en-US Wed, 09 Apr 2025 13:03:20 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 223436601 An explosive memoir charting one woman’s career at the heart of one of the most influential companies on the planet, Careless People gives you a front-row seat to Facebook, the decisions that have shaped world events in recent decades, and the people who made them.

From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny and double standards behind the scenes, this searing memoir exposes both the personal and the political fallout when unfettered power and a rotten company culture take hold. In a gripping and often absurd narrative where a few people carelessly hold the world in their hands, this eye-opening memoir reveals what really goes on among the global elite.

Sarah Wynn-Williams tells the wrenching but fun story of Facebook, mapping its rise from stumbling encounters with juntas to Mark Zuckerberg’s reaction when he learned of Facebook’s role in Trump’s election. She experiences the challenges and humiliations of working motherhood within a pressure cooker of a workplace, all while Sheryl Sandberg urges her and others to “lean in.�

Careless People is a deeply personal account of why and how things have gone so horribly wrong in the past decade—told in a sharp, candid, and utterly disarming voice. A deep, unflinching look at the role that social media has assumed in our lives, Careless People reveals the truth about the leaders of Facebook: how the more power they grasp, the less responsible they become and the consequences this has for all of us.]]> 400 Sarah Wynn-Williams 1250391237 Gina 0 currently-reading 4.34 2025
author: Sarah Wynn-Williams
name: Gina
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 59723790
It’s the night before Death-Cast goes live, and there’s one question on everyone’s mind: Can Death-Cast actually predict when someone will die, or is it just an elaborate hoax?

Orion Pagan has waited years for someone to tell him that he’s going to die. He has a serious heart condition, and he signed up for Death-Cast so he could know what’s coming.

Valentino Prince is restarting his life in New York. He has a long and promising future ahead and he only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident.

Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and immediately feel a deep connection. But when the first round of End Day calls goes out, their lives are changed forever—one of them receives a call, and the other doesn’t. Though neither boy is certain how the day will end, they know they want to spend it together…even if that means their goodbye will be heartbreaking.

Told with acclaimed author Adam Silvera’s signature bittersweet touch, this story celebrates the lasting impact that people have on each other and proves that life is always worth living to the fullest.]]> 550 Adam Silvera 0063240807 Gina 0 to-read 3.98 2022
author: Adam Silvera
name: Gina
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 181110045 A haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, D.C. boardinghouse during the McCarthy era.

Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; police officer’s daughter Nora, who is entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Bea, whose career has ended along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare.

Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?]]> 432 Kate Quinn 0063244748 Gina 4
Except! I hated - HATED - the recipes. Why why why were they needed. This is a book about a bunch of strong women who just happen to have a weekly supper club, so yes, let's make sure to focus on the actual cooking! That's the most important thing to emphasize in any story around the fairer sex, amiright? Ugh. I can't stand it when authors do this. If you absolutely MUST include recipes, put them in the Appendix for crying out loud. And there is nothing more useless and annoying in an audiobook than a recipe break. What are you supposed to do, take notes? Awfully hard to do when you're cleaning, driving, or on the treadmill, which are the three times I listen to most of my audiobooks. I was constantly scrambling for my phone to fast forward through that shit and it really detracted from my wholehearted enjoyment of an otherwise excellent book.]]> 4.26 2024
author: Kate Quinn
name: Gina
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/08
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves:
review:
I really want to give this book 5 stars. I loved it. I loved all of these women (well, maybe not Arlene so much). I loved the scenario. I loved their backstories. I loved the writing. I LOVED the found family stuff. I really loved the sentient house, lol. So much fun all the way through and really enjoyable read.

Except! I hated - HATED - the recipes. Why why why were they needed. This is a book about a bunch of strong women who just happen to have a weekly supper club, so yes, let's make sure to focus on the actual cooking! That's the most important thing to emphasize in any story around the fairer sex, amiright? Ugh. I can't stand it when authors do this. If you absolutely MUST include recipes, put them in the Appendix for crying out loud. And there is nothing more useless and annoying in an audiobook than a recipe break. What are you supposed to do, take notes? Awfully hard to do when you're cleaning, driving, or on the treadmill, which are the three times I listen to most of my audiobooks. I was constantly scrambling for my phone to fast forward through that shit and it really detracted from my wholehearted enjoyment of an otherwise excellent book.
]]> 511208 537 Flora Thompson 0141183314 Gina 0 to-read 3.99 1939
author: Flora Thompson
name: Gina
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1939
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219876684 In a hilarious short story from New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, the absurdities of modern life cause one man’s solitary world to spin suddenly, and comically, out of control.

Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone?

Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.

Told in Fredrik Backman’s singular witty style with sharply drawn characters and relatable antics, The Answer Is No is a laugh-out-loud portrait of a man struggling to keep to himself in a world that won’t leave him alone.]]> 68 Fredrik Backman 1662526520 Gina 2 2025 3.94 2024
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Gina
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: 2025
review:
Started out cute and funny, then quickly got over the top stupid. My love/hate with Backman's work continues, and this time both happened in the same book!
]]> 210670872 A rich, deeply moving portrait of a young Korean woman in 1930s Japan who is torn between two worlds and must reclaim her true identity to provide a future for her family.

1928, Japan-occupied Korea. Eleven-year-old Miyoung has dreams too big for her tiny farming village near Pyongyang: to become a teacher, to avoid an arranged marriage, to write her own future. When she is offered the chance to live with her older sister in Japan and continue her education, she is elated, even though it means leaving her sick mother—and her very name—behind.

In Kyoto, anti-Korean sentiment is rising every day, and Miyoung quickly realizes she must pass as Japanese if she expects to survive. Her Japanese name, Miyoko, helps her find a new calling as a nurse, but as the years go by, she fears that her true self is slipping away. She seeks solace in a Korean church group and, within it, finds something she never expected: a romance with an activist that reignites her sense of purpose and gives her a cherished son.

As war looms on a new front and Miyoung feels the constraints of her adopted home tighten, she is faced with a choice that will change her life—and the lives of those she loves—forever.]]> 321 Rosa Kwon Easton 1662519702 Gina 3 2025 4.02 2024
author: Rosa Kwon Easton
name: Gina
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: 2025
review:
I'm not sure what happened at the end of this book, did Easton run out of time to complete it? Is this book a set up for a sequel? It's such an odd place to stop telling the story. We got so many pages of the main character thinking about how she'll do anything for her son, how she regretted not being more a part of his life earlier on, how much she missed her husband, her mother, her sisters, etc., it seems strange that the author chose to focus on those things and then leave us hanging about the characters' later actions. I did find the author's note quite interesting, though. All in all not a bad read, just wish the ending hadn't been so disappointing.
]]> 215806352 Vera Wong is back and as meddling as ever in this follow-up to the hit Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers.�

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

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

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

Vera is determined to solve Xander's murder. After all, doing so would surely be a big favor to Selena, andĚýthere is nothing she wouldn't do for her future daughter-in-law.]]> Jesse Q. Sutanto 0593546261 Gina 0 to-read 4.45 2025
author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
name: Gina
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60109530
Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant. But just when they think the house is ready, Mia discovers a chilling message scored into a skirting board: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC. Following the clue up into the eaves, the couple make a gruesome discovery: their dream home was once a house of horrors.

In the wake of their traumatic discovery, the baby arrives and Mia can’t shake her fixation with the monstrous crimes that happened right above them. Haunted by the terrible things she saw and desperate to find answers, her obsession pulls her ever further from her husband.

Secrecy shrouds the mystery of the attic, but when shards of a dark truth start to emerge, Mia realises the danger is terrifyingly present. She is prepared to do anything to protect her family—but is it already too late?]]> 380 John Marrs 1542017289 Gina 0 to-read 4.08 2022
author: John Marrs
name: Gina
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 180357146 From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl—and future matriarch, Big Ammachi—will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.

A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.]]> 715 Abraham Verghese 0802162177 Gina 0 dnf-not-interested 4.34 2023
author: Abraham Verghese
name: Gina
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: dnf-not-interested
review:

]]> 200987323 In this wildly funny and heartwarming office comedy, an admin worker accidentally gains access to her colleagues� private emails and DMs and decides to use this intel to save her job—a laugh-till-you-cry debut novel you’ll be eager to share with your entire list of contacts, perfect for fans of Anxious People and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don’t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text colour to white so no one can see. That is, until one of her secret messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions.

When an IT mix-up grants her access to her entire department’s private emails and DMs, Jolene knows she should report it, but who could resist reading what their coworkers are really saying? And when she discovers layoffs are coming, she realizes this might just be the key to saving her job. The plan is simple: gain her boss’s favour, convince HR she’s Supershops material and beat out the competition.

But as Jolene is drawn further into her coworker’s private worlds and secrets, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble—especially around Cliff, who she definitely cannot have feelings for. Soon she will need to decide if she’s ready to leave the comfort of her cubicle, even if it means coming clean to her colleagues.

Crackling with laugh-out-loud dialogue and relatable observations, I Hope This Finds You Well is a fresh and surprisingly tender comedy about loneliness and love beyond our computer screens. This sparkling debut novel will open your heart to the everyday eccentricities of work culture and the undeniable human connection that comes with it.]]> 338 Natalie Sue 0063320363 Gina 5 2025 3.75 2024
author: Natalie Sue
name: Gina
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: 2025
review:
I kind of hate giving this book a 5-star review. I'm going to cop out and say it's a 4.5 star review rounded up, just because I have this weird thing going on where it feels like only heavy books with serious themes "deserve" a 5-star rating, which I know is utterly ridiculous. Plus, I feel like it goes unrecognized here that Jolene really is a pretty horrible person for a bunch of different reasons in this book, so I'm not sure I'm okay with her getting her HAE ending. But! I also have to say I enjoyed the scenario and the writing enough to finish a 12+ hour audiobook in just two days, which I can't honestly remember ever doing before. It's definitely not the "laugh out loud hilarious" book you might expect from the jacket blurb (in fact, Jolene seems to have some pretty serious issues with her mental health, not the least of which is alcoholism that is sort of hand-waved away), but it's a fun read and I really enjoyed it.
]]> 20758175
As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory. Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl’s conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it’s too late to escape the fallout?]]> 304 Allen Eskens 1616149981 Gina 5 2025
I'm so happy to see it's part of several series of books, I'm going to have to dig more into this!]]> 4.06 2014
author: Allen Eskens
name: Gina
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: 2025
review:
This one was FUN. I was so sure I had the thing figured out, and then I was almost disappointed because I did figure it out, and then I found out I was wrong, and I loved that, lol. Really enjoyable stuff.

I'm so happy to see it's part of several series of books, I'm going to have to dig more into this!
]]> 23280208 Sisterhood in all its drama, hilarity and tears is at the heart of New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins's thoroughly captivating new novel, featuring the wit and romance that readers have come to expect from the much-loved creator of the Blue Heron series...

Wedding-dress designer Jenny Tate understands the happily-ever-after business, yet somehow she's still involved in her ex-husband's life. In fact, Owen's new wife may—inexplicably—be Jenny's new best friend. Sensing this, well, relationship isn't helping her move on, Jenny trades the Manhattan skyline for her hometown up the Hudson, where she'll be able to bask in her sister Rachel's picture-perfect family life…and hopefully make one of her own.

Her timing couldn't be more perfect, since Rachel will need her younger sister. Her idyllic marriage has just fallen to pieces in spectacular fashion after she discovers her husband sexting with one of his colleagues. Second chances aren't in Rachel's nature, but the desire for an intact family has her rethinking her stance on adultery, much to Jenny's surprise. Rachel points to their parents' "perfect" marriage as a shining example, but to protect her sister Jenny may have to tarnish that memory—and their relationship­—and reveal a secret about their family she's been keeping since childhood.

During this summer of secrets and lies, temptation and revelation, Jenny and Rachel will rely on each other to find the humor in their personal catastrophes, the joy in their triumphs…and the strength to keep hanging on.]]> 416 Kristan Higgins 037378497X Gina 4 2025 4.01 2015
author: Kristan Higgins
name: Gina
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: 2025
review:
A good, solid, enjoyable read.
]]> 10054335 335 Amor Towles Gina 0 to-read 4.06 2011
author: Amor Towles
name: Gina
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 52741293 Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh "Shuggie" Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher's policies have put husbands and sons out of work, and the city's notorious drugs epidemic is waiting in the wings.

Shuggie's mother Agnes walks a wayward path: she is Shuggie's guiding light but a burden for him and his siblings. She dreams of a house with its own front door while she flicks through the pages of the Freemans catalogue, ordering a little happiness on credit, anything to brighten up her grey life. Married to a philandering taxi-driver husband, Agnes keeps her pride by looking good--her beehive, make-up, and pearly-white false teeth offer a glamourous image of a Glaswegian Elizabeth Taylor. But under the surface, Agnes finds increasing solace in drink, and she drains away the lion's share of each week's benefits--all the family has to live on--on cans of extra-strong lager hidden in handbags and poured into tea mugs.

Agnes's older children find their own ways to get a safe distance from their mother, abandoning Shuggie to care for her as she swings between alcoholic binges and sobriety. Shuggie is meanwhile struggling to somehow become the normal boy he desperately longs to be, but everyone has realized that he is "no right," a boy with a secret that all but him can see. Agnes is supportive of her son, but her addiction has the power to eclipse everyone close to her--even her beloved Shuggie.

A heartbreaking story of addiction, sexuality, and love, Shuggie Bain is an epic portrayal of a working-class family that is rarely seen in fiction. Recalling the work of Edouard Louis, Alan Hollinghurst, Frank McCourt, and Hanya Yanagihara, it is a blistering debut by a brilliant novelist who has a powerful and important story to tell.]]> 430 Douglas Stuart 0802148042 Gina 0 dnf-not-interested 4.29 2020
author: Douglas Stuart
name: Gina
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: dnf-not-interested
review:

]]> 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

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

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

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Gina 3 2025 4.11 2024
author: Alison Espach
name: Gina
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: 2025
review:
I enjoyed it, for the most part. It's not great literature, but it's not just mind candy, either. I liked Phoebe as a character and found her fairly relatable, and I liked Gary and Jim and most of the other characters. I did not, however, like Lila. She was a spoiled brat beyond belief, and that's never a fun thing to read about. I kept expecting/hoping she was going to get Phoebe some help after their first encounter in the elevator. I was in a similar situation myself once, someone told me she was contemplating suicide, and as soon as we parted I made a beeline for someone who could intervene. It boggles my mind that Lila apparently didn't even think about that, and that right there cemented my dislike for the character. Also, I have to say that I really hated the fact that Phoebe and Matt slept together one last time at the end of the book.
]]> 41180663 New York Times and international bestseller Unfu*k Yourself, Gary John Bishop presents a no-holds-barred guide to breaking through our cycles of self-sabotage to get what we want out of life.

In Unfu*k Yourself, Gary John Bishop told us it was time to stop making excuses—to recognize and take responsibility for the negative self-talk holding us back.

In Stop Doing That Sh*t, he builds on that message, teaching us how to stop self-sabotaging behavior. Bishop explains how our destructive cycles come down to the way that we’re wired. He then identifies different types of people and the ways we fu*k ourselves over: We can’t save money. We land in the same type of toxic relationship. We’re stuck in a rut at work. Analyzing why we act the way we do, including what our common grenades are that blow up our lives, Bishop then shows how we can interrupt the cycle and stop self-sabotaging our lives.

Written in the same in your face style as Unfu*k Yourself, Stop Doing that Sh*t will help us get in touch with our psychological machinery so we learn to interrupt negative thoughts and behavior before they start, allowing us to give our attention to something else, and start to find success in the areas we thought we never could.

We can take back our lives. We may have fu*ked up in the past, but Stop Doing That Sh*t will show us how to break the patterns in order to live the lives we yearn to have.]]> 240 Gary John Bishop 0062871846 Gina 0 to-read 3.83 2019
author: Gary John Bishop
name: Gina
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203019740 From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades.

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.]]> 608 Chris Whitaker 0593798872 Gina 0 dnf-not-interested 4.24 2024
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Gina
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: dnf-not-interested
review:

]]> 220239093
“A sharp, propulsive thriller that sucks you in from page one. Packed with unforgettable characters and chilling twists.”—Amy Tintera, New York Times bestselling author of Listen for the Lie

“Dark, intricate . . . perfect for fans of Ashley Winstead and Megan Miranda.”—Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Spare Room and We Were Never Here

Ten years after Sofia was killed in a tragic accident, her college ex Caroline and her former roommate Brooke almost have what they’ve always wanted. Caroline is on the precipice of scoring funding for her feminist tech startup. Brooke is newly engaged and starting her dream job at a prestigious prep school. But unless the two best friends can cheat fate a second time, one night’s secrets could unravel everything.

When Caroline gets threatening comments on her company’s Instagram and Brooke receives a sinister email with ominous photos attached, all from “Sofia,� their carefully constructed facade begins to crumble. And when one of their last connections to “Sofia� turns up dead, they must decide how far they’re willing to go in order to survive.

The devil’s in the details, and the tiniest mistake could prove fatal. Just one thing is certain: nothing is as it seems in this sinister series of events, and readers will never guess where this rabbit hole of revenge will lead. Prepare to have your allegiances shift along with every twist and turn. What was set in motion long ago is hurtling toward a jaw-dropping conclusion that will shock even the most hardcore thriller fans.]]> 352 Virginia Trench 059379852X Gina 0 to-read 4.50
author: Virginia Trench
name: Gina
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 16130537
He is disgusted by the way humans look, what they eat, and the wars they witness on the news, and is totally baffled by concepts such as love and family. But as time goes on, he starts to realize there may be more to this weird species than he has been led to believe. He drinks wine, reads Emily Dickinson, listens to Talking Heads, and begins to bond with the family he lives with, in disguise. In picking up the pieces of the professor's shattered personal life, the narrator sees hope and redemption in the humans' imperfections and begins to question the very mission that brought him there--a mission that involves not only thwarting human progress...but murder.]]> 285 Matt Haig 1476727910 Gina 0 to-read 4.05 2013
author: Matt Haig
name: Gina
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57850265
Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects-a pig-develops human speech; a man who, after recovering from his own coma, plans a block party for his neighbours who have also woken up to find that they alone have survived their families; and a widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet.

From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humanity endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world. This is a story of unshakable hope that crosses literary lines to give us a world rebuilding itself through an endless capacity for love, resilience and reinvention. Wonderful and disquieting, dreamlike and all too possible.]]> 293 Sequoia Nagamatsu 0063072645 Gina 2 2025
And while I think there are some good messages here about one frightening possibility for mankind's future vis a vis global warming, the narrative structure didn't really work for me. I had a hard time making connections between the characters, made even more difficult because I listened to the audiobook and so I couldn't easily go back to double check the details. I did get there in the end, I think, but it made following the story, what there was of it, that much harder.

Also, the audiobook I listened to claims to be unabridged, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't because I checked a plot summary online and there were 2-3 sections that weren't included.]]> 3.81 2022
author: Sequoia Nagamatsu
name: Gina
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: 2025
review:
I think I would have found this book a lot more interesting if it had been published pre-Covid. Because then it would have been fascinating to see how society changed around the virus and made it more... I don't want to say "fun," because the book deals with the deaths of millions of people. But it would have been cool to imagine the ways human beings adapted to the pandemic as described in the book. But given it was published in 2022, and probably therefore written during the period during and after the lockdowns, when we actually saw the batshit ways people did -- and didn't -- react to the virus, the things that happen in this book seem ridiculous.

And while I think there are some good messages here about one frightening possibility for mankind's future vis a vis global warming, the narrative structure didn't really work for me. I had a hard time making connections between the characters, made even more difficult because I listened to the audiobook and so I couldn't easily go back to double check the details. I did get there in the end, I think, but it made following the story, what there was of it, that much harder.

Also, the audiobook I listened to claims to be unabridged, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't because I checked a plot summary online and there were 2-3 sections that weren't included.
]]> 204169194 The Family Remains, on Two Dead Wives

An exhilarating psychological crime thriller that will have you racing to the finish!

HIS FIRST WIFE DIED. NOW THERE'S A VACANCY�

When Emma meets Matthew, a kind, handsome widower, he seems to be just what she needs.

Yet as their relationship moves fast, Emma’s friends worry she might be exploited. She’s a rich woman after all.

Emma doesn’t care Matthew has no money. But as the memory of his perfect first wife hangs over them, Emma does have one tiny doubt.

If Matthew’s wife hadn’t died, he wouldn’t be with her. And Emma wonders if she’s second best. Can she ever fill the dead woman’s shoes?

As jealousy and suspicion blossom between Emma and Matthew, events take a darker, dangerous turn.

Suddenly Emma doesn’t know who she can trust. Her friends? Her husband? Or even herself�?]]> 368 Adele Parks 0778368130 Gina 0 to-read 3.92 2024
author: Adele Parks
name: Gina
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 29429893 360 Norman Ohler 0241256992 Gina 0 to-read 4.04 2015
author: Norman Ohler
name: Gina
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 127280429 SISTERS, SECRETS, LOVE, AND MURDER... Sally Hepworth’s new novel has it all.

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life.

But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere in the shadows of their minds. When a body is discovered under the home they grew up in, the foster sisters find themselves thrust into the spotlight as key witnesses. Or are they prime suspects?

A thrilling page-turner of sisterhood, secrets, love, and murder by New York Times bestselling author Sally Hepworth.]]> 359 Sally Hepworth 125028452X Gina 4 2025 3.98 2024
author: Sally Hepworth
name: Gina
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: 2025
review:
I hate to admit that I enjoyed this book, given the harshness of the subject matter, but... I did! I thought the characters were engaging, the plot was interesting, and while I kinda sorta figured out the ending, I actually didn't, lol. Was not expecting that twist. Another solid piece of work by Sally Hepworth.
]]> 56416637 The USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids returns with a tale of two generations of women reconciling family secrets and past regrets.

Life’s beautiful for seventysomething influencer Gloria Rose, in her Upper West Side loft with rooftop garden and scores of Instagram followers—until she gets word that her old flame has been arrested for art theft and forgery. Knowing her own involvement in his misdeeds decades earlier, Gloria realizes she could be the next arrest and must flee. But first, she needs to make sure her nieces are protected from any fallout.

The sisters, though in their thirties, are still constantly at odds with each other. Willow, struggling to live up to their mother’s fame as a singer-songwriter, is recovering from a failed album and yet another heartbreak, while Sam is desperate to revive her floundering video game company.

When circumstances out of their control bring the three women back together, they will each have to reckon with and reconcile their interwoven traumas, past loves, and the looming consequences that could either destroy their futures or bring them closer than ever.]]> 361 Barbara O'Neal 1542021634 Gina 4 2025
But I can't give it a full five stars because the art theft plot is just so... weirdly handled. The way O'Neal built it up throughout, I thought there would be this big payoff at the end and there just wasn't. I'm still not 100% sure what happened at the end with Gloria and the FBI agent, or how they bungled the evidence so badly that they had to let her old boyfriend go. So much of it seemed to happen offstage, for example that whole thing where Gloria runs away for like 2 hours, returns home, and she and Sam have a Google session with no details provided and wrap the whole problem up in an hour and we have no idea what happened there. Just a disappointment all around.

But still, everyone got her happy ending, and I walked away generally satisfied.]]> 4.30 2021
author: Barbara O'Neal
name: Gina
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: 2025
review:
I enjoyed this one. I enjoyed reading about these women. I was less crazy about Sam than I was about Willow or Gloria, but I suppose that's the point; she has the most growth as a character and I guess that requires her to be kind of a bitch for most of the book. Each of these women is both unique and flawed in her own way, which made them interesting to read about. It was lovely to spend February with them. :D

But I can't give it a full five stars because the art theft plot is just so... weirdly handled. The way O'Neal built it up throughout, I thought there would be this big payoff at the end and there just wasn't. I'm still not 100% sure what happened at the end with Gloria and the FBI agent, or how they bungled the evidence so badly that they had to let her old boyfriend go. So much of it seemed to happen offstage, for example that whole thing where Gloria runs away for like 2 hours, returns home, and she and Sam have a Google session with no details provided and wrap the whole problem up in an hour and we have no idea what happened there. Just a disappointment all around.

But still, everyone got her happy ending, and I walked away generally satisfied.
]]> 53450790 Would you defend your husband if he was accused of killing his mistress?

Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. At 33 years old, she is a named partner at her firm and life is going exactly how she planned.

The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He is a struggling writer who has had little success in his career. He begins to tire of his and Sarah’s relationship as she is constantly working.

Out in the secluded woods, at Adam and Sarah’s second home, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers.

Then, one morning everything changes. Adam is arrested for Kelly’s murder. She had been found stabbed to death in Adam and Sarah’s second home.

Sarah soon finds herself playing the defender for her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress.

But is Adam guilty or is he innocent?]]> 337 Jeneva Rose 1913419657 Gina 1 2025
First of all, every character in this book is awful. Completely, irredeemably horrible. Sometimes books can work if you hate every character to little pieces; unfortunately, this is not one of those books. I couldn't find one shred of compassion for any of these people, I wanted to strangle every one of them.

But worse than that, this is the worst kind of "thriller"/"mystery" possible. In good mysteries, the writer leaves little clues and breadcrumbs along the way, some to point to the killer and others as red herrings. Rose did the red herring thing decently well, in that for the longest time I was convinced Sarah's assistant Ann (or was it Anne? I listened to the audiobook so I don't know how it was spelled) was the killer. That turned out to be wrong, so okay, I started looking around at the other characters, trying to figure out who it could be, but there were no other breadcrumbs to be found.

And then we get this giant, ridiculous info dump at the end of the book that completely shit all over the idea of this being a decent thriller, because OMG. Despite the fact that we have been in Sarah's head all the way through the chapters from her POV, all of a sudden she does this 180 and becomes completely evil. How is it that none of those thoughts even flitted through her mind the whole time? And she ends up marrying this guy she has supposedly hated all the way through the book, again, no hint of any of that crossed her mind through the entire narrative. There were no hints, no tidbits, no breadcrumbs thrown out about any of this, the ending comes completely out of the blue. I've read some reviews that said the answer was actually obvious all the way through, but we must have been reading very different books because from where I sat, it was a completely nonsensical ending with no set up whatsoever. That's not a good mystery. Not only that, but Sarah is a fucking psychopath (don't forget, she also murdered her mother), and she still gets her happy ever after ending - puke.

On top of all that, the writing is only so so. Too many people beating each other up, too much terrible police work, too much "Kelly is dead and Adam didn't even notice," too much "Kelly is dead and Adam's murder trial happens 2 weeks later," too much "the 3rd set of DNA belonged to the sherriff all along," too much some rando comes in and fucks Sarah one night and we have no idea who it is, too much Sarah apparently gets morning sickness but Rose didn't feel like dealing with that any further so we never hear about it again, way too much nobody seems to mind that a wife is acting as defense attorney for her husband after his mistress turns up dead, and way WAAAY too much "My beautiful baby boy can't possibly be the killer, Sarah you suck!" The only things we didn't get enough of, IMO, were the sassy gay best friend and more importantly, THE TRIAL. What's with the fade to black? Why bother to set up a trial at all if you're not going to write a single word about it other than the opening statement and (half) the verdict?

Ugh, this book is a hot mess.]]> 3.90 2020
author: Jeneva Rose
name: Gina
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: 2025
review:
Spoilers! Lots of 'em. Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled.

First of all, every character in this book is awful. Completely, irredeemably horrible. Sometimes books can work if you hate every character to little pieces; unfortunately, this is not one of those books. I couldn't find one shred of compassion for any of these people, I wanted to strangle every one of them.

But worse than that, this is the worst kind of "thriller"/"mystery" possible. In good mysteries, the writer leaves little clues and breadcrumbs along the way, some to point to the killer and others as red herrings. Rose did the red herring thing decently well, in that for the longest time I was convinced Sarah's assistant Ann (or was it Anne? I listened to the audiobook so I don't know how it was spelled) was the killer. That turned out to be wrong, so okay, I started looking around at the other characters, trying to figure out who it could be, but there were no other breadcrumbs to be found.

And then we get this giant, ridiculous info dump at the end of the book that completely shit all over the idea of this being a decent thriller, because OMG. Despite the fact that we have been in Sarah's head all the way through the chapters from her POV, all of a sudden she does this 180 and becomes completely evil. How is it that none of those thoughts even flitted through her mind the whole time? And she ends up marrying this guy she has supposedly hated all the way through the book, again, no hint of any of that crossed her mind through the entire narrative. There were no hints, no tidbits, no breadcrumbs thrown out about any of this, the ending comes completely out of the blue. I've read some reviews that said the answer was actually obvious all the way through, but we must have been reading very different books because from where I sat, it was a completely nonsensical ending with no set up whatsoever. That's not a good mystery. Not only that, but Sarah is a fucking psychopath (don't forget, she also murdered her mother), and she still gets her happy ever after ending - puke.

On top of all that, the writing is only so so. Too many people beating each other up, too much terrible police work, too much "Kelly is dead and Adam didn't even notice," too much "Kelly is dead and Adam's murder trial happens 2 weeks later," too much "the 3rd set of DNA belonged to the sherriff all along," too much some rando comes in and fucks Sarah one night and we have no idea who it is, too much Sarah apparently gets morning sickness but Rose didn't feel like dealing with that any further so we never hear about it again, way too much nobody seems to mind that a wife is acting as defense attorney for her husband after his mistress turns up dead, and way WAAAY too much "My beautiful baby boy can't possibly be the killer, Sarah you suck!" The only things we didn't get enough of, IMO, were the sassy gay best friend and more importantly, THE TRIAL. What's with the fade to black? Why bother to set up a trial at all if you're not going to write a single word about it other than the opening statement and (half) the verdict?

Ugh, this book is a hot mess.
]]> 61111301
Then, a new family moves into the apartment below her. In spite of herself, Gretel can't help but begin a friendship with the little boy, Henry, though his presence brings back memories she would rather forget. One night, she witnesses a disturbing, violent argument between Henry's beautiful mother and his arrogant father, one that threatens Gretel's hard-won, self-contained existence.

All The Broken Places moves back and forth in time between Gretel's girlhood in Germany to present-day London as a woman whose life has been haunted by the past. Now, Gretel faces a similar crossroads to one she encountered long ago. Back then, she denied her own complicity, but now, faced with a chance to interrogate her guilt, grief and remorse, she can choose to save a young boy. If she does, she will be forced to reveal the secrets she has spent a lifetime protecting. This time, she can make a different choice than before -- whatever the cost to herself....

From the New York Times bestselling author John Boyne, a devastating, beautiful story about a woman who must confront the sins of her own terrible past, and a present in which it is never too late for bravery. ]]> 400 John Boyne 0593653068 Gina 5 2025
I did not like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. In fact, I couldn't finish it. I don't know if I realized this was a sequel when I loaded the audiobook on my phone; I think I probably didn't or I wouldn't have downloaded it in the first place. It dawned on me about an hour or so in, and by then I was enjoying it too much to stop. This book was riveting. I rarely get through audiobooks so quickly, but I just couldn't put this one down. ]]> 4.43 2022
author: John Boyne
name: Gina
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: 2025
review:
Astonishing. Wow.

I did not like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. In fact, I couldn't finish it. I don't know if I realized this was a sequel when I loaded the audiobook on my phone; I think I probably didn't or I wouldn't have downloaded it in the first place. It dawned on me about an hour or so in, and by then I was enjoying it too much to stop. This book was riveting. I rarely get through audiobooks so quickly, but I just couldn't put this one down.
]]> 196218522 294 Melissa Payne 1662515731 Gina 0 to-read 4.47 2024
author: Melissa Payne
name: Gina
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36054954 Author Barbara Davis deftly explores an emotionally charged landscape of pain, loss, and despair—and the risk one woman will take in the hope of loving again.

As a teenage runaway and child of an addict, Christy-Lynn learned the hard way that no address was permanent, and no promise sacred. For a while, she found a safe haven in her marriage to bestselling crime novelist Stephen Ludlow—until his car skidded into Echo Bay. But Stephen’s wasn’t the only body pulled from the icy waters that night. When details about a mysterious violet-eyed blonde become public, a media circus ensues, and Christy-Lynn runs again.

Desperate for answers, she’s shattered to learn that Stephen and his mistress had a child—a little girl named Iris, who now lives in poverty with her ailing great-grandmother. The thought of Iris abandoned to the foster care system—as Christy-Lynn once was—is unbearable. But she’s spent her whole life running—determined never to be hurt again. Will she finally stand still long enough to open herself up to forgiveness and love?]]> 369 Barbara Davis 1503944883 Gina 0 to-read 4.27 2018
author: Barbara Davis
name: Gina
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199798217 A heartfelt novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption set against three transformative decades in Tehran, Iran.

In 1950s Tehran, seven-year-old Ellie lives in grand comfort until the untimely death of her father, forcing Ellie and her mother to move to a tiny home downtown. Lonely and bearing the brunt of her mother’s endless grievances, Ellie dreams of a friend to alleviate her isolation.

Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.�

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. Now a popular student at the best girls� high school in Iran, Ellie’s memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, her sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.]]> 327 Marjan Kamali 1668036584 Gina 0 to-read 4.48 2024
author: Marjan Kamali
name: Gina
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 53398512
Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin's silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin's odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn't right.

Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved.

The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.

From the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War and As Bright as Heaven comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.]]> 367 Susan Meissner 0451492188 Gina 0 to-read 4.21 2021
author: Susan Meissner
name: Gina
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 11709037 An entertaining illumination of the stupid beliefs that make us feel wise.

Whether you’re deciding which smart phone to purchase or which politician to believe, you think you are a rational being whose every decision is based on cool, detached logic, but here’s the truth: You are not so smart. You’re just as deluded as the rest of us--but that’s okay, because being deluded is part of being human.

Growing out of David McRaney’s popular blog, You Are Not So Smart reveals that every decision we make, every thought we contemplate, and every emotion we feel comes with a story we tell ourselves to explain them, but often these stories aren’t true. Each short chapter--covering topics such as Learned Helplessness, Selling Out, and the Illusion of Transparency--is like a psychology course with all the boring parts taken out.

Bringing together popular science and psychology with humor and wit, You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of our irrational, thoroughly human behavior.]]> 302 David McRaney 1592406599 Gina 4 2025 3.84 2011
author: David McRaney
name: Gina
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: 2025
review:
Interesting stuff! Have to admit that I thought a lot of it was probably bullshit as it was being described, and then McRaney would ask questions or have you do an exercise, and I always answered those questions or responded in a way that proved I am not actually so smart, lol. I don't actually know if it's a matter of being "smart" or not, I think the book would have been better titled "You Are Not So Unique" because it was about patterns of behavior that we all share. But I guess that doesn't have the same pizzazz or ability to catch the eye as calling people "not smart."
]]> 32822135
Archer's Voice is the story of a woman chained to the memory of one horrifying night and the man whose love is the key to her freedom. It is the story of a silent man who lives with an excruciating wound and the woman who helps him find his voice. It is the story of suffering, fate, and the transformative power of love.]]> 377 Mia Sheridan 1538727374 Gina 0 to-read 4.14 2014
author: Mia Sheridan
name: Gina
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 1470232 451 Kristin Hannah Gina 0 to-read 4.08 2006
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Gina
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 200191229 Number Thirty-Two was once a family home. Anna was once a mother and a wife. Now, she is in arrears and alone.
With little choice but to sell up, she is forced to confront the memories of the people who once inhabited the empty rooms. With the help of an unlikely ally in her next door neighbour's son, she is finally able to piece together the tragic events of forty years ago that have inextricably linked the fates of their families and ricocheted through both of their households for decades.
Number Thirty-Two is a novel of family secrets and shocking betrayals, promising heartbreak and humour in equal measures.
'Two women, three children and a secret that spans half a lifetime. An evocative, beautifully written story of forgiveness and recovery.' - Julia Slack, author of The Road to Somorrostro
'A story of pain, loss and self sabotage. Steward holds up a mirror and we have no choice but to look. Her interpretation of the devouring mother is rare and familiar at the same time. A triumph of women's literature that you need to read.' - Ashley McCarthy, author of The Heralding]]> 422 Cassie Steward 1739528719 Gina 0 to-read 4.11 2023
author: Cassie Steward
name: Gina
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54508798
So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules� ready to go, Patrick has no idea what to expect, having spent years barely holding on after the loss of his great love, a somewhat-stalled career, and a lifestyle not-so-suited to a six- and a nine-year-old. Quickly realizing that parenting—even if temporary—isn’t solved with treats and jokes, Patrick’s eyes are opened to a new sense of responsibility, and the realization that, sometimes, even being larger than life means you’re unfailingly human.]]> 326 Steven Rowley 0525542280 Gina 0 to-read 4.09 2021
author: Steven Rowley
name: Gina
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62919732
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,� but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus , they tell from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.]]> 352 Lisa See 1982117087 Gina 5 2025 4.31 2023
author: Lisa See
name: Gina
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: 2025
review:
I loved this one. This is my third Lisa See novel and my favorite of the three, by far.
]]> 22822858
Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride.ĚýYet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he’ll not only be unable to overcome—but that will define his life forever.]]> 720 Hanya Yanagihara 0385539258 Gina 0 dnf-not-interested 4.28 2015
author: Hanya Yanagihara
name: Gina
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: dnf-not-interested
review:

]]> 60290793
It's been eight years since Sara Lancaster left her home in Savannah, Georgia. Eight years since her daughter, Alana, came into this world, following a terrifying sexual assault that left deep emotional wounds Sara would do anything to forget. But when Sara's father falls ill, she's forced to return home and face the ghosts of her past.

While caring for her father and running his bookstore, Sara is desperate to protect her curious, outgoing, genius daughter from the Wylers, the family of the man who assaulted her. Sara thinks she can succeed—her attacker is in prison, his identical twin brother, Jacob, left town years ago, and their mother are all unaware Alana exists. But she soon learns that Jacob has also just returned to Savannah to piece together the fragments of his once-great family. And when their two worlds collide—with the type of force Sara explores in her poetry and Jacob in his astrophysics—they are drawn together in unexpected ways.]]> 416 Terah Shelton Harris 1728265762 Gina 2 2025
This started off so well. The premise was very intriguing and I thought the writing was really good. But then it got weird and so, so maudlin and by the end I was nearly skimming just to get through it. Hosea's little habit of speaking in nothing but poetry made that easy to do, just skip over anything in italics. I loved Alana, but Sara and Jacob made absolutely no sense together. It actually skeeved me that she fell in love with her rapist's identical twin brother, it makes me shudder just thinking about it. I mean, Sara wouldn't even go in the water because she went swimming just before the assault, and now she's sleeping with a guy who looks exactly like her attacker? WTF? The quality of the writing really dipped once we got into the romance piece, too; it went from engaging and lyrical to sappy and purple, ugh. And I also can't imagine Sara forgiving Jacob for betraying her like that after the way Daniel and Birdie treated her. The fact that she apologized to HIM for making him choose between her and his family made me so, so uncomfortable after everything she had been through. ]]> 4.31 2023
author: Terah Shelton Harris
name: Gina
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: 2025
review:
Spoilers!

This started off so well. The premise was very intriguing and I thought the writing was really good. But then it got weird and so, so maudlin and by the end I was nearly skimming just to get through it. Hosea's little habit of speaking in nothing but poetry made that easy to do, just skip over anything in italics. I loved Alana, but Sara and Jacob made absolutely no sense together. It actually skeeved me that she fell in love with her rapist's identical twin brother, it makes me shudder just thinking about it. I mean, Sara wouldn't even go in the water because she went swimming just before the assault, and now she's sleeping with a guy who looks exactly like her attacker? WTF? The quality of the writing really dipped once we got into the romance piece, too; it went from engaging and lyrical to sappy and purple, ugh. And I also can't imagine Sara forgiving Jacob for betraying her like that after the way Daniel and Birdie treated her. The fact that she apologized to HIM for making him choose between her and his family made me so, so uncomfortable after everything she had been through.
]]> 50279680
Duchess Day Radley is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids.

Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he's in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother.

Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. And Duchess and Walk must face the trouble that comes with his return. We Begin at the End is an extraordinary novel about two kinds of families—the ones we are born into and the ones we create.]]> 384 Chris Whitaker 1250759668 Gina 0 to-read 4.10 2020
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Gina
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 50534870 This book contains graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.]]> 346 Jon Athan Gina 0 dnf-not-interested 3.60 2020
author: Jon Athan
name: Gina
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: dnf-not-interested
review:

]]> 60194162 "Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose."

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.]]> 560 Barbara Kingsolver 0063251922 Gina 3 2025 4.46 2022
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Gina
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: 2025
review:
This was pretty good, but not as great as I'd expected based on its omnipresence and hype. Parts of it were very engaging and had my full attention, while other parts of it were dull, dull, dull. Overall, I'm glad to have read it and might give Kingsolver's work another try.
]]> 50093704 Where do you see yourself in five years?

When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Kohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she has a meticulously crafted answer at the ready. Later, after nailing her interview and accepting her boyfriend's marriage proposal, Dannie goes to sleep knowing she is right on track to achieve her five-year plan.

But when she wakes up, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. The television news is on in the background, and she can just make out the scrolling date. It’s the same night—December 15—but 2025, five years in the future.

After a very intense, shocking hour, Dannie wakes again, at the brink of midnight, back in 2020. She can’t shake what has happened. It certainly felt much more than merely a dream, but she isn’t the kind of person who believes in visions. That nonsense is only charming coming from free-spirited types, like her lifelong best friend, Bella. Determined to ignore the odd experience, she files it away in the back of her mind.

That is, until four-and-a-half years later, when by chance Dannie meets the very same man from her long-ago vision.

Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.]]> 272 Rebecca Serle 1982137444 Gina 0 to-read 3.74 2020
author: Rebecca Serle
name: Gina
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60060431 Bearded, bad-boy barber Knox prefers to live his life the way he takes his coffee: Alone. Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon.
Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.

Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.

At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.]]> 572 Lucy Score 1945631848 Gina 0 to-read 4.15 2022
author: Lucy Score
name: Gina
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 6642715 Sweet Blasphemy, a novel written by a man named Aziz Zahara. Ella is mesmerized by his tale of Shams's search for Rumi and the dervish's role in transforming the successful but unhappy cleric into a committed mystic, passionate poet, and advocate of love. She is also taken with Shams's lessons, or rules, that offer insight into an ancient philosophy based on the unity of all people and religions, and the presence of love in each and every one of us. As she reads on, she realizes that Rumi's story mir­rors her own and that Zahara—like Shams—has come to set her free.

In this lyrical, exuberant follow-up to her 2007 novel, The Bastard of Istanbul, acclaimed Turkish author Elif Shafak unfolds two tantalizing parallel narratives—one contemporary and the other set in the thirteenth century, when Rumi encountered his spiritual mentor, the whirling dervish known as Shams of Tabriz—that together incarnate the poet's timeless message of love.]]> 354 Elif Shafak Gina 0 to-read 4.16 2009
author: Elif Shafak
name: Gina
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 66087062 A woman risks everything to end her family’s centuries-old curse, solve her mother’s disappearance, and find love in this mesmerizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Spells for Forgetting.

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

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

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

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant novel of romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible—a story you will never forget.]]> 320 Adrienne Young 0593598679 Gina 0 to-read 4.13 2023
author: Adrienne Young
name: Gina
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 177185887 Still Life with Breadcrumbs and One True Thing.

When Annie Brown dies suddenly, her husband, her four young children and her closest friend are left to struggle without the woman who centered their lives. Bill Brown finds himself overwhelmed, and Annie’s best friend Annemarie is lost to old bad habits without Annie’s support. It is Annie’s daughter, Ali, forced to try to care for her younger brothers and even her father, who manages to maintain some semblance of their former lives for them all, and who confronts the complicated truths of adulthood.

Yet over the course of the next year, while Annie looms large in their memories, all three are able to grow, to change, even to become stronger and more sure of themselves. The enduring power Annie gave to those who loved her is the power to love, and to go on without her.

Written in Quindlen’s emotionally resonant voice, and with her deep and generous understanding of people, After Annie is a story that ends with hope, a beautiful novel about how adversity can change us in profound ways.]]> 306 Anna Quindlen 0593229819 Gina 4 2025 4.27 2024
author: Anna Quindlen
name: Gina
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: 2025
review:
I can't say I actually enjoyed this book, because that would feel wrong given the subject matter. It feels more like I experienced it. I experienced this family's grief, and I understood at least a part of it, and walked away from it feeling empathy for them. So in that sense it worked well for me. What didn't work quite so well, and the reason I'm only giving it four stars, is the stream of consciousness feel of the writing was hard to follow at times, and I think it was a big mistake for Quindlen to name two of the characters Annie and Annemarie. That really tripped me up throughout much of the book, especially in the beinning.
]]> 57405598 Thinking of a foray to a quaint English village? You'll think twice after reading this tongue-in-cheek illustrated guide to the countless murderous possibilities lurking behind these villages' bucolic façades—from bestselling author Maureen Johnson and illustrator Jay Cooper.

A weekend roaming narrow old lanes, touring the faded glories of a country manor, and quaffing pints in the pub. How charming. That is, unless you have the misfortune of finding yourself in an English Murder Village, where danger lurks around each picturesque cobblestone corner and every sip of tea may be your last. If you insist on your travels, do yourself a favor and bring a copy of this little book. It may just keep you alive.

Brought to life with dozens of Gorey-esque drawings by illustrator Jay Cooper and peppered with allusions to classic crime series and unmistakably British murder lore, Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village gives you the tools you need to avoid the same fate, should you find yourself in a suspiciously cozy English village (or simply dream of going). Good luck, and whatever you do, avoid the vicar.]]> 128 Maureen Johnson 1984859625 Gina 0 to-read 4.02 2021
author: Maureen Johnson
name: Gina
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 26114135
As the daughter of a drug dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. It's safer to keep her mouth shut and stay out of sight. Struggling to raise her little brother, Donal, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible adult around. Obsessed with the constellations, she finds peace in the starry night sky above the fields behind her house, until one night her star gazing causes an accident. After witnessing his motorcycle wreck, she forms an unusual friendship with one of her father's thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold.

By the time Wavy is a teenager, her relationship with Kellen is the only tender thing in a brutal world of addicts and debauchery. When tragedy rips Wavy's family apart, a well-meaning aunt steps in, and what is beautiful to Wavy looks ugly under the scrutiny of the outside world. A powerful novel you wont soon forget, Bryn Greenwood's All the Ugly and Wonderful Things challenges all we know and believe about love.]]> 432 Bryn Greenwood Gina 0 to-read 3.96 2016
author: Bryn Greenwood
name: Gina
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 204158999 For readers of Remarkably Bright Creatures and A Man Called Ove, a warm, life-affirming debut about a zany case of mistaken identity that allows a lonely old man one last chance to be part of a family.

�Would you mind terribly, old boy, if I borrowed the rest of your life? I promise I’ll take excellent care of it.'

Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he’s desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred’s luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head—as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up.

Denise Simms is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard's facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter's health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again.

As Fred walks in Bernard’s shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise's suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition.

Bittersweet and remarkably perceptive, The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is a hilarious, feel-good, clever novel about grief, forgiveness, redemption, and finding family.]]> 336 Anna Johnston 0063397293 Gina 0 to-read 4.28 2024
author: Anna Johnston
name: Gina
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62365896 A charming, deeply moving novel about second chances, unlikely friendships, and the life-changing power of sharing stories.

Our Reasons meet us in the morning and whisper to us at night. Mine is an innocent, unsuspecting, eternally sixty-one-year-old woman named Lorraine Daigle�

Violet Powell, a twenty-two-year-old from rural Abbott Falls, Maine, is being released from prison after serving twenty-two months for a drunk-driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher. Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club, is facing the unsettling prospect of an empty nest. Frank Daigle, a retired machinist, hasn’t yet come to grips with the complications of his marriage to the woman Violet killed.

When the three encounter each other one morning in a bookstore in Portland—Violet to buy the novel she was reading in the prison book club before her release, Harriet to choose the next title for the women who remain, and Frank to dispatch his duties as the store handyman—their lives begin to intersect in transformative ways.

How to Read a Book Ěýis an unsparingly honest and profoundly hopeful story about letting go of guilt, seizing second chances, and the power of books to change our lives. With the heart, wit, grace, and depth of understanding that has characterized her work, Monica Wood illuminates the decisions that define a life and the kindnesses that make life worth living.Ěý .Ěý]]> 288 Monica Wood 0063243679 Gina 0 to-read 4.21 2024
author: Monica Wood
name: Gina
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217163697 #1ĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a stranger’s life twenty-five years later.

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. There’s Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long; and finally, there’s the artist, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and shuns attention, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.]]> 448 Fredrik Backman 1982112824 Gina 0 to-read 4.59 2025
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Gina
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58441923 A stunning tour de force following three fierce, unforgettable Southern women in the years leading up to the Great Depression

It's 1924 South Carolina and the region is still recovering from the infamous boll weevil infestation that devastated the land and the economy. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters from starvation or die at the hands of an abusive husband. Retta is navigating a harsh world as a first-generation freed slave, still employed by the Coles, influential plantation proprietors who once owned her family. Annie is the matriarch of the Coles family and must come to terms with the terrible truth that has ripped her family apart.These three women seemingly have nothing in common, yet as they unite to stand up to the terrible injustices that have long plagued the small town, they find strength in the bond that ties women together. Told in the pitch-perfect voices of Gertrude, Retta and Annie, Call Your Daughter Home is an audacious, timeless story about the power of family, deep-buried secrets and the ferocity of motherhood.]]> 263 Deb Spera Gina 3 4.35 2018
author: Deb Spera
name: Gina
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:
This was a tough book to read. So many awful things happen to so many different characters. Overall, I *think* I enjoyed it...? But I've read a lot of reviews here that made me look at it in a different way, stuff that didn't occur to me as I was reading it that really should have bothered me a lot more.
]]> 37570546 From a psychotherapist, and national advice columnist comes a thought-provoking new book that takes us behind the scenes of a therapist's world -- where her patients are looking for answers (and so is she).

One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.

As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients' lives -- a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can't stop hooking up with the wrong guys -- she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.

With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is revolutionary in its candor, offering a deeply personal yet universal tour of our hearts and minds and providing the rarest of gifts: a boldly revealing portrait of what it means to be human, and a disarmingly funny and illuminating account of our own mysterious lives and our power to transform them.]]> 415 Lori Gottlieb 1328662055 Gina 0 to-read 4.36 2019
author: Lori Gottlieb
name: Gina
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60647499 Gilligan's Island reruns and REM concerts; hickeys and heartbreak; surprise Scottish wakes; marriages, infertility, and children. As Ash says, "Edi's memory is like the back-up hard drive for mine." But now the unthinkable has happened. Edi is dying of ovarian cancer and spending her last days at a hospice near Ash, who stumbles into heartbreak surrounded by her daughters, ex(ish) husband, dear friends, a poorly chosen lover (or two), and a rotating cast of beautifully, fleetingly human hospice characters.

As The Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack blasts all day long from the room next door, Edi and Ash reminisce, hold on, and try to let go. Meanwhile, Ash struggles with being an imperfect friend, wife, and parent--with life, in other words, distilled to its heartbreaking, joyful, and comedic essence.

For anyone who's ever lost a friend or had one. Get ready to laugh through your tears.]]> 228 Catherine Newman 0063230917 Gina 0 dnf-not-interested 4.19 2022
author: Catherine Newman
name: Gina
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: dnf-not-interested
review:

]]> 34275234 A novel that reimagines the story behind Charles Dickens' Christmas classic Charles Dickens is not feeling the Christmas spirit. His newest book is an utter flop, the critics have turned against him, relatives near and far hound him for money. While his wife plans a lavish holiday party for their ever-expanding family and circle of friends, Dickens has visions of the poor house. But when his publishers try to blackmail him into writing a Christmas book to save them all from financial ruin, he refuses. And a serious bout of writer’s block sets in. Frazzled and filled with self-doubt, Dickens seeks solace in his great palace of thinking, the city of London itself. On one of his long night walks, in a once-beloved square, he meets the mysterious Eleanor Lovejoy, who might be just the muse he needs. As Dickens� deadlines close in, Eleanor propels him on a Scrooge-like journey that tests everything he believes about generosity, friendship, ambition, and love. The story he writes will change Christmas forever.]]> 271 Samantha Silva 1250154049 Gina 0 to-read 3.73 2017
author: Samantha Silva
name: Gina
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 10032672 Ěý
Look for special features inside. Join the Circle for author chats and more.]]> 323 Vanessa Diffenbaugh 034552554X Gina 0 to-read 4.09 2011
author: Vanessa Diffenbaugh
name: Gina
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 24611732 The final novel from a great American storyteller.

Donal Cameron is being raised by his grandmother, the cook at the legendary Double W ranch in Ivan Doig’s beloved Two Medicine Country of the Montana Rockies, a landscape that gives full rein to an eleven-year-old’s imagination. But when Gram has to have surgery for “female troubleâ€� in the summer of 1951, all she can think to do is to ship Donal off to her sister in faraway Manitowoc, Wisconsin. There Donal is in for a rude surprise: Aunt Kate–bossy, opinionated, argumentative, and tyrannical—is nothing like her sister. She henpecks her good-natured husband, Herman the German, and Donal can’t seem to get on her good side either. After one contretemps too many, Kate Ěýpacks him back to the authorities in Montana on the next Greyhound. But as it turns out, Donal isn’t traveling solo: Herman the German has decided to fly the coop with him. In the immortal American tradition, the pair light out for the territory together, meeting a classic Doigian ensemble of characters and having rollicking misadventures along the way.

Charming, wise, and slyly funny, Last Bus to WisdomĚýis a last sweet gift from a writer whose books have bestowed untold pleasure on countless readers.Ěý]]> 453 Ivan Doig 1594632022 Gina 0 to-read 3.99 2015
author: Ivan Doig
name: Gina
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60202761
Hardworking Isabelle Cook has a serious problem. Her family farm, site of Tilikum’s Christmas Village, is in trouble. Big trouble. And worst of all? The man trying to buy it is none other than the grumpiest, grinchiest man of them all—Elias Stoneheart.

That’s a big nope. She’s not letting him get involved. Not with his heart made of coal.

Elias Stoneheart is in the business of making money, not friends. Especially when his boss is promising a long-awaited promotion. All he has to do is convince one struggling family to sell their farm.

The problem? It’s Cook Family Farm. And Isabelle Cook is his ex.

He might have history with Isabelle, but this is just business. A Christmas-loving farm girl is not going to come between him and his ambition.

And Christmas? He hates it. Christmas Village needs to go.

But as Elias spends time in the small town, holiday spirit—and Isabelle—get under his skin. And she might be the only one who can melt the ice around his heart.

Author’s Note: a sassy farm girl takes on a grumpy businessman in this stand-alone, snowy, small-town Christmas romance. Saucy banter, a guard donkey, plenty of holiday cheer, and a heartwarming happily ever after that will make you believe in the magic of Christmas.]]> 339 Claire Kingsley Gina 3
It's cute. Ish. Kingsley went a bit overboard in describing what an awful person Elias is. I mean, his last name is Stoneheart, for crying out loud. No subtlety there whatsoever. So it was difficult to accept the transformation, but once he got there, I guess I could see it. Still not really sure what Isabelle saw in him; I can see why she might have fallen for him as a teenager, but as an adult he's a full-on horror. I went through something similar a few years back, in that there was a guy I really fell for when I was in college, and 30 years later we had lunch together and I couldn't believe what a loser he turned out to be. I wouldn't in a million years have considered another friendship with him, let alone marriage and children. But in the end, it's a feel-good story and that's just the ticket for this time of year, I suppose. ]]> 3.99 2022
author: Claire Kingsley
name: Gina
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:
Spoilers, especially if you've never read A Christmas Carol (because this is yet another retelling of that classic story).

It's cute. Ish. Kingsley went a bit overboard in describing what an awful person Elias is. I mean, his last name is Stoneheart, for crying out loud. No subtlety there whatsoever. So it was difficult to accept the transformation, but once he got there, I guess I could see it. Still not really sure what Isabelle saw in him; I can see why she might have fallen for him as a teenager, but as an adult he's a full-on horror. I went through something similar a few years back, in that there was a guy I really fell for when I was in college, and 30 years later we had lunch together and I couldn't believe what a loser he turned out to be. I wouldn't in a million years have considered another friendship with him, let alone marriage and children. But in the end, it's a feel-good story and that's just the ticket for this time of year, I suppose.
]]> 8152697 New York Times bestselling author of The Hour I First Believed, I Know This Much Is True, and She’s Come Undone, delivers a holiday treat with Wishin� and Hopin�—an unforgettable novella that captures the warmth and joy of the holiday season. Poignant and hilarious, in a vein similar to Jean Shepherd’s A Christmas Story and David Sedaris’s The Santaland Diaries, Lamb’s Christmas tale focuses on a feisty parochial school fifth grader named Felix Funicello—a distant cousin of the iconic Annette!]]> 268 Wally Lamb Gina 5 3.56 2009
author: Wally Lamb
name: Gina
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
review:
A holiday favorite. I re-read it every Christmas and it doesn't feel like Christmas time until I do. I love Wally Lamb but most of his books deal with very heavy subjects and can border on depressing at times... this one is a complete departure from that mold. Charming and delightful and funny.
]]> 16115418 In The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Baum gives us a glimpse into the magical history that surrounds the life story of Santa Claus. In A Kidnapped Santa Claus, we find out what happens when Santa is kidnapped shortly before Christmas.]]> 0 L. Frank Baum 1624061427 Gina 4 3.51 2012
author: L. Frank Baum
name: Gina
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:
Cute and charming origin story for Santa Claus. Fun all around.
]]> 5319 A beloved, bestselling classic of humorous and nostalgic Americana—the book that inspired the equally classic Yuletide film and the live musical on Fox. The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. Its affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American family’s typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts with a force equal to It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. This edition of A Christmas Story gathers together in one hilarious volume the gems of autobiographical humor that Jean Shepherd drew upon to create this enduring film. Here is young Ralphie Parker’s shocking discovery that his decoder ring is really a device to promote Ovaltine; his mother and father’s pitched battle over the fate of a lascivious leg lamp; the unleashed and unnerving savagery of Ralphie’s duel in the show with the odious bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill; and, most crucially, Ralphie’s unstoppable campaign to get Santa—or anyone else—to give him a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. Who cares that the whole adult world is telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid�? The pieces that comprise A Christmas Story, previously published in the larger collections In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, coalesce in a magical fashion to become an irresistible piece of Americana, quite the equal of the film in its ability to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone.]]> 144 Jean Shepherd 0767916220 Gina 4 4.04 1983
author: Jean Shepherd
name: Gina
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:
I listened to the audiobook version, which is great just because Dick Cavett is the narrator, and I listen to it every year. I enjoy it, but I have to admit parts of it make me cringe because they are SO not politically correct. The section on the Bumpus family in particular is amazingly terrible in this regard. But it's a Christmas tradition for me now, and I do love Cavett's performance.
]]> 113946 "The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason."

Dr. Seuss's small-hearted Grinch ranks right up there with Scrooge when it comes to the crankiest, scowling holiday grumps of all time.

For 53 years, the Grinch has lived in a cave on the side of a mountain, looming above the Whos in Whoville. The noisy holiday preparations and infernal singing of the happy little citizens below annoy him to no end. The Grinch decides this frivolous merriment must stop. His "wonderful, awful" idea is to don a Santa outfit, strap heavy antlers on his poor, quivering dog Max, construct a makeshift sleigh, head down to Whoville, and strip the chafingly cheerful Whos of their Yuletide glee once and for all.

Looking quite out of place and very disturbing in his makeshift Santa get-up, the Grinch slithers down chimneys with empty bags and stealing the Whos' presents, their food, even the logs from their humble Who-fires. He takes the ramshackle sleigh to Mt. Crumpit to dump it and waits to hear the sobs of the Whos when they wake up and discover the trappings of Christmas have disappeared. Imagine the Whos' dismay when they discover the evil-doings of Grinch in his anti-Santa guise. But what is that sound? It's not sobbing, but singing! Children simultaneously adore and fear this triumphant, twisted Seussian testimonial to the undaunted cheerfulness of the Whos, the transcendent nature of joy, and of course, the growth potential of a heart that's two sizes too small.

This holiday classic is perfect for reading aloud to your favorite little Whos.]]> 64 Dr. Seuss 0007173040 Gina 5
Funny story related to this book: when I was a kid, my father always referred to any kind of roasted meat as "roast beast." For years, I thought it was so cool how Dr. Seuss had also called it "roast beast" in this book, because I was so sure my dad had come up with that. It wasn't until this year (seriously -- it took me until 2019 to figure this out) that I realized my father must have read the book and/or watched the cartoon with my three older brothers and picked up the phrase that way. I always just thought he was so clever.

I can be pretty dense sometimes, I guess. :D]]> 4.38 1957
author: Dr. Seuss
name: Gina
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1957
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:
I've always been a huge fan of this book, and even more so since I had a 3-note glockenspiel solo at the school performance of it when I was in third grade. Hysterical to hear Walter Matthau read it in his Oscar Madison-esque NYC accent.

Funny story related to this book: when I was a kid, my father always referred to any kind of roasted meat as "roast beast." For years, I thought it was so cool how Dr. Seuss had also called it "roast beast" in this book, because I was so sure my dad had come up with that. It wasn't until this year (seriously -- it took me until 2019 to figure this out) that I realized my father must have read the book and/or watched the cartoon with my three older brothers and picked up the phrase that way. I always just thought he was so clever.

I can be pretty dense sometimes, I guess. :D
]]> 37539037
In the snowy Highlands of Scotland, Suzanne McBride is dreaming of the perfect cozy Christmas. Her three adopted daughters are coming home for the holidays and she can’t wait to see them. But tensions are running high�

Workaholic Hannah knows she can’t avoid spending the holidays with her family two years in a row. But it’s not the weight of their expectations that’s panicking her—it’s the life-changing secret she’s hiding. Stay-at-home mom Beth is having a personal crisis. All she wants for Christmas is time to decide if she’s ready to return to work—seeing everyone was supposed to help her stress levels, not increase them! Posy isn’t sure she’s living her best life, but with her parents depending on her, making a change seems risky. But not as risky as falling for gorgeous new neighbor Luke�

As Suzanne’s dreams of the perfect McBride Christmas unravel, she must rely on the magic of the season to bring her daughters together. But will this new togetherness teach the sisters that their close-knit bond is strong enough to withstand anything—including a family Christmas?

Don't miss Sarah Morgan's next book, The Summer Seekers !]]> 407 Sarah Morgan 1488096481 Gina 4 4.01 2018
author: Sarah Morgan
name: Gina
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves:
review:
This one was a lot of fun. There was something to love about each character, not a bad one in the bunch. (Well, maybe not Rob, but everyone else!)
]]> 168724761 A missing persons mystery, a serial killer thriller, and an epic love story - with a unique twist on each...

Late one summer, the town of Monta Clare is shattered by the abduction of teenager Joseph 'Patch' Macauley. Nobody more so than Saint Brown, who will risk everything to find her best friend.

But when she does: it will break her heart.

Patch lies alone in a pitch-black room - until he feels a hand in his. Her name is Grace and, though they cannot see each other, she lights their world with her words.

But when he escapes: there is no sign she ever even existed.

Left with only her voice and her name, he paints her from broken memories - and charts an epic search to find her.

As years turn to decades, and hope becomes obsession, Saint will shadow his journey - on a darker path to hunt down the man who took them - and set free the only boy she ever loved.

Even if finding the truth means losing each other forever...]]> 580 Chris Whitaker 1398707686 Gina 0 to-read 4.42 2024
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Gina
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 3076572

Todd, they always want you to adopt a dog. That's what they do. Besides, we don't need another animal around here, and most definitely not a dog.

When Todd McCray, a developmentally challenged young man still living on his parents' Kansas farm, hears that a local animal shelter is seeking temporary homes for its dogs during the days leading to Christmas, he knows exactly what he wants for the holidays. His father objects, but Todd's persistence quickly wins out. Soon the McCrays are the short-term foster family for a lovable pooch the young man names Christmas.

But what about all the other dogs who will be forced to spend the Yuletide season in cages? In the days that follow, Todd uses his special gifts of persuasion to encourage his hometown to participate in the Adopt a Dog for Christmas Program. What follows from his small act of kindness will teach his family, and his community, about peace on earth and good will toward men and animals.]]> 148 Greg Kincaid 0385525982 Gina 5 4.17 2008
author: Greg Kincaid
name: Gina
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves:
review:
An annual re-read. I love this story for its gentle sweetness.
]]> 113877384
Following the deaths of her husband and son, Helen Cartwright returns to the English village of her childhood after living abroad for six decades. Her only wish is to die quickly and without fuss.

Helen retreats into her home on Westminster Crescent, becoming a creature of routine and habit. Then, one cold autumn night, a chance encounter with an abandoned pet mouse on the street outside her house sets Helen on a surprising journey of friendship.

Sipsworth is a reminder that there can be second chances. No matter what we have planned for ourselves, sometimes the world has plans of its own. Simon Van Booy’s lyrical storytelling is a delight even as it will fill your heart.]]> 240 Simon Van Booy 1567927947 Gina 0 to-read 4.11 2024
author: Simon Van Booy
name: Gina
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 5326
Introduction and Afterword by Joe Wheeler
To bitter, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is just another day. But all that changes when the ghost of his long-dead business partner appears, warning Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late.

Part of the Focus on the Family Great Stories collection, this abridged edition features an in-depth introduction and discussion questions by Joe Wheeler to provide greater understanding for today's reader. "A Christmas Carol" captures the heart of the holidays like no other novel.]]> 184 Charles Dickens 1561797464 Gina 5 4.06 1843
author: Charles Dickens
name: Gina
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1843
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves:
review:
My annual re-read. I always read/listen to/watch a bunch of different versions of A Christmas Carol every year to kick off my Christmas. I think it's my favorite story of all time.
]]> 50494580 A chance encounter leads to the journey of a lifetime in this powerful and emotional love story, perfect for fans of One Day, Me Before You and In Five Years.

If you could turn back the clock, would you choose a different life?

Ben’s always loved the month of December, but this year, with his relationship with Daphne on the rocks, it’s missing its usual magic. And then his old friend Alice gets back in touch. Ben’s always thought of Alice as the one that got away, and he can’t help but wonder: what if he’d done things differently all those years ago?

He never imagines he might get to find out� but when a stranger sells Ben a mysterious watch one freezing winter’s night, he’s astonished to wake up the next morning on 5th December 2005: the day he first kissed Daphne, leaving Alice behind.

Now Ben must make the biggest decision of his life, all over again. But this time around, will he finally find the courage to follow his heart?

All About Us is a captivating novel of heartbreak and loss, friendship and hope � and how the choices we make throughout our lives will shape our destiny.]]> 400 Tom Ellen 0008402671 Gina 5
Anyway, spoilers!

This is the third time travel book I've read this year, and overall the one I enjoyed most. I loved the way Ben's actions in the past didn't affect anything in the future other than what he himself decided to change, so it had a real "A Christmas Carol" vibe to it; despite the lack of accompanying spirits, Ben ended up having a Scrooge-like metamorphosis. The characters were all very human (with the possible exception of Alice, who seemed kind of cartoonishly bitchy to me, at least in the section about Ben's possible future), which made them interesting to read about, and I loved the scenarios Ellen put them in. And NGL, I loved the happy ending. :D

If I have one small quibble, it's how often Ben cries. I don't have a problem with men showing emotion like that, but I find it really annoying when characters cry on what seems like every other page, no matter what gender they are.]]> 3.79 2020
author: Tom Ellen
name: Gina
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:
I so, so wish Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ let us give half stars. This is a solid 4.5, rounded up to 5.

Anyway, spoilers!

This is the third time travel book I've read this year, and overall the one I enjoyed most. I loved the way Ben's actions in the past didn't affect anything in the future other than what he himself decided to change, so it had a real "A Christmas Carol" vibe to it; despite the lack of accompanying spirits, Ben ended up having a Scrooge-like metamorphosis. The characters were all very human (with the possible exception of Alice, who seemed kind of cartoonishly bitchy to me, at least in the section about Ben's possible future), which made them interesting to read about, and I loved the scenarios Ellen put them in. And NGL, I loved the happy ending. :D

If I have one small quibble, it's how often Ben cries. I don't have a problem with men showing emotion like that, but I find it really annoying when characters cry on what seems like every other page, no matter what gender they are.
]]> 239810 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever follows the outrageous shenanigans of the Herdman siblings, or “the worst kids in the history of the world.� The siblings take over the annual Christmas pageant in a hilarious yet heartwarming tale involving the Three Wise Men, a ham, scared shepherds, and six rowdy kids.

Ralph, Imogene, Leroy, Claude, Ollie, and Gladys Herdman are an awful bunch. They set fire to Fred Shoemaker’s toolshed, blackmailed Wanda Pierce to get her charm bracelet, and smacked Alice Wendelken across the head. And that’s just the start! When the Herdmans show up at church for the free snacks and suddenly take over the Christmas pageant, the other kids are shocked. It’s obvious that they’re up to no good. But Christmas magic is all around and the Herdmans, who have never heard the Christmas story before, start to reimagine it in their own way.

This year’s pageant is definitely like no other, but maybe that’s exactly what makes it so special.]]> 128 Barbara Robinson 0064402754 Gina 5 4.24 1972
author: Barbara Robinson
name: Gina
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:
I love this book, I re-read it every Christmas and it's adorable. Funny and touching. The ending always makes me teary-eyed. I listen to the audiobook version narrated by the late, great Elaine Stritch and it's wonderful.
]]> 63024287
The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, Mary McLeod Bethune refuses to back down as white supremacists attempt to thwart her work. She marches on as an activist and an educator, and as her reputation grows she becomes a celebrity, revered by titans of business and recognized by U.S. Presidents. Eleanor Roosevelt herself is awestruck and eager to make her acquaintance. Initially drawn together because of their shared belief in women’s rights and the power of education, Mary and Eleanor become fast friends confiding their secrets, hopes and dreams—and holding each other’s hands through tragedy and triumph.
Ěý
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected president, the two women begin to collaborate more closely, particularly as Eleanor moves toward her own agenda separate from FDR, a consequence of the devastating discovery of her husband’s secret love affair. Eleanor becomes a controversial First Lady for her outspokenness, particularly onĚýcivil rights. And when she receives threats because of her strong ties to Mary, it only fuels the women’s desire to fight together for justice and equality.
Ěý
ThisĚýis the story of two different, yet equally formidable, passionate, and committed women, and the way in whichĚýtheir singular friendshipĚýhelped form the foundation for the modern civil rights movement.]]> 389 Marie Benedict 0593440285 Gina 0 to-read 3.96 2023
author: Marie Benedict
name: Gina
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 6418 “Evanovich’s romantic humor is comfortably performed in Critt’s relaxed and inviting voice� (AudioFile).

When it comes to men, Megan Murphy has an aversion to “I do�. Then she meets irresistible pediatrician Pat Hunter. Add in a cozy colonial cottage, the world’s biggest turkey, two hopeful families, and a skirt-chomping rabbit, and you’ve got a feast of fabulous fun!]]> 228 Janet Evanovich 0060598808 Gina 1 3.57 1988
author: Janet Evanovich
name: Gina
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1988
rating: 1
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:
I wanted a book with a Thanksgiving theme since it's that time of year, but it's a DNF at 46% and I only got that far by hate reading. Awful, awful, awful omg. This is first book I've picked up by this author, is everything she writes this bad??
]]> 127305853 From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie� McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]> 471 Kristin Hannah 1250178630 Gina 4 4.59 2024
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Gina
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/07
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:
Wow, Hannah sure does love to torture her characters. It's to be expected, I guess, in a book about going to Vietnam and the aftermath, and I suppose ultimately that was the whole point of this book. The most interesting part of this book is when Frankie is actually in Vietnam, and at that point it was coasting toward being one of the best books I've read so far this year. But once she got home, there are long, long swathes of the narrative where terrible thing after terrible thing happens, one on top of the other, no breaks for either Frankie or the reader, and it got to be almost tiresome at a few points. Four stars instead of five for that reason.
]]> 13330943
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.]]> 516 Erin Morgenstern 0307744434 Gina 0 to-read 4.05 2011
author: Erin Morgenstern
name: Gina
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 30250405 JOURNEY TO THE EDGE OF MAGIC

If magic has a beginning, can it also have an end?

When Amelia wants a wish to come true she knows just the man to ask - Father Christmas.

But the magic she wants to believe in is starting to fade, and Father Christmas has more than impossible wishes to worry about. Upset elves, reindeers dropping out of the sky, angry trolls and the chance that Christmas might be cancelled.

But Amelia isn't just any ordinary girl. And - as Father Christmas is going to find out - if Christmas is going to be saved, he might not be able to do it alone . . .]]> 336 Matt Haig 1782118578 Gina 3
It's cute, I guess. Parts of it are absolutely adorable (elves! Charles Dickens getting
story ideas! Captain Soot!), parts of it are unbearably twee (getting paid in chocolate coins? Homes and businesses made out of reinforced gingerbread? A newspaper called The Daily Snow?), parts of it are over the top silly (I really could have done without that interlude with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert), and parts of it are just plain gross (Blitzen shitting on the queen's rug and pissing down a chimney -- no thanks). Overall, there's more to like than not like, so it was generally a fun addition to my Christmas reading list. But I probably won't read it every year like I do with a bunch of my favorites.]]> 4.10 2016
author: Matt Haig
name: Gina
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves:
review:
Spoilers!

It's cute, I guess. Parts of it are absolutely adorable (elves! Charles Dickens getting
story ideas! Captain Soot!), parts of it are unbearably twee (getting paid in chocolate coins? Homes and businesses made out of reinforced gingerbread? A newspaper called The Daily Snow?), parts of it are over the top silly (I really could have done without that interlude with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert), and parts of it are just plain gross (Blitzen shitting on the queen's rug and pissing down a chimney -- no thanks). Overall, there's more to like than not like, so it was generally a fun addition to my Christmas reading list. But I probably won't read it every year like I do with a bunch of my favorites.
]]> 143534 O. Henry's classic tale of the wisest gifts of Christmas is itself a gift to share and treasure.

In a shabby New York flat, Della sobs as she counts the few coins she has saved to buy a Christmas present for her husband, Jim. One dollar and eighty-seven cents is all the money she has in the world. A gift worthy of her devotion will require a great sacrifice: selling her long, beautiful hair. Set in New York at the turn of the twentieth century, this classic piece of American literature tells the story of a young couple and the value of love.

Jim, meanwhile, has made a sacrifice for Della that is no less difficult. As they exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, the discovery of what each has done fills them with despair, until they realize that the true gifts of Christmas can be found more readily in their humble apartment than in any fine store. Set in New York at the turn of the twentieth century, this classic piece of American literature tells the story of a young couple and the value of love.

O. Henry paints a masterly portrait of unfaltering love, a haven from the harsh world outside. The poignancy of his story is captured in Zwerger's eloquent art, wherein every glance, every gesture, tells a subtle truth.]]> 26 O. Henry 141693586X Gina 5 4.10 1905
author: O. Henry
name: Gina
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1905
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/01
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 195790788
Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant following a list of additional life principles—a series of secret, special rules to obey. Being a godly and submissive wife in Christian Patriarchy included strict discipline, isolation, and an alternative lifestyle that appeared wholesome to outsiders. Women were to be silent, “keepers of the home.�

Tia knew that to their neighbors her family was strange, but she also couldn't risk exposing their secret lifestyle to police, doctors, teachers, or anyone outside of their church. Christians were called in scripture to be “in the world, not of it.� So, she hid in plain sight as years of abuse and pain followed. When Tia realized she was the only one who could protect her children from becoming the next generation of patriarchal men and submissive women, she began to resist and question how they lived. But in the patriarchy, a woman with opinions is in danger, and eventually, Tia faced an urgent and extreme stay and face dire consequences, or flee with her children.

Told in a beautiful, honest, and sometimes harrowing voice, A Well-Trained Wife is an unforgettable and timely memoir about a woman's race to save herself and her family and details the ways that extreme views can manifest in a marriage.]]> 304 Tia Levings 1250288282 Gina 0 to-read 4.31 2024
author: Tia Levings
name: Gina
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 158649729 The fascinating history of women’s health as it’s never been told before.

For as long as medicine has been a practice, women's bodies have been treated like objects to be practiced on: examined and ignored, idealized and sexualized, shamed, subjugated, mutilated, and dismissed. The history of women’s healthcare is a story in which women themselves have too often been voiceless—a narrative instead written from the perspective of men who styled themselves as authorities on the female of the species, yet uninformed by women’s own voices, thoughts, fears, pain and experiences. The result is a cultural and societal legacy that continues to shape the (mis)treatment and care of women.

While the modern age has seen significant advancements in the medical field, the notion that female bodies are flawed inversions of the male ideal lingers on—as do the pervasive societal stigmas and lingering ignorance that shape women’s health and relationships with their own bodies.

Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist and medical historian Dr. Elizabeth Comen peels back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to reintroduce us to our whole bodies—how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today’s medical thought, and the many oversights that still remain unaddressed. With a physician’s knowledge and empathy, Dr. Comen follows the road map of the eleven organ systems to share unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, interviews with expert physicians, as well as her own experience treating thousands of women.

Empowering women to better understand ourselves and advocate for care that prioritizes healthy and joyful lives—for us and generations to come�All in Her Head is written with humor, wisdom, and deep scientific and cultural insight. Eye-opening, sometimes enraging, yet always captivating, this shared memoir of women’s medical history is an essential contribution to a holistic understanding and much-needed reclaiming of women’s history and bodies.]]> 368 Elizabeth Comen 0063293013 Gina 0 to-read 4.37 2024
author: Elizabeth Comen
name: Gina
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57809127 When we go through something impossible, someone, or something, will help us, if we let them . . .
It is October 1966 and William Lavery is having the night of his life at his first black-tie do. But, as the evening unfolds, news hits of a landslide at a coal mine. It has buried a school: Aberfan.

William decides he must act, so he stands and volunteers to attend. It will be his first job as an embalmer, and it will be one he never forgets.

His work that night will force him to think about the little boy he was, and the losses he has worked so hard to forget. But compassion can have surprising consequences, because - as William discovers - giving so much to others can sometimes help us heal ourselves.]]> 400 Jo Browning Wroe 0571368298 Gina 0 to-read 4.17 2022
author: Jo Browning Wroe
name: Gina
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 208516656 If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.�

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?

Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.]]> 512 Liane Moriarty 0593798600 Gina 4 3.99 2024
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Gina
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:
Moriarty has been kind of hit and miss with her last few books. This one is a lot more hit than miss, IMO. There are a lot of different characters to keep track of, but I thought all of them were interesting, which made it easier to keep up with who was who. I enjoyed the way the links between the characters were revealed over time, thought that was a neat touch. And I also loved the "is she or isn't she" aspect of the whole thing. 4 stars instead of 5 because I was hoping to see all of the chatacters' stories wrapped up in neat little bows, and we're left wondering what happens to a few. But all in all, I quite enjoyed it.
]]> 85443
This powerful and breathtaking novel is the story of four cadets who have become bloodbrothers. Together they will encounter the hell of hazing and the rabid, raunchy and dangerously secretive atmosphere of an arrogant and proud military institute. They will experience the violence. The passion. The rage. The friendship. The loyalty. The betrayal. Together, they will brace themselves for the brutal transition to manhood... and one will not survive.

With all the dramatic brilliance he brought to The Great Santini, Pat Conroy sweeps you into the turbulent world of these four friends -- and draws you deep into the heart of his rebellious hero, Will McLean, an outsider forging his personal code of honor, who falls in love with a whimsical beauty... and who undergoes a transition more remarkable then he ever imagined possible.]]> 512 Pat Conroy 0553271369 Gina 0 dnf-not-interested 4.32 1980
author: Pat Conroy
name: Gina
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: dnf-not-interested
review:

]]> 827358
But Laura's promise results in another death. Her husband's. And after their five-year-old daughter, Emma, witnesses her father's suicide, Emma refuses to talk about it…to talk at all.

Frantic and guilt ridden, Laura contacts the only person who may be able to help. A man she's met only once—six years before. A man who doesn't know he's Emma's real father.

Guided only by a child's silence and an old woman's fading memories, the two unravel a tale of love and despair, of bravery and unspeakable evil. A tale that's shrouded in silence…and that unbelievably links them all.]]> 416 Diane Chamberlain 1551664844 Gina 4
I mean, this book was totally ridiculous and over the top in so many way. So much going on, so many characters, so many weird situations, there was a LOT/too much to keep track of, which is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5. I think I probably would have DNF'd it under ordinary circumstances. But still, I really enjoyed it! It was silly, but so much fun. :D ]]> 4.18 1999
author: Diane Chamberlain
name: Gina
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/22
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves:
review:
I think I've decided that Diane Chamberlain is one of my favorite writers.

I mean, this book was totally ridiculous and over the top in so many way. So much going on, so many characters, so many weird situations, there was a LOT/too much to keep track of, which is why I'm giving it 4 stars instead of 5. I think I probably would have DNF'd it under ordinary circumstances. But still, I really enjoyed it! It was silly, but so much fun. :D
]]> 60691225 'A wonderful book by a fabulous author, very highly recommended.� Louise Douglas A tale as old as time. A spirit that has never rested. Present day

As a love affair comes to an end, and with it her dreams for her future, artist Selena needs a retreat. ĚýThe picture-postcard Sloe Cottage in the Somerset village of Ashcombe promises to be the perfect place to forget her problems, and Selena settles into her new home as spring arrives. ĚýBut it isn’t long before Selena hears the past whispering to her. Sloe Cottage is keeping secrets which refuse to stay hidden.

1682

Grace Cotter longs for nothing more than a husband and family of her own. Content enough with her work on the farm, looking after her father, and learning the secrets of her grandmother Bett’s healing hands, nevertheless Grace still hopes for love. But these are dangerous times for dreamers, and rumours and gossip can be deadly. One mis-move and Grace’s fate looks set�

Separated by three hundred years, two women are drawn together by a home bathed in blood and magic. Grace Cotter’s spirit needs to rest, and only Selena can help her now.

USA Today bestselling author Judy Leigh writing as Elena Collins, brings you this unforgettable, heart-breaking, gripping timeslip novel set in a world when women were hung as witches, and fates could be sealed by a wrong word. Perfect for fans of Barbara Erskine, Diana Gabaldon and Louise Douglas.

Praise for Elena

'A profoundly moving, beautifully written and emotional story that skilfully combines two time frames into one unputdownable book.ĚýI was completely immersed in Grace’s story from the despite it taking place 400 years ago.ĚýThe modern day storyline was also delightful with some wonderful characters. In short a wonderful book by a fabulous author, very highly recommended.' Louise Douglas]]> 366 Elena Collins 1802800123 Gina 4 4.43 2022
author: Elena Collins
name: Gina
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/12
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves:
review:
Rather enjoyable overall. The stories in each of the two timelines held my interest, though I must admit I looked forward to getting back to Grace every time we pivoted to Selena. Grace's story was far more active, while Selena's was more passive, but in the end I enjoyed both women. A good story for Halloween, with decent writing and interesting characters. Worth the read!
]]> 62060274
With no trace of how these mysterious books came into the world, Ashlyn is caught up in a decades-old literary mystery, beckoned by two hearts in ruins, whoever they were, wherever they are. Determined to learn the truth behind the doomed lovers� tale, she reads on, following a trail of broken promises and seemingly unforgivable betrayals. The more Ashlyn learns about Hemi and Belle, the nearer she comes to bringing closure to their love story—and to the unfinished chapters of her own life.]]> 431 Barbara Davis 1542038154 Gina 0 to-read 4.27 2023
author: Barbara Davis
name: Gina
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 52501482
Avery Grambs has a plan for a better survive high school, win a scholarship, and get out. But her fortunes change in an instant when billionaire Tobias Hawthorne dies and leaves Avery virtually his entire fortune. The catch? Avery has no idea why � or even who Tobias Hawthorne is.

To receive her inheritance, Avery must move into sprawling, secret passage-filled Hawthorne House, where every room bears the old man's touch � and his love of puzzles, riddles, and codes. Unfortunately for Avery, Hawthorne House is also occupied by the family that Tobias Hawthorne just dispossessed. This includes the four Hawthorne dangerous, magnetic, brilliant boys who grew up with every expectation that one day, they would inherit billions. Heir apparent Grayson Hawthorne is convinced that Avery must be a conwoman, and he's determined to take her down. His brother, Jameson, views her as their grandfather's last a twisted riddle, a puzzle to be solved. Caught in a world of wealth and privilege, with danger around every turn, Avery will have to play the game herself just to survive.]]> 384 Jennifer Lynn Barnes 1368053246 Gina 2 4.20 2020
author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
name: Gina
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves:
review:
This one started out great, but got too stupid, too fast. Too many characters to keep track of, none of which I really cared about, for instance, I still can't tell you the difference between Jameson and Grayson (not even 100% sure I got their names right) except one was ultra creepy by sneaking continually into Avery's room at night. The best friend's inability to curse and use of euphemisms instead was ridiculous. I'm still not sure what was going on with Emily and Rebecca. And wow, Tobias Hawthorne sure had a lot of extra time on his hands to set up all those weird puzzles. I guess if you're a billionaire, that's what you do. I did like the short chapters and quick pacing, it was an easy book to read, at least.
]]> 42519313
Madison’s twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there’s a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it’s the truth.

Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other—and stay cool—while also staying out of the way of Madison’s buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her—urgently and fiercely. Couldn’t this be the start of the amazing life she’d always hoped for?]]> 288 Kevin Wilson 0062913484 Gina 0 to-read 3.95 2019
author: Kevin Wilson
name: Gina
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 127280850
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.]]> 392 Emilia Hart 1250842727 Gina 2
Two stars instead of one because I did like the last 30 pages or so, where Hart ties all the storylines together in a nice little bow. That, I thought, was pretty cool. ]]> 4.02 2023
author: Emilia Hart
name: Gina
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves:
review:
I picked this one up because some folks on a Facebook book club I belong to had receommended it as a good read for Halloween. I expected a story about women with some kind of paranormal or witchy powers, which would have been perfect for the season, IMO. What I got instead was a story of three different generations of women being treated absolutely horribly by absolutely every man they run across. I should have DNF'd it immediately given the story starts with Kate fleeing her monster of a husband, as I've been trying very hard not to read books where women being abused and murdered are a central theme. I had no idea this book was going to be full to the brim of abuse porn against women -- it's supposed to be about female resilience! is there really no other way for women to be resilient than by dealing with abuse??? -- until I was far enough into the thing to let the sunk cost fallacy keep me going.

Two stars instead of one because I did like the last 30 pages or so, where Hart ties all the storylines together in a nice little bow. That, I thought, was pretty cool.
]]> 58648147
After saving the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, all he wanted to do was kill an evil witch enslaving his people.

I mean, I get it, don't get me wrong. But he's dragging me along for the ride, and I'm kind of peeved about it. On the bright side, he keeps burning off his shirt.]]> 260 Kimberly Lemming Gina 0 to-read 3.88 2021
author: Kimberly Lemming
name: Gina
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 56449476 An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.

“Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes…�

Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.

It’s 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day road trip in a custom truck to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo. Behind the wheel is the young Dust Bowl rowdy Woodrow. Inspired by true events, the tale weaves real-life figures with fictional ones, including the world’s first female zoo director, a crusty old man with a past, a young female photographer with a secret, and assorted reprobates as spotty as the giraffes.

Part adventure, part historical saga, and part coming-of-age love story, West with Giraffes explores what it means to be changed by the grace of animals, the kindness of strangers, the passing of time, and a story told before it’s too late.]]> 346 Lynda Rutledge 1542023351 Gina 0 to-read 4.35 2021
author: Lynda Rutledge
name: Gina
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36315374
When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.

But fourteen years later, Angela Wong's remains are discovered in the woods near Geo's childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women.

To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he's something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo's first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed.

For fourteen years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela's death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison.

While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.

How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief? How long can you get away with a lie? How long can you live with it?]]> 311 Jennifer Hillier 1250154197 Gina 0 to-read 4.09 2018
author: Jennifer Hillier
name: Gina
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/24
shelves: to-read
review:

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

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

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

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

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

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.]]> 384 Sarah Beth Durst Gina 0 to-read 4.05 2024
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Gina
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 196224429 Lucifer meets Practical Magic in this opposites attract witchy rom-com brimming with sass, spice, and small-town charm!

What’s a broke tea witch to do when she’s about to lose her beloved café?

No idea, but chugging magic mojitos and drunk-summoning the Devil was definitely the wrong call.

Now, I’m stuck with the house guest from Hell—literally—and we couldn’t be more opposite: a homebody who brews healing teas and reads romance novels to her cats versus a sexy-as-sin playboy with a pitchfork tattoo on his butt and a fondness for public day-drinking. In the nude. Ergo, the pitchfork discovery.

Infuriating!

I’ve tried to send the Dark Prince packing, but the spell won’t let him leave—not until he unlocks my so-called “heart’s desire.�

Well. My only desire is to clear my debt and save the café, which would be a lot easier if I wasn’t so distracted by his stupidly charming British accent.

Or the smile that keeps incinerating perfectly innocent panties.

Or the spellbinding, toe-curling, never-should’ve-happened kiss at the Wayward Bay Halloween Ball that has me believing in a different kind of magic:

Love.

So maybe the real question is� What’s a broke tea witch to do when she’s about to lose her café and her heart?


The Devil Made Me Brew It is the first book in The Witches of Wayward Bay, a series of standalone paranormal rom-coms where the magic is real and the witches always get their magically-ever-afters. No cliffhangers, guaranteed HEAs, and plenty of heat, humor, and heart!

Tropes:

� opposites attract
� forced proximity / stuck together
� fish out of water
� he falls first
� small town with spice
� magic is real but love is the real magic]]> 400 Sarah Piper 1948455927 Gina 0 dnf-not-interested 3.98
author: Sarah Piper
name: Gina
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/24
shelves: dnf-not-interested
review:

]]> 4505161
Enter Jack Trenholm, a gorgeous writer obsessed with unsolved mysteries. He has reason to believe that diamonds from the Confederate Treasury are hidden in the house. So he turns the charm on with Melanie, only to discover he's the smitten one...

It turns out Jack's search has caught the attention of a malevolent ghost. Now, Jack and Melanie must unravel a mystery of passion, heartbreak, and even murder.]]> 329 Karen White 0451225090 Gina 0 dnf-not-interested 3.96 2008
author: Karen White
name: Gina
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/24
shelves: dnf-not-interested
review:

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

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

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it's her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?]]> 310 Emma Straub 052553900X Gina 3
2.5 stars, rounded up to 3. I was ready to give this one a solid 4 stars based on the strength of the first two-thirds or so, which I quite enjoyed despite there being some real ick involved in 16-(but really 40-)year-old Alice's interactions with Tommy. But it falls apart pretty drastically starting in Part 4 or 5, and unfortunately the falling apart picks up speed through the end. ]]> 3.78 2022
author: Emma Straub
name: Gina
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/24
date added: 2024/10/24
shelves:
review:
Spoilers!

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3. I was ready to give this one a solid 4 stars based on the strength of the first two-thirds or so, which I quite enjoyed despite there being some real ick involved in 16-(but really 40-)year-old Alice's interactions with Tommy. But it falls apart pretty drastically starting in Part 4 or 5, and unfortunately the falling apart picks up speed through the end.
]]> 58490567 The New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code returns with an unforgettable World War II tale of a quiet bookworm who becomes history's deadliest female sniper. Based on a true story.

In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kyiv, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son--but Hitler's invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper--a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour.

Still reeling from war wounds and devastated by loss, Mila finds herself isolated and lonely in the glittering world of Washington, DC--until an unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and an even more unexpected connection with a silent fellow sniper offer the possibility of happiness. But when an old enemy from Mila's past joins forces with a deadly new foe lurking in the shadows, Lady Death finds herself battling her own demons and enemy bullets in the deadliest duel of her life.

Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.]]> 435 Kate Quinn 0062943510 Gina 0 to-read 4.26 2022
author: Kate Quinn
name: Gina
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54717137 The story of one woman who believed in scientific medicine before the world believed in her

Raised by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Horace Croft after losing her parents to a deadly pandemic, the orphan Nora Beady knows little about conventional life. While other young ladies were raised to busy themselves with needlework and watercolors, Nora was trained to perfect her suturing and anatomical illustrations of dissections.

Women face dire consequences if caught practicing medicine, but in Croft's private clinic Nora is his most trusted--and secret--assistant. That is until the new surgical resident Dr. Daniel Gibson arrives. Dr. Gibson has no idea that Horace's bright and quiet young ward is a surgeon more qualified and ingenuitive than even himself. In order to protect Dr. Croft and his practice from scandal and collapse Nora must learn to play a new and uncomfortable role--that of a proper young lady.

But pretense has its limits. Nora cannot turn away and ignore the suffering of patients even if it means giving Gibson the power to ruin everything she's worked for. And when she makes a discovery that could change the field forever, Nora faces an impossible choice. Remain invisible and let the men around her take credit for her work, or let the world see her for what she is--even if it means being destroyed by her own legacy.]]> 384 Audrey Blake 1728228727 Gina 2 4.09 2021
author: Audrey Blake
name: Gina
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves:
review:
Shrug. It was okay. The idea of a story about the struggles of a female surgeon in the days when women weren't allowed to practice medicine hooked me immediately, because how cool is that?? And parts of it definitely were cool, but other parts were way too graphic and/or technical from a medical point of view, and still other parts were just plain dull. The romance was unconvincing as well, but I don't really care about that because I wasn't reading it for the romance. I'm not sure I knew this was the first book in a series when I started it, but if I did I forgot before I got to the end, so the abruptness of the ending was kind of jarring, too.
]]> 60018635 A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family--and a new love--changes the course of her life.

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

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

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....
]]> 318 Sangu Mandanna 059343935X Gina 4 4.05 2022
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Gina
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves:
review:
So cute and fun! A sweet little morsel just right for Halloween. :D
]]> 77142 460 David Guterson 067976402X Gina 0 to-read 3.86 1994
author: David Guterson
name: Gina
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 96819813 The truth behind a teenage girl’s disappearance becomes something to conceal in a gripping novel about justice, lies, and impossible choices by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

When nineteen-year-old Jill Moss goes missing near the Utah-Arizona border, everyone has an opinion. Only Norma Gallagher, a search and rescue volunteer, knows the real story.

Norma’s already found Jill, huddled in a cave and terrified that her abusive boyfriend, Jake, will kill her. If he ever sees her again. To protect Jill from a dangerous man, Norma quietly delivers the girl to her grateful parents in California, even though she’s conflicted. Keeping Jill safe and hidden from Jake, the press, and the public will be their secret. But secrets can’t last forever.

Five years later, the disappearance stirs a new media frenzy when Jake is arrested for the murder of Jill Moss—and Norma knows he didn’t kill her. As Jake is about to stand trial, lust for retribution inflames public opinion and Jill’s family refuses to come forward, forcing Norma to make a life-changing decision.

What are the consequences if she stays silent? And what are the risks if she dares to finally tell the truth?]]> 293 Catherine Ryan Hyde 166250439X Gina 0 to-read 4.18 2023
author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
name: Gina
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 123170348 From the bestselling author of In an Instant comes the moving story of a family grappling with grief and a woman with the power to help them through it—or stand in their way.

After a tragic accident claims the life of one of her children, Marie Egide is desperate to carve out a fresh start for her family. With her husband and their three surviving children, Marie travels to New Hampshire, where she plans to sell a family estate and then, just maybe, they’ll be able to heal from their grief.

Marie’s plans are thwarted when she realizes a war veteran known by locals as “the river witch� is living in a cabin on the property, which she claims was a gift from Marie’s grandfather. If Davina refuses to move on, Marie won’t be able to either.

The two women clash, and battle lines are drawn within Marie’s family and the town as each side fights for what they believe is right, the tension rising until it reaches its breaking point. And the choice is no longer theirs when a force bigger than them all—fate—takes control.]]> 298 Suzanne Redfearn 1662514581 Gina 0 to-read 4.43 2024
author: Suzanne Redfearn
name: Gina
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 210317914 Who says you can’t rewrite the stars?

1962—Twelve years removed from the summer when she first gave her heart away, Dr. Elizabeth (Ellie) Spencer, Professor of Astronomy at Indiana University, receives a mysterious package that has her asking that very question.

Inside the unmarked box is a novel written by Ellie’s first love, Jack Bennett. It tells the story of a young man and woman who meet at the water’s edge and fall madly in love, only to have their romance cut short by forces beyond their control. Ellie quickly realizes this is no ordinary story; it’s their story. Captivated by Jack’s words, she immerses herself in the pages, reliving the adventures they shared that magical summer. To her astonishment, hidden among the tales of star-gazing and stolen kisses is a detail that has her questioning everything.

Seeking answers, Ellie turns to her sister for help, but before they can get to the bottom of the mystery, news reaches them of their aunt’s death, sending Ellie back to the water’s edge with the hopes of finding the truth and rewriting the stars.]]> 320 Buck Turner Gina 0 to-read 3.88 2024
author: Buck Turner
name: Gina
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

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