en-US Tue, 13 May 2025 16:02:33 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 199193250
Eros, goddess of desire, can change gender at will. And in her hidden palace, she visits her bride under the cloak of darkness: Psyche is forbidden to gaze upon the face of her lover. But as they explore each other’s bodies and discover new pleasures, Psyche is tempted to break her vow�� even if it brings down the wrath of the gods.

A gloriously anarchic and seductive retelling of the myth of Psyche and Eros, groundbreaking, gender-fluid and hugely enjoyable, this is a masterpiece from Caro De Robertis, a writer described by Madeline Miller as ‘brilliant and luminous��.]]> 305 Caro De Robertis 0008643288 Kels 5 3.50 2024
author: Caro De Robertis
name: Kels
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/05/13
date added: 2025/05/13
shelves:
review:
FINALLY an eros and psyche retelling where psyche is allowed to embrace her femininity and her wit and that’s what makes her strong
]]> 220160369 From��New York Times��bestselling author Conn Iggulden, the second novel in this new trilogy finds newly-crowned Emperor Nero fending off court rivals while embracing his fate as the most feared, notorious ruler in Roman history.]]> 432 Conn Iggulden 1639368892 Kels 0 to-read 4.43
author: Conn Iggulden
name: Kels
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 198132882 ----
In ancient Greece, mortals suffer under the tyranny of the gods—forced to sacrifice the food they depend on, their worldly possessions and even each other at the whims of the Twelve. But an ancient prophecy speaks of hope, of one who will set humankind free.

On the island of Naxos, Danae, a fisherman's daughter, develops strange powers tied to a mysterious tree bearing golden fruit. Driven from her home, she seeks guidance from the oracle but finds only more questions…and whispers of a secret network of believers who have long been awaiting her arrival.

Determined to learn more, Danae joins forces with the legendary Heracles and his crew. Together they battle monsters and gods alike on a quest to the end of the world as Danae seeks the one who holds the key to her destiny.

But a terrifying truth is yet to be unlocked. A truth that could destroy the world as she knows it. Danae must choose to follow her destiny or her heart, while the fate of humanity rests on her shoulders.]]> 464 A.S. Webb 0778368432 Kels 0 to-read 3.66 2025
author: A.S. Webb
name: Kels
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63910262 In the luscious, dark sequel to One Dark Window, Elspeth must face the consequences of what she's wrought - perfect for readers of Hannah Whitten's For the Wolf and Alexis Henderson's The Year of the Witching.

Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders.

If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom.

And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth's head. The Nightmare. And he's not eager to share any longer.]]> 437 Rachel Gillig 0356519503 Kels 4 4.38 2023
author: Rachel Gillig
name: Kels
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves:
review:
the nightmare calling ravyn an annoying bird constantly. 10/10. no notes!!!!!
]]> 51901147
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.]]> 541 Suzanne Collins Kels 5 fiction
uh????? that last chapter was INSANE]]> 3.99 2020
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kels
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/29
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: fiction
review:
“snow lands on top��

uh????? that last chapter was INSANE
]]> 54156982
It has been with us for millennia - from the curses and charms of ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish magic, to the shamanistic traditions of Eurasia, indigenous America and Africa, and even quantum physics today. Even today seventy-five per cent of the Western world holds some belief in magic, whether snapping wishbones, buying lottery tickets or giving names to inanimate objects.

Drawing on his decades of research, with incredible breadth and authority, Professor Chris Gosden provides a timely history of human thought and the role it has played in shaping civilization, and how we might use magic to rethink our understanding of the world.]]> 492 Chris Gosden Kels 0 to-read 3.56 2020
author: Chris Gosden
name: Kels
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 192724105 342 Kay Lalock Kels 0 to-read 3.45
author: Kay Lalock
name: Kels
average rating: 3.45
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Kels 5 fiction 4.10 2010
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kels
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: fiction
review:
“my children, who don’t know they play on a graveyard.�� brb crying over katniss feeling safe enough to have children and haymitch and his flock of geese
]]> 472968 The Vampyre (1819), was a product of the same ghost-story competition that produced Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The present volume selects thirteen other tales of mystery and the macabre, including the works of James Hogg, J.S. LeFanu, Letitia Landon, Edward Bulwer, and William Carelton. The introduction surveys the genesis and influence of The Vampyre and its central themes and techniques, while the Appendices contain material closely associated with its composition and publication, including Lord Byron's prose fragment Augustus Darvell.

JOHN POLIDORI - The Vampyre
HORACE SMITH - Sir Guy Eveling's Dream
WILLIAM CARLETON - Confessions of a Reformed Ribbonman
EDWARD BULWER - Monos and Daimonos
ALLAN CUNNINGHAM - The Master of Logan
ANONYMOUS - The Victim
JAMES HOGG - Some Terrible Letters from Scotland
ANONYMOUS - The Curse
ANONYMOUS - Life in Death
N. P. WILLIS - My Hobby,--Rather
CATHERINE GORE - The Red Man
CHARLES LEVER - Post-Mortem Recollections of a Medical Lecturer
LETITIA E. LANDON - The Bride of Lindorf
JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU - Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Contess]]> 312 Robert Morrison Kels 0 to-read 3.70 1997
author: Robert Morrison
name: Kels
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61884783 Turn of the century, in a remote valley in Pennsylvania.

Here, under the watchful eyes of several priests, thirty boys work, learn, and worship. Peter Barlow, orphaned as a child by a gruesome murder, has made a new life here. As he approaches adulthood, he has friends, a future... a family.

Then, late one stormy night, a group of men arrive at their door, one of whom is badly wounded, occult symbols carved into his flesh. His death releases an ancient evil that spreads like sickness, infecting St. Vincent's and the children within. Soon, boys begin acting differently, forming groups. Taking sides.

Others turn up dead.

Now Peter and those dear to him must choose sides of their own, each of them knowing their lives �� and perhaps their eternal souls �� are at risk.

The Exorcist meets Lord of the Flies, by way of Midnight Mass, in Boys in the Valley, a brilliant coming-of-age tale from award-winning author Philip Fracassi.]]> 335 Philip Fracassi 1250879035 Kels 0 to-read 4.10 2023
author: Philip Fracassi
name: Kels
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 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 Kels 0 to-read 4.28 1938
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Kels
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1938
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63892214 Vampires and vaqueros face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of The Hacienda.

As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.

Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.

Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.

When the United States attacks Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh.

And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.]]> 371 Isabel Cañas 0593436725 Kels 0 to-read 3.87 2023
author: Isabel Cañas
name: Kels
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 127464148 A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice
Rebecca meets The House of Spirits in this sweeping, gorgeously atmospheric novel about a ruined mansion by the sea, the djinn that haunts it, and a curious girl who unearths the tragedy that happened there a hundred years previous

Akbar Manzil was once a grand estate off the coast of South Africa. Now, nearly a century since it was built, it stands in ruins: an isolated boardinghouse for misfits, seeking to forget their pasts and disappear into the mansions dark corridors.

Until Sana. She and her father are the latest of Akbar Manzil’s long list of tenants, seeking a new home after suffering painful loss. Unlike the others, who choose not to look too closely at the mansion’s unsettling qualities—the strange assortment of bones in the overgrown garden, the mysterious figure seen to move sometimes at night—she is curious and questioning and finds herself irresistibly drawn to the history of the mansion. To the eerie and forgotten East Wing, home to a clutter of broken and abandoned objects—and to the locked door at its end, unopened for decades.

Behind the door is a bedroom frozen in time, with faded photographs of a couple in love and a worn diary that whispers of a dark past: the long-forgotten story of a young woman named Meena, the original owner’s second wife, who died there tragically a hundred years ago. Watching Sana from the room’s shadows is a grieving djinn, an invisible spirit who once loved Meena and has haunted the mansion since her mysterious death. Obsessed with Meena’s story, and unaware of the creature that follows her, Sana digs into the past like fingers into a wound, awakening the memories of the house itself—and dredging up old and terrible secrets that will change the lives of everyone living and dead at Akbar Manzil.

Sublime, heart-wrenching, and lyrically stunning, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a haunting, a love story, and a mystery, all twined beautifully into one young girl’s search for belonging.]]> 320 Shubnum Khan 0593653459 Kels 0 to-read 3.80 2024
author: Shubnum Khan
name: Kels
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 204512868
It is not wise to anger the gods ... or to fall in love with one.

Psykhe has always been different. Fair as Venus, the goddess of love, and with the hard-won ability to save the lives of those of mortal blood, she is both shunned and revered.

When she unwittingly provokes Venus, she and her sisters lose everything. Psykhe must find a way to make amends and support her family.

Befriended by an old woman, Nokturna, Psykhe finds herself irresistibly drawn to her young friend, Ambrose. But neither is what they seem.

For Psykhe has fallen in love with a man whose face she is forbidden to see. After disobeying this injunction, she must risk everything to try to save him, even if it means travelling down to the shadowy Underworld to face Proserpina, queen of the dead.

The way to the realm of the dead is easy. A thrust of a sword, a sudden fall, a careless bite of toadstool, and the soul is sucked away. It is the return journey that is difficult ....

The story of Psyche and Eros has been told for more than two-and-a-half thousand years. Kate Forsyth infuses it with new vigour as a life-affirming celebration of female strength, sexual desire, and empowerment.]]> 352 Kate Forsyth 0143776924 Kels 0 to-read 3.87 2024
author: Kate Forsyth
name: Kels
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 Kels 5 fiction 4.34 2009
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kels
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: fiction
review:
“great, now i have to go back and tell haymitch i want an 80 year old and nuts and bolts on my team.�� do you think they all gravitated towards her no because she was the mockingjay but because she was haymitch’s girl
]]> 62877213
In an eternal paradise, the most beautiful angel, Lucifer, struggles with shame, identity, and timidity, with little more than the desire to worship his creator.

It isn't until the strongest angel, Michael, comes into his life that Lucifer learns to love himself. Along the way, their friendship begins to bloom into something else. Maybe the first romance in the history of everything.

But this God is a jealous one, and maybe paradise is not paradise.]]> 398 Rafael Nicolás Kels 0 to-read 4.13 2022
author: Rafael Nicolás
name: Kels
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2767052
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.]]> 374 Suzanne Collins Kels 5 fiction 4.34 2008
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kels
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: fiction
review:
“i can almost hear haymitch groaning as i team up with this wispy child�� i need to lie down !!!!!!
]]> 58340706
Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.]]> 399 Rachel Gillig 0316312487 Kels 4 4.25 2022
author: Rachel Gillig
name: Kels
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves:
review:
i love when women go crazy!!! like yes girl go crazy!!! slay your enemies!!!!
]]> 31332 Interview with the Vampire, the first of The Vampire Chronicles, the novel that established its author worldwide as a magnificent storyteller and creator of magical realms.

Now, we go with Armand across the centuries to the Kiev Rus of his boyhood - a ruined city under Mongol dominion - and to ancient Constantinople, where Tartar raiders sell him into slavery. And in a magnificent palazzo in the Venice of the Renaissance we see him emotionally and intellectually in thrall to the great vampire Marius, who masquerades among humankind as a mysterious, reclusive painter and who will bestow upon Armand the gift of vampiric blood. As the novel races to its climax, moving through scenes of luxury and elegance, of ambush, fire, and devil worship to nineteenth-century Paris and today's New Orleans, we see its eternally vulnerable and romantic hero forced to choose between his twilight immortality and the salvation of his immortal soul.]]> 457 Anne Rice 0345434803 Kels 5
armand i would do anything for you!!!!!!]]> 3.80 1998
author: Anne Rice
name: Kels
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/28
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves:
review:
“if i am an angel, paint me with black wings.��

armand i would do anything for you!!!!!!
]]> 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 Kels 5 4.59 2025
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kels
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves:
review:
i mean i would also become an alcoholic after all of that!!!!! haymitch abernathy you are so loved by me!!!!!
]]> 217420712 Young Royals meets The Prince and Me when a disgraced princess falls for a new student at their all-girls boarding school, but the two must hide their forbidden love at all costs.

Princess Rosemary of Henland can’t afford distractions. She’s working tirelessly to repair her image following a scandal that lost the trust of both her country and her best friend. Unfortunately, when a beautiful and funny new student joins her boarding school, Rose finds herself quite distracted indeed.

Attending Bramppath College on a music scholarship, talented pianist Danni expects to be an outcast amongst the wealthy children of the elite, but she is pleasantly surprised to be taken in by the ex-best friend of the princess. The more Danni gets to know her new classmates, the more intrigued she becomes by Rose.

When somebody sees something they shouldn’t and rumors circulate throughout Henland, Rose and Danni must either find a way to deflect the ever-increasing eyes on their relationship, or end it altogether. Because one thing is clear: if Rose’s fragile reputation takes any more hits, the palace will do whatever they must to separate Rose and Danni. Forever.]]> 352 Sophie Gonzales 1250352495 Kels 0 to-read 4.09 2025
author: Sophie Gonzales
name: Kels
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 43763
Louis and Claudia travel Europe, eventually coming to Paris and the ragingly successful Theatre des Vampires--a theatre of vampires pretending to be mortals pretending to be vampires. Here they meet the magnetic and ethereal Armand, who brings them into a whole society of vampires. But Louis and Claudia find that finding others like themselves provides no easy answers and in fact presents dangers they scarcely imagined.

Originally begun as a short story, the book took off as Anne wrote it, spinning the tragic and triumphant life experiences of a soul. As well as the struggles of its characters, Interview captures the political and social changes of two continents. The novel also introduces Lestat, Anne's most enduring character, a heady mixture of attraction and revulsion. The book, full of lush description, centers on the themes of immortality, change, loss, sexuality, and power.
source: annerice.com]]> 346 Anne Rice 0345476875 Kels 4 fiction 4.04 1976
author: Anne Rice
name: Kels
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1976
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: fiction
review:
armand you are everything to me
]]> 215127458 The forest eats the girls who wander out after dark.

As the healer’s daughter, Malka has seen how the forest’s curse has plagued her village, but the Ozmini Church only comes to collect its tithe, not listen to heretics with false stories of monsters in the trees.

When a clergy girl wanders too close to the forest and Malka’s mother is accused of her murder, Malka strikes an impossible bargain with a zealot Ozmini priest: bring the monster out and spare her mother from execution.

As she ventures into the shadowed woods, Malka finds a monster, but not the one she expects: an inscrutable, disgraced golem who agrees to implicate herself, but only if Malka helps her fulfill an ancient promise first and free the imprisoned rabbi who created her.

But a deal easily made is not easily kept. And as their bargain begins to unravel a much more sinister threat, protecting her people may force Malka to endanger the one person she left home to save—and face her growing feelings for the very creature she was taught to fear.]]> 13 Maddie Martinez Kels 0 to-read 0.0 2025
author: Maddie Martinez
name: Kels
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 204593711
It began long before my time, but something has always hunted our family.

Orphaned heiress Kidan Adane grew up far from the arcane society she was born into, where human bloodlines gain power through vampire companionship. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—the very vampire bound to their family, the cruel yet captivating Susenyos Sagad.

To find June, Kidan must infiltrate the elite Uxlay University—where students study to ensure peaceful coexistence between humans and vampires and inherit their family legacies. Kidan must survive living with Susenyos—even as he does everything he can to drive her away. It doesn’t matter that Susenyos’s wickedness speaks to Kidan’s own violent nature and tempts her to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill Susenyos at all costs.

When a murder mirroring June’s disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. There she discovers a centuries-old threat—and June could be at the center of it. To save her sister, Kidan must bring Uxlay to its knees and either break free from the horrors of her own actions or embrace the dark entanglements of love—and the blood it requires.]]> 432 Tigest Girma Kels 0 to-read 3.66 2024
author: Tigest Girma
name: Kels
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 215020997
This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life��
how it ends, and how it starts. ]]> 560 Victoria E. Schwab 1035064642 Kels 0 to-read 4.40 2025
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Kels
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222376983 With the awakening of fire-breathing dragons, Among the Burning Flowers sees the first sparks of danger that threaten to consume the world in The Priory of the Orange Tree.

Take your first steps into the epic.
Yscalin, land of sunshine and lavender, will soon be ablaze.

It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind.

Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.

A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.

And now the great wyrm Fýredel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall . . .

A story of human resilience in the face of dire circumstances, Among the Burning Flowers leads readers through the gripping and tragic circumstances that pave the way for the opening of the million-copy bestseller The Priory of The Orange Tree.

Richly illustrated with magical artwork by Rovina Cai (@rovinacai).]]> 304 Samantha Shannon 1639736018 Kels 0 to-read 4.45 2025
author: Samantha Shannon
name: Kels
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 202793417 From the lauded author of Fair Rosaline comes a powerful, unmissable new untelling, unravelling Shakespeare's Roman plays to draw out the woman behind the myth.
A captivating story of female power and vulnerability, of love and loss, fierce friendship and terrible betrayal: it's finally time to meet the real Cleopatra.]]> 304 Natasha Solomons 1786583550 Kels 0 to-read 3.89 2025
author: Natasha Solomons
name: Kels
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 50358527



Aphrodite was said to have been born from the sea, rising out of a froth of white foam. But long before the Ancient Greeks conceived of this voluptuous blonde, she existed as an early spirit of fertility on the shores of Cyprus -- and thousands of years before that, as a ferocious warrior-goddess in the Middle East. Proving that this fabled figure is so much more than an avatar of commercialized romance, historian Bettany Hughes reveals the remarkable lifestory of one of antiquity's most potent myths.






Venus and Aphrodite brings together ancient art, mythology, and archaeological revelations to tell the story of human desire. From Mesopotamia to modern-day London, from Botticelli to Beyoncé, Hughes explains why this immortal goddess continues to entrance us today -- and how we trivialize her power at our peril.]]> 208 Bettany Hughes 1541674235 Kels 0 to-read 3.81 2019
author: Bettany Hughes
name: Kels
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 17245 You can find an alternative cover edition for this ISBN here and here.

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.

In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.

This Norton Critical Edition includes a rich selection of background and source materials in three areas: Contexts includes probable inspirations for Dracula in the earlier works of James Malcolm Rymer and Emily Gerard. Also included are a discussion of Stoker's working notes for the novel and "Dracula's Guest," the original opening chapter to Dracula. Reviews and Reactions reprints five early reviews of the novel. "Dramatic and Film Variations" focuses on theater and film adaptations of Dracula, two indications of the novel's unwavering appeal. David J. Skal, Gregory A. Waller, and Nina Auerbach offer their varied perspectives. Checklists of both dramatic and film adaptations are included.

Criticism collects seven theoretical interpretations of Dracula by Phyllis A. Roth, Carol A. Senf, Franco Moretti, Christopher Craft, Bram Dijkstra, Stephen D. Arata, and Talia Schaffer.

A Chronology and a Selected Bibliography are included.]]> 488 Bram Stoker 0393970124 Kels 4 4.02 1897
author: Bram Stoker
name: Kels
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1897
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves:
review:
okay but have we considered dracula might’ve just been a little lonely
]]> 216649145 She' s a monster. He' s a mortal. Killing each other should be easy... right?

When Medusa and Tiresias rise from the Underworld as twenty-first-century teens and meet through Persephone and Hades' new dating app, it seems like a second chance. Dating is hard when you turn everyone to stone, but dating a blind prophet may be a loophole ... even if he does occasionally spout dire prophecies.

But not everyone is pleased with an app designed to kindle romance between mortal enemies. As distrust grows between the heroes, monsters, and gods making up the app's user base, it' s easier to fall into old habits than fall in love. With pressure building on both sides, Medusa and Tiresias accept their kill their date, no matter how much they bond over their love of dogs or the way the gods have wronged them in the past.

Caught amongst meddling gods, murderous heroes, and a classic Greek bet, Medusa and Tiresias may have signed up for more than a dating profile. With war brewing at the hands of the gods, working together may be the only way to save mortals and monsters alike.

Told entirely through instant messages and transcripts, this is one mythically funny romantic comedy you don' t want to miss.]]> 441 Hope Bolinger Kels 0 to-read 3.88 2024
author: Hope Bolinger
name: Kels
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214268970 A wry, heartfelt tale of a teen who's taking her church camp by storm—one deadly sin at a time.

Riley quietly left church a year ago when she realized there was no place for a bi girl in her congregation. But it wasn’t until the pastor shunned her older sister for getting an abortion that she really wanted to burn it all down.

It’s just her luck, then, that she’s sent to the principal’s office for slapping a girl talking smack about her sister—and in order to avoid suspension, she has to spend spring break at church camp. The only saving grace is that she’ll be there with her best friend, Julia. Even if Julia’s dad is the pastor. And he’s in charge of camp. But Riley won’t let a technicality like “repenting�� get in the way of her true mission. Instead of spending the week embracing the seven heavenly virtues, she decides to commit all seven deadly sins. If she can show the other campers that sometimes being a little bad is for the greater good, she could start a righteous revolution! What could possibly go wrong? Aside from falling for the pastor’s daughter . . .]]> 320 Jenna Voris 0593692748 Kels 0 to-read 4.08 2025
author: Jenna Voris
name: Kels
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 17951012 221 Laura Perry 1782791108 Kels 0 to-read, history 3.85 2001
author: Laura Perry
name: Kels
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read, history
review:

]]> 201845532 Nice Victorian ladies don’t run off to find legendary lost cities.

One trifling little arrest shouldn’t have cost Ellie Mallory her job, but it’s only the latest in a line of injustices facing any educated woman with archaeological ambitions.

When Ellie stumbles across the map to a mysterious ancient city, she knows she’s holding her chance to revolutionize Pre-Colombian history. There’s just one teensy complication. A ruthless villain wants it, and Ellie is all that stands in his way.

To race him to the ruins—and avoid being violently disposed of—she needs the help of maverick surveyor Adam Bates, a snake-wrangling rogue who can’t seem to keep his dratted shirt on.

But there’s more than Ellie’s scholarly reputation (and life) on the line. Her enemies aren’t just looters. They’re after an arcane secret rumored to lie in the heart of the ruins, a mythical artifact with a power that could shake the world.

Between stealing trousers, plummeting over waterfalls, and trying not to fall in love with her machete-wielding partner, will Ellie be able to stop the oracle of a lost empire from falling into the wrong hands?

Empire of Shadows is the first book in Jacquelyn Benson’s smart, swashbuckling Raiders of the Arcana series. Read it now and dive into a rip-roaring historical fantasy adventure perfect for fans of Romancing the Stone and The Mummy.]]> 478 Jacquelyn Benson 1959050125 Kels 0 currently-reading 4.20 2024
author: Jacquelyn Benson
name: Kels
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 214438301 Perfect for fans of Saltburn, For the Wolf, and House of Hollow, Tenderly, I Am Devoured is a moody, monstrously Gothic romantasy in which a young woman must bind herself to a dangerous chthonic demon with the help of the son of a rival family to save her family's legacy―and herself―from ruin.

Expelled from her prestigious boarding school following a violent incident, eighteen-year-old Lacrimosa Arriscane returns home in disgrace to discover her family on the point of financial ruin. Desperate to save them, she accepts a marriage of convenience�� to Therion, the chthonic god worshipped by Lark’s isolated coastal hometown.

But when her betrothal goes horribly wrong, Lark begins to vanish from the mortal realm. Her only hope is to seek help from Alastair Felimath: the brilliant, arrogant boy who was her first heartbreak, and his alluring older sister, Camille. As the trio delve into the folklore of gods, Lark falls under the spell of the Felimath siblings.

Ensnared by a fervent romance, they perform a bacchanalia with hopes the hedonistic ritual will repair the connection between Lark and her bridegroom. Instead, they draw the ire of something much darker, which seeks to destroy Therion―and Lark as well.]]> 304 Lyndall Clipstone 1250348900 Kels 0 to-read 3.99 2025
author: Lyndall Clipstone
name: Kels
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213344066 Fans of Allison Saft and Margaret Rogerson will be swept away into this lush and beguiling sapphic romantasy from the bestselling author of Flowerheart, Catherine Bakewell.

Ofelia has lived her life dreaming of entering Le Château Enchanté—the mysterious court of the gods-blessed King Léo, where the shadow monsters that roam Ofelia’s home never trespass.

Lope has lived her life as a knight, defending Ofelia and her home from Shadows even as she dreams of escaping with Ofelia by her side.

When the Shadows venture too close, Lope and Ofelia are thrust into a journey that will lead them to the heart of the darkness haunting their home: the dazzling and deceptive Château Enchanté itself.

A mesmerizing daydream with a subtle edge of darkness that will leave you utterly unable to put it down, Where Shadows Bloom pits terrifying monsters, chilling secrets, capricious gods, immortal kings, and death itself against the unstoppable love between two girls.]]> 432 Catherine Bakewell 0063359081 Kels 0 to-read 3.63 2025
author: Catherine Bakewell
name: Kels
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212808316 Brimming with magic and romance, a young fairy queen must form an unlikely alliance or risk an unspeakable danger destroying all she holds dear in this standalone YA novel from New York Times bestselling author Allison Saft.

It’s been centuries since a warm-season fairy in Pixie Hollow has crossed into the Winter Woods, and while most fear the legends of monsters lurking in the frozen lands, Clarion, can’t help being intrigued by Winter’s stoic beauty. But under the watchful eyes of the current monarch and the court's seasonal ministers, Clarion has little time to dwell on daydreams while the days to her coronation dwindle away.

That is, until reports of a monster crossing from Winter into Spring make their way to the palace. Clarion sees defeating this threat as an opportunity to prove that she is worthy of her new role. But instead of finding a monster at the edge of Winter, she finds Milori, a young guardian of the Winter Woods. Together, they form an unlikely bond as they race to save their lands.

But as their alliance warms to something more, they will discover there is a reason a warm-season fairy and a winter fairy must not be together. And the cost could be just as deadly as the monsters that prowl the Winter Woods.

Discover the origin of the sweeping, star-crossed romance between the queen of Pixie Hollow and the lord of the Winter Woods.]]> 400 Allison Saft 1368098452 Kels 5
for real tho this was everything i’ve wanted since secret of the wings released in 2013]]> 4.25 2025
author: Allison Saft
name: Kels
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:
brain rot so bad that every time they mentioned the nightmares dying at daybreak i immediately was like “omg this is just like nosferatu��

for real tho this was everything i’ve wanted since secret of the wings released in 2013
]]> 123026740
Inspired by the tales of Homer and his own ambitions of empire, Alexander the Great sketched the idea of a city onto the sparsely populated Egyptian coastline. He did not live to see Alexandria built, but his vision of a sparkling metropolis that celebrated learning and diversity was swiftly realised and still stands today.

Situated on the cusp of Africa, Europe and Asia, great civilisations met in Alexandria. Together, Greeks and Egyptians, Romans and Jews created a global knowledge capital of enormous influence: the inventive collaboration of its citizens shaped modern philosophy, science, religion and more. In pitched battles, later empires, from the Arabs and Ottomans to the French and British, laid claim to the city but its independent spirit endures.

In this sweeping biography of the great city, Islam Issa takes us on a journey across millennia, rich in big ideas, brutal tragedies and distinctive characters, from Cleopatra to Napoleon. From its humble origins to dizzy heights and present-day strife, Alexandria tells the gripping story of a city that has shaped our modern world.]]> 491 Islam Issa Kels 0 to-read 4.19 2023
author: Islam Issa
name: Kels
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36645450 304 Nur Masalha 1786992736 Kels 0 to-read 4.03 2018
author: Nur Masalha
name: Kels
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61918856 ��
At its height in 660 BCE, the kingdom of Assyria stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. It was the first empire the world had ever seen. Here, historian Eckart Frahm tells the epic story of Assyria and its formative role in global history. Assyria’s wide-ranging conquests have long been known from the Hebrew Bible and later Greek accounts. But nearly two centuries of research now permit a rich picture of the Assyrians and their empire beyond the their vast libraries and monumental sculptures, their elaborate trade and information networks, and the crucial role played by royal women.����
��
Although Assyria was crushed by rising powers in the late seventh century BCE, its legacy endured from the Babylonian and Persian empires to Rome and beyond. Assyria is a stunning and authoritative account of a civilization essential to understanding the ancient world and our own.��]]> 528 Eckart Frahm 1541674405 Kels 0 to-read 4.06 2023
author: Eckart Frahm
name: Kels
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62696709 It’s a good thing Allison Farley isn’t in love with her best friend.

They may both be star students in their costume design program, but when it comes to relationships, Allison and Kate are as different as their fashion senses.

Kate marches through life in combat boots and crop tops, breaking hearts as fast as she steals them and insisting anything more than an emotionless hook-up is a waste of time.

Allison knits her own sweaters, wears socks with tiny strawberries on them, and has spent two years of college utterly failing at her goal of getting a girlfriend before graduation.

Until the day it hits her: she’s got a master flirting coach right at her fingertips.

It doesn't take much to get Kate on board; teaching her best friend the art of seduction seems like the perfect distraction from some of the inconvenient truths Kate would rather not face.

Like maybe she doesn’t hate relationships.

Maybe she’s just afraid of them—too afraid to reach out and grab one when it’s staring her in the face.

So it’s a good thing Kate Davidson isn’t in love with her best friend either.

It’s a good thing Kate and Allison are just taking part in some purely platonic flirting lessons and are absolutely, totally, definitely not falling in love.

Girlfriend Material is a New Adult WLW romance from Katia Rose featuring a little fashion, a lot of fabric, and a friendship that’s only a few snips and seams away from love.]]> 339 Katia Rose Kels 0 to-read 3.72
author: Katia Rose
name: Kels
average rating: 3.72
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219099708 Two ballerinas. Two fates. One stage.

It's the carefree '80s and Juliette Lucian-Sorel has it all. She’s the greatest dancer to ever grace the floorboards of Palais Garnier, she's royalty to her adoring fans, and Paris is at her feet. Or so it seems��

Katarina Vyatka is defecting from behind the Iron Curtain, desperate to save herself and her career. Or so she claims��

What happens when the Princess of Paris rescues the brightest star in the history of Bolshoi? Will the Paris ballet stage be big enough for both of them? Sparks fly and rivals become lovers as they set their lives ablaze in a torrent of secrets, intrigue and grands jetés!]]> 353 Milena McKay Kels 0 to-read 4.43
author: Milena McKay
name: Kels
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 34262 Peter Pan. Peter and the Starcatchers is brimming with richly developed characters, from the scary but somehow familiar Black Stache and ferocious Mister Grin to the sweet but sophisticated Molly and fearless Peter. Page after page of riveting adventures take readers of all ages on a voyage from a filthy, crime-ridden port in old England across the turbulent sea. Aboard the Neverland is a trunk that hold the “greatest treasure on earth�� —but is it gold, jewels, or something far more mysterious and dangerous?

Roiling waves and raging storms; skullduggery and pirate treachery provide the backdrop for battles at sea. Bone-crushing breakers eventually land our characters on Mollusk Island—where the action really heats up.

This impossible-to-put-down tale leads readers on an unforgettable journey—fraught with danger yet filled with mystical and magical moments.]]> 452 Dave Barry 078684907X Kels 5 4.05 2004
author: Dave Barry
name: Kels
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: middlegrade, all-time-favorites
review:
after all these years this book still manages to amaze me
]]> 132606 Alternate cover found here.

Impossible
Rupert Carsington, fourth son of the Earl of Hargate, is his aristocratic family's favorite disaster. He is irresistibly handsome, shockingly masculine, and irretrievably reckless, and wherever he goes, trouble follows. Still, Rupert's never met an entanglement—emotional or otherwise—he couldn't escape. Until now.

Outrageous
Now he's in Egypt, stranded in the depths of Cairo's most infamous prison, and his only way out is to accept a beautiful widow's dangerous proposal. Scholar Daphne Pembroke wants him to rescue her brother, who's been kidnapped by a rival seeking a fabled treasure. Their partnership is strictly business: She'll provide the brains, he the brawn. Simple enough, in theory.

Inevitable
Blame it on the sun or the blazing desert heat, but as tensions flare, and inhibitions melt, the most disciplined of women and the most reckless of men are about to clash in the most impossibly irresistible way.

]]> 320 Loretta Chase Kels 0 to-read 3.95 2005
author: Loretta Chase
name: Kels
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 123025678
Benjamin Brooks is about to embark on the most important -and most dangerous- job of his career. The one he hopes will be his last. But on the day he’s set to depart, he discovers he’s been demoted. After years of heading his own crew, he’s been replaced by a petit know-it-all whose never spent even a day in the field. It doesn’t help that she despises him from the moment they met- a moment that stopped his heart.

On the outskirts of the remote city of Argo, submerged in a lush sparkling oasis, lies a tomb shrouded in mystery that has remained sealed for three thousand years. It is rumored to hold the mummy of a powerful Pharaoh’s first love who disappeared in scandal, and was completely scrubbed from history. Even the most accomplished archaeologists in Egypt know only this: everyone who has tried to open the tomb succumbs to the curse.

Will these rivals work together to unlock each of the three doors of the Cursed Tomb of Argo? Will the fire of attraction that ignites between them thwart their efforts to break the curse? Or will their shared objective and undeniable passion go up in smoke?]]> 330 Mae Lovette Kels 0 to-read 3.70 2023
author: Mae Lovette
name: Kels
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218372468 When a late bloomer goes viral for��coming out, she decides to use her newfound fame to get her first kiss—with the help of a sexy bartender.

Librarian Angela Gutierrez has never been kissed. But after posting a video about her late bloomer status and ace identity, she's��finally ready to get some firsts out of the way. Using��her new influencer status to come up with a scavenger hunt idea in which the winner earns her first kiss, Angela realizes she may need some help to pull off the event.��Enter Krystal Ramirez, hot bartender and Angela’s unrequited crush of five years. Despite vowing that romantic love isn’t for her, Krystal seems awfully determined to help Angela pull off the scavenger hunt and��find��true love.

There’s just one the connection between Angela and Krystal is getting stronger and stronger the more they hang out, until Angela isn’t sure she wants to go through with the scavenger hunt after all. But Krystal is convinced that she isn’t capable of love and before long, Angela realizes she's falling head over heels for a woman who may never love her back.��]]> 384 Gabriella Gamez 1538726653 Kels 0 to-read 3.77
author: Gabriella Gamez
name: Kels
average rating: 3.77
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 208840779 Inspired by an ominous Prague legend, What Wakes the Bells is a lavish gothic fantasy by debut author Elle Tesch.

Built by long-gone Saints, the city of Vaiwyn lives and breathes and bleeds. As a Keeper, Mina knows better than most what her care of Vaiwyn’s bells means for the sentient city. It’s the Strauss family’s thousand-year legacy―prevent the Vespers from ringing, or they will awake a slumbering evil.

One afternoon, to Mina's horror, her bell peals thirteen times, shattering the city’s tenuous peace. With so much of the city's history and lore lost in a long-ago disaster, no one knows the danger that has been unleashed―until the city begins to fight back. As the sun sets, stone gargoyles and bronze statues tear away from their buildings and plinths to hunt people through the streets. Trapped in Mina’s bell, the soul of a twisted and power-hungry Saint festered. Now free of his prison, he hides behind the face of one of Vaiwyn’s citizens, corrupting the city and turning it on itself.

Time is running out, and the only chance Mina has to stop the destruction and horrific killings is finding and destroying the Saint’s host. Everyone is a suspect, including Mina's closest loved ones. She will have to decide how far she’ll go to save her city―and who she’s willing to kill to do it.]]> 336 Elle Tesch 1250322804 Kels 0 to-read 3.49 2025
author: Elle Tesch
name: Kels
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 123361591 Rachel Hartman's Seraphina meets The Priory of the Orange Tree in Lady Dragon, a sapphic YA romantasy from A.M. Strickland.

The age of queens is over . . . unless they can save it..

Since the last war between humans and dragons left the leaders of both species slain—the last human king of Andrath and the legendary dragon queen—both queendoms have been living under a tentative truce: only women will sit on the throne of Andrath, the dragons will have free passage through the human lands . . . and if men ever try to retake the throne, the draconic realm will retaliate.

Samansa and Kirek are two new leaders coming of age in war-scarred lands—Samansa a reluctant human princess and Kirek the favored contender for the draconic queenship. Per tradition, Kirek must undergo the distasteful task of using a mysterious gem called the Heartstone to shift into human form and maintain the strained ties between the species . . . and study human weaknesses, a new and secret task she’s been given by her queen. As the princess and the dragon girl grow closer, they are sent to investigate a potential breach of the treaty and encounter a plot that could reignite an even bloodier war. While fighting to maintain the peace their ancestors fought for and uncovering centuries-old secrets, Samansa and Kirek must grapple with betraying their clashing nations . . . or their unexpected feelings for each other.]]> A.M. Strickland Kels 0 to-read 4.40 2025
author: A.M. Strickland
name: Kels
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 25522862
Austenprose Readers�� Choice: Top 5 Books of the Year*

In this thrilling and sensual adaptation of the classic love story, Elizabeth Bennet and the citizens of Hertfordshire know Fitzwilliam Darcy to be a proud, unpleasant sort of man, but they never suspect the dark secret of his true nature. He is not a man at all �� but a vampire.

When the haughty and wealthy Fitzwilliam Darcy arrives in the rural county of Hertfordshire, he finds he cannot control his attraction to Elizabeth Bennet �� a horrifying thought because, as she is too far below his social standing to ignite his heart, he fears she must appeal to the dark impulses he struggles to suppress.

Set against the vivid backdrop of historical Regency England, this adaptation of Pride and Prejudice follows the cursed Mr. Darcy as he endeavours to overcome both his love and his bloodlust for Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Although Pulse and Prejudice adheres to the original plot and style of the Jane Austen classic, it is not a “mash-up�� but an imaginative, thrilling variation told primarily from Mr. Darcy’s point of view as he descends into the seedier side of London and introduces Elizabeth to a world of passion and the paranormal she never knew existed.

Pulse and Prejudice has been meticulously researched for historical accuracy and remains faithful to nineteenth century literary conventions and Miss Austen’s narrative. The author spent fifteen months traveling to Britain and researching Regency England, as well as vampire lore and literature. In the few instances in which the plots overlap, excerpts from canon have been expertly woven in so that prior knowledge of Pride and Prejudice is not required for full enjoyment of this remarkable novel.

“What would Jane Austen have thought? I think she would have loved this book. She might even have written it herself had she lived in a less constrained age.�� Books Are Cool

“Darcy’s demise and subsequent ‘rebirth�� are written to perfection. It has renewed my faith in the sub-genre.�� Reflections of a Book Addict

“I cannot express enough how skeptical I was upon starting this book. Pride and Prejudice with a touch of vampires was enough to send me into fits of eye rolls. But, within only the first chapter, I found myself strangely drawn to the story. The vampire Darcy weaves his spell quickly.�� Austenprose

*2012]]> 387 Colette L. Saucier 0986371823 Kels 0 to-read 3.66 2012
author: Colette L. Saucier
name: Kels
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60150430 A god fighting his fate. A prince burdened with secrets. And a romance that could end in flames.

Apollo is a deity�� almost. Half mortal and refusing to take his position as god of the sun, he spends his nights drowning out haunting memories and his days avoiding responsibilities.

Until his father forces him into an ultimatum:

Ascend immediately.

Or spend the year mentoring under the obnoxious Prince Hyacinth.

Forced together, Apollo and Hyacinth grapple with their mutual disdain for each other.

But what starts as a kindling of irritation begins to burn into something new. A spark that, if it turns to flame, could incinerate everything they’ve always protected.

A reimagining of the Greek myth of Apollo and Prince Hyacinth, this NA, enemies-to-lovers fantasy series is a whirlwind journey full of romance, intrigue, and enthralling characters.]]> 347 Nicole Bailey Kels 3
nooooo hyacinth don’t go play discus nooooooo]]> 3.83 2022
author: Nicole Bailey
name: Kels
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves:
review:
3 1/2 stars

nooooo hyacinth don’t go play discus nooooooo
]]> 217516444
But it is Arthur’s sister Morgan who captures Viviane’s eye. Fierce and headstrong, Morgan sees another path �� one she and Viviane can carve for themselves in this world built for knights and kings.

Now everything has shifted and changed. Under the guidance of the court sorcerer Merlin, she discovers magical powers within herself. And before long, she finds her friendship with Morgan deepening to the first flush of love.

But in Camelot eyes are everywhere and no one is as they seem. The quest for power breeds darkness and danger, and when Arthur pulls the legendary sword from the stone and rises to King, his closest allies will ask terrible things of Viviane and Morgan �� striving to tear them apart for their own ends.

And if they cannot find their way back to each other, Camelot itself could fall . . .]]> 400 Jean Menzies 1405961775 Kels 0 to-read 3.88 2025
author: Jean Menzies
name: Kels
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212431571 In the last days of the Roman Empire a desperate princess and brutal Goth warlord forge a dangerous alliance.

Julia, only daughter of the emperor of Rome, lives a life of excess and freedom. Wine, philosophy and scandal—she revels in hedonism. But when her father dies and her teenage brother takes the throne, he will stop at nothing to seize control of both the empire and his wayward sister. And now Alaric of the Visigoths, a ferocious warrior who has battled Rome for years, has come to the capital to bargain for his homeland.

When Julia rebels against the marriage her brother has ordered her to accept, he responds by publicly punishing her lover in the Colosseum. Realizing how perilous her position is, Julia impulsively turns to Alaric—the empire’s sworn enemy, and the one man who can make Rome tremble—and engineers her own kidnapping. Julia, the Roman princess, forges an uneasy alliance with Alaric, the brutal warrior king, in an edgy, sexy cat-and-mouse game of attraction, defiance and lust.

��Enemy of My Dreams��is a romantic romp through the ashes of a dying empire.��
��Luna McNamara, author of��Psyche and Eros

]]> 448 Jenny Williamson 1335080511 Kels 0 to-read 3.65
author: Jenny Williamson
name: Kels
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 13061255 A temporary engagement, a lifetime in the making . . .

After years of fending for herself, Kate Taylor found friendship and acceptance in Spindle Cove—but she never stopped yearning for love. The very last place she'd look for it is in the arms of Corporal Thorne. The militia commander is as stone cold as he is brutally handsome. But when mysterious strangers come searching for Kate, Thorne steps forward as her fiancé. He claims to have only Kate's safety in mind. So why is there smoldering passion in his kiss?

Long ago, Samuel Thorne devoted his life to guarding Kate's happiness. He wants what's best for her, and he knows it's not marriage to a man like him. To outlast their temporary engagement, he must keep his hands off her tempting body and lock her warm smiles out of his withered heart. It's the toughest battle of this hardened warrior's life . . . and the first he seems destined to lose.]]> 374 Tessa Dare 0062049895 Kels 0 to-read 3.83 2012
author: Tessa Dare
name: Kels
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61070523 A sweeping, Pakistani romantic fantasy retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo, where one girl seeks revenge against those who betrayed her—including the boy she used to love.

Three hundred and sixty-four days.
Framed for a crime she didn't commit, Dania counts down her days in prison until she can exact revenge on Mazin, the boy responsible for her downfall, the boy she once loved—and still can't forget. When she discovers a fellow prisoner may have the key to exacting that vengeance--a stolen djinn treasure--they execute a daring escape together and search for the hidden treasure.

Armed with dark magic and a new identity, Dania enacts a plan to bring down those who betrayed her and her family, even though Mazin stands in her way. But seeking revenge becomes a complicated game of cat and mouse, especially when an undeniable fire still burns between them, and the power to destroy her enemies has a price. As Dania falls deeper into her web of traps and lies, she risks losing her humanity to her fight for vengeance--and her heart to the only boy she's ever loved.]]> 439 Emily Varga 1250877385 Kels 0 to-read 3.66 2024
author: Emily Varga
name: Kels
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 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]]> 517 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 Kels 1
(my curiosity got the best of me and i had to see how the deaf rep was and unfortunately it was worse than i was expecting. this book is bad and not even so bad it’s enjoyable, just plain bad)]]> 4.56 2023
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Kels
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves:
review:
if your “deaf representation�� has me, a hoh person, confused and wondering if your character is deaf/hoh/or mute then it’s not actual representation

(my curiosity got the best of me and i had to see how the deaf rep was and unfortunately it was worse than i was expecting. this book is bad and not even so bad it’s enjoyable, just plain bad)
]]> 218663941 Did you love Madeline Miller’s Circe? Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls? Jennifer Saint's Elektra? Natalie Haynes�� A Thousand Ships?

But did you ever wonder who the real women behind the myths of the Trojan War were?

Now award-winning classicist and historian Emily Hauser takes readers on an epic journey to uncover the astonishing true story of the real women behind ancient Greece’s greatest legends �� and the real heroes of those ancient epics, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

Because, contrary to perceptions built up over three millennia, ancient history is not all about men �� and it's not only men's stories that deserve to be told . . .

In Mythica Emily Hauser tells, for the first time, the extraordinary stories of the real women behind some of the western world’s greatest legends. Following in their footsteps, digging into the history behind Homer’s epic poems, piecing together evidence from the original texts, recent astonishing archaeological finds and the latest DNA studies, she reveals who these women �� queens, mothers, warriors, slaves �� were, how they lived, and how history has (or has not �� until now) remembered them.

A riveting new history of the Bronze Age Aegean and a journey through Homer’s epics charted entirely by women �� from Helen of Troy, Briseis, Cassandra and Aphrodite to Circe, Athena, Hera, Calypso and Penelope �� Mythica is a ground-breaking reassessment of the reality behind the often-mythologized women of Greece’s greatest epics, and of the ancient world itself as we learn ever more about it.]]> 373 Emily Hauser 0226839680 Kels 0 to-read 4.50 2025
author: Emily Hauser
name: Kels
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 11250317
Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.]]> 352 Madeline Miller 1408816032 Kels 5 4.38 2011
author: Madeline Miller
name: Kels
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/24
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: all-time-favorites, lgbt, mythology
review:
06/11/2020 UPDATE: after reading this book 13 times, i manage to fall more and more in love with it every time. every time i think i can’t love achilles more, this book proves me wrong and i just love him even more
]]> 51199185 A teen girl finds herself lost on a dangerous adventure in this YA thriller by the acclaimed author of The Wicker King and The Weight of the Stars—reimagining Peter Pan for today’s world.

On Wendy Darling’s first night in Chicago, a boy called Peter appears at her window. He’s dizzying, captivating, beautiful—so she agrees to join him for a night on the town.

Wendy thinks they’re heading to a party, but instead they’re soon running in the city’s underground. She makes friends—a punk girl named Tinkerbelle and the lost boys Peter watches over. And she makes enemies—the terrifying Detective Hook, and maybe Peter himself, as his sinister secrets start coming to light. Can Wendy find the courage to survive this night—and make sure everyone else does, too?

Acclaimed author K. Ancrum has re-envisioned Peter Pan with a central twist that will send all your previous memories of J. M. Barrie’s classic permanently off to Neverland.

An Imprint Book]]> 288 K. Ancrum Kels 0 to-read 3.62 2021
author: K. Ancrum
name: Kels
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61985453
Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the gods remember, and they do not forgive.

Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows the artifact's magic holds the key to a new life among the nobles at court and a chance for revenge.

The spell connects to Everen, the last male dragon foretold to save his kind, dragging him through the Veil. Disguised as a human, Everen soon learns that to regain his true power and form and fulfil his destiny, he only needs to convince one little thief to trust him enough to bond completely--body, mind, and soul--and then kill them.

Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.]]> 336 L.R. Lam Kels 0 to-read 3.36 2023
author: L.R. Lam
name: Kels
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2647293 132 Lewis Carroll 1904808166 Kels 4 middlegrade 3.83 1865
author: Lewis Carroll
name: Kels
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1865
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: middlegrade
review:
if you wanna understand my personality all you have to do is just read this and the way that i am will make sense
]]> 295 Treasure Island has never been surpassed. From the moment young Jim Hawkins first encounters the sinister Blind Pew at the Admiral Benbow Inn until the climactic battle for treasure on a tropic isle, the novel creates scenes and characters that have fired the imaginations of generations of readers. Written by a superb prose stylist, a master of both action and atmosphere, the story centers upon the conflict between good and evil - but in this case a particularly engaging form of evil. It is the villainy of that most ambiguous rogue Long John Silver that sets the tempo of this tale of treachery, greed, and daring. Designed to forever kindle a dream of high romance and distant horizons, Treasure Island is, in the words of G. K. Chesterton, 'the realization of an ideal, that which is promised in its provocative and beckoning map; a vision not only of white skeletons but also green palm trees and sapphire seas.' G. S. Fraser terms it 'an utterly original book' and goes on to write: 'There will always be a place for stories like Treasure Island that can keep boys and old men happy.']]> 352 Robert Louis Stevenson 0753453800 Kels 4 classics 3.84 1882
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Kels
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1882
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: classics
review:
the sequel to starz hit series “black sails�� goes CRAZY
]]> 211026708
The Muses narrated Hercules’s story. Now, in this novel for fans of the New York Times bestsellers Go the Distance and Fire & Fate, they’ll narrate their own “gospel truth.��

Living in a quiet seaside village with their overprotective mother, teenaged sisters Calliope, Clio, Melpomene, Terpsichore, and Thalia are talented performers with no audience. If Calli had her way, she’d pursue her dream of writing epic stories in the city of Thebes. But family comes first, and as the eldest, she’d never leave her beloved sisters behind.

Then, following a disastrous public music performance, their mother reveals a shocking secret: she is Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory, and for nearly two decades, she’s been on the run from the gods of Mount Olympus, desperate to keep her daughters safe from their machinations. Before she can share more, she is kidnapped . . . and though the girls don’t know it yet, the villain pulling the strings is none other than Hades, fiery God of the Underworld.

Under Calli’s leadership, the sisters embark on a journey to save their mother and to learn more about their own divine origins. But the path ahead is filled with mythical trials and tribulations, and they’ll need to rely on both their individual talents and the strength of their sisterhood to ensure that they ascend from “zeroes�� to “heroes”–or more accurately, heroines.

Penned by New York Times bestselling author Farrah Rochon, this YA fantasy uniquely blends a twist on a Disney classic with a fresh take on Greek mythology.]]> 352 Farrah Rochon 1368098703 Kels 0 to-read 3.99
author: Farrah Rochon
name: Kels
average rating: 3.99
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 34268 Peter Pan, a diferencia de todos los demás, es un niño que se niega a crecer. Él vive con los niños perdidos y con el hada Campanita en el país de Nunca Jamás. Siempre está en busca de nuevas aventuras y también de una madre que cuide de todos y les cuente relatos para dormir.
Una noche, después de que Peter se encuentra con los hermanos Darling, los invita a que lo acompañen en el viaje más fantástico de toda su vida: volar hacia Nunca Jamás para conocer a las engreídas sirenas, jugar con los indios pieles rojas y luchar a muerte contra los terribles piratas.

]]> 155 J.M. Barrie 0805072454 Kels 4 classics 4.06 1911
author: J.M. Barrie
name: Kels
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1911
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/17
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: classics
review:
peter pan my favorite menace to society!!!!!!
]]> 37969723
When Agamemnon, the brutal political leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, she finds herself caught between the two most powerful of the Greeks. Achilles refuses to fight in protest, and the Greeks begin to lose ground to their Trojan opponents. Keenly observant and coolly unflinching about the daily horrors of war, Briseis finds herself in an unprecedented position, able to observe the two men driving the Greek army in what will become their final confrontation, deciding the fate not only of Briseis's people but also of the ancient world at large.

Briseis is just one among thousands of women living behind the scenes in this war—the slaves and prostitutes, the nurses, the women who lay out the dead—all of them erased by history. With breathtaking historical detail and luminous prose, Pat Barker brings the teeming world of the Greek camp to vivid life. She offers nuanced, complex portraits of characters and stories familiar from mythology, which, seen from Briseis's perspective, are rife with newfound revelations. Barker's latest builds on her decades-long study of war and its impact on individual lives—and it is nothing short of magnificent.]]> 325 Pat Barker Kels 5 mythology ]]> 3.88 2018
author: Pat Barker
name: Kels
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: mythology
review:
“Grief's only ever as deep as the love it's replaced.��

]]> 38748985
Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—these are the names history associates with the early Roman Empire. Yet, not a single one of these emperors was the blood son of his predecessor. In this captivating history, a prominent scholar of the era documents the Julio-Claudian women whose bloodline, ambition, and ruthlessness made it possible for the emperors�� line to continue.
��
Eminent scholar Guy de la Bédoyère, author of Praetorian, asserts that the women behind the scenes—including Livia, Octavia, and the elder and younger Agrippina—were the true backbone of the dynasty. De la Bédoyère draws on the accounts of ancient Roman historians to revisit a familiar time from a completely fresh vantage point. Anyone who enjoys I, Claudius will be fascinated by this study of dynastic power and gender interplay in ancient Rome.]]> 408 Guy de la Bédoyère 0300230303 Kels 4 3.85 2018
author: Guy de la Bédoyère
name: Kels
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves:
review:
the julio-claudian line being dependent on the woman’s lineage over the man’s IS livia’s biggest flex like julio-claudian women got stuff DONE
]]> 211399780 A powerful and fierce reimagining of the earliest Roman legend: the twins, Romulus and Remus, mythical founders of history’s greatest empire, and the woman whose sacrifice made it all possible.

The names Romulus and Remus may be immortalized in map and stone and chronicle, but their mother exists only as a preface to her sons�� journey, the princess turned oath-breaking priestess, condemned to death alongside her children.

But she did not die; she survived. And so does her story.

Beautiful, royal, rich: Rhea has it all—until her father loses his kingdom in a treacherous coup, and she is sent to the order of the Vestal Virgins to ensure she will never produce an heir.

Except when mortals scheme, gods laugh.

Rhea becomes pregnant, and human society turns against her. Abandoned, ostracized, and facing the gravest punishment, Rhea forges a dangerous deal with the divine, one that will forever change the trajectory of her life…and her beloved land.

To save her sons and reclaim their birthright, Rhea must summon nature’s mightiest force �� a mother’s love �� and fight.

All roads may lead to Rome, but they began with Rhea Silvia.]]> 400 Lauren J.A. Bear 0593638948 Kels 0 to-read 4.34 2025
author: Lauren J.A. Bear
name: Kels
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211004841 A timely and timeless reimagining of the story of Dionysus, Greek God of ecstasy and madness, revelry and ruin, for readers of The Song of Achilles and Elektra.

Raised in a Greek legion, Phaidros has been taught to fight for the homeland he’s never seen and to follow his commander’s orders at all costs. But when he rescues a baby from a fire at Thebes’s palace, his commander’s orders cease to make sense: Phaidros is forced to abandon the blue-eyed boy at a temple, and to keep the baby’s existence a secret.

Years later, after a strange encounter that led to the death of his battalion, Phaidros has become a training master for young soldiers. He struggles with panic attacks and flashbacks, and he is not the only one: all around him, his fellow veterans are losing their minds.

Phaidros’s risk of madness is not his only problem: his life has become entangled with Thebes’s young crown prince, who wishes to escape the marriage his mother, the Queen, has chosen for him. When the prince vanishes, Phaidros is drawn into the search for him—a search that leads him to a blue-eyed witch named Dionysus, whose guidance is as wise as the events that surround him are strange. In Dionysus’s company, Phaidros witnesses sudden outbursts of riots and unrest, and everywhere Dionysus goes, rumors follow about a new god, one sired by Zeus but lost in a fire.

In The Hymn to Dionysus, bestselling author Natasha Pulley transports us to an ancient empire on the edge of ruin to tell an utterly captivating story about a man needing a god to remind him how to be a human.]]> 416 Natasha Pulley 1639732365 Kels 0 to-read 4.13 2025
author: Natasha Pulley
name: Kels
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199871472 Cleopatra will retell the story of Egypt’s most famous queen. It opens at the moment she discovers that her father has died and she is Pharaoh.]]> 384 Saara El-Arifi Kels 0 to-read 4.17 2026
author: Saara El-Arifi
name: Kels
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211025454 From New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis, an utterly addictive new novel that will transport you from New York City’s most glamorous party to the labyrinth streets of Cairo and back.

Egypt, 1936: When anthropology student Charlotte Cross is offered a coveted spot on an archaeological dig in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, she leaps at the opportunity. But after an unbearable tragedy strikes, Charlotte knows her future will never be the same.

New York City, 1978: Eighteen-year-old Annie Jenkins is thrilled when she lands an opportunity to work for iconic former Vogue fashion editor Diana Vreeland, who’s in the midst of organizing the famous Met Gala, hosted at the museum and known across the city as the “party of the year.�� Though Annie soon realizes she’ll have her work cut out for her, scrambling to meet Diana’s capricious demands and exacting standards.

Meanwhile, Charlotte, now leading a quiet life as the associate curator of the Met’s celebrated Department of Egyptian Art, wants little to do with the upcoming gala. She’s consumed with her research on Hathorkare—a rare female pharaoh dismissed by most other Egyptologists as unimportant.

That is, until the night of the gala. When one of the Egyptian art collection’s most valuable artifacts goes missing . . . and there are signs Hathorkare’s legendary curse might be reawakening.

As Annie and Charlotte team up to search for the missing antiquity, a desperate hunch leads the unlikely duo to one place Charlotte swore she’d never return: Egypt. But if they’re to have any hope of finding the artifact, Charlotte will need to confront the demons of her past—which may mean leading them both directly into danger.]]> 352 Fiona Davis 0593474279 Kels 0 to-read 3.90 2025
author: Fiona Davis
name: Kels
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212217970 From P. C. Cast, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the landmark House of Night urban fantasy series, comes an epic, lusty, magic-filled romantasy about British warrior queen Boudicca. Perfect for fans of Sue Lynn Tan and Madeline Miller!

In Roman-occupied Britain, the Iceni tribe crowns an extraordinary new queen. Tall and flame-haired, Boudicca is devoted to Andraste, the Iceni’s patron goddess, known for her raven familiar, her fierceness and her swirling blue tattoos. Boudicca and her two young daughters will carry the tribe forward in dangerous times.

Roman tax collector Catus Decianus, expecting weakness in a female ruler, launches a devastating attack on the tribe’s stronghold. Boudicca and her family barely survive—but they refuse to bend the knee. She calls a war council, bringing together her most trustworthy allies, including her childhood friend Rhan, now a powerful Druid seer, and the horse master Maldwyn, whose devotion to Boudicca runs deeper than a warrior to a queen.

Surprising the Romans, Boudicca’s armies sack the wealthy cities of Camulodunum, Londinium and Veralamium. As the snow falls, the Celts retreat to a hidden valley to plot their assault on the remaining Roman legions, determined to force the invaders from Britan.

But in the jagged ice of winter the Druid Rhan foresees a tragic end to Boudicca’s rebellion. Although the defeat of the Iceni is spelled out in signs sent by the gods, Rhan swears she will alter the future and save her queen. Now the battle-hardened Boudicca must put her trust in the powers of the otherworld to save her from both the traitors in her midst and from Rome’s mighty legions.

Inspired by the rich history of Boudicca’s attack on Roman Britain, bestselling author P. C. Cast crafts an epic, mythic retelling of one of time’s most legendary female warriors.]]> 480 P.C. Cast 0063294974 Kels 0 to-read 3.65
author: P.C. Cast
name: Kels
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 127823335 A swoon-worthy debut queer Victorian romance in which two debutantes distract themselves from having to seek husbands by setting up their widowed parents, and instead find their perfect match in each other—the lesbian Bridgerton/Parent Trap you never knew you needed!

Gwen has a brilliant beyond brilliant idea.

It’s 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street. But playing the blushing ingenue makes Beth’s skin crawl and she’d rather be anywhere but here.

Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with absolutely no intention of finding a husband, possibly ever. She figures she has plenty of security as the only daughter of a rakish earl, from whom she’s gotten all her flair, fun, and less-than-proper party games.

“Let’s get them together,�� she says.

It doesn’t take long for Gwen to hatch her latest scheme: rather than surrender Beth to courtship, they should set up Gwen’s father and Beth’s newly widowed mother. Let them get married instead.

“It’ll be easy�� she says.

There’s just…one, teeny, tiny problem. Their parents kind of seem to hate each other.

But no worries. Beth and Gwen are more than up to the challenge of a little twenty-year-old heartbreak. How hard can parent-trapping widowed ex-lovers be?

Of course, just as their plan begins to unfold, a handsome, wealthy viscount starts calling on Beth, offering up the perfect, secure marriage.

Beth’s not mature enough for this��

Now Gwen must face the prospect of sharing Beth with someone else, forever. And Beth must reckon with the fact that she’s caught feelings, hard, and they’re definitely not for her potential fiancé.

That’s the trouble with matchmaking: sometimes you accidentally fall in love with your best friend in the process.]]> 368 Emma R. Alban 006331200X Kels 3 lgbt, romance 3.76 2024
author: Emma R. Alban
name: Kels
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: lgbt, romance
review:
i can’t believe they invented lesbianism
]]> 198493694
One of history’s most iconic figures, Cleopatra is rightly remembered as a clever and charismatic ruler. But few today realize that she was the last in a long line of Egyptian queens who bore that name.  ��
  ��
In The Cleopatras , historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells the dramatic story of these seven incomparable women, vividly recapturing the lost world of Hellenistic Egypt and tracing the kingdom’s final centuries before its fall to Rome. The Cleopatras were Greek-speaking descendants of Ptolemy, the general who conquered Egypt alongside Alexander the Great. They were closely related as mothers, daughters, sisters, half-sisters, and nieces. Each wielded absolute power, easily overshadowing their husbands or sons, and all proved to be shrewd and capable leaders. Styling themselves as goddess-queens, the Cleopatras ruled through the canny deployment of arcane rituals, opulent spectacles, and unparalleled wealth. They navigated political turmoil and court intrigues, led armies into battle and commanded fleets of ships, and ruthlessly dispatched their dynastic rivals.   ��
  ��
The Cleopatras is a fascinating and richly textured biography of seven extraordinary women, restoring these queens to their deserved place among history’s greatest rulers.   ��]]> 384 Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones 1541602927 Kels 0 to-read 3.97 2024
author: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
name: Kels
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 12356283 384 Annelise Freisenbruch 0099523930 Kels 0 to-read 3.93 2010
author: Annelise Freisenbruch
name: Kels
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63367343
When Sappho sang her songs, the only word that existed to describe a poet was a male one�� aoidos , or “singer-man.�� The most famous woman poet of ancient Greece, whose craft was one of words, had no words with which to talk about who she was and what she did. In How Women Became Poets , Emily Hauser rewrites the story of Greek literature as one of gender, arguing that the ways the Greeks talked about their identity as poets constructed, played with, and broke down gender expectations that literature was for men alone. Bringing together recent studies in ancient authorship, gender, and performativity, Hauser offers a new history of classical literature that redefines the canon as a constant struggle to be heard through, and sometimes despite, gender.

Women, as Virginia Woolf recognized, need rooms of their own in order to write. So, too, have women writers through history needed a name to describe what it is they do. Hauser traces the invention of that name in ancient Greece, exploring the archaeology of the gendering of the poet. She follows ancient Greek poets, philosophers, and historians as they developed and debated the vocabulary for authorship on the battleground of gender―building up and reinforcing the word for male poet, then in response creating a language with which to describe women who write. Crucially, Hauser reinserts women into the traditionally all-male canon of Greek literature, arguing for the centrality of their role in shaping ideas around authorship and literary production.]]> 376 Emily Hauser 0691201072 Kels 0 to-read 5.00
author: Emily Hauser
name: Kels
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 201102381 Spanning 3,000 years, from the birth of Minoan Crete to the death of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in Rome, a magisterial new history of the ancient world told, for the very first time, through women.

For centuries, men have been writing histories of antiquity filled with warlords, emperors and kings. But when it comes to incorporating women aside from Cleopatra and Boudica, writers have been more comfortable describing mythical heroines than real ones.

While Penelope and Helen of Troy live on in the imagination, their real-life counterparts have been relegated to the margins. In The Missing Thread, Daisy Dunn inverts this tradition and puts the women of history at the centre of the narrative.

These pages present Enheduanna, the earliest named author, the poet Sappho and Telesilla, who defended her city from attack. Here is Artemisia, sole female commander in the Graeco-Persian Wars, and Cynisca, the first female victor at the Olympic Games. Cleopatra may be the more famous, but Fulvia, Mark Antony's wife, fought a war on his behalf. Many other women remain nameless but integral.

Through new examination of the sources combined with vivid storytelling Daisy Dunn shows us the ancient world through fresh eyes, and introduces us to an incredible cast of ancient women, weavers of an entire world.]]> 480 Daisy Dunn 0593299663 Kels 0 to-read 3.68 2024
author: Daisy Dunn
name: Kels
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61089553 The first modern biography of one of the most influential yet long-neglected rulers of the ancient world: Cleopatra Selene, daughter of Antony and Cleopatra.

“A vibrant, fascinating portrait of a great woman who deserves her place in the pantheon of Roman queens.�� ―Emma Southon

As the only daughter of Roman Triumvir Marc Antony and Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII, Cleopatra Selene was expected to uphold traditional feminine virtues; to marry well and bear sons; and to legitimize and strengthen her parents�� rule. Yet with their parents�� deaths by suicide, the princess and her brothers found themselves the inheritors of Egypt, a claim that placed them squarely in the warpath of the Roman emperor.

“Supported by a feast of visual and literary references�� (Caroline Lawrence), Cleopatra’s Daughter reimagines the life of Cleopatra Selene, a woman who, although born into Egyptian royalty and raised in her mother’s court, was cruelly abandoned and held captive by Augustus Caesar. Creating a narrative from frescos and coinage, ivory dolls and bronzes, historian and archaeologist Jane Draycott shows how Cleopatra Selene navigated years of imprisonment on Palatine Hill―where Octavia, the emperor’s sister and Antony’s fourth wife, housed royal children orphaned in the wake of Roman expansion―and emerged a queen.

Despite the disrepute of her family, Cleopatra Selene in time endeared herself to her captors through her remarkable intellect and political acumen. Rather than put her to death, Augustus wed her to the Numidian prince Juba, son of the deposed regent Juba I, and installed them both as client rulers of Mauretania in Africa. There, Cleopatra Selene ruled successfully for nearly twenty years, promoting trade, fostering the arts, and reclaiming her mother’s legacy―all at a time, Draycott reminds us, when kingship was an inherently male activity.

A princess who became a prisoner and a prisoner who became a queen, Cleopatra Selene here “finally attains her rightful place in history�� (Barry Strauss). A much-needed corrective, Cleopatra’s Daughter sheds new and revelatory light on Egyptian and Roman politics, society, and culture in the early days of the Roman Empire.

35 black-and-white illustrations]]> 336 Jane Draycott 1324092599 Kels 0 to-read 3.71 2022
author: Jane Draycott
name: Kels
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212342605 Hungerstone��is a thrillingly seductive sapphic romance for fans of S.T. Gibson’s��A Dowry of Blood��and Emilia Hart’s��Weyward.

For what do you hunger, Lenore?

Lenore is the wife of steel magnate Henry, but ten years into their marriage, the relationship has soured and no child has arrived to fill the distance growing between them. Henry's ambitions take them out of London and to the imposing Nethershaw manor in the countryside, where Henry aims to host a hunt with society’s finest. Lenore keeps a terrible secret from the last time her husband hunted, and though they never speak of it, it haunts their marriage to this day.

The preparations for the event take a turn when a carriage accident near their remote home brings the mysterious Carmilla into Lenore's life. Carmilla who is weak and pale during the day but vibrant at night; Carmilla who stirs up a hunger deep within Lenore. Soon girls from local villages begin to fall sick before being consumed by a bloody hunger.

Torn between regaining her husband's affection and Carmilla's ever-growing presence, Lenore begins to unravel her past and in doing so, uncovers a darkness in her household that will place her at terrible risk . . .

Set against the violent wilderness of the moors and the uncontrolled appetite of the industrial revolution,��Hungerstone��is a compulsive feminist reworking of��Carmilla, the book that inspired��Dracula: a captivating story of appetite and desire.]]> 336 Kat Dunn 1638932166 Kels 0 to-read 4.01 2025
author: Kat Dunn
name: Kels
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220756054 When a demonic presence awakens deep in a Mexican silver mine, the young woman it seizes must turn to the one man she shouldn’t trust�� from bestselling author Isabel Cañas.

In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family’s isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong.

Elías, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family’s legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin’s betrothed, is none of his business. Which is of course why he can’t help but notice her every time she enters a room or the growing tension between them�� and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon’s thirst for blood grows stronger.]]> Isabel Cañas Kels 0 to-read 4.49 2025
author: Isabel Cañas
name: Kels
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 18705209 Nico had warned them. Going through the House of Hades would stir the demigods' worst memories. Their ghosts would become restless. Nico may actually become a ghost if he has to shadow-travel with Reyna and Coach Hedge one more time. But that might be better than the alternative: allowing someone else to die, as Hades foretold.

Jason's ghost is his mother, who abandoned him when he was little. He may not know how he is going to prove himself as a leader, but he does know that he will not break promises like she did. He will complete his line of the prophecy: To storm or fire the world must fall.

Reyna fears the ghosts of her ancestors, who radiate anger. But she can't allow them to distract her from getting the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood before war breaks out between the Romans and Greeks. Will she have enough strength to succeed, especially with a deadly hunter on her trail?

Leo fears that his plan won't work, that his friends might interfere. But there is no other way. All of them know that one of the Seven has to die in order to defeat Gaea, the Earth Mother.

Piper must learn to give herself over to fear. Only then will she be able to do her part at the end: utter a single word.

Heroes, gods, and monsters all have a role to play in the climactic fulfillment of the prophecy in The Blood of Olympus, the electrifying finale of the best-selling Heroes of Olympus series.]]> 516 Rick Riordan Kels 4 middlegrade nico and reyna the mvps!!!!!! 4.42 2014
author: Rick Riordan
name: Kels
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: middlegrade
review:
nico and reyna the mvps!!!!!!
]]> 48037
But as Carmilla becomes increasingly strange and volatile, prone to eerie nocturnal wanderings, Laura finds herself tormented by nightmares and growing weaker by the day�� Pre-dating Dracula by twenty-six years, Carmilla is the original vampire story, steeped in sexual tension and gothic romance.]]> 108 J. Sheridan Le Fanu 0809510839 Kels 0 to-read 3.88 1872
author: J. Sheridan Le Fanu
name: Kels
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1872
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60521937
This is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. . .

Saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, Constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. But when Dracula draws a cunning aristocrat and a starving artist into his web of passion and deceit, Constanta realizes that her beloved is capable of terrible things.

Finding comfort in the arms of her rival consorts, she begins to unravel their husband's dark secrets. With the lives of everyone she loves on the line, Constanta will have to choose between her own freedom and her love for her husband. But bonds forged by blood can only be broken by death.]]> 292 S.T. Gibson 0316501077 Kels 0 to-read 3.91 2021
author: S.T. Gibson
name: Kels
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 64414866 An Education in Malice is a dark academia tale of blood, secrets and insatiable hungers from Sunday Times bestselling author S.T. Gibson, author of the cult hit A Dowry of Blood.

Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua's College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. Here, secrets are currency, ambition is lifeblood, and strange ceremonies welcome students into the fold.

On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla.

But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own strange hungers. Tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors and dark magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.]]> 352 S.T. Gibson 0356519325 Kels 0 to-read 3.51 2024
author: S.T. Gibson
name: Kels
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199190261
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover settle into Hecate’s seemingly endless mansion and start getting acquainted with the fussy, terrifying animals. The trio has been warned not to touch anything, but while Percy and Annabeth are out at school, Grover can’t resist drinking a strawberry-flavored potion in the laboratory. It turns him into a giant frenzied goat, and after he rampages through the house, damaging everything in sight, and passes out, Hecuba and Gale escape. Now the friends have to find Hecate’s pets and somehow restore the house, all before Hecate gets back on Saturday. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.]]> 322 Rick Riordan 1368112382 Kels 3 4.14 2024
author: Rick Riordan
name: Kels
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/24
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves:
review:
i just wanna know how leo was helping percy with his spanish while currently being presumed dead (and how they battled a whole army of ghosts and didn’t think to ask nico for help)
]]> 199534003 The enemies-to-lovers queer Victorian romance follow-up to��Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend, in which a young lord and a second son clash, but find themselves thrust together again and again by their meddling cousins.

“That man is, without a doubt, the absolute most obnoxious��

Bobby Mason is sick of being second: born the spare, never trusted with family responsibility, never expected to amount to much. He’s hungry to contribute something that matters, while all around him his peers are squandering their political and financial power, coasting through life. Which is exactly why he can’t stand the new Viscount Demeroven.

…i�Բ��ܴڴڱ������������

James Demeroven, just come of age and into the Viscountcy, knows that he’s a disappointment. Keeping his head down and never raising anyone’s expectations is how he’s survived life with his stepfather. To quiet, careful James, Bobby Mason is a blazing comet in his endless night, even more alive than he was at Oxford when James crushed on him from afar. But Mason is also brash and recklessly unapologetic, destined to shatter the fragile safety of James’s world. Worst of all, he keeps rubbing James’s failures in his face.

…hottest man to ever walk the ton.��

They can barely get through a single conversation without tensions boiling over. Neither Bobby nor James has ever met a more intriguing, infuriating, infatuating man.

If only they could avoid each other entirely. Bad enough their (wonderful but determined) cousins Beth and Gwen keep conveniently setting up group outings. But when an extortionist starts targeting their families, threatening their reputations, Bobby and James must find a way to work together, without pushing each other’s buttons (or tearing them off) in the process…��]]> 400 Emma R. Alban 0063312034 Kels 0 to-read 3.78 2024
author: Emma R. Alban
name: Kels
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61096066
Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, and the other denizens of Mount Olympus feel almost as present and larger than life today as they did when they were worshipped as gods. Humanity has been telling and retelling stories about the characters from Greek and Roman myth for centuries—heck, the Romans liked the Hellenic originals so much, they remade them faster than Marvel remakes Spider-Man movies. And from Virgil's Aeneid to Warrior Princess to Percy Jackson to The Song of Achilles , the obsession has never waned.

Yet Fit for the Gods shows how these stories still have a power of metamorphosis that would impress Ovid. Here you'll find Atalanta's wild hunt reimagined as a daring space battle; a��sex-swapped take on Theseus and the Minotaur; a story that explores the character of Tiresias with a complex, fascinating, modern understanding of gender; a chilling feminist takedown of Apollo from Daphne's POV; and the entire Greek pantheon reimagined as dangerously clever, bored AIs.��

Brave, bold, and groundbreaking, the stories in Fit for the Gods will be like ambrosia for those craving fresh interpretations of their favorite myths, and give long-time fans a chance to finally see themselves in these beloved legends.

A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.]]> 480 Jenn Northington 0593469259 Kels 0 to-read 3.28 2023
author: Jenn Northington
name: Kels
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 12127810 Hazel stands at a crossroads. She and the remaining crew of the Argo II could return home with the Athena Parthenos statue and try to stop Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter from going to war. Or they could continue their quest to find the House of Hades, where they might be able to open the Doors of Death, rescue their friends Percy and Annabeth from Tartarus, and prevent monsters from being reincarnated in the mortal world. Whichever road they decide to take, they have to hurry, because time is running out. Gaea, the bloodthirsty Earth Mother, has set the date of August 1 for her rise to power.

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

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

Join the demigods as they face their biggest challenges yet in The House of Hades, the hair-raising penultimate book in the best-selling Heroes of Olympus series.]]> 597 Rick Riordan 1423146727 Kels 4 middlegrade bob says hello 4.56 2013
author: Rick Riordan
name: Kels
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: middlegrade
review:
bob says hello
]]> 195790663
Traditionally portrayed as a jealous wife, a wicked stepmother, and a victim-blaming instrument of the patriarchy, Hera is ripe for a retelling that shows her as a powerful queen―ruthless when she needs to be, but also compassionate, strategic, and ambitious. With Hera, beloved and bestselling author Jennifer Saint delivers another epic and enthralling reimagining of a Greek heroine we only thought we knew.]]> 389 Jennifer Saint Kels 2 3.49 2024
author: Jennifer Saint
name: Kels
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
review:
sure let’s give hera a voice cause she’s the queen of the gods but also make her absolutely boring to read about
]]> 2214574 In a richly imagined, beautiful new novel, an acclaimed writer gives an epic heroine her voice.

In The Aeneid, Virgil's hero fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes us to the half-wild world of ancient Italy, when Rome was a muddy village near seven hills.

Lavinia grows up knowing nothing but peace and freedom, until suitors come. Her mother wants her to marry handsome, ambitious Turnus. But omens and prophecies spoken by the sacred springs say she must marry a foreigner--that she will be the cause of a bitter war--and that her husband will not live long. When a fleet of Trojan ships sails up the Tiber, Lavinia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. And so she tells us what Virgil did not: the story of her life, and of the love of her life.

Lavinia is a book of passion and war, generous and austerely beautiful, from a writer working at the height of her powers.]]> 279 Ursula K. Le Guin 0151014248 Kels 0 to-read 3.82 2008
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Kels
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 45032 488 Jane Austen Kels 0 to-read, classics 3.86 1814
author: Jane Austen
name: Kels
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves: to-read, classics
review:

]]> 58416952 At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.

AUDI. VIDE. TACE.

The Catenan Republic �� the Hierarchy �� may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.

I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus �� what they call Will �� to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.

I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.

But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.

And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.

To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy’s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.]]> 639 James Islington 1982141190 Kels 0 to-read 4.60 2023
author: James Islington
name: Kels
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 65213381
When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.]]> 416 Isabel Ibañez 1250803373 Kels 0 to-read 3.82 2023
author: Isabel Ibañez
name: Kels
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218587798
Upon running into writer’s block, Summer grows eager to take any opportunity to shake things up—even if it means agreeing to a PR stunt with child-actor-turned-playboy, Jules Moradi, famous for his tabloid escapades.

At first, Jules keeps his distance, maintaining professional boundaries. But as time passes, his walls come down, and Summer uncovers who he is beyond his reputation, and it’s someone more like her than she ever realized. As the lines blur between fake and real, Summer begins questioning who she is and what she wants—and if her dreams are worth sacrificing her heart.]]> 352 Tashie Bhuiyan 133501392X Kels 0 to-read 4.41 2025
author: Tashie Bhuiyan
name: Kels
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62792284 A princess desperate to win back the prince who broke her heart follows him to his kingdom's prestigious military academy—and in doing so, falls in love, saves the realm, and continues to look fabulous in this delightful debut fantasy.

Domhnall and Clía are an ideal match—or so everyone says. They are prince and princess of neighboring kingdoms. An alliance the gods will smile on. Until Domhnall ruins everything by refusing to propose.

Heartbroken but determined, Clía makes the perfect plan: Follow Domhnall to Caisleán Cósta, the military academy he’s attending. Show she can protect her kingdom. Secure the betrothal. Sure, the castle has a brutal reputation. But how hard can dueling really be?

Warrior Ronan promised himself he’d never lose his focus. He fought and sacrificed for his place at Caisleán Cósta, and he has no time for blonde princesses who waltz intro arenas like they’re attending a ball. Even if she and her otter-like pet are…well, cute.

He doesn’t want to be intrigued by Clía. But her hunger to prove herself is something he understands. He tells himself there’s no harm training her. Even if his heart does race around her. Even if Domhnall is his best friend.

But as they say, love is a battlefield—and unfortunately for them all, a very real war is looming on the horizon. It’s a fight that will threaten all their kingdoms…and test all their hearts.��]]> 400 Cait Jacobs 0063321157 Kels 0 to-read 3.84 2025
author: Cait Jacobs
name: Kels
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211742041 The Cruel Prince meets The Selection in this captivating duology opener brimming with heart-pounding romance, vicious competition, and beautiful, cruel fae, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch Haven, Sasha Peyton Smith.

Every citizen of England is granted one bargain from their immortal fae queen.

High society girls are expected to bargain for qualities that will win them suitors: a rare talent for piano in exchange for one’s happiest childhood memory. A perfect smile for one’s ability to taste.

But Ivy Benton’s debut season arrives with a shocking twist: a competition to secure the heart of the Queen’s fae son, Prince Bram. A prize that could save Ivy’s family from ruin�� and free her sister from the bargain that destroyed her.

Yet every glittering fae deal has a rotting heart—and at the center of this contest is a dark plot that could destroy everything Ivy knows.

Sweepingly romantic and deceptively enchanting, this alternate history romantasy will enthrall readers of Holly Black, Stephanie Garber, and Adalyn Grace.]]> 400 Sasha Peyton Smith 0063372525 Kels 0 to-read 3.96 2025
author: Sasha Peyton Smith
name: Kels
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 91017
From Cicero, Spartacus, and Brutus, to Cleopatra, Virgil, and Augustus, here are some of the most legendary figures in history brought thrillingly to life. Combining verve and freshness with scrupulous scholarship, Rubicon is not only an engrossing history of this pivotal era but a uniquely resonant portrait of a great civilization in all its extremes of self-sacrifice and rivalry, decadence and catastrophe, intrigue, war, and world-shaking ambition.]]> 408 Tom Holland 1400078970 Kels 0 currently-reading 4.22 2003
author: Tom Holland
name: Kels
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/12
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 217988766
It's rare to know so much about a particular Roman woman, but Fulvia was so despised by her male detractors that she was much written about. Acclaimed historian Jane Draycott has used original sources to piece together Fulvia's life and sort fact from fiction, while also exploring the role of women in Roman society. Set during the chaotic period when Rome was violently transitioning from a republic to the dictatorship of the Roman Empire, this is an original and fascinating take on an endlessly popular period of history.]]> 364 Jane Draycott 180546194X Kels 0 to-read 4.23 2025
author: Jane Draycott
name: Kels
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214493977 Did you love Madeline Miller’s Circe? Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls? Jennifer Saint's Elektra? Natalie Haynes�� A Thousand Ships?

But did you ever wonder who the real women behind the myths of the Trojan War were?

Now award-winning classicist and historian Emily Hauser takes readers on an epic journey to uncover the astonishing true story of the real women behind ancient Greece’s greatest legends �� and the real heroes of those ancient epics, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

Because, contrary to perceptions built up over three millennia, ancient history is not all about men �� and it's not only men's stories that deserve to be told . . .

In Mythica Emily Hauser tells, for the first time, the extraordinary stories of the real women behind some of the western world’s greatest legends. Following in their footsteps, digging into the history behind Homer’s epic poems, piecing together evidence from the original texts, recent astonishing archaeological finds and the latest DNA studies, she reveals who these women �� queens, mothers, warriors, slaves �� were, how they lived, and how history has (or has not �� until now) remembered them.

A riveting new history of the Bronze Age Aegean and a journey through Homer’s epics charted entirely by women �� from Helen of Troy, Briseis, Cassandra and Aphrodite to Circe, Athena, Hera, Calypso and Penelope �� Mythica is a ground-breaking reassessment of the reality behind the often-mythologized women of Greece’s greatest epics, and of the ancient world itself as we learn ever more about it.]]> 496 Emily Hauser 1529912660 Kels 0 to-read 4.55 2025
author: Emily Hauser
name: Kels
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 41150487
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?]]> 448 Casey McQuiston 1250316774 Kels 5 4.06 2019
author: Casey McQuiston
name: Kels
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/06
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves: romance, all-time-favorites, lgbt
review:
hold up it’s gonna take me a hot second to actually write a review that makes sense and isn’t just ahsjdjdjdkkdkdl
]]> 200488126
It is a dark and dangerous time for the galaxy, and the Jedi of the High Republic must face their greatest trials yet. A year has passed since the destruction of the Starlight Beacon, and hopeful Jedi-in-training must work together to overcome their fears—and stop the monsters that threaten the very existence of the Jedi.]]> 336 Zoraida Córdova 1368095194 Kels 0 currently-reading 3.84 2024
author: Zoraida Córdova
name: Kels
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/03
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 199440249 definitely not.

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other's lives once and for all.

Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It's in the past.

All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.

It's not until they board the tour bus that they discover they've both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they're trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It's fine. There's nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?

But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can't have.]]> 432 Casey McQuiston 1250862744 Kels 4 3.70 2024
author: Casey McQuiston
name: Kels
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/02
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves:
review:
i need to know all of kits thoughts on the rings of power asap
]]> 62918237 The��shocking��and scandalous story of Messalina—the third wife of Emperor Claudius—one of the most controversial women to have inhabited the Roman world.

The lubricious image of the Empress Messalina as a ruthless, predatory, and sexually insatiable schemer—derived from the work of male historians such as Tacitus and Suetonius—has taken deep root in the Western imagination.

Here, the classicist Honor Cargill-Martin puts this traditional narrative of Messalina to the test. She looks first at Messalina's life as it is recounted in the primary sources, before using material and circumstantial evidence to reconstruct each aspect of Messalina's politician, wife, adulteress, and prostitute. Finally, she explores how posterity has memorialized Messalina, whether as artist's muse, epitome of depraved pagan womanhood, or as libertine icon portrayed in literature and film.

Cargill-Martin sets out not to entirely rewrite��Messalina's history, or to salvage her reputation, but to look at her life in the context of her time and to reclaim the humanity of a life story previously defined by currents of high politics and patriarchy.]]> 415 Honor Cargill-Martin 1639363963 Kels 5 3.98 2023
author: Honor Cargill-Martin
name: Kels
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves:
review:
she really was the first victim to femme fatale
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