en-US Sun, 06 Apr 2025 18:49:41 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 228142323 A father’s tarnished legacy drives a daughter to untangle a web of deception with the help of a photojournalist.

Jetta Ainsley’s life had been complicated enough as she navigates cleaning out the family home while her mother recovers from a car accident. When her dog is hurt, her next-door neighbor, Seth Whitman, offers his help. Seth would like to do more for Jetta but the walls she’s placed around her heart are unsurmountable.

Then she learns her late father had been accused of embezzlement, drawing Jetta into a web of secrets that could prove his innocence—or destroy her. When digging into her father’s past brings danger to their doorstep, Jetta turns to Seth for assistance in uncovering who stole millions before someone gets hurt.

Seth tries to protect Jetta and her mother from the increasing danger, while clues lead them ever deeper into a tangled conspiracy. Unraveling the sinister plot will require all their courage, faith, and trust in each other.

But will uncovering the truth clear her father’s name—or destroy their growing love for one another?]]> 372 Sarah Hamaker 1958375098 Janet 0 currently-reading 4.65
author: Sarah Hamaker
name: Janet
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 216269097 A timely celebration of quilting, family, community, and history in this latest novel in the perennially popular Elm Creek Quilts series from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini.

As fall paints the Pennsylvania countryside in flaming colors, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson is contemplating the future of her beloved Elm Creek Quilts. The Elm Creek Quilt Camp remains the most popular quilter’s retreat in the country, but unexpected financial difficulties have beset them and the Bergstrom family’s stately nineteenth-century manor. Now in her eighth decade, Sylvia is determined to maintain her family’s legacy, but she needs new resources—financial and emotional.

Summer Sullivan—a founding Elm Creek Quilter—arrives to discuss an antique quilt that she wants to display at the Waterford Historical Society’s quilt exhibit. When Sylvia and her sister Claudia were teenagers, they had entered a quilt in the Sears National Quilt Contest for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair. The Bergstrom sisters� quilt would be perfect for the Historical Society’s exhibit, Summer explains.

Sylvia is reluctant to lend out the quilt, which has been stored in the attic for decades, nearly forgotten. In keeping with the contest’s “Century of Progress� theme, the girls illustrated progress of values—scenes of the Emancipation Proclamation, woman’s suffrage, and labor unions. But although it won ribbons, the quilt also drove a wedge between the sisters.

As Sylvia reluctantly retraces her quilt’s story for Summer, she makes an unexpected discovery—one that restores some of her faith in this unique work of art, and helps shine some light on a way forward for the Elm Creek Quilts community.]]> 304 Jennifer Chiaverini 0063381753 Janet 0 to-read 3.99
author: Jennifer Chiaverini
name: Janet
average rating: 3.99
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 56416637 The USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids returns with a tale of two generations of women reconciling family secrets and past regrets.

Life’s beautiful for seventysomething influencer Gloria Rose, in her Upper West Side loft with rooftop garden and scores of Instagram followers—until she gets word that her old flame has been arrested for art theft and forgery. Knowing her own involvement in his misdeeds decades earlier, Gloria realizes she could be the next arrest and must flee. But first, she needs to make sure her nieces are protected from any fallout.

The sisters, though in their thirties, are still constantly at odds with each other. Willow, struggling to live up to their mother’s fame as a singer-songwriter, is recovering from a failed album and yet another heartbreak, while Sam is desperate to revive her floundering video game company.

When circumstances out of their control bring the three women back together, they will each have to reckon with and reconcile their interwoven traumas, past loves, and the looming consequences that could either destroy their futures or bring them closer than ever.]]> 361 Barbara O'Neal 1542021634 Janet 0 4.30 2021
author: Barbara O'Neal
name: Janet
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 20257116 288 Leslie Meier 0758277040 Janet 0 currently-reading, mystery 3.42 2014
author: Leslie Meier
name: Janet
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: currently-reading, mystery
review:

]]> 12047169 249 Leslie Meier 075822933X Janet 0 currently-reading, mystery 3.61 2012
author: Leslie Meier
name: Janet
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: currently-reading, mystery
review:

]]> 83822699
Psalm 23 is one of the most recognizable passages in the whole Bible. Though relatively short, this poetic depiction of God’s love epitomizes Christ’s goodness and provision as he leads his children. Even lifelong Christians will find fresh encouragement by closely studying these familiar words.

David Gibson walks through each verse in Psalm 23, thoroughly examining its 3 depictions of the believer’s union with Christ as sheep and shepherd, traveler and companion, and guest and host. Gibson provides canonical context for the Psalm’s beautiful imagery, inspiring praise and wonder as readers reflect on the loving Shepherd who meets every need.

Rich ĚýAdapted from 3 engaging sermons by David Gibson ĚýClosely examines Psalm 23’s imagery and what it reveals about the relationship between Christ and his followers Uplifting and ĚýEncourages deep reflection on Christ’s provision, comfort, and eternal strength With a Foreword by Sinclair Ferguson]]> 157 David Gibson 143358798X Janet 3 christian, devotional 4.73
author: David Gibson
name: Janet
average rating: 4.73
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: christian, devotional
review:

]]> 200174240
The small, rundown village of Great Diddling is full of stories—author Berit Gardner can feel it. The way the villagers avoid outsiders, the furtive stares and whispers in the presence of newcomers� Berit can sense the edge of a story waiting to be unraveled, and she's just the person to do it. In fact, with a book deadline looming over her and no manuscript (not even the idea for a manuscript, truth be told), Berit doesn't just want this story. She needs it.

Then, while attending a village tea party, Berit becomes part of the action herself. An explosion in the library of the village's grand manor kills a local man, and the resulting investigation and influx of outsiders sends the quiet, rundown community into chaos. The residents of Great Diddling, each one more eccentric and interesting than any character Berit could have invented, rewrite their own narrative and transform the death of one of their own from a tragedy into a new beginning. Taking advantage of Great Diddling's new notoriety, the villagers band together to start a book and murder festival designed to bring desperately-needed tourists to their town. What they couldn't have predicted is how the new story they've begun to tell will change all their lives forever.]]> 392 Katarina Bivald 1728295769 Janet 2 mystery 3.60 2024
author: Katarina Bivald
name: Janet
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: mystery
review:
Sorry to say, this book bored me. I kept hoping it would get better...meanwhile, it was perfect for helping me fall asleep at night!
]]> 144317719 Miss Annabel Ashton, a teacher at the Victorian-era Rogers School for Young Ladies, leaves to visit her family home, Highcliffe Hall at Milford-on-Sea. She believes her stay will be short but soon learns that she will not return to the safety of the school. Instead, she remains at Highcliffe, at the mercy of her cousin, Edward Everedge.

Annabel protests, but as the illegitimate daughter of a woman who died in an insane asylum, she has little agency. Running out of money, Edward puts Highcliffe for sale to avoid financial ruin. He insists that Annabel marry, promising her to a sinister, frightening man. But as the house gets packed, it begins to reveal disquieting secrets. Jewelry, artifacts, and portraits mysteriously appear, suggesting that Annabel may be the true heir of Highcliffe.

She has only a few months to prove her legitimacy, perhaps with assistance from the handsome but troubled Maltese Captain Dell’Acqua, who may not have Annabel’s best interests at heart after all.

And then, a final, most ominous barrier to her inheritance and her existence appears: a situation neither she nor anyone else could have expected. Will Annabel regain her life and property—and trust her heart—before it’s too late?]]> Sandra Byrd Janet 4 4.20 2016
author: Sandra Byrd
name: Janet
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/19
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: england, malta, historical-fiction, romance
review:

]]> 135187511 A Christy Award winner from the best-selling author of War Room!
In the small town of Dogwood, West Virginia, Karin has buried her shattered dreams by settling for a faithful husband whose emotional distance from her deep passions and conflicts leaves her isolated. Loaded with guilt, she tries to raise three small children and "do life" the best she can. Will returns to Dogwood intent on pursuing the only woman he has ever loved--only to find there is far more standing in his way than lost years in prison. The secrets of Will and Karin's past begin to emerge through Danny Boyd, a young boy who wishes he hadn't survived the tragedy that knit those two together as well as tore them apart. The trigger that will lay their pain bare and force them to face it rather than flee is the unlikely figure of Ruthie Bowles, a withered, wiry old woman who leads Karin so deep into her anger against God that it forces unexpected consequences.]]> Chris Fabry Janet 0 currently-reading 3.67 2008
author: Chris Fabry
name: Janet
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 12993569 194 Paul D. Wolfe 1848711433 Janet 4 4.43 2011
author: Paul D. Wolfe
name: Janet
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: christian-life, christian, nonfiction
review:
Excellent - the best book I've read on this topic, and so encouraging!
]]> 46222432
Lovely Digits is the town oddity�

But quirky spinster Lucy Wycliffe prefers to ignore gossip and embrace her position as the town’s layer out of the dead, despite how her parents� deaths thrust her into such unlikely work. Lovely Digits, as she’s known to the local townspeople, no longer dreams of marriage, but takes pride in providing dignity to the dead. Desperate to hold on to her family’s cottage and support her widowed sister and young niece, an unexpected offer of employment as assistant to the constable arrives at the perfect time.

Former sailor John Brodie is the mysterious new constable�

But John Brodie is far from a stranger to Clun or the events of its past. Accepting the position as constable in the small town is a double edged sword meant to heal his past and redeem his future, but falling for the beautiful and intelligent Lucy Wycliffe was never part of his plan. As the killer closes in, will John reveal his secret and risk losing everything to save Lucy’s life?]]> 210 Jeanine Englert 1682919161 Janet 3 historical-fiction 4.25 2019
author: Jeanine Englert
name: Janet
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: historical-fiction
review:

]]> 203578763 The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write a universally lauded bestseller?

But when Anna publishes her book and indulges in her own literary acclaim, she begins to receive excerpts of a novel she never expected to see again, a novel that should no longer exist. Something has gone wrong, and someone out there knows far too much about her late brother, her late husband, and possibly about Anna herself. What does this person want, and what are they prepared to do? She has come too far and worked too hard to lose what she values most: the sole and uncontested right to her own story—and she is, by any standard, a master storyteller.]]> 304 Jean Hanff Korelitz 1250875471 Janet 3 mystery, books-about-books 3.60 2024
author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
name: Janet
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: mystery, books-about-books
review:

]]> 196406205 Drawing on the little-known true story of one tragic night at an Ozarks dance hall in the author’s Missouri hometown, this beautifully written, endearingly nostalgic novel picks up 50 years later for afolksy, character-driven portrayal of small-town life, split second decisions, and the ways family secrets reverberate through generations.

From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention for readers of Kristy Woodson Harvey, Donna Everhart, Sue Monk Kidd, Jeannette Walls, and Rita Mae Brown�

"Anderson weaves a rich and poignant tale of a small Ozarks town's factual tragedy, its generational secrets and the juxtapose of searching and belonging. Vivid and evocative, this is a debut to savor."Ěý—Kim Michele Richardson, New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek series on The Flowers Sisters

Daisy Flowers is fifteen in 1978 when her free-spirited mother dumps her in Possum Flats, Missouri. It’s a town that sounds like roadkill and, in Daisy’s eyes, is every bit as dead. Sentenced to spend the summer living with her grandmother, the wry and irreverent town mortician, Daisy draws the line at working for the family business, Flowers Funeral Home. Instead, she maneuvers her way into an internship at the local newspaper where, sorting through the basement archives, she learns of a mysterious tragedy from fifty years earlier�

On a sweltering, terrible night in 1928, an explosion at the local dance hall left dozens of young people dead, shocking and scarring a town that still doesn’t know how or why it happened. Listed among the victims is a name that’s surprisingly familiar to Daisy, revealing an irresistible family connection to this long-ago accident.

Obsessed with investigating the horrors and heroes of that night, Daisy soon discovers Possum Flats holds a multitude of secrets for a small town. And hardly anyone who remembers the tragedy is happy to have some teenaged hippie asking questions about it � not the fire-and-brimstone preacher who found his calling that tragic night; not the fed-up police chief; not the mayor’s widow or his mistress; not even Daisy’s own grandmother, a woman who’s never been afraid to raise eyebrows in the past, whether it’s for something she’s worn, sworn, or done for a living.

Some secrets are guarded by the living, while others are kept by the dead, but as buried truths gradually comeĚýinto the light,Ěýthey’ll force a reckoning at last.

“A vivid blend of sensorial writing, historical detail, and memorable characters await in this compelling, surprising, insightful story of the weight of long-held secrets and the resulting hunger for truth.”Ěý–ĚýSusan Meissner, USA Today bestselling author of Only the Beautiful

Inspired by the true story of the Bond Dance Hall explosion, a tragedy that took place in the author’s hometown of West Plains, Missouri on April 13, 1928.

The cause of the blast has never been determined.]]> 392 Michelle Collins Anderson 1496748298 Janet 3 historical-fiction 4.32 2024
author: Michelle Collins Anderson
name: Janet
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: historical-fiction
review:

]]> 131068116 The ones that got away reunite at a big Italian wedding in this second-chance romance from debut author Ali Rosen, the James Beard Award–nominated writer and host of Potluck with Ali Rosen.

Stella Park is elated to celebrate her best friend’s wedding in the Italian countryside—and maybe she also needs this escape from her personal and her professional life. Writing recipes for a living isn’t all it’s cooked up to be.

But the revelry is short lived when she runs into the ex she hasn’t seen since she broke his heart ten years ago, Samuel Gordon. As her past gets propelled to the forefront, Stella tries not to question the choices she made a decade ago.

When Stella and Samuel keep getting pushed together during a weekend filled with delectable food, Indian and Italian wedding traditions, and unplanned detours in gorgeous locales, she attempts to ignore that maybe he really was the one that got away.

Playing it safe has always been Stella’s dependable rule book. But maybe Samuel is worth the risk—and perhaps some love stories just need more time to marinate.]]> 267 Ali Rosen 1662513690 Janet 3 3.74 2023
author: Ali Rosen
name: Janet
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 123227243 Ěý
Tens of millions of people sew for necessity or pleasure every day, yet the craft is surprisingly under-appreciated. The Point of the Needle redresses the this is a book that argues for sewing’s place in our lives. It celebrates not only sewing’s recent resurgence but sewists� creativity, well-being, and community. Barbara Burman chronicles new voices of people who sew today, by hand or machine, to explore what they sew, what motivates them, what they value, and why they mend things, revealing insights into sewing’s more intimate stories. In our age of superfast fashion with its environmental and social injustices, this eloquent book makes a passionate case for identity, diversity, resilience, and memory—what people create for themselves as they stitch and make.]]> 288 Barbara Burman 1789147190 Janet 3 sewing, nonfiction 3.83
author: Barbara Burman
name: Janet
average rating: 3.83
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves: sewing, nonfiction
review:
Interesting book. I enjoyed the earlier chapters (Hands, Hearts, and Needles; Learning to Sew; A Material World) the most, then it got pretty repetitive by the middle of the book. The author has decoupaged salient quotes from a wide variety of sources, old and new, along with her own conclusions. Perhaps the most valuable part of the book is the extensive bibliography and reference section in the back.
]]> 216375597 From the bestselling author of Recipe for Second Chances comes a swoonworthy romance bursting with wit about a therapist who falls for the wrong man…but perhaps the right one was hiding in the margins all along.

As a relationship therapist, Nora helps patients explore their feelings honestly. But she’s hiding an embarrassing relationship secret of her own: she’s in love with someone she’s never even met.

J edits the advice column Nora’s been writing anonymously for the last seven years. He’s in London, she’s in New York, and they communicate solely through shared files. When he confides that his girlfriend’s out of the picture, and her boss asks her to come to London, Nora takes both as a sign.

But that’s not the only thing on her mind. A client’s ex-boyfriend just moved into her co-op, directly beneath her. Eli blames Nora for his breakup and seems determined to make her life miserable, gleefully planning a noisy renovation.

Yet despite all his bluster, Nora eventually starts to see the softness behind Eli’s brusque, charming exterior…and after a slipup reveals a startling secret, Nora wonders whether someone can be two things at once.]]> 312 Ali Rosen 1662527934 Janet 3 3.89 2025
author: Ali Rosen
name: Janet
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 187016422 The Chicken Sisters.

Esther Larson has been cooking for funerals in the Northwoods of Wisconsin for seventy years. Known locally as the “funeral ladies,� she and her cohort have worked hard to keep the mourners of Ellerie County fed—it is her firm belief that there is very little a warm casserole and a piece of cherry pie can’t fix. But, after falling for an internet scam that puts her home at risk, the proud Larson family matriarch is the one in need of help these days. Iris, Esther’s whip-smart Gen Z granddaughter, would do anything for her family and her community.

As she watches her friends and family move out of their lakeside town onto bigger and better things, Iris wonders why she feels so left behind in the place she is desperate to make her home. But when Cooper Welsh shows up, she finally starts to feel like she’s found the missing piece of her puzzle. Cooper is dealing with becoming a legal guardian to his younger half-sister after his beloved stepmother dies. While their celebrity-chef father is focused on his booming career and top-ranked television show, Cooper is still hurting from a public tragedy he witnessed last year as a paramedic and finding it hard to cope. With Iris in the gorgeous Ellerie County, though, he hopes he might finally find the home he’s been looking for.

It doesn’t seem like a community cookbook could possibly solve their problems, especially one where casseroles have their own section and cream of chicken soup mix is the most frequently used ingredient. But when you mix the can-do spirit of Midwestern grandmothers with the stubborn hope of aĚýboyĚýraised by food plus a dash of long-awaited forgiveness—things might just turn out okay. Includes RecipesĚýĚýĚý]]> 272 Claire Swinarski 0063319888 Janet 0 to-read 3.69 2024
author: Claire Swinarski
name: Janet
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 197600308 From the bestselling author of Recipe for Second Chances comes a smart, sexy, heartfelt romance about a single mother juggling home life and career who finds unexpected complications while in Ireland for work.

Beatrice Leal’s personal life is complicated between her divorce and her precocious six-year-old. But the job she loves is the one thing she counts on to be straightforward—that is, until her boss’s own divorce prompts a move from NYC back to Ireland.

Now Bea’s in Ireland twice a month for work. It’s wreaking havoc on the custody agreement she and her moody ex are sorting out while he lives downstairs in the brownstone they co-own. And to top it off, her company’s new CTO turns out to be the boy who once broke her heart Jack Sander.

It’s been twenty years since Bea and Jack saw each other. Their lives are both messy. So when they hook up one night in Ireland, they plan to just keep it a work fling that stays there. But the more time they spend together, the more Bea wonders if happiness might not always mean needing to have your life in order.]]> 332 Ali Rosen 1662513712 Janet 3 3.81 2024
author: Ali Rosen
name: Janet
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 223199392 Two good neighbors make the best of a bad Valentine’s Day in a funny and improbably romantic short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer.

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and Charlotte and Seth are not looking for romance. Armed with emotional-support bear spray, Charlotte is in self-imposed isolation and on guard from men. Having a stalker can do that to a person’s nerves. Just across the hall and giving off woodsy vibes is Seth, a recently divorced arborist. As in today recently. Heights, he’s fine with. Trust? Not so much. But when disaster traps them one flight up and no way down, an outrageously precarious predicament forces a tree-loving guy and a rattled girl next door to embrace their captivity. Soon their defenses are breaking away. Considering how close they both are to the edge, Charlotte and Seth could be in danger of falling—in love.]]> 82 Abby Jimenez 1662529082 Janet 3 4.13 2025
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Janet
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 60522916
1939: Fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora evacuate their London home for a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the Aberdeen family in a charming stone cottage, Hazel distracts her young sister with a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own: Whisperwood.

But the unthinkable happens when Flora suddenly vanishes after playing near the banks of the River Thames. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, carrying the guilt into adulthood.

Twenty years later, Hazel is back in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore for a career at Sotheby’s. With a cherished boyfriend and an upcoming Paris getaway, Hazel’s future seems set. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing a picture book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the storybook world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years? Or is something sinister at play?

For fans of Kate Morton, Janet Skeslien Charles, and Kristin Hannah, this is a “fantastical� (Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author) celebration of sisterhood and the magic of storytelling wrapped up in a “heartrending, captivating tale of family, first love, and fate� (Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author).]]> 368 Patti Callahan Henry Janet 4 4.22 2023
author: Patti Callahan Henry
name: Janet
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 841110 32 Leo F. Buscaglia 0805010645 Janet 0 4.26 1982
author: Leo F. Buscaglia
name: Janet
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: end-of-life, psychology, children-s, death
review:

]]> 56464 Final Gifts has become a classic. In this moving and compassionate book, hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years experience tending the terminally ill.

Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the gifts—of wisdom, faith, and love—that the dying leave for the living to share.

Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them prepare emotionally and spiritually for death, Final Gifts shows how we can help the dying person live fully to the very end.]]> 239 Maggie Callanan 0553378767 Janet 0 to-read 4.36 1992
author: Maggie Callanan
name: Janet
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 180357146 From the New York Times-bestselling author of Cutting for Stone comes a stunning and magisterial epic of love, faith, and medicine, set in Kerala, South India, following three generations of a family seeking the answers to a strange secret

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, The Covenant of Water is set in Kerala, on India’s Malabar Coast, and follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning—and in Kerala, water is everywhere. At the turn of the century, a twelve-year-old girl from Kerala's Christian community, grieving the death of her father, is sent by boat to her wedding, where she will meet her forty-year-old husband for the first time. From this unforgettable new beginning, the young girl—and future matriarch, Big Ammachi—will witness unthinkable changes over the span of her extraordinary life, full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss, her faith and love the only constants.

A shimmering evocation of a bygone India and of the passage of time itself, The Covenant of Water is a hymn to progress in medicine and to human understanding, and a humbling testament to the hardships undergone by past generations for the sake of those alive today. Imbued with humor, deep emotion, and the essence of life, it is one of the most masterful literary novels published in recent years.]]> 724 Abraham Verghese 0802162177 Janet 0 to-read 4.34 2023
author: Abraham Verghese
name: Janet
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219315297 566 Fyodor Dostoevsky Janet 0 4.50 1866
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Janet
average rating: 4.50
book published: 1866
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 53501004
When Dr Madeleine Maxwell is recruited by the St Mary's Institute of Historical Research, she discovers the historians there don't just study the past - they revisit it.

But one wrong move and History will fight back - to the death. And Max soon discovers it's not just History she's fighting...

BOOK 1 IN THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING CHRONICLES OF ST MARY'S SERIES

For fans of Jasper Fforde, Doctor Who , Genevieve Cogman and Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club]]> 282 Jodi Taylor 1472264274 Janet 4 time-travel, science-fiction 4.13 2013
author: Jodi Taylor
name: Janet
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: time-travel, science-fiction
review:

]]> 211290229 From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes the heartfelt story of a woman determined to reunite a lost ring with its owner, who ends up finding herself along the way.

Mira Salvi has the perfect life—a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores, and the secure future she’s always imagined for herself. Really, she hasn’t a thing to complain about, not even when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York alone.

While playing tourist in the city, Mira chances upon a lost ring, and her social media post to locate its owner goes viral. With everyone trying to claim the ring, only one person seems to want to find its owner as badly as Mira journalist Krish Hale. Brooding and arrogant, he will do anything to get to write this story.

As Krish and Mira reluctantly join forces and jump into the adventure of tracing the ring back to where it belongs, Mira begins to wonder if she is in the right place in her own life. She had to have found this ring for a reason…right? Maybe, like the owner of the lost ring, her happy ending hasn’t been written yet either.]]> 314 Sonali Dev 1662524250 Janet 0 to-read 4.25 2025
author: Sonali Dev
name: Janet
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61349262 288 Jodie Berndt 0310361575 Janet 0 4.64
author: Jodie Berndt
name: Janet
average rating: 4.64
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: currently-reading, christian, christian-life, prayer
review:

]]> 210832955 A costume designer’s past casts a long shadow over her well-constructed lies in this intriguing story about stolen identities, friendship, and betrayal from the author of A Splendid Ruin and A Dangerous Education.

Hollywood, 1955. As head costume designer for Lux Pictures, Lena Taylor hears startling confessions from the biggest movie stars. She knows how to keep their secrets—after all, none of their scandals can match her own.

Lena was once Elsie Gruner, the daughter of an Ohio dressmaker. Her gift for fashion design helped her win a coveted spot at an art academy in Rome. While in Italy, she became enthralled by the charismatic Julia, who drew her into a shadowy world of jazz clubs, code words, and mysterious deliveries. When one of Julia’s intrigues ended in murder, Elsie found herself in the middle of a bewildering sinister international plot. So she ran.

After fleeing to LA, Elsie became Lena—but she’s never stopped looking over her shoulder. Now, as her engagement to a screenwriter throws her into the spotlight, she’s terrified her façade won’t hold up. Will she figure out the truth about her past before everything falls apart?]]> 369 Megan Chance 1662515782 Janet 3 historical-fiction, cold-war 4.04 2025
author: Megan Chance
name: Janet
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/24
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: historical-fiction, cold-war
review:

]]> 213568974 A mother and daughter try desperately to reconcile just as a decades-old secret threatens to shatter their relationship forever in this powerful story from the bestselling author of The Echo of Old Books.

For social worker Mallory Ward, working with at-risk youth is a calling. But when one of her clients is tragically killed, she finds herself at a crossroads. Despite long-held resentments toward her distant mother, Mallory retreats to her childhood home on the Rhode Island coast to contemplate her future. Instead, she’s confronted by her past, not only in the renewed tensions with her mother but in the unexpected appearance of a familiar face―and the wrenching losses that drove her away a decade ago.

Helen Ward’s home is filled with precious keepsakes from her patients, a testament to decades spent caring for the terminally ill. Her work has always come first, though, leaving little time to connect with her daughter. Over the years, the rift between them has become a chasm, so when Mallory appears unannounced, Helen sees it as an opportunity to repair their broken relationship.

But hidden among Helen’s mementos are the keys to her past…and a terrible secret that threatens to destroy the fragile new trust between them forever.]]> 404 Barbara Davis 1662514484 Janet 0 to-read 4.40 2025
author: Barbara Davis
name: Janet
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219838797 Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Hollywood, Typewriter Beach is an unforgettable story of the unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star.

1957. Isabella Giori is ten months into a standard seven-year studio contract when she auditions with Hitchcock. Just weeks later, she is sequestered by the studio’s “fixer� in a tiny Carmel cottage, waiting and dreading.

Meanwhile, next door, Léon Chazan is annoyed as hell when Iz interrupts his work on yet another screenplay he won’t be able to sell, because he’s been blacklisted. Soon, they’re together in his roadster, speeding down the fog-shrouded Big Sur coast.

2018. Twenty-six-year-old screenwriter Gemma Chazan, in Carmel to sell her grandfather’s cottage, finds a hidden safe full of secrets—raising questions about who the screenwriter known simply as Chazan really was, and whether she can live up to his name.

In graceful prose and with an intimate understanding of human nature, Meg Waite Clayton captures the joys and frustrations of being a writer, being a woman, being a star, and being in love. Typewriter Beach is the story of two women separated by generations—a tale of ideas and ideals, passion and persistence, creativity, politics, and family.]]> 320 Meg Waite Clayton 006342214X Janet 0 to-read 4.50
author: Meg Waite Clayton
name: Janet
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55712698 This novel follows a teen girl during her California summer of beekeeping, secrets, and stolen kisses.

Josie Hazeldine has just graduated from high school, and she’s ready for a summer full of sunshine, beekeeping, and…lying to her mom.

Josie’s mom couldn’t be more proud of her daughter going to college, something she never got to do. But Josie wants to stay in her California hometown and take over the family business, Hazeldine Honey. So that college acceptance her mom is thrilled about? Yeah, Josie turned it down. But she’s going to come clean—just not yet.

The neighbor’s artsy, adorable grandson who’s in town for the summer makes Josie’s web of lies even more tangled. He’s into Josie and the feeling is very mutual, but he’s a Blumstein—the sworn enemy of the Hazeldines and their number one competition in the annual Honey Show at the end of July. As their secret fling goes on, Josie knows she’s getting in way too deep to leave him behind when summer’s over.

Can Josie keep the boy she can’t stop thinking about without the secrets she’s juggling crashing down around her?]]> 366 Amelia Diane Coombs 1534453024 Janet 3 young-adult, mental-health
Good portrayal of a young person who suffers from anxiety disorder.]]> 3.73 2021
author: Amelia Diane Coombs
name: Janet
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: young-adult, mental-health
review:
Designed for younger readers, but there are sex scenes and language.

Good portrayal of a young person who suffers from anxiety disorder.
]]> 62918182 Hacks gets a romantic twist in the vein of Jenn Bennett in this “simmering� (Publishers Weekly) novel about a standoffish teen girl whose loner status gets challenged by a dynamic elderly woman and a perpetually cheerful boy.

Eloise Deane is the worst and doesn’t care who knows it. She’s grumpy, prefers to be alone, and is just slogging through senior year with one get accepted to USC and move to California. So when her guidance counselor drops the bombshell that to score a scholarship she’ll desperately need, her applications require volunteer hours, Eloise is up for the challenge. Until she’s paired with LifeCare, a volunteer agency that offers social support to lonely seniors through phone calls and visits. Basically, it’s a total nightmare for Eloise’s anxiety.

Eloise realizes she’s made a huge mistake—especially when she’s paired with Austin, the fellow volunteer who’s the sunshine to her cloudy day. But as Eloise and Austin work together to keep Marianne Landis—the mysterious former frontwoman of the 1970s band the Laundromats—company, something strange happens. Eloise actually…likes Marianne and Austin? She isn’t sure what to do with that, especially when her feelings toward Austin begin to blur into more-than-friends territory.

And when ex-girlfriends, long-buried wounds, and insecurities reappear, Eloise will have a choice to go all in with Marianne and Austin or get out before she gets hurt.]]> 349 Amelia Diane Coombs 153449359X Janet 4 4.09 2023
author: Amelia Diane Coombs
name: Janet
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: young-adult, high-school, mental-health
review:
Charming story featuring a high school senior with anxiety and depression issues. Love this author's sense of humor! Unfortunately, plenty of foul language.
]]> 51181015 224 Morgan Housel 085719769X Janet 4 finance, money, psychology Refreshing Read

Housel brings a refreshing dose of reality to the subject of money. How did we get where we are today as a nation, and how will that affect my personal financial decisions? This little book is full of facts cleverly presented with common sense insights. An enjoyable read. ]]> 4.50 2020
author: Morgan Housel
name: Janet
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/26
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: finance, money, psychology
review:
Refreshing Read

Housel brings a refreshing dose of reality to the subject of money. How did we get where we are today as a nation, and how will that affect my personal financial decisions? This little book is full of facts cleverly presented with common sense insights. An enjoyable read.
]]> 581289 197 Kendall Farr 1592400418 Janet 0 3.66 2004
author: Kendall Farr
name: Janet
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: currently-reading, clothing, fashion
review:

]]> 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

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

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

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett Janet 5 4.47 2024
author: Percival Everett
name: Janet
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:
The theme makes it difficult to read in places, but there is deep truth here. Everyone should read this book. It’s not just about black and white, but any person who feels superior to anyone else.
]]> 1923820 Kršćani Bibliju proučavaju kao svoju normativnu, za život smjerodavnu knjigu u kojoj oni nalaze poruku - riječ Božju. No, Biblija je uz to i spomenik historije čovječanstva, jedna od najstarijih knjiga, u kojoj je genij Hebreja na svoj način asimilirao i dalje obogatio razmišljanje i mudrost drevne Mezopotamije i Egipta, da je onda, obogaćenu grčkim genijem, po Novom zavjetu i daljnjem kršćanskom razmišljanju unese u tadašnji grčko-rimski svijet. Po postanku i jeziku, po sadržaju i stilu, po slikovitosti i metaforici, Biblija nije jedna knjiga, nego zbir knjiga koje su nastajale u razdoblju od 13. st. pr. Kr do 2. st. po Kr.
Biblija je za kršćane sveta, inspirirana i kanonska knjiga. Za svakog čovjeka Biblija je istovremeno zbirka povijesnih isprava i književno djelo izvorne i neprolazne umjetničke snage. Ona pripada zajedničkoj kulturi čovječanstva.
Stari zavjet u Bibliji Stvarnosti plod je mnogostruko udruženog rada hrvatskih bibličara i književnika. Kao polazišni tekst izabran je prijevod Antuna Sovića, s tim da je Petoknjižje preveo Silvije Grubišić, Psalme Filibert Gass, a Pjesmu nad pjesmama Nikola Miličević. Novi zavjet preveo je Ljudevit Rupčić.]]> 1590 Anonymous Janet 0 4.44 1611
author: Anonymous
name: Janet
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1611
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 18154 Cliff Stoll was an astronomer turned systems manager at Lawrence Berkeley Lab when a 75-cent accounting error alerted him to the presence of an unauthorized user on his system. The hacker's code name was "Hunter" -- a mysterious invader who managed to break into U.S. computer systems and steal sensitive military and security information. Stoll began a one-man hunt of his spying on the spy. It was a dangerous game of deception, broken codes, satellites, and missile bases -- a one-man sting operation that finally gained the attention of the CIA...and ultimately trapped an international spy ring fueled by cash, cocaine, and the KGB.]]> 399 Clifford Stoll 1416507787 Janet 4 4.27 1989
author: Clifford Stoll
name: Janet
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1989
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves:
review:
What a great read, even after all these years! Wish I could meet the author, a brilliant American hero, in person.
]]> 212376169 When a romance author meets a mysterious stranger, love is the last thing she expects to find in a funny and heartfelt novel about second chances by a New York Times bestselling author.

A city girl leaves her life behind in LA to start over in a small town�

It’s a cliché, but it’s also Amelia Taylor’s life. And her new life as a romance novelist and motelier is going great—until Nathan Hart checks in.

Of course he’s disastrously handsome, thoroughly disagreeable, and seems to be set against Amelia on sight. Of course there’s smoldering tension between them that can’t be ignored. They’d make the perfect enemies to lovers story. It’s one of Amelia’s favorite tropes.

But the man in room 32 seems genuinely broken, and it’s going to take more than romance tropes and wishful thinking to get past his wounds. As a tentative friendship grows into a deeper connection, Amelia and Nathan both realize that facing each other’s painful secrets takes courage. Do they dare take the risk and hope it ends happily after all?]]> 320 Maisey Yates 1662526369 Janet 4 3.88 2025
author: Maisey Yates
name: Janet
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 213004602 “Compulsively readable, Drop Dead Sisters is perfect for readers who love shows like Bad Sisters and Dead to Me. A mystery about three estranged sisters who accidentally kill someone? Yes, please.� —Mindy Kaling

Three sisters reunite on a family vacation and rekindle their relationship the only way they know how—by covering each other’s tracks in a real-life murder mystery not even they can figure out.

Remi Finch has spent the better part of her adult life avoiding family—especially her sisters. They just don’t click. Besides, her unconventional upbringing and major anxiety have convinced Remi that she can’t build a relationship with anyone. Period.

When her parents plan a family reunion camping trip to celebrate their anniversary, Remi’s willing to reconnect, if only because she doesn’t have a choice. But then a dead body turns up at their campsite, and their sisterly bonding kicks into high gear.

No one knows the whole story, but the Finch women are prepared to cover up the pieces before anyone tries to put them together. It’s a precautionary measure, probably unnecessary. Nobody else was there, so how could they have seen anything?

Between old grudges and new dynamics, a handsome park ranger, and a body that won’t stay hidden, Remi is about to learn that nothing strengthens family ties quite like crime.]]> 255 Amelia Diane Coombs 1662522746 Janet 4 mystery, romance, humor 3.75 2024
author: Amelia Diane Coombs
name: Janet
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: mystery, romance, humor
review:

]]> 203613889
Until Scandinavia converted to Christianity and came under the rule of powerful kings, the Vikings were a dominant force in the medieval world. Outfitted with wind-powered sailing ships, they left their mark, spreading terror across Europe, sacking cities, deposing kings, and ransacking entire economies. After the Vikings, the world was never the same.

But as much as we know about this celebrated culture, there is a large missing piece: its women. All but ignored by contemporary European writers, these shadowy figures were thought to have played little part in the famous feats of the Vikings, instead remaining at home as wives, mothers, and homemakers.

In this cutting-edge, revisionist portrait, renowned science journalist Heather Pringle turns those assumptions on their head, using the latest archaeological research and historical findings to reveal this group as they actually were. Members of a complex society rich in culture, courage, and a surprisingly modern gender ideology, the women of the Viking age were in fact forces to be reckoned with, serving as:

Sorceresses
Warriors
Traders
Artisans
Explorers
Settlers
Landowners
Power brokers
Queens

Both ambitious and compelling, THE NORTHWOMEN is the true story of some of the most captivating figures of the Viking world—and what they reveal about the modern age.]]> 336 Heather Pringle 1426222025 Janet 4
Anyone with Northern European heritage should read this interesting book.

There's also a huge bibliography for further reading. ]]> 4.04
author: Heather Pringle
name: Janet
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/08
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: medieval, history, vikings, nordic, nonfiction
review:
New research on the Viking Age reveals that women were far more important to that society than previously thought. They were voyagers, weavers, protectors, estate managers, slaves, and even fierce warriors.

Anyone with Northern European heritage should read this interesting book.

There's also a huge bibliography for further reading.
]]> 200034606
Holly is dealing with the impending death of her grandmother and still reeling from a bad breakup. One bright spot: a Valentine’s Day card on Holly’s windshield—even if it wasn’t meant for her. An amusing mistake soon turns into a lovely exchange of anonymous notes, little acts of kindness, and a growing affection between two strangers. What happens when one of them has to say goodbye?]]> 61 Abby Jimenez 166251963X Janet 3 3.99 2024
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Janet
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 200033357 New York Times bestselling authors of The Unhoneymooners.

One typo, and a boy and girl connect by chance. Wishing each other a happy Valentine’s Day isn’t the end. In fact, it becomes a friendly annual tradition—with rules: no pics, no real names, nothing too personal. As years pass, the rules for their email “dates� are breaking, and they’re sharing more than they imagined—including the urge to ask�what if we actually met?

Christina Lauren’s The Exception to the Rule is part of The Improbable Meet-Cute, irresistibly romantic stories about finding love when and where you least expect it. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.]]> 101 Christina Lauren 1662519893 Janet 3 4.21 2024
author: Christina Lauren
name: Janet
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves:
review:

]]> 6426403 277 Paul E. Miller 1600063004 Janet 5 christian, christian-life 4.33 2009
author: Paul E. Miller
name: Janet
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/30
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: christian, christian-life
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 Janet 0 3.68 2024
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Janet
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:

]]> 201751505 DECEPTION IS A FINE ART.

When Orlando Whitfield first meets Inigo Philbrick, they are students dreaming of dealing art for a living. Their friendship lasts for fifteen years until one day, Inigo - by then the most successful dealer of his generation - disappears, accused of a fraud so gigantic and audacious it rocks the art world to its core.

A sparklingly sharp memoir of greed, ambition and madness, All That Glitters will take you to the heart of the contemporary art world, a place wilder and wealthier than you could ever imagine.]]> 336 Orlando Whitfield 0593316746 Janet 3 truecrime, art, autobiography 3.58 2024
author: Orlando Whitfield
name: Janet
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: truecrime, art, autobiography
review:
Interesting insight into the world of modern art. True crime.
]]> 220389465 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey.

Evie Crowe is starting over in a strange town with her newborn, and men are the furthest thing from her mind. If only the quiet, hulking farmer, Luke Ward, would stop coming into the thrift shop and piquing her reluctant interest. Evie wants to stay single all the way—she can’t trust anything more than friends-with-holiday-benefits. But Luke is in it for the long haul. He’s fixed on making this a Christmas Evie will remember forever. If she gives him a chance.

Tessa Bailey’s Merry Ever After 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.]]> 59 Tessa Bailey 1662528736 Janet 0 2.79 2024
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Janet
average rating: 2.79
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 3864007 A delicious and intriguing historical novel about the woman who was William Shakespeare’s secret wife� by New York Times–bestselling author, Karen Harper.

In Mistress Shakespeare, Elizabethan beauty Anne Whateley reveals intimate details of her dangerous, daring life and her great love, William Shakespeare. As historical records show, Anne Whateley of Temple Grafton is betrothed to Will just days before he is forced to wed the pregnant Anne Hathaway of Shottery. The clandestine Whateley/Shakespeare match is a meeting of hearts and heads that no one—not even Queen Elizabeth or her spymasters—can destroy. From rural Stratford-upon- Avon to teeming London, the passionate pair struggles to stay solvent and remain safe from Elizabeth I’s campaign to hunt down secret Catholics, of whom Shakespeare is rumored to be a part. Often at odds, always in love, the couple sells Will’s first plays and, as he climbs to theatrical power in Elizabeth’s England, they fend off fierce competition from rival London dramatists, ones as treacherous as they are talented. Persecution and plague, insurrection and inferno, friends and foes, even executions of those they hold dear, bring Anne’s heartrending story to life.

Spanning half a century of Elizabethan and Jacobean history and sweeping from the lowest reaches of society to the royal court, this richly textured novel tells the real story of Shakespeare in love.]]> 366 Karen Harper 0399155457 Janet 3 historical-fiction 3.71 2009
author: Karen Harper
name: Janet
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: historical-fiction
review:
I just finished this book and really enjoyed it. Interesting historical fiction about Shakespeare's "other" wife from her point of view.
]]> 222544
With the ink dry on her divorce papers, Natalie Goodwin feels life is running just the way she wants it. Her new flower shop is set for its grand opening, and her daughter is enjoying her first semester in college. The house is clean, the bills are paid and cooking dinner every night is now an option. Natalie admits she's just a teeny bit lonely, but recent dating experiences have left her convinced that Mr. Right does not live in Boise, Idaho.

But life has a big surprise for Natalie and he lives right across the street! Never in her wildest dreams did she think she could fall for a man nine years her junior, but then she has never met a man like firefighter Tony Cruz. Now the sparks are flying, but will they light Natalie's fire...or land her newfound independence in hot water?]]> 384 Stef Ann Holm 077832222X Janet 3 3.63 2005
author: Stef Ann Holm
name: Janet
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 9125846 160 Weeks Ringle 1607050153 Janet 4 4.20 2010
author: Weeks Ringle
name: Janet
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 17153552 80 Amy Ellis 1604683236 Janet 3 quilting 3.67 2013
author: Amy Ellis
name: Janet
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves: quilting
review:

]]> 19111501 Sewists of all skill levels can easily create quilts of various sizes from just one block with this step-by-step guide.Back to square one. Here are 22 exciting quilts, and all you need is one simple block pattern to make each one! From throws and wall hangings to queen-sized blankets, sewists of all skill levels will be inspired to create something new by manipulating this one simple block pattern with interesting fabrics, unusual shapes, and expressive lines. Expert quilters provide clear step-by-step instructions and a quiltmaking overview to help you from start to finish.� One-block quilts are beginner-friendly, with fast, easy piecing and endless design options by changing up fabric choices� Great 22 quilts in 3 sizes each - baby, wall, and queen - 66 quilt possibilities in all!� Graphic designs are perfect for use in home décorPraise for Modern One-Block Quilts“All you need is one simple block pattern to make 22 exciting projects. The manipulation of this one pattern is easy and beginner-friendly because of fast easy piecing. Interesting fabrics, unusual shapes and expressive lines make the difference. Clear step-by-step instructions and an overview will help you create throws, wall hangings and queen-sized quilts from start to finish.� —Quilter’s Digest]]> 271 Natalia Bonner Janet 3 quilting 4.09 2013
author: Natalia Bonner
name: Janet
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves: quilting
review:

]]> 79834
"Vincent is not dead. He will never die. His love, his genius, the great beauty he has created will go on forever, enriching the world... He was a colossus... a great painter... a great philosopher... a martyr to his love of art. "

Walking down the streets of Paris the young Vincent Van Gogh didn't feel like he belonged. Battling poverty, repeated heartbreak and familial obligation, Van Gogh was a man plagued by his own creative urge but with no outlet to express it. Until the day he picked up a paintbrush.

Written with raw insight and emotion, follow the artist through his tormented life, struggling against critical discouragement and mental turmoil and bare witness to his creative journey from a struggling artist to one of the world's most celebrated artists.]]> 431 Irving Stone 0099416425 Janet 4 4.22 1934
author: Irving Stone
name: Janet
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1934
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves: historical-fiction, biography, art, mental-health
review:

]]> 61153739 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER � A groundbreaking manifesto on living better and longer that challenges the conventional medical thinking on aging and reveals a new approach to preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health, from a visionary physician and leading longevity expert

Wouldn’t you like to live longer? And better? In this operating manual for longevity, Dr. Peter Attia draws on the latest science to deliver innovative nutritional interventions, techniques for optimizing exercise and sleep, and tools for addressing emotional and mental health.

For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of aging that kill most people: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and type 2 diabetes. Too often, it intervenes with treatments too late to help, prolonging lifespan at the expense of healthspan, or quality of life. Dr. Attia believes we must replace this outdated framework with a personalized, proactive strategy for longevity, one where we take action now, rather than waiting.

This is not “biohacking,� it’s science: a well-founded strategic and tactical approach to extending lifespan while also improving our physical, cognitive, and emotional health. Dr. Attia’s aim is less to tell you what to do and more to help you learn how to think about long-term health, in order to create the best plan for you as an individual. In Outlive, readers will discover:

� Why the cholesterol test at your annual physical doesn’t tell you enough about your actual risk of dying from a heart attack.
� That you may already suffer from an extremely common yet underdiagnosed liver condition that could be a precursor to the chronic diseases of aging.
� Why exercise is the most potent pro-longevity “drug”—and how to begin training for the “Centenarian Decathlon.�
� Why you should forget about diets, and focus instead on nutritional biochemistry, using technology and data to personalize your eating pattern.
� Why striving for physical health and longevity, but ignoring emotional health, could be the ultimate curse of all.

Aging and longevity are far more malleable than we think; our fate is not set in stone. With the right roadmap, you can plot a different path for your life, one that lets you outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before.]]> 496 Peter Attia 0593236599 Janet 0 to-read 4.33 2023
author: Peter Attia
name: Janet
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 209629322
A beautifully designed edition of number-one New York Times bestselling author Ann Patchett's prized classic, annotated and with an introduction by the author herself.

"Tremendous fun... Rereading this terrific novel with [Patchett]... is a master class in fiction writing conveyed in marginalia that has the tone of an ideal dinner conversation." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post

First published in 2001, Bel Canto is possibly Ann Patchett's most beloved novel. Set in an unnamed South American country, at the home of the vice president, it is the story of a lavish birthday party honoring Mr. Hosokawa, a powerful Japanese businessman. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has enthralled the international guests with a mesmerizing performance. The evening is perfect--until a band of gun-wielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But in Patchett's skilled hands, what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots. Friendship, compassion, and the chance for great love lead the characters to forget the real danger that has been set in motion--and cannot be stopped.

Now, more than two decades after this bold and artistically daring novel's debut, Patchett revisits her early work. In this special annotated edition, the acclaimed prize-winning author opens the story to readers, providing enlightening commentary on her original version, including reflections on her narrative choices and style. A mature writer looking back at her younger self, Patchett takes us deep into her creative process and considers her career and growth as an artist, from that novel to her most recent, Tom Lake.

Funny, full of insight, informal, and often unexpectedly moving, this annotated edition is an intimate encounter with a celebrated novelist, an opportunity to reconsider a great work through her eyes, and a guide for anyone who wants to understand how a novel takes form.]]> 352 Ann Patchett 006341936X Janet 0 to-read 4.16 2001
author: Ann Patchett
name: Janet
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 45032 488 Jane Austen Janet 4 3.86 1814
author: Jane Austen
name: Janet
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 181346630
Paul Bunyan—legendary larger-than-life American lumberjack—is a man down on his luck. With a load of family debts on his broad back, he ekes out a miserable miner’s life in Lump Town, a bleak hamlet controlled by famed industrialist El Boffo. When Bunyan’s wife Lucette falls ill with a disease caused by the toxic mineral Lump, he embarks on a quest to save her. His only guide: the Chilali—a mysterious creature who speaks only in questions.

Bunyan’s path leads to The Windy City—and to John Henry. Henry is not yet the “steel-drivin’� man known to folklore, but a fugitive on the run from a rigged, racist prison system. As Bunyan and Henry strive to reunite with the families they love, they must work together to solve riddles, forge weapons, brawl with a behemoth, and confront at every turn the relentless, duplicitous El Boffo.

A richly imaginative reinvention of myth, Bunyan and Henry is at once a timeless quest, a fresh origin story, and an urgent modern fable that wrestles with the two sides of the American dream—its wild idealism and cruel underbelly—to inspire the awakening of the folk hero in us all.]]> 352 Mark Cecil 0593471164 Janet 4 3.88 2024
author: Mark Cecil
name: Janet
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves:
review:
An absorbing odyssey of two great folk heroes who encounter and endure lies and prejudice while trying to reach their worthy goals. A perceptive satire of American society today. A delightful tale, rich in humor and hope. A reminder that Light conquers Darkness in the end.
]]> 176443519
“Sex, suspense, and the supernatural fuel this propulsive debut.� � People

A young author is invited to an exclusive writer’s retreat that soon descends into a pulse-pounding nightmare—in the vein of The Plot and Please Join Us .

Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives a once-in-a-lifetime attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn’t dampen her excitement.

But when the attendees arrive, Roza drops a bombshell—they must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author of the best one will receive a life-changing seven-figure publishing deal. Determined to win this seemingly impossible contest, Alex buckles down and tries to ignore the strange happenings at the estate, including Roza’s erratic behavior, Wren’s cruel mind games, and the alleged haunting of the mansion itself. But when one of the writers vanishes during a snowstorm, Alex realizes that something very sinister is afoot. With the clock running out, she must discover the truth—or suffer the same fate.

A claustrophobic and propulsive thriller that “will keep you up all night with its intriguing premise and gasp-worthy twists� (Kirthana Ramisette, author of Dava Shastri’s Last Day ), The Writing Retreat expertly explores the dark side of female relationships, fame, and the desire to have our stories told.]]> 320 Julia Bartz 1982199466 Janet 0 to-read 3.41 2023
author: Julia Bartz
name: Janet
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 209771548 From a USA Today bestselling author comes a poignant, funny, and heartfelt novel about a wife and mother grabbing hold of a second chance she never saw coming.

Vivian Quackenbush enjoys a typical life. She has winesday evenings with her two best friends. Her son is in college. She and her husband, Mitch, are planning the next move for their empty-nester future. But to Vivian’s blindsided surprise…not together.

After nearly twenty-five years of marriage, Mitch wants a divorce. He confesses that he doesn’t love her anymore. He never even liked her chicken salad! Brutal. What is Vivian to do but channel her anger, frustration, and pain into a video she posts online. Ill advised? Perhaps. Cathartic? Absolutely. Overnight, Vivian goes viral. Millions of views and counting—to Mitch’s fury, her son’s embarrassment, her mother’s support, and the media’s delight. For Vivian, it’s a moment of hide or lean into it. Vivian 2.0 chooses to lean—maybe even toward the younger single father next door.

Now Vivian is wondering where she goes from here. She’s discovering that somewhere in her trending if upended life, she’ll have to figure out who she really wants to be.]]> 333 Sally Kilpatrick 1662525826 Janet 3 3.96 2024
author: Sally Kilpatrick
name: Janet
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 323355 From the Introduction:

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God's dealings with the ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains, as does the Bible, the fulness of the everlasting gospel.

The book was written by many ancient prophets by the spirit of prophecy and revelation. Their words, written on gold plates, were quoted and abridged by a prophet-historian named Mormon. The record gives an account of two great civilizations. One came from Jerusalem in 600 B.C., and afterward separated into two nations, known as the Nephites and the Lamanites. The other came much earlier when the Lord confounded the tongues at the Tower of Babel. Thsi group is known as the Jaredites. After thousands of years, all were destroyed except the Lamanites, and they are the principal ancestors of the American Indians.

The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after his resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come.

After Mormon completed his writings, he delivered the account to his son Moroni, who added a few words of his own and hid up the plates in the hill Cumorah. On September 21, 1823, the same Moroni, the a glorified, resurrected being, appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and instructed him relative to the ancient record and its destined translation into the English language.

In due course the plates were delivered to Joseph Smith, who translated them by the gift and power of God. The record is now published in many languages as a new and additional witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God and that all who will come unto him and obey the laws and ordinances of his gospel may be saved.

Concerning this record the Prophet Joseph Smith said: "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."

In addition to Joseph Smith, the Lord provided for eleven others to see the gold plates for themselves and to be special witnesses of the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon. Their written testimonies are included herewith as "The Testimony of Three Witnesses" and "The Testimony of Eight Witnesses."

We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course an ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10: 3-5)

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.]]> 531 Joseph Smith Jr. 0967686563 Janet 0 religion, cults 4.22 1830
author: Joseph Smith Jr.
name: Janet
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1830
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: religion, cults
review:

]]> 55315487 Jean Hanff Korelitz’s The Plot is a psychologically suspenseful novel about a story too good not to steal, and the writer who steals it.

Jacob Finch Bonner was once a promising young novelist with a respectably published first book. Today, he’s teaching in a third-rate MFA program and struggling to maintain what’s left of his self-respect; he hasn’t written—let alone published—anything decent in years. When Evan Parker, his most arrogant student, announces he doesn’t need Jake’s help because the plot of his book in progress is a sure thing, Jake is prepared to dismiss the boast as typical amateur narcissism. But then . . . he hears the plot.

Jake returns to the downward trajectory of his own career and braces himself for the supernova publication of Evan Parker’s first novel: but it never comes. When he discovers that his former student has died, presumably without ever completing his book, Jake does what any self-respecting writer would do with a story like that—a story that absolutely needs to be told.

In a few short years, all of Evan Parker’s predictions have come true, but Jake is the author enjoying the wave. He is wealthy, famous, praised and read all over the world. But at the height of his glorious new life, an e-mail arrives, the first salvo in a terrifying, anonymous campaign: You are a thief, it says.

As Jake struggles to understand his antagonist and hide the truth from his readers and his publishers, he begins to learn more about his late student, and what he discovers both amazes and terrifies him. Who was Evan Parker, and how did he get the idea for his “sure thing� of a novel? What is the real story behind the plot, and who stole it from whom?]]> 320 Jean Hanff Korelitz 125079076X Janet 3 mystery 3.75 2021
author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
name: Janet
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/11
date added: 2024/11/11
shelves: mystery
review:
It took me a couple of chapters to get into it, but then it became the interesting story I'd read reviews about. Very well written, but I figured out the mystery and eventual denouement about 2/3 of the way through.
]]> 219876684 In a hilarious short story from New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, the absurdities of modern life cause one man’s solitary world to spin suddenly, and comically, out of control.

Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone?

Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.

Told in Fredrik Backman’s singular witty style with sharply drawn characters and relatable antics, The Answer Is No is a laugh-out-loud portrait of a man struggling to keep to himself in a world that won’t leave him alone.]]> 68 Fredrik Backman 1662526520 Janet 3 3.94 2024
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Janet
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/06
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 74445 234 John O'Donohue 006092943X Janet 2 4.30 1996
author: John O'Donohue
name: Janet
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1996
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves: celtic, spirituality, philosophy
review:
I personally did not find much wisdom there. I ended up stopping half way through the book.
]]> 1609581 320 Margaret Frazer 0425219240 Janet 4 Fine ending to a fine series. 4.04 2007
author: Margaret Frazer
name: Janet
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves: catholic, england, medieval, mystery
review:
Fine ending to a fine series.
]]> 53916522 New York Times bestseller Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics is a landmark celebration of the remarkable life and career of a country music and pop culture legend.

This landmark volume explores the remarkable life and lyrics of the one and only Dolly Parton.

As told in her own inimitable words, Songteller explores the songs that have defined Parton's journey. Illustrated throughout with previously unpublished images from her personal and business archives, the Washington Post calls it "a gold mine of little-seen photos and personal anecdotes."

Mining over 60 years of songwriting, Dolly Parton highlights 175 of her songs and brings readers behind the lyrics. A celebrity memoir like no other, Dolly Parton, Songteller reveals the stories and memories that have made Dolly a beloved icon across generations, genders, and social and international boundaries.

A RARE VISUAL ARCHIVE: Packed with never-before-seen photographs and classic memorabilia from Parton's archives, this book is a show-stopping must-have for every Dolly Parton fan.

BEHIND THE BELOVED SONGS: Learn the history, personal stories, candid insights, and myriad memories behind classic Parton songs like "Jolene," "9 to 5," "I Will Always Love You," and more in this "splashy, entertaining guide to the lyrics of one of the most popular musicians of our time" (Kirkus Reviews ).

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED: First published in hardcover with resounding response from fans and media alike, including show-stopping interviews with Oprah, Stephen Colbert, Brené Brown, and The Today Show , features in People, Parade, Marie Claire, USA Today, Washington Post, and much more.

EVERYONE LOVES DOLLY: The perfect gift for Dolly Parton fans, as well as lovers of music history and country singer-songwriters.

Perfect for:
•Fans of Dolly Parton's music, books, television and movie roles, theme park, and charitable work
•Readers who loved Dolly's Coat of Many Colors; Run, Rose, Run, co-authored with James Patterson; and Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business
•Gift giving for birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, holiday, anniversary, or any special occasion for anyone who loves Dolly, country music, or American music history
•To shelve alongside such music best sellers as Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn, The Lyrics by Paul McCartney, Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley, and Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen]]> 380 Dolly Parton 1797205099 Janet 2 4.02 2020
author: Dolly Parton
name: Janet
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/06
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves: country-music, music, appalachia, autobiography
review:

]]> 203288914 In a funny and suspenseful debut, Christine Gunderson explores the myth of the perfect mother, the bonds of female friendship, and the haunting impact of secrets.

What you see isn’t always what you get.

Take Ainsley. The gorgeous mother of two lives a picture-perfect life with her husband, Ben—aspiring politician and heir to a candy fortune—in suburban Washington, DC. But in reality, Ainsley has no idea what she’s doing and is terrified someone will figure out who she really is and where she came from.

Nikki’s fighting to keep afloat as a stay-at-home mother of four, subsisting on chicken nuggets and very little sleep. She’s a mess on the outside, and inside yearns for the validation—and the paycheck—of the television news career she left behind.

When a dangerous figure from Ainsley’s past becomes a coach at her kids� school, she fears the worst and confides in Nikki, spilling every detail of her former life.

Together, they devise a plan to expose the coach and safeguard their kids. But can they protect their own lives—and their new friendship—in the process?]]> 392 Christine Gunderson 1662517661 Janet 3 4.10 2024
author: Christine Gunderson
name: Janet
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 217107993 From New York Times bestselling author Jane Green comes a riveting story about a friendship that turns ugly when a woman realizes her new best friend is not what she seems.

By all accounts, Lucy’s handled her divorce well. She’s finally in the cozy, plant-filled house of her dreams. And although she doesn’t fit in with the other divorcées—all busy looking for their next ex—she’s excited to get down to earth and savor the small joys of life.

When Lucy meets Elle, a hip younger woman who shares her same passions, their connection is instant. Taking a chance on kismet, Lucy forges a friendship that fills her days with meaning. She and Elle are inseparable, from sunup to sundown, enjoying the immediate ease and familiarity of each other’s company.

But as Lucy introduces Elle to her circle, a new side of her friend appears. And try as she might, Lucy can’t ignore her misgivings. Who is Elle really? And can their all-consuming friendship survive closer inspection?]]> 44 Jane Green 1662518897 Janet 3 3.45 2024
author: Jane Green
name: Janet
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/05
date added: 2024/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 207644401 In this heartfelt story about finding love in loss, three widows are forced under the same roof, where they’ll need to overcome grief, anger, and old secrets to put their family back together.

Since her husband’s death six months ago, Yesica Diaz-Taylor seems to be taking her grief in stride. Then an angry outburst at work shatters the illusion. Her mandated support group counseling doesn’t help much. Yesica has always kept her feelings close, so even when an unlikely friendship blossoms with the group’s facilitator, she still has reasons for holding back. She’s just not ready to share.

Ana Diaz has been widowed for five years and continues to live life exactly as she did with her late husband. When her house floods, she’s forced to shake things up. Although it was never part of her plan, Ana moves in with her eldest daughter, Yesica. But the new living arrangement tests their already strained relationship.

Shadowed by unresolved tensions, Yesica, Ana, and matriarch Mama Melda must learn to share a home, their heartbreak, and, once and for all, the haunting family secrets that have kept them apart.]]> 268 Annette Chavez Macias 1662521480 Janet 3 4.16 2024
author: Annette Chavez Macias
name: Janet
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 35889208 Author Barbara Davis deftly explores an emotionally charged landscape of pain, loss, and despair—and the risk one woman will take in the hope of loving again.

As a teenage runaway and child of an addict, Christy-Lynn learned the hard way that no address was permanent, and no promise sacred. For a while, she found a safe haven in her marriage to bestselling crime novelist Stephen Ludlow—until his car skidded into Echo Bay. But Stephen’s wasn’t the only body pulled from the icy waters that night. When details about a mysterious violet-eyed blonde become public, a media circus ensues, and Christy-Lynn runs again.

Desperate for answers, she’s shattered to learn that Stephen and his mistress had a child—a little girl named Iris, who now lives in poverty with her ailing great-grandmother. The thought of Iris abandoned to the foster care system—as Christy-Lynn once was—is unbearable. But she’s spent her whole life running—determined never to be hurt again. Will she finally stand still long enough to open herself up to forgiveness and love?]]> 367 Barbara Davis 1477808914 Janet 0 to-read 3.63 2018
author: Barbara Davis
name: Janet
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 9787051 31 Margaret Frazer Janet 4 4.07 2010
author: Margaret Frazer
name: Janet
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 9000277 22 Margaret Frazer Janet 4 4.04 2010
author: Margaret Frazer
name: Janet
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 2285777
Hearts break and emotions stretch to the point of snapping in this in-depth look at one woman's attempt to deal with loves past and present, raise a family, run a business, and pull of a charity event unlike any the island of Nantucket has ever seen. Claire discovers that doing good and being bad are not mutually exclusive—and that nothing is ever as simple as it seems.]]> 416 Elin Hilderbrand 0316018600 Janet 3 3.52 2008
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Janet
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves:
review:
An effective portrayal of the disasters caused by lies, adultery, and addiction.
]]> 201367834 She thought she knew her best friend…She was wrong.

The weatherworn cottage Clachan has always been Jo Wilding’s sanctuary, a blissful escape from her tumultuous home life. From the first summer Rachel invited her to join the Willoughby family in the wilds of Scotland, she fell in love with the sea air, sandy beach and Tristan, Rachel’s older brother�

All these years later, Clachan is where their most important occasions and conversations take place, so when Rachel organises a weekend there, Jo never suspects that this weekend will change everything. Because it turns out Rachel has been keeping a secret, a betrayal that plunges Jo into a past she’s spent years trying to forget.

Left to untangle the pieces of their past alone, Jo has to decide if there is such a thing as forgiveness when there is no one left to forgive?]]> 332 Anstey Harris Janet 0 4.03 2024
author: Anstey Harris
name: Janet
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 19596
How did the most precious color blue travel all the way from remote lapis mines in Afghanistan to Michelangelo’s brush? What is the connection between brown paint and ancient Egyptian mummies? Why did Robin Hood wear Lincoln green? In Color , Finlay explores the physical materials that color our world, such as precious minerals and insect blood, as well as the social and political meanings that color has carried through time.

Roman emperors used to wear togas dyed with a purple color that was made from an odorous Lebanese shellfish–which probably meant their scent preceded them. In the eighteenth century, black dye was called logwood and grew along the Spanish Main. Some of the first indigo plantations were started in America, amazingly enough, by a seventeen-year-old girl named Eliza. And the popular van Gogh painting White Roses at Washington’s National Gallery had to be renamed after a researcher discovered that the flowers were originally done in a pink paint that had faded nearly a century ago. Color is full of extraordinary people, events, and anecdotes–painted all the more dazzling by Finlay’s engaging style.

Embark upon a thrilling adventure with this intrepid journalist as she travels on a donkey along ancient silk trade routes; with the Phoenicians sailing the Mediterranean in search of a special purple shell that garners wealth, sustenance, and prestige; with modern Chilean farmers breeding and bleeding insects for their viscous red blood. The colors that craft our world have never looked so bright.]]> 448 Victoria Finlay 0812971426 Janet 3 3.81 2003
author: Victoria Finlay
name: Janet
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/10/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 592497 Book by Booker, Richard 126 Richard Booker 0914903985 Janet 3 4.07
author: Richard Booker
name: Janet
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/10/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 149124942 225 Wendy Conklin 1636982115 Janet 0 to-read 4.71
author: Wendy Conklin
name: Janet
average rating: 4.71
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211004897 Head Cases follows an enigmatic group of FBI agents as they hunt down a murderer seeking his own justice in this electrifying—and commercial—series debut.

FBI Agent Gardner Camden is an analytical genius with an affinity for puzzles. He also has a blind spot on the human side of investigations, a blindness that sometimes even includes people in his own life, like his beloved seven-year-old daughter Camila. Gardner and his squad of brilliant yet quirky agents make up the Patterns and Recognition (PAR) unit, the FBI’s hidden edge, brought in for cases that no one else can solve.

When DNA links a murder victim to a serial killer long presumed dead, the team springs into action. A second victim establishes a pattern, and the murderer begins leaving a trail of clues and riddles especially for Gardner. And while the PAR team is usually relegated to working cold cases from behind a desk, the investigation puts them on the road and into the public eye, following in the footsteps of a killer.

Along with Gardner, PAR consists of a mathematician, a weapons expert, a computer analyst, and their leader, a career agent. Each of them must use every skill they have to solve the riddle of the killer’s identity. But with the perpetrator somehow learning more and more about the team at PAR, can they protect themselves and their families…before it’s too late?

With an enigmatic case that will keep readers on the edge of their seats and a thoroughly engaging ensemble cast, John McMahon’s Head Cases is a triumph.]]> 341 John McMahon 1250348293 Janet 0 to-read 4.01 2025
author: John McMahon
name: Janet
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214175211 Stow away with Rick Steves for a glimpse into the unforgettable moments, misadventures, and memories of his 1978 journey on the legendary Hippie Trail.

In the 1970s, the ultimate trip for any backpacker was the storied “Hippie Trail� from Istanbul to Kathmandu. A 23-year-old Rick Steves made the trek, and like a travel writer in training, he documented everything along the way. From taking wild bus rides through Turkey to enduring monsoons in India, the experience ignited his love of travel and forever broadened his perspective on the world.
Ěý
On the Hippie TrailĚýcontains Rick's journals from 1978â€�the last year the trip was possibleâ€�and full-color travel photos from this trek of a lifetimeĚýthrough Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal, plusĚýa brand-new preface and afterword reflecting on the historic context of the moment and how the journey changed his life.

You know Rick Steves. Now discover the adventure that made him the travel writer he is today.]]> 256 Rick Steves 1641716436 Janet 0 to-read 3.86 2025
author: Rick Steves
name: Janet
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 42201995 A poignant, heartfelt new novel by the award-nominated author of Together Tea—extolled by the Wall Street Journal as a “moving tale of lost love� and by Shelf Awareness as “a powerful, heartbreaking story”—explores loss, reconciliation, and the quirks of fate.

Roya, a dreamy, idealistic teenager living amid the political upheaval of 1953 Tehran, finds a literary oasis in kindly Mr. Fakhri’s neighborhood stationery shop, stocked with books and pens and bottles of jewel-colored ink.

Then Mr. Fakhri, with a keen instinct for a budding romance, introduces Roya to his other favorite customer—handsome Bahman, who has a burning passion for justice and a love for Rumi’s poetry—and she loses her heart at once. Their romance blossoms, and the little stationery shop remains their favorite place in all of Tehran.

A few short months later, on the eve of their marriage, Roya agrees to meet Bahman at the town square when violence erupts—a result of the coup d’etat that forever changes their country’s future. In the chaos, Bahman never shows. For weeks, Roya tries desperately to contact him, but her efforts are fruitless. With a sorrowful heart, she moves on—to college in California, to another man, to a life in New England—until, more than sixty years later, an accident of fate leads her back to Bahman and offers her a chance to ask him the questions that have haunted her for more than half a century: Why did you leave? Where did you go? How is it that you were able to forget me?]]> 312 Marjan Kamali 1982107480 Janet 0 4.22 2019
author: Marjan Kamali
name: Janet
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, iran
review:

]]> 215950185
After a string of bad dates and no prospects, Sophia Othonos has finally hit the jackpot: an actual nice guy. When he suggests a romantic getaway, she’s sure they’re about to take the next step toward their future. A rustic cruise to the Galápagos Islands isn’t exactly her idea of a vacation, but Sophia is ready for anything…until her boyfriend has to cancel.

Now she’s all alone on a trip that was meant for two. Sophia finds herself at a crossroads about who she is, what she wants, and whether her relationship is really everything she thought. But if she’s going to suffer an identity crisis, at least she gets to do it amid the unexpected majesty of nature.

Eight days of wild, unobstructed beauty are enough to make anyone reevaluate their life. These islands are all about adapting to your surroundings—and change just might be what Sophia needs most of all.]]> 54 Elin Hilderbrand 1662521472 Janet 3 beach-read 3.63 2024
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Janet
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/10/05
shelves: beach-read
review:

]]> 106687
Rebellious factions, determined to unseat King Henry VI from the throne, have been staging uprisings throughout England. London has been under siege for three days and the populace is ready to repel the invading rebels and reclaim the city.

In the midst of this unrest, Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery has come to her cousin's side. Lady Alice, widowed duchess of Suffolk, needs Frevisse's support in burying her husband, as the late but not lamented duke was so hated that even being in the presence of his corpse is unsafe. And when men in Suffolk's employ start disappearing, Frevisse fears for her cousin's safety.

Wandering player Simon Joliffe has also come to London, filling the role of courier for the exiled duke of York and bringing vital information - a list bearing the names of the English noblemen who purportedly betrayed their King by conspiring with the French. Included on this list are several of Suffolk's men, whom Joliffe has been seeking and finding dead at every turn...

If charges of treason are brought against Suffolk, Lady Alice fears her son will be disinherited. Joining Joliffe on his search for men on the list, Frevisse starts to wonder whether or not the list is real or part of an even greater conspiracy against the crown...

"Painted on a much broader canvas... Ms. Frazer portrays the curse of 'living in interesting times', making it all seem fresh and vibrant as a news bulletin. Possibly the best in the series to date, and that is saying a lot. Miss it at your peril." - MyShelf.com


"When you pick up a Margaret Frazer novel, you know you're in for a treat. She has a marvelous way of weaving historical details, facts, politics, and the ins and outs of everyday medieval life into the fabric of her novels. If history texts were written in such a fascinating way, I'm convinced that every schoolchild would become a scholar." - CA Reviews]]> 372 Margaret Frazer 0425213706 Janet 3 4.06 2007
author: Margaret Frazer
name: Janet
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves: catholic, england, historical-fiction, medieval, mystery
review:

]]> 200799237
Frances and her husband, George, have two points of interest in Paris. One is an impromptu holiday to visit the Paris Exposition. The other is personal. George’s Aunt Julia has requested her nephew’s help in looking into the suspicious death of renowned artist Paul Ducasse. Though Julia is not entirely forthcoming about her reasons, she is clearly a woman mourning a lost love.
Ěý
At the exposition, swarming with tourists, tragedy casts a pall on the festivities. A footbridge collapses. Julia is among the casualties. However, she was not just another fateful victim. Julia was stabbed to death amid the chaos. With an official investigation at a standstill, George and Frances realize that to solve the case they must dig into Julia’s life—as well as Paul’s—and question everything and everyone in Julia’s coterie of artists and secrets.
Ěý
They have no shortage of suspects. There is Paul’s inscrutable widow, Gabrielle. Paul’s art dealer and manager, Lucien. Julia’s friend Martine, a sculptress with a jealous streak. And art jurist, Monsieur Beaufoy. The investigation takes a turn when it’s revealed that George has inherited control of Julia’s estate—and another of her secrets. While George investigates, Frances safeguards their new legacy, and is drawn further into danger by a killer determined to keep the past buried.]]> 304 Dianne Freeman 1496745116 Janet 0 to-read 3.93 2024
author: Dianne Freeman
name: Janet
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 53143465 A witness in jeopardy�

and a killer on the loose.

Hiding in witness protection is the only option for Priscilla Anderson after witnessing a murder. Then Lucas Langsdale shows up claiming to be her husband right when a hit man finds her. With partial amnesia, she has no memory of her marriage or the killer’s identity. Yet she will have to put her faith in Luc if they both want to live to see another day.]]> 224 Sarah Hamaker 148804080X Janet 0 to-read 4.44
author: Sarah Hamaker
name: Janet
average rating: 4.44
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217029482
Since the events in Deception Pass , Becca and Derric have broken up, Jenn McDaniels has been kicked out of her home and is living with Diana Kinsale, and Prynne Haring has made a commitment to stay sober. Becca and her circle of friends try their hardest to navigate the realities of love, independence, and trust, and the difficulties they impose along the way.

In the continuation and climax of the Whidbey Island saga, affairs of romance, betrayal, and deceit threaten to upend the lives of Becca and the people she’s come to know and love. Does she have it in her to come face-to-face with her long-lost mother? When she does, is there a life to return to?]]> 511 Elizabeth George 1475607407 Janet 0 to-read, mystery 4.50
author: Elizabeth George
name: Janet
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read, mystery
review:

]]> 125133034 A new biography of Catherine de' Medici, the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe, whose author uses neglected primary sources to recreate the life and times of a remarkable � and remarkably traduced � woman.

History is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de' Medici, Italian-born queen of France and influential mother of three successive French kings during that country's long sequence of sectarian wars in the second half of the sixteenth century. Thanks to the malign efforts of propagandists motivated by religious hatred, history tends to remember Catherine as a schemer who used witchcraft and poison to eradicate her rivals, as a spendthrift dilettante who wasted ruinous sums of money on building and embellishment of monuments and palaces, and most sinister of all, as instigator of the St Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of innocent Protestants were slaughtered by Catholic mobs.

Mary Hollingsworth delves into contemporary archives to discover deeper truths behind these persistent myths. The correspondence of diplomats and Catherine's own letters reveal a woman who worked tirelessly to find a way for Catholics and Protestants to coexist in peace (a goal for which she continued to strive until the end of her life), who was well-informed on both literary and scientific matters, and whose patronage of the arts helped bring into being glorious châteaux and gardens, priceless work of art, and magnificent festivities combining theatre, music and ballet, which display the grandeur of the French court.]]> 580 Mary Hollingsworth 1800244754 Janet 0 3.76
author: Mary Hollingsworth
name: Janet
average rating: 3.76
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read, history, biography, france, italy, nonfiction
review:

]]> 199798221
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,� but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus , they tell from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.]]> 368 Lisa See 1982117095 Janet 0 4.28 2023
author: Lisa See
name: Janet
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, china
review:

]]> 202468425 Translated from the Japanese bestseller, this charming and magical novel, inspired by the myth of cats returning favors to those who care for them, reminds us that it’s never too late to follow our stars.

In Japan cats are a symbol of good luck. As the myth goes, if you are kind to them, they’ll one day return the favor. And if you are kind to the right cat, you might just find yourself invited to a mysterious coffee shop under a glittering Kyoto moon. This particular coffee shop is like no other. It has no fixed location, no fixed hours, and seemingly appears at random to adrift young people at crucial junctions in their lives.

It’s also run by talking cats.

While customers at the Full Moon Coffee Shop partake in cakes, coffees, and teas, the cats also consult them on their star charts, offer cryptic wisdom, and let them know where their lives have veered off course—because every person who visits the shop has been feeling more than a little lost. And for a down-on-her-luck screenwriter, a romantically stuck movie director, a hopeful hairstylist, and a technologically challenged website designer, the feline guides will set them back on their fated paths. After all, there is a reason the shop appeared to each of them…]]> 240 Mai Mochizuki 0593726820 Janet 0 to-read, japan 3.61 2020
author: Mai Mochizuki
name: Janet
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read, japan
review:

]]> 199805729 A short, thought-provoking book about what happens to our online identities after we die.These days, so much of our lives takes place online—but what about our afterlives? Thanks to the digital trails that we leave behind, our identities can now be reconstructed after our death. In fact, AI technology is already enabling us to “interact� with the departed. Sooner than we think, the dead will outnumber the living on Facebook. In this thought-provoking book, Carl Öhman explores the increasingly urgent question of what we should do with all this data and whether our digital afterlives are really our own—and if not, who should have the right to decide what happens to our data.The stakes could hardly be higher. In the next thirty years alone, about two billion people will die. Those of us who remain will inherit the digital remains of an entire generation of humanity—the first digital citizens. Whoever ends up controlling these archives will also effectively control future access to our collective digital past, and this power will have vast political consequences. The fate of our digital remains should be of concern to everyone—past, present, and future. Rising to these challenges, Öhman explains, will require a collective reshaping of our economic and technical systems to reflect more than just the monetary value of digital remains.As we stand before a period of deep civilizational change, The Afterlife of Data will be an essential guide to understanding why and how we as a human race must gain control of our collective digital past—before it is too late.]]> 207 Carl Öhman 0226828239 Janet 0 to-read, nonfiction 3.73
author: Carl Ă–hman
name: Janet
average rating: 3.73
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: to-read, nonfiction
review:

]]> 39681294
Covering fiction, poetry, science and science fiction, memoir, travel writing, biography, children’s books, history, and more, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die ranges across cultures and through time to offer an eclectic collection of works that each deserve to come with the recommendation, You have to read this. But it’s not a proscriptive list of the “great works”—rather, it’s a celebration of the glorious mosaic that is our literary heritage.

Flip it open to any page and be transfixed by a fresh take on a very favorite book. Or come across a title you always meant to read and never got around to. Or, like browsing in the best kind of bookshop, stumble on a completely unknown author and work, and feel that tingle of discovery. There are classics, of course, and unexpected treasures, too. Lists to help pick and choose, like Offbeat Escapes, or A Long Climb, but What a View. And its alphabetical arrangement by author assures that surprises await on almost every turn of the page, with Cormac McCarthy and The Road next to Robert McCloskey and Make Way for Ducklings, Alice Walker next to Izaac Walton.Ěý

There are nuts and bolts, too—best editions to read, other books by the author, “if you like this, you’ll like that� recommendations , and an interesting endnote of adaptations where appropriate. Add it all up, and in fact there are more than six thousand titles by nearly four thousand authors mentioned—a life-changing list for a lifetime of reading.]]> 960 James Mustich 1523505125 Janet 0 to-read 4.15 2018
author: James Mustich
name: Janet
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 6645381 The turbulent historical masterpiece of Norway’s literary master.

In her great historical epic Kristin Lavransdatter, set in fourteenth-century Norway, Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset tells the life story of one passionate and headstrong woman. Painting a richly detailed backdrop, Undset immerses readers in the day-to-day life, social conventions, and political and religious undercurrents of the period. Now in one volume, Tiina Nunnally’s award-winning definitive translation brings this remarkable work to life with clarity and lyrical beauty.

As a young girl, Kristin is deeply devoted to her father, a kind and courageous man. But when as a student in a convent school she meets the charming and impetuous Erlend Nikulaussøn, she defies her parents in pursuit of her own desires. Her saga continues through her marriage to Erlend, their tumultuous life together raising seven sons as Erlend seeks to strengthen his political influence, and finally their estrangement as the world around them tumbles into uncertainty.

With its captivating heroine and emotional potency, Kristin Lavransdatter is the masterwork of Norway’s most beloved author—one of the twentieth century’s most prodigious and engaged literary minds—and, in Nunnally’s exquisite translation, a story that continues to enthrall.

This Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition includes an introduction by Brad Leithauser.]]> 1169 Sigrid Undset 1101098457 Janet 4 4.30 1920
author: Sigrid Undset
name: Janet
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1920
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 11747105 Childhood friends unearth long-buried secrets in this poignant novel from the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Bitter Pill. Ěý Raised on her father’s South Carolina plantation, Callie Parker wanted for nothing, and now she is about to marry wealthy local scion Wyn Archer. But her wedding wouldn’t be complete without the three people she grew up with under the sheltering branches of the angel oaks at Parker Manor.Ěý There’s Bode Jessup, part brother and part idol, who has become a wildly attractive man. Next is Brie Canfield, Callie’s freckle-faced playmate, now an FBI agent with a life of her own. Last is shy waif Sela Bronson, whose only reason for returning to Parker Manor is to escape an unhappy marriage. As Callie’s childhood companions gather to relive the charmed years they spent together, they discover how little they know of their beloved yesterday . . . and how one woman’s darkest secret can tear them apart. ĚýPraise for Fern Michaels Ěý “Prose so natural that it seems you are witnessing a story rather than reading about it.”—Los Angeles Sunday Times Ěý “Michaelsâ€� Danielle Steel-like fun read has more plot twists than a soap opera, and will keep readers on tenterhooks for the next in the series.”—Booklist “Michaels just keeps getting better and better with each book . . . She never disappoints.”—RT Book Reviews]]> 466 Fern Michaels 1420123092 Janet 3
Clean novel with no violence and one discreet sex scene.

Merged review:

Very enjoyable book. The author's treatment of friendships between black and white and rich and poor is interesting. An added dimension of people "passing" as white or black is thought-provoking. A novel with relevance to our time.

Clean novel with no violence and one discreet sex scene.]]> 4.33 1995
author: Fern Michaels
name: Janet
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1995
rating: 3
read at: 2022/02/13
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves:
review:
Very enjoyable book. The author's treatment of friendships between black and white and rich and poor is interesting. An added dimension of people "passing" as white or black is thought-provoking. A novel with relevance to our time.

Clean novel with no violence and one discreet sex scene.

Merged review:

Very enjoyable book. The author's treatment of friendships between black and white and rich and poor is interesting. An added dimension of people "passing" as white or black is thought-provoking. A novel with relevance to our time.

Clean novel with no violence and one discreet sex scene.
]]> 106688
Since the death of her husband, Anne Blakhall has carried on their shared business as a tailor and embroiderer in the heart of London. Rather than remarry as prosperous London widows usually do, she has taken a lover - David Weir, a foreign merchant who is secretly a Jew and therefore in constant deadly peril so long as he remains in England, where Jews have been banished for over a hundred years. Anne, sharing in his secrets, knows that both his life and hers would be forfeit if ever he is found out.

Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery is in London to arrange the funeral vestments for her cousin's murdered husband, the Duke of Suffolk. But she is also charged with secretly recovering - and then conveying to her cousin - the gold the late duke sent out of England shortly before his death. But her duty and their love become more dangerous a rebel army advances on London - and a murdered body is discovered in the crypt of a London church, mutilated with what a Franciscan friar of the Inquisition claims are Hebrew letters.

Frevisse must discover not only who is guilty... but whether anyone is innocent at all.

"What Frazer, a meticulous researcher, gets absolutely right in The Sempster's Tale are the attitudes of the charactrs." - Detroit Free Press

"Medieval English society, culture, and politics come to life in Margaret Frazer's skillful application of vivid imagery, complex characterizations, and an intriguing plot." - BookLoons]]> 352 Margaret Frazer 0425210499 Janet 3 4.00 2006
author: Margaret Frazer
name: Janet
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/09/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 185626
In the spring of 1449, widow Cristiana Helyngton has been kidnapped, defamed, and imprisoned in a nunnery - as her late husband's duplicitous relatives seek to obtain control over her lands and children. To secure her freedom and save her daughters, Cristiana must use a secret entrusted to her by her husband as he was dying - a secret that could bring down those lords nearest the king and destroy those most dear to her.

Dame Frevisse of St. Frideswide's nunnery must decide where her loyalties lies - to the crown, to the truth, or to England's peace. And whatever she chooses, in the end her help may be of little use against the ruthless men threatened by the secret on which all of Cristiana's hopes depend...

"The suspense builds steadily ... in this well-wrought tale involving murder, treason, and 'layers of ambition and betrayal'." - Publishers Weekly

"[Frazer] uses many real historical persons in her books, deftly and flawlessly weaving them into the story. Her fictitious characters are also well-defined, and Cristiana will break the reader's heart." - Romantic Times]]> 266 Margaret Frazer 0425202380 Janet 4 4.06 2005
author: Margaret Frazer
name: Janet
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/17
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: catholic, historical-fiction, medieval, england
review:
Another excellent book in the series, this one a mystery connected with the end of the Hundred Years War between England and France. Why are the residents of Normandy now speaking French instead of English? What an interesting way to learn some history.
]]> 65214218 From Mary Kay Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of The Homewreckers and The Santa Suit, comes a novella celebrating love and the warm, glittering charm of the holiday season.

When fall rolls around, it’s time for Kerry Tolliver to leave her family’s Christmas tree farm in the mountains of North Carolina for the wilds of New York City to help her gruff older brother & his dog, Queenie, sell the trees at the family stand on a corner in Greenwich Village. Sharing a tiny vintage camper and experiencing Manhattan for the first time, Kerry’s ready to try to carve out a new corner for herself.

In the weeks leading into Christmas, Kerry quickly becomes close with the charming neighbors who live near their stand. When an elderly neighbor goes missing, Kerry will need to combine her country know-how with her newly acquired New York knowledge to protect the new friends she’s come to think of as family,

And complicating everything is Patrick, a single dad raising his adorable, dragon-loving son Austin on this quirky block. Kerry and Patrick’s chemistry is undeniable, but what chance does this holiday romance really have?

Filled with family ties, both rekindled and new, and sparkling with Christmas magic, Bright Lights, Big Christmas delivers everything Mary Kay Andrews fans adore, all tied up in a hilarious, romantic gem of a novel.]]> 288 Mary Kay Andrews 125028581X Janet 0 to-read 3.74 2023
author: Mary Kay Andrews
name: Janet
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 185625
Years ago, young Robert Fenner was forced into marriage with Lady Blaunche. Now, in 1442, he is being forced toward warfare over the property to which she wrongfully claims ownership. To make matters worse, a wealthy young heiress has captured hearts on both sides of the feud - including his - and it is up to Robert to decide whom she will marry.

Drawn from her nunnery's contemplative quiet by Lady Blaunche's need, Dame Frevisse is caught up among the passions of a man desperate for what he cannot have; a powerful knight blocked from what is rightfully his; and a young woman trapped in the eye of the storm.

Who will see that justice is done after honest love and dishonest lust spawn anger, greed, and finally... murder?

"As exquisitely woven as a medieval tapestry... Frazer's research is dazzling." - The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Written with the graceful rhythms that have garnered her two Edgar nominations... transports the reader to a medieval England made vivid and a world of emotions as familiar then as now." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)]]> 288 Margaret Frazer 0425182711 Janet 3 4.01 2000
author: Margaret Frazer
name: Janet
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/11
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 6080822
Once again, Hilderbrand masterfully weaves an intense tale of love and loyalty set against the backdrop of endless summer island life.]]> 359 Elin Hilderbrand 0316043893 Janet 3 beach-read, new-england 3.63 2009
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Janet
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/16
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: beach-read, new-england
review:
Enjoyable beach read. It does make you think about how different people deal with grief.
]]> 199529242
Los Alamos, 1943. The US Army has gathered scientists to create the world’s first nuclear weapon. Their families, abruptly moved to the secret desert base with no explanation, have simple orders: Stand by. Make do. Above all, don’t ask questions.

Christine, forced to abandon her art restoration business in New York for her husband’s career, struggles to reinvent herself and cope with his increasing aloofness.

Gertie, the inquisitive teenage daughter of a German Jewish refugee physicist enlists Christine to help her unravel hidden truths and deal with parents haunted by their past.

Gertie’s father, Kurt, anguished by what the Nazis have done to his family and bent on defeating them, carries burdens he longs to share but cannot confide in his wife—leading him to find comfort elsewhere.

And Jimmy, a young army technician, falls for Gertie but is unsure if even her deep affection can overcome his agonizing self-doubts.

Will so much secrecy save them or destroy them?]]> 357 Galina Vromen Janet 0 to-read 4.04 2024
author: Galina Vromen
name: Janet
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 321552 776 Irving Stone 0451171357 Janet 4 4.08 1958
author: Irving Stone
name: Janet
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1958
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves: art, historical-fiction, italy
review:

]]> 44280984 Whoever looked at an elderly lady and saw the young heroine she once was?

England, 1840. For the two decades following the death of her beloved sister, Jane, Cassandra Austen has lived alone, spending her days visiting friends and relations and quietly, purposefully working to preserve her sister’s reputation. Now in her sixties and increasingly frail, Cassandra goes to stay with the Fowles of Kintbury, family of her long-dead fiancé, in search of a trove of Jane’s letters. Dodging her hostess and a meddlesome housemaid, Cassandra eventually hunts down the letters and confronts the secrets they hold, secrets not only about Jane but about Cassandra herself. Will Cassandra bare the most private details of her life to the world, or commit her sister’s legacy to the flames?

Moving back and forth between the vicarage and Cassandra’s vibrant memories of her years with Jane, interwoven with Jane’s brilliantly reimagined lost letters, Miss Austen is the untold story of the most important person in Jane’s life. With extraordinary empathy, emotional complexity, and wit, Gill Hornby finally gives Cassandra her due, bringing to life a woman as captivating as any Austen heroine.]]> 288 Gill Hornby 1250252202 Janet 3 historical-fiction 3.71 2020
author: Gill Hornby
name: Janet
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/06
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves: historical-fiction
review:

]]> 815854 This now-classic novel by Richard McKenna enjoyed great critical acclaim and commercial success when it was first published in 1962. The winner of the coveted Harper Prize, it was on the New York Times bestseller list for seven months and was made into a popular motion picture that continues to be shown on television today.
Set in China on the eve of revolution, the book tells the story of an old U.S. Navy gunboat, the San Pablo , and her dedicated crew of "Sand Pebbles" on patrol in the far reaches of the Yangtze River to show the flag and protect American missionaries and businessmen from bandits. The plot revolves around a newcomer to the boat, machinist's mate Jake Holman, a maverick and loner who dramatically alters the lives of the crew and the people they have come to save. A faithful engine-room coolie and a pretty young missionary help Holman gain an appreciation of China and its people and discover a world of humanity and promise he has never known. It is a story of old loyalties versus new values, of violence and tenderness, tragedy and humor, and it engages the reader from the first line to the last. This new paperback edition includes in informative introduction by Robert Shenk, written for the Naval Institute's Classics of Naval Literature edition in 1984.]]> 602 Richard McKenna 1557504466 Janet 4 4.23 1962
author: Richard McKenna
name: Janet
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves: historical-fiction, china, usnavy
review:
What a surprisingly good book I picked up from the local Library free shelf! Historical fiction usually has me hunting up things online, and this was no exception, since I knew practically nothing about being a crew member on a US Navy gunboat, maintaining machines on a Navy gunboat, or China's history just before the Revolution of 1911. This is a very interesting story of one machinist's mate's experience, written by someone who actually served in that capacity and informed by actual accounts from other men who had served in that place and time.
]]> 195834324 From vast glaciers to steaming volcanic lakes, experience the land of the midnight sun with Rick Steves. Inside Rick Steves Iceland you'll Comprehensive coverage for spending a week or more exploring Iceland Rick's strategic advice on how to get the most out of your time and money, with rankings of his must-see favorites Top sights and hidden gems, from the stunning northern lights to hidden hikes and cozy bookstores How to connect with Soak in hidden hot springs, sample smoked fish, and chat with locals in welcoming rural towns Beat the crowds, skip the lines, and avoid tourist traps with Rick's candid, humorous insight The best places to eat, sleep, and relaxSelf-guided walking tours of lively ReykjavĂ­kĚýand incredible museums as well asĚýmile-by-mile scenic driving toursDetailed maps for exploring on the go Useful resources including a packing list, a historical overview, and helpfulĚýIcelandicĚýphrases Over 500Ěýbible-thin pages include everything worth seeing without weighing you down Complete, up-to-date information on ReykjavĂ­k, the Ring Road, the Reykjanes Peninsula, the Golden Circle, the South Coast, the Westman Islands, West Iceland,Ěýthe Eastfjords, and more Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves Iceland.

Expanding your trip? TryĚýRick Steves ScandinaviaĚýorĚýRick Steves Scandinavian & Northern European Cruise Ports.]]> 1061 Rick Steves 1641715863 Janet 0 4.65
author: Rick Steves
name: Janet
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves: currently-reading, travel, iceland
review:

]]>