Sandy's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 14 Nov 2024 20:44:47 -0800 60 Sandy's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Count of Monte Cristo 522110
Set against the turbulent years of the NapoleonicĚýĚýera, Alexandre Dumas's thrilling adventure storyĚýĚýis one of the most widely read romantic novels ofĚýĚýall time. In it the dashing young hero, EdmondĚýĚýDantès, is betrayed by his enemies and thrownĚýĚýinto a secret dungeon in the Chateau d'If -- doomedĚýĚýto spend his life in a dank prison cell. The storyĚýĚýof his long, intolerable years in captivity, hisĚýĚýmiraculous escape, and his carefully wroughtĚýĚýrevenge creates a dramatic tale of mystery and intrigueĚýĚýand paints a vision of France -- a dazzling,ĚýĚýdueling, exuberant France -- that has become immortal.ĚýĚý]]> 531 Alexandre Dumas 0553213504 Sandy 5 4.36 1846 The Count of Monte Cristo
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1846
rating: 5
read at: 2014/12/01
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves: before-i-was-born-challenge, can-t-stop-thinking-about, deserves-to-be-read-again, favorite-character
review:

]]> Scarlet (Scarlet, #1) 15793632 292 A.C. Gaughen 0802734243 Sandy 0 to-read 3.86 2012 Scarlet (Scarlet, #1)
author: A.C. Gaughen
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Spirit of the Knight 21491173
Renowned artist, Mariah Jennings hired to paint a thirteenth-century Scottish castle, gets the shock of her life when she encounters the handsome knight who has dominated a lifetime of portraits and sketchbooks.

But Sir Cailen Braithnoch is no ordinary ghost, nor did he suffer an ordinary death. Magic of the blackest kind cast a pall over the knights centuries ago. As the ghost and his lady seek to unravel the paradox surrounding his death, black arts, otherworldly forces, and a jealous rival conspire against them.

Will those forces tear them apart, or is their love destined to last throughout the ages?]]> 400 Debbie Peterson 1628302763 Sandy 0 to-read 4.45 2014 Spirit of the Knight
author: Debbie Peterson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mail Order Bride Collection 27813354
WRITTEN IN HER HEART, a charming novella by Stacy Henrie, Georgeanna is getting desperate. She can’t fund her favorite orphanage unless she marries and secures the rest of her inheritance left by her father. But her father’s financial planner, Clay, can't understand why she's not content with her current situation. Georgie determines to send out a notice as a mail order bride to attract suitors who won’t know her financial situation. Little does she know, Clay takes up the pen and sends her letters of his own under an assumed name. After years of working for Georgie’s father, Clay realizes he isn’t ready to watch her marry another, not when his heart is already claimed by her.

In Kristin Holt’s delightful novella MIDWIFE BRIDE Dr. Naomi Thornton thinks she has it a beautiful house, a loving husband, and a fulfilling career. But when everything she holds dear is ripped away, Naomi has no choice but to start over. What will she find in the wild and untamed Wyoming Territory? Dr. Joe Chandler has waited years for a wife with the knowledge, skills, and tender heart he yearns for in a medical colleague and lifetime companion. When a midwife arrives with more expertise and secrets than he counted on, Joe quickly discovers there’s more to love and marriage than a simple mail order contract.

In THE SOUND OF HOME, a captivating novella by Annette Lyon, Marilyn is given the choice of either marrying the despicable Victor or being charged with a murder she didn’t commit. Refusing to believe that either is her fate, she finds a third she answers a mail order bride advertisement and boards a train to Wyoming to wed a man named Harry. Moments after her arrival, she learns that Harry isn’t who he seemed to be, and the advertisement turns out to be a giant mistake. Harry’s brother Thomas agrees to let her stay until she can figure out what to do next—after all, she simply cannot return to New York—but Marilyn quickly finds herself developing feelings for Thomas.

In Sarah M. Eden’s endearing novella FOR BETTER OR WORSE Gerald Smith, on the advice of his well-meaning neighbors, has decided it’s time to change his lonely existence. Mary Hill, on the advice of her empty pocketbook and non-existent roof over her head, has decided it’s time to secure herself a future. A mail-order marriage, they both realize, is no guarantee of happiness, but it is a risk they are willing to take. However, coming face to face on the train platform, the hapless couple discovers an unexpected marriage to a perfect stranger is sometimes far preferable to the prospect of a lifetime with someone you used to know.

Heather B. Moore’s sweet novella THE INCONVENIENT BRIDE sees Carmela traveling from Boston to Colorado, eager to meet the man she’s been corresponding with and will soon marry. Her brother’s new marriage leaves little room for Carmela in her old life. Upon arrival in Leadville, she faces a rude awakening, and the only one who can understand her predicament is her fiance’s brother, Samuel. But Samuel can’t possibly help her out of an awkward situation, can he? It would be better for all if she returns immediately to Boston and pretends she never traveled to Colorado in the first place.

THE PRICE OF SILVER, an engaging novella by Siân Ann Bessey, Katie leaves New York for Idaho to marry Jake, a man she’s written to a couple of times. But when she steps off the train, his brother Caleb is there to greet her. Jake has gone to take a mining job he couldn’t pass up. Caleb takes Katie back to the family ranch to wait for Jake’s return. The more Caleb gets to know Katie, the more he envies his brother, but he can’t let his heart overrule his head unless Jake changes his mind about his intended bride.]]> 315 Stacy Henrie 1941145647 Sandy 0 to-read 4.14 2016 Mail Order Bride Collection
author: Stacy Henrie
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1)]]> 8153566 Meghan Chase has a secret destiny--one she could never have imagined...
Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school...or at home.
When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.
But she could never have guessed the truth--that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face...and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.
]]> 351 Julie Kagawa 1426847807 Sandy 4 3.79 2010 The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1)
author: Julie Kagawa
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2013/08/07
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: favorite-character, premise-i-love
review:

]]> Cascade (River of Time, #2) 11544196 Mom touched my underdress—a gown made six hundred years before—and her eyes widened as she rubbed the raw silk between thumb and forefinger. She turned and touched Lia’s gown. “Where did you get these clothes?�

Ěý

ĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýĚý Gabi knows she’s left her heart in the fourteenth century and she persuades Lia to help her to return, even though they know doing so will risk their very lives. When they arrive, weeks have passed and all of Siena longs to celebrate the heroines who turned the tide in the battle against Florence—while the Florentines will go to great lengths to see them dead.

But Marcello patiently awaits, and Gabi must decide if she’s willing to leave her family behind for good in order to give her heart to him forever.

]]> 416 Lisa Tawn Bergren 1434704017 Sandy 5 4.23 2011 Cascade (River of Time, #2)
author: Lisa Tawn Bergren
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2013/12/31
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: can-t-stop-thinking-about, chemistry-sigh, deserves-to-be-read-again, settings-i-love, premise-i-love
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Love's Reckoning (The Ballantyne Legacy, #1)]]> 19099489
In this sweeping family saga set in western Pennsylvania, one man's choices in love and work, in friends and enemies, set the stage for generations to come. Love's Reckoning is the first entry in The Ballantyne Legacy, a rich, multi-layered historical quartet from talented writer Laura Frantz, beginning in the late 1700s and following the Ballantyne family through the end of the Civil War.]]> 432 Laura Frantz 1441239782 Sandy 4 chemistry-sigh 4.48 2012 Love's Reckoning (The Ballantyne Legacy, #1)
author: Laura Frantz
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2014/04/17
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: chemistry-sigh
review:
Read it again because I was reading the second book and couldn't remember what had happened! I didn't enjoy it as much the second time--it's a bit of a soap opera--but Laura Frantz writes does write epic love stories with captivating male leads.
]]> Summer House Party 29347539
Join three bestselling Regency Romance authors, Regina Scott, Donna Hatch, and Sarah M. Eden, for three new novellas in SUMMER HOUSE PARTY.

Other books in the Timeless Regency
AUTUMN MASQUERADE
A MIDWINTER BALL
SPRING IN HYDE PARK
A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS (Coming October 2016)]]> 264 Regina Scott 1941145736 Sandy 4 3.85 2016 Summer House Party
author: Regina Scott
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2016/07/03
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves:
review:

]]> Unravel Me (Shatter Me, #2) 16126252 tick
tick
tick
tick
it's almost
time for war.

Juliette has escaped to Omega Point. It is a place for people like her—people with gifts—and it is also the headquarters of the rebel resistance.

She's finally free from The Reestablishment, free from their plan to use her as a weapon, and free to love Adam. But Juliette will never be free from her lethal touch.

Or from Warner, who wants Juliette more than she ever thought possible.

In this exhilarating sequel to Shatter Me, Juliette has to make life-changing decisions between what she wants and what she thinks is right. Decisions that might involve choosing between her heart—and Adam's life.]]> 326 Tahereh Mafi 0062085565 Sandy 5
I finished it and turned around and read it again. I haven't been this addicted to a book since I read THAT BOOK (yeah, Twilight) back in the day.

I haven't added a book to my favorites shelf in about two years, but this book landed on it fast. Mafi's writing is so absorbing, and her characters are immensely fascinating and complex (and hot).

I kind of cried a little when I took this back to the library. It felt like I was saying goodbye to a dear friend. Must get copy for my own shelf fast!

Oh, and TEAM WARNER. Chapter 62. Need I say more???

Merged review:

My favorite book of 2013. I just read it for the third time.]]> 4.14 2013 Unravel Me (Shatter Me, #2)
author: Tahereh Mafi
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2013/12/17
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: can-t-stop-thinking-about, chemistry-sigh, deserves-to-be-read-again, favorite-character, premise-i-love
review:
I cannot STOP. READING. THIS. BOOK.

I finished it and turned around and read it again. I haven't been this addicted to a book since I read THAT BOOK (yeah, Twilight) back in the day.

I haven't added a book to my favorites shelf in about two years, but this book landed on it fast. Mafi's writing is so absorbing, and her characters are immensely fascinating and complex (and hot).

I kind of cried a little when I took this back to the library. It felt like I was saying goodbye to a dear friend. Must get copy for my own shelf fast!

Oh, and TEAM WARNER. Chapter 62. Need I say more???

Merged review:

My favorite book of 2013. I just read it for the third time.
]]> <![CDATA[The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles, #2)]]> 22718692
Desperate to save her life, Lia’s erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komisar that she has a magical gift, and the Komisar's interest in Lia is greater than either Kaden or Lia foresaw.

Meanwhile, the foundations of Lia's deeply-held beliefs are crumbling beneath her. Nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to her, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom she always believed to be barbarians but whom she now realizes are people who have been terribly brutalized by the kingdoms of Dalbreck and Morrighan. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her very sense of self, Lia will have to make powerful choices that affect her country, her people . . . and her own destiny.]]> 480 Mary E. Pearson Sandy 5 4.28 2015 The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles, #2)
author: Mary E. Pearson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/08/09
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> The Reluctant Bride 18953539 17 Donna Hatch 1466039507 Sandy 4 premise-i-love 3.54 2011 The Reluctant Bride
author: Donna Hatch
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2013/12/13
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: premise-i-love
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Assassin and the Healer (Throne of Glass, #0.2)]]> 18333581 40 Sarah J. Maas Sandy 3 4.21 2013 The Assassin and the Healer (Throne of Glass, #0.2)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2014/10/12
date added: 2024/08/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Mansfield Park 45032 488 Jane Austen Sandy 3 i-own 3.86 1814 Mansfield Park
author: Jane Austen
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: i-own
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Where She Went (If I Stay, #2)]]> 11736995
Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.]]> 264 Gayle Forman 0142420891 Sandy 5 4.01 2011 Where She Went (If I Stay, #2)
author: Gayle Forman
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2017/02/03
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: can-t-stop-thinking-about, chemistry-sigh
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society, #2)]]> 11424208 Kat Bishop can steal anything-including your heart. Intrigue, adventure, romance, and charm abound in this New York Times bestselling series.Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she's simply been known as the girl who robbed the greatest museum in the world. That's why Kat isn't surprised when she's asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners.There are only three problems. First, the gem is owned by the most secure auction house in the world. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat's world, history almost always repeats itself. But it's the third problem that makes Kat's crew the most nervous and that is simply the emerald is cursed. Kat might be in way over her head, but she's not going down without a fight. After all she has her best friend-the gorgeous Hale-and the rest of her intrepid crew with her as they chase the Cleopatra around the world, realizing that the same tricks and cons her family has used for centuries are useless this time.Which means, this time, Katarina Bishop is making up her own rules.Critics and fans alike have fallen for Heist Society (no conning necessary). With more mystery, non-stop action, romance and humor, this second novel in the hit series is irresistible.]]> 304 Ally Carter 1423148096 Sandy 5 4.17 2011 Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society, #2)
author: Ally Carter
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2013/10/04
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves: favorite-character, premise-i-love
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]]> 17125 The only English translation authorized by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

First published in the Soviet journal Novy Mir in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich stands as a classic of contemporary literature. The story of labor-camp inmate Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, it graphically describes his struggle to maintain his dignity in the face of communist oppression. An unforgettable portrait of the entire world of Stalin's forced work camps, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is one of the most extraordinary literary documents to have emerged from the Soviet Union and confirms Solzhenitsyn's stature as "a literary genius whose talent matches that of Dosotevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy"--Harrison Salisbury

This unexpurgated 1991 translation by H. T. Willetts is the only authorized edition available, and fully captures the power and beauty of the original Russian.]]> 182 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Sandy 4 3.98 1962 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
author: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/03/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)]]> 31076583 229 Sarah J. Maas 168119631X Sandy 2 3.77 2019 A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2018/06/04
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Cloud Atlas 49628
Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite. . . .

Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter. . . . From there we jump to the West Coast in the 1970s and a troubled reporter named Luisa Rey, who stumbles upon a web of corporate greed and murder that threatens to claim her life. . . . And onward, with dazzling virtuosity, to an inglorious present-day England; to a Korean superstate of the near future where neocapitalism has run amok; and, finally, to a postapocalyptic Iron Age Hawaii in the last days of history.

But the story doesn't end even there. The narrative then boomerangs back through centuries and space, returning by the same route, in reverse, to its starting point. Along the way, Mitchell reveals how his disparate characters connect, how their fates intertwine, and how their souls drift across time like clouds across the sky.

As wild as a videogame, as mysterious as a Zen koan, Cloud Atlas is an unforgettable tour de force that, like its incomparable author, has transcended its cult classic status to become a worldwide phenomenon.]]> 509 David Mitchell 0375507256 Sandy 0 to-read 4.02 2004 Cloud Atlas
author: David Mitchell
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Suite Scarlett (Scarlett, #1) 2328841
Scarlett is the third of four children in the Martin family. The Martins live in and manage a shabby hotel in NYC that dates back to the 1920s. When Scarlett turns 15, she is put in charge of one of the hotel's 27 rooms- the Empire Suite. Into this room moves Mrs. Amberson, a failed 1970s starlet who has returned to New York to write her memoirs. Soon, Scarlett is taking dictation, running around town with Mrs. Amberson, and getting caught up in her Auntie Mame-meets-Bianca Jagger adventures.]]> 368 Maureen Johnson 0439899273 Sandy 0 to-read 3.61 2008 Suite Scarlett (Scarlett, #1)
author: Maureen Johnson
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[First Love (A Snow Valley Summer Romance)]]> 25799964 ]]> 134 Taylor Hart Sandy 3 4.23 2015 First Love (A Snow Valley Summer Romance)
author: Taylor Hart
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2015/07/12
date added: 2023/05/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea]]> 56978100
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.

Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.

But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…]]> 325 Axie Oh 1250780861 Sandy 0 to-read 4.10 2022 The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea
author: Axie Oh
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[This Woven Kingdom (This Woven Kingdom, #1)]]> 57992931
The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom—and the world.

Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people—bestselling author Tahereh Mafi’s first in an epic, romantic trilogy inspired by Persian mythology.]]> 512 Tahereh Mafi 0062972448 Sandy 0 to-read 3.96 2022 This Woven Kingdom (This Woven Kingdom, #1)
author: Tahereh Mafi
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Foul Lady Fortune (Foul Lady Fortune, #1)]]> 60138097
Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption for her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.

Code name: Fortune.

But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.

To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanor infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends comes the first book in a captivating new duology following an ill-matched pair of spies posing as a married couple to investigate a series of brutal murders in 1930s Shanghai.]]> 528 Chloe Gong 1665905581 Sandy 0 to-read 4.18 2022 Foul Lady Fortune (Foul Lady Fortune, #1)
author: Chloe Gong
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Weird But True New York City: 300 Bizarre Facts About the Big Apple]]> 56623684
Did you know that 25 species of shark swim off NYC's coastline?

Or that astronauts can see the lights of Times Square from space?

And get In New York, Sesame Street is a real place AND there's a library where you can visit the actual stuffed animals that inspired the characters in Winnie the Pooh!

Explore 300 wacky facts and pictures from the five boroughs. You'll get a look at the city's storied past, learn about weird stuff in New York today, and even meet a couple of goats that held up traffic on the subway. The city that never sleeps truly has something for everyone--from giant pillow fights to epic Broadway musicals to pizza-loving rats.

Whether you're an NYC native, an adventure-loving tourist, an armchair traveler, or a trivia buff, this fact-packed, fun-filled book is for you!

Complete your collection with other Weird But True! Weird But True! Animals; Weird But True! USA; Weird But True! Dinosaurs; Ye Olde Weird But True; Weird But True! Gross; and more!

For more quirky facts and interactive fun, check out The Nat Geo Kids Challenge on Amazon Alexa for over one hundred rounds of “Weird but True …or False!� Available now through Amazon Kids+ subscriptions.]]> 208 National Geographic Kids 1426372337 Sandy 5 4.28 Weird But True New York City: 300 Bizarre Facts About the Big Apple
author: National Geographic Kids
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.28
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/11/02
date added: 2022/11/02
shelves:
review:

]]> The Mill on the Floss 20564 'If life had no love in it, what else was there for Maggie?'

Brought up at Dorlcote Mill, Maggie Tulliver worships her brother Tom and is desperate to win the approval of her parents, but her passionate, wayward nature and her fierce intelligence bring her into constant conflict with her family. As she reaches adulthood, the clash between their expectations and her desires is painfully played out as she finds herself torn between her relationships with three very different men: her proud and stubborn brother, a close friend who is also the son of her family's worst enemy, and a charismatic but dangerous suitor. With its poignant portrayal of sibling relationships, The Mill on the Floss is considered George Eliot's most autobiographical novel; it is also one of her most powerful and moving.

In this edition writer and critic A.S. Byatt provides full explanatory notes and an introduction relating Mill on the Floss to George Eliot's own life and times.

Edited with an introduction and notes by A.S. BYATT]]> 579 George Eliot 0141439629 Sandy 0 to-read 3.82 1860 The Mill on the Floss
author: George Eliot
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1860
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Amy & Roger's Epic Detour 7664334 When you're on a road trip, life is all about the detours. . . .

Amy Curry is having a terrible year. Her mother has decided to move across the country and needs Amy to get their car from California to Connecticut. There's just one small problem: Since her father died this past spring, Amy hasn't been able to get behind the wheel. Enter Roger, the nineteen-year-old son of an old family friend, who turns out to be unexpectedly cute ... and dealing with some baggage of his own.

Meeting new people and coming to terms with her father's death were not what Amy had planned on this trip. And traveling the Loneliest Road in America, seeing the Colorado mountains, crossing the Kansas plains, and visiting diners, dingy motels, and Graceland were definitely not on the itinerary. But as they drive, Amy finds that the people you least expected are the ones you may need the most—and that sometimes you have to get lost in order to find your way home.]]> 343 Morgan Matson 1416990658 Sandy 4 3.97 2010 Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
author: Morgan Matson
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/09
date added: 2022/08/11
shelves:
review:

]]> Take Me Home Tonight 55710525 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist in this romp through the city that never sleeps from the New York Times bestselling author of Since You’ve Been Gone, Morgan Matson.

Two girls. One night. Zero phones.

Kat and Stevie—best friends, theater kids, polar opposites—have snuck away from the suburbs to spend a night in New York City. They have it all planned out. They’ll see a play, eat at the city’s hottest restaurant, and have the best. Night. Ever. What could go wrong?

Well. Kind of a lot?

They’re barely off the train before they’re dealing with destroyed phones, family drama, and unexpected Pomeranians. Over the next few hours, they’ll have to grapple with old flames, terrible theater, and unhelpful cab drivers. But there are also cute boys to kiss, parties to crash, dry cleaning to deliver (don’t ask), and the world’s best museum to explore.

Over the course of a wild night in the city that never sleeps, both Kat and Stevie will get a wake-up call about their friendship, their choices…and finally discover what they really want for their future.

That is, assuming they can make it to Grand Central before the clock strikes midnight.]]> 416 Morgan Matson 1481498983 Sandy 2 3.64 2021 Take Me Home Tonight
author: Morgan Matson
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2022/08/11
date added: 2022/08/11
shelves:
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]]> The Last Thing He Told Me 54981009
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a U.S. marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.]]> 307 Laura Dave 1501171348 Sandy 3 3.78 2021 The Last Thing He Told Me
author: Laura Dave
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/06/20
date added: 2022/08/02
shelves:
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]]> Where the Crawdads Sing 36809135
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.]]> 384 Delia Owens 0735219117 Sandy 5 4.35 2018 Where the Crawdads Sing
author: Delia Owens
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2022/06/10
date added: 2022/08/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers, #1)]]> 40832169 In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer.

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.]]> 496 Brigid Kemmerer 1681195100 Sandy 0 to-read 4.04 2019 A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers, #1)
author: Brigid Kemmerer
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Caraval (Caraval #1) 35674677 Whatever you've heard about Caraval, it doesn't compare to the reality. It's more than just a game or a performance. It's the closest you'll ever find to magic in this world . . .

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett's father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.

But this year, Scarlett's long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval's mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season's Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . beware of getting swept too far away.]]> 418 Stephanie Garber 1250095263 Sandy 0 to-read 4.06 2016 Caraval (Caraval #1)
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> All's Fair in Love and Blood 56853441 They are both out for blood, but could it end in love?

Scarlett Armstrong and Kane Hudson have a tangled past involving not only their families but their own failed love affair. Now, eight years later, to make things more complicated, they’re both in the running to become the next CEO of Scarlett’s family’s business, Armstrong Labs, a privately held blood plasma company. It all comes down to who presents the best business plan to the board of directors.

For Scarlett, it’s a matter of continuing her family’s legacy and hoping that her father will be proud of her once and for all. After all, she’s spent her entire life pushing her own dreams aside preparing for this role. And perhaps she would like a little sweet revenge against the man who stole her heart and never gave it back. Kane, on the other hand, is determined to reach his goal of becoming the CEO of a Fortune 500 company before his forty-fifth birthday and proving to Scarlett she’s meant to follow her own dreams.

But things don’t go according to plan for either Scarlett or Kane when they realize that perhaps they’re fighting for the wrong thing. With love and blood on the line, which one will come out on top?]]> 347 Jennifer Peel Sandy 3 4.10 2021 All's Fair in Love and Blood
author: Jennifer Peel
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/02/28
date added: 2022/06/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[As Good As Dead (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3)]]> 56905097 The finale to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. By the end of this mystery series, you'll never think of good girls the same way again...

Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She’s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can’t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears?

Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars.

Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself—or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle... and if she doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears...]]> 500 Holly Jackson 0593379853 Sandy 3 4.20 2021 As Good As Dead (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #3)
author: Holly Jackson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2022/02/24
date added: 2022/06/17
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #2)]]> 51335759
With the help of Ravi Singh, she released a true-crime podcast about the murder case they solved together last year. The podcast has gone viral, yet Pip insists her investigating days are behind her.

But she will have to break that promise when someone she knows goes missing. Jamie Reynolds has disappeared, on the very same night the town hosted a memorial for the sixth-year anniversary of the deaths of Andie Bell and Sal Singh.

The police won't do anything about it. And if they won't look for Jamie then Pip will, uncovering more of her town's dark secrets along the way... and this time everyone is listening. But will she find him before it's too late?]]> 413 Holly Jackson 1405297751 Sandy 5 4.26 2020 Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #2)
author: Holly Jackson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2022/02/15
date added: 2022/06/17
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1)]]> 40916679
Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.]]> 433 Holly Jackson 1405293187 Sandy 5 4.30 2019 A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1)
author: Holly Jackson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2022/02/09
date added: 2022/06/17
shelves:
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]]> The Postmistress 8270480 The New York Times bestseller- "A beautifully written, thought-provoking novel." -#1 New York Times bestselling author Kathryn Stockett.

In 1940, Iris James is the postmistress in coastal Franklin, Massachusetts. Iris knows more about the townspeople than she will ever say, and believes her job is to deliver secrets. Yet one day she does the unthinkable: slips a letter into her pocket, reads it, and doesn't deliver it.

Meanwhile, Frankie Bard broadcasts from overseas with Edward R. Murrow. Her dispatches beg listeners to pay heed as the Nazis bomb London nightly. Most of the townspeople of Franklin think the war can't touch them. But both Iris and Frankie know better...

The Postmistress is a tale of two worlds-one shattered by violence, the other willfully naĂŻve-and of two women whose job is to deliver the news, yet who find themselves unable to do so. Through their eyes, and the eyes of everyday people caught in history's tide, it examines how stories are told, and how the fact of war is borne even through everyday life.]]> 371 Sarah Blake 0425238695 Sandy 0 to-read 3.24 2009 The Postmistress
author: Sarah Blake
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/03/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Downstairs Girl 33224061 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781524740955.

From the founding member of We Need Diverse Books comes a powerful novel about identity, betrayal, and the meaning of family.

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, "Dear Miss Sweetie." When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society's ills, but she's not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender. While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta's most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.]]> 374 Stacey Lee Sandy 0 to-read 3.92 2019 The Downstairs Girl
author: Stacey Lee
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)]]> 58578774
She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.]]> 448 Marissa Meyer 1250851033 Sandy 0 to-read 4.45 2012 Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles, #3)]]> 25944798
With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.

In this conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance.]]> 684 Mary E. Pearson 0805099255 Sandy 5 4.14 2016 The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles, #3)
author: Mary E. Pearson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2022/01/29
date added: 2022/02/08
shelves:
review:
Perfectly imperfect ending. I loved it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles, #2)]]> 21569527
Desperate to save her life, Lia's erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komisar that she has a magical gift, and the Komisar's interest in Lia is greater than either Kaden or Lia foresaw.

Meanwhile, the foundations of Lia's deeply-held beliefs are crumbling beneath her. Nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to her, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom she always believed to be barbarians but whom she now realizes are people who have been terribly brutalized by the kingdoms of Dalbreck and Morrighan. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her very sense of self, Lia will have to make powerful choices that affect her country, her people . . . and her own destiny.]]> 473 Mary E. Pearson 0805099247 Sandy 5 4.17 2015 The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles, #2)
author: Mary E. Pearson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2022/01/20
date added: 2022/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, #1)]]> 16429619
On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her.ĚýDeception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

The Kiss of DeceptionĚýis the first audiobook inĚýMary E. Pearson's Remnant Chronicles]]> 492 Mary E. Pearson Sandy 4 3.92 2014 The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, #1)
author: Mary E. Pearson
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/14
date added: 2022/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, #1)]]> 40914165 An alternate cover edition for ISBN 978-1492671527 can be found here.

In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry.

The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.

Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government's new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.]]> 309 Kim Michele Richardson Sandy 5 4.17 2019 The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, #1)
author: Kim Michele Richardson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2022/01/06
date added: 2022/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> Legendborn (Legendborn, #1) 56980346 Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award

Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn’s YA contemporary fantasy reinvents the King Arthur legend and “braids together Southern folk traditions and Black Girl Magic into a searing modern tale of grief, power, and self-discovery� (Dhonielle Clayton, New York Times bestselling author of The Belles ).

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn� students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin� and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

This paperback edition of Legendborn contains a teaser to the thrilling sequel, Bloodmarked , as well as an exclusive short story from Selwyn Kane's perspective!]]> 501 Tracy Deonn 1534441611 Sandy 0 to-read 4.37 2020 Legendborn (Legendborn, #1)
author: Tracy Deonn
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1)]]> 50892360 The first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.]]> 454 Rebecca Roanhorse 1534437673 Sandy 0 to-read 4.17 2020 Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1)
author: Rebecca Roanhorse
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1)]]> 32718027
But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for...]]> 532 S.A. Chakraborty 0062678108 Sandy 0 to-read 4.12 2017 The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1)
author: S.A. Chakraborty
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)]]> 68428 What if the whole world were a dead, blasted wasteland?

Mistborn
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Then Kelsier reveals his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

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

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy's newest master tale-spinner and author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the prophesied hero failed to defeat the Dark Lord? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises that begins with the book in your hands. Fantasy will never be the same again.]]> 541 Brandon Sanderson Sandy 5 4.48 2006 Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2021/12/30
date added: 2022/01/07
shelves: can-t-stop-thinking-about, endings-i-love, mythology-even-edith-would-love, premise-i-love, signed
review:

]]> Hide 58890948
The prize: enough money to change everything.

Even though everyone is desperate to win--to seize their dream futures or escape their haunting pasts--Mack feels sure that she can beat her competitors. All she has to do is hide, and she's an expert at that.

It's the reason she's alive, and her family isn't.

But as the people around her begin disappearing one by one, Mack realizes this competition is more sinister than even she imagined, and that together might be the only way to survive.

Fourteen competitors. Seven days. Everywhere to hide, but nowhere to run.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.]]> 240 Kiersten White 0593359232 Sandy 0 to-read 3.30 2022 Hide
author: Kiersten White
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Excalibur Curse (Camelot Rising, #3)]]> 43908064
While journeying north toward the Dark Queen, Guinevere fallsĚýinto the hands of her enemies. Behind her are Lancelot, trapped on the other side of the magical barrier they created to protect Camelot, and Arthur, who has been led away from his kingdom, chasing after false promises. But the greatest danger isn’t what lies ahead of Guinevere—it’s what’s been buried inside her.Ěý

Vowing to unravel the truth of her past with or without Merlin’s help, Guinevere joins forces with the sorceress Morgana and her son, Mordred—and faces the confusing, forbidden feelings she still harbors for him.ĚýWhen Guinevere makes an agonizing discovery about who she is and how she came to be, she finds herself with an impossible fix a terrible crime, or help prevent war.

Guinevere is determined to set things right, whatever the cost. To defeat a rising evil. To remake a kingdom. To undo the mistakes of the past...even if it means destroying herself.

Guinevere has been a changeling, a witch, a queen—but what does it mean to be just a girl?]]> 11 Kiersten White 0593416570 Sandy 2 3.59 2021 The Excalibur Curse (Camelot Rising, #3)
author: Kiersten White
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/12/18
date added: 2021/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> The Holiday Ex-Files 58953766
Then along comes my ex-husband’s best friend, Noah Cullen. Yep, like the vampires. He’s extremely gorgeous like them too. He has a plan to help me believe in the magic of holidays again. But the more I’m around him, I begin to think he’s the magical one, and that perhaps I picked the wrong best friend to begin with. Maybe, just maybe, it will be a very merry Christmas after all.

Get ready for a laugh-out-loud, heartwarming holiday rom-com, perfect for any season, by USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Peel.]]> 310 Jennifer Peel Sandy 3 3.77 2021 The Holiday Ex-Files
author: Jennifer Peel
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/12/24
date added: 2021/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Counting Down with You 49399658 A reserved Bangladeshi teenager has twenty-eight days to make the biggest decision of her life after agreeing to fake date her school’s resident bad boy.
How do you make one month last a lifetime?

Karina Ahmed has a plan. Keep her head down, get through high school without a fuss, and follow her parents� rules—even if it means sacrificing her dreams. When her parents go abroad to Bangladesh for four weeks, Karina expects some peace and quiet. Instead, one simple lie unravels everything.

Karina is my girlfriend.

Tutoring the school’s resident bad boy was already crossing a line. Pretending to date him? Out of the question. But Ace Clyde does everything right—he brings her coffee in the mornings, impresses her friends without trying, and even promises to buy her a dozen books (a week) if she goes along with his fake-dating facade. Though Karina agrees, she can’t help but start counting down the days until her parents come back.

T-minus twenty-eight days until everything returns to normal—but what if Karina no longer wants it to?]]> 464 Tashie Bhuiyan 1335209972 Sandy 2 4.01 2021 Counting Down with You
author: Tashie Bhuiyan
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/12/10
date added: 2021/12/14
shelves:
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]]> Jane Eyre 10210 Alternate editions can be found here and here.

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

Charlotte Brontë tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall's terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions - even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled readers with its passionate depiction of a woman's search for equality and freedom.]]> 532 Charlotte Brontë 0142437204 Sandy 5 4.14 1847 Jane Eyre
author: Charlotte Brontë
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1847
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/28
date added: 2021/12/06
shelves: favorites, i-own, favorite-character
review:

]]> Iron Widow (Iron Widow, #1) 52459864
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.�

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia�. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.]]> 394 Xiran Jay Zhao 0735269939 Sandy 0 to-read 4.03 2021 Iron Widow (Iron Widow, #1)
author: Xiran Jay Zhao
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1)]]> 55987278 How far would you go for happily ever after?

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings... until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic but wicked Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy...]]> 408 Stephanie Garber 1250268397 Sandy 0 to-read 4.06 2021 Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1)
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Comfort Book 55825273 The new uplifting book from Matt Haig, the New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library, for anyone in search of hope, looking for a path to a more meaningful life, or in need of a little encouragement.

“It is a strange paradox, that many of the clearest, most comforting life lessons are learnt while we are at our lowest. But then we never think about food more than when we are hungry and we never think about life rafts more than when we are thrown overboard.�

The Comfort Book is Haig’s life raft: it’s a collection of notes, lists, and stories written over a span of several years that originally served as gentle reminders to Haig’s future self that things are not always as dark as they may seem. Incorporating a diverse array of sources from across the world, history, science, and his own experiences, Haig offers warmth and reassurance, reminding us to slow down and appreciate the beauty and unpredictability of existence.]]> 272 Matt Haig 0143136666 Sandy 0 to-read 4.07 2021 The Comfort Book
author: Matt Haig
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Four Winds 57175097 here.

From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression: a time when the country was in crisis, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.

My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.

Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage was a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.

By 1934, the world has changed: Millions are out of work, and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.

In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa―like so many of her neighbors―must make an agonizing choice: Fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.

The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it―the harsh realities that divided a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.]]> 454 Kristin Hannah Sandy 0 to-read 4.29 2021 The Four Winds
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/11/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Firekeeper’s Daughter 52346471
After Daunis witnesses a shocking murder that thrusts her into a criminal investigation, she agrees to go undercover. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home. How far will she go to protect her community if it means tearing apart the only world she’s ever known?]]> 496 Angeline Boulley Sandy 4 4.32 2021 Firekeeper’s Daughter
author: Angeline Boulley
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/11/22
date added: 2021/11/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Better Than the Movies (Better Than the Movies, #1)]]> 55710822 In this rom-com about rom-coms, in the spirit of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, a hopeless romantic teen attempts to secure a happily-ever-after moment with her forever crush, but finds herself reluctantly drawn to the boy next door.

Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar - and maybe snag him as a prom date - even befriend Wes Bennet.

The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic-comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.

But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love - and rethink her own ideas of what happily ever after should look like.]]> 356 Lynn Painter 1534467629 Sandy 3 4.28 2021 Better Than the Movies (Better Than the Movies, #1)
author: Lynn Painter
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/11/03
date added: 2021/11/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)]]> 7235533 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings, book one of The Stormlight Archive begins an incredible new saga of epic proportion.

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar's niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan's motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.]]> 1007 Brandon Sanderson 0765326353 Sandy 5
I can't remember the last time I put a book on my favorites list, but that's exactly where this is going.

WOW. Even though it was over 1,000 pages, I didn't want it to end.]]> 4.66 2010 The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2021/10/26
date added: 2021/10/26
shelves: can-t-stop-thinking-about, favorites, i-own, mythology-even-edith-would-love, premise-i-love, signed
review:
In a word? EPIC.

I can't remember the last time I put a book on my favorites list, but that's exactly where this is going.

WOW. Even though it was over 1,000 pages, I didn't want it to end.
]]> The Push 52476830 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

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

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

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

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

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

The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed.]]> 307 Ashley Audrain 1984881663 Sandy 0 to-read 4.03 2021 The Push
author: Ashley Audrain
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo]]> 32620332
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the �80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.]]> 389 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1501139231 Sandy 0 to-read 4.39 2017 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Rose Code 53914938 The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Huntress and The Alice Network returns with another heart-stopping World War II story of three female code breakers at Bletchley Park and the spy they must root out after the war is over.

1940. As England prepares to fight the Nazis, three very different women answer the call to mysterious country estate Bletchley Park, where the best minds in Britain train to break German military codes. Vivacious debutante Osla is the girl who has everything—beauty, wealth, and the dashing Prince Philip of Greece sending her roses—but she burns to prove herself as more than a society girl, and puts her fluent German to use as a translator of decoded enemy secrets. Imperious self-made Mab, product of East-End London poverty, works the legendary code-breaking machines as she conceals old wounds and looks for a socially advantageous husband. Both Osla and Mab are quick to see the potential in local village spinster Beth, whose shyness conceals a brilliant facility with puzzles, and soon Beth spreads her wings as one of the Park’s few female cryptanalysts. But war, loss, and the impossible pressure of secrecy will tear the three apart.

1947. As the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip whips post-war Britain into a fever, three friends-turned-enemies are reunited by a mysterious encrypted letter—the key to which lies buried in the long-ago betrayal that destroyed their friendship and left one of them confined to an asylum. A mysterious traitor has emerged from the shadows of their Bletchley Park past, and now Osla, Mab, and Beth must resurrect their old alliance and crack one last code together. But each petal they remove from the rose code brings danger—and their true enemy...]]> 624 Kate Quinn 0062943472 Sandy 0 to-read 4.42 2021 The Rose Code
author: Kate Quinn
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Project Hail Mary 54493401
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

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

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

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

Or does he?]]> 476 Andy Weir 0593135202 Sandy 0 to-read 4.49 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Kill Joy (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #0.5)]]> 55761476
Pippa Fitz-Amobi is not in the mood for her friend's murder mystery party. Especially one that involves 1920's fancy dress and pretending that their town, Little Kilton, is an island called Joy. But when the game begins, Pip finds herself drawn into the make-believe world of intrigue, deception and murder. But as Pip plays detective, teasing out the identity of the killer clue-by-clue, the murder of the fictional Reginald Remy isn't the only case on her mind ... Contains mature content, for older readers.]]> 130 Holly Jackson Sandy 0 to-read 3.74 2021 Kill Joy (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #0.5)
author: Holly Jackson
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2)]]> 54589790 The wolves are circling. And Ravka's time is running out.

The Demon King. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king's gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.]]> 592 Leigh Bardugo 125014230X Sandy 0 to-read 4.36 2021 Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Girls I've Been 49471138 A slick, twisty YA page-turner about the daughter of a con artist who is taken hostage in a bank heist.

Nora O’Malley’s been a lot of girls. As the daughter of a con-artist who targets criminal men, she grew up as her mother’s protégé. But when mom fell for the mark instead of conning him, Nora pulled the ultimate con: escape.

For five years Nora’s been playing at normal. But she needs to dust off the skills she ditched because she has three problems:

#1: Her ex walked in on her with her girlfriend. Even though they’re all friends, Wes didn’t know about her and Iris.

#2: The morning after Wes finds them kissing, they all have to meet to deposit the fundraiser money they raised at the bank. It’s a nightmare that goes from awkward to deadly, because:

#3: Right after they enter bank, two guys start robbing it.

The bank robbers may be trouble, but Nora’s something else entirely. They have no idea who they’re really holding hostage…]]> 356 Tess Sharpe 0593111095 Sandy 3 love books about heists and cons. I love their intricate plots and the twists and the smart execution.

The premise of this book is AWESOME; however, it didn't quite deliver for me. We were told a whole bunch that Nora is amazing at this and has pulled off some amazing cons, but it all seemed pretty . . . basic. The writing was just okay--lots of telling; everything felt surface-level; not enough intricacy in the cons, past or present.]]> 4.04 2021 The Girls I've Been
author: Tess Sharpe
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/10/03
date added: 2021/10/04
shelves:
review:
I love books about heists and cons. I love their intricate plots and the twists and the smart execution.

The premise of this book is AWESOME; however, it didn't quite deliver for me. We were told a whole bunch that Nora is amazing at this and has pulled off some amazing cons, but it all seemed pretty . . . basic. The writing was just okay--lots of telling; everything felt surface-level; not enough intricacy in the cons, past or present.
]]> <![CDATA[The Merciful Crow (The Merciful Crow, #1)]]> 52803253 A future chieftain.

Fie abides by one rule: look after your own. Her Crow caste of undertakers and mercy-killers takes more abuse than coin, but when they’re called to collect royal dead, she’s hoping they’ll find the payout of a lifetime.

A fugitive prince.

When Crown Prince Jasimir turns out to have faked his death, Fie’s ready to cut her losses—and perhaps his throat. But he offers a wager that she can’t refuse: protect him from a ruthless queen, and he’ll protect the Crows when he reigns.

A too-cunning bodyguard.

Hawk warrior Tavin has always put Jas’s life before his, magically assuming the prince’s appearance and shadowing his every step. But what happens when Tavin begins to want something to call his own?]]> 400 Margaret Owen 1250250943 Sandy 0 to-read 3.87 2019 The Merciful Crow (The Merciful Crow, #1)
author: Margaret Owen
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Other Side of the Sky (The Other Side of the Sky, #1)]]> 56816953 New York Times bestselling author duo Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner have crafted a gripping tale of magic and logic, fate and choice, and a deadly love. Perfect for fans of Laini Taylor and Brandon Sanderson.

Prince North’s home is in the sky, in a gleaming city held aloft by intricate engines, powered by technology. Nimh is the living goddess of her people on the Surface, responsible for providing answers, direction—hope.

North’s and Nimh’s lives are entwined—though their hearts can never be. Linked by a terrifying prophecy and caught between duty and fate, they must choose between saving their people or succumbing to the bond that is forbidden between them.]]> 496 Amie Kaufman 0062893343 Sandy 0 to-read 3.97 2020 The Other Side of the Sky (The Other Side of the Sky, #1)
author: Amie Kaufman
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Legacy (The World of the Narrows, #3)]]> 56269227
Henrik has plans for Bryn, but she must win everyone’s trust if she wants to hold any power in the delicate architecture of the family. It doesn’t take long for her to see that the Roths are entangled in shadows. Despite their growing influence in upscale Bastian, their hands are still in the kind of dirty business that got Bryn’s parents killed years ago. With a forbidden romance to contend with and dangerous work ahead, the cost of being accepted into the Roths may be more than Bryn can pay.

New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young returns with The Last Legacy, a captivating standalone about family and blood ties, reinventing yourself, and controlling your own destiny.]]> 322 Adrienne Young 1250823722 Sandy 0 to-read 3.92 2021 The Last Legacy (The World of the Narrows, #3)
author: Adrienne Young
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fireborne (The Aurelian Cycle, #1)]]> 36578543
Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn't be more different. Annie's lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee's aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.

But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.

With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he's come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs.]]> 432 Rosaria Munda 0525518215 Sandy 4 3.89 2019 Fireborne (The Aurelian Cycle, #1)
author: Rosaria Munda
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/31
date added: 2021/09/01
shelves:
review:
This was a 5-star read for me until the end. I HATE the final few events and [spoilers removed]
]]> <![CDATA[Furysong (The Aurelian Cycle, #3)]]> 40204505 In this explosive conclusion to the epic trilogy that began with Fireborne, Annie and Lee are fighting for their lives—and for each other—as invading dragonfire threatens to burn their home to the ground.

A new revolution is underway, and nobody will emerge unscathed.

In New Pythos, Griff is facing an execution by the dragonborn, who are furious at his betrayal. He has allies on both sides seeking to defy his fate, but the price of his freedom might come at a dear cost. And Delo will have to make a choice: follow his family, or finally surrender to his conscience.

Meanwhile, Annie must race home to hatch a plan to save her Guardians and their dragons. With Callipolis on the brink of collapse and the triarchy set to be reinstated, she may be the one person who can save the city—if she can overcome her own doubts about her future.

Lee is a revolutionary at heart, but now he’ll have to find a way to fight with diplomacy. Going up against the dragonborn court and a foreign princess, he faces a test of loyalty that sets his head against his heart.

As the fate of Callipolis darkens, Annie and Lee must determine what they are willing to sacrifice in order to save each other, defeat their enemies, and reclaim their home.]]> 486 Rosaria Munda 0525518274 Sandy 0 to-read 4.38 2022 Furysong (The Aurelian Cycle, #3)
author: Rosaria Munda
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Flamefall (The Aurelian Cycle, #2)]]> 54316667 Revolutionary flames ignite around Annie, Lee, and a brand new POV character in the second book of the Fireborne trilogy.

After fleeing the revolution and settling into the craggy cliffs of New Pythos, the Dragonlords are eager to punish their usurpers--and reclaim their city. Their first order of business was destroying the Callipolan food supply. Now they're coming for the Dragonriders.

Annie is Callipolis's new Firstrider, and while her goal has always been to protect the people, being the government's enforcer has turned her into public enemy number one.

Lee struggles to find his place after killing kin to prove himself to a leader who betrayed him. He can support Annie and the other Guardians . . . or join the radicals who look to topple the new regime.

Griff, a lowborn dragonrider who serves New Pythos, knows he has no future. And now that Julia, the Firstrider who had protected him, is dead, he is called on to sacrifice everything for the lords that oppress his people--or to forge a new path with the Callipolan Firstrider seeking his help.

With famine tearing Callipolis apart and the Pythians determined to take back what they lost, it will be up to Annie, Lee, and Griff to decide what to fight for--and who to love.]]> 496 Rosaria Munda 052551824X Sandy 4 4.22 2021 Flamefall (The Aurelian Cycle, #2)
author: Rosaria Munda
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/20
date added: 2021/08/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[That Fine Line (Pride and Pranks, #1)]]> 57592279 All I wanted was a quiet summer on my family’s ranch in Idaho�

I didn’t think that was too much to ask. With my fiancé in California, I was back home for three months to plan my wedding. I had colors to pick, cows to milk, and a wedding dress to squeeze into.

Which was why I didn’t need anybody messing with me.

Especially not the guy who had dedicated his whole life to making mine a joke. The guy who filled my high school locker with frogs and my hot car with cans of tuna. I mean…I always got him back. But not this summer. Things were different now. I was engaged. I had grown up. I would NOT fall victim to Cade’s pranks, teasing, or his manly charms.

If only my dad hadn’t hired the moron to cowboy for him this summer.

Now my childhood enemy is living on our ranch and seems to think we have a score to settle.

And all bets are off.]]> 288 Cindy Steel Sandy 0 to-read 4.20 2021 That Fine Line (Pride and Pranks, #1)
author: Cindy Steel
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Hana Khan Carries On 53746115 From the author of Ayesha at Last comes a sparkling new rom-com for fans of “You’ve Got Mail�.

Hana Khan's family-run halal restaurant is on its last legs. So when a flashy competitor gets ready to open nearby, bringing their inevitable closure even closer, she turns to her anonymously-hosted podcast, and her lively and long-lasting relationship with one of her listeners, for advice.

But a hate-motivated attack on their neighbourhood complicates the situation further, as does Hana's growing attraction for Aydin, the young owner of the rival business. Who might not be a complete stranger after all...

A charmingly refreshing and modern love story, Uzma Jalaluddin's tale is humorously warm and filled with gorgeous characters you won't be able to forget. Now in development for film with Mindy Kaling and Amazon Studios.]]> 367 Uzma Jalaluddin 1443461474 Sandy 2 3.93 2021 Hana Khan Carries On
author: Uzma Jalaluddin
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2021/08/17
date added: 2021/08/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Defy the Night (Defy the Night, #1)]]> 55891833 A daring outlaw.
A dangerous flirtation.

In the Wilds of Kandala, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade has been watching people suffer for too long. A mysterious sickness is ravaging the land and the cure, Moonflower Elixir, is only available for the wealthy. So every night, she defies the royal edicts and sneaks out, stealing Moonflower petals and leaving the elixir for those in need.

In the palace of Kandala, Prince Corrick serves as the King's Justice, meting out vicious punishments and striking fear into the hearts of agitators and outlaws. Corrick knows he must play this role convincingly--with a shortage of elixir and threats of rebellion looming ever closer, the King's grip on power is tenuous at best, and Corrick knows his brother is the kingdom's best hope for survival.

But when an act of unspeakable cruelty brings the royal and the outlaw face to face, the natural enemies are faced with an impossible choice--and a surprising spark. Will they follow their instincts to destroy each other? Or will they save the kingdom together . . . and let that spark ignite?]]> 448 Brigid Kemmerer 1547604662 Sandy 0 to-read 4.21 2021 Defy the Night (Defy the Night, #1)
author: Brigid Kemmerer
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Vespertine 56980403 Artemisia se está preparando para unirse a las hermanas grises, encargadas de purificar a los fallecidos para que sus almas sigan adelante; de ​​lo contrario, sus espíritus despiertan con un hambre voraz por los vivos. Ella prefiere tratar con los muertos, que a diferencia de los vivos nunca hacen comentarios sobre su turbio pasado.
Cuando su convento sufre un ataque, Artemisia lo defiende despertando a un antiguo espíritu vinculado a una reliquia. Es un renacido, un ser malévolo que amenaza con poseerla en cuanto baje la guardia. La muerte ha llegado a Loraille, y solo una vespertina (una sacerdotisa entrenada para controlar una gran reliquia) puede aspirar a detenerla. Pero los conocimientos de las vespertinas hace mucho que se perdieron, por lo que a Artemisia no le queda más opción que recurrir al único que puede saber algo: el mismísimo renacido.
Mientras su vĂ­nculo con el renacido se fortalece entre secretos y magia, un mal oculto comienza a surgir. Y enfrentarse a Ă©l puede requerir que traicione todo en lo que cree... si es que el renacido no la traiciona primero.]]> 400 Margaret Rogerson 153447711X Sandy 0 to-read 4.09 2021 Vespertine
author: Margaret Rogerson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Prison Healer (The Prison Healer, #1)]]> 53968496
When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water, and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals.

Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: “Don’t let her die. We are coming.� Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

But no one has ever survived.

With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva’s heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can’t escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.

From bestselling author Lynette Noni comes a dark, thrilling YA fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, and Sabaa Tahir.]]> 416 Lynette Noni 0358434556 Sandy 0 to-read 4.15 2021 The Prison Healer (The Prison Healer, #1)
author: Lynette Noni
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Four Winds 53138081 Texas, 1934. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all. One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance.

In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set against the backdrop of one of America’s most defining eras—the Great Depression.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250178602]]> 464 Kristin Hannah 1250178606 Sandy 0 to-read 4.27 2021 The Four Winds
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Great Alone 34912895 Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents� passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights� lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.]]> 435 Kristin Hannah Sandy 5 4.44 2018 The Great Alone
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2021/08/06
date added: 2021/08/13
shelves:
review:

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

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

Based on one of America’s most notorious real-life scandals—in which Georgia Tann, director of a Memphis-based adoption organization, kidnapped and sold poor children to wealthy families all over the country—Lisa Wingate’s riveting, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us how, even though the paths we take can lead to many places, the heart never forgets where we belong.]]> 342 Lisa Wingate 0425284689 Sandy 0 to-read 4.38 2017 Before We Were Yours
author: Lisa Wingate
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1)]]> 55371143
Everyone in Fairview knows the story.

Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

But she can't shake the feeling that there was more to what happened that day. She knew Sal when she was a child, and he was always so kind to her. How could he possibly have been a killer?

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.


And don't miss the sequel, Good Girl, Bad Blood!]]> 389 Holly Jackson 1984896393 Sandy 0 to-read 4.31 2019 A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1)
author: Holly Jackson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

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

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

A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.]]> 561 Leigh Bardugo Sandy 5 Ruin and Rising). I laughed. I cried. I savored every minute. Every part that Ruin and Rising got wrong, Crooked Kingdom got right. So perfectly, deliciously, heart-wrenchingly right.

Some of these characters are in serious need of a spin-off. I'm not ready to let them go!!]]> 4.58 2016 Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2021/07/20
date added: 2021/08/05
shelves: add-some-stars-endings, can-t-stop-thinking-about, chemistry-sigh, endings-i-love, made-me-cry, mythology-even-edith-would-love, premise-i-love, settings-i-love
review:
Now THIS is how to end a series (unlike, ahem, Ruin and Rising). I laughed. I cried. I savored every minute. Every part that Ruin and Rising got wrong, Crooked Kingdom got right. So perfectly, deliciously, heart-wrenchingly right.

Some of these characters are in serious need of a spin-off. I'm not ready to let them go!!
]]> <![CDATA[Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)]]> 23437156 Alternate cover of ISBN 9781627792127

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

A convict with a thirst for revenge

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager

A runaway with a privileged past

A spy known as the Wraith

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.]]> 480 Leigh Bardugo 1627792120 Sandy 5 4.47 2015 Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2021/07/15
date added: 2021/08/05
shelves: can-t-stop-thinking-about, mythology-even-edith-would-love, premise-i-love, whiplash-twists
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Solicitor's Son (Serendipity)]]> 39284471
When her sister decides to throw an impromptu summer house party, Sophia reluctantly agrees to help. What she doesn’t realize is that her sister has plans of her own—plans that would bring a certain childhood friend back into Sophia’s life.

It’s been nearly a decade since Sophia has seen Hugh Quinton. He’s grown into a handsome, charming, and successful—yet completely unacceptable—tradesman. Her mother looks down on him, her father detests him, and society would snub him in an instant. Sophia shouldn’t even consider him. But her heart won’t listen to reason, and before long, she finds herself wondering how much she is willing to sacrifice for love.]]> 263 Rachael Anderson 194136327X Sandy 4 4.18 2020 The Solicitor's Son (Serendipity)
author: Rachael Anderson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/08
date added: 2021/08/05
shelves:
review:

]]> Sunkissed 54456763 Will the stars align?

Avery has always used music as an escape. But after her best friend betrays her, even her perfectly curated playlists can't help her forget what happened. To make matters worse, her parents have dragged her and her social-media-obsessed sister to a remote family camp for two months of "fun." Just when Avery is ready to give up on the summer altogether, she meets Brooks—mysterious, frustratingly charming Brooks—who just happens to be on staff—which means he's off-limits.

What starts as a disaster turns into . . . something else. As the outside world falls away, Avery embarks on a journey of self-discovery. And when Brooks offers her the chance of a lifetime, she must figure out how far is she willing to go to find out what she wants and who she wants to be.

Fan favorite Kasie West is back with another unforgettable summer romance that reminds us falling in love is full of wonder, heartache, and—most of all—surprises.]]> 305 Kasie West 059317626X Sandy 3 Sunkissed isn't one of my favorites. The characters didn't really have any chemistry. It was written during the pandemic, and it seems like the vibe is off for a lot of books written during that time--like the stress and uncertainty of the times bled over into the feeling of the book. I'm sure it would be super stressful to have to be creative and produce amazing content during 2020.]]> 3.80 2021 Sunkissed
author: Kasie West
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/08/04
date added: 2021/08/05
shelves:
review:
I love Kasie West books, but Sunkissed isn't one of my favorites. The characters didn't really have any chemistry. It was written during the pandemic, and it seems like the vibe is off for a lot of books written during that time--like the stress and uncertainty of the times bled over into the feeling of the book. I'm sure it would be super stressful to have to be creative and produce amazing content during 2020.
]]> The Accidental Text 56572430
Once upon a time, Maggie Cooper lived for adventure. Jumping out of planes was child’s play. Now she can’t even work up the nerve to ask out her coworker. For a bit of self-therapy, she begins to text her recently deceased mother’s phone—the only problem is that the number has been reassigned and for weeks she’s been unknowingly texting a stranger her deepest thoughts and feelings. There have also been some not-so-deep texts, like the ones about her appreciation for her coworker’s butt.

When Chase Beckett, the unsuspecting stranger who has more in common with Maggie than he’d like to admit, texts back, Maggie is beyond mortified. But message after message and night after night, Maggie realizes that Chase’s wit, charm, and advice are exactly what the doctor ordered. Is it enough, though, to get her back up in the sky? And what about her heart? Can she risk taking a leap of faith for the man on the other end of her accidental texts?]]> 331 Becky Monson Sandy 0 to-read 4.17 2021 The Accidental Text
author: Becky Monson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/07/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Falling for Your Fake Fiancé (Love Clichés, #3)]]> 56976228 What happens when the man I love to hate becomes the man I must pretend to love?

I can’t seem to escape Thayden Walker and his infuriating charm.
Even his mother and his Great Dane seem bent on playing matchmaker.
But I’m totally immune.

Until I'm presented with an offer that puts my ability to withstand him to the test.
If I marry Thayden, all my student debt goes poof, and he'll take over the family firm.
There’s so much more at stake than money or a job, especially when I start to see the man beneath the mask.

Playing house with Thayden is the most dangerous game of all.
And we’re both set up to lose more than we could ever win.
Unless we’ve been on the same side all along ...]]> 312 Emma St. Clair Sandy 4 4.16 2021 Falling for Your Fake Fiancé (Love Clichés, #3)
author: Emma St. Clair
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/04
date added: 2021/07/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 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 Sandy 4 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2021/05/10
date added: 2021/07/06
shelves: read-in-2010, i-own, favorite-character, should-have-been-better
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 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 Sandy 5 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2021/05/03
date added: 2021/07/06
shelves: read-in-2010, chemistry-sigh, can-t-stop-thinking-about, cliffhangerssss, favorite-character
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)]]> 2767052
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .

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 Sandy 5 4.34 2008 The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2021/04/27
date added: 2021/07/06
shelves: favorites, read-in-2010, can-t-stop-thinking-about, favorite-character, i-own
review:

]]> <![CDATA[King of Scars (King of Scars, #1)]]> 36307634 Face your demons... or feed them.

The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country's bloody civil war--and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka's coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren't meant to stay buried--and some wounds aren't meant to heal.]]> 511 Leigh Bardugo 125014227X Sandy 4 4.16 2019 King of Scars (King of Scars, #1)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/03/04
date added: 2021/07/06
shelves: add-some-stars-endings, favorite-character
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Temporary Roomie (It Happened in Nashville, #2)]]> 56921816 What happens when you have to play nice with your greatest enemy? Revenge.

Drew Marshall may have let me move into his spare bedroom while my house is being renovated, but don’t think for one second his kindness comes without strings. Big, ugly, fake relationship strings.

That’s okay, though, Dr. Andrew. I’ll agree to your terms, move into your house, and act like your girlfriend when the big day comes; but I also plan to make your life miserable—make you pay for what you did to me.

I may not be good at forgiving or forgetting, but I’m excellent at getting even.

Get ready to laugh until you cry with this sizzling, hilarious, closed-door romantic comedy!]]> 286 Sarah Adams Sandy 0 to-read 3.63 2021 The Temporary Roomie (It Happened in Nashville, #2)
author: Sarah Adams
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Love Unexpected (Some Kind of Love)]]> 57401354 A famous boss. A secret identity. And a hilarious road trip to love.

Yes. Yes, Rosie does have a crush on Isaac, her YouTube-famous boss.
Does she ever talk to him?
Absolutely not. Crippling social anxiety can do that.

But Rosie is nothing if not tenacious. Ignoring her friends� advice to just talk to him already (Nope, that’s way too hard), she instead opts to pursue a virtual relationship with Isaac using a secret identity.

The plan is genius. Online, Rosie has social skills she’d never dream of having in person. She’s possibly even cool. If Isaac can just get to know her, he’ll see how amazing she is.

But then a spontaneous road trip throws Rosie and Isaac together, and their virtual and in-person lives collide. (Eleven hundred miles in a seventy’s era VW hatchback? What could possibly go wrong?)

Much to Rosie’s surprise, she doesn’t constantly humiliate herself. Conversation is easy, and their chemistry? It’s pretty much off the charts.
But every road trip is bound to hit a speed bump or two.

Will Rosie’s secret identity be the thing that brings them together? Or the thing that tears them apart?]]> Jenny Proctor Sandy 0 to-read 4.34 2021 Love Unexpected (Some Kind of Love)
author: Jenny Proctor
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2)]]> 36307674
The wolves are circling and a young king will face his greatest challenge in the explosive finale of the instant #1 New York Times-bestselling King of Scars Duology.

The Demon King. As Fjerda's massive army prepares to invade, Nikolai Lantsov will summon every bit of his ingenuity and charm—and even the monster within—to win this fight. But a dark threat looms that cannot be defeated by a young king's gift for the impossible.

The Stormwitch. Zoya Nazyalensky has lost too much to war. She saw her mentor die and her worst enemy resurrected, and she refuses to bury another friend. Now duty demands she embrace her powers to become the weapon her country needs. No matter the cost.

The Queen of Mourning. Deep undercover, Nina Zenik risks discovery and death as she wages war on Fjerda from inside its capital. But her desire for revenge may cost her country its chance at freedom and Nina the chance to heal her grieving heart.

King. General. Spy. Together they must find a way to forge a future in the darkness. Or watch a nation fall.]]> 592 Leigh Bardugo 1510109188 Sandy 5
The ending alone is worth five full stars. WOW. Leigh Bardugo outdid herself with this one. She writes a PLOT (and witty banter!) like no one else in YA.

Leigh, oh how I've missed you and your twisty plots. (And I can't wait to see what's next!)]]> 4.34 2021 Rule of Wolves (King of Scars, #2)
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/04/19
date added: 2021/04/20
shelves:
review:
THAT. ENDING. (!!!)

The ending alone is worth five full stars. WOW. Leigh Bardugo outdid herself with this one. She writes a PLOT (and witty banter!) like no one else in YA.

Leigh, oh how I've missed you and your twisty plots. (And I can't wait to see what's next!)
]]> <![CDATA[The Archer at Dawn (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy, #2)]]> 52462432
For Kunal and Esha, finally working together as rebels, the upcoming Sun Mela provides the perfect guise for infiltrating King Vardaan’s vicious court. Kunal returns to his role as dedicated soldier, while Esha uses her new role as adviser to Prince Harun to seek allies for their rebel cause. A radical plan is underfoot to rescue Jansa’s long-lost Princess Reha—the key to the throne.

But amidst the Mela games and glittering festivities, much more dangerous forces lie in wait. With the rebel’s entry into Vardaan’s court, a match has been lit, and long-held secrets will force Kunal and Esha to reconsider their loyalties—to their countries and to each other.

Getting into the palace was the easy task; coming out together will be a battle for their lives. In book two of Swati Teerdhala’s epic fantasy trilogy, a kingdom will fall, a new ruler will rise, and all will burn.]]> 456 Swati Teerdhala 0062869248 Sandy 0 to-read 3.97 2020 The Archer at Dawn (The Tiger at Midnight Trilogy, #2)
author: Swati Teerdhala
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Truth about Miss Ashbourne]]> 41452653 401 Joanna Barker 1524407526 Sandy 0 to-read 4.24 2018 The Truth about Miss Ashbourne
author: Joanna Barker
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Otherwise Engaged 54144135
When Rebecca’s quick thinking saves the life of a young girl, she unwittingly attracts the attention of the child’s dashing brother, Lieutenant Nicholas Avery. As that attention turns flirtatious, Rebecca is forced to tell him the she is secretly engaged—to the one man her family would never approve of. Fortunately, Lieutenant Avery is a navy man with no wish to marry, or so they both assume as they enter into a friendship. Rebecca hopes to change her family’s mind about her betrothed, but the more she comes to know the handsome lieutenant, the more she wonders if she promised her hand too hastily.

After all her carefully laid plans are shattered during a family crisis, Rebecca must force her heart to decide. Should she stay true to the promise she made or fight for the future she’s only just begun to imagine?]]> 266 Joanna Barker 1524413720 Sandy 0 to-read 4.25 2020 Otherwise Engaged
author: Joanna Barker
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Namesake (The World of the Narrows, #2)]]> 53138025 Marigold ship free of her father, Fable and the rest of the crew were set to start over. That freedom is short-lived when Fable becomes a pawn in a notorious thug’s scheme. In order to get to her intended destination, she must help him to secure a partnership with Holland, a powerful gem trader who is more than she seems.

As Fable descends deeper into a world of betrayal and deception, she learns that the secrets her mother took to her grave are now putting the people Fable cares about in danger. If Fable is going to save them, then she must risk everything—including the boy she loves and the home she has finally found.

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.]]> 360 Adrienne Young Sandy 3
Original Review:
Blessed day! This book is available SO SOON after the first one. I love when authors do that! Thank you, thank you, Adrienne Young!]]> 4.01 2021 Namesake (The World of the Narrows, #2)
author: Adrienne Young
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2021/04/12
date added: 2021/04/13
shelves:
review:
I LOVED Fable. It was one of my favorite reads from 2020. However, Namesake was a little meh. I wanted a Six-of-Crows level of intrigue and twistiness, but things that I think were supposed to be a big reveal were just very obvious. Fable is an awesome character. I love her interactions with Saint. But Fable and West have zero chemistry, and I think the story would have been better without the romance (which I NEVER say because I'm all about the swoons).

Original Review:
Blessed day! This book is available SO SOON after the first one. I love when authors do that! Thank you, thank you, Adrienne Young!
]]> <![CDATA[The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue]]> 50623864
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.]]> 448 Victoria E. Schwab 0765387565 Sandy 4 add-some-stars-endings 4.16 2020 The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/11
date added: 2021/04/12
shelves: add-some-stars-endings
review:
That ending alone is worth an extra star.
]]> Maybe One Day 53746805 In the spirit of Ruth Hogan and Adriana Trigiani, bestselling British author Debbie Johnson brings us the ultimate in “happy tears�: a heartfelt story about a woman seizing the chance to reconnect with her lost love.




The truth changes everything.

For years Jess believed that Joe—the father of her child and the only man she ever loved—had abandoned her during her greatest time of need. That belief nearly destroyed her. Seventeen years later, when cleaning out her mother’s house, Jess unpacks a box of cards and letters hidden in the attic and makes a discovery that changes everything about life as she knows it.

Shaken but empowered, Jess—and her two stalwart best friends—set out on a remarkable journey to follow a set of faded postmarks around the world. Is Joe still alive? Does he know that Jess never forgot him? Maybe their love story isn’t over.

Maybe one day they’ll find each other again…]]> 384 Debbie Johnson 0063003651 Sandy 3 goodreads-first-reads
Thank you to Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ First Reads for the review copy!]]> 3.91 2020 Maybe One Day
author: Debbie Johnson
name: Sandy
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/04/09
date added: 2021/04/12
shelves: goodreads-first-reads
review:
Reading this was a book version of, "It's not you; it's me." This book is a compelling story--I love second-chances love stories!--but it was just so SAD. After the year 2020 was, I needed a book that was more of a pick-me-up, and this one held too many tears for me. It's a great story that I would have enjoyed more in 2019, but I need some sunshine, and this was just a bit too sad for me right now.

Thank you to Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ First Reads for the review copy!
]]> Failsafe (Guardian, #1) 24605380
Writer Jake Bradford left the serene Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia for the hustle and bustle New York to pursue his dreams and never looked back. Until now. Entrusted with his ailing grandmother's care, Jake knows he needs help and he can't believe his luck when a lovely young woman providentially appears on his doorstep. Charlotte creates a new persona for herself and quickly develops a bond with Jake's grandmother. But it's the connection she feels with Jake that makes it almost too easy to lose sight of her reality: she is being hunted by men who will stop at nothing to access the intelligence she protects. With time running out, can the couple find a future together, or will Charlotte's secrets tear them apart?]]> 288 Traci Hunter Abramson 1680470302 Sandy 4 4.17 2015 Failsafe (Guardian, #1)
author: Traci Hunter Abramson
name: Sandy
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/05
date added: 2021/04/06
shelves:
review:

]]>