en-US Mon, 28 Apr 2025 18:31:44 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 57623348 Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory was originally given free to readers who pre-ordered Martha’s Murderbot novel, Network Effect, the fifth entry in the series. The events occur just after the fourth novella, Exit Strategy.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 19 Martha Wells 125083886X Melissa 5 4.03 2020
author: Martha Wells
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves:
review:

]]> 52381770
It worries about the fragile human crew who've grown to trust it, but only where no one can see.

It tells itself that they're only a professional obligation, but when they're captured and an old friend from the past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

Drastic action it is, then.

]]> 350 Martha Wells 1250229863 Melissa 5
Re-read. I love the ending.

Now I'm ready for System Collapse to come out.]]> 4.44 2020
author: Martha Wells
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/02
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: 2022, science-fiction, re-readable, 2023, currently-reading
review:
Murderbot has my heart.

Re-read. I love the ending.

Now I'm ready for System Collapse to come out.
]]> 35519109
Having traveled the width of the galaxy to unearth details of its own murderous transgressions, as well as those of the GrayCris Corporation, Murderbot is heading home to help Dr. Mensah—its former owner (protector? friend?)—submit evidence that could prevent GrayCris from destroying more colonists in its never-ending quest for profit.

But who’s going to believe a SecUnit gone rogue?

And what will become of it when it’s caught?]]> 163 Martha Wells Melissa 5
Addendum: I just finished a re-read, still gets 5 stars.]]> 4.38 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: 2022, science-fiction, re-readable, 2023
review:
I've absolutely loved the Murderbot series, and this novella did not disappoint. Murderbot is reunited with his clients/friends from the first book to, once again, take on the evil corporate entity. I will be reading the next book, I can't get enough of Murderbot.

Addendum: I just finished a re-read, still gets 5 stars.
]]> 36223860 alternate cover for ISBN 9781250186928

It has a dark past �� one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot." But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A�� stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.]]> 158 Martha Wells Melissa 5
3rd reading... still enjoyable!

4th reading (listen)... I named my MachE Kevin R. Free.

5th listen... Murderbot is my preferred form of entertainment.

Number 6]]> 4.23 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: 2022, re-readable, science-fiction, 2023, favorites
review:
2nd reading... still amazing!

3rd reading... still enjoyable!

4th reading (listen)... I named my MachE Kevin R. Free.

5th listen... Murderbot is my preferred form of entertainment.

Number 6
]]> 35519101
And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

]]> 158 Martha Wells 1250191785 Melissa 5
I've now read this 3 times and still love it.

Just finished my 4th listen, still excellent.

Number 5.]]> 4.21 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/26
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: 2022, science-fiction, re-readable, 2023
review:
I love this smart-ass Murderbot.

I've now read this 3 times and still love it.

Just finished my 4th listen, still excellent.

Number 5.
]]> 195264190
While trying to watch episode 44 of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon, Murderbot is—again, what is it with humans?—distracted by something that is technically outside its purview. A miner is suddenly in danger following a pointless (to Murderbot’s way of thinking) argument, and the choice is to risk discovery and leap into action, which would require hitting the pause button during a very exciting part of SanctuaryMoon, or to follow orders and stay still.

This is a tougher choice than it seems. But then, when has Murderbot ever been faced with an easy choice?

A shorter version of this story originally appeared in Wired magazine.]]> 8 Martha Wells 1645241726 Melissa 4 4.32 2018
author: Martha Wells
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/22
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 32758901 "As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.�� Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.]]> 144 Martha Wells Melissa 5 3rd reading: still magic.]]> 4.11 2017
author: Martha Wells
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/22
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: 2022, better-than-i-thought-it-would-be, re-readable, science-fiction, 2023, favorites, multiple-reads
review:
2nd reading: just as amazing the second time.
3rd reading: still magic.
]]> 216017751 The time has come! Book seven in the bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series is here!

They call it Faction Wars.

The ninth floor.

Nine armies, each led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy. Each team has one objective: to capture and hold the castle at the very center of the battlefield. Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, and, of course, betrayal... It all makes for great fun and even greater television.

After all, none of these powerful aliens really die when they’re playing war.

Except this time. This time, winner takes all. Those who fall, stay in the ground.

As the AI continues its rapid decline, Carl and company take advantage of the chaos. For the first time ever, the crawlers are fighting back. They are now one of the nine teams. And this season, there’s a tenth army on the playing field. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and formed a team of their own.

For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. Only one of them will be allowed to leave this level.

If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help from a veteran or two.

This is it.
This is what they’ve been fighting toward.
This is war.

This inevitable ruin.]]> 724 Matt Dinniman Melissa 4 4.63 2024
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/21
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 213960809 Office worker Riko Kozakura lives to play video games, but her life changed forever when she adopted a kitten! Now she has two cats and takes lessons from video games to help raise them.

Office worker Riko Kozakura continues to learn and grow with her two cats. With twice the fun, twice the laughs, and twice the trouble, Kozakura has her work cut out for her! “Leveling up�� in skills, surprises, and adventures, Riko discovers what it’s like living with two cats!]]> 160 Wataru Nadatani 1506736661 Melissa 0 to-read 4.43 2022
author: Wataru Nadatani
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36538793
In Taisho-era Japan, Tanjiro Kamado is a kindhearted boy who makes a living selling charcoal. But his peaceful life is shattered when a demon slaughters his entire family. His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor, but she has been transformed into a demon herself! Tanjiro sets out on a dangerous journey to find a way to return his sister to normal and destroy the demon who ruined his life.

Learning to slay��demons won’t be easy, and Tanjiro barely knows where to start. The surprise appearance of another boy named Giyu, who seems to know what’s going on, might provide some answers…but only if Tanjiro can stop Giyu from killing his sister first!]]> 192 Koyoharu Gotouge 1974700526 Melissa 5 4.39 2016
author: Koyoharu Gotouge
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 55173492 200 Koyoharu Gotouge 6076349026 Melissa 4 4.49 2017
author: Koyoharu Gotouge
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 11938752
Theophilus Mirkwood ought to be insulted. Should be appalled. But how can he resist this siren in widow’s weeds, whose offer is simply too outrageously tempting to decline? Determined she’ll get her money’s worth, Theo endeavors to awaken this shamefully neglected beauty to the pleasures of the flesh—only to find her dead set against taking any enjoyment in the scandalous bargain. Surely she can’t resist him forever. But could a lady’s sweet surrender open their hearts to the most unexpected arrival of all . . . love?]]> 346 Cecilia Grant 0553593838 Melissa 4 3.68 2011
author: Cecilia Grant
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 1813353 416 Candice Proctor 0804118272 Melissa 0 to-read 3.57 1998
author: Candice Proctor
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55173459 200 Koyoharu Gotouge 6076348496 Melissa 4 4.55 2017
author: Koyoharu Gotouge
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 220341389 John Green, the #1 bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and a passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world’s deadliest disease.

Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.

In 2019, John Green met Henry, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone while traveling with Partners in Health. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal and dynamic advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, treatable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing 1.5 million people every year.

In Everything is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.]]> 208 John Green 0525556575 Melissa 0 to-read 4.52 2025
author: John Green
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 125887685
It is bedlam on the eighth floor.
As management reels from the unexpected conclusion of the seventh level, the surviving crawlers stumble onto the eighth and find themselves scattered. It’s a map based on Earth’s final days before the collapse, where ethereal, intangible ghosts of humanity go about their lives, oblivious of the impending doom. Living amongst these ghosts are monsters based in Earth lore. “Legendary�� creatures tied to the geographical location they inhabit.

Each team of crawlers is given a task: find and capture six of these beasts. The captured monsters will be turned into cards. Cards that can be summoned into battle again and again. The stronger, the deadlier, the better.

At the end of the floor, the bad guys will also have decks, and they will have some of the most powerful cards available. So it’s crucial to assemble the toughest squad possible.

But, like always, there is a catch. There’s always a catch.

As Carl and Donut know all too well, just because someone is captured, it doesn’t mean they have been tamed.

Her name is Shi Maria. She’s easily the most powerful monster in their area. If they want to survive, they must capture her. But she is no ordinary beast. She’s intelligent. She was once married to a god, a god who is now missing. Her special attack is known to drive one insane. They call her the Bedlam Bride.

“Beware, beware. Beware the Eye of the Bedlam Bride”]]> 694 Matt Dinniman Melissa 5 4.67 2023
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 35068731
Sophie Campbell is determined to be mistress of her own fate. Surviving on her skill at cards, she never risks what she can’t afford to lose. Yet when the Duke of Ware proposes a scandalous wager that’s too extravagant to refuse, she can’t resist. If she wins, she’ll get five thousand pounds, enough to secure her independence forever.

Stays at the Vega Club . . .

Jack Lindeville, Duke of Ware, tells himself he’s at the Vega Club merely to save his reckless brother from losing everything, but he knows it’s a lie. He can’t keep his eyes off Sophie, and to get her he breaks his ironclad rule against gambling. If he wins, he wants her—for a week.

Until now.

A week with Jack could ruin what’s left of Sophie’s reputation. It might even cost her her heart. But when it comes to love, all bets are off . . .]]> 384 Caroline Linden 0062672932 Melissa 0 to-read 3.75 2018
author: Caroline Linden
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2142191
It's 1924, and Peter and Patricia have what looks to be a very modern marriage. Both drink. Both smoke. Both work, Patricia as a head copywriter at a major department store. When it comes to sex with other people, both believe in “the honesty policy.�� Until they don‘t. Or, at least, until Peter doesn‘t—and a shell-shocked, lovesick Patricia finds herself starting out all over again, but this time around as a different kind of single the ex-wife.

An instant bestseller when it was published anonymously in 1929, Ex-Wife captures the speakeasies, night clubs, and parties that defined Jazz Age New York—alongside the morning-after aspirin and calisthenics, the lunch-hour visits to the gym, the girl-talk, and the freedoms and anguish of solitude. It also casts a cool eye on the bedrooms and the doctor’s offices where, despite rising hemlines, the men still call the shots. The result is a unique view of what its author Ursula Parrott called “the era of the one-night stand��: an era very much like our own.]]> 224 Ursula Parrott 0452262240 Melissa 0 to-read 4.16 1929
author: Ursula Parrott
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1929
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58082198
To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila's little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago--a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case--because it looks like one of them might be next.]]> 279 Mia P. Manansala 0593201698 Melissa 0 nope-nope-nope 3.66 2022
author: Mia P. Manansala
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: nope-nope-nope
review:

]]> 65211701 Am I making it worse? I think I'm making it worse.

Everyone's favorite lethal SecUnit is back.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast.

Yeah, this plan is... not going to work.]]> 245 Martha Wells 1250826977 Melissa 5 2023, 2023-favs 4.19 2023
author: Martha Wells
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/15
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: 2023, 2023-favs
review:

]]> 216971956 For readers of Regency romance by Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, and Madeline Hunter,��New York Times��bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries debuts a brand new series in trade paperback in which a lord, detained in France during the Napoleonic war, returns home to find he’s inherited a dukedom and vows to make a match for his deceased mentor’s daughter.

Intriguing twists and sparkling wit entwine in this stunning new historical romance from the��New York Times��bestselling Sabrina Jeffries, as a once-exiled patriot returns home to a changed world . . .

Napoleon’s war has ended, and English captives detained for years in a French fortress are finally released. Returning to a London he no longer recognizes, and facing astonishing changes in his own family, Lord Jonathan Leighton learns he has inherited a dukedom. But the new nobleman carries the guilt of having wronged his late mentor. Now, he vows to fulfill his promise to find a suitable match for the man’s daughter, Victoria—even if it takes offering a nonexistent dowry to spark her interest in matrimony . . .
��
Sharp-witted Victoria would just as soon sculpt the Greek god who has come to take charge of her future. In fact, she has her sights set on founding a school for women artists. As Jonathan matches wits with the talented beauty, revelations from his past—and their connection to her father’s demise—threaten to unveil both of their closely held secrets and thrust them into a danger they can only escape together.]]> 288 Sabrina Jeffries 1496751027 Melissa 0 to-read 3.96 2025
author: Sabrina Jeffries
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55173418 200 Koyoharu Gotouge 6076348488 Melissa 3 4.45 2016
author: Koyoharu Gotouge
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 220772913 Attention. Attention. The gates are down. The hunters are loose. Run, Run, Run.

A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. A mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed “The Butcher’s Masquerade.��

The sixth floor. The Hunting Grounds.

As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, a new, terrible threat looms. Outside tourists are finally allowed to enter the game, and they are here and ready to hunt. Among them is Vrah, a famed and veteran hunter, intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career.

But their prey is far from harmless, and this season they are fighting back.

Dungeon Crawler Carl and Princess Donut return in book five of the acclaimed litrpg series.]]> 720 Matt Dinniman 0593955994 Melissa 5 4.69 2022
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.69
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 6294549
The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening's killer.]]> 346 Seanan McGuire 0756405718 Melissa 0 to-read 3.76 2009
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 186444 Welcome to Newford��

Welcome to the music clubs, the waterfront, the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fey and the wild and the poor and the lost. Gemmins live in abandoned cars and skells traverse the tunnels below, while mermaids swim in the grey harbor waters and fill the cold night with their song.

Contents:

Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair
The Stone Drum
Timeskip
Freewheeling
That Explains Poland
Romano Drom
The Sacred Fire
Winter Was Hard
Pity the Monsters
Ghosts of Wind and Shadow
The Conjure Man
Small Deaths
The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep
In the House of My Enemy
But for the Grace Go I
Bridges
Our Lady of the Harbour
Paperjack
Tallulah]]> 412 Charles de Lint 0765306794 Melissa 0 to-read 4.11 1993
author: Charles de Lint
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 38926402
In Taisho-era Japan, Tanjiro Kamado is a kindhearted boy who makes a living selling charcoal. But his peaceful life is shattered when a demon slaughters his entire family. His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor, but she has been transformed into a demon herself! Tanjiro sets out on a dangerous journey to find a way to return his sister to normal and destroy the demon who ruined his life.

Tanjiro and Nezuko cross paths with two powerful demons who fight with magical weapons. Even help from Tamayo and Yushiro may not be enough to defeat these demons who claim to belong to the Twelve Kizuki that directly serve Kibutsuji, the demon responsible for all of Tanjiro’s woes! But if these demons can be defeated, what secrets can they reveal about Kibutsuji?]]> 192 Koyoharu Gotouge 1974700542 Melissa 4 4.38 2016
author: Koyoharu Gotouge
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 43706483 A SUNDAY TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, THE TIMES AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR

From the award-winning author of The Great Sea, a magnificent new global history of the oceans and of humankind's relationship with the sea

For most of human history, the seas and oceans have been the main means of long-distance trade and communication between peoples - for the spread of ideas and religion as well as commerce. This book traces the history of human movement and interaction around and across the world's greatest bodies of water, charting our relationship with the oceans from the time of the first voyagers. David Abulafia begins with the earliest of seafaring societies - the Polynesians of the Pacific, the possessors of intuitive navigational skills long before the invention of the compass, who by the first century were trading between their far-flung islands. By the seventh century, trading routes stretched from the coasts of Arabia and Africa to southern China and Japan, bringing together the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific and linking half the world through the international spice trade. In the Atlantic, centuries before the little kingdom of Portugal carved out its powerful, seaborne empire, many peoples sought new lands across the sea - the Bretons, the Frisians and, most notably, the Vikings, now known to be the first Europeans to reach North America. As Portuguese supremacy dwindled in the late sixteenth century, the Spanish, the Dutch and then the British each successively ruled the waves.
Following merchants, explorers, pirates, cartographers and travellers in their quests for spices, gold, ivory, slaves, lands for settlement and knowledge of what lay beyond, Abulafia has created an extraordinary narrative of humanity and the oceans. From the earliest forays of peoples in hand-hewn canoes through uncharted waters to the routes now taken daily by supertankers in their thousands, The Boundless Sea shows how maritime networks came to form a continuum of interaction and interconnection across the globe: 90 per cent of global trade is still conducted by sea. This is history of the grandest scale and scope, and from a bracingly different perspective - not, as in most global histories, from the land, but from the boundless seas.]]> 1088 David Abulafia 1846145082 Melissa 0 to-read 4.25 2019
author: David Abulafia
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 38926432
In Taisho-era Japan, Tanjiro Kamado is a kindhearted boy who makes a living selling charcoal. But his peaceful life is shattered when a demon slaughters his entire family. His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor, but she has been transformed into a demon herself! Tanjiro sets out on a dangerous journey to find a way to return his sister to normal and destroy the demon who ruined his life.

During final selection for the Demon Slayer Corps, Tanjiro faces a disfigured demon and uses the techniques taught by his master, Urokodaki! As Tanjiro begins to walk the path of the Demon Slayer, his search for the demon who murdered his family leads him to investigate the disappearances of young girls in a nearby town.]]> 192 Koyoharu Gotouge 1974700534 Melissa 4 4.38 2016
author: Koyoharu Gotouge
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 220772908 New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.

Here's the thing. It's never easy. Carl and his team can't go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.]]> 608 Matt Dinniman 0593955978 Melissa 5 4.54 2021
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 57185878 Giant turtles, impossible ships, and tidal rivers ridden by a Drowned girl in search of a family in the latest in the bestselling Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Wayward Children series from Seanan McGuire.

Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her.

Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she'd been missing from birth.

It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong.

It wasn't her.

Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyyreka, the Land Beneath the Lake--and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyyreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.

But even in Belyyreka, there are dangers, and trials, and Nadya would soon find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure.]]> 160 Seanan McGuire Melissa 0 to-read 4.03 2025
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2899 The Pigeon is Patrick Süskind's tense, disturbing follow-up to the bestselling Perfume. The novella tells the story of a day in the meticulously ordered life of bank security guard Jonathan Noel, who has been hiding from life since his wife left him for her Tunisian lover. When Jonathan opens his front door on a day he believes will be just like any other, he encounters not the desired empty hallway but an unwelcome, diabolical intruder . . .]]> 77 Patrick Süskind 0140105832 Melissa 2 1001-and-beyond 3.76 1987
author: Patrick Süskind
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1987
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: 1001-and-beyond
review:

]]> 343 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

An acclaimed bestseller and international sensation, Patrick Suskind's classic novel provokes a terrifying examination of what happens when one man's indulgence in his greatest passion—his sense of smell—leads to murder.

In the slums of eighteenth-century France, the infant Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with one sublime gift—an absolute sense of smell. As a boy, he lives to decipher the odors of Paris, and apprentices himself to a prominent perfumer who teaches him the ancient art of mixing precious oils and herbs. But Grenouille's genius is such that he is not satisfied to stop there, and he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of objects such as brass doorknobs and fresh-cut wood. Then one day he catches a hint of a scent that will drive him on an ever-more-terrifying quest to create the "ultimate perfume"—the scent of a beautiful young virgin. Told with dazzling narrative brilliance, Perfume is a hauntingly powerful tale of murder and sensual depravity.]]> 263 Patrick Süskind Melissa 4 1001-and-beyond 4.05 1985
author: Patrick Süskind
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/20
date added: 2025/01/24
shelves: 1001-and-beyond
review:

]]> 209439446
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.]]> 527 Rebecca Yarros 1649374186 Melissa 0 nope-nope-nope 4.17 2025
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: nope-nope-nope
review:

]]> 90202302 “The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.�� —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders�� capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 623 Rebecca Yarros 1649374178 Melissa 0 nope-nope-nope 4.33 2023
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: nope-nope-nope
review:

]]> 211004190
It's a whole new moooooon.

One day soon, suddenly and without explanation, the moon as we know it is replaced with an orb of cheese with the exact same mass. Through the length of an entire lunar cycle, from new moon to a spectacular and possibly final solar eclipse, we follow multiple characters -- schoolkids and scientists, billionaires and workers, preachers and politicians -- as they confront the strange new world they live in, and the absurd, impossible moon that now hangs above all their lives.]]> 326 John Scalzi 0765389096 Melissa 0 to-read 3.86 2025
author: John Scalzi
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 27276118 Ninefox Gambit, centers on disgraced captain Kel Cheris, who must recapture the formidable Fortress of Scattered Needles in order to redeem herself in front of the Hexarchate.

To win an impossible war Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general.

Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next.

Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress.

The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao–because she might be his next victim.]]> 319 Yoon Ha Lee 1781084491 Melissa 0 to-read 3.74 2016
author: Yoon Ha Lee
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57001971 Welcome to the Gun Show!

The top ten list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face.

The Iron Tangle. An impossibly-complicated subway system built out of the world's subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away.

But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly-useless book. Welcome, crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon.]]> 534 Matt Dinniman Melissa 5 4.49 2021
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 862005 182 Carolyn Keene 0448095386 Melissa 2 ya 3.97 1961
author: Carolyn Keene
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1961
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: ya
review:

]]> 13369549 370 Anne-Marie O'Connor Melissa 3 3.97 2012
author: Anne-Marie O'Connor
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/15
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 217536270
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares... but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.

Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.]]> 624 Callie Hart 1538774194 Melissa 0 nope-nope-nope 4.29 2024
author: Callie Hart
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: nope-nope-nope
review:

]]> 124932743 192 Arley Nopra 1338835505 Melissa 3 4.07 2023
author: Arley Nopra
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 462448 288 Andre Norton 0441897088 Melissa 0 to-read 3.83 1963
author: Andre Norton
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1963
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 56377548
The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can't get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.

They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.

Carl still has no pants.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it's anything but a game.]]> 364 Matt Dinniman Melissa 5 4.55 2021
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 58673882 The origin of Erica Slaughter, monster hunter, is revealed in this volume of the Eisner Award-nominated horror series.

Erica Slaughter went to hell and back in Archer’s Peak, but that may be nothing compared to the events that forged her at the House of Slaughter. What events brought Erica to the House of Slaughter? And what did she have to do to join the Order of St. George? Erica Slaughter’s origins are finally revealed in this volume of the Eisner Award-nominated series from GLAAD Award-winning author James Tynion IV (The Woods, Batman) and artist Werther Dell’Edera (Razorblades).

Collects Something is Killing The Children #16-20.]]> 144 James Tynion IV 1684158044 Melissa 4 4.44 2022
author: James Tynion IV
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 5742909 No man can resist Jemma's sensuous allure . . . Except her own husband!

Wedding bells celebrating the arranged marriage between the lovely Duchess of Beaumont and her staid, imperturbable duke had scarcely fallen silent when a shocking discovery sent Jemma running from the ducal mansion. For the next nine years she cavorted abroad, creating one delicious scandal after another (if one is to believe the rumors).

Elijah, Duke of Beaumont, did believe those rumors.

But the handsome duke needs an heir, so he summons his seductive wife home. Jemma laughs at Elijah's cool eyes and icy heart—but to her secret shock, she doesn't share his feelings. In fact, she wants the impossible: her husband's heart at her feet.

But what manner of seduction will make a man fall desperately in love . . . with his own wife?]]> 370 Eloisa James 0061626821 Melissa 2 3.84 2009
author: Eloisa James
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 10163309 384 Lisa Kleypas 0061793086 Melissa 4 3.84 2004
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/25
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: zz-2021, better-than-i-thought-it-would-be, historical-romance
review:

]]> 56791389 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B08BKGYQXW


The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.]]> 446 Matt Dinniman Melissa 4 4.49 2020
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/01
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: better-than-i-thought-it-would-be, cats-be-here, science-fiction
review:
This was fun. I'm very surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.
]]> 36048579 A lighthearted tale of Christmas long ago with a grandmother and three of her grandchildren, one lost soul, a lady driven to distraction, a recalcitrant donkey, and a flock of determined geese.

Three years after being widowed, Therese, Lady Osbaldestone finally settles into her dower property of Hartington Manor in the village of Little Moseley in Hampshire. She is in two minds as to whether life in the small village will generate sufficient interest to keep her amused over the months when she is not in London or visiting friends around the country. But she will see.

It’s December, 1810, and Therese is looking forward to her usual Christmas with her family at Winslow Abbey, her youngest daughter, Celia’s home. But then a carriage rolls up and disgorges Celia’s three oldest children. Their father has contracted mumps, and their mother has sent the three—Jamie, George, and Lottie—to spend this Christmas with their grandmama in Little Moseley.

Therese has never had to manage small children, not even her own. She assumes the children will keep themselves amused, but quickly learns that what amuses three inquisitive, curious, and confident youngsters isn’t compatible with village peace. Just when it seems she will have to set her mind to inventing something, she and the children learn that with only twelve days to go before Christmas, the village flock of geese has vanished.

Every household in the village is now missing the centerpiece of their Christmas feast. But how could an entire flock go missing without the slightest trace? The children are as mystified and as curious as Therese—and she seizes on the mystery as the perfect distraction for the three children as well as herself.

But while searching for the geese, she and her three helpers stumble on two locals who, it is clear, are in dire need of assistance in sorting out their lives. Never one to shy from a little matchmaking, Therese undertakes to guide Miss Eugenia Fitzgibbon into the arms of the determinedly reclusive Lord Longfellow. To her considerable surprise, she discovers that her grandchildren have inherited skills and talents from both her late husband as well as herself. And with all the customary village events held in the lead up to Christmas, she and her three helpers have opportunities galore in which to subtly nudge and steer.

Yet while their matchmaking appears to be succeeding, neither they nor anyone else have found so much as a feather from the village’s geese. Larceny is ruled out; a flock of that size could not have been taken from the area without someone noticing. So where could the birds be? And with the days passing and Christmas inexorably approaching, will they find the blasted birds in time?

First in series. A novel of 60,000 words. A Christmas tale of romance and geese.


]]> 163 Stephanie Laurens 1925559076 Melissa 3 historical-romance 3.89 2017
author: Stephanie Laurens
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: historical-romance
review:

]]> 15819028
Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire born in the ancient Syrian desert, trapped in an old copper flask, and released in New York City, though still not entirely free.

Ahmad and Chava become unlikely friends and soul mates with a mystical connection. Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale.]]> 486 Helene Wecker 0062110837 Melissa 0 read-soon 4.11 2013
author: Helene Wecker
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: read-soon
review:

]]> 127305800 Dinosaurs and portals, and a girl who can find both in the latest book in the Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning series.

Antsy is the latest student to pass through the doors at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children.

When her fellow students realize that Antsy's talent for finding absolutely anything may extend to doors, she's forced to flee in the company of a small group of friends, looking for a way back to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go to be sure that Vineta and Hudson are keeping their promise.

Along the way, temptations are dangled, decisions are reinforced, and a departure to a world populated by dinosaurs brings untold dangers and one or two other surprises!

A story that reminds us that finding what you want doesn't always mean finding what you need.]]> 146 Seanan McGuire 1250848504 Melissa 4 4.01 2024
author: Seanan McGuire
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/18
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 29872773 A heartwarming stand-alone novella from New York Times best-selling author Elizabeth Hoyt!

Adam Rutledge, Viscount d'Arque, really rather loathes Christmas. The banal cheerfulness. The asinine party games. And, worst of all, the obligatory trip to the countryside. His grandmother, however, loves the holiday - and Adam loves his grandmother, so he'll brave the fiercest snowstorm to please her. But when their carriage wheel snaps, they're forced to seek shelter at the home of the most maddening, infuriating, and utterly beguiling woman he's ever met....

Sarah St. John really rather loathes rakes. The self-satisfied smirks. The sly predatory gazes. Oh, and the constant witty banter rife with double meaning. But in the spirit of the season, she'll welcome this admittedly handsome viscount into her home. But as the snowstorm rages, the Yule log crackles, and the tension rises, Sarah and Adam find themselves locked in a fiery, passionate kiss. If love is the true meaning of Christmas, it's the one gift this mismatched pair can't wait to unwrap.]]> 93 Elizabeth Hoyt 145553918X Melissa 2 3.83 2017
author: Elizabeth Hoyt
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2024/06/17
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 60092545 What happens when you take a witch out of Brooklyn?

Effie is about to discover that s'more magic comes with s'more problems when she finds herself stuck at a summer camp for witches. Surviving without her friends would be hard enough, but when Effie's hands begin glowing green with new powers, the other campers start seeing red. It turns out that when you're a witch, life outside Brooklyn is pretty weird too!]]> 234 Sophie Escabasse 0593119339 Melissa 4 2023 4.19 2022
author: Sophie Escabasse
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/22
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2023
review:

]]> 55823391
“I don’t remember. Tell me everything, Pepito. Tell me about Cuba.��

When the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 solidifies Castro’s power in Cuba, twelve-year-old Cumba’s family makes the difficult decision to send him to Florida alone. Faced with the prospect of living in another country by himself, Cumba tries to remember the sound of his father’s clarinet, the smell of his mother’s lavender perfume.

Life in the United States presents a whole new set of challenges. Lost in a sea of English speakers, Cumba has to navigate a new city, a new school, and new freedom all on his own. With each day, Cumba feels more confident in his new surroundings, but he continues to Will his family ever be whole again? Or will they remain just out of reach, ninety miles across the sea?

A Kirkus Best Children's Book of the Year

"...Cuevas�� latest is a triumph of the heart...A compassionate, emotionally astute portrait of a young Cuban in exile." �� Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

"Cuevas�� intense and immersive account of a Cuban boy’s experience after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion brings a specific point in history alive." �� Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

" Cuevas packs this sophomore novel with palpable emotions and themes of friendship, love, longing, and trauma, attentively conveying tumultuous historical events from the lens of one young refugee." �� Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW]]> 288 Adrianna Cuevas 0374314675 Melissa 4 2023 4.40 2021
author: Adrianna Cuevas
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/19
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2023
review:

]]> 58530250 96 Fiona Harris 1760684317 Melissa 4 2023 3.67
author: Fiona Harris
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/20
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: 2023
review:
Exactly what you'd expect from a novelization of a children's show.
]]> 40943230 One little wager will determine their fate—a daring escape or falling into temptation with a rakish lord.

Lady Betsy Wilde’s first season was triumphant by any measure, and a duke has proposed—but before marriage, she longs for one last adventure.

No gentleman would agree to her scandalous plan—but Lord Jeremy Roden is no gentleman. He offers a wager. If she wins a billiards game, he’ll provide the breeches.

If he wins…she is his, for one wild night.

But what happens when Jeremy realizes that one night will never be enough? In the most important battle of his life, he’ll have to convince Betsy to say no to the duke.]]> 370 Eloisa James 0062877828 Melissa 2 3.95 2019
author: Eloisa James
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/01/12
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 8694389
Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.]]> 352 Catherynne M. Valente 0765326302 Melissa 0 read-soon 3.97 2011
author: Catherynne M. Valente
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: read-soon
review:

]]> 45100
For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy unjustly denied her--a legacy she will risk anything to reclaim. For Althea's young nephew Wintrow, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard ship, Vivacia is a life sentence.

But the fate of the Vestrit family--and the ship--may ultimately lie in the hands of an outsider. The ruthless pirate Kennit seeks a way to seize power over all the denizens of the Pirate Isles...and the first step of his plan requires him to capture his own liveship and bend it to his will....


From the Paperback edition.]]> 880 Robin Hobb 000649885X Melissa 0 read-soon 4.20 1998
author: Robin Hobb
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: read-soon
review:

]]> 52397
Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, disease, war, and chronic water shortages. While her father tries to lead people on the righteous path, Lauren struggles with hyperempathy, a condition that makes her extraordinarily sensitive to the pain of others.

When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is fraught with danger. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety, along the way conceiving a revolutionary idea that may mean salvation for all mankind.]]> 345 Octavia E. Butler 0446675504 Melissa 0 read-soon 4.21 1993
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: read-soon
review:

]]> 54805006 880 Robin Hobb Melissa 5 4.23 1997
author: Robin Hobb
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

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

AUDI. VIDE. TACE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.]]> 639 James Islington 1982141190 Melissa 0 read-soon 4.60 2023
author: James Islington
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: read-soon
review:

]]> 9466068 The allure of the perfect gown should be twofold:
ladies would die to wear it . . .
and gentlemen would kill to remove it!

Brilliant and ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirot is London's rising star. And who better to benefit from her talent than the worst-dressed lady in the ton, the Duke of Clevedon's intended bride? Winning the future duchess's patronage means prestige and fortune for Marcelline and her sisters. To get to the lady, though, Marcelline must win over Clevedon, whose standards are as high as his morals are . . . not.

The prize seems well worth the risk—but this time Marcelline's met her match. Clevedon can design a seduction as irresistible as her dresses;and what begins as a flicker of desire between two of the most passionately stubborn charmers in London soon ignites into a delicious inferno . . . and a blazing scandal.

And now both their futures hang by an exquisite thread of silk . . .]]> 371 Loretta Chase 0061632686 Melissa 4 3.89 2011
author: Loretta Chase
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/23
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 11243723 ]]> 166 Nancy Springer 0142418889 Melissa 4 4.34 2010
author: Nancy Springer
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/22
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 216825549 2025 on ŷ������ should make an interesting and varied catalogue of books to inspire other readers in 2026.

For those of you who don't like to add titles you haven't actually 'read', you can place 2025 on ŷ������ on an 'exclusive' shelf. Exclusive shelves don't have to be listed under 'to read', 'currently reading' or 'read'. To create one, go to 'edit bookshelves' on your 'My Books' page, create a shelf name such as 'review-of-the year' and tick the 'exclusive' box. Your previous and future 'reviews of the year' can be collected together on this dedicated shelf.

Concept created by Fionnuala Lirsdottir.
Description: Fionnuala Lirsdottir
Cover art: Paul Cézanne, Vase of Flowers and Apples, 1889-1890
Cover choice and graphics by Jayson]]> Various Melissa 0 read-soon 4.71 2025
author: Various
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.71
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: read-soon
review:

]]> 55711279 As the House of Slaughter arrives to clean up the situation by any means necessary, Erica will find that the true threat to those around her isn’t who - or what - she ever expected. And the cost of saving the day may be too high for anyone to pay...

NOT ALL MONSTERS HIDE IN THE DARK.

Archer’s Peak is in lockdown, as Erica Slaughter has lost control of the situation and news of the killings has spread outside the town. But as the House of Slaughter arrives to clean up the situation by any means necessary, Erica will find that the true threat to those around her isn’t who - or what - she ever expected. And the cost of saving the day may be too high for anyone to pay...

GLAAD Award-winning writer James Tynion IV (Batman, The Woods) and artist Werther Dell’Edera (Briggs Land) present the next chapter of the Eisner Award-nominated and critically-acclaimed series that reveals the monsters hiding in plain sight.

Collects Something is Killing The Children #11-15.]]> 144 James Tynion IV 1684157072 Melissa 4 4.29 2021
author: James Tynion IV
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/26
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 164019 The Theory of the Leisure Class is in the tradition of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan, yet it provides a surprisingly contemporary look at American economics and society.

Establishing such terms as "conspicuous consumption" and "pecuniary emulation," Veblen's most famous work has become an archetype not only of economic theory, but of historical and sociological thought as well. As sociologist Alan Wolfe writes in his Introduction, Veblen "skillfully . . . wrote a book that will be read so long as the rich are different from the rest of us; which, if the future is anything like the past, they always will be."]]> 320 Thorstein Veblen 0375757872 Melissa 0 to-read 3.90 1899
author: Thorstein Veblen
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1899
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199531989 Knives Out gets a rom-com twist in this rivals-to-lovers Christmas romance-mystery from New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter

The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas.

Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:
She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.
He’s Mr. Big-Time Thriller Guy.

She hates his guts.

He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)

But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.

That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.

She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?

As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor.

Assuming they don’t kill each other first.]]> 293 Ally Carter 0063276682 Melissa 3 3.92 2024
author: Ally Carter
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves:
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]]> 45551061
Noelle Pratchett is immune to charming rakehells like the arrogant duke. He stole her heart, stole her first kiss, and then stole away one night never to return. Now he's back—and so are all the old feelings. Noelle knows he won't stay. But how can she maintain her icy shields when every heated glance melts her to her core?]]> 212 Erica Ridley Melissa 0 to-read 3.69 2018
author: Erica Ridley
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 49024764
Witches are real, and they are very, very dangerous. They wear ordinary clothes and have ordinary jobs, living in ordinary towns all across the world -- and there's nothing they despise more than children. When an eight-year-old boy and his grandmother come face-to-face with the Grand High Witch herself, they may be the only ones who can stop the witches' latest plot to stamp out every last child in the country!

This full-color graphic novel edition of Roald Dahl's The Witches, adapted and illustrated by Eisner Award winner Pénélope Bagieu, is the first-ever Dahl story to appear in this format. Graphic novel readers and Roald Dahl fans alike will relish this dynamic new take on a uniquely funny tale.]]> 304 Pénélope Bagieu 1338677438 Melissa 5 4.05 2020
author: Pénélope Bagieu
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
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]]> 218489103 A Small Town, Enemies to Lovers, Holiday Romance from New York Times bestselling author, Samantha Chase

Everyone in the building loved the bake shop a lot.
Except for the guy on the top floor, who most certainly did not.
If it were up to him, there wouldn’t be a hint of Christmas in the building.

For two months out of the year, Daphne Noelle got to live her dream of owning a bakery. Her little pop-up bake shop—one that looked just like a gingerbread house—brought joy to every customer who stopped by to enjoy her sweet treats. She loved meeting people and making them smile, and being in such a festive setting every day was just the icing on the cake! For the last three years, everything had gone smoothly, but this year, there was one guy who was determined to ruin it all.

One of the things Tristan appreciated most about the office complex where his architecture firm was located is how upscale and elegant it was. Unfortunately, every year for eight long weeks, a holiday shop set up in the lobby, turning it into the equivalent of a traveling circus, and the bake shop booth was the worst offender. The giant gingerbread house was an eyesore and the woman running it was too cheery for his liking. This year, he was determined to do everything he could to have her and her booth removed.

When Tristan finds himself in the middle of a delicate family situation, only Daphne can help him. Now, he’ll have to beg and plead and promise to be on his best behavior while dealing with her exuberant holiday joy. But the more time he spends with her—and the more awkward situations she saves him from—he begins to realize there’s more to her than over-the-top holiday cheer. And maybe, when you’re with the right person, Christmas can mean a little bit more.]]> 237 Samantha Chase Melissa 2 3.56 2024
author: Samantha Chase
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
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]]> 7805
Nabokov's darkly witty, richly inventive masterpiece is a suspenseful whodunit, a story of one-upmanship and dubious penmanship, and a glorious literary conundrum.

Part of a major new series of the works of Vladimir Nabokov, author of Lolita and Pale Fire, in Penguin Classics.]]> 246 Vladimir Nabokov Melissa 0 to-read 4.17 1962
author: Vladimir Nabokov
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 20325245 Peanuts.

Charles Schulz's Peanuts is one of the most timeless and beloved comic strips ever. Now AMP! helps carry on that legacy with new collections of Peanuts classics focused around topics sure to resonate with middle-grade readers. Second in the series is Charlie Brown and Friends. Whether it's the curious relationship between a bird, Woodstock, and a dog, Snoopy, or the never-ending crush that Peppermint Patty has on Charlie Brown, the gang's interactions are what make Peanuts resonate with kids.

First published in 1950, the classic Peanuts strip now appears in more than 2,200 newspapers in 75 countries in 25 languages. Phrases such as "security blanket" and "good grief", which originated in the Peanuts world, are now part of the global vernacular, and images of Charles Schulz's classic characters Charlie Brown kicking the football, Lucy leaning over Schroeder's piano, are now universally recognized.

Together these books will introduce a new generation of kids to the lovable cast in time for the new animated Peanuts movie, which hits theaters in 2015!]]> 224 Charles M. Schulz 1449452329 Melissa 0 4.50 1968
author: Charles M. Schulz
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
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]]> 22494733
1. Learn the most intimate secrets of London’s leading courtesan.
2. Pretend to be a courtesan yourself, using the name Juliet Leighton.
3. Travel to Venice and locate said husband.
4. Seduce husband, conceive an heir, and voilà, your future is secure!

For Julia, the Duchess of Colton, such a ruse promises to be foolproof. After all, her husband has not bothered to lay eyes on her in eight years, since their hasty wedding day when she was only sixteen. But what begins as a tempestuous flirtation escalates into full-blown passion—and the feeling is mutual. Could the man the Courtesan Duchess married actually turn out to be the love of her life?]]> 340 Joanna Shupe 142013552X Melissa 2 3.61 2015
author: Joanna Shupe
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
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]]> 386372
Death is the Grim Reaper of the Discworld, a black-robed skeleton with a scythe who ushers souls into the next world. He is also fond of cats and endlessly baffled by humanity. Soon Death is yearning to experience what humanity really has to offer, but to do that, he'll need to hire some help.

It's an offer Mort can't refuse. As Death's apprentice he'll have free board, use of the company horse—and being dead isn't compulsory. It's a dream job—until Mort falls in love with Death's daughter, Ysabell, and discovers that your boss can be a killer on your love life…]]> 243 Terry Pratchett 0061020680 Melissa 4 4.24 1987
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/16
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 222121360
What does Christmas look like to you? A tree rammed with homemade decorations, a mantelpiece weighed down with cards, Mum telling Dad not to put the chocolate wrappers back in the tin, a festive film on television...

It should definitely not look like a naked woman on her knees noshing off your boyfriend of three years in the shower.

It’s Christmas Eve eve, and the holidays are not off to a good start for, er, Eve.

After the surprise and shock of catching her boyfriend cheating, Eve �� totally devastated �� reacts by throwing the gifts she’s selflessly bought and wrapped for HIS family out of the window. But while doing so she discovers her own present from Chris under the Christmas tree: an engagement ring, bought at the jeweller’s where she works. What the jingle bells is going on? And what was he thinking?

Confused and with her Christmas plans in tatters, Eve rocks up at the jeweller's for some tea and sympathy with her lovely employers, Mr and Mrs Caspar, who quietly put in a distress call to her colleague, Joe. Eve doesn’t know that Joe is secretly in love with her, but her bosses do, and they know he’s just the person Eve needs to comfort her in a crisis.

Joe gets the call while moonlighting as a buff butler at a Christmas-themed hen do and races across town to help console Eve. But as he learns about her heartbreak, the Caspars realise a crucial delivery has gone astray: five gold rings destined for Christmas proposals and weddings have been sent to the wrong address.

Can Eve and Joe retrieve the rings and get them to their rightful owners in time?

As they set off in Joe’s ancient mini �� Joe still dressed as a sexy elf and Eve just a liiiittle bit tipsy �� their adventure begins. With three proposals and two weddings to get to, it’s up to Eve and Joe to save Christmas.

An utterly hilarious novel for anyone looking for festive romance with all the feels. If you have a hot date with Love Actually every Christmas you will adore this gloriously funny and unmissable festive read.]]> 9 Kristen Bailey Melissa 3 3.62 2023
author: Kristen Bailey
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
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]]> 221204998
It’s the flight before Christmas and Molly just got an unexpected gift: a free first-class upgrade on her plane trip home for the holidays. Bring on the complimentary cocktails! But after one too many, she spills all her secrets to the hot guy seated next to her—only to wake up mortified when her buzz has worn off. At least she never has to see Liam again ... or so she thinks.

When Molly arrives at Christmas House, the festive rental home that she and her family are sharing with her sister’s fiancé and his wealthy family, she discovers that Liam is one of the new in-laws. Oops. Now thanks to her boozy oversharing, he knows all her secrets—and they’ll be stuck in the same house all Christmas long. Double oops.

As their chemistry turns red-hot, will they be able keep their hands off each other long enough to navigate growing family drama? And what will Molly do when she discovers that Liam is hiding a scandalous secret of his own? Whatever happens, one thing is clear: These two are in for an unforgettable holiday ride.]]> A.J. Pine Melissa 2 3.41 2024
author: A.J. Pine
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
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]]> 220506847
A Christmas mission��

Mirren’s beloved great-aunt Violet is seriously ill. Her one Christmas wish is to be reunited with a long-lost hand-illustrated book from her childhood, a challenge Mirren gladly accepts to give Violet some much-needed festive cheer.

An enchanting journey��

With no sign of the cherished volume online, Mirren falls into the fascinating world of rare books. From London to snowy Hay-on-Wye and Edinburgh’s cobbled streets, she chases leads from bookshop to bookshop—and bumps into mysterious, charming Theo, who, unbeknownst to her, is searching for the same book for reasons of his own��

The start of a new chapter?

As the two join forces to track the book down before time runs out for Violet, will Mirren find her Christmas miracle—and maybe even a kiss under the mistletoe�� ?

For fans of Josie Silver, Jill Mansell and the Queen of Christmas herself, a snow-swept love story to warm even the coldest winter’s day.]]> 127 Jenny Colgan 1662522576 Melissa 2 3.73 2024
author: Jenny Colgan
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: contemp-romance, no-epub-edition-and-it-shows
review:

]]> 220389457
When Everleigh Dangerfield’s baking disaster necessitates a call to 911, firefighter Griffin Brantley douses the flames in the kitchen, but the ones he stokes in Everleigh are an entirely different story. Unfortunately, Everleigh’s only visiting and doesn’t do casual hookups, no matter how smoldering the temptation. But Everleigh’s holiday mishaps have just begun. And Griffin is seemingly always on call. If Everleigh is game for a change of plans, he can give her the merriest Christmas of her life.

Alexandria Bellefleur’s Merriment and Mayhem is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 58 Alexandria Bellefleur 1662529341 Melissa 2 3.28 2024
author: Alexandria Bellefleur
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 220389458 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.

All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.

Ali Hazelwood’s Cruel Winter with You is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 73 Ali Hazelwood 1662528396 Melissa 2 3.68 2024
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
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]]> 41051606 Welcome back to Willoughby Close, with four new residents and happy endings to deliver��

Olivia James has always been happy running a tea shop and bakery in the Cotswold village of Wychwood-on-Lea, and helping her friends find their happily-ever-afters, topped by the perfect wedding cake. But as Christmas approaches, Olivia is home alone and questioning her choices while eating too many of her own specialty confections.

When Simon Blacklock, a handsome, whimsical stranger, breezes into her shop and buys a cupcake and then returns the next day and the day after, Olivia begins to dream. Can romance blossom amidst the sugar and flour? And after a lifetime of living on the side lines, is she brave enough to star in her own story?

Simon may be hiding a painful secret, but Olivia harbors secrets of her own. If they can dare to risk their hearts, this Christmas might be the most magical yet!]]> 186 Kate Hewitt 1949068900 Melissa 2 3.40 2018
author: Kate Hewitt
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 221571058 Brighten the holidays with this funny, heartfelt rom-com about the stories—and the love—that we never forget.

When mystery author D. B. Ziegler is late delivering her book, Abi Schore steps in to help. Surely she can give her favorite author moral support over the holiday break and get the manuscript to her boss at Tea & Sympathy Publishing in time for the new year.

When Abi shows up on Ms. Ziegler’s doorstep bearing holiday treats, she’s met by the author’s handsome grandson Dov, who reveals a startling plot twist. His grandmother isn’t able to finish the book and Dov promised he’d complete it so fans won’t be disappointed—a task that’s harder than he ever imagined.

As Hanukkah unfolds, Abi and Dov cozy up in his grandmother’s brownstone apartment working their way through his writer’s block and untangling plot threads. Before long, the novel starts taking shape ... and so does their simmering attraction. Will their own story end once the book is written, or is this just the first chapter?]]> 4 Liz Maverick Melissa 2 3.49 2024
author: Liz Maverick
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
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]]> 203578812 A standalone darkly humorous thriller set in modern America's age of anxiety, by New York Times bestselling author Jason Pargin.

Outside Los Angeles, a driver pulls up to find a young woman sitting on a large black box. She offers him $200,000 cash to transport her and that box across the country, to Washington, DC.

But there are rules:

He cannot look inside the box.
He cannot ask questions.
He cannot tell anyone.
They must leave immediately.
He must leave all trackable devices behind.

As these eccentric misfits hit the road, rumors spread on social media that the box is part of a carefully orchestrated terror attack intended to plunge the USA into civil war.

The truth promises to be even stranger, and may change how you see the world.]]> 400 Jason Pargin 125028595X Melissa 0 to-read 3.97 2024
author: Jason Pargin
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 51101829 144 John Scalzi 1596069325 Melissa 4 3.94 2019
author: John Scalzi
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 203608552 A woman must learn to take life by the throat after a night out leads to irrevocable changes in this juicy, thrilling novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep.

Sloane Parker is dreading her birthday. She doesn’t need a reminder she’s getting older, or that she’s feeling indifferent about her own life.

Her husband surprises her with a birthday weekend getaway—not with him, but with Sloane’s longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi.

Sloane anticipates a weekend of wine tastings and cozy robes and strategic avoidance of issues she’d rather not confront, like her husband’s repeated infidelity. But when they arrive at their rental cottage, it becomes clear Naomi has something else in mind. She wants Sloane to stop letting things happen to her, for Sloane to really live. So Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane’s and Naomi’s lives literally forever.

The friends are forced to come to terms with some pretty eternal consequences in this bloody, seductive novel about how it’s never too late to find satisfaction, even though it might taste different than expected.]]> 304 Rachel Harrison 0593642546 Melissa 0 to-read 3.49 2024
author: Rachel Harrison
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 202469593 From the Booker Prize finalist author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two rivers, all under the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time. "Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf... you won't regret it." (Arundhati Roy)

In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.��

In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his Nineveh and Its Remains.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.��

In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.����

A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.”]]> 498 Elif Shafak 0593801725 Melissa 0 to-read 4.40 2024
author: Elif Shafak
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36348525
Candace won’t be able to make it on her own forever, though. Enter a group of survivors, led by the power-hungry IT tech Bob. They’re traveling to a place called the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew. But Candace is carrying a secret she knows Bob will exploit. Should she escape from her rescuers?

A send-up and takedown of the rituals, routines, and missed opportunities of contemporary life, Ling Ma’s Severance is a quirky coming-of-adulthood tale and satire.]]> 291 Ling Ma 0374261598 Melissa 3 3.90 2018
author: Ling Ma
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/26
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 51323358 Erica Slaughter may have slain the monster terrorizing the small Wisconsin town of Archer’s Peak, but now she sets off deeper into the woods -- because the monster she killed was a mother�� and now she needs to kill its children.

EVIL NEVER DIES...UNLESS ERICA SLAUGHTER KILLS IT.

Erica Slaughter may have slain the monster terrorizing the small Wisconsin town of Archer’s Peak, but the horror is far from over. As her mysterious handler arrives in town to clean up her mess and quarantine the townsfolk, Erica sets off deeper into the woods -- because the monster she killed was a mother�� and now she needs to kill its children.

GLAAD Award-winning writer James Tynion IV (Batman, The Woods) and artist Werther Dell’Edera (Briggs Land) present the next chapter of the critically acclaimed series that showed the world a new kind of horror.

Collects Something is Killing the Children #6-10.]]> 144 James Tynion IV 1684156491 Melissa 4 4.26 2020
author: James Tynion IV
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/11/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 51912023
This year, however, is even worse than usual. His interfering parents and grandparents, frustrated with the lack of weddings in the family, have invited blind dates for him and his three siblings. Nick’s brother Greg has been set up with Lily Tseng, who just so happens to be Nick’s latest one-night stand, the one he can’t get out of his mind.

Although Nick has never been interested in settling down, Lily has him reconsidering. Perhaps he’s good for more than a single night of sex, dumplings, and bubble tea after all. But first, he has to get through this painful weekend with his family and convince her that she should be with him, not Greg…]]> 119 Jackie Lau 1989610021 Melissa 2 3.60 2019
author: Jackie Lau
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 29901930
Soon, though, the men find themselves drawn into a tale as deep and old as the Reservoir. It's a tale of dark pacts, of long-buried secrets, and of a mysterious figure known as Der Fisher: the Fisherman. It will bring Abe and Dan face to face with all that they have lost, and with the price they must pay to regain it.]]> 266 John Langan 1939905214 Melissa 0 to-read 3.86 2016
author: John Langan
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57260279 An assassin falls for the archduke she was sent to kill, but killing him might be the only way to save his soul.

Magic has two immutable rules—every spell requires a sacrifice and every curse can be broken.

Amira Brindonu is a sorceress turned assassin, bound in a curse that forces her to obey her father, even to the point of high treason. When he orders her to kill the future emperor, she fails, but discovers a secret that could bring the whole of the empire to its knees.

The archduke is stricken by a curse that could sentence him and his people to damnation, but Amira could be the only key to breaking it. In a desperate last-ditch effort, the archduke takes Amira prisoner and makes a pact to protect her from her curse if she will help free him of his own.

As time begins to run out, Amira soon learns that there are enemies that blades can’t touch and there are fates worse than death. Caught in a web of sorcery, intrigue, and her growing feelings for the archduke, the assassin must decide just how much she is willing to give to save the only man she’s ever loved.

Every curse can be broken, but can two cursed people save each other?

Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher in this Fantasy Romance that is sure to delight fans of Sarah J. Maas, Kristin Cashore, and Leigh Bardugo.]]> 283 Elisabeth Wheatley Melissa 2 3.90 2021
author: Elisabeth Wheatley
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/22
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves:
review:
Don't care enough about these characters to continue.
]]> 518848
With Sabriel, the first installment in the Abhorsen series, Garth Nix exploded onto the fantasy scene as a rising star, in a novel that takes readers to a world where the line between the living and the dead isn't always clear—and sometimes disappears altogether.]]> 491 Garth Nix 0064471837 Melissa 3 4.17 1995
author: Garth Nix
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/19
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]]> 215179636 Thyme Travellers��collects fourteen of the Palestinian diaspora’s best voices in speculative fiction. Speculative fiction as a genre invites a reconfiguring of reality, and here each story is a portal into realms of history, folklore and futures.��


A man stands on the shore waiting to commune with those who live in the ocean. Pilgrims stretch into the distance, passing a stone cairn with a mysterious light streaming from it. Two Australian women fervently dig a tunnel to Jerusalem. Men from Gaza swim in the sea until they drown, still unconcerned. A father and son struggle to connect over the AI scripts prompting their conversation.


Building on the work of trailblazing anthologies such as��Reworlding Ramallah��and��Palestine +100, this volume is the first of its kind in Canada. Editor Sonia Sulaiman brings together stories by speculative fiction veterans and emerging writers from Australia to Egypt, Lebanon to Canada.��]]> 170 Sonia Sulaiman 1773637045 Melissa 0 to-read 4.12
author: Sonia Sulaiman
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/15
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]]> 57250642 A collection of light-hearted short stories following the lives of three young women and their cats.

Best friends Manon, Erika, and Camille see adventure every day, but when all three become cat owners, everything changes--for better or for worse! One cat's mischief gets him into trouble when he decides to play chase with the wrong prey. Another surprises the girls with his new skill--mimicking scary movies! And just when the girls decide to wind down for a calm and relaxing night, the cats declare play time! Grow up with these quirky cats and share in all the excitement and fun that comes with raising a cat.

From author Frédéric Brrémaud (Love, Little Tails) and artist Paola Antista (Disney Frozen, Sorceline) comes an all-ages humorous collection of all the joys of being a cat owner. Published for the first time in English, this volume collects three of the original six French albums.

Collects volumes 1-3 of the original French albums.]]> 152 Frédéric Brrémaud 1506726135 Melissa 2 3.06
author: Frédéric Brrémaud
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.06
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
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]]> 127280776
There are only three real powers in the universe: the corporate power of the Trust versus the Union's labor's leverage. And between them, the Guild tries to keep everyone's hands above the table. It ain't easy.

Branded a Guild deserter, Jal "accidentally" lands a ride on a Guild ship. Helmed by an AI, with a ship's engineer/medic who doesn't see much of a difference between the two jobs, and a "don't make me shoot you" XO, the Guild crew of the Ambit is a little . . . different.

They're also in over their heads. Responding to a distress call from an abandoned planet, they find a mass grave, and a live programmer who knows how it happened. The Trust has plans. This isn't the first dead planet, and it's not going to be the last.

Unless the crew of the Ambit can stop it.]]> 407 L.M. Sagas 1250871255 Melissa 2 3.83 2024
author: L.M. Sagas
name: Melissa
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/12
date added: 2024/11/12
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]]> 52757827 When children begin to go missing in the town of Archer’s Peak, all hope seems lost until a mysterious woman arrives to reveal that terrifying creatures are behind the chaos - and that she alone will destroy them, no matter the cost.

IT’S THE MONSTERS WHO SHOULD BE AFRAID.

When the children of Archer's Peak—a sleepy town in the heart of America—begin to go missing, everything seems hopeless. Most children never return, but the ones that do have terrible stories—impossible details of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows. Their only hope of finding and eliminating the threat is the arrival of a mysterious stranger, one who believes the children and claims to be the only one who sees what they can see.

Her name is Erica Slaughter. She kills monsters. That is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.

GLAAD Award-winning writer James Tynion IV (The Woods, Batman: Detective Comics) teams with artist Werther Dell’Edera (Briggs Land) for an all-new story about staring into the abyss.

Collects Something is Killing the Children #1-5]]> 128 James Tynion IV 1684155584 Melissa 4 4.15 2020
author: James Tynion IV
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/11
date added: 2024/11/11
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]]> 25403108 Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians is the first adventure in a fantasy series for young readers by the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson. The fast-paced and funny series is now available in deluxe hardcover editions illustrated by Hayley Lazo.

On his thirteenth birthday, foster child Alcatraz Smedry gets a bag of sand in the mail-his only inheritance from his father and mother. He soon learns that this is no ordinary bag of sand. It is quickly stolen by the cult of evil Librarians who are taking over the world by spreading misinformation and suppressing truth. Alcatraz must stop them, using the only weapon he has: an incredible talent for breaking things.]]> 287 Brandon Sanderson 0765378949 Melissa 4 4.00 2007
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/11/09
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]]> 199798813 This tour de force of investigative journalism—in the vein of The Next Civil War and Why We’re Polarized—depicts the United States of America as a country at a crossroads with the battle between the right and left spilling out from the darkest corners of the internet into the real world with often tragic consequences. Award-winning journalist and CNN correspondent Elle Reeve was not surprised by the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. With years of in-depth research and probing interviews under her belt, Reeve was aware of the preoccupations of the online far right and their journey from the computer to QAnon, militias, and racist groups. At the same time, Reeve saw a parallel growth of counterforces, with citizen vigilantes using new tools and tactics to take down the far right. This ongoing battle, long fought mainly on the internet, has spilled out into the real world with greater and greater frequency, culminating in the attempted coup on January 6th. Combining her years of on-the-ground reporting, Reeve clearly illustrates this shocking sweep of violence, where this cultural shift came from, and where it is going. She also introduces us to a shocking but powerful cast of characters, such as the creator of 8chan—an online hub for conspiracies and misogynistic rhetoric—and the white power leader who is still pulling the strings from a prison cell. Uncovering the hidden links between these events and how we can prevent further upheavals of this nature, Black Pill is a necessary read for any supporter of democracy.]]> 304 Elle Reeve 1982198885 Melissa 0 to-read 4.18 2024
author: Elle Reeve
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/08
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]]> 61358638 Reimagining the debate on poverty, making a new and bracing argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it.

The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?

In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.

Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.]]> 304 Matthew Desmond 0593239911 Melissa 0 to-read 4.27 2023
author: Matthew Desmond
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/08
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]]> 138505710
Not long ago, the celebrated activist and public intellectual Naomi Klein had just such an experience―she was confronted with a doppelganger whose views she found abhorrent but whose name and public persona were sufficiently similar to her own that many people got confused about who was who. Destabilized, she lost her bearings, until she began to understand the experience as one manifestation of a strangeness many of us have come to know but struggle to define: AI-generated text is blurring the line between genuine and spurious communication; New Age wellness entrepreneurs turned anti-vaxxers are scrambling familiar political allegiances of left and right; and liberal democracies are teetering on the edge of absurdist authoritarianism, even as the oceans rise. Under such conditions, reality itself seems to have become unmoored. Is there a cure for our moment of collective vertigo?

Naomi Klein is one of our most trenchant and influential social critics, an essential analyst of what branding, austerity, and climate profiteering have done to our societies and souls. Here she turns her gaze inward to our psychic landscapes, and outward to the possibilities for building hope amid intersecting economic, medical, and political crises. With the assistance of Sigmund Freud, Jordan Peele, Alfred Hitchcock, and bell hooks, among other accomplices, Klein uses wry humor and a keen sense of the ridiculous to face the strange doubles that haunt us―and that have come to feel as intimate and proximate as a warped reflection in the mirror.

Combining comic memoir with chilling reportage and cobweb-clearing analysis, Klein seeks to smash that mirror and chart a path beyond despair. Doppelganger What do we neglect as we polish and perfect our digital reflections? Is it possible to dispose of our doubles and overcome the pathologies of a culture of multiplication? Can we create a politics of collective care and undertake a true reckoning with historical crimes? The result is a revelatory treatment of the way many of us think and feel now―and an intellectual adventure story for our times.]]> 416 Naomi Klein 0374610320 Melissa 0 to-read 4.21 2023
author: Naomi Klein
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/08
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]]> 99395
Tackling one of the 20th century's greatest dilemmas, Allen demonstrates how this dictatorship subtly surmounted democracy and how the Nazi seizure of power encroached from below. Relying upon legal records and interviews with primary sources, Allen dissects Northeim, Germany with microscopic precision to depict the transformation of a sleepy town to a Nazi stronghold. In this cogent analysis, Allen argues that Hitler rose to power primarily through democratic tactics that incited localized support rather than through violent means.

Allen's detailed, analysis has indisputably become a classic. Revised on the basis of newly discovered Nazi documents, The Nazi Seizure of Power: The Experience of a Single German Town, 1922-1945 continues to significantly contribute to the understanding of this prominent political and moral dispute of the 1900s.]]> 388 William Sheridan Allen 0531056333 Melissa 0 to-read 4.08 1965
author: William Sheridan Allen
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1965
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/08
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]]> 978689 ��
That’s Milton Mayer, writing in a foreword to the 1966 edition of They Thought They Were Free. He’s right about the critics: the book was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1956. General readers may have been slower to take notice, but over time they did—what we’ve seen over decades is that any time people, across the political spectrum, start to feel that freedom is threatened, the book experiences a ripple of word-of-mouth interest. And that interest has never been more prominent or potent than what we’ve seen in the past year.
��
They Thought They Were Free is an eloquent and provocative examination of the development of fascism in Germany. Mayer’s book is a study of ten Germans and their lives from 1933-45, based on interviews he conducted after the war when he lived in Germany. Mayer had a position as a research professor at the University of Frankfurt and lived in a nearby small Hessian town which he disguised with the name “Kronenberg.�� “These ten men were not men of distinction,�� Mayer noted, but they had been members of the Nazi Party; Mayer wanted to discover what had made them Nazis. His discussions with them of Nazism, the rise of the Reich, and mass complicity with evil became the backbone of this book, an indictment of the ordinary German that is all the more powerful for its refusal to let the rest of us pretend that our moment, our society, our country are fundamentally immune.
��
A new foreword to this edition by eminent historian of the Reich Richard J. Evans puts the book in historical and contemporary context. We live in an age of fervid politics and hyperbolic rhetoric. They Thought They Were Free cuts through that, revealing instead the slow, quiet accretions of change, complicity, and abdication of moral authority that quietly mark the rise of evil.]]> 346 Milton Sanford Mayer 0226511928 Melissa 0 to-read 4.14 1955
author: Milton Sanford Mayer
name: Melissa
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1955
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/08
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]]>