Namita's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 24 Apr 2025 18:27:45 -0700 60 Namita's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty]]> 43868109 The highly anticipated portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, by the prize-winning, bestselling author of Say Nothing.

The Sackler name adorns the walls of many storied institutions: Harvard, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oxford, the Louvre. They are one of the richest families in the world, known for their lavish donations to the arts and sciences. The source of the family fortune was vague, however, until it emerged that the Sacklers were responsible for making and marketing OxyContin, a blockbuster painkiller that was a catalyst for the opioid crisis.

Empire of Pain is a masterpiece of narrative reporting and writing, exhaustively documented and ferociously compelling.]]> 535 Patrick Radden Keefe 0385545681 Namita 5 nonfiction, 2024-goals 4.54 2021 Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
author: Patrick Radden Keefe
name: Namita
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: nonfiction, 2024-goals
review:
Excellent and horrifying. Insane how much one family contributed to the destruction of millions of Americans. One of my favorite works of narrative nonfiction.
]]> <![CDATA[Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism]]> 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 Namita 0 to-read, nonfiction 4.30 2025 Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism
author: Sarah Wynn-Williams
name: Namita
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read, nonfiction
review:

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

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

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

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Namita 5 fiction 4.11 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Namita
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> Mrs. Dalloway 14942 194 Virginia Woolf 0151009988 Namita 0 to-read, classics, fiction 3.80 1925 Mrs. Dalloway
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Namita
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1925
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read, classics, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns]]> 171127 216 John C. Bogle 0470102101 Namita 0 nonfiction, dnf, read-again 4.11 2007 The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns
author: John C. Bogle
name: Namita
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: nonfiction, dnf, read-again
review:

]]> Defiant (Skyward, #4) 43606308 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes the final book in an epic series about a girl who will travel beyond the stars to save the world she loves from destruction.

Spensa has made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she’s had about her own strange Cytonic gifts.

The Superiority didn’t stop in its fight for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa’s team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it’s only a matter of time until humanity–and the rest of the galaxy–falls.

Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: How far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself–and her friends–in the process.

The final book in the Skyward series will free humanity, or see it fall forever.]]> 420 Brandon Sanderson 0593309715 Namita 0 ya, scifi, to-read 4.28 2023 Defiant (Skyward, #4)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Namita
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: ya, scifi, to-read
review:

]]> The Return of Ellie Black 199798460
It’s been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she’s been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey’s line of work.

Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.

But something is not right with Ellie. She won’t say where she’s been, or who she’s protecting, and it’s up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken—and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.

The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page.]]> 299 Emiko Jean 1668023938 Namita 3 3.97 2024 The Return of Ellie Black
author: Emiko Jean
name: Namita
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)]]> 41161349
Fifteen-year-old Lauren Olamina lives inside a gated community with her preacher father, family, and neighbors, sheltered from the surrounding anarchy. In a society where any vulnerability is a risk, she suffers from hyperempathy, a debilitating sensitivity to others' pain.

Precocious and clear-eyed, Lauren must make her voice heard in order to protect her loved ones from the imminent disasters her small community stubbornly ignores. But what begins as a fight for survival soon leads to something much more: the birth of a new faith...and a startling vision of human destiny.

This highly acclaimed post-apocalyptic novel of hope and terror from award-winning author Octavia E. Butler “pairs well with 1984 or The Handmaid's Tale� (John Green, New York Times)—now with a new foreword by N. K. Jemisin.]]> 329 Octavia E. Butler 1538732181 Namita 0 to-read 4.17 1993 Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1)
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Namita
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Carrie Soto Is Back 60435878 Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the 'Battle-Axe' anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.]]> 384 Taylor Jenkins Reid 0593158687 Namita 0 to-read, fiction 4.19 2022 Carrie Soto Is Back
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Namita
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/03
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mistborn: The Final Empire (The Mistborn Saga, #1)]]> 60784489 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, the first book in the wildly successful Mistborn trilogy, now in trade paperback.
For a thousand years, ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years, the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years, the Lord Ruler reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when all hope was lost, the scarred, heartbroken half-Skaa Kelsier found in himself the powers of a Mistborn.
A brilliant thief and natural leader, Kelsier recruits the underworld's smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, who each share one of his many powers and relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream: not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers that she’s never dreamed of.


Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson

The Cosmere

The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Novella)
Oathbringer
Dawnshard (Novella)
Rhythm of War

The Mistborn trilogy
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages

Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning
The Lost Metal

Collection
Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels
Elantris
Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
The Scrivener's Bones
The Knights of Crystallia
The Shattered Lens
The Dark Talent
Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians

The Rithmatist series
 The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson

The Reckoners
Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity]]> 534 Brandon Sanderson 1250868289 Namita 0 to-read 4.54 2006 Mistborn: The Final Empire (The Mistborn Saga, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Namita
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell 214161672
Yet the cautious Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician. Young, handsome and daring, Jonathan Strange is his very antithesis. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men � which overwhelms that between England and France. And soon their own secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine…]]> 864 Susanna Clarke 1526681552 Namita 0 to-read 4.22 2004 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Namita
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Call Me by Your Name 34930873 Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliffside mansion on the Italian Riviera. Each is unprepared for the consequences of their attraction when, during the restless summer weeks, unrelenting currents of obsession, fascination, and desire intensify their passion and test the charged ground between them. Recklessly, the two verge toward the one thing both fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy.]]> 248 André Aciman 1250169445 Namita 0 to-read 4.18 2007 Call Me by Your Name
author: André Aciman
name: Namita
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Normal People 49833634
A year later, they're both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years at university, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. And as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.]]> 305 Sally Rooney 1984822187 Namita 0 to-read 3.75 2018 Normal People
author: Sally Rooney
name: Namita
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Before We Were Yours 32148570 Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge—until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents—but they quickly realize the dark truth. At the mercy of the facility’s cruel director, Rill fights to keep her sisters and brother together in a world of danger and uncertainty.

Aiken, South Carolina, present day. Born into wealth and privilege, Avery Stafford seems to have it all: a successful career as a federal prosecutor, a handsome fiancé, and a lavish wedding on the horizon. But when Avery returns home to help her father weather a health crisis, a chance encounter leaves her with uncomfortable questions and compels her to take a journey through her family’s long-hidden history, on a path that will ultimately lead either to devastation or to redemption.

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.]]> 342 Lisa Wingate 0425284689 Namita 2 historical-fiction 4.38 2017 Before We Were Yours
author: Lisa Wingate
name: Namita
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves: historical-fiction
review:
Not my thing. I really didn't like the author's writing style, and was fairly bored by all the smaller plots involving the modern day protagonist (her romances, political aspirations, etc). I honestly skimmed a lot of this book, but did find the core plot about the Tennessee Children's Home interesting and horrifying. I ended up googling more about Georgia Tann, and would definitely read a nonfiction book about this.
]]> <![CDATA[Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed]]> 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 Namita 5 nonfiction 4.36 2019 Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
author: Lori Gottlieb
name: Namita
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/20
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves: nonfiction
review:
This is a nonfiction memoir, but to me it was a bit of a self help book. It led to lots of introspection and I'm sure I will reread this one.
]]> Bright Young Women 203931725
The survivors, including key witness Pamela Schumacher, will be forever changed by this night. They have all become victims. But they tell their perspectives here, they remain masters of their stories. And they hunt the perpetrator on their own - against resistance from the justice system and the police; against public opinion, which idolizes the serial killer.]]> 400 Jessica Knoll 1501153234 Namita 0 to-read 4.01 2023 Bright Young Women
author: Jessica Knoll
name: Namita
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cytonic (Skyward, #3) 57571215
Now, the Superiority—the governing galactic alliance bent on dominating all human life—has started a galaxy-wide war. And Spensa has seen the weapons they plan to use to end it: the Delvers. Ancient, mysterious alien forces that can wipe out entire planetary systems in an instant. Spensa knows that no matter how many pilots the DDF has, there is no defeating this predator.

Except that Spensa is Cytonic. She faced down a Delver and saw something eerily familiar about it. And maybe, if she’s able to figure out what she is, she could be more than just another pilot in this unfolding war. She could save the galaxy.

The only way she can discover what she really is, though, is to leave behind all she knows and enter the Nowhere. A place from which few ever return.

To have courage means facing fear. And this mission is terrifying.]]> 415 Brandon Sanderson 0399555854 Namita 3 4.03 2021 Cytonic (Skyward, #3)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Namita
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/15
date added: 2024/06/15
shelves: 2022-goals, scifi, ya, 2024-goals
review:
Continuing my 2024 goal of catching up on series I started and never finished. I think this book felt too similar to the last book in the Skyward series and just felt really long for what felt like not that much payoff. But it was still entertainingly written. I'm hoping the conclusion to the series is better though.
]]> The Woman in Me 63133205 The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.

Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.]]> 288 Britney Spears 1668009048 Namita 4 bios-memoirs 3.83 2023 The Woman in Me
author: Britney Spears
name: Namita
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/05/20
shelves: bios-memoirs
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)]]> 22299763
Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.]]> 561 Leigh Bardugo Namita 4 fantasy, 2024-goals 4.58 2016 Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Namita
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/03
date added: 2024/05/03
shelves: fantasy, 2024-goals
review:
A fun book, but I don’t think I quite get the hype of it. Didn’t really hit me emotionally at all, but I still enjoyed reading the adventures overall.
]]> A Gentleman in Moscow 62329671 --back cover]]> 496 Amor Towles 0143110438 Namita 0 to-read 4.25 2016 A Gentleman in Moscow
author: Amor Towles
name: Namita
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Recursion 50612756 Reality is broken.

At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived. But the force that's sweeping the world is no pathogen. It's just the first shock wave, unleashed by a stunning discovery--and what's in jeopardy is not our minds but the very fabric of time itself.

In New York City, Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth--and in a remote laboratory, neuroscientist Helena Smith is unaware that she alone holds the key to this mystery . . . and the tools for fighting back.

Together, Barry and Helena will have to confront their enemy--before they, and the world, are trapped in a loop of ever-growing chaos.]]> 336 Blake Crouch 1524759791 Namita 4 scifi, 2022-goals, 2024-goals 4.19 2019 Recursion
author: Blake Crouch
name: Namita
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/11
date added: 2024/02/12
shelves: scifi, 2022-goals, 2024-goals
review:
Had such a fun time reading this book!! Crouch does an excellent job of writing very realistic and emotional characters/scenes amidst a very chaotic sci fi thriller background. Highly recommend :)
]]> <![CDATA[The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America]]> 397483
Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison.

The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims.

Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing. - John Moe]]> 464 Erik Larson 0609608444 Namita 4 nonfiction, 2022-goals 4.02 2003 The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
author: Erik Larson
name: Namita
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/18
date added: 2024/01/19
shelves: nonfiction, 2022-goals
review:
3.5 rounding up. I thought I was going to rate this lower, because I found the book fairly dull for the first 20ish% and like many other reviewers, I found the weaving of the World's Fair and Holmes stories awkward and unnecessary. I still think that it wasn't necessary to combine the telling of these 2 stories, and I think the book would've been better if it just focused on one of the topics (probably the World's Fair). However, the content of both topics got a lot more engaging in the latter part of the book. There was so much fascinating historical content relating to the World's Fair and reading about Holmes' manipulation tactics was also really interesting.
]]> Normal People 41057294
A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship.]]> 273 Sally Rooney 1984822179 Namita 0 3.81 2018 Normal People
author: Sally Rooney
name: Namita
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/04
shelves: to-read, fiction, romance, 2024-goals
review:

]]> I'm Glad My Mom Died 59364173
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,� eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?� She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!�), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.]]> 320 Jennette McCurdy Namita 5 bios-memoirs, 2024-goals
It's sad to think how common these types of experiences are amongst child actors who are fulfilling their parents dreams. Unfortunately with the rise of social media and family vlogging, there are even more avenues for parents to exploit their children for fame, and for children to become the breadwinners of their family at the cost of their own childhood.

I hope writing this book was therapeutic for McCurdy. I am happy she didn't accept the 300K hush money from Nickelodeon, and got to write her story on her own terms.]]> 4.45 2022 I'm Glad My Mom Died
author: Jennette McCurdy
name: Namita
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/01/03
date added: 2024/01/04
shelves: bios-memoirs, 2024-goals
review:
Oof. This was a really difficult read, but well worth it. I was familiar with the author from iCarly, but had mostly aged out of Nickelodeon by the time Sam & Cat came out. However, I don't think you need to have watched her shows to get something out of this memoir. This book is an extremely honest and brutal look at parental abuse, eating disorders, alcoholism, and more. It's horrifying to read what McCurdy went through in her childhood and what her mother put her through. Some of her descriptions of her experience with bulimia made me so squeamish, I had to skim those chapters in order to finish them.

It's sad to think how common these types of experiences are amongst child actors who are fulfilling their parents dreams. Unfortunately with the rise of social media and family vlogging, there are even more avenues for parents to exploit their children for fame, and for children to become the breadwinners of their family at the cost of their own childhood.

I hope writing this book was therapeutic for McCurdy. I am happy she didn't accept the 300K hush money from Nickelodeon, and got to write her story on her own terms.
]]> The Age of Innocence 53835 The Age of Innocence is Edith Wharton’s masterful portrait of desire and betrayal during the sumptuous Golden Age of Old New York, a time when society people “dreaded scandal more than disease.�

This is Newland Archer’s world as he prepares to marry the beautiful but conventional May Welland. But when the mysterious Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after a disastrous marriage, Archer falls deeply in love with her. Torn between duty and passion, Archer struggles to make a decision that will either courageously define his life—or mercilessly destroy it.]]> 293 Edith Wharton 159308143X Namita 0 to-read, classics, 2024-goals 3.96 1920 The Age of Innocence
author: Edith Wharton
name: Namita
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1920
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/03
shelves: to-read, classics, 2024-goals
review:

]]> The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1) 55196813
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it's too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.]]> 304 Nita Prose 0593356152 Namita 0 thriller-mystery 3.71 2022 The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1)
author: Nita Prose
name: Namita
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2022/01/31
date added: 2024/01/03
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)]]> 23437156 Alternate cover of ISBN 9781627792127

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager

A runaway with a privileged past

A spy known as the Wraith

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.]]> 480 Leigh Bardugo 1627792120 Namita 4 fantasy, 2022-goals
As for the story itself, it is at it's core a heist/prison break story with a lot of fantastical elements. Each chapter is told through the POV of a different character. I loved all the characters, they are all anti heros with their own tragic backstories, but their thoughts were full of a lot of dark humor that was entertaining to read. However, my main gripe with this book is I really don't understand why all the characters are teenagers. I understand they've all had very difficult lives and that must've aged them, but I still felt like their characterization made more sense if they were in their 20s. I just aged them up in my head.

Looking forward to reading Crooked Kingdom!]]> 4.47 2015 Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Namita
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/31
date added: 2024/01/03
shelves: fantasy, 2022-goals
review:
It's been a while since I've read Fantasy (HP rereads not counting), but I found myself really enjoying this book! It did take me a while to figure out all the fantasy terms being used, but I eventually got the hang of it. I hadn't realized that this book took place in the Grishaverse, I'm not sure if it would've been easier if I had read Shadow and Bone first, but I think it's fine to start with Six of Crows.

As for the story itself, it is at it's core a heist/prison break story with a lot of fantastical elements. Each chapter is told through the POV of a different character. I loved all the characters, they are all anti heros with their own tragic backstories, but their thoughts were full of a lot of dark humor that was entertaining to read. However, my main gripe with this book is I really don't understand why all the characters are teenagers. I understand they've all had very difficult lives and that must've aged them, but I still felt like their characterization made more sense if they were in their 20s. I just aged them up in my head.

Looking forward to reading Crooked Kingdom!
]]> The Namesake 33917 Interpreter of Maladies established this young writer as one the most brilliant of her generation. Her stories are one of the very few debut works -- and only a handful of collections -- to have won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Among the many other awards and honors it received were the New Yorker Debut of the Year award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the highest critical praise for its grace, acuity, and compassion in detailing lives transported from India to America.

In The Namesake, Lahiri enriches the themes that made her collection an international bestseller: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the conflicts of assimilation, and, most poignantly, the tangled ties between generations. Here again Lahiri displays her deft touch for the perfect detail � the fleeting moment, the turn of phrase � that opens whole worlds of emotion.

The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of their arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle together in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An engineer by training, Ashoke adapts far less warily than his wife, who resists all things American and pines for her family. When their son is born, the task of naming him betrays the vexed results of bringing old ways to the new world. Named for a Russian writer by his Indian parents in memory of a catastrophe years before, Gogol Ganguli knows only that he suffers the burden of his heritage as well as his odd, antic name.

Lahiri brings great empathy to Gogol as he stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. With penetrating insight, she reveals not only the defining power of the names and expectations bestowed upon us by our parents, but also the means by which we slowly, sometimes painfully, come to define ourselves.]]> 304 Jhumpa Lahiri 0618485228 Namita 0 4.01 2003 The Namesake
author: Jhumpa Lahiri
name: Namita
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/02
shelves: to-read, indian, 2022-goals, 2024-goals
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)]]> 2429135
An international publishing sensation, Stieg Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.]]> 480 Stieg Larsson 0670069019 Namita 0 4.17 2005 The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium #1)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Namita
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/01
shelves: to-read, fiction, thriller-mystery, 2024-goals
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Caliban’s War (The Expanse, #2)]]> 12591698
In the vast wilderness of space, James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante have been keeping the peace for the Outer Planets Alliance. When they agree to help a scientist search war-torn Ganymede for a missing child, the future of humanity rests on whether a single ship can prevent an alien invasion that may have already begun . . .]]> 624 James S.A. Corey 1841499900 Namita 0 to-read, scifi, 2024-goals 4.36 2012 Caliban’s War (The Expanse, #2)
author: James S.A. Corey
name: Namita
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/01
shelves: to-read, scifi, 2024-goals
review:

]]> Hell Bent (Alex Stern, #2) 34019110 Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell.

Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy “Alex� Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory―even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.

Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can’t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies� most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren’t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she’ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university’s very walls.

Thick with history and packed with Bardugo’s signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters.]]> 484 Leigh Bardugo 1250313112 Namita 0 to-read, fantasy, 2024-goals 4.20 2023 Hell Bent (Alex Stern, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Namita
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/01
shelves: to-read, fantasy, 2024-goals
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My Year of Rest and Relaxation]]> 44279110
Our narrator should be happy, shouldn’t she? She’s young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate, works an easy job at a hip art gallery, lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn’t just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It’s the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?

My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. Both tender and blackly funny, merciless and compassionate, it is a showcase for the gifts of one of our major writers working at the height of her powers.]]> 289 Ottessa Moshfegh 0525522131 Namita 0 to-read, fiction 3.62 2018 My Year of Rest and Relaxation
author: Ottessa Moshfegh
name: Namita
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/30
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow]]> 58784475 In this exhilarating novel, two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.]]> 401 Gabrielle Zevin 0735243344 Namita 0 to-read, fiction 4.12 2022 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
author: Gabrielle Zevin
name: Namita
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile� humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die]]> 528 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 Namita 0 to-read, fantasy 4.56 2023 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Namita
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves: to-read, fantasy
review:

]]> Spoonbenders 32842453
Meet the Telemachuses: an apparently ordinary family with strikingly obvious issues. Their individual personalities are eccentric, their intergenerational relationships are strained, their collective failures are well documented, and their finances are, well, let's not even go there.

The city is Chicago.

For Grandson Matty Telemachus, this is just the way things have always been. The only person who has ever tried to convince him otherwise is his hapless Uncle Frankie, who rushes to retrieve 'that video tape' every time he consumes too much red wine at Thanksgiving.

The family is dysfunctional.

This cassette is proof that the family - Grandad Teddy, Grandma Maureen, Aunt Irene, Uncle Frankie and Uncle Buddy - were once known as The Amazing Telemachus Family, and toured the country with a magic and mind-reading act. That was, until on fateful night in 1974...

So is the magic.

Spoonbenders is the legacy and legend of an extraordinary, normal, entirely unique family across three generations of big personalities and socially inept recluses - each cursed with the potential of being something special.]]> 399 Daryl Gregory 152473182X Namita 0 to-read, fantasy 3.83 2017 Spoonbenders
author: Daryl Gregory
name: Namita
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves: to-read, fantasy
review:

]]> Bright Young Women 101124639
The survivors, including key witness Pamela Schumacher, will be forever changed by this night. They have all become victims. But they tell their perspectives here, they remain masters of their stories. And they hunt the perpetrator on their own - against resistance from the justice system and the police; against public opinion, which idolizes the serial killer.]]> 384 Jessica Knoll 1501153226 Namita 0 to-read, fiction 3.99 2023 Bright Young Women
author: Jessica Knoll
name: Namita
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/26
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1)]]> 60556912
Every day I clean the Winchesters� beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out� and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of�

An unbelievably twisty read that will have you glued to the pages late into the night. Anyone who loves The Woman in the Window, The Wife Between Us and The Girl on the Train won’t be able to put this down!]]> 329 Freida McFadden 1803144378 Namita 0 to-read, thriller-mystery 4.31 2022 The Housemaid (The Housemaid, #1)
author: Freida McFadden
name: Namita
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/25
shelves: to-read, thriller-mystery
review:

]]> The Broken Girls 35533431 A suspense novel from the award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare...

Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . .

Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past--and a voice that won't be silenced. . . .]]> 336 Simone St. James Namita 4 thriller-mystery 4.06 2018 The Broken Girls
author: Simone St. James
name: Namita
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/27
date added: 2023/09/27
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:

]]> Jane Eyre 10210 Alternate editions can be found here and here.

A gothic masterpiece of tempestuous passions and dark secrets, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is edited with an introduction and notes by Stevie Davis in Penguin Classics.

Charlotte Brontë tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall's terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions - even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.]]> 532 Charlotte Brontë 0142437204 Namita 3 4.14 1847 Jane Eyre
author: Charlotte Brontë
name: Namita
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1847
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/21
date added: 2023/09/21
shelves: 2021-planned, classics, 2022-goals
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror and Deliverance in the City of Love]]> 12352452
Season of the Witch is the first book to fully capture the dark magic of San Francisco in this breathtaking period, when the city radically changed itself & then revolutionized the world. The cool gray city of love was the epicenter of the 60s cultural revolution. But by the early 70s, San Francisco’s ecstatic experiment came crashing down from its starry heights. The city was rocked by savage murder sprees, mysterious terror campaigns, political assassinations, street riots & finally a terrifying sexual epidemic. No other city endured so many calamities in such a short time span.

Talbot goes deep into the riveting story of his city’s ascent, decline & heroic recovery. He draws intimate portraits of San Francisco’s legendary demons & saviors: Charles Manson, Patty Hearst & the Symbionese Liberation Army, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Bill Graham, Herb Caen, the Cockettes, Harvey Milk, Jim Jones & the Peoples Temple, Joe Montana & the Super Bowl 49ers.

He reveals how the city emerged from the trials of this period with a new brand of “San Francisco values,� including gay marriage, medical marijuana, immigration sanctuary, universal health care, recycling, renewable energy, consumer safety & a living wage mandate. Considered radical when they were first introduced, these ideas have become the bedrock of decent society in many parts of the country & exemplify the ways that the city now inspires a live-and-let-live tolerance, a shared sense of humanity & an openness to change.

As a new generation of activists & dreamers seeks its own path to a more enlightened future, Season of the Witch—with its epic tale of the wild & bloody birth of San Francisco values—offers both inspiration & cautionary wisdom.]]> 453 David Talbot 1439108218 Namita 0 to-read, nonfiction 4.28 2012 Season of the Witch: Enchantment, Terror and Deliverance in the City of Love
author: David Talbot
name: Namita
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/02
shelves: to-read, nonfiction
review:

]]> Verity 43225180
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.]]> 323 Colleen Hoover 1791392792 Namita 2 thriller-mystery 4.27 2018 Verity
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Namita
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2023/05/07
date added: 2023/07/16
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:
I've only managed to read one book this year and I'm so sad this is the one.
]]> <![CDATA[Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking]]> 30753841
In the tradition of The Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything comes Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, an ambitious new approach to cooking by a major new culinary voice. Chef and writer Samin Nosrat has taught everyone from professional chefs to middle school kids to author Michael Pollan to cook using her revolutionary, yet simple, philosophy. Master the use of just four elements—Salt, which enhances flavor; Fat, which delivers flavor and generates texture; Acid, which balances flavor; and Heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food—and anything you cook will be delicious. By explaining the hows and whys of good cooking, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will teach and inspire a new generation of cooks how to confidently make better decisions in the kitchen and cook delicious meals with any ingredients, anywhere, at any time.

Echoing Samin’s own journey from culinary novice to award-winning chef, Salt, Fat Acid, Heat immediately bridges the gap between home and professional kitchens. With charming narrative, illustrated walkthroughs, and a lighthearted approach to kitchen science, Samin demystifies the four elements of good cooking for everyone. Refer to the canon of 100 essential recipes—and dozens of variations—to put the lessons into practice and make bright, balanced vinaigrettes, perfectly caramelized roast vegetables, tender braised meats, and light, flaky pastry doughs.

Featuring 150 illustrations and infographics that reveal an atlas to the world of flavor by renowned illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will be your compass in the kitchen. Destined to be a classic, it just might be the last cookbook you’ll ever need.

With a foreword by Michael Pollan.]]> 480 Samin Nosrat 1476753830 Namita 0 to-read 4.39 2017 Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
author: Samin Nosrat
name: Namita
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams]]> 36294636 �Why We Sleep is an important and fascinating book…Walker taught me a lot about this basic activity that every person on Earth needs. I suspect his book will do the same for you.� —Bill Gates

A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this “stimulating and important book� (Financial Times) is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber.

With two appearances on CBS This Morning and Fresh Air's most popular interview of 2017, Matthew Walker has made abundantly clear that sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life. Until very recently, science had no answer to the question of why we sleep, or what good it served, or why we suffer such devastating health consequences when it is absent. Compared to the other basic drives in life—eating, drinking, and reproducing—the purpose of sleep remains more elusive.

Within the brain, sleep enriches a diversity of functions, including our ability to learn, memorize, and make logical decisions. It recalibrates our emotions, restocks our immune system, fine-tunes our metabolism, and regulates our appetite. Dreaming creates a virtual reality space in which the brain melds past and present knowledge, inspiring creativity.

In this “compelling and utterly convincing� (The Sunday Times) book, preeminent neuroscientist and sleep expert Matthew Walker provides a revolutionary exploration of sleep, examining how it affects every aspect of our physical and mental well-being. Charting the most cutting-edge scientific breakthroughs, and marshalling his decades of research and clinical practice, Walker explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood and energy levels, regulate hormones, prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes, slow the effects of aging, and increase longevity. He also provides actionable steps towards getting a better night’s sleep every night.

Clear-eyed, fascinating, and accessible, Why We Sleep is a crucial and illuminating book. Written with the precision of Atul Gawande, Andrew Solomon, and Sherwin Nuland, it is “recommended for night-table reading in the most pragmatic sense� (The New York Times Book Review).]]> 360 Matthew Walker 1501144332 Namita 0 4.44 2017 Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
author: Matthew Walker
name: Namita
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/16
shelves: nonfiction, audiobooks, book-club-s, to-read
review:

]]> The Night Shift 57693427
Fifteen years later, in the same town, four teenage employees working late at an ice cream store are attacked, and again only one makes it out alive.

Both surviving victims recall the killer speaking only a few final words... “Goodnight, pretty girl.�

In the aftermath, three lives intersect: the survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive her tragedy; the brother of the original suspect, who’s convinced the police have it wrong; and the FBI agent, who’s determined to solve both cases. On a collision course toward the truth, all three lives will forever be changed, and not everyone will make it out alive.

Twisty, poignant, and redemptive, The Night Shift is a story about the legacy of trauma and how the broken can come out on the other side, and it solidifies Alex Finlay as one of the new leading voices in the world of thrillers.]]> 312 Alex Finlay 1250268885 Namita 4 thriller-mystery 3.87 2022 The Night Shift
author: Alex Finlay
name: Namita
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/16
date added: 2023/01/17
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:

]]> Lying in Wait 36373425 My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.

On the surface, Lydia Fitzsimons has the perfect life—wife of a respected, successful judge, mother to a beloved son, mistress of a beautiful house in Dublin. That beautiful house, however, holds a secret. And when Lydia’s son, Laurence, discovers its secret, wheels are set in motion that lead to an increasingly claustrophobic and devastatingly dark climax.

From the international bestselling author of Unraveling Oliver, an “unputdownable psychological thriller with an ending that lingers long after turning the final page� (The Irish Times) about a Dublin family whose dark secrets and twisted relationships are suddenly revealed.]]> 320 Liz Nugent 1501167774 Namita 4 thriller-mystery 3.76 2016 Lying in Wait
author: Liz Nugent
name: Namita
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2022/11/24
date added: 2022/11/24
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:

]]> The Test 41940388 Idir is sitting the British Citizenship Test.
He wants his family to belong.

Twenty-five questions to determine their fate. Twenty-five chances to impress.

When the test takes an unexpected and tragic turn, Idir is handed the power of life and death.
How do you value a life when all you have is multiple choice?]]> 108 Sylvain Neuvel 1250312833 Namita 3 scifi 3.82 2019 The Test
author: Sylvain Neuvel
name: Namita
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/11/20
shelves: scifi
review:

]]> Every Last Fear 54615805 In one of the year’s most anticipated debut psychological thrillers, a family made infamous by a true crime documentary is found dead, leaving their surviving son to uncover the truth about their final days.

“They found the bodies on a Tuesday.� So begins this twisty and breathtaking novel that traces the fate of the Pine family, a thriller that will both leave you on the edge of your seat and move you to tears.

After a late night of partying, NYU student Matt Pine returns to his dorm room to devastating news: nearly his entire family—his mom, his dad, his little brother and sister—have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department seem far less certain—and they won’t tell Matt why.

The tragedy makes headlines everywhere because this isn’t the first time the Pine family has been thrust into the media spotlight. Matt’s older brother, Danny—currently serving a life sentence for the murder of his teenage girlfriend Charlotte—was the subject of a viral true crime documentary suggesting that Danny was wrongfully convicted. Though the country has rallied behind Danny, Matt holds a secret about his brother that he’s never told anyone: the night Charlotte was killed Matt saw something that makes him believe his brother is guilty of the crime.

When Matt returns to his small hometown to bury his parents and siblings, he’s faced with a hostile community that was villainized by the documentary, a frenzied media, and memories he’d hoped to leave behind forever. Now, as the deaths in Mexico appear increasingly suspicious and connected to Danny’s case, Matt must unearth the truth behind the crime that sent his brother to prison—putting his own life in peril—and forcing him to confront his every last fear.

Told through multiple points-of-view and alternating between past and present, Every Last Fear is not only a page-turning thriller, it’s also a poignant story about a family managing heartbreak and tragedy, and living through a fame they never wanted.]]> 368 Alex Finlay 1250268834 Namita 5 thriller-mystery 4.14 2021 Every Last Fear
author: Alex Finlay
name: Namita
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/26
date added: 2022/10/26
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:

]]> Several People Are Typing 54468020
Told entirely through clever and captivating Slack messages, this irresistible, relatable satire of both virtual work and contemporary life is The Office for a new world.

Gerald, a mid-level employee of a New York–based public relations firm has been uploaded into the company’s internal Slack channels—at least his consciousness has. His colleagues assume it’s an elaborate gag to exploit the new work-from home policy, but now that Gerald’s productivity is through the roof, his bosses are only too happy to let him work from . . . wherever he says he is.

Faced with the looming abyss of a disembodied life online, Gerald enlists his co-worker Pradeep to help him escape, and to find out what happened to his body. But the longer Gerald stays in the void, the more alluring and absurd his reality becomes.

Meanwhile, Gerald’s colleagues have PR catastrophes of their own to handle in the real world. Their biggest client, a high-end dog food company, is in the midst of recalling a bad batch of food that’s allegedly poisoning Pomeranians nationwide. And their CEO suspects someone is sabotaging his office furniture. And if Gerald gets to work from home all the time, why can’t everyone? Is true love possible between two people, when one is just a line of text in an app? And what in the hell does the :dusty-stick: emoji mean?

In a time when office paranoia and politics have followed us home, Calvin Kasulke is here to capture the surprising, absurd, and fully-relatable factors attacking our collective sanity…and give us hope that we can still find a human connection.]]> 256 Calvin Kasulke Namita 3 3.63 2021 Several People Are Typing
author: Calvin Kasulke
name: Namita
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/10/20
date added: 2022/10/20
shelves:
review:

]]> People We Meet on Vacation 54985743 Two best friends. Ten summer trips. One last chance to fall in love.

Poppy and Alex. Alex and Poppy. They have nothing in common. She’s a wild child; he wears khakis. She has insatiable wanderlust; he prefers to stay home with a book. And somehow, ever since a fateful car share home from college many years ago, they are the very best of friends. For most of the year they live far apart—she’s in New York City, and he’s in their small hometown—but every summer, for a decade, they have taken one glorious week of vacation together.

Until two years ago, when they ruined everything. They haven’t spoken since.

Poppy has everything she should want, but she’s stuck in a rut. When someone asks when she was last truly happy, she knows, without a doubt, it was on that ill-fated, final trip with Alex. And so, she decides to convince her best friend to take one more vacation together—lay everything on the table, make it all right. Miraculously, he agrees.

Now she has a week to fix everything. If only she can get around the one big truth that has always stood quietly in the middle of their seemingly perfect relationship. What could possibly go wrong?]]> 400 Emily Henry 1984806750 Namita 3 book-club-s, fiction, romance 3.85 2021 People We Meet on Vacation
author: Emily Henry
name: Namita
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/03/03
date added: 2022/03/03
shelves: book-club-s, fiction, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)]]> 40411206
In Talking as Fast as I Can, Lauren Graham hits pause for a moment and looks back on her life, sharing laugh-out-loud stories about growing up, starting out as an actress, and, years later, sitting in her trailer on the Parenthood set and asking herself, “Did you, um, make it?� She opens up about the challenges of being single in Hollywood (“Strangers were worried about me; that’s how long I was single!�), the time she was asked to audition her butt for a role, and her experience being a judge on Project Runway (“It’s like I had a fashion-induced blackout�).

In “What It Was Like, Part One,� Graham sits down for an epic Gilmore Girls marathon and reflects on being cast as the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore. The essay “What It Was Like, Part Two� reveals how it felt to pick up the role again nine years later, and what doing so has meant to her.

Some more things you will learn about Lauren: She once tried to go vegan just to bond with Ellen DeGeneres, she’s aware that meeting guys at awards shows has its pitfalls (“If you’re meeting someone for the first time after three hours of hair, makeup, and styling, you’ve already set the bar too high�), and she’s a card-carrying REI shopper (“My bungee cords now earn points!�).

Including photos and excerpts from the diary Graham kept during the filming of the recent Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, and—of course—talking as fast as you can.]]> 224 Lauren Graham 0425285189 Namita 0 to-read, bios-memoirs 3.92 2016 Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls (and Everything in Between)
author: Lauren Graham
name: Namita
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/01
shelves: to-read, bios-memoirs
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together (One World Essentials)]]> 59452400 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD - One of today's most insightful and influential thinkers offers a powerful exploration of inequality and the lesson that generations of Americans have failed to learn: Racism has a cost for everyone--not just for people of color.

WINNER OF THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD - ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, The Washington Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ms. magazine, BookRiot, Library Journal - LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL - "This is the book I've been waiting for."--Ibram X. Kendi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Be an Antiracist

Heather McGhee's specialty is the American economy--and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. From the financial crisis of 2008 to rising student debt to collapsing public infrastructure, she found a root problem: racism in our politics and policymaking. But not just in the most obvious indignities for people of color. Racism has costs for white people, too. It is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all. But how did this happen? And is there a way out?

McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Maine to Mississippi to California, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm--the idea that progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix of American racism and greed. This is the story of how public goods in this country--from parks and pools to functioning schools--have become private luxuries; of how unions collapsed, wages stagnated, and inequality increased; and of how this country, unique among the world's advanced economies, has thwarted universal healthcare.

But in unlikely places of worship and work, McGhee finds proof of what she calls the Solidarity Dividend: the benefits we gain when people come together across race to accomplish what we simply can't do on our own. The Sum of Us is not only a brilliant analysis of how we arrived here but also a heartfelt message, delivered with startling empathy, from a black woman to a multiracial America. It leaves us with a new vision for a future in which we finally realize that life can be more than a zero-sum game.]]> 464 Heather McGhee 0525509585 Namita 0 to-read, nonfiction 4.59 2021 The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together (One World Essentials)
author: Heather McGhee
name: Namita
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/19
shelves: to-read, nonfiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan, #1)]]> 57693545
When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer, and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet . . . Soon, Finlay discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation.

Fast-paced, deliciously witty, and wholeheartedly authentic in depicting the frustrations and triumphs of motherhood in all its messiness, hilarity, and heartfelt moment, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It is the first in a brilliant new series from YA Edgar Award nominee Elle Cosimano.

"Getting the job done" for one single mom takes on a whole new meaning in Finlay Donovan is Killing It.]]> 363 Elle Cosimano 1250830443 Namita 0 to-read, thriller-mystery 4.07 2021 Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan, #1)
author: Elle Cosimano
name: Namita
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/19
shelves: to-read, thriller-mystery
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fresh Brewed Murder (A Ground Rules Mystery #1)]]> 54445310 Master barista Sage Caplin is opening a new coffee cart in Portland, Oregon, but a killer is brewing up a world of trouble....

Portland is famous for its rain, hipsters, craft beers...and coffee. Sage Caplin has high hopes for her coffee cart, Ground Rules, which she runs with her business partner, Harley - a genius at roasting beans and devising new blends. That's essential in a city where locals have intensely strong opinions about cappuccino versus macchiato - especially in the case of one of Sage's very first customers....

Sage finds the man's body in front of her cart, a fatal slash across his neck. There's been plenty of anger in the air, from longtime vendors annoyed at Ground Rules taking a coveted spot in the food truck lot, to protesters demonstrating against a new high-rise. But who was mad enough to commit murder? Sage is already fending off trouble in the form of her estranged, con artist mother, who's trying to trickle back into her life. But when Sage's very own box cutter is discovered to be the murder weapon, she needs to focus on finding the killer fast - before her business, and her life, come to a bitter end . . .]]> 233 Emmeline Duncan 1496733398 Namita 4 3.52 2021 Fresh Brewed Murder (A Ground Rules Mystery #1)
author: Emmeline Duncan
name: Namita
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/18
date added: 2022/01/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)]]> 11
Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod's girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don't forget to bring a towel!]]> 216 Douglas Adams Namita 3 scifi, 2022-goals 4.21 1979 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
author: Douglas Adams
name: Namita
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1979
rating: 3
read at: 2022/01/11
date added: 2022/01/11
shelves: scifi, 2022-goals
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)]]> 2
Harry has had enough. He is beginning to think he must do something, anything, to change his situation, when the summer holidays come to an end in a very dramatic fashion. What Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down...]]> 912 J.K. Rowling Namita 0 fantasy 4.50 2003 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Namita
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at: 2022/01/10
date added: 2022/01/10
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> The Hacienda 57840571 Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote house, a sinister haunting, and the woman pulled into their clutches...

In the overthrow of the Mexican government, Beatriz’s father is executed and her home destroyed. When handsome Don Rodolfo Solórzano proposes, Beatriz ignores the rumors surrounding his first wife’s sudden demise, choosing instead to seize the security his estate in the countryside provides. She will have her own home again, no matter the cost.

But Hacienda San Isidro is not the sanctuary she imagined.

When Rodolfo returns to work in the capital, visions and voices invade Beatriz’s sleep. The weight of invisible eyes follows her every move. Rodolfo’s sister, Juana, scoffs at Beatriz’s fears—but why does she refuse to enter the house at night? Why does the cook burn copal incense at the edge of the kitchen and mark its doorway with strange symbols? What really happened to the first Doña Solórzano?

Beatriz only knows two things for certain: Something is wrong with the hacienda. And no one there will help her.

Desperate for help, she clings to the young priest, Padre Andrés, as an ally. No ordinary priest, Andrés will have to rely on his skills as a witch to fight off the malevolent presence haunting the hacienda and protect the woman for whom he feels a powerful, forbidden attraction. But even he might not be enough to battle the darkness.

Far from a refuge, San Isidro may be Beatriz’s doom.]]> 352 Isabel Cañas Namita 0 to-read, horror 3.83 2022 The Hacienda
author: Isabel Cañas
name: Namita
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/03
shelves: to-read, horror
review:

]]> She's Too Pretty to Burn 51591602
The summer is winding down in San Diego. Veronica is bored, caustically charismatic, and uninspired in her photography. Nico is insatiable, subversive, and obsessed with chaotic performance art. They’re artists first, best friends second. But that was before Mick. Delicate, lonely, magnetic the perfect subject, and Veronica’s dream girl. The days are long and hot―full of adventure―and soon they are falling in love. Falling so hard, they never imagine what comes next. One fire. Two murders. Three drowning bodies. One suspect . . . one stalker. This is a summer they won’t survive.

Inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray , this sexy psychological thriller explores the intersections of love, art, danger, and power.

Christy Ottaviano Books]]> 336 Wendy Heard 125024675X Namita 0 to-read, thriller-mystery, ya 3.63 2021 She's Too Pretty to Burn
author: Wendy Heard
name: Namita
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/02
shelves: to-read, thriller-mystery, ya
review:

]]> <![CDATA[She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1)]]> 48727813 Two-time British Fantasy Award Winner
Astounding Award Winner
Lambda Literary Award Finalist
Hugo Award Finalist
Locus Award Finalist
Otherwise Award Finalist

"Magnificent in every way."—Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree

"A dazzling new world of fate, war, love and betrayal."—Zen Cho, author of Black Water Sister

She Who Became the Sun reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor.

To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything

“I refuse to be nothing…�

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness�

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future her brother's abandoned greatness.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 416 Shelley Parker-Chan 1250621798 Namita 0 3.87 2021 She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1)
author: Shelley Parker-Chan
name: Namita
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/02
shelves: to-read, fantasy, historical-fiction
review:

]]> The Very Nice Box 54310999
But when Ava’s new boss—the young and magnetic Mat Putnam—offers Ava a ride home one afternoon, an unlikely relationship blossoms. Ava remembers how rewarding it can be to open up—and, despite her instincts, she becomes enamored. But Mat isn’t who he claims to be, and the romance takes a sharp turn.

The Very Nice Box is a wryly funny, suspenseful debut—with a shocking twist. It’s at once a send-up of male entitlement and a big-hearted account of grief, friendship, and trust.]]> 320 Laura Blackett Namita 4 book-club-s, fiction 3.76 2021 The Very Nice Box
author: Laura Blackett
name: Namita
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/01
date added: 2022/01/02
shelves: book-club-s, fiction
review:
4.5. I feel like it’s hard to review this book without spoiling it. It’s more fun to go in not knowing what to expect. I’ll just say that I really enjoyed the writing on a lot of the themes touched on in this book, including corporate culture and toxic masculinity. The only reason this book didn’t get 5 stars from me is I found parts of it predictable, and I was a bit confused by the ending. I still loved reading it and would definitely recommend!
]]> <![CDATA[Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI]]> 29496196
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. Her relatives were shot and poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more members of the tribe began to die under mysterious circumstances.

In this last remnant of the Wild West—where oilmen such as J. P. Getty made their fortunes and where desperadoes such as Al Spencer, the “Phantom Terror,� roamed—many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered. As the death toll climbed to more than twenty-four, the relatively new FBI took over. It was one of the organization’s first major homicide cases but the bureau badly bungled the investigation. In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including an American Indian agents in the bureau. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.

In Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann revisits a shocking series of crimes in which dozens of people were murdered in cold blood. Based on years of research and startling new evidence, the book is a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, as each step in the investigation reveals a series of sinister secrets and reversals. But more than that, it is a searing indictment of the callousness and prejudice toward American Indians that allowed the murderers to operate with impunity for so long. Killers of the Flower Moon is utterly compelling, but also emotionally devastating.]]> 338 David Grann 0385534248 Namita 5 nonfiction, book-club-s 4.20 2017 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
author: David Grann
name: Namita
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/30
date added: 2022/01/02
shelves: nonfiction, book-club-s
review:
What a horrific story. To know that it is real and forgotten by most of us makes it even more painful. Would highly recommend this book to anyone. Everyone can benefit from learning about how the Osage Indians were murdered, and the govt corruption that allowed it to happen.
]]> Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell 14201
Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange.

Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.]]> 1006 Susanna Clarke Namita 0 to-read, fantasy, 2022-goals 3.84 2004 Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Namita
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/30
shelves: to-read, fantasy, 2022-goals
review:

]]> Sea of Tranquility 58446227 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.

One of the Best Books of the Year: The New York Times, NPR, GoodReads

"One of [Mandel's] finest novels and one of her most satisfying forays into the arena of speculative fiction yet." --The New York Times

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal--an experience that shocks him to his core.

Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She's traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive's best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.]]> 259 Emily St. John Mandel 0593321448 Namita 0 to-read, scifi 4.04 2022 Sea of Tranquility
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Namita
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/30
shelves: to-read, scifi
review:

]]> Violeta 57933338 The epic story of Violeta del Valle, a woman whose life spans one hundred years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century.

Violeta comes into the world on a stormy day in 1920, the first girl in a family of five boisterous sons. From the start, her life will be marked by extraordinary events, for the ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth.

Through her father's prescience, the family will come through that crisis unscathed, only to face a new one as the Great Depression transforms the genteel city life she has known. Her family loses all and is forced to retreat to a wild and beautiful but remote part of the country. There, she will come of age, and her first suitor will come calling. . . .

She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, times of both poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. Her life will be shaped by some of the most important events of history: the fight for women's rights, the rise and fall of tyrants, and, ultimately, not one but two pandemics.

Told through the eyes of a woman whose unforgettable passion, determination, and sense of humor will carry her through a lifetime of upheaval, Isabel Allende once more brings us an epic that is both fiercely inspiring and deeply emotional.]]> 322 Isabel Allende 0593496205 Namita 0 to-read, historical-fiction 3.97 2022 Violeta
author: Isabel Allende
name: Namita
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/30
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon]]> 3398625 The Lost City of Z is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable jungle canopy of the Amazon.

After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, New Yorker writer David Grann set out to solve "the greatest exploration mystery of the 20th century": What happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett & his quest for the Lost City of Z?

In 1925, Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world's largest jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humans. But Fawcett, whose daring expeditions inspired Conan Doyle's The Lost World, had spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the imagination of millions round the globe, Fawcett embarked with his 21-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient civilisation--which he dubbed Z--existed. Then his expedition vanished. Fawcett's fate, & the tantalizing clues he left behind about Z, became an obsession for hundreds who followed him into the uncharted wilderness.

For decades scientists & adventurers have searched for evidence of Fawcett's party & the lost City of Z. Countless have perished, been captured by tribes or gone mad. As Grann delved ever deeper into the mystery surrounding Fawcett's quest, & the greater mystery of what lies within the Amazon, he found himself, like the generations who preceded him, being irresistibly drawn into the jungle's green hell. His quest for the truth & discoveries about Fawcett's fate & Z form the heart of this complexly enthralling narrative.]]> 339 David Grann 0385513534 Namita 0 to-read, nonfiction 3.87 2009 The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
author: David Grann
name: Namita
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/30
shelves: to-read, nonfiction
review:

]]> Dune (Dune, #1) 234225 Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the "spice" melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for...

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul's family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.]]> 604 Frank Herbert 0340839937 Namita 0 to-read, scifi, 2022-goals 4.21 1965 Dune (Dune, #1)
author: Frank Herbert
name: Namita
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1965
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/28
shelves: to-read, scifi, 2022-goals
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]]> 36402034 258 Philip K. Dick Namita 3 2021-planned, scifi
SPOILERS BELOW
First off, I think there is a plothole and it contradicts the action packed middle of the book. The Baty’s confirm that all the Androids that Deckard was after came on the same ship, including Garland and Polokov. So Garland saying he didn’t know Polokov was an Android didn’t make sense, and even if his memory was modified to not remember Polokov, it still doesn’t make sense why he would invite in Resch to confront Deckard. I did try googling this to see if there was any explanation, I found others with the same question, but no definitive answers, so if anyone has one I would appreciate it. I was also not very satisfied by Rachel’s or Mercer’s conclusion. ]]> 4.16 1968 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Namita
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1968
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/27
date added: 2021/12/28
shelves: 2021-planned, scifi
review:
3.5. I really wanted to read this Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? because it takes place in 2021! Thankfully our current Earth doesn’t look like the Earth described in the book - at least not yet. It had a slow start, but I actually got really into it in the middle of the book. I was trying to figure out what characters were actually Androids and how Deckard would deal with his conflicting feelings about the Androids he was tasked to kill. However, the ending just didn’t have a payoff for me.

SPOILERS BELOW
First off, I think there is a plothole and it contradicts the action packed middle of the book. The Baty’s confirm that all the Androids that Deckard was after came on the same ship, including Garland and Polokov. So Garland saying he didn’t know Polokov was an Android didn’t make sense, and even if his memory was modified to not remember Polokov, it still doesn’t make sense why he would invite in Resch to confront Deckard. I did try googling this to see if there was any explanation, I found others with the same question, but no definitive answers, so if anyone has one I would appreciate it. I was also not very satisfied by Rachel’s or Mercer’s conclusion.
]]> The House of the Spirits 9328
The House of the Spirits is an enthralling saga that spans decades and lives, twining the personal and the political into an epic novel of love, magic, and fate.]]> 448 Isabel Allende 0553383809 Namita 0 to-read, fiction, 2022-goals 4.26 1982 The House of the Spirits
author: Isabel Allende
name: Namita
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/28
shelves: to-read, fiction, 2022-goals
review:

]]> The Stand 149267 For hundreds of thousands of fans who read The Stand in its original version and wanted more, this new edition is Stephen King's gift. And those who are listening to The Stand for the first time will discover a triumphant and eerily plausible work of the imagination that takes on the issues that will determine our survival.]]> 1152 Stephen King Namita 0 4.35 1978 The Stand
author: Stephen King
name: Namita
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1978
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/27
shelves: to-read, 2021-planned, horror, 2022-goals
review:

]]> The Push 52476830 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family–and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for–and everything she feared.

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.

But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter–she doesn’t behave like most children do.

Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she’s imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.

Then their son Sam is born–and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she’d always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.

The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed.]]> 307 Ashley Audrain 1984881663 Namita 0 4.03 2021 The Push
author: Ashley Audrain
name: Namita
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/27
shelves: to-read, thriller-mystery, 2022-goals
review:

]]> Passing 349929 Alternate Cover Edition for 9780142437278.

“I’ve often wondered why more coloured girls…never â€passedâ€� over. It’s such a frightfully easy thing to do. If one’s the type, all that’s needed is a little nerve.â€�

Clare Kendry leads a dangerous life. Fair, elegant, and ambitious, she is married to a white man unaware of her African American heritage, and has severed all ties to her past. Clare’s childhood friend, Irene Redfield, just as light-skinned, has chosen to remain within the African American community, but refuses to acknowledge the racism that continues to constrict her family’s happiness. A chance encounter forces both women to confront the lies they have told others—and the secret fears they have buried within themselves.

First published in 1929, Passing is a remarkably candid exploration of shifting racial and sexual boundaries. As acclaimed Larsen biographer Thadious M. Davis writes in her introduction, this landmark novel by the Harlem Renaissance’s premier woman writer also depicts “the golden days of black cultural consciousness.�

Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Thadious M. Davis]]> 122 Nella Larsen Namita 4 classics, book-club-s 3.93 1929 Passing
author: Nella Larsen
name: Namita
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1929
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/02
date added: 2021/12/27
shelves: classics, book-club-s
review:

]]> A Man Called Ove 18774964
Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.]]> 337 Fredrik Backman 1476738017 Namita 4 fiction, book-club-s 4.35 2012 A Man Called Ove
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Namita
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/21
date added: 2021/12/27
shelves: fiction, book-club-s
review:
I think if I read this book in one sitting, I would have absolutely loved it and it might have been a 5 star read for me. Backman is an excellent writer, and I adore his ability to write about very heavy topics with levity and dry humor. The main issue I had with this book was with Ove himself. It was a bit frustrating to see that anything good he did for others was only due to the instructions of the women in his life. Overall, I still recommend this book as an easy and heartwarming read, but I personally enjoyed Anxious People more than A Man Called Ove.
]]> The Song of Achilles 13623848 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062060624.

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.]]> 408 Madeline Miller Namita 0 to-read, historical-fiction 4.30 2011 The Song of Achilles
author: Madeline Miller
name: Namita
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/25
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> Rock Paper Scissors 56269064 Think you know the person you married? Think again�

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts � paper, cotton, pottery, tin � and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

Rock Paper Scissors is the latest exciting domestic thriller from the queen of the killer twist, New York Times bestselling author Alice Feeney.]]> 294 Alice Feeney 1250266106 Namita 4 thriller-mystery

MAJOR ENDING SPOILERS START









Obviously Feeney didn’t want us to know that Amelia was the second wife, so she wrote things ambiguously. But with knowing the twist some of the stuff Amelia said just didn’t make sense. Like in the first chapter she went on and on about how her husband was aging into good looks, and she felt she looked so much older, but in reality they’ve been together for 2-3 years, how much could she have really changed? Also, I still don’t understand why in the beginning of the book, Amelia said only one of them would be returning from that weekend if it didn’t go well. I thought she was also plotting to kill Adam, but nothing happened with that threat.








MAJOR ENDING SPOILERS END


I felt like part of the reason I didn’t see the twist coming, is because the setup to it didn’t make sense. If you reread the beginning chapters after finishing the book, it feels like there are still loose ends. But if you don’t think about it too hard, it’s still a fun book to read, and I felt thoroughly creeped out reading some of the descriptions. ]]> 3.88 2021 Rock Paper Scissors
author: Alice Feeney
name: Namita
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/20
date added: 2021/12/24
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:
I would give this a 3.5. It was a really fun read, with a perfect spooky winter atmosphere. As someone who can usually predict the twists in a lot of thrillers, I didn’t see the twist coming in this book, so I really enjoyed that! But that said, I feel like some of the setup to the twist was disingenuous.


MAJOR ENDING SPOILERS START









Obviously Feeney didn’t want us to know that Amelia was the second wife, so she wrote things ambiguously. But with knowing the twist some of the stuff Amelia said just didn’t make sense. Like in the first chapter she went on and on about how her husband was aging into good looks, and she felt she looked so much older, but in reality they’ve been together for 2-3 years, how much could she have really changed? Also, I still don’t understand why in the beginning of the book, Amelia said only one of them would be returning from that weekend if it didn’t go well. I thought she was also plotting to kill Adam, but nothing happened with that threat.








MAJOR ENDING SPOILERS END


I felt like part of the reason I didn’t see the twist coming, is because the setup to it didn’t make sense. If you reread the beginning chapters after finishing the book, it feels like there are still loose ends. But if you don’t think about it too hard, it’s still a fun book to read, and I felt thoroughly creeped out reading some of the descriptions.
]]> Project Hail Mary 54493401
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]> 476 Andy Weir 0593135202 Namita 4 scifi 4.49 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: Namita
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/17
date added: 2021/12/24
shelves: scifi
review:
I stayed up way too late finishing this book and no regrets! I don’t read a lot of Science Fiction (hoping to change that), but I really enjoyed reading Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. Weir does a good job of making the science believable and mostly easy to follow. And he brilliantly balances the science aspects of the book with emotions, making me both tear up and laugh at loud while reading this book.
]]> Maybe in Another Life 23492661
From the acclaimed author of Forever, Interrupted and After I Do comes a breathtaking new novel about a young woman whose fate hinges on the choice she makes after bumping into an old flame; in alternating chapters, we see two possible scenarios unfold—with stunningly different results.

At the age of twenty-nine, Hannah Martin still has no idea what she wants to do with her life. She has lived in six different cities and held countless meaningless jobs since graduating college. On the heels of leaving yet another city, Hannah moves back to her hometown of Los Angeles and takes up residence in her best friend Gabby’s guestroom. Shortly after getting back to town, Hannah goes out to a bar one night with Gabby and meets up with her high school boyfriend, Ethan.

Just after midnight, Gabby asks Hannah if she’s ready to go. A moment later, Ethan offers to give her a ride later if she wants to stay. Hannah hesitates. What happens if she leaves with Gabby? What happens if she leaves with Ethan?

In concurrent storylines, Hannah lives out the effects of each decision. Quickly, these parallel universes develop into radically different stories with large-scale consequences for Hannah, as well as the people around her. As the two alternate realities run their course, Maybe in Another Life raises questions about fate and true love: Is anything meant to be? How much in our life is determined by chance? And perhaps, most compellingly: Is there such a thing as a soul mate?

Hannah believes there is. And, in both worlds, she believes she’s found him.]]> 342 Taylor Jenkins Reid Namita 0 to-read, romance 3.77 2015 Maybe in Another Life
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Namita
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/16
shelves: to-read, romance
review:

]]> The Paris Wife 8683812
Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.]]> 314 Paula McLain 0345521307 Namita 0 to-read, historical-fiction 3.81 2011 The Paris Wife
author: Paula McLain
name: Namita
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/08
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction
review:

]]> When the Stars Go Dark 54895727
As past and present collide, Anna realizes that she has been led to this moment. The most difficult lessons of her life have given her insight into how victims come into contact with violent predators. As Anna becomes obsessed with the missing girl, she must accept that true courage means getting out of her own way and learning to let others in.

Weaving together actual cases of missing persons, trauma theory, and a hint of the metaphysical, this propulsive and deeply affecting novel tells a story of fate, necessary redemption, and what it takes, when the worst happens, to reclaim our lives--and our faith in one another.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife comes a novel of intertwined destinies and heart-wrenching suspense: A detective hiding away from the world. A series of disappearances that reach into her past. Can solving them help her heal?]]> 370 Paula McLain 0593237897 Namita 4 thriller-mystery
]]> 3.81 2021 When the Stars Go Dark
author: Paula McLain
name: Namita
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/08
date added: 2021/12/08
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:
This was an enjoyable one time read. I really liked McLain’s writing style and the main mystery was quite satisfying. There were parts of the book that were too slow, and simultaneously there were too many plots going on. I wish some of the extra details had been edited out. I would recommend, but don’t go in expecting a fast paced thriller.


]]> In the Dream House 43317482 251 Carmen Maria Machado 1644450038 Namita 3 4.41 2019 In the Dream House
author: Carmen Maria Machado
name: Namita
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2021/08/28
date added: 2021/12/08
shelves: bios-memoirs, book-club-s, nonfiction
review:
I don't think Machado's experimental style works for me, although I did enjoy this much more than "Her Body and Other Parties". I thought the historical examples she gave of queer abuse were very interesting, and there were some parts of the book when she described her own experiences that were really harrowing. But there were lots of asides that weren't directly about her life that I didn't really care to read.
]]> <![CDATA[The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue]]> 50623864
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.]]> 448 Victoria E. Schwab 0765387565 Namita 2 fantasy 4.16 2020 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Namita
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2021/10/29
date added: 2021/12/08
shelves: fantasy
review:
I read this a month ago and have already forgotten most of the plot, I just remember the absolute boredom I felt reading it. The only thing I vividly remember is the ridiculous relationship with the devil.
]]> <![CDATA[The Girl with the Louding Voice]]> 50214741 All you have are your words.

Adunni is a fourteen-year-old Nigerian girl who knows what she wants: an education.

As the only daughter of a broke father, she is a valuable commodity. Removed from school and sold as a third wife to an old man, Adunni's life amounts to this: four goats, two bags of rice, some chickens and a new TV. When unspeakable tragedy swiftly strikes in her new home, she is secretly sold as a domestic servant to a household in the wealthy enclaves of Lagos, where no one will talk about the strange disappearance of her predecessor, Rebecca. No one but Adunni...

As a yielding daughter, a subservient wife, and a powerless servant, fourteen-year-old Adunni is repeatedly told that she is nothing. But Adunni won't be silenced. She is determined to find her voice - in a whisper, in song, in broken English - until she can speak for herself, for the girls like Rebecca who came before, and for all the girls who will follow.

]]> 371 Abi Daré 1524746029 Namita 4 fiction
I did overall enjoy Girl with The Louding Voice. I thought the main character, Adunni, was very endearing and really made you root for her after all the horrific things she went through. And I liked how the author showed how misogyny affects women in all levels on Nigerian society. I just didn’t find the story extremely moving like others did.

This may sound callous, but I guess to me there wasn’t anything new or unique about this story of a young girl overcoming child marriage and an overall abusive childhood. I think I would’ve liked this book more if I was younger, I just feel like I’ve heard/read lots of stories like this before, and there wasn’t any new perspective this book made me consider.

I would still recommend Louding Voice, but I don’t think it’s a must read. ]]> 4.40 2020 The Girl with the Louding Voice
author: Abi Daré
name: Namita
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/12/05
date added: 2021/12/08
shelves: fiction
review:
3.5 rounding up.

I did overall enjoy Girl with The Louding Voice. I thought the main character, Adunni, was very endearing and really made you root for her after all the horrific things she went through. And I liked how the author showed how misogyny affects women in all levels on Nigerian society. I just didn’t find the story extremely moving like others did.

This may sound callous, but I guess to me there wasn’t anything new or unique about this story of a young girl overcoming child marriage and an overall abusive childhood. I think I would’ve liked this book more if I was younger, I just feel like I’ve heard/read lots of stories like this before, and there wasn’t any new perspective this book made me consider.

I would still recommend Louding Voice, but I don’t think it’s a must read.
]]> Ace of Spades 42603984
Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students' dark secrets to light.

Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can't escape the spotlight when his private photos go public. Head girl Chiamaka isn't afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power.

Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And they're planning much more than a high-school game...]]> 470 Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé 1474967531 Namita 4 4.15 2021 Ace of Spades
author: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
name: Namita
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/11/02
date added: 2021/11/02
shelves:
review:

]]> The Therapist 54860390 A gripping psychological suspense and a powerful tale of a house that holds a shocking secret.

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive�

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…]]> 298 B.A. Paris 1250274125 Namita 3 thriller-mystery 3.72 2021 The Therapist
author: B.A. Paris
name: Namita
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/10/05
date added: 2021/10/05
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:
A very easy domestic thriller, good for getting over a reading slump. Wouldn’t recommend it otherwise though.
]]> <![CDATA[Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor]]> 34964830
The State of Indiana denies one million applications for healthcare, foodstamps and cash benefits in three years—because a new computer system interprets any mistake as “failure to cooperate.� In Los Angeles, an algorithm calculates the comparative vulnerability of tens of thousands of homeless people in order to prioritize them for an inadequate pool of housing resources. In Pittsburgh, a child welfare agency uses a statistical model to try to predict which children might be future victims of abuse or neglect.

Since the dawn of the digital age, decision-making in finance, employment, politics, health and human services has undergone revolutionary change. Today, automated systems—rather than humans—control which neighborhoods get policed, which families attain needed resources, and who is investigated for fraud. While we all live under this new regime of data, the most invasive and punitive systems are aimed at the poor.

In Automating Inequality, Virginia Eubanks systematically investigates the impacts of data mining, policy algorithms, and predictive risk models on poor and working-class people in America. The book is full of heart-wrenching and eye-opening stories, from a woman in Indiana whose benefits are literally cut off as she lays dying to a family in Pennsylvania in daily fear of losing their daughter because they fit a certain statistical profile.

The U.S. has always used its most cutting-edge science and technology to contain, investigate, discipline and punish the destitute. Like the county poorhouse and scientific charity before them, digital tracking and automated decision-making hide poverty from the middle-class public and give the nation the ethical distance it needs to make inhumane choices: which families get food and which starve, who has housing and who remains homeless, and which families are broken up by the state. In the process, they weaken democracy and betray our most cherished national values.

This deeply researched and passionate book could not be more timely.



Naomi Klein: "This book is downright scary."

Ethan Zuckerman, MIT: "Should be required reading."

Dorothy Roberts, author of Killing the Black Body: "A must-read for everyone concerned about modern tools of inequality in America."

Astra Taylor, author of The People's Platform: "This is the single most important book about technology you will read this year."]]> 260 Virginia Eubanks 1250074312 Namita 0 4.01 2018 Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor
author: Virginia Eubanks
name: Namita
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/04
shelves: nonfiction, book-club-s, to-read
review:

]]> Rebecca 17899948 Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling read that it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.]]> 449 Daphne du Maurier 0316323705 Namita 4 4.28 1938 Rebecca
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Namita
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1938
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/27
date added: 2021/09/27
shelves: thriller-mystery, classics, book-club-s
review:

]]> Defending Elysium 13552643
"An image came to him. An image of humankind escaping into space. An image of human merchants trading and cheating, of human tyrants capturing the Varvax, Tenasi, and Hommar. Images of wars, of fighting, of a paradise destroyed."

Oddly enough, the ones who made first contact were an outdated, nearly bankrupt phone company. Second contact was made by the United Governments Military when they accidentally shot down a Tenasi ambassadorial vessel. The Phone Company negotiated Earth out of danger following the Tenasi incident. The Phone Company had brought FTL communication to humankind.

And Phone Company operative Jason Write has sworn to keep the galaxy safe from the barbaric humans who would ruin the Elysium that the galactic races currently enjoy.]]> 43 Brandon Sanderson Namita 0 to-read, scifi 3.98 2008 Defending Elysium
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Namita
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/17
shelves: to-read, scifi
review:

]]> Starsight (Skyward, #2) 42769202
Spensa is sure there's more to the story. And she's sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars--and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.

But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself--and she'll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.]]> 461 Brandon Sanderson 1473217903 Namita 4 scifi 4.33 2019 Starsight (Skyward, #2)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Namita
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/10
date added: 2021/09/10
shelves: scifi
review:
I had such a fun time reading this book. It went in a completely different direction than I was expecting, and I was hoping for a bit more of some of the characters from book 1, but overall I just loved immersing myself into this world. The action scenes in Starsight are so satisfying to read. Can't wait for the next book!
]]> Sourdough 34729689
Lois is no baker, but she could use a roommate, even if it is a needy colony of microorganisms. Soon, not only is she eating her own homemade bread, she’s providing loaves daily to the General Dexterity cafeteria. The company chef urges her to take her product to the farmer’s market, and a whole new world opens up.

When Lois comes before the jury that decides who sells what at Bay Area markets, she encounters a close-knit club with no appetite for new members. But then, an alternative emerges: a secret market that aims to fuse food and technology. But who are these people, exactly?]]> 272 Robin Sloan Namita 0 to-read, fiction 3.96 2017 Sourdough
author: Robin Sloan
name: Namita
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/10
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1)]]> 237209
Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a twelve-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox—his partner and closest friend—find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.]]> 429 Tana French 0670038601 Namita 3 thriller-mystery
Edit: Nevermind, bumping this down to 3 stars because I just found out that one of the mysteries from this book is not solved in the entire series. Not what I personally want out of a mystery series.]]> 3.75 2007 In the Woods (Dublin Murder Squad, #1)
author: Tana French
name: Namita
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2021/09/01
date added: 2021/09/05
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:
3.5. I found the main character to be insufferable and the writing style wasn’t really for me. But the mystery itself was interesting and a good read if you’re in the mood for one. Will definitely read the rest of the series at some point.

Edit: Nevermind, bumping this down to 3 stars because I just found out that one of the mysteries from this book is not solved in the entire series. Not what I personally want out of a mystery series.
]]> <![CDATA[The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad, #2)]]> 5941114 466 Tana French 0143115626 Namita 0 to-read, thriller-mystery 4.06 2008 The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad, #2)
author: Tana French
name: Namita
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/01
shelves: to-read, thriller-mystery
review:

]]> Crying in H Mart 54814676
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food. As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band � and meeting the man who would become her husband � her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.

It was her mother’s diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Vivacious, lyrical and honest, Michelle Zauner’s voice is as radiantly alive on the page as it is onstage. Rich with intimate anecdotes that will resonate widely, Crying in H Mart is a book to cherish, share, and reread.]]> 243 Michelle Zauner 0525657746 Namita 0 to-read, bios-memoirs 4.25 2021 Crying in H Mart
author: Michelle Zauner
name: Namita
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/31
shelves: to-read, bios-memoirs
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)]]> 45047384
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 394 T.J. Klune Namita 4 fantasy, book-club-s 4.37 2020 The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)
author: T.J. Klune
name: Namita
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/19
date added: 2021/08/20
shelves: fantasy, book-club-s
review:
3.5 stars. Very sweet story, I just had a hard time getting into it in the first half.
]]> Under the Whispering Door 53205888 Welcome to Charon's Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.]]> 376 T.J. Klune 1250217342 Namita 0 to-read, fantasy 4.11 2021 Under the Whispering Door
author: T.J. Klune
name: Namita
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/19
shelves: to-read, fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier]]> 43015
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?�
“Because there is a war.�
“You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?�
“Yes, all the time.�
“C´Ç´Ç±ô.â€�
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.�
“Yes, sometime.�

This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.

In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.

This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.]]> 229 Ishmael Beah 0374105235 Namita 4 bios-memoirs, audiobooks 4.16 2007 A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
author: Ishmael Beah
name: Namita
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/17
date added: 2021/08/17
shelves: bios-memoirs, audiobooks
review:
Highly recommend the audiobook for this one. Excellent book, I just felt the ending was a bit too abrupt. I wished he had talked a bit about how he adjusted to life after the war. And of course Beah doesn’t have to talk about that part of his life if he doesn’t want. but I still felt the ending didn’t wrap the book up well.
]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)]]> 6 734 J.K. Rowling 0439139597 Namita 5 fantasy, book-club-s 4.56 2000 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter, #4)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Namita
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2021/08/11
date added: 2021/08/11
shelves: fantasy, book-club-s
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need]]> 52908942 Bill Gates shares what he's learned in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address the problems, and sets out a vision for how the world can build the tools it needs to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Bill Gates explains why he cares so deeply about climate change and what makes him optimistic that the world can prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Gates says, "we can work on a local, national, and global level to build the technologies, businesses, and industries to avoid the worst impacts of climate change." His interest in climate change is a natural outgrowth of the efforts by his foundation to reduce poverty and disease. Climate change, according to Gates, will have the biggest impact on the people who have done the least to cause it. As a technologist, he has seen first-hand how innovation can change the world. By investing in research, inventing new technologies, and by deploying them quickly at large scale, Gates believes climate change can be addressed in meaningful ways. According to Gates, "to prevent the worst effects of climate change, we have to get to net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases. This problem is urgent, and the debate is complex, but I believe we can come together to invent new carbon-zero technologies, deploy the ones we have, and ultimately avoid a climate catastrophe."]]> 288 Bill Gates 0385546130 Namita 0 nonfiction, to-read 4.08 2021 How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
author: Bill Gates
name: Namita
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/03
shelves: nonfiction, to-read
review:

]]> The Last Thing He Told Me 54981009
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a U.S. marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.]]> 307 Laura Dave 1501171348 Namita 2 thriller-mystery 3.78 2021 The Last Thing He Told Me
author: Laura Dave
name: Namita
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/07/16
date added: 2021/07/16
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:
2.5. I really wanted to like this more because I thought the central mystery of the book was unique and interesting. But something about this author’s writing style didn’t work for me. I also found most of the characters fairly boring. I can see why others like this, but it just wasn’t for me.
]]> Malibu Rising 55404546 Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them... and what they will leave behind.]]> 369 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1524798657 Namita 3 fiction 4.02 2021 Malibu Rising
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Namita
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/07/13
date added: 2021/07/15
shelves: fiction
review:
3.5. Expectations were definitely high for this new Taylor Jenkins Reid book, and unfortunately Malibu Rising fell short for me. It wasn’t a bad book, and it was something decently fun to pass the time. While Reid has a knack for writing complicated characters in a sympathetic way, this time I felt myself getting frustrated with some of the characters poor decisions. And I was completely overwhelmed by the huge number of characters introduced at the end. Overall this book felt like an episode of a reality TV show- solidly entertaining drama, but nothing that sticks with you for a long time.
]]> The Complete Persepolis 991197
Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming—both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up.

Edgy, searingly observant, and candid, often heartbreaking but threaded throughout with raw humor and hard-earned wisdom�Persepolis is a stunning work from one of the most highly regarded, singularly talented graphic artists at work today.]]> 341 Marjane Satrapi 0375714839 Namita 0 4.38 2007 The Complete Persepolis
author: Marjane Satrapi
name: Namita
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/07/08
shelves: to-read, nonfiction, graphic-novel, bios-memoirs
review:

]]> The Complete Maus 15195
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story. Maus approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), shocks us out of any lingering sense of familiarity and succeeds in “drawing us closer to the bleak heart of the Holocaust� (The New York Times).

Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us.]]> 296 Art Spiegelman 0141014083 Namita 0 4.57 1980 The Complete Maus
author: Art Spiegelman
name: Namita
average rating: 4.57
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/07/08
shelves: to-read, graphic-novel, nonfiction
review:

]]> The Survivors 56607325
Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences.

The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home.

Kieran's parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.

When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away...]]> 372 Jane Harper Namita 4 thriller-mystery 3.67 2020 The Survivors
author: Jane Harper
name: Namita
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/01
date added: 2021/07/02
shelves: thriller-mystery
review:
3.5. I read a couple of reviews saying that this was a slow read, so it helped set my expectations accordingly. Definitely is not a fast paced thriller, but I think the mystery is intriguing and keeps you guessing till the end.
]]>