en-US Sat, 08 Feb 2025 05:15:15 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 60758348 160 Dav Pilkey 1338864319 Melissa 5 4.32 1999
author: Dav Pilkey
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/12
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 60758349 160 Dav Pilkey 1338864327 Melissa 5 4.32 2000
author: Dav Pilkey
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2023/08/27
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 209650094 0 Anders Sparring 1776575679 Melissa 5 5.00 2018
author: Anders Sparring
name: Melissa
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/02
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 204880158
A month later, Lisa Marie was dead, and the world would never know her story in her own words, never know the passionate, joyful, caring, and complicated woman that Riley loved and grieved.

Riley got the tapes that her mother had recorded for the book, laid in her bed, and listened as Lisa Marie told story after story about smashing golf carts together in the yards of Graceland, about the unconditional love she felt from her father, about being upstairs, just the two of them. About getting dragged screaming out of the bathroom as she ran towards his body on the floor. About living in Los Angeles with her mother, getting sent to school after school, always kicked out, always in trouble. About her singular, lifelong relationship with Danny Keough, about being married to Michael Jackson, what they shared in common. About motherhood. About deep addiction. About ever-present grief. Riley knew she had to fulfill her mother’s wish to reveal these memories, incandescent and painful, to the world.

To make her mother known.

This extraordinary book is written in both Lisa Marie’s and Riley’s voices, a mother and daughter communicating—from this world to the one beyond—as they try to heal each other. Profoundly moving and deeply revealing, From Here to the Great Unknown is a book like no other—the last words of the only child of an American icon.]]> 284 Lisa Marie Presley 0593733894 Melissa 5 4.40 2024
author: Lisa Marie Presley
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 196241667 From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller and viral TikTok phenomenon, The Pumpkin Spice Café, comes a brand new spicy romance set in Dream Harbor!

When a secret message turns up hidden in a book in the Cinnamon Bun Bookstore, Hazel can't understand it. As more secret codes appear between the pages, she decides to follow the trail of clues�� she just need someone to help her out.

Gorgeous and outgoing fisherman, Noah, is always up for an adventure. And a scavenger hunt sounds like a lot of fun. Even better that the cute bookseller he's been crushing on for months is the one who wants his help!

Hazel didn’t go looking for romance, but as the treasure hunt leads her and Noah around Dream Harbor, their undeniable chemistry might be just as hot as the fresh-out-of-the-oven cinnamon buns the bookstore sells��

The Cinnamon Bun Book Store is a cozy romantic mystery with a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:
�� opposites attract
�� small town
�� forced proximity
�� he falls first]]> 384 Laurie Gilmore Melissa 2 3.67 2024
author: Laurie Gilmore
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 101141871
Emory might be a student at the prestigious Aldryn College for Lunar Magics, but her healing abilities have always been mediocre at best—until a treacherous night in the Dovermere sea caves leaves a group of her classmates dead and her as the only survivor. Now Emory is plagued by strange, impossible powers that no healer should possess.

Powers that would ruin her life if the wrong person were to discover them.

To gain control of these new abilities, Emory enlists the help of the school’s most reclusive student, Baz—a boy already well-versed in the deadly nature of darker magic, whose sister happened to be one of the drowned students and Emory’s best friend. Determined to find the truth behind the drownings and the cult-like secret society she’s convinced her classmates were involved in, Emory is faced with even more questions when the supposedly drowned students start washing ashore�� alive —only for them each immediately to die horrible, magical deaths.

And Emory is not the only one seeking answers. When her new magic captures the society’s attention, she finds herself drawn into their world of privilege and power, all while wondering if the truth she’s searching for might lead her right back to Dovermere…to face the fate she was never meant to escape.]]> 544 Pascale Lacelle 1665939273 Melissa 2 3.79 2023
author: Pascale Lacelle
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 209192698 In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten—aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon—shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table.��

Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.

From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.]]> 320 Ina Garten 0593799895 Melissa 3 4.26 2024
author: Ina Garten
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 75352300 A small town is transformed by dark magic when a strange tree begins bearing magical apples in this new masterpiece of horror from the bestselling author of Wanderers and The Book of Accidents.

It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something else is changing in the town besides the season.

Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: Strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.

This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples�� and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?

And even if buried in the orchard is something else besides the seeds of this extraordinary tree: a bloody history whose roots reach back the very origins of the town.

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. And a stranger has come to town, a stranger who knows Harrow’s secrets. Because it’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.]]> 640 Chuck Wendig 0593158741 Melissa 5 4.08 2023
author: Chuck Wendig
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 63250718
Lurking in the lake at Cucumonga Campground is a fearsome and frightening creature. Legend says that it swallows kids, canoes, and even whales whole. But all Hector sees are cute, cuddly, quacking ducks. Until he breaks the campground’s most important rule—Don’t Feed the Ducks—and releases…the Quacken.]]> 40 Justin Colón Melissa 5 4.17 2024
author: Justin Colón
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 14361553 32 J. Patrick Lewis 1580892604 Melissa 1 3.77 2012
author: J. Patrick Lewis
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2012
rating: 1
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 26030734
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is—but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.

As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home—until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.

From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.]]> 282 Peter Brown 0316381993 Melissa 5 4.19 2016
author: Peter Brown
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 57773248
Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. But Ansel doesn’t want to die; he wants to be celebrated, understood. He hoped it wouldn’t end like this, not for him.

Through a kaleidoscope of women—a mother, a sister, a homicide detective—we learn the story of Ansel’s life. We meet his mother, Lavender, a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation; Hazel, twin sister to Ansel’s wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sister’s relationship threatens to devour them all; and finally, Saffy, the homicide detective hot on his trail, who has devoted herself to bringing bad men to justice but struggles to see her own life clearly. As the clock ticks down, these three women sift through the choices that culminate in tragedy, exploring the rippling fissures that such destruction inevitably leaves in its wake.

Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on an Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it simultaneously unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our system of justice and our cultural obsession with crime stories, asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the psyches of violent men.]]> 306 Danya Kukafka 0063052733 Melissa 5 4.05 2022
author: Danya Kukafka
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 139391940 A spicy small-town romance and TikTok phenomenon, perfect for fans of Hannah Grace and Stephanie Archer.

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

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

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

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

Tropes:

�� grumpy x sunshine
�� small town
�� found family
�� spicy]]> 373 Laurie Gilmore 0008610665 Melissa 2 3.36 2023
author: Laurie Gilmore
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 193752824 An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

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

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

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

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]> 15 Kristin Hannah 1250317959 Melissa 2 4.52 2024
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 127305606 The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.

Nor do they have tails.

But they are most assuredly dead.

Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins.

Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins―resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories―have only three unbreakable vows.

First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.

Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.

The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.]]> 213 P. Djèlí Clark 1250767040 Melissa 5 3.86 2024
author: P. Djèlí Clark
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/26
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 36124936
An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.]]> 561 Stephen King 1501180983 Melissa 0 currently-reading 3.98 2018
author: Stephen King
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 60539545
In a big abandoned house, on a barren hill, lives a skull. A brave girl named Otilla has escaped from terrible danger and run away, and when she finds herself lost in the dark forest, the lonely house beckons. Her host, the skull, is afraid of something too, something that comes every night. Can brave Otilla save them both?]]> 105 Jon Klassen Melissa 5 Don’t mess with Otilla. 4.23 2023
author: Jon Klassen
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves:
review:
Don’t mess with Otilla.
]]> 203695802
What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life.

But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.]]> Amy Tintera Melissa 2 Over produced 4.02 2024
author: Amy Tintera
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/12
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves:
review:
Over produced
]]> 262431 New York Times-bestselling Underland Chronicles unfold the fate of the Underland and the great warrior, Gregor. Suzanne Collins is also the author of the bestselling Hunger Games trilogy.

When eleven-year-old Gregor follows his little sister through a grate in the laundry room of their New York apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland beneath the city. There, humans live uneasily beside giant spiders, bats, cockroaches, and rats - but the fragile peace is about to fall apart.

Gregor wants no part of a conflict between these creepy creatures. He just wants to find his way home. But when he discovers that a strange prophecy foretells a role for him in the Underland's uncertain future, he realizes it might be the only way to solve the biggest mystery of his life. Little does he know his quest will change him and the Underland forever.
Rich in suspense and brimming with adventure, Suzanne Collins's debut marks a thrilling new talent, and introduces a character no young reader will ever forget.]]> 6 Suzanne Collins 0307283372 Melissa 5
Thanks Trevor. I never would have gotten here on my own. ]]> 3.86 2003
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/10
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves:
review:
Fly you high Gregor the Overlander, Fly you high.

Thanks Trevor. I never would have gotten here on my own.
]]> 7882016 Freckle Juice
Nicky has freckles. They cover his face, his ears, and the whole back of his neck. If Andrew had freckles like Nicky, his mother would never know if his neck was dirty. But how exactly do you get freckles? For fifty cents, know-it-all Sharon has the answer—a secret family freckle recipe. Fifty cents is a lot of money, but Andrew is desperate. It’s not until after he goes home and carefully mixes the strange combination of ingredients that he realizes he might be getting more than he paid for.

The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo
Lately, second-grader Freddy Dissel has that left-out kind of feeling. Life can be lonely when you’re the middle kid in the family and you feel like “the peanut butter part of a sandwich,�� squeezed between an older brother and a little sister. But now, for the first time, it's Freddy’s chance to show everyone how special he is and, most of a all, prove it to himself!]]> 0 Judy Blume 0307745678 Melissa 4 p.s. we only listened to freckle juice]]> 3.75 2004
author: Judy Blume
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/09
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:
8 year old enjoyed this until he realized the kids were in 2nd grade. (He’s in 3rd, therefore the kids in the book were babies)
p.s. we only listened to freckle juice
]]> 36160344
He really just likes to liven things up at school -- and he's always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he's got the inspiration for his best plan ever...the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero. His teacher wants Nick to put an end to all this nonsense, but the funny thing is frindle doesn't belong to Nick anymore. The new word is spreading across the country, and there's nothing Nick can do to stop it.]]> Andrew Clements 0743594711 Melissa 4 4.28 1996
author: Andrew Clements
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/09
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:
8 year old didn’t like the “war�� in the middle but loved the beginning and end.
]]> 43163784 In this hot new series for fans of��Bad Guys��and��Dog Man,��the crime-fighting birds known as the REAL PIGEONS have some mega mysteries to solve.��

Someone has been stealing from a vulture. A beastly child is lost in the park. And Homey’s long-lost family have been bird-napped! But how can you fight crime when you don’t have the perfect nest??

No-one can protect a city like Rock, Frillback, Tumbler, Homey and Grandpouter. Crime-fighting has never been so COO!]]> 204 Andrew McDonald 1760501107 Melissa 5 4.37 2019
author: Andrew McDonald
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/04
date added: 2024/09/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 206780328
From New York Times bestselling horror writer Stephen Graham Jones comes a classic slasher story with a twist—perfect for fans of Riley Sager and Grady Hendrix.

1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton—and a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge. Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.]]> 11 Stephen Graham Jones 1797175963 Melissa 5 It’s six minutes of my life, tops, but some memories you don’t measure in minutes or miles, but by how much of yourself is still in that moment.��

Tolly Driver, UR 2 cool 2 B 4gotten.]]> 3.61 2024
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/03
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves:
review:
“I’m not going to say anything else about it, cool?
It’s six minutes of my life, tops, but some memories you don’t measure in minutes or miles, but by how much of yourself is still in that moment.��

Tolly Driver, UR 2 cool 2 B 4gotten.
]]> 201751300 An affectionate and engaging history of the American bookstore and its central place in American cultural life, from department stores to indies, from highbrow dealers trading in first editions to sidewalk vendors, and from chains to special-interest community destinations

Bookstores have always been unlike any other kind of store, shaping readers and writers, and influencing our tastes, thoughts, and politics. They nurture local communities while creating new ones of their own. Bookshops are powerful spaces, but they are also endangered ones. In The Bookshop, we see those stakes: what has been, and what might be lost.

Evan Friss’s history of the bookshop draws on oral histories, archival collections, municipal records, diaries, letters, and interviews with leading booksellers to offer a fascinating look at this institution beloved by so many. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin’s first bookstore in Philadelphia and takes us to a range of booksellers including The Strand, Chicago’s Marshall Field & Company, Gotham Book Mart, specialty stores like Oscar Wilde and Drum and Spear, sidewalk sellers of used books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon Books, and Parnassus. The Bookshop is also a history of the leading figures in American bookselling, often impassioned eccentrics, and a history of how books have been marketed and sold over more than two centuries—including, for example, a 3,000-pound elephant who appeared to sign books at Marshall Field’s in 1944.

The Bookshop is a love letter to bookstores, a charming chronicle for anyone who cherishes these sanctuaries of literature, and essential reading to understand how these vital institutions have shaped American life—and why we still need them.]]> 416 Evan Friss 0593299922 Melissa 5 3.93 2024
author: Evan Friss
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/01
shelves:
review:
An absolute delight for anyone who thinks there’s magic inside of bookshops.
]]> 43570679 224 Derick Lugo 1628421185 Melissa 2 4.13 2019
author: Derick Lugo
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:
Reads as a collection of blog posts.
]]> 177133720
When her new husband joins an elite Army unit, Simone Gorrindo is uprooted from New York City and dropped into Columbus, Georgia—a town so foreign she might as well have landed on the moon. With her husband frequently deployed, Simone is left to find her place in this new world, alone—until she meets the wives.

Gorrindo gives us an intimate look into the inner lives of a remarkable group of women and a tender, unflinching portrait of a marriage. A love story, an unforgettable coming-of-age tale, and a bracing tour of the intractable divisions that plague our country today, The Wives offers a rare and powerful gift: a hopeful stitch in the fabric of a torn America.]]> 415 Simone Gorrindo Melissa 1 4.08 2024
author: Simone Gorrindo
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/08/30
shelves:
review:
She came off as whiny and inauthentic.
]]> 212108942 From��New York Times��bestseller Maureen Callahan, a fierce, character-driven exposé of the real Kennedy Curse—the family’s generations-long legacy of misogyny, murder, and mayhem—and the women who have paid the price for our obsession with Camelot

The Kennedy name has long been synonymous with wealth, power, glamor, and—above all else—integrity. But this carefully constructed veneer hides a dark truth: the pattern of Kennedy men physically and psychologically abusing women and girls, leaving a trail of ruin and death in each generation’s wake. Through decades of scandal after scandal—from sexual assaults to reputational slander, suicides to manslaughter—the family and their defenders have kept the Kennedy brand intact.

Now, in Ask Not, bestselling author and journalist Maureen Callahan reveals the Kennedys�� hidden history of violence and exploitation, laying bare their unrepentant sexism and rampant depravity while also restoring these women and girls to their rightful place at the center of the dynasty’s story: from Jacqueline Onassis and Marilyn Monroe to Carolyn Bessette, Martha Moxley, Mary Jo Kopechne, Rosemary Kennedy, and many others whose names aren’t nearly as well known but should be.

Drawing on years of explosive reportage and written in electric prose, Ask Not is a long-overdue reckoning with this fabled family and a consequential part of American history that is still very much with us. At long last Callahan redirects the spotlight to the women in the Kennedys�� orbit, paying homage to those who freed themselves and giving voice to those who, through no fault of their own, could not.]]> Maureen Callahan Melissa 1 3.99 2024
author: Maureen Callahan
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/08/29
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves:
review:
Should be shelved in fiction. And by that I don’t mean that these things didn’t happen. I’m sure they did, or some variation did. And all of it is absolutely horrifying. However, the author’s “creative license�� which allowed her to write someone’s dialogue and thoughts and present them as history is shameful at best. Nevermind the inaccuracies and mistakes that weren’t corrected during the editing process.
]]> 75617730 A lively tour through the history of US cemeteries that explores how, where, and why we bury our dead�� �� ��The summer before his senior year in college, Greg Melville worked at the cemetery in his hometown, and thanks to hour upon hour of pushing a mower over the grassy acres, he came to realize what a rich story the place told of his town and its history. Thus was born �ѱ������������’s lifelong curiosity with how, where, and why we bury and commemorate our dead.��
�� �� �� ��
�ѱ������������’s Over My Dead Body is a lively (pun intended) and wide-ranging history of cemeteries, places that have mirrored the passing eras in history but have also shaped it. Cemeteries have given birth to landscape architecture and famous parks, as well as influenced architectural styles. They’ve inspired and motivated some of our greatest poets and authors—Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson. They’ve been used as political tools to shift the country’s discourse and as important symbols of the United States' ambition and reach.��
�� �� �� �� ��
But they are changing and fading. Embalming and burial is incredibly toxic, and while cremations have just recently surpassed burials in popularity, they’re not great for the environment either. Over My Dead Body��explores everything—history,��sustainability, land use, and more—and what it really means to memorialize.
�� �� ��
Locales visited in Over My Dead Body
Shawsheen Cemetery �� Bedford, Massachusetts
The 1607 Burial Ground �� Historic Jamestowne, Virginia
Burial Hill �� Plymouth,��Massachusetts
Colonial Jewish Burial Ground �� Newport, Rhode Island
Monticello’s African American Graveyard �� Charlottesville,��Virginia
Mount Auburn Cemetery �� Cambridge,��Massachusetts
Green-Wood Cemetery �� Brooklyn, New York
Laurel Grove Cemetery���� Savannah, Georgia
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery �� Concord,��Massachusetts
Central Park �� New York,��New York
Gettysburg National Cemetery �� Gettysburg,��Pennsylvania
Arlington National Cemetery �� Arlington,��Virginia
Woodlawn Cemetery �� Bronx,��New York
Boothill Graveyard���� Tombhill, Arizona
Forest Lawn Memorial-Park���� Glenwood,��California
The Chapel of the Chimes���� Oakland,��California
Hollywood Forever Cemetery���� Los Angeles, California
Nature's Sanctuary���� Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
�� ��]]> Greg Melville 1667074202 Melissa 4 3.94 2022
author: Greg Melville
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/26
date added: 2024/08/26
shelves:
review:
As a person who makes her loved ones visit cemeteries on vacations I appreciated this little gem. Greg and I could be besties.
]]> 56940526 1 Brian Panowich 166444145X Melissa 3 3.00 2015
author: Brian Panowich
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/09
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves:
review:
3.5 not rounded up. A Steve Earle song in book form but set in North Georgia instead of East Tennessee.
]]> 200100950

When Stephanie Kiser moves to New York City after college to pursue a career in writing, she quickly learns that her entry-level salary won't cover the high cost of living―never mind her crushing student loan debt. But there is one in-demand job that pays more than enough to allow Stephanie to stay in the city: nannying for the 1%. Desperate to escape the poverty of her own childhood, Stephanie falls into a job that hijacks her life for the next seven years: a glorified personal assistant to toddlers on Manhattan's Upper East Side.


At first, nannying seems like the perfect solution―the high pay covers Stephanie's bills, and she's surprised by how attached she becomes to the kids she cares for, even as she gasps over Prada baby onesies and preschools that cost more than her college tuition. But the grueling twelve-hour days leave her little time to see her friends, date, or pursue any creative projects that might lead to a more prestigious career. The allure of the seemingly-glamorous job begins to dull as Stephanie comes to understand more about what really happens behind the closed doors of million-dollar Park Avenue apartments―and that money doesn't guarantee happiness. Soon she will have to decide whether to stay with the children she's grown to love, or if there's something better out there just beyond her reach.


Wanted: Toddler's Personal Assistant is alternately poignant and funny, a portrait of a generation of Americans struggling to find work they love balanced against the headwinds of global uncertainty and an economy stacked against anyone trying to work their way up from the bottom. It's a provocative story of class, caregiving, friendship, and family―and a juicy, voyeuristic peek behind the curtain of obscene wealth and the privilege and opportunity that comes with it. In this unputdownable memoir, Stephanie chronicles her journey from newbie nanny to beloved caregiver—and the painful decision to eventually say goodbye to the children she has grown to love.]]> 336 Stephanie Kiser 1728298164 Melissa 2 3.62 2024
author: Stephanie Kiser
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves:
review:
Reads like a long form people magazine article.
]]> 60731941
A riveting deep dive into the unsolved murder of two free-spirited young women in the wilderness, a journalist's obsession, and a new theory of who might have done it

In May 1996, Julie Williams and Lollie Winans were brutally murdered while backpacking in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park, adjacent to the world-famous Appalachian Trail. The young women were skilled backcountry leaders who had met—and fallen in love—the previous summer while working at a world-renowned outdoor program for women. But despite an extensive joint investigation by the FBI, the Virginia police, and National Park Service experts, the case remained unsolved for years.

In early 2002, and in response to mounting political pressure, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that he would be seeking the death penalty for Darrell David Rice—already in prison for assaulting another woman—in the first capital case tried under new, post-9/11 federal hate crime legislation. But two years later, the Department of Justice quietly suspended its case against Rice, and the investigation has since grown cold. Did prosecutors have the right person?

Journalist Kathryn Miles was a professor at Lollie Winans's wilderness college in Maine when the 2002 indictment was announced. On the 20th anniversary of the murder, she began looking into the lives of these adventurous women—whose loss continued to haunt all who had encountered them—along with the murder investigation and subsequent case against Rice. As she dives deeper into the case, winning the trust of the victims�� loved ones as well as investigators and gaining access to key documents, Miles becomes increasingly obsessed with the loss of the generous and free-spirited Lollie and Julie, who were just on the brink of adulthood, and at the same time, she discovers evidence of cover-ups, incompetence, and crime-scene sloppiness that seemed part of a larger problem in America’s pursuit of justice in national parks. She also becomes convinced of Rice’s innocence, and zeroes in on a different likely suspect.

Trailed: One Woman’s Quest to Solve the Shenandoah Murders��is a riveting, eye-opening, and heartbreaking work, offering a braided narrative about two remarkable women who were murdered doing what they most loved, the forensics of this cold case, and the surprising pervasiveness and long shadows cast by violence against women in the backcountry. ��]]> Kathryn Miles Melissa 2 3.88 2022
author: Kathryn Miles
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/06
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves:
review:
National Parks and Trails should absolutely be safe spaces for everyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The author spent a lot of time arguing this statement but should have spent more time exploring other suspects.
]]> 55977827 80 Thomas Flintham 1338569023 Melissa 5 4.33 2022
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 49090549 80 Thomas Flintham 1338568965 Melissa 5 4.57 2020
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 52664753 80 Thomas Flintham 133856899X Melissa 5 4.57 2021
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 33161050
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 near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.]]> 13 Taylor Jenkins Reid Melissa 4 4.26 2017
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:
Reread so I could actively participate in book club.
]]> 41473829 When hero Super Rabbit Boy disappears, it's up to Robo-Rabbit Boy to power up and save the day!

Pick a book. Grow a Reader!This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!Uh-oh, Super Rabbit Boy is in big trouble. He's been kidnapped by Queen Spooky and her ghost troop! Without Super Rabbit Boy, Animal Town is scared. So meanie King Viking creates Robo-Rabbit Boy to help. Robo-Rabbit Boy is fast like Super Rabbit Boy and strong like Super Rabbit Boy, but is he a hero like Super Rabbit Boy? This latest Press Start! adventure is fully charged!With full-color art by Thomas Flintham!]]> 80 Thomas Flintham 1338239813 Melissa 5 4.44 2019
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 43319719 Are you an all-star? Get ready for a starry adventure with King Viking, Singing Dog, Super Rabbit Boy, and more!
Pick a book. Grow a Reader!

This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!

It's the Animal Town All-Star Games! Heroes and villains far and wide have come to play. But who will be the winner? Hero Super Rabbit Boy wants to be the top player, but with old enemies, new friends, and lots of games to play, it won't be easy. Get ready for a star-studded adventure!]]> 80 Thomas Flintham 1338239848 Melissa 5 4.51 2019
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 39983583 80 Thomas Flintham 1338239783 Melissa 5 4.38 2018
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 215616034
It's easy to characterise abortion politics as a familiar, decades-long battle- evangelicals against feminists, Republican states versus Democratic states, grassroots fighting elites. That kind of political thinking misunderstands the current moment. Abortion is, of course, about a right to terminate a pregnancy. But it's also the stage where the United States works through some of its most fundamental cultural and moral debates.

In THE FALL OF ROE, two top New York Times journalists, Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer, have written the definitive book on the end of Roe, revealing how the strategic battle over the most contentious topic in politics helps us understand the battle for control over America. THE FALL OF ROE looks at the playbook for how the religious right came to dominate American politics, a strategy that has vaulted anti-abortion activists into central roles in the conservative movement. And unless Democrats shift their strategy, it is those activists who will be the power brokers who determine the future of America. Furthermore, given that these debates and strategies have influence here and throughout the world, THE FALL OF ROE will be essential not only for understanding America but also informing our own future.]]> 16 Elizabeth Dias Melissa 5 4.65 2024
author: Elizabeth Dias
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:
Required reading. This was non-partisan and incredibly researched. If you want to know how we got to where we are today in regards to the reproductive rights of women this book will really explain it all.
]]> 60916172 In this spectacularly devious novel by New York Times bestselling author Peter Swanson—featuring the smart and complex Lily Kintner from his acclaimed novel, The Kind Worth Killing—a private eye starts to follow a possibly adulterous husband, but little does he know that the twisted trail will lead back to the woman who hired him.

There was always something slightly dangerous about Joan. So, when she turns up at private investigator Henry Kimball’s office asking him to investigate her husband, he can’t help feeling ill at ease. Just the sight of her stirs up a chilling memory: he knew Joan in his previous life as a high school English teacher, when he was at the center of a tragedy.

Now Joan needs his help in proving that her husband is cheating. But what should be a simple case of infidelity becomes much more complicated when Kimball finds two bodies in an uninhabited suburban home with a “for sale�� sign out front. Suddenly it feels like the past is repeating itself, and Henry must go back to one of the worst days of his life to uncover the truth.

Is it possible that Joan knows something about that day, something she’s hidden all these years? Could there still be a killer out there, someone who believes they have gotten away with murder? Henry is determined to find out, but as he steps closer to the truth, a murderer is getting closer to him, and in this hair-raising game of cat and mouse only one of them will survive.]]> 303 Peter Swanson 0063204983 Melissa 1 3.65 2023
author: Peter Swanson
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:
Sometimes books should just stay on your tbr forever.
]]> 207299448
Though the authorities rule Liam's death accidental, Nora and her estranged brother, Sam, believe otherwise. As they form an uneasy alliance to unpack the mystery, they start putting together the pieces of their father’s past and uncover a family secret that changes everything.

With Laura Dave’s “signature blend of pulse-pounding suspense�� (PEOPLE) and “trademark emotional heft�� (The New York Post), The Night We Lost Him is a “propulsive�� (Oprah Daily) must-read, with a heartbreaking final twist you’ll never see coming.]]> 298 Laura Dave 1668002930 Melissa 3 Easy, breezy. 3.56 2024
author: Laura Dave
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/29
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
review:
Easy, breezy.
]]> 36127393 80 Thomas Flintham 1338239708 Melissa 5 4.45 2018
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 30254993
This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!

Uh-oh, Animal Town is in trouble! Meanie King Viking has created a dreaded robot army to spread No Fun across the land. On top of that, he has stolen the happiest and most fun animal ever, Singing Dog. There is only one person who can save the day -- Super Rabbit Boy! Super Rabbit Boy is super fast and super brave, but he's also a video game character living in a video game world. What will happen when Sunny, the boy playing the game, loses each level? Will it be game over for Super Rabbit Boy and all his friends?

With full-color art by Thomas Flintham!]]> 80 Thomas Flintham 1338034723 Melissa 5 4.25 2017
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 25332035 The class pets at Daisy P. Flugelhorn Elementary School want OUT . . .

and GW (short for George Washington), the deceptively cute hamster in the second-grade classroom, is just the guy to lead the way. But when he finally escapes and goes to find his former partners in crime, Barry and Biter, he finds that they actually LIKE being class pets. Impossible!

Just as GW gets Barry and Biter to agree to leave with him, a mouse named Harriet and her many Mouse Minions get in their way. What follows is class-pet chaos!]]> 64 Victoria Jamieson 1627791051 Melissa 5 3.97 2016
author: Victoria Jamieson
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 34034991 King Viking has a plan to defeat Super Rabbit Boy once and for all! Can Super Rabbit Boy power up before it's too late?

Pick a book. Grow a Reader!This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!Baddie King Viking is tired of always losing to hero Super Rabbit Boy. So he's gone to the Secret Lands to search for the legendary Super Power Up, which has powers even Super Rabbit Boy won't be able to defeat. But Super Rabbit Boy is determined to stop King Viking. Can he navigate through the Secret Lands, locate the hidden dungeon, defeat the mini bosses, and claim the legendary Super Power Up before King Viking does it first? With danger everywhere, this may be the most difficult quest yet for Super Rabbit Boy.With full-color art on every page by Thomas Flintham!]]> 88 Thomas Flintham 1338035290 Melissa 5 4.48 2017
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 34669539 80 Thomas Flintham 1338034790 Melissa 5 4.36 2017
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 35566710 80 Thomas Flintham 1338034758 Melissa 5 4.39 2018
author: Thomas Flintham
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 198493808
No room better defines American power and its role in the world than the White House Situation Room. And yet, none is more shrouded in secrecy and mystery. Created under President Kennedy, the Sit Room has been the epicenter of crisis management for presidents for more than six decades. Time and again, the decisions made within the Sit Room complex affect the lives of every person on this planet. Detailing close calls made and disasters narrowly averted, THE SITUATION ROOM will take readers through dramatic turning points in a dozen presidential administrations, THE SITUATION ROOM is the definitive, past-the-security-clearance look at the room where it happened, and the people—the famous and those you've never heard of—who have made history within its walls.]]> 368 George Stephanopoulos 1538740761 Melissa 4 4.31
author: George Stephanopoulos
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.31
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/07/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 195391735 In the tradition of Notes on an Execution and I Have Some Questions for You, an enthralling, wire-taut debut novel about an unsolved murder on a college campus and its aftermath twenty years later

Days after the dawn of Y2K, beautiful, charismatic twenty-year-old Karlie Richards is found brutally murdered in her campus apartment. Two decades later, those who knew Karlie―and those who just knew of her�� remain consumed by her death. Among them is her freshman year roommate Joy, now middle aged and mid-divorce, living in the same college town and desperate for a new beginning. When she stumbles upon a 20-year-old letter from Karlie, Joy becomes convinced the man in prison for her murder was wrongfully convicted. Soon she is diving deep into the dark world of Internet conspiracy theorists and amateur sleuth blogs and bouncing off others touched by the long, sensational aftermath of this crime. They include KC, the trans, constantly harassed night manager at the building where Karlie was killed; Sheri, the mother of the intellectually disabled man serving time; and Jacob Hendrix, the charming professor with whom, Joy knows all too well, Karlie was romantically entangled before her death.

Jumping between 2019 and 1999, Bright and Tender Dark takes us from the era of Reddit threads and online obsession to the evangelism-infused culture of the late 90s to reveal what really happened to Karlie. It is a compulsively readable, prismatic literary mystery that brilliantly mines the mythology of murder, the power of urban legend, and the psychological urge to both protect and exploit what you love but cannot have.

Publisher's Note: Bright and Tender Dark is not a traditional thriller or mystery but a nuanced literary novel with multiple point-of-view characters, exploring how one young woman's life and death ripple throughout an entire community. ]]> 288 Joanna Pearson 1639732896 Melissa 1 3.14 2024
author: Joanna Pearson
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves:
review:
Schadenfreude showed up so that was cool. Other than that I’m going to forget this book so fast that when it comes out in paperback I’m likely to buy it again.
]]> 182506450
One night in 1952, master pianist David Tudor took the stage in a barnlike concert hall called the Maverick. A packed audience waited with bated breath for him to start playing. Little did they know that the performance had already begun.

A rain patters.
A tree rustles.
An audience stirs.

David was performing John Cage’s 4��33��, whose purpose is to amplify the ambient sounds of whatever venue it inhabits. That shocking first performance earned 4��33�� plenty of haters; and yet the piece endures, “performed�� by the smallest garage bands and the grandest symphonies alike, year after year. Its fans hear what John Cage hoped we would “Nothing�� is never silent, and you don’t need a creative genius, a concert hall, or even a piano to hear something worthwhile. All you have to do is stop and listen.

Nicholas Day’s text is reverent with a healthy drop of humor, warm and refined; two-time Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka’s childlike pencil-on-watercolor artwork is uninhibited and electrifying, with all the visionary spirit of the work it chronicles. Guaranteed to spark generative thought and lively debate among readers of all ages, Nothing is not to be missed.]]> 40 Nicholas Day 0823454096 Melissa 5 4.21
author: Nicholas Day
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/03
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves:
review:
The genius of 4�� 33! Mom and 7 year old both loved.
]]> 37491943 19 R.F. Kuang 1538519089 Melissa 4 3.86 2018
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/15
date added: 2024/07/15
shelves:
review:
This has got to be the most violent book I’ve ever read.
]]> 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]> 490 Liz Moore Melissa 5 4.16 2024
author: Liz Moore
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/09
date added: 2024/07/09
shelves:
review:
The perfect literary mystery.
]]> 60848237
It’s January 1972 but the sun is white hot when Willy May Michael’s boat first kisses the dock of Mustique Isle. Tucked into the southernmost curve of the Caribbean, Mustique is a private island that has become a haven for the wealthy and privileged. Its owner is the eccentric British playboy Colin Tennant, who is determined to turn this speck of white sand into a luxurious neo-colonial retreat for his rich friends and into a royal court in exile for the Queen’s rebellious sister, Princess Margaret—one where Her Royal Highness can skinny dip, party, and entertain lovers away from the public eye.

Willy May, a former beauty queen from Texas—who is also no stranger to marital scandals—seeks out Mustique for its peaceful isolation. Determined to rebuild her life and her relationships with her two daughters, Hilly, a model, and Joanne, a musician, she constructs a fanciful white beach house across the island from Princess Margaret—and finds herself pulled into the island’s inner circle of aristocrats, rock stars, and hangers-on.

When Willy May’s daughters arrive, they discover that beneath its veneer of decadence, Mustique has a dark side, and like sand caught in the undertow, their mother-daughter story will shift and resettle in ways they never could have imagined.]]> 1 Sarah McCoy Melissa 1 2.87 2022
author: Sarah McCoy
name: Melissa
average rating: 2.87
book published: 2022
rating: 1
read at: 2024/07/09
date added: 2024/07/09
shelves:
review:
The best thing about this book was the cover.
]]> 67907915 Author Dave Eggers and artist Júlia Sardà spin a quirky historical event into a whimsical and tall-ish true tale of American ingenuity.

Make way for history as only Dave Eggers could stage it. It all started when John “Minnie�� Moore built a mine in Idaho and sold it to Englishman Henry Miller. Then Henry married a local lass named Annie and built her a mansion, hence the “Millers�� Minnie Moore Mine Mansion.�� After Henry died and Annie was hoodwinked—losing all but the mansion—she and her son took to raising pigs in the yard, as some are wont to do. But the town wanted those pigs out. Who could have guessed that Annie and her crew would remove the whole mansion instead—rolling it away slowly on logs—while she and her son were still living in it? Narrated with metafictional flair, this delightfully illustrated picture book is proof positive that nonfiction can be as lively and artful as any storybook.]]> 56 Dave Eggers Melissa 5 4.14 2023
author: Dave Eggers
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/08
date added: 2024/07/08
shelves:
review:
I love a non-fiction picture book! This one was delightful. Mom and 7 year old both enjoyed. (Although the kid said it ended with violence)
]]> 55338971
Only, Missy lied on her hero application and has exactly zero superpowers, just her brainpower. Missy is humiliated when caught and kicked out, and only fellow camp recruit Melvira stands by her. Unbeknownst to others, Melvira has a villainous agenda, and it involves helping Missy cross the line into villainy as her new alter ego, Mischief. But something about Melvira doesn’t sit right with Missy, and soon she’ll be called upon to battle her former best friend.

Will Missy be able to face the friend who was once her defender? Does Gizmo actually have nine lives? Will the town ever have TP again? The stakes are high and the battles epic, as the line between hero and villain gets flushed down the toilet.]]> 256 Ken Lamug 0062970755 Melissa 5 4.06 2021
author: Ken Lamug
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/07
date added: 2024/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 57468748 A gripping graphic novel adaptation of Lauren Tarshis's bestselling I Survived the Attack of the Grizzlies, 1967, with text adapted by Georgia Ball and art by Berat Pekmezci.

No grizzly has ever killed a human in Glacier National Park before... until tonight. Eleven-year-old Melody Vega and her family come to Glacier every year. Mel loves it here �� the beautiful landscapes and wildlife make it easy to forget her real-world troubles. But this year is different. With Mom gone, every moment in the park is a reminder of the past.

Then Mel comes face-to-face with a mighty grizzly. She knows basic bear safety: Don't turn your back. Don't make any sudden movements. And most importantly: Don't run.

That last one is the hardest for Mel; she's been running from her problems all her life. If she wants to survive tonight, she'll have to find the courage to face her fear.

Based on the real-life grizzly attacks of 1967, this bold graphic novel tells the story of one of the most tragic seasons in the history of America's national parks �� a summer of terror that forever changed ideas about how grizzlies and humans can exist together in the wild.



Lauren Tarshis's New York Times bestselling I Survived series comes to vivid life in graphic novel editions. Perfect for readers who prefer the graphic novel format, or for existing fans of the I Survived chapter book series, these graphic novels combine historical facts with high-action storytelling that's sure to keep any reader turning the pages. Includes a nonfiction section at the back with facts and photos about the real-life event.]]> 158 Lauren Tarshis 1338766910 Melissa 5 4.19
author: Lauren Tarshis
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/07
date added: 2024/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 126849541
Drag is a dreamy, literal, impulsive, (and sometimes a little bit scatter-brained) dragon. Rex is a dapper, practical, methodical (and sometimes a little bit stuffy) T.rex. The two may have their differences, but they are both gentle and caring, and the best friends. Forever friends.

Whether it’s deciding what to have for breakfast, working through those tricky zippers, buckles, and buttons to bundle up tight, how to make the best of a snowy day, or how to face down something scary, through patience, cooperation, and a good dose of silliness and humor, these buddies always figure out how to push through their challenges. Together.

Forever Friends features three stories told in short chapters, accompanied by bright, joy-filled full color illustrations, allowing developing readers to gain confidence and a sense of accomplishment as they follow the adventures of their new forever friends.]]> 64 Susan Lubner 1645951170 Melissa 5 4.05
author: Susan Lubner
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.05
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/07
date added: 2024/07/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 78130090 An electric, searing memoir by the original rebel girl and legendary front woman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.

Hey girlfriend I got a proposition goes something like this: Dare ya to do what you want

Kathleen Hanna’s band Bikini Kill embodied the punk scene of the 90s, and today her personal yet feminist lyrics on anthems like “Rebel Girl�� and “Double Dare Ya�� are more powerful than ever. But where did this transformative voice come from?

In Rebel Girl, Hanna’s raw and insightful new memoir, she takes us from her tumul­tuous childhood to her formative college years and her first shows. As Hanna makes clear, being in a punk “girl band�� in those years was not a simple or safe prospect. Male violence and antagonism threatened at every turn, and surviving as a singer who was a lightning rod for controversy took limitless amounts of determination.

But the relationships she developed during those years buoyed her, including with her bandmates Tobi Vail, Kathi Wilcox, JD Samson, and Johanna Fateman. And her friendships with musicians like Kurt Cobain, Ian MacKaye, Kim Gordon, and Joan Jett reminded her that, despite the odds, the punk world could still nurture and care for its own. Hanna opens up about falling in love with Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys and her debilitating battle with Lyme disease, and she brings us behind the scenes of her musical growth in her bands Le Tigre and The Julie Ruin. She also writes candidly about the Riot Grrrl movement, documenting with love its grassroots origins but critiquing its exclusivity.

In an uncut voice all her own, Hanna reveals the hardest times along with the most joyful—and how they continue to fuel her revolutionary art and music.]]> 326 Kathleen Hanna 0062825232 Melissa 2 Girls to the front. 4.40 2024
author: Kathleen Hanna
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/01
shelves:
review:
Girls to the front.
]]> 60091384 A middle grade novel about the journey of a fictional Mars rover.

Meet Resilience, a Mars rover determined to live up to his name.

Res was built to explore Mars. He was not built to have human emotions. But as he learns new things from the NASA scientists who assemble him, he begins to develop human-like feelings. Maybe there's a problem with his programming....

Human emotions or not, launch day comes, and Res blasts off to Mars, accompanied by a friendly drone helicopter named Fly. But Res quickly discovers that Mars is a dangerous place filled with dust storms and giant cliffs. As he navigates Mars's difficult landscape, Res is tested in ways that go beyond space exploration.

As millions of people back on Earth follow his progress, will Res have the determination, courage—and resilience—to succeed... and survive?]]> 320 Jasmine Warga 0063113929 Melissa 5 Beeps and Boops! 4.26 2022
author: Jasmine Warga
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves:
review:
Beeps and Boops!
]]> 131836237 48 Sandra Dumais 1771476443 Melissa 5 4.60
author: Sandra Dumais
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.60
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 215040743
From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that “hits like a sledgehammer . . . an absolutely must-read novel�� (Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl).

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

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

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

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession and the blinding light of hope.]]> Chris Whitaker Melissa 5 ✨PURPLE HONEY✨]]> 4.05 2024
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:
“The thirteen year old pirate and the beekeeper that saved his life��
✨PURPLE HONEY��
]]> 215145785
And yet, for all its boldface cast of characters and jaw-dropping scenes, The Friday Afternoon Club is no mere celebrity memoir. It is, down to its bones, a family story that embraces the poignant absurdities and best and worst efforts of its loveable, infuriating, funny, and moving characters—its author most of all.]]> Griffin Dunne Melissa 4 Joan adjacent. 3.99 2024
author: Griffin Dunne
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:
Joan adjacent.
]]> 60622246
What if you could take a vacation to your past?

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

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice’s life isn’t terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn’t exactly the one she expected. She’s happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn’t just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it’s her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?]]> 9 Emma Straub 0593584589 Melissa 2 3.83 2022
author: Emma Straub
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:
Yeah, so I couldn’t get past that she time traveled as a 40 year old back into her 16 year old self and had sex with her crush. ICKY.
]]> 200028726 From the beloved author of We All Want Impossible Things, a moving, hilarious story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch, and learning to let go.

For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.

This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.

It's one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.]]> 240 Catherine Newman 0063345161 Melissa 4 3.55 2024
author: Catherine Newman
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:
Ok so maybe I cried through the first 50 pages of this tiny little thing.
]]> 205206359 David Grann meets Susan Orlean in this page-turning true story of an underground operation into the mysterious world of alligator poaching and its larger than life Floridian characters

To catch a Florida Man, you have to become one, and that’s what Officer Jeff Babauta did. As his ponytailed, whiskey-soaked alter ego, he established Sunshine Alligator Farm. His goal? Infiltrate the shady world of illegal poachers in the Florida Everglades in order to protect the natural world.

A head-spinning adventure soon unfolds. Jeff deals with glow-in-the-dark alligators and high-speed airboat rides, but quickly learns that not all poachers are villains. They’re simply people trying to survive, fighting against the poverty and greed holding them down. Jeff wants to solve the mystery of alligator poachers, and in doing so he must venture deeper into a strange ecosystem where right is wrong, and justice comes at the cost of those who’ve welcomed him into their world.

Gator Country is the twisting true story of the impossible choices individuals must make to stay afloat in this world. Through its wholly unique blend of reporting, nature writing, and personal narrative, this book transports readers to vibrant and dangerous Florida landscapes and offers intimate portraits of those who call the region home. Broad in scope and vivid in detail, Gator Country is a fast paced tale of the risks people will take to survive in one of the world's most beautiful yet formidable landscapes and the undercover investigation that threatens to topple the whole scheme.]]> 12 Rebecca Renner 1250290120 Melissa 3 3.33 2023
author: Rebecca Renner
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/27
date added: 2024/06/27
shelves:
review:
Alligators are important to the ecosystem, but imma still be real nervous when I’m kayaking in gator waters.
]]> 52541362
What do Real Pigeons do? They EAT DANGER, of course! This squad of crime-fighting feathered friends is nonstop action and nonstop laughs. Watch them as they infiltrate a secret warehouse full of bottled birds and take down a truly criminal ostrich. The DANGER is REAL. And so are the REAL PIGEONS.]]> 224 Andrew McDonald 0593119495 Melissa 5 5.00 2018
author: Andrew McDonald
name: Melissa
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/26
date added: 2024/06/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 22318601 The Spider contains real information that will both amuse and teach.]]> 32 Elise Gravel 1770496645 Melissa 5 4.19 2015
author: Elise Gravel
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/20
date added: 2024/06/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 30002492
Distinctive trait: Warts
Food preference: Bugs and worms
Special talent: Eating her own skin
Disgusting? Yes, but fun, too!

The Toad is the next installment of the Disgusting Critter series. Hilarious illustrated non-fiction about toads perfect for beginning readers. Humorous text and funny illustrations will leave young readers croaking for more.]]> 32 Elise Gravel 177049667X Melissa 5 4.14 2016
author: Elise Gravel
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/20
date added: 2024/06/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 18077970 32 Elise Gravel 177049636X Melissa 5 4.12 2012
author: Elise Gravel
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/20
date added: 2024/06/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 56628779
It’s a beautiful fall day at the farm when the animals realize someone is missing �� again! Cow is nowhere to be found, and her calves can’t say where she is, so Hen, Sheep, Raccoon, and Pig call in Inspector Billiam Van Hoof, the world’s best (and only) goat detective.
The farm animals are certain Cow has been kidnapped, and clues lead them to some conspiratorial conclusions. Could a crop circle mean she was abducted by aliens? Did the farmer put her in a trailer to be sold, or worse―turned into a hamburger? But when Cow returns, they realize a celebration is in order (and that the answer was right in front of them all along).
A silly and engaging second instalment in the Farm Crimes series, each page is full of delightful details, visual gags, and fun characters. Returning and new readers alike will find lots to love in this latest mystery.]]> 48 Sandra Dumais 1771474424 Melissa 5 3.92
author: Sandra Dumais
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/20
date added: 2024/06/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 50748289 Ever wonder why pigeons act so weird? Because they are secretly chasing bad guys and flying around saving your butt! This hilarious illustrated series is perfect for fans of BAD GUYS and DOG MAN.

What do REAL PIGEONS do? They fight crime, of course! Wait, what? You didn't know your town is protected by a secret squad of crime-fighting feathered friends? Well, you are about to get schooled. REAL PIGEONS solve mysteries! REAL PIGEONS fight bad guys! And REAL PIGEONS won't stop until your neighborhood is safe and the questions are all answered: Like, why have all the breadcrumbs disappeared? And which food truck smells the best?]]> 208 Andrew McDonald 0593119428 Melissa 5 3.97 2018
author: Andrew McDonald
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/16
date added: 2024/06/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 211935119 In Michelle Chouinard’s clever mystery The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, the granddaughter of a serial killer shows readers another side of the beloved city.

Welcome to San Francisco, a city with killer charm.

The chill of a San Francisco summer can be deadly. No one knows this better than Capri Sanzio, who makes her living giving serial killer tours of the city. Capri has been interested in the topic since she was a kid, when she discovered she’s the granddaughter of serial killer William ‘Overkill Bill�� Sanzio. She’s always believed in his innocence, though she's never taken the leap to fully dive into the case.

But now an Overkill Bill copycat has struck in San Francisco. And Capri’s former mother-in-law, Sylvia, just cut off Capri’s daughter’s tuition payments. Needing cash, Capri wonders if this is the time to exonerate her grandfather. The case is back in the news and the police will be looking to understand the past to catch a present-day killer. Capri could finally uncover the truth about Overkill Bill—documenting the process with a podcast and a book—and hopefully earn some money.

Before Capri can get very far, the cops discover the copycat’s latest Sylvia. Capri soon finds herself at the heart of the police’s investigation for an entirely different reason. She and her daughter are prime suspects.]]> 336 Michelle Chouinard 1250909996 Melissa 1 3.69 2024
author: Michelle Chouinard
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/06/14
date added: 2024/06/14
shelves:
review:
I don’t think I understand the purpose of a cozy mystery.
]]> 61271788 Listening length: 12 hours and 30 minutes

The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his�� slave.

In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North.

Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles crisscrossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown.

But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher.

With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.]]> 13 Ilyon Woo 1797151347 Melissa 3
At the end of it all, a love story.

]]> 3.93 2023
author: Ilyon Woo
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/11
date added: 2024/06/11
shelves:
review:
“Nobody knows it like you do babe, the lengths we will go to��

At the end of it all, a love story.


]]> 198509143
Hazel Davis is drifting: she’s stalled in her career, living in a city she hates, and less successful than her younger sister @evelyn, a lifestyle influencer. Evie came of age on the family YouTube channel after a viral video when she was five. Ten years older and spotlight-averse, Hazel managed to dodge the family business—so although she can barely afford her apartment, at least she made her own way.

Evie is eighteen now, with a multimillion-dollar career, but Hazel is still protective of her little sister and skeptical of the way everyone seems to want a piece of her: Evie’s followers, her YouTuber boyfriend and influencer frenemies, and their opportunistic mother. So when Evie disappears one day during an unsettling live stream that cuts out midsentence, Hazel is horrified to have her worst instincts proven right.

As theories about Evie’s disappearance tear through the internet, inspiring hashtags, Reddit threads, and podcast episodes, Hazel throws herself into the darkest parts of her sister’s world to untangle the truth. After all, Hazel knows Evie better than anyone else . . . doesn’t she?]]> 336 Olivia Muenter 1683694015 Melissa 4 Well that was an ending. 3.39 2024
author: Olivia Muenter
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/09
date added: 2024/06/09
shelves:
review:
Well that was an ending.
]]> 58884700
As the stunned cities of Natchez and Bienville reel, antebellum plantation homes continue to burn and the deadly attacks are claimed by a Black radical group as historic acts of justice. Panic sweeps through the tourist communities, driving them inexorably toward a race war.

But what might have been only a regional sideshow of the 2024 Presidential election explodes into national prominence, thanks to the stunning ascent of Robert E. Lee White, a Southern war hero who seizes the public imagination as a third-party candidate. Dubbed “the Tik-Tok Man,�� and funded by an eccentric Mississippi billionaire, Bobby White rides the glory of his Special Forces record to an unprecedented run at the White House—one unseen since the campaign of H. Ross Perot.

To triumph over the national party machines, Bobby evolves a plan of unimaginable daring. One fateful autumn weekend, with White set to declare his candidacy in all fifty states, the forces polarizing America line up against one another: Black vs. white, states vs. the federal government, democracy vs. Fascism. Teaming with his fearless daughter (now a civil rights lawyer) and a former Black Panther who spent most of his life in Parchman Prison, Penn tears into Bobby White’s pursuit of the Presidency and ultimately risks a second Civil War to try to expose its motivation to the world, before the America of our Constitution slides into the abyss.

In Southern Man, Greg Iles returns to the riveting style and historic depth that made the Natchez Burning trilogy a searing masterpiece and hurls the narrative fifteen years forward into our current moment—where America itself teeters on the brink of anarchy.]]> 966 Greg Iles 0062824694 Melissa 4 3.92 2024
author: Greg Iles
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/08
date added: 2024/06/08
shelves:
review:
We started out rough but finished on a high note. I loved catching up with Penn Cage and crew. (3.5 rounded up)
]]> 50773836
A dazzling, multigenerational novel in which the four adult daughters of a Chicago couple--still madly in love after forty years--recklessly ignite old rivalries until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter the lives they've built.

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

As the novel moves through the tumultuous year following the arrival of Jonah Bendt--given up by one of the daughters in a closed adoption fifteen years before--we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons' past: years marred by adolescence, infidelity, and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.

Spanning nearly half a century, and set against the quintessential American backdrop of Chicago and its prospering suburbs, Lombardo's debut explores the triumphs and burdens of love, the fraught tethers of parenthood and sisterhood, and the baffling mixture of affection, abhorrence, resistance, and submission we feel for those closest to us. In painting this luminous portrait of a family's becoming, Lombardo joins the ranks of writers such as Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Strout, and Jonathan Franzen as visionary chroniclers of our modern lives.]]> Claire Lombardo Melissa 4 This family was nuts. 3.73 2019
author: Claire Lombardo
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/01
shelves:
review:
This family was nuts.
]]> 1214622
Pirates is part of an exciting series of books for children who are beginning to read on their own. The easy-to-read text has been specially written with the help of a reading expert.]]> Catriona Clarke 0746074417 Melissa 3 4.09 2006
author: Catriona Clarke
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 36849775 192 Ian Boothby 0606410570 Melissa 5 4.41 2018
author: Ian Boothby
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 57468680 Charlie and August go on vacation, but trouble always finds them!

Charlie and August, the kitty duo who control the incredible Sparks costume, are exhausted. It's hard work saving people all the time! So what better way to relax than to get away to a beautiful tropical island? But when weird things start to happen and they discover that the island holds a surprising secret, they're blasted off on their craziest adventure ever. And this time they have to save themselves!]]> 192 Ian Boothby 1338339931 Melissa 5 4.33 2022
author: Ian Boothby
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 59220465 Super Dweeb in an exciting new series for fans of Captain Underpants or Diary of a Wimpy Kid - SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL

Andy wishes that he had *awesome powers*, like the heroes of his home-made comic stories. But instead, he's stuck in the real world, where he has an annoying little brother, a super-weird teacher ... and everyone says he's a total dweeb.

Then one day, he discovers an oversized, glowing pencil on a school trip to the local toxic waste dump. He starts sketching and finds that he can redraw reality.

Now, thanks to the power of doodling, Andy can bring to life anything that he can imagine, erase his problems, and doodle his way of sticky situations. He's not just a dweeb ... he's a SUPER DWEEB! Even Mona, the ice-cool new girl at school, seems impressed.

But there's a twist in the tale.. because everything goes very wrong when little brother Oscar does some doodling of his own. Now there's a scribble monster on the loose! Run for it, Andy!

The first of the hilarious new Super Dweeb series, this unpredictable, anarchic adventure story will have kids rolling on the floor. Featuring comic-strip-style storytelling in full-color, this chapter book is perfect for readers aged 7-9.]]> 64 Jess Bradley 1789502934 Melissa 5 5.00
author: Jess Bradley
name: Melissa
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 194020321
After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before.

While going through their parent’s belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.

Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.]]> 256 Jeneva Rose Melissa 3 3.77 2024
author: Jeneva Rose
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:
2.5 rounded up for the marketing genius of the book slipcover being a VHS tape.
]]> 60208452
D.J. and Gina are TOTALLY ordinary kids. But Hilo...isn't. He's an alien robot from another world!

Hilo is just settling into life on Earth (Bowling? Knock-knock jokes? OUTSTANDING!) when strange portals begin opening up all over town and even STRANGER creatures are coming through them!

But it will take more than a GIANT MUTANT CHICKEN, A VIKING HIPPO, A MAGICAL WARRIOR CAT, or even a few million KILLER VEGETABLES to stop Team Hilo. Er, won't it...?

Can Hilo, D.J. and Gina figure out how to send these creatures back to their own worlds before they DESTROY the Earth?

Find out in SAVING THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Hazzah!]]> 0 Judd Winick 0141376910 Melissa 5 4.57 2016
author: Judd Winick
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/23
date added: 2024/05/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 59559145
August knows he is not welcome on Saoirse, not after the night everything changed. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from his past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises spanning generations threaten to reveal the truth behind Lily’s mysterious death once and for all.]]> 351 Adrienne Young 0593358511 Melissa 2 ]]> 3.85 2022
author: Adrienne Young
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/20
date added: 2024/05/20
shelves:
review:
My assignment was overdue but holy smokes this had to be the most melodramatic writing I have read in a whole minute.

]]> 210586283
Benefits of a summer romance: It’s always fun, always brief, and no one gets their heart broken.

Ali Morris is a professional organizer whose own life is a mess. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember.

No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her...by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. He looks at her like she’s a younger, braver version of herself. The last thing newly single mom Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little summer romance. Is there?]]> Annabel Monaghan Melissa 2
]]> 3.87 2024
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/05/17
shelves:
review:
Ali and Ethan were no Nora and Leo.


]]> 195790789
A love letter to Western pop culture, Eastern traditions, and being a first-generation New Yorker, Abraham Chang’s dazzling debut reminds us that luck only gets us so far when it comes to matters of the heart.]]> 400 Abraham Chang 1250910781 Melissa 3 (My heart, My heart)
888, bangbangbang, 888
loveable chaos (pronounced kay-oss)

]]> 3.34 2024
author: Abraham Chang
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/05/17
shelves:
review:
The wink is devastating.
(My heart, My heart)
888, bangbangbang, 888
loveable chaos (pronounced kay-oss)


]]> 60177376
Legendary storyteller Stephen King goes deep into the well of his imagination in this spellbinding novel about a seventeen-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a parallel world where good and evil are at war, and the stakes could not be higher—for their world or ours.

Charlie Reade looks like a regular high school kid, great at baseball and football, a decent student. But he carries a heavy load. His mom was killed in a hit-and-run accident when he was ten, and grief drove his dad to drink. Charlie learned how to take care of himself—and his dad. Then, when Charlie is seventeen, he meets Howard Bowditch, a recluse with a big dog in a big house at the top of a big hill. In the backyard is a locked shed from which strange sounds emerge, as if some creature is trying to escape. When Mr. Bowditch dies, he leaves Charlie the house, a massive amount of gold, a cassette tape telling a story that is impossible to believe, and a responsibility far too massive for a boy to shoulder.

Because within the shed is a portal to another world—one whose denizens are in peril and whose monstrous leaders may destroy their own world, and ours. In this parallel universe, where two moons race across the sky, and the grand towers of a sprawling palace pierce the clouds, there are exiled princesses and princes who suffer horrific punishments; there are dungeons; there are games in which men and women must fight each other to the death for the amusement of the “Fair One.�� And there is a magic sundial that can turn back time.

A story as old as myth, and as startling and iconic as the rest of King’s work, Fairy Tale is about an ordinary guy forced into the hero’s role by circumstance, and it is both spectacularly suspenseful and satisfying.]]> 24 Stephen King 1797145290 Melissa 4 3.96 2022
author: Stephen King
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/25
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves:
review:
I ❤️ Charlie and Radar. Hats off Mr. King. (p.s. the audio was the bees knees or should I say butterflies wings
]]> 182126951
Crissy Dowling has created a world that suits her perfectly. She passes her days by the pool in a private cabana, she splurges on ice cream but never gains an ounce, and each evening she transforms into a Princess, performing her musical cabaret inspired by the life of the late Diana Spencer. Some might find her strange or even delusional, an American speaking with a British accent, hair feathered into a style twenty years old, living and working in a casino that has become a dated trash heap. On top of that, Crissy’s daily diet of Adderall and Valium leaves her more than a little tipsy, her Senator boyfriend has gone back to his wife, and her entire career rests on resembling a dead woman. And yet, fans see her for the gifted chameleon she is, showering her with gifts, letters, and standing ovations night after night. But when Crissy’s sister, Betsy, arrives in town with a new boyfriend and a teenage daughter, and when Richie Morley, the owner of the Buckingham Palace Casino, is savagely murdered, Crissy’s carefully constructed kingdom comes crashing down all around her. A riveting tale of identity, obsession, fintech, and organized crime, The Princess of Las Vegas is an addictive, wildly original thriller from one of our most extraordinary storytellers.]]> 0 Chris Bohjalian 0593821203 Melissa 2 3.32 2024
author: Chris Bohjalian
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/04/10
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves:
review:
Everyone in this book annoyed me. Except for maybe Marissa.
]]> 29361594 Born the son of a flamboyant, bigamous snake-oil salesman and a pious, straitlaced mother, Rockefeller rose from rustic origins to become the world's richest man by creating America's most powerful and feared monopoly, Standard Oil. Branded "the Octopus" by legions of muckrakers, the trust refined and marketed nearly 90 percent of the oil produced in America.
Rockefeller was likely the most controversial businessman in our nation's history. Critics charged that his empire was built on unscrupulous tactics: grand-scale collusion with the railroads, predatory pricing, industrial espionage, and wholesale bribery of political officials. The titan spent more than thirty years dodging investigations until Teddy Roosevelt and his trustbusters embarked on a marathon crusade to bring Standard Oil to bay.
While providing abundant new evidence of Rockefeller's misdeeds, Chernow discards the stereotype of the cold-blooded monster to sketch an unforgettably human portrait of a quirky, eccentric original. A devout Baptist and temperance advocate, Rockefeller gave money more generously--his chosen philanthropies included the Rockefeller Foundation, the University of Chicago, and what is today Rockefeller University--than anyone before him. Titan presents a finely nuanced portrait of a fascinating, complex man, synthesizing his public and private lives and disclosing numerous family scandals, tragedies, and misfortunes that have never before come to light.
John D. Rockefeller's story captures a pivotal moment in American history, documenting the dramatic post-Civil War shift from small business to the rise of giant corporations that irrevocably transformed the nation. With cameos by Joseph Pulitzer, William Randolph Hearst, Jay Gould, William Vanderbilt, Ida Tarbell, Andrew Carnegie, Carl Jung, J. Pierpont Morgan, William James, Henry Clay Frick, Mark Twain, and Will Rogers, Titan turns Rockefeller's life into a vivid tapestry of American society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is Ron Chernow's signal triumph that he narrates this monumental saga with all the sweep, drama, and insight that this giant subject deserves.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> Ron Chernow Melissa 4 4.23 1998
author: Ron Chernow
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1998
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves:
review:
This might have been the Mt. Everest of books for me. I climbed the mountain and lived to tell the tale. 4 stars for surviving. (p.s. I enjoyed the pettiness of Rockefeller and Carnegie exchanging Christmas gifts)
]]> 39209765
When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe's place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.

There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe's independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.]]> 13 Madeline Miller 1549117645 Melissa 5
“I did not go easy into motherhood. I faced it as soldiers face their enemies, girded and braced, sword up against the coming blows��

“I would look at him and feel a love so sharp it seemed my flesh lay open. I made a list of all the things I would do for him. Scald off my skin. Tear out my eyes. Walk my feet to bones, if only he would be happy��

]]> 4.12 2018
author: Madeline Miller
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves:
review:
“The truth is, men make terrible pigs��

“I did not go easy into motherhood. I faced it as soldiers face their enemies, girded and braced, sword up against the coming blows��

“I would look at him and feel a love so sharp it seemed my flesh lay open. I made a list of all the things I would do for him. Scald off my skin. Tear out my eyes. Walk my feet to bones, if only he would be happy��


]]> 202950675
On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.

What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond. Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.

Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again.]]> 7 Salman Rushdie 0593946138 Melissa 5 Gut wrenching. 4.05 2024
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/28
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves:
review:
Gut wrenching.
]]> 156137577
When Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge mountains. In the aftermath of her death, that estate—along with a nine-figure fortune and the complicated legacy of being a McTavish—pass to her adopted son, Camden.

But to everyone’s surprise, Cam wants little to do with the house or the money—and even less to do with the surviving McTavishes. Instead, he rejects his inheritance, settling into a normal life as an English teacher in Colorado and marrying Jules, a woman just as eager to escape her own messy past.

Ten years later, Camden is a McTavish in name only, but a summons in the wake of his uncle’s death brings him and Jules back into the family fold at Ashby House. Its views are just as stunning as ever, its rooms just as elegant, but coming home reminds Cam why he was so quick to leave in the first place.

Jules, however, has other ideas, and the more she learns about Cam’s estranged family—and the twisted secrets they keep—the more determined she is for her husband to claim everything Ruby once intended for him to have.

But Ruby’s plans were always more complicated than they appeared. As Ashby House tightens its grip on Jules and Camden, questions about the infamous heiress come to light. Was there any truth to the persistent rumors following her disappearance as a girl? What really happened to those four husbands, who all died under mysterious circumstances? And why did she adopt Cam in the first place? Soon, Jules and Cam realize that an inheritance can entail far more than what’s written in a will––and that the bonds of family stretch far beyond the grave.]]> Rachel Hawkins 1250328780 Melissa 3 Wait till the party’s over
Hold tight
We’re in for nasty weather]]> 3.77 2024
author: Rachel Hawkins
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/08
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves:
review:
Hold tight
Wait till the party’s over
Hold tight
We’re in for nasty weather
]]> 61037143
Evvie Drake Starts Over meets Beach Read in this heartwarming and hilarious novel about a divorced romance channel screenwriter whose script about her marriage's collapse just might help her reclaim her life and find love.

Nora's life is about to get a rewrite...

Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it's her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her marriage's collapse into cash and writes the best script of her life. No one is more surprised than her when it's picked up for the big screen and set to film on location at her 100-year-old-home. When former Sexiest Man Alive, Leo Vance, is cast as her ne'er do well husband Nora's life will never be the same.

The morning after shooting wraps and the crew leaves, Nora finds Leo on her porch with a half-empty bottle of tequila and a proposition. He'll pay a thousand dollars a day to stay for a week. The extra seven grand would give Nora breathing room, but it's the need in his eyes that makes her say yes. Seven days: it's the blink of an eye or an eternity depending on how you look at it. Enough time to fall in love. Enough time to break your heart.

Filled with warmth, wit, and wisdom, Nora Goes Off Script is the best kind of love story--the real kind where love is complicated by work, kids, and the emotional baggage that comes with life. For Nora and Leo, this kind of love is bigger than the big screen.]]> Annabel Monaghan Melissa 3 Grown ups are so silly. 3.5 3.86 2022
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/12
date added: 2024/05/14
shelves:
review:
Grown ups are so silly. 3.5
]]> 62929342 Real Americans begins on the precipice of Y2K in New York City, when twenty-two-year-old Lily Chen, an unpaid intern at a slick media company, meets Matthew. Matthew is everything Lily is not: easygoing and effortlessly attractive, a native East Coaster and, most notably, heir to a vast pharmaceutical empire. Lily couldn't be more different: flat-broke, raised in Tampa, the only child of scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Despite all this, Lily and Matthew fall in love.

In 2021, fifteen-year-old Nick Chen has never felt like he belonged on the isolated Washington island where he lives with his single mother, Lily. He can't shake the sense she's hiding something. When Nick sets out to find his biological father, the journey threatens to raise more questions than answers.

In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.

Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made, and if so, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?

From the award-winning author of Goodbye, Vitamin: How far would you go to shape your own destiny? An exhilarating novel of American identity that spans three generations in one family, and asks: What makes us who we are? And how inevitable are our futures? ]]> 399 Rachel Khong 0593537254 Melissa 5 3.94 2024
author: Rachel Khong
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/08
date added: 2024/05/08
shelves:
review:
Just know, that if my son stops speaking to me I am getting myself to where he is.
]]> 60458434 Learn how two brothers, Chris and Martin Kratt, became televsions favorite wildlife explorers!Meet Chris and Martin Kratt, two brothers who turned a love of animals into an amazing career! They have produced, written, directed, and starred in several PBS series and specials over the years. Most recently, they have become known for PBS's smash hit animated show Wild Kratts. Along the way, they traveled the world and encountered incredible creatures, all while combining science education with fun. Boys and girls ages 4 to 7 will this Step into Reading biography of two brothers who know how to live life on the wild side. Step 2 Readers use basic vocabulary and short sentences to tell simple stories. For children who recognize familiar words and can sound out new words with help.]]> 48 Chris Kratt 0593373189 Melissa 5 4.60
author: Chris Kratt
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.60
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/06
date added: 2024/05/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 212906442
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston: Fort Sumter.
��
Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.��
��
At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between both. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous Secretary of State, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans.
��
Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink—a dark reminder that we often don’t see a cataclysm coming until it’s too late.]]> 18 Erik Larson 0593828518 Melissa 3 3.94 2024
author: Erik Larson
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:
Excellently researched and narrated, however my mind ✨wandered�� a lot. Mary Chestnut would have been my mortal enemy if we had lived in the same time period. Chewing tobacco is disgusting today, however in 1861 it was downright revolting. Both Lincoln and Anderson needed a hug. 3.5
]]> 199798460
It’s been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she’s been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey’s line of work.

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

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

The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page.]]> 299 Emiko Jean 1668023938 Melissa 4 I didn’t see that coming. 3.98 2024
author: Emiko Jean
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:
I didn’t see that coming.
]]> 194802722 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry Melissa 5 4.21 2024
author: Emily Henry
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2024/04/23
shelves:
review:
When I say I was invested. Emily Henry is the cure for what ails. That’s all and goodnight.
]]> 75593961 �� From the creators behind the award-winning anthologies Sing a Song of Seasons and Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright,�� this rib-tickling illustrated anthology is filled with unforgettable classics and new discoveries, including poetry in translation. The spectacular range of poems for children includes work by��
Each poem is brought to life by Matt Hunt's comical and vibrant artwork. Whether shared out loud or read alone, this is the perfect book to bring a smile—every day of the year!
�� With a��ribbon marker��and glossy double-page spreads, this is the perfect gift for any occasion.]]> 336 Lou Peacock Melissa 1 4.36
author: Lou Peacock
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 1
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2024/04/23
shelves:
review:
DNF. We are so far behind and have no motivation to catch up.
]]> 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett Melissa 4 4.47 2024
author: Percival Everett
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/23
date added: 2024/04/23
shelves:
review:
Incredibly well written and with a decidedly cinematic ending.
]]> 179311301 48 Jess Hannigan 0063289474 Melissa 5 4.12
author: Jess Hannigan
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/20
date added: 2024/04/20
shelves:
review:
Delighted both mom and 7 year old.
]]>