, fantasy-myth-fable
review:
These just keep getting weaker and weaker. And yet I can't stop reading them.
]]> Sarah's Key 3688715 Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door-to-door arresting French families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard-their secret hiding place-and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.

Sixty Years Later: Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own romantic future.]]> 353 Tatiana de Rosnay Lauren 5 review-copy, own, 2008 4.05 2006 Sarah's Key
author: Tatiana de Rosnay
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2008/12/22
date added: 2014/05/17
shelves: review-copy, own, 2008
review:
Wow. I could not put this one down. See my full review on the .
]]> <![CDATA[Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1)]]> 48262 Oryx and Crake moves beyond the futuristic fantasy of her 1985 bestseller The Handmaid's Tale to an even more dystopian world, a world where language--and with it anything beyond the merest semblance of humanity--has almost entirely vanished.

Snowman may be the last man on earth, the only survivor of an unnamed apocalypse. Once he was Jimmy, a member of a scientific elite; now he lives in bitter isolation and loneliness, his only pleasure the watching of old films on DVD. His mind moves backwards and forwards through time, from an agonising trawl through memory to relive the events that led up to sudden catastrophe (most significantly the disappearance of his mother and the arrival of his mysterious childhood companions Oryx and Crake, symbols of the fractured society in which Snowman now finds himself, to the horrifying present of genetic engineering run amok. His only witnesses, eager to lap up his testimony, are "Crakers", laboratory creatures of varying strengths and abilities, who can offer little comfort. Gradually the reasons behind the disaster begin to unfold as Snowman undertakes a perilous journey to the remains of the bubble-dome complex where the sinister Paradice Project collapsed and near-global devastation began.

This, Atwood's 11th novel, confirms her as one of our most contemporary novelists. Darkly humorous and icily prescient, Oryx and Crake shows a writer deeply concerned with the stark moral issues facing the human race, and accords a glimpse of a future that lies all too uneasily within reach. --Catherine Taylor

]]> 378 Margaret Atwood 0747562598 Lauren 0 own, to-read 3.92 2003 Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1)
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Lauren
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/05/07
shelves: own, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)]]> 1 652 J.K. Rowling Lauren 5 4.57 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2007/06/01
date added: 2014/04/28
shelves: re-read, own, 2007, young-adult
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn]]> 24580
Take a lighthearted, nostalgic trip to a simpler time, seen through the eyes of a very special boy named Tom Sawyer. It is a dreamlike summertime world of hooky and adventure, pranks and punishment, villains and first love, filled with memorable characters. Adults and young readers alike continue to enjoy this delightful classic of the promise and dreams of youth from one of America’s most beloved authors.

ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN

He has no mother, his father is a brutal drunkard, and he sleeps in a barrel. He’s Huck Finn—liar, sometime thief, and rebel against respectability. But when Huck meets a runaway slave named Jim, his life changes forever. On their exciting flight down the Mississippi aboard a raft, the boy nobody wanted matures into a young man of courage and conviction. As Ernest Hemingway said of this glorious novel, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.�
--back cover]]> 520 Mark Twain 0451528646 Lauren 3
It was pretty good, I liked it better than Huck Finn. Maybe if I were a boy, I'd like it better, b/c girls are such pansies in this book. I guess it is just a sign of the times. It is, as Twain says, a book about a boy.]]> 4.10 1884 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
author: Mark Twain
name: Lauren
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1884
rating: 3
read at: 2008/04/11
date added: 2014/03/25
shelves: for-school, own, 2008, 1001, young-adult
review:
Technically I only read Tom Sawyer, but it's a two-fer and I have no intention of reading Huck Finn again.

It was pretty good, I liked it better than Huck Finn. Maybe if I were a boy, I'd like it better, b/c girls are such pansies in this book. I guess it is just a sign of the times. It is, as Twain says, a book about a boy.
]]>