Makenna's bookshelf: dnf en-US Tue, 15 Apr 2025 12:45:29 -0700 60 Makenna's bookshelf: dnf 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood]]> 45299992
After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now.

For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother’s dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders.

]]> 431 Gregg Olsen 1542005248 Makenna 0 horror, dnf DNF at 48% 3.99 2019 If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood
author: Gregg Olsen
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: horror, dnf
review:
DNF at 48%
]]> <![CDATA[The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride]]> 6033525
In this gripping narrative, Daniel James Brown sheds new light on one of the most infamous events in American history. Following every painful footstep of Sarah's journey with the Donner Party, Brown produces a tale both spellbinding and richly informative.]]> 352 Daniel James Brown 0061348104 Makenna 0
Will revisit. ]]> 4.24 2009 The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride
author: Daniel James Brown
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/20
shelves: must-read, history-to-read, dnf
review:
DNF at 14%

Will revisit.
]]> Piglet 127282554 An elegant, razor-sharp debut about women's ambitions and appetites—and the truth about having it all

Outside of a childhood nickname she can’t shake, Piglet’s rather pleased with how her life’s turned out. An up-and-coming cookbook editor at a London publishing house, she’s got lovely, loyal friends and a handsome fiancé, Kit, whose rarefied family she actually, most of the time, likes, despite their upper-class eccentricities. One of the many, many things Kit loves about Piglet is the delicious, unfathomably elaborate meals she’s always cooking.

But when Kit confesses a horrible betrayal two weeks before they’re set to be married, Piglet finds herself suddenly…hungry. The couple decides to move forward with the wedding as planned, but as it nears and Piglet balances family expectations, pressure at work, and her quest to make the perfect cake, she finds herself increasingly unsettled, behaving in ways even she can’t explain. Torn between a life she’s always wanted and the ravenousness that comes with not getting what she knows she deserves, Piglet is, by the day of her wedding, undone, but also ready to look beyond the lies we sometimes tell ourselves to get by.

A stylish, uncommonly clever novel about the things we want and the things we think we want, Piglet is both an examination of women’s often complicated relationship with food and a celebration of the messes life sometimes makes for us.]]> 320 Lottie Hazell 125028984X Makenna 0 must-read, dnf 3.39 2024 Piglet
author: Lottie Hazell
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: must-read, dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam (American Empire Project)]]> 12292260
Americans have long been taught that events such as the notorious My Lai massacre were isolated incidents in the Vietnam War, carried out by “a few bad apples.� But as award-winning journalist and historian Nick Turse demonstrates in this groundbreaking investigation, violence against Vietnamese noncombatants was not at all exceptional during the conflict. Rather, it was pervasive and systematic, the predictable consequence of orders to “kill anything that moves.�

Drawing on more than a decade of research in secret Pentagon files and extensive interviews with American veterans and Vietnamese survivors, Turse reveals for the first time how official policies resulted in millions of innocent civilians killed and wounded. In shocking detail, he lays out the workings of a military machine that made crimes in almost every major American unit all but inevitable. Kill Anything That Moves takes us from archives filled with Washington’s long-suppressed war crimes investigations to the rural Vietnamese hamlets that bore the brunt of the war; from boot camps where young American soldiers learned to hate all Vietnamese to bloodthirsty campaigns like Operation Speedy Express, in which a general obsessed with body counts led soldiers to commit what one participant called “a My Lai a month.�

Thousands of Vietnam books later, Kill Anything That Moves, devastating and definitive, finally brings us face-to-face with the truth of a war that haunts Americans to this day.]]> 370 Nick Turse 0805086919 Makenna 0 history-to-read, dnf 4.22 2013 Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam (American Empire Project)
author: Nick Turse
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: history-to-read, dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus]]> 39020 In this groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology, Charles C. Mann radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.

Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.

]]> 563 Charles C. Mann 1400032059 Makenna 0
Will come back to try again. ]]> 4.04 2005 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
author: Charles C. Mann
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: history-to-read, must-read, own, dnf
review:
DNF on page 108.

Will come back to try again.
]]> Conversations on Love 57028269 320 Natasha Lunn 0241448735 Makenna 0 must-read, own, dnf
Definitely want to try again]]> 4.23 2021 Conversations on Love
author: Natasha Lunn
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: must-read, own, dnf
review:
DNF on page 52.

Definitely want to try again
]]> Pachinko 34051011
Richly told and profoundly moving, Pachinko is a story of love, sacrifice, ambition, and loyalty. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters—strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis—survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history.]]> 496 Min Jin Lee Makenna 0 DNF’d at 10% 4.35 2017 Pachinko
author: Min Jin Lee
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: readers-choice-best-books-of-21st-c, nyt-100-best-books-of-21st-century, dnf
review:
DNF’d at 10%
]]> <![CDATA[A River Enchanted (Elements of Cadence, #1)]]> 58132544
As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all.]]> 480 Rebecca Ross 0063055988 Makenna 0 must-read, dnf DNF 13% in 4.06 2022 A River Enchanted (Elements of Cadence, #1)
author: Rebecca Ross
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/15
shelves: must-read, dnf
review:
DNF 13% in
]]> Piranesi 50202953
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 272 Susanna Clarke 163557563X Makenna 0 4.22 2020 Piranesi
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves: dnf, readers-choice-best-books-of-21st-c
review:

]]> Hamnet 43890641 Hamnet is a luminous portrait of a marriage, at its heart the loss of a beloved child.

Warwickshire in the 1580s. Agnes is a woman as feared as she is sought after for her unusual gifts. She settles with her husband in Henley street, Stratford, and has three children: a daughter, Susanna, and then twins, Hamnet and Judith. The boy, Hamnet, dies in 1596, aged eleven. Four years or so later, the husband writes a play called Hamlet.

Award-winning author Maggie O'Farrell's new novel breathes full-blooded life into the story of a loss usually consigned to literary footnotes, and provides an unforgettable vindication of Agnes, a woman intriguingly absent from history.

A New York Times Notable Book (2020), Best Book of 2020: Guardian, Financial Times, Literary Hub, and NPR.]]> 372 Maggie O'Farrell 1472223799 Makenna 0 4.16 2020 Hamnet
author: Maggie O'Farrell
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: dnf, readers-choice-best-books-of-21st-c
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Pumpkin Spice Café (Dream Harbor, #1)]]> 139391940 A spicy small-town romance and TikTok phenomenon, perfect for fans of Hannah Grace and Stephanie Archer.

When Jeanie's aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.

Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor's gossip at all costs. But Jeanie's arrival disrupts Logan's routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her.

Will Jeanie's happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won't fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes�

The Pumpkin Spice Café is a cozy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls, with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

� grumpy x sunshine
� small town
� found family
� spicy]]> 373 Laurie Gilmore 0008610665 Makenna 0 fb, dnf 3.36 2023 The Pumpkin Spice Café (Dream Harbor, #1)
author: Laurie Gilmore
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/27
shelves: fb, dnf
review:

]]> Our Wives Under the Sea 58659343
Moving through something that only resembles normal life, Miri comes to realize that the life that they had before might be gone. Though Leah is still there, Miri can feel the woman she loves slipping from her grasp.

Our Wives Under The Sea is the debut novel from Julia Armfield, the critically acclaimed author of Salt Slow. It’s a story of falling in love, loss, grief, and what life there is in the deep deep sea.]]> 240 Julia Armfield 152901722X Makenna 0 2022-tbr, dnf 3.75 2022 Our Wives Under the Sea
author: Julia Armfield
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/26
shelves: 2022-tbr, dnf
review:

]]> The Nineties 58082714 The Nineties: a wise and funny reckoning with the decade that gave us slacker/grunge irony about the sin of trying too hard, during the greatest shift in human consciousness of any decade in American history.

It was long ago, but not as long as it seems: The Berlin Wall fell and the Twin Towers collapsed. In between, one presidential election was allegedly decided by Ross Perot while another was plausibly decided by Ralph Nader. In the beginning, almost every name and address was listed in a phone book, and everyone answered their landlines because you didn't know who it was. By the end, exposing someone's address was an act of emotional violence, and nobody picked up their new cell phone if they didn't know who it was. The '90s brought about a revolution in the human condition we're still groping to understand. Happily, Chuck Klosterman is more than up to the job.

Beyond epiphenomena like Cop Killer and Titanic and Zima, there were wholesale shifts in how society was perceived: the rise of the internet, pre-9/11 politics, and the paradoxical belief that nothing was more humiliating than trying too hard. Pop culture accelerated without the aid of a machine that remembered everything, generating an odd comfort in never being certain about anything. On a '90s Thursday night, more people watched any random episode of Seinfeld than the finale of Game of Thrones. But nobody thought that was important; if you missed it, you simply missed it. It was the last era that held to the idea of a true, hegemonic mainstream before it all began to fracture, whether you found a home in it or defined yourself against it.

In The Nineties, Chuck Klosterman makes a home in all of it: the film, the music, the sports, the TV, the politics, the changes regarding race and class and sexuality, the yin/yang of Oprah and Alan Greenspan. In perhaps no other book ever written would a sentence like, "The video for 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' was not more consequential than the reunification of Germany" make complete sense. Chuck Klosterman has written a multi-dimensional masterpiece, a work of synthesis so smart and delightful that future historians might well refer to this entire period as Klostermanian.]]> 370 Chuck Klosterman 0735217955 Makenna 0 dnf 3.86 2022 The Nineties
author: Chuck Klosterman
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/23
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3)]]> 76706470 576 Sarah J. Maas Makenna 0 dnf DNF at 12% 4.44 2014 Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass, #3)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/04/24
shelves: dnf
review:
DNF at 12%
]]> No Exit 40106375
A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do?

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside, are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.

Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?

Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.

But who can she trust?

With exquisitely controlled pacing, Taylor Adams diabolically ratchets up the tension with every page. Full of terrifying twists and hairpin turns, No Exit will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you breathless.]]> 371 Taylor Adams 0062875671 Makenna 0 dnf
Too slow]]> 4.05 2017 No Exit
author: Taylor Adams
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/04/24
shelves: dnf
review:
DNF at 34%

Too slow
]]> <![CDATA[If He Had Been With Me (If He Had Been with Me, #1)]]> 15835031 If he had been with me everything would have been different...

I wasn't with Finn on that August night. But I should've been. It was raining, of course. And he and Sylvie were arguing as he drove down the slick road. No one ever says what they were arguing about. Other people think it's not important. They do not know there is another story. The story that lurks between the facts. What they do not know—the cause of the argument—is crucial.

So let me tell you...]]> 336 Laura Nowlin 1402277822 Makenna 0 dnf 3.76 2013 If He Had Been With Me (If He Had Been with Me, #1)
author: Laura Nowlin
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/02/06
shelves: dnf
review:
Did a first grader write this??!?!
]]> Lakewood 51166519 A startling debut about class and race, Lakewood evokes a terrifying world of medical experimentation—part The Handmaid’s Tale, part The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

When Lena Johnson’s beloved grandmother dies, and the full extent of the family debt is revealed, the black millennial drops out of college to support her family and takes a job in the mysterious and remote town of Lakewood, Michigan.

On paper, her new job is too good to be true. High paying. No out of pocket medical expenses. A free place to live. All Lena has to do is participate in a secret program—and lie to her friends and family about the research being done in Lakewood. An eye drop that makes brown eyes blue, a medication that could be a cure for dementia, golden pills promised to make all bad thoughts go away.

The discoveries made in Lakewood, Lena is told, will change the world—but the consequences for the subjects involved could be devastating. As the truths of the program reveal themselves, Lena learns how much she’s willing to sacrifice for the sake of her family.

Provocative and thrilling, Lakewood is a breathtaking novel that takes an unflinching look at the moral dilemmas many working-class families face, and the horror that has been forced on black bodies in the name of science.]]> 288 Megan Giddings 0062913190 Makenna 0 dnf DNF page 47 3.45 2020 Lakewood
author: Megan Giddings
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/27
shelves: dnf
review:
DNF page 47
]]> Local Woman Missing 54737068 People don’t just disappear without a trace....

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, 11 years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find....

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times best-selling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.]]> 356 Mary Kubica 0778389448 Makenna 0 dnf 4.12 2021 Local Woman Missing
author: Mary Kubica
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/23
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> The Most Fun We Ever Had 41880044
When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. Above it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents'.

As the novel moves through the tumultuous year following the arrival of Jonah Bendt--given up by one of the daughters in a closed adoption fifteen years before--we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons' past: years marred by adolescence, infidelity, and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.]]> 532 Claire Lombardo 0385544251 Makenna 0 dnf 3.88 2019 The Most Fun We Ever Had
author: Claire Lombardo
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/31
shelves: dnf
review:
DNF page 23 (just not what i want to read right now)
]]> Hot Milk 26883528 Plunge into this hypnotic tale of female sexuality and power

Two women arrive in a village on the Spanish coast. Rose is suffering from a strange illness and her doctors are mystified. Her daughter Sofia has brought her here to find a cure with the infamous and controversial Dr Gomez - a man of questionable methods and motives. Intoxicated by thick heat and the seductive people who move through it, both women begin to see their lives clearly for the first time in years.

Through the opposing figures of mother and daughter, Deborah Levy explores the strange and monstrous nature of womanhood. Dreamlike and utterly compulsive, Hot Milk is a delirious fairy tale of feminine potency, a story both modern and timeless.]]> 218 Deborah Levy 1620406691 Makenna 0 dnf 3.49 2015 Hot Milk
author: Deborah Levy
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/28
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> The Soulmate Equation 58438593
But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers: This Jess understands.

At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Peña. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess—who is barely making ends meet—is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond� pairing that could launch GeneticAlly’s valuation sky-high, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.

The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.]]> 360 Christina Lauren 1982171111 Makenna 0 dnf Gave up at 15% 3.96 2021 The Soulmate Equation
author: Christina Lauren
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/12
shelves: dnf
review:
Gave up at 15%
]]> In Five Years 50093704 Where do you see yourself in five years?

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

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

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

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

Brimming with joy and heartbreak, In Five Years is an unforgettable love story that reminds us of the power of loyalty, friendship, and the unpredictable nature of destiny.]]> 272 Rebecca Serle 1982137444 Makenna 0 dnf
Characters were so one dimensional I didn’t care about any of them. Writing was extra bland and too concise. Story was getting way too predictable and sad and barely even focused on the “romance� of the 5 year premonition that the whole book is based off.
Not what I expected, and not enjoyable.

Why did she always list every address of everywhere she was going in NYC?? And why do I need to know everyone’s exact outfit and meal?? I don’t care!]]> 3.74 2020 In Five Years
author: Rebecca Serle
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/12
shelves: dnf
review:
Gave up on page 105

Characters were so one dimensional I didn’t care about any of them. Writing was extra bland and too concise. Story was getting way too predictable and sad and barely even focused on the “romance� of the 5 year premonition that the whole book is based off.
Not what I expected, and not enjoyable.

Why did she always list every address of everywhere she was going in NYC?? And why do I need to know everyone’s exact outfit and meal?? I don’t care!
]]> The Wife Upstairs 53137893 A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Megan Miranda.

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates––a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates� most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie––not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for.

Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past––or his––catches up to her?

With delicious suspense, incisive wit, and a fresh, feminist sensibility, The Wife Upstairs flips the script on a timeless tale of forbidden romance, ill-advised attraction, and a wife who just won’t stay buried. In this vivid reimagining of one of literature’s most twisted love triangles, which Mrs. Rochester will get her happy ending?]]> 290 Rachel Hawkins 1250245494 Makenna 0 dnf 3.71 2021 The Wife Upstairs
author: Rachel Hawkins
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/01
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> I'm Still Standing 35806109 â€Absolutely fantastic!... I cannot recommend this book enough!!â€� Stardust Book Reviews, 5 stars
When Evelyn Dooley married her high-school sweetheart, James, she thought she was set for life. Now she’s twenty-eight, single, and fleeing to Dublin from her hometown to avoid the gossip surrounding their break-up. And all because of a test-your-relationship board game.

This was not in her five-year plan.

Then a chance encounter with gorgeous musician Danny leads to an unlikely friendship, and soon the pair are running music nights together in one of the oldest pubs in Dublin. For the first time Evelyn is following her dreams rather than someone else’s � and sparks are beginning to fly between her and Danny...

But when her savings run out and home beckons, Evelyn has to choose. The safe, comfortable life she left behind, or a new adventure with Danny? Will Evelyn flee back to the familiarity of her ex, or reach for the stars and take a leap into the unknown?

A laugh-out-loud, feel-good story of friendship, second chances, and romance, perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Lindsey Kelk and Marian Keyes.

This book was previously published as Reach for the Stars.

Read what people are saying about I’m Still Standing
�Love, love, love this book!... You know you’re onto a winner when a book makes you laugh out loud from start to end.� Chelle’s Book Reviews, 5 stars

�I LOVED this book!� Southern-in-Law, 5 stars

â€�I absolutely loved this book.â€� Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ reviewer, 5 stars

�I really enjoyed this book!! It genuinely made me feel good... I laughed out loud... I loved it � 5 stars from me.� Donna’s Book Blog, 5 stars

�An absolutely phenomenal read... I was glued to Evelyn’s story... Everything I could have wished for... Outstanding... Easiest five stars ever!� The Writing Garnet, 5 stars

â€�Colleen Coleman has done it again!... I read this book in one go... Highly recommended.â€� Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ reviewer, 5 stars

â€Funny, uplifting and heart-warming... A top read.â€� Jen Med’s Book Reviews, 5 stars

â€I really couldn’t put this novel down... A joy to read.â€� Cosy Cute Knits, 5 stars

�Fantastic... If you want to laugh until your belly hurts and find the sweetest book boyfriend ever, pick up this book.� The Bookish Sisters, 5 stars

�Truly fabulous.� Postcard Reviews, 4 stars

â€�Heart-warming, cute, and full of hope, this is a feel-good story to read with your favorite tea and blanket!â€� Chocolate â€nâ€� Waffles, 4 stars

�Heartfelt, believable, and engaging from beginning to end... I highly recommend it.� Urban Book Reviews, 5 stars

â€A beautiful, uplifting novel... Everybody should read this book because it’s just wonderful and I loved every...]]> 228 Colleen Coleman 1786812517 Makenna 0 dnf 3.77 2017 I'm Still Standing
author: Colleen Coleman
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/10
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> Girl Out of Water 29640839
Complicating matters is Lincoln, a one-armed, charismatic skater who pushes Anise to trade her surfboard for a skateboard. As Anise draws closer to Lincoln and takes on the full burden and joy of her cousins, she loses touch with her friends back home � leading her to one terrifying question: will she turn out just like her mom and spend her life leaving behind the ones she loves?]]> 350 Laura Silverman 1492646865 Makenna 0 dnf 3.89 2017 Girl Out of Water
author: Laura Silverman
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/02/27
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> Hollywood Park 49235526 HOLLYWOOD PARK is a remarkable memoir of a tumultuous life. Mikel Jollett was born into one of the country’s most infamous cults, and subjected to a childhood filled with poverty, addiction, and emotional abuse. Yet, ultimately, his is a story of fierce love and family loyalty told in a raw, poetic voice that signals the emergence of a uniquely gifted writer.

We were never young. We were just too afraid of ourselves. No one told us who we were or what we were or where all our parents went. They would arrive like ghosts, visiting us for a morning, an afternoon. They would sit with us or walk around the grounds, to laugh or cry or toss us in the air while we screamed. Then they’d disappear again, for weeks, for months, for years, leaving us alone with our memories and dreams, our questions and confusion. �

So begins Hollywood Park, Mikel Jollett’s remarkable memoir. His story opens in an experimental commune in California, which later morphed into the Church of Synanon, one of the country’s most infamous and dangerous cults. Per the leader’s mandate, all children, including Jollett and his older brother, were separated from their parents when they were six months old, and handed over to the cult’s “School.� After spending years in what was essentially an orphanage, Mikel escaped the cult one morning with his mother and older brother. But in many ways, life outside Synanon was even harder and more erratic.

In his raw, poetic and powerful voice, Jollett portrays a childhood filled with abject poverty, trauma, emotional abuse, delinquency and the lure of drugs and alcohol. Raised by a clinically depressed mother, tormented by his angry older brother, subjected to the unpredictability of troubled step-fathers and longing for contact with his father, a former heroin addict and ex-con, Jollett slowly, often painfully, builds a life that leads him to Stanford University and, eventually, to finding his voice as a writer and musician.

Hollywood Park is told at first through the limited perspective of a child, and then broadens as Jollett begins to understand the world around him. Although Mikel Jollett’s story is filled with heartbreak, it is ultimately an unforgettable portrayal of love at its fiercest and most loyal.]]> 384 Mikel Jollett 1250621569 Makenna 0 dnf
Writing style was confusing and bad, story was so boring, nothing about a cult, and did not even realize this was the memoir of a famous singer until I read reviews after. Explains why it was so poorly written and unexciting. ]]> 4.28 2020 Hollywood Park
author: Mikel Jollett
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/02/20
shelves: dnf
review:
DNF at 60% (Chapter 31)

Writing style was confusing and bad, story was so boring, nothing about a cult, and did not even realize this was the memoir of a famous singer until I read reviews after. Explains why it was so poorly written and unexciting.
]]> Shadowfever (Fever, #5) 7304203
What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh -- a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.

In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.

Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?

From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world . . . or destroy it.]]> 608 Karen Marie Moning 0385341679 Makenna 0 own, dnf Page 556 4.39 2011 Shadowfever (Fever, #5)
author: Karen Marie Moning
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/06/21
shelves: own, dnf
review:
Page 556
]]> Red Queen (Red Queen, #1) 22328546 This is a world divided by blood—red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance—Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.]]> 388 Victoria Aveyard 0062310631 Makenna 1 own, dnf nothing happened..]]> 3.98 2015 Red Queen (Red Queen, #1)
author: Victoria Aveyard
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2015
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2019/07/31
shelves: own, dnf
review:
Could only force myself to get to page 184. Really slow and unoriginal and nothing happened..
]]> Legend (Legend, #1) 9275658
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June's brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family's survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias's death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

Alternate Cover edition for ISBN 9780399256752
]]> 305 Marie Lu Makenna 0 dnf Another Hunger Games?!? 4.16 2011 Legend (Legend, #1)
author: Marie Lu
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/03/25
shelves: dnf
review:
Another Hunger Games?!?
]]> Fire (Graceling Realm, #2) 6137154
This is where Fire lives. With a wild, irresistible appearance and hair the color of flame, Fire is the last remaining human monster. Equally hated and adored, she had the unique ability to control minds, but she guards her power, unwilling to steal the secrets of innocent people. Especially when she has so many of her own.

Then Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City, The royal family needs her help to uncover the plot against the king. Far away from home, Fire begins to realize there's more to her power than she ever dreamed. Her power could save the kingdom.

If only she weren't afraid of becoming the monster her father was.]]> 480 Kristin Cashore 0803734611 Makenna 0 dnf 4.10 2009 Fire (Graceling Realm, #2)
author: Kristin Cashore
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/07/06
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> It 18342
The adults, knowing better, knew nothing. Time passed and the children grew up, moved away. The horror of It was deep-buried, wrapped in forgetfulness. Until the grown-up children were called back, once more to confront It as It stirred and coiled in the sullen depths of their memories, reaching up again to make their past nightmares a terrible present reality.]]> 1090 Stephen King 0451169514 Makenna 0 movie-tv-adaption, own, dnf 4.11 1986 It
author: Stephen King
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: movie-tv-adaption, own, dnf
review:

]]> The Gift (Witch & Wizard, #2) 7646805
But the One has other plans in store for them: He needs Wisty, for she is "The One Who Has the Gift." While trying to figure out what that means, Whit and Wisty's suspenseful adventures through Overworld and Shadowland lead to a jaw-dropping climax and conclusion: the highly-anticipated fulfillment of the heart-pounding opening prologue of book one... The Execution of the Allgoods. .]]> 333 James Patterson 1846054761 Makenna 0 own, dnf 3.79 2010 The Gift (Witch & Wizard, #2)
author: James Patterson
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: own, dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, #1)]]> 5899779 “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.�

So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses,]]> 320 Seth Grahame-Smith 1594743347 Makenna 0 dnf 3.32 2009 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, #1)
author: Seth Grahame-Smith
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Return to Paradise (Leaving Paradise, #2)]]> 7797874
Maggie Armstrong tried to be strong after Caleb broke her heart and disappeared. Somehow, she managed to move on. She's determined to make a new life for herself.

But then Caleb and Maggie are forced together on a summer trip. They try ignoring their passion for each other, but buried feelings resurface. Caleb must face the truth about the night of Maggie's accident, or the secret that destroyed their relationship will forever stand between them.]]> 291 Simone Elkeles 0738718688 Makenna 0 dnf, series-i-couldn-t-finish 4.03 2010 Return to Paradise (Leaving Paradise, #2)
author: Simone Elkeles
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf, series-i-couldn-t-finish
review:

]]> <![CDATA[This Is What Happy Looks Like (This is What Happy Looks Like, #1)]]> 15790873
When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?]]> 404 Jennifer E. Smith 0316212822 Makenna 0 dnf 3.68 2013 This Is What Happy Looks Like (This is What Happy Looks Like, #1)
author: Jennifer E. Smith
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> Eleanor & Park 15745753 "So did Jerry Lee Lewis," Eleanor answers.
"I'm not kidding," he says.
"You should be," she says, "we're 16."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?"
"Shallow, confused, then dead."
"I love you," Park says.
"Wherefore art thou," Eleanor answers.
"I'm not kidding," he says.
"You should be."

Set over one school year in 1986, Eleanor & Park is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try.]]> 328 Rainbow Rowell 1250012570 Makenna 0 own, dnf 3.92 2012 Eleanor & Park
author: Rainbow Rowell
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: own, dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil]]> 386187
The story is peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproarious black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.]]> 386 John Berendt 0679751521 Makenna 3 dnf, movie-tv-adaption I did enjoy the way the author described each character and it was interesting to learn about the diverse group of people living in Savannah, but the descriptions could have been cut down to half the length that they were. It made me fall in love with the city and created a yearning to visit there at least sometime in my life. ]]> 3.91 1994 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
author: John Berendt
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1994
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf, movie-tv-adaption
review:
Even though I didn't finish this one, I did thoroughly enjoy it. It was written by a magazine journalist and I could definitely tell. The writing was intriguing and very well written but It just didn't keep my interest. Maybe the author should keep writing articles instead of novels.
I did enjoy the way the author described each character and it was interesting to learn about the diverse group of people living in Savannah, but the descriptions could have been cut down to half the length that they were. It made me fall in love with the city and created a yearning to visit there at least sometime in my life.
]]> <![CDATA[As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride]]> 21412202 Storm the castle once more

Standing on the stage for the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Princess Bride, I felt an almost overwhelming sense of gratitude and nostalgia. It was a remarkable night and it brought back vivid memories of being part of what appears to have become a cult classic film about pirates and princesses, giants and jesters, cliffs of insanity, and of course rodents of unusual size.

It truly was as fun to make the movie as it is to watch it, from getting to work on William Goldman's brilliant screenplay to being directed by the inimitable Rob Reiner. It is not an exaggeration to say that most days on set were exhilarating, from wrestling André the Giant, to the impossibility of playing mostly dead with Billy Crystal cracking jokes above me, to choreographing the Greatest Sword Fight in Modern Times with Mandy Patinkin, to being part of the Kiss That Left All the Others Behind with Robin Wright.

In this book I've gathered many more behind-the-scenes stories and hopefully answers to many of the questions we've all received over the years from fans. Additionally, Robin, Billy, Rob, and Mandy, as well as Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Fred Savage, Chris Sarandon, Carol Kane, Norman Lear, and William Goldman graciously share their own memories and stories from making this treasured film.

If you'd like to know a little more about the making of The Princess Bride as seen through the eyes of a young actor who got much more than he bargained for, along with the rest of this brilliant cast, then all I can say is...as you wish.]]> 259 Cary Elwes 1476764026 Makenna 0 4.16 2014 As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride
author: Cary Elwes
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: own, signed, dnf, should-read-again
review:

]]> The Devil in the White City 21996
Erik Larson's gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America's rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair's brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country's most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his "World's Fair Hotel" just west of the fairgrounds—a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake.

The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. In this book the smoke, romance, and mystery of the Gilded Age come alive as never before.]]> 496 Erik Larson 0739303406 Makenna 0 dnf 3.99 2003 The Devil in the White City
author: Erik Larson
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June]]> 7106964 I hugged my sisters and they fit against my sides like two jigsaw pieces that would never fit anywhere else. I couldn't imagine ever letting them go again, like releasing them would be to surrender the best parts of myself.

Three sisters share a magical, unshakeable bond in this witty high-concept novel from the critically acclaimed author of Audrey, Wait! Around the time of their parents' divorce, sisters April, May, and June recover special powers from childhood--powers that come in handy navigating the hell that is high school. Powers that help them cope with the hardest year of their lives. But could they have a greater purpose?

April, the oldest and a bit of a worrier, can see the future. Middle-child May can literally disappear. And baby June reads minds--everyone's but her own. When April gets a vision of disaster, the girls come together to save the day and reconcile their strained family. They realize that no matter what happens, powers or no powers, they'll always have each other.

Because there's one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood.

]]> 281 Robin Benway 159514286X Makenna 0 dnf 3.71 2010 The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May, & June
author: Robin Benway
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> Betrayed (House of Night, #2) 676924 Also see: Alternate Cover Editions for this ISBN [ACE]
ACE #1

Zoey, High Priestess in training, has managed to settle in at the House of Night and come to terms with the vast powers the Vampyre Goddess Nyx has given her. Just as she finally feels she belongs, the unthinkable happens: human teenagers are being killed, and all evidence points to the House of Night. While danger stalks the humans from Zoey’s old life, she begins to realize that the very powers that make her so unique might also threaten those she loves.]]> 310 P.C. Cast 0312360282 Makenna 0 dnf, series-i-couldn-t-finish 3.93 2007 Betrayed (House of Night, #2)
author: P.C. Cast
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf, series-i-couldn-t-finish
review:
This was a little too corny for me...
]]> The Probability of Miracles 10710505
A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.]]> 360 Wendy Wunder 1595143688 Makenna 1 own, hated, dnf
This book was so boring. I hated it. Bad characters, bad writing, bad story. Definitely not for me. Sorry but I would not recommend this at all. I couldn't even finish it, it was so boring. Too bad I bought it. ]]> 3.92 2011 The Probability of Miracles
author: Wendy Wunder
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2011
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: own, hated, dnf
review:


This book was so boring. I hated it. Bad characters, bad writing, bad story. Definitely not for me. Sorry but I would not recommend this at all. I couldn't even finish it, it was so boring. Too bad I bought it.
]]> The Other Boy 2946592 260 Hailey Abbott 0061253839 Makenna 0 dnf 3.79 2008 The Other Boy
author: Hailey Abbott
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> The Comeback Season 1756518
Ryan is once again filled with hope as she makes her way to the game. Good luck is often hard to come by at a place like Wrigley Field, but it's on this day that she meets Nick, the new kid from her school, who seems to love the Cubs nearly as much as she does. But Nick carries with him a secret that makes Ryan wonder if anyone can ever really escape their past, or believe in the promise of those reassuring words: "Wait till next year." Is it too much for Ryan to hope that this year, this season, might be her comeback season?]]> 256 Jennifer E. Smith 1416938478 Makenna 0 dnf 3.70 2008 The Comeback Season
author: Jennifer E. Smith
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey, #2)]]> 7747064
Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.]]> 359 Julie Kagawa 0373210132 Makenna 3 dnf, best-love-interests
I just got bored with it. Maybe someday I'll give it another try because I loved the first one in the series. ]]> 4.08 2010 The Iron Daughter (The Iron Fey, #2)
author: Julie Kagawa
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf, best-love-interests
review:


I just got bored with it. Maybe someday I'll give it another try because I loved the first one in the series.
]]> <![CDATA[Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1)]]> 345627 Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies...

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires—the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger... and the Strigoi are always close by.

Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever...]]> 332 Richelle Mead 159514174X Makenna 0 own, dnf, movie-tv-adaption 4.12 2007 Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy, #1)
author: Richelle Mead
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: own, dnf, movie-tv-adaption
review:
I've tried reading this multiple times now but i just can't seem to get into it.
]]> Broken Soup 2499237

When the good-looking boy with the gentle voice presses the dropped negative into Rowan's hand, she's sure it's all a big mistake. But next moment he's gone, lost in the crowd of bustling shoppers. And she can't afford to lose her place in the checkout queue � after all, if she doesn't take the groceries home, nobody else will.


Rowan has more responsibilities than most girls her age. These days, she pretty much looks after her little sister single-handedly � which doesn't leave much time for friends or fun. So when she finds out that Bee from school saw the whole thing, it piques her curiosity. Who was the mysterious stranger? Why was he so insistent that the negative belonged to Rowan?


Bee invites Rowan to her house where they make a print of the negative. And the face that appears in front of Rowan's eyes is that of her dead brother Jack…]]> 256 Jenny Valentine 0007229658 Makenna 0 dnf 3.80 2008 Broken Soup
author: Jenny Valentine
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> Uglies (Uglies, #1) 24770
But Tally's new friend Shay isn't sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn't very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally's choice will change her world forever....]]> 425 Scott Westerfeld 0689865384 Makenna 0 own, dnf 3.85 2005 Uglies (Uglies, #1)
author: Scott Westerfeld
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: own, dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #3)]]> 9409458 then.
When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.
That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.
Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment--a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.]]> 390 Maggie Stiefvater Makenna 0 3.89 2011 Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #3)
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf, best-love-interests, series-i-couldn-t-finish
review:

]]> Take Me There 7148786
But trouble follows Dylan wherever he goes, and a deadly mistake soon forces him to hit the road and leave his dreams behind. He's on the run and in search of answers; answers to questions he wishes he'd never asked.]]> 325 Carolee Dean 1416989501 Makenna 0 dnf 3.87 2010 Take Me There
author: Carolee Dean
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> The Beginning of After 10429005
Sixteen-year-old Laurel’s world changes instantly when her parents and brother are killed in a terrible car accident. Behind the wheel is the father of her bad-boy neighbor, David Kaufman, whose mother is also killed. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Laurel navigates a new reality in which she and her best friend grow apart, boys may or may not be approaching her out of pity, overpowering memories lurk everywhere, and Mr. Kaufman is comatose but still very much alive. Through it all there is David, who swoops in and out of Laurel’s life and to whom she finds herself attracted against her better judgment. She will forever be connected to him by their mutual loss—a connection that will change them both in unexpected ways.

Jennifer Castle’s debut novel is a heart-wrenching, surprisingly witty testament to how drastically life can change in the span of a single moment.]]> 425 Jennifer Castle 0061985791 Makenna 0 own, dnf, hated 3.78 2011 The Beginning of After
author: Jennifer Castle
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: own, dnf, hated
review:

]]> Slob 6177671 Outrageously funny and smart, this story of an obese boy who takes on his bullies is as heartwarming as it is clever.

Twelve-year-old Owen Birnbaum is the fattest kid in school. But he's also a genius who invents cool contraptions, like a TV that shows the past. Something happened two years ago that he needs to see. But genius or not, there is much Owen can't outthink. Like his gym coach, who's on a mission to humiliate him. Or the way his Oreos keep disappearing from his lunch. He's sure that if he can only get the TV to work, things will start to make sense. But it will take a revelation for Owen, not science, to see the answers are not in the past, but the present. That no matter how large he is on the outside, he doesn't have to feel small on the inside.With her trademark humor, Ellen Potter has created a larger-than-life character and story whose weight is immense when measured in heart.]]> 208 Ellen Potter 039924705X Makenna 0 dnf 3.77 2009 Slob
author: Ellen Potter
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> Just Listen 51738
This year, she's the girl who has nothing: no best friend because mean-but-exciting Sophie dropped her, no peace at home since her older sister became anorexic, and no one to sit with at lunch. Until she meets Owen Armstrong.

Tall, dark, and music-obsessed, Owen is a reformed bad boy with a commitment to truth-telling. With Owen's help, maybe Annabel can face what happened the night she and Sophie stopped being friends.]]> 371 Sarah Dessen 0670061050 Makenna 0 own, dnf 4.06 2006 Just Listen
author: Sarah Dessen
name: Makenna
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: own, dnf
review:
Ended on 158. Couldn't finish this, too boring.
]]> If I Stay (If I Stay, #1) 4374400 208 Gayle Forman 0525421033 Makenna 0 movie-tv-adaption, dnf 3.92 2009 If I Stay (If I Stay, #1)
author: Gayle Forman
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: movie-tv-adaption, dnf
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)]]> 3432478 The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.
And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?]]> 336 Carrie Ryan 0575090855 Makenna 0 3.62 2009 The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)
author: Carrie Ryan
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: own, dnf, series-i-couldn-t-finish
review:

]]> Deadline 275844 Had big things planned. Now what he has is some very bad news and only one year left to make his mark on the world.

How can a pint-sized, smart-ass seventeen-year-old do anything significant in the nowheresville of Trout, Idaho?

First, Ben makes sure that no one else knows what is going on—not his superstar quarterback brother, Cody, not his parents, not his coach, no one. Next, he decides to become the best 127-pound football player Trout High has ever seen; to give his close-minded civics teacher a daily migraine; and to help the local drunk clean up his act.

And then there's Dallas Suzuki. Amazingly perfect, fascinating Dallas Suzuki, who may or may not give Ben the time of day. Really, she's first on the list.

Living with a secret isn't easy, though, and Ben's resolve begins to crumble . . . especially when he realizes that he isn't the only person in Trout with secrets.]]> 316 Chris Crutcher 0060850892 Makenna 0 dnf 3.93 2007 Deadline
author: Chris Crutcher
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf
review:

]]> Flipped 331920 Flipped is a romance told in two voices. The first time Juli Baker saw Bryce Loski, she flipped. The first time Bryce saw Juli, he ran. That's pretty much the pattern for these two neighbors until the eighth grade, when, just as Juli is realizing Bryce isn't as wonderful as she thought, Bryce is starting to see that Juli is pretty amazing. How these two teens manage to see beyond the surface of things and come together makes for a comic and poignant romance.]]> 212 Wendelin Van Draanen 0375825444 Makenna 0 dnf, movie-tv-adaption 3.99 2001 Flipped
author: Wendelin Van Draanen
name: Makenna
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/11/17
shelves: dnf, movie-tv-adaption
review:
This book was so boring i had to let it go by the 15th page. Everyone told me it was such a great book when really i couldn't stand the characters and plot by the first couple of pages!
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