J's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 15:41:18 -0700 60 J's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Persuasion 18300265 301 Jane Austen 009958932X J 0 fiction, currently-reading 4.13 1817 Persuasion
author: Jane Austen
name: J
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1817
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: fiction, currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novels Adaptation #1)]]> 6609203 Illustrated Classics version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Ian Edginton and I.N.J. Culbard have teamed up again to create a visually compelling graphic novel adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s masterpiece. The superb writing and beautiful art takes Conan Doyle’s supernatural tale to new heights.

All the elements are here for a thrilling tale: A gnarled walking stick, missing boot, neglected family portrait, convicted killer on the loose, and the ancestral curse of a phantom hound. The great detective himself, Sherlock Holmes—with the help of Dr. Watson—has his work cut out for him in a dramatic mystery that will keep readers guessing until the very end.]]> 132 Ian Edginton 1402770006 J 4 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.18 2009 The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novels Adaptation #1)
author: Ian Edginton
name: J
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/29
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> Widnes (Archive Photographs) 29921160 128 Widnes Historical Society 0752401173 J 5 non-fiction 5.00 Widnes (Archive Photographs)
author: Widnes Historical Society
name: J
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/26
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: non-fiction
review:

]]> Fruits Basket, Vol. 4 836611 196 Natsuki Takaya 1591826063 J 5 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.42 2000 Fruits Basket, Vol. 4
author: Natsuki Takaya
name: J
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/21
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> The Heart's Invisible Furies 41747005 real Avery or at least that’s what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn’t a real Avery, then who is he?

Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinitely more glamourous and dangerous Julian Woodbead.

At the mercy of fortune and coincidence, he will spend a lifetime coming to know himself and where he came from � and over his three score years and ten, will struggle to discover an identity, a home, a country and much more.

In this, Boyne's most transcendent work to date, we are shown the story of Ireland from the 1940s to today through the eyes of one ordinary man. The Heart's Invisible Furies is a novel to make you laugh and cry while reminding us all of the redemptive power of the human spirit.]]> 701 John Boyne J 2 fiction 4.61 2017 The Heart's Invisible Furies
author: John Boyne
name: J
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/21
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> My Happy Marriage 05 (Manga) 215808039 A Cinderella-inspired, slow-burn historical romance with a paranormal twist set in Taisho-era Japan!

Overlooked throughout her life, Miyo Saimori was dismissed as magically untalented and cast out of the house where she grew up. But despite all odds, she managed to find love and a place to belong with Kiyoka Kudo, the young head of a powerful family.

Although Miyo is now engaged to Kiyoka, nightmares plague her and weaken her health. In search of answers, the couple are led to the mysterious Usuba clan's estate. There, they learn that Miyo's mother was an Usuba and Miyo has inherited the clan's rare Gift, itself a secret so fiercely guarded that few outside the family even know what it is. Miyo's newfound relatives insist that she stay with them and learn to control the formidable power within her.

When Kiyoka objects, Miyo's cousin Arata Tsuruki challenges him to a duel. Will Kiyoka manage to rescue his fiancée—and will Miyo learn to master her mysterious Gift before it destroys her?]]> 240 Akumi Agitogi 1646093895 J 3 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.27 2024 My Happy Marriage 05 (Manga)
author: Akumi Agitogi
name: J
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/18
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> The Noh Mask Murder 184157891 A bewildering locked-room murder occurs as an amateur crime writer investigates strange events in the Chizurui mansion in this prizewinning classic Japanese mystery.

This ingenously constructed masterpiece, written by one of Japan’s most celebrated crime writers and translated into English for the first time, is perfect for locked-room mystery fans who can’t resist a breathtaking conclusion.

In the Chizurui family mansion, a haunting presence casts a shadow over its residents. By night, an eerie figure, clad in a sinister Hannya mask is seen roaming around the house. An amateur murder mystery writer, Akimitsu Takagi, is sent to investigate � but his investigation takes a harrowing turn as tragedy strikes the Chizurui family.

Within the confines of a locked study, the head of the family is found dead, with only an ominous Hannya mask lying on the floor by his side and the lingering scent of jasmine in the air as clues to his mysterious murder.

As Takagi delves deeper into the perplexing case, he discovers a tangled web of secrets and grudges. Can he discover the link between the family and the curse of the Hannya mask? Who was the person who called the undertaker and asked for three coffins on the night of the murder? And do those three coffins mean the curse of the Hannya mask is about to strike again?

The Noh Mask Murder’s legendary ending offers locked-room mystery fans the perfect coda to an ingenously constructed mystery.]]> 224 Akimitsu Takagi 1782279652 J 0 to-read 3.78 1950 The Noh Mask Murder
author: Akimitsu Takagi
name: J
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1950
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[This Is How You Lose the Time War]]> 43352954 Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There's still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war.]]> 209 Amal El-Mohtar J 0 to-read 3.86 2019 This Is How You Lose the Time War
author: Amal El-Mohtar
name: J
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Strong Female Character 59903149
1. I'm diagnosed with autism 20 years after telling a doctor I had it.

2. My terrible Catholic childhood.

3. My friendship with an elderly man who runs the corner shop and is definitely not trying to groom me. I get groomed.

4. Homelessness.

5. Stripping.

6. More stripping but with more nervous breakdowns.

7. I hate everyone at uni and live with a psycho etc.

8. REDACTED as too spicy.

9. After everyone tells me I don't look autistic, I try to cure my autism and get addicted to Xanax.

10. REDACTED as too embarrassing.]]> 288 Fern Brady 1914240448 J 0 to-read 4.43 2023 Strong Female Character
author: Fern Brady
name: J
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)]]> 49392854
Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power � the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring � the ring that rules them all � which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.

In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as his elderly cousin Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must leave his home and make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

The text of this edition has been fully corrected and revised in collaboration with Christopher Tolkien and is accompanied by nineteen watercolour paintings from Alan Lee.]]> 412 J.R.R. Tolkien 0008376123 J 0 fiction, currently-reading 4.60 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: J
average rating: 4.60
book published: 1954
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: fiction, currently-reading
review:

]]> The September House 61311377 A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.

When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee.

Margaret is not most people.

Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.]]> 352 Carissa Orlando 0593548639 J 3 fiction 3.99 2023 The September House
author: Carissa Orlando
name: J
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/02
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> Heidi (Puffin in Bloom) 20893529 295 Johanna Spyri 0147514029 J 5 fiction, favorites 4.13 1880 Heidi (Puffin in Bloom)
author: Johanna Spyri
name: J
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1880
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: fiction, favorites
review:

]]> Fruits Basket, Vol. 3 836607
And the girl who will change their lives forever...

It's Valentines Day and you know what that means - lots of chocolates for the cutest boys at school! In this case, it's a pretty close tie between hot-headed Kyo Sohma and "Prince Charming" Yuki Sohma. Of course the kind-hearted Tohru, guest of the Sohma family, has chocolates for everyone! But when White Day comes around, what will the Sohma family give her in return?]]> 208 Natsuki Takaya 1591826055 J 5 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.41 1999 Fruits Basket, Vol. 3
author: Natsuki Takaya
name: J
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Around the World in Eighty Days]]> 7114366
With his excitable French manservant in tow, Fogg undertakes the exercise immediately, with no preparations, trusting that his traveling funds will make up for delays along the way. But unbeknownst to him, British police are desperately seeking to arrest him for the theft of a huge sum by someone who resembles him, and they will track him around the world, if necessary, to apprehend him.

This is an adventure novel of the first water, with wholly unexpected perils, hair-breadth escapes, brilliant solutions to insoluble problems, and even a love story. And can this be? � That he returns to London just five minutes too late to win his wager and retain his fortune?]]> 9 Jules Verne J 3 fiction 3.74 1872 Around the World in Eighty Days
author: Jules Verne
name: J
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1872
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)]]> 213215674 The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading.

Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books.

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier.

When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.

As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.]]> Satoshi Yagisawa 1786583267 J 2 fiction 3.21 2010 Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)
author: Satoshi Yagisawa
name: J
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2010
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)]]> 211721806
You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

Includes part one of the exclusive bonus story “Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.�]]> 450 Matt Dinniman 059382024X J 0 to-read 4.49 2020 Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)
author: Matt Dinniman
name: J
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Madeline 475339 44 Ludwig Bemelmans 0590133373 J 0 to-read 4.26 1939 Madeline
author: Ludwig Bemelmans
name: J
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1939
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Nurse: Inside Denmark's Most Sensational Criminal Trial]]> 63030999
In the early hours of March 1, 2015, Danish police received an alarming call from a nurse at a provincial hospital. She suspected her colleague, fellow nurse Christina Aistrup Hansen, of deliberately killing patients—and she feared it had just happened again. Soon, other coworkers revealed their own concerns about Hansen. Indeed, some had been harboring suspicions about her for years . . .

So why had no one come forward sooner? And with the alleged victims already cremated, where was the evidence? Could this all be a case of small-town gossip snowballing out of control? Drawing on police and autopsy reports, medical records, private correspondence, and testimony from key witnesses—as well as Hansen herself—Danish journalist Kristian Corfixen reconstructs the fateful night shift in which three patients died under mysterious circumstances, and the sensational trial it set in motion.

Originally published in Denmark, Corfixen’s acclaimed investigation of a disturbingly complex case raises critical concerns about the trust we put in our caretakers, and the role of indicative evidence in criminal courts.]]> Kristian Corfixen J 2 non-fiction 3.93 2019 The Nurse: Inside Denmark's Most Sensational Criminal Trial
author: Kristian Corfixen
name: J
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves: non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 4]]> 202730997 189 Sakaomi Yuzaki 1975388917 J 4 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.60 2023 She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 4
author: Sakaomi Yuzaki
name: J
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> Autobiography of Red 1554721 149 Anne Carson 0224059734 J 0 4.18 1998 Autobiography of Red
author: Anne Carson
name: J
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read, poetry, own-and-need-to-read
review:

]]> The Satanic Verses 10376116 Alternate cover version for ISBN 0963270702 / 9780963270702.

No book in modern times has matched the uproar sparked by Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, which earned its author a death sentence. Furor aside, it is a marvelously erudite study of good and evil, a feast of language served up by a writer at the height of his powers, and a rollicking comic fable. The book begins with two Indians, Gibreel Farishta ("for fifteen years the biggest star in the history of the Indian movies") and Saladin Chamcha, a Bombay expatriate returning from his first visit to his homeland in 15 years, plummeting from the sky after the explosion of their jetliner, and proceeds through a series of metamorphoses, dreams and revelations. Rushdie's powers of invention are astonishing in this Whitbread Prize winner.]]> 549 Salman Rushdie J 0 did-not-finish 3.57 1988 The Satanic Verses
author: Salman Rushdie
name: J
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: did-not-finish
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop]]> 133938826 should feel successful—but all she feels is drained. Haunted by an abandoned dream, she takes a leap of faith and leaves her old life behind. Quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeongju moves to a quiet residential neighborhood outside the city and opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.

The transition isn’t easy. For months, all Yeongju can do is cry. But as the long hours in the shop stretch on, she begins to reflect on what makes a good bookseller and a meaningful store. She throws herself into reading voraciously, hosting author events, and crafting her own philosophy on bookselling. Gradually, Yeongju finds her footing in her new surroundings.

Surrounded by friends, writers, and the books that bind them, Yeongju begins to write a new chapter in her life. The Hyunam-dong Bookshop evolves into a warm, welcoming haven for lost souls—a place to rest, heal, and remember that it’s never too late to scrap the plot and start over.]]> 307 Hwang Bo-Reum J 3 fiction I'm not sure if the translation is the reason why I felt a little too distant from the characters, but there was something missing for me, hence the 3 stars instead of higher.
I would recommend it to anybody to read, as I feel like there are some good nuggets to encourage self-reflection in here, as well as some very likeable characters.]]> 3.94 2022 Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
author: Hwang Bo-Reum
name: J
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: fiction
review:
Really warm feeling reading this book. It's the first book that I have used sticky notes to highlight interesting or resonating sections with, so some really good parts (7, to be exact!)
I'm not sure if the translation is the reason why I felt a little too distant from the characters, but there was something missing for me, hence the 3 stars instead of higher.
I would recommend it to anybody to read, as I feel like there are some good nuggets to encourage self-reflection in here, as well as some very likeable characters.
]]> Angels in America 34993151 352 Tony Kushner 1848426313 J 0 to-read, own-and-need-to-read 4.43 1995 Angels in America
author: Tony Kushner
name: J
average rating: 4.43
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read, own-and-need-to-read
review:

]]> Sleepovers 17197491 "Guess what!" said Amy. "It's my birthday next week and my mum says I can invite all my special friends for a sleepover party." You're invited to the ultimate sleepover!Amy, Bella, Chloe, Daisy and Emily are best friends at school, they even have their own Alphabet Club (just look at their initials!). Daisy is the newest member, she's desperate to fit in, even though Chloe is VERY unfriendly to her at times.And, when the girls start planning sleepovers for their birthdays, Daisy starts dreading her own.She doesn't know what her friends will make of her older sister . .From bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson, Sleepovers is a funny but moving tale exploring bullying, disability and friendship. It is the perfect book to introduce young readers to the world of Jaqueline Wilson, one of the country's most beloved authors.Has all the Jacqueline Wilson hallmarks of humour, good sense and a profound realism - IndependentAnd now, discover the sequel to Sleepovers, THE BEST SLEEPOVER IN THE WORLD.]]> 112 Jacqueline Wilson 1407043366 J 0 picture-and-children-s-books 3.70 2001 Sleepovers
author: Jacqueline Wilson
name: J
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: picture-and-children-s-books
review:

]]> Convenience Store Woman 60555100 3 Sayaka Murata 1783785632 J 2 fiction Did they accidentally attach the wrong audio file on the library app, because I'm not sure I just listened to the same book as these people.

The writing was good, and I liked the main character's personality and voice. I identified with her as an autistic woman, and understood a lot of her logic. I did, however, hate that there was no resolution or justice for the way the main male character treated and spoke to her, nor how her family and the people around her spoke and thought of her. I suppose society is hard to change and realistically it may be fantastical to expect a change from her family and society surrounding her, but at least let the guy get hit by a fucking car or something hahahaha Absolute prick.

Anyway, those review quotes - I never even chuckled once, so calling it 'hilarious' is super confusing to me. Then, 'quirky'? Okayyyy, was it, though, or where we just watching an autistic woman go about her life? Finally, 'exhilarating' and 'intoxicating'? Again, it was just a woman working at a convenience store! What do they mean?? I'm so confused!!!

I wish I had a job that I knew all the rules to and could feel safe inside of, like Keiko. Dream job scenario hahah]]> 3.64 2016 Convenience Store Woman
author: Sayaka Murata
name: J
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: fiction
review:
Really confused by the review quotes on the cover of this book. "Irresistibly quirky," says the Guardian, and "Hilarious... I couldn't put it down," says Elif Batuman. "As intoxicating as a sake mojito," says Vogue, and "exhilaratingly weird and funny," says Sally Rooney.
Did they accidentally attach the wrong audio file on the library app, because I'm not sure I just listened to the same book as these people.

The writing was good, and I liked the main character's personality and voice. I identified with her as an autistic woman, and understood a lot of her logic. I did, however, hate that there was no resolution or justice for the way the main male character treated and spoke to her, nor how her family and the people around her spoke and thought of her. I suppose society is hard to change and realistically it may be fantastical to expect a change from her family and society surrounding her, but at least let the guy get hit by a fucking car or something hahahaha Absolute prick.

Anyway, those review quotes - I never even chuckled once, so calling it 'hilarious' is super confusing to me. Then, 'quirky'? Okayyyy, was it, though, or where we just watching an autistic woman go about her life? Finally, 'exhilarating' and 'intoxicating'? Again, it was just a woman working at a convenience store! What do they mean?? I'm so confused!!!

I wish I had a job that I knew all the rules to and could feel safe inside of, like Keiko. Dream job scenario hahah
]]> <![CDATA[Kit McBride Gets a Wife (The McBrides of Montana, #1)]]> 60018596 The four McBride brothers have their worlds turned upside down when their precocious younger sister secretly places an advertisement for a mail-order bride.

Kit McBride knows that Buck's Creek, Montana, is no place to find a wife. Between him and his three brothers--plus little Junebug--they manage all right on their own, thank you very much. But unbeknownst to Kit, his sister is sick to death of cleaning, cooking, and mending for her big brothers, so she places an ad in The Matrimonial News to get them hitched.

After Maddy Mooney emigrated from Ireland, she found employment with an eccentric but poor widow. When her mistress decides to answer an ad for a mail-order bride, Madd​y is dragged along for the ride to Montana. But en route to the West, Maddy is suddenly abandoned and left to assume the widow's name, position, and matrimonial prospects....

With no other recourse in the wilderness, Maddy must convince Kit not only is she who she says she is, but she's the wife he never knew he needed.]]> 328 Amy Barry 0593335570 J 0 fiction, did-not-finish 3.71 2022 Kit McBride Gets a Wife (The McBrides of Montana, #1)
author: Amy Barry
name: J
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: fiction, did-not-finish
review:

]]> Fruits Basket, Vol. 2 836606
And the girl who will change their lives forever...

Ever since Tohru Honda discovered the Zodiac secret of the Sohma clan, her eyes have opened to a world of magic and wonder. But with such a great secret comes great responsibility. When her best friends Hana-chan and Uo-chan come to the Sohma home for a sleepover, Tohru has her work cut out for her keeping the "Cat" in the bag and the "Dog" on a leash.]]> 194 Natsuki Takaya 1591826047 J 5 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.39 1999 Fruits Basket, Vol. 2
author: Natsuki Takaya
name: J
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> Babel 57945316 From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?]]> 544 R.F. Kuang 0063021420 J 0 to-read, fiction 4.17 2022 Babel
author: R.F. Kuang
name: J
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Green Ages: Medieval Innovations in Sustainability]]> 202596405 WINNER OF THE 2021 NDR BOOK PRIZE IN GERMANY

'A must-read' Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oriel College, Oxford

Fishing quotas on Lake Constance. Common lands in the UK. The medieval answer to Depop in the middle of Frankfurt.

These are all just some of the sustainability initiatives from the Middle Ages that Annette Kehnel illuminates in her astounding new book, The Green Ages. From the mythical-sounding City of Ladies and their garden economy to early microcredit banks and rent-a-cow schemes, Kehnel uncovers a world at odds with what we might think of as the typical medieval existence.

Pre-modern history is full of inspiring examples and concepts that open up new horizons. And we urgently need them as today's challenges - finite resources, the twilight of consumerism, growing inequality - threaten what we have come to think of as a modern way of living sustainably.

This is a revelatory look at the past that has the power to change our future.]]> 352 Annette Kehnel 180081626X J 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.07 The Green Ages: Medieval Innovations in Sustainability
author: Annette Kehnel
name: J
average rating: 4.07
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> I Who Have Never Known Men 43208407 â€For a very long time, the days went by, each just like the day before, then I began to think, and everything changedâ€�

Deep underground, thirty-nine women live imprisoned in a cage. Watched over by guards, the women have no memory of how they got there, no notion of time, and only vague recollection of their lives before.

As the burn of electric light merges day into night and numberless years pass, a young girl - the fortieth prisoner - sits alone and outcast in the corner. Soon she will show herself to be the key to the others' escape and survival in the strange world that awaits them above ground.]]> 188 Jacqueline Harpman 152911179X J 0 to-read, fiction 4.24 1995 I Who Have Never Known Men
author: Jacqueline Harpman
name: J
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> The Turnglass 67658761
And he points the finger at his sister-in-law, Florence. Florence was declared insane after killing Oliver’s brother in a jealous rage and is now kept in a glass-walled apartment in Oliver’s library. And the secret to how she came to be there is found in Oliver’s tête-bêche journal, where one side tells a very different story from the other.

1930s California. Celebrated author Oliver Tooke, the son of the state governor, is found dead in his writing hut off the coast of the family residence, Turnglass House. His friend Ken Kourian doesn’t believe that Oliver would take his own life. His investigations lead him to the mysterious kidnapping of Oliver’s brother when they were children, and the subsequent secret incarceration of his mother, Florence, in an asylum.

But to discover the truth, Ken must decipher clues hidden in Oliver’s final book, a tête-bêche novel—which is about a young doctor called Simeon Lee...

Stuart Turton meets The Magpie Murders in this immersive and unique story for fans of clever crime fiction.]]> 512 Gareth Rubin 1398514497 J 0 to-read, fiction 3.49 2023 The Turnglass
author: Gareth Rubin
name: J
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> The Whistling 57203848
With Mary defiantly silent, Elspeth turns to the islanders. But no one will speak of what happened to William. Just as no one can explain the hypnotic lullabies sung in empty corridors. Nor the strange dolls that appear in abandoned rooms.

Nor the faint whistling that comes in the night...

As winter draws in and passage to the mainland becomes impossible, Elspeth finds herself trapped.

But is this house haunted by the ghosts of the past?

OR THE SECRETS OF THE LIVING..?

Chilling, twisty and emotionally gripping, The Whistling is an atmospheric page-turner with shades of the classics, yet a unique character of its own. Perfect for fans of Susan Hill and Laura Purcell.]]> 378 Rebecca Netley 0241533996 J 0 to-read, fiction 3.65 2021 The Whistling
author: Rebecca Netley
name: J
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1)]]> 40605329
]]> 497 Trenton Lee Stewart 0316032115 J 0 4.29 2007 The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1)
author: Trenton Lee Stewart
name: J
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, library-e-book, fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil]]> 215020997 ALL first edition copies will be signed by the author! Signed copies available while supplies last.

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life�
how it ends, and how it starts.

USA Today, 15 Most Anticipated of 2025
BookBub, Most Anticipated of 2025 (and Reader’s Pick)
Readers Digest, 20 Most Anticipated Books This Year
Paste Magazine, Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of 2025
BookRiot, Most Anticipated Books of 2025
Men's Health, 25 Best & Most Anticipated Books of 2025
The Nerd Daily, SFF to Devour in 2025
Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ, Readers' Most Anticipated Books of 2025]]> 560 Victoria E. Schwab 1035064642 J 0 to-read, fiction 4.39 2025 Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: J
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> My Darling Dreadful Thing 193544852
Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears.

Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the light of Roos' life. That is, until the wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop visits one of Roos' backroom seances, and the two strike up a connection.

Soon, Roos is whisked away to the crumbling estate Agnes inherited upon the death of her husband, where an ill woman haunts the halls, strange smells drift through the air, and mysterious stone statues reside in the family chapel. Something dreadful festers in the manor, but still, the attraction between Roos and Agnes is undeniable.

Then, someone is murdered.

Poor, alone, and with a history of 'hysterics', Roos is the obvious culprit. With her sanity and innocence in question, she'll have to prove who—or what—is at fault or lose everything she holds dear.

"A Sapphic seance of preternatural proportions, My Darling Dreadful Thing summons a stunning new literary voice to be reckoned with. Johanna van Veen reaches beyond the veil to conjure up a gothic shocker like no other."—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters

©2024 Johanna van Veen (P)2024 Tantor]]> 375 Johanna van Veen 1728281547 J 0 to-read, fiction 3.85 2024 My Darling Dreadful Thing
author: Johanna van Veen
name: J
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> The Nutcracker 61335034 Little Clothbound Classics: irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith.

The gift of a handsomely decorated, enigmatic nutcracker sets the stage for a Christmas like no other: there will be legends of ancient curses, battles with the dreaded Mouse King, and a visit to the wonderful Kingdom of Dolls. The inspiration for the classic ballet, E. T. A. Hoffmann's irresistible tale of magic and mystery continues to be the perfect encapsulation of a child's wonder at Christmas.]]> 208 E.T.A. Hoffmann 0241597064 J 0 to-read, fiction 3.45 1816 The Nutcracker
author: E.T.A. Hoffmann
name: J
average rating: 3.45
book published: 1816
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> The Leviathan 58645179
Norfolk, 1643. With civil war tearing England apart, reluctant soldier Thomas Treadwater is summoned home by his sister, who accuses a new servant of improper conduct with their widowed father. By the time Thomas returns home, his father is insensible, felled by a stroke, and their new servant is in prison, facing charges of witchcraft.

Thomas prides himself on being a rational, modern man, but as he unravels the mystery of what has happened, he uncovers not a tale of superstition but something dark and ancient, linked to a shipwreck years before.

Something has awoken, and now it will not rest.]]> 320 Rosie Andrews J 0 to-read, fiction 3.46 2022 The Leviathan
author: Rosie Andrews
name: J
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> VenCo 60877589
Hundreds of miles away in Salem, Myrna Good has been looking for Lucky. Myrna works for VenCo, a front company fueled by vast resources of dark money.

Lucky is familiar with the magic of her indigenous ancestors, but she has no idea that the spoon links her to VenCo’s network of witches throughout North America. Generations of witches have been waiting for centuries for the seven spoons to come together, igniting a new era, and restoring women to their rightful power.

But as reckoning approaches, a very powerful adversary is stalking their every move. He’s Jay Christos, a roguish and deadly witch-hunter as old as witchcraft itself.

To find the last spoon, Lucky and Stella embark on a rollicking and dangerous road trip to the darkly magical city of New Orleans, where the final showdown will determine whether VenCo will usher in a new beginning…or remain underground forever.]]> 400 Cherie Dimaline 0063054892 J 0 to-read, fiction 3.75 2023 VenCo
author: Cherie Dimaline
name: J
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

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

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

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

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

Or does he?]]> 476 Andy Weir 0593135202 J 0 to-read, library-book 4.49 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: J
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read, library-book
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Horror of Haglin House (The Violet Thorn Mysteries, #1)]]> 76622660 Home is where the horror is�
Jilted thriller writer Lady Violet Thorn has withdrawn to the Suffolk market town of Montford with two servants and her leading character, the adventuress Ruby Gibson, for company.

Violet’s peace is disturbed when a stranger asks her for help, claiming that a friend is being kept prisoner in her own home. Her visitor seems so afraid that Violet, despite her scepticism, is persuaded to investigate.

A woman is killed outside Violet’s house, then another murdered in the town and, as the deaths mount up, she becomes convinced that they all lead to one place: the increasingly forbidding Haglin House, and whoever lives there�

M.R.C. Kasasian returns with a fresh, witty and totally enthralling take on the classic crime genre, perfect for fans of Anthony Horowitz, M. C. Beaton and Oscar De Muriel.]]> 457 M.R.C. Kasasian 1804363928 J 3 fiction 3.15 2023 The Horror of Haglin House (The Violet Thorn Mysteries, #1)
author: M.R.C. Kasasian
name: J
average rating: 3.15
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: fiction
review:
I've only read the Sidney Grice series before this, which I loved, but unfortunately this start to the Violet Thorn series was not as gripping. However, Emma Gregory once again knocks it out of the park with her narration. I think if I had been reading this myself as a physical book, I may have DNF-ed it mid way through, but Ms Gregory is such a wonderful narrator!
]]> <![CDATA[She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 3]]> 145624847 194 Sakaomi Yuzaki 1975372336 J 4 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.64 2022 She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 3
author: Sakaomi Yuzaki
name: J
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> <![CDATA[She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 2]]> 62874443 178 Sakaomi Yuzaki 1975362977 J 3 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.55 2022 She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 2
author: Sakaomi Yuzaki
name: J
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/10
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The High Hills: Willfred's Mountain Adventure (Brambly Hedge)]]> 12199378 32 Jill Barklem 0006645887 J 5 picture-and-children-s-books 4.33 1986 The High Hills: Willfred's Mountain Adventure (Brambly Hedge)
author: Jill Barklem
name: J
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1986
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: picture-and-children-s-books
review:

]]> Fruits Basket, Vol. 1 271199
And the girl who will change their lives forever...

Tohru Honda was an orphan with no place to go until the mysterious Sohma family offered her a place to call home. Now her ordinary high school life is turned upside down as she's introduced to the Sohma's world of magical curses and family secrets.]]> 216 Natsuki Takaya 1591826039 J 5 4.29 1999 Fruits Basket, Vol. 1
author: Natsuki Takaya
name: J
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: favorites, comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> <![CDATA[She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 1]]> 62851626 180 Sakaomi Yuzaki 1975348834 J 3 4.61 2021 She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 1
author: Sakaomi Yuzaki
name: J
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History]]> 61871743 A sweeping and overdue retelling of U.S. history that recognizes that Native Americans are essential to understanding the evolution of modern America
Ěý
� A National Bestseller
Ěý
“Eloquent and comprehensive. . . . In the book’s sweeping synthesis, standard flashpoints of U.S. history take on new meaning.”—Kathleen DuVal, Wall Street Journal
Ěý
“In accounts of American history, Indigenous peoples are often treated as largely incidental—either obstacles to be overcome or part of a narrative separate from the arc of nation-building. Blackhawk . . . [shows] that Native communities have, instead, been inseparable from the American story all along.”� Washington Post Book World, “Books to Read in 2023�
Ěý
The most enduring feature of U.S. history is the presence of Native Americans, yet most histories focus on Europeans and their descendants. This long practice of ignoring Indigenous history is changing, however, with a new generation of scholars insists that any full American history address the struggle, survival, and resurgence of American Indian nations. Indigenous history is essential to understanding the evolution of modern America.
Ěý
Ned Blackhawk interweaves five centuries of Native and non‑Native histories, from Spanish colonial exploration to the rise of Native American self-determination in the late twentieth century. In this transformative synthesis he shows that
Ěý
� European colonization in the 1600s was never a predetermined success;
Ěý
� Native nations helped shape England’s crisis of empire;
Ěý
� the first shots of the American Revolution were prompted by Indian affairs in the interior;
Ěý
� California Indians targeted by federally funded militias were among the first casualties of the Civil War;
Ěý
� the Union victory forever recalibrated Native communities across the West;
Ěý
â€� twentieth-century reservation activists refashioned American law and policy. Ěý
Ěý
Blackhawk’s retelling of U.S. history acknowledges the enduring power, agency, and survival of Indigenous peoples, yielding a truer account of the United States and revealing anew the varied meanings of America.]]> 596 Ned Blackhawk 0300244053 J 2 non-fiction 4.15 2023 The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History
author: Ned Blackhawk
name: J
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Little Frog's Guide to Self-Care: Affirmations, Self-Love and Life Lessons According to the Internet's Beloved Mushroom Frog]]> 85164870 96 Maybell Eequay 1837991014 J 0 4.70 The Little Frog's Guide to Self-Care: Affirmations, Self-Love and Life Lessons According to the Internet's Beloved Mushroom Frog
author: Maybell Eequay
name: J
average rating: 4.70
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read, non-fiction, own-and-need-to-read
review:

]]> Wide Sargasso Sea 10427352
Set against the lush backdrop of 1830s Jamaica, Jean Rhys's haunting novel was inspired by the first Mrs. Rochester, the mad wife in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre.]]> 152 Jean Rhys 0241951550 J 0 to-read 3.40 1966 Wide Sargasso Sea
author: Jean Rhys
name: J
average rating: 3.40
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rosemary's Baby (Rosemary's Baby, #1)]]> 11282000
As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavet's circle is not what it seems.]]> 229 Ira Levin 1849015880 J 0 to-read 4.11 1967 Rosemary's Baby (Rosemary's Baby, #1)
author: Ira Levin
name: J
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1967
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Jane Eyre 24493738
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MAGGIE O'FARRELL

As an orphan, Jane's childhood is full of trouble, but her stubborn independence and sense of self help her to steer through the miseries inflicted by cruel relatives and a brutal school. A position as governess at the Thornfield Hall promises a kind of freedom. But Thornfield is a house full of secrets, its master a passionate, tormented man, and before long Jane faces her greatest struggle in a choice between love and self-respect.]]> 652 Charlotte Brontë 1784870730 J 5 fiction, favorites 4.37 1847 Jane Eyre
author: Charlotte Brontë
name: J
average rating: 4.37
book published: 1847
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/18
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: fiction, favorites
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol. 1]]> 55277743
Despite belonging to a family of four, the Aoyama residence is typically home to three due to father Akiyoshi's job. While he's away at work, mom Tomoko and her two beloved sons Hiroki and Yuri go about their everyday lives--going to school, making dinner, doing homework, etc. But now that Hiroki's in his first year of high school, his thoughts are turning ever so slightly to sex and romance...and his mom can't help but notice his slips of the tongue when he's talking about who he likes. Supportive Tomoko has an inkling Hiroki might be gay, but she's going to let him figure it out for himself. Unfortunately, Hiroki has little talent for keeping his "secret," so he might die of embarassment before all is said and done!]]> 138 Okura 1646095715 J 5 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.25 2019 I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol. 1
author: Okura
name: J
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> The Wood at Midwinter 206101583 'A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really.'

Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees—and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods.

One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst—and the path of her life is changed forever.

From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the Strange universe. Featuring an introduction by Susanna Clarke and gorgeous illustrations from Victoria Sawdon truly worthy of the magic of this story, this is a mesmerising, must-have addition to any fantasy reader's bookshelf.]]> 64 Susanna Clarke 1639734481 J 0 fiction 3.47 2024 The Wood at Midwinter
author: Susanna Clarke
name: J
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> The Husbands 202897727 You wait ages for The One, then 203 come along at once...

One night Lauren finds a strange man in her flat who claims to be her husband. All the evidence � from photos to electricity bills � suggests he’s right.

Lauren’s attic, she slowly realises, is creating an endless supply of husbands for her.

There’s the one who pretends to play music on her toes
The one who’s too hot (there must be a catch)
The one who makes a great breakfast sandwich
The one who turns everything into double entendres (â€I’ll weed your gardenâ€�)
And the one who can calm her unruly thoughts with a single touch

But when you can change husbands as easily as a lightbulb, how do you know whether the one you have now is the good enough one, or the wrong one, or the best one? And how long should you keep trying to find out?]]> 368 Holly Gramazio 1784745359 J 2 fiction 3.75 2024 The Husbands
author: Holly Gramazio
name: J
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/03
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad-Doctors in Victorian England]]> 17456934 ĚýĚýĚýĚýĚý Gaslight tales of rooftop escapes, men and women snatched in broad daylight, patients shut in coffins, a fanatical cult known as the Abode of Love...

ĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýThe nineteenth century saw repeated panics about sane individuals being locked away in lunatic asylums. With the rise of the 'mad-doctor' profession, English liberty seemed to be threatened by a new generation of medical men willing to incarcerate difficult family members in return for the high fees paid by an unscrupulous spouse or friend.

ĚýĚýĚýĚýĚýSarah Wise uncovers twelve shocking stories, untold for over a century and reveals the darker side of the Victorian upper and middle classes -- their sexuality, fears of inherited madness, financial greed and fraudulence -- and chillingly evoke the black motives at the heart of the phenomenon of the 'inconvenient person'.]]> 473 Sarah Wise 0099541866 J 4 non-fiction 3.71 2012 Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad-Doctors in Victorian England
author: Sarah Wise
name: J
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: non-fiction
review:

]]> The Manningtree Witches 58289821
In Manningtree, depleted of men since the wars began, the women are left to their own devices. At the margins of this diminished community are those who are barely tolerated by the affluent villagers - the old, the poor, the unmarried, the sharp-tongued. Rebecca West, daughter of the formidable Beldam West, fatherless and husbandless, chafes against the drudgery of her days, livened only by her infatuation with the clerk John Edes. But then newcomer Matthew Hopkins, a mysterious, pious figure dressed from head to toe in black, takes over The Thorn Inn and begins to ask questions about the women of the margins. When a child falls ill with a fever and starts to rave about covens and pacts, the questions take on a bladed edge.

The Manningtree Witches plunges its readers into the fever and menace of the English witch trials, where suspicion, mistrust and betrayal ran amok as the power of men went unchecked and the integrity of women went undefended. It is a visceral, thrilling book that announces a bold new talent.]]> 13 A.K. Blakemore J 0 did-not-finish 3.36 2021 The Manningtree Witches
author: A.K. Blakemore
name: J
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: did-not-finish
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories]]> 209720238 The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories captures a hundred years of Korea's vibrant short-story tradition.

Here are peddlars and prostitutes travelling across snow-laden fields; artists drinking and debating in the tea-houses of 1920s Seoul; soldiers fighting for survival; exiles from the war who can never go home again; and lonely men and women searching for connection in the dizzying modern city. The collection features stories by some of Korea's greatest writers, including Yi Sang, Hwang Sogyong,Yi Munyol and Pak Wanso, as well many brilliant contemporary voices, such as Han Kang and Kim Yongha. Curated by Bruce Fulton, this is a volume that will surprise, unsettle and delight.]]> 496 Bruce Fulton 0241448514 J 0 3.53 2023 The Penguin Book of Korean Short Stories
author: Bruce Fulton
name: J
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/13
shelves: to-read, own-and-need-to-read, fiction
review:

]]> The Puzzle Wood 198990858
When Miss Catherine Symonds arrives to take up a position as governess at remote Locksley Abbey in the foothills of the Black Mountains, where England bleeds into Wales, she is apprehensive.

It is not the echoing, near empty house with its skeleton staff that frightens her, nor the ancient woods that surround the Abbey or even the dogs that the owner, Sir Rowland, encourages to stalk the grounds, baying for blood. It is Catherine herself who fears scrutiny: her reference and very identity are fraudulent. She is travelling in disguise to investigate the fate of the last governess at the house, who took her own life out in the woods. For that governess was Catherine's own sister, but until now she had believed Emily had died many years before, when they were just children.

In Rosie Andrew's extraordinary follow up to the bestselling The Leviathan - one of the biggest debuts of 2022 - an isolated forest becomes the unsettling, beguiling backdrop to a tale of myths, memory and murder.]]> 368 Rosie Andrews 1526637375 J 0 to-read 3.29 2024 The Puzzle Wood
author: Rosie Andrews
name: J
average rating: 3.29
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America]]> 57574992 384 Michael John Witgen 1469664844 J 0 to-read 4.14 2022 Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder in North America
author: Michael John Witgen
name: J
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Stepford Wives 52350
At once a masterpiece of psychological suspense and a savage commentary on a media-driven society that values the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs, The Stepford Wives is a novel so frightening in its final implications that the title itself has earned a place in the American lexicon.]]> 144 Ira Levin 0060080841 J 5 fiction, favorites An instant favourite. 3.85 1972 The Stepford Wives
author: Ira Levin
name: J
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2024/11/04
shelves: fiction, favorites
review:
An instant favourite.
]]> The Silent Companions 35793146 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B06X9B4H87


When Elsie married handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge, she believed she was destined for a life of luxury. But pregnant and widowed just weeks after their wedding, with her new servants resentful and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie has only her late husband’s awkward cousin for company--or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked door, beyond which is a painted wooden figure—a silent companion—that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself. The residents of the estate are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition—that is until she notices the figure’s eyes following her.

A Victorian ghost story that evokes a most unsettling kind of fear, The Silent Companions is a tale that creeps its way through the consciousness in ways you least expect—much like the companions themselves.

Winner of the W H Smith Thumping Good Read Award

As featured on the Radio 2 Book Club and the Zoe Ball ITV Book Club

'[An] extraordinary, memorable and truly haunting book' Jojo Moyes

'[It] shone, for originality for the sheer quality of the writing, the characters and some masterly chills' Peter James]]> 317 Laura Purcell J 4 fiction 3.86 2017 The Silent Companions
author: Laura Purcell
name: J
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/17
date added: 2024/10/17
shelves: fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Garlic and the Vampire: A Graphic Novel]]> 56470362 A farm-fresh debut graphic novel starring a heroine who is braver than she realizes.

Garlic feels as though she’s always doing something wrong. At least with her friend Carrot by her side and the kindly Witch Agnes encouraging her, Garlic is happy to just tend her garden, where it’s nice and safe.

But when her village of vegetable folk learns that a bloodthirsty vampire has moved into the nearby castle, they all agree that, in spite of her fear and self-doubt, Garlic is the obvious choice to confront him. And with everyone counting on her, Garlic reluctantly agrees to face the mysterious vampire, hoping she has what it takes.

After all, garlic drives away vampires�right?]]> 160 Bree Paulsen 006299509X J 0 to-read 4.29 2021 Garlic and the Vampire: A Graphic Novel
author: Bree Paulsen
name: J
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 5 {Manga}]]> 58305947 After breaking a "curse" on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster...and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated historical mystery series!

Forced to the leave the Inner Palace, Maomao finds herself in the employ of none other than Jinshi, the seemingly ever-present thorn in her side! Immune to his charms, Maomao sets about learning the ways of life in the Outer Palace, where government officials and military officers go about the daily business of running the country.

Far from being fearful of her new surroundings, however, Maomao has her insatiable curiosity piqued by the soldier-occupied eastern wing, where she's been forbidden to go but where it seems further mysteries await...]]> 176 Nekokurage 1646095561 J 4 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.53 2019 The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 5 {Manga}
author: Nekokurage
name: J
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/29
date added: 2024/09/29
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> Patience & Esther 58182110
Selfless, dutiful, and just a touch naive, she takes to both her place as a parlor maid and to her new roommate, the bookish and progressive lady's maid, Esther. In another time, the two women would have kept one another's company forever in their little attic bedroom, living out their days in the employ of a Lord. But it's now the dawn of a new age. The expanding empire has brought with it not only plundered wealth, but worldliness and new ideas. Suffragists agitate in the street, idle-rich bohemians challenge sexual mores, and Patience and Esther slowly come to realize the world is wider and full of more adventure and opportunity than they ever imagined ...so long as they find the will to seize it.]]> 330 Sarah Winifred Searle 1945820691 J 0 4.13 2021 Patience & Esther
author: Sarah Winifred Searle
name: J
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: to-read, comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> <![CDATA[I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki]]> 60744223 208 Baek Se-hee 1526648083 J 2 non-fiction 3.19 2018 I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki
author: Baek Se-hee
name: J
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/25
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: non-fiction
review:

]]> My Happy Marriage 02 (Manga) 60851760
A browbeaten and mistreated daughter is cast out of her home and sent to audition as a bridal candidate for the heir to one of the most powerful families in the land�

For failing to inherit the boon of unusual power that is the Saimori birthright and bringing shame to the family name, mistreated Miyo is cast out to become another's problem.

Sent to the Kudo clan—itself preternaturally powerful—as a potential bride for its heir, Kiyoka, Miyo is surprised to experience kindness for the first time in her thus far sad life.

Though the rumors make him out to be cold and haughty, Kiyoka Kudo quickly warms up to the Saimoris' eldest daughter. Intrigued by the girl who stands worlds apart from the spoiled, social-climbing women who usually vie for his hand, Kiyoka soon comes to regard Miyo with affection.

But though Miyo has found a place—and warmth—in the Kudo household, the fact remains that she is untouched by the power that defines both the Saimori and Kudo clans, making her a failure as a bridal candidate.

Will the small happiness Miyo has found with Kiyoka end as soon as it has begun?]]> 176 Akumi Agitogi 1646096266 J 4 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.57 2020 My Happy Marriage 02 (Manga)
author: Akumi Agitogi
name: J
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/14
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> Rabbit & Robot 38193408 “This provocative jaunt…dissects society, technology, othering, and what makes humanity human.� �Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“An unpredictable, gross, and prescient rumination on modernity, media consumption, and machine-aided communication.� �Booklist (starred review)

Told with Andrew Smith’s signature dark humor, Rabbit & Robot tells the story of Cager Messer, a boy who’s stranded on the °Ő±đ˛Ô˛Ô±đ˛ő˛ő±đ±đâ€�his father’s lunar-cruise utopia—with insane robots.

To help him shake his Woz addiction, Billy and Rowan transport Cager Messer up to the Tennessee, a giant lunar-cruise ship orbiting the moon. Meanwhile, Earth, in the midst of thirty simultaneous wars, burns to ash beneath them. And as the robots on board become increasingly insane and cannibalistic, and the Earth becomes a toxic wasteland, the boys have to wonder if they’ll be stranded alone in space forever.

In Rabbit & Robot, Andrew Smith, Printz Honor author of Grasshopper Jungle, makes you laugh, cry, and consider what it really means to be human.]]> 449 Andrew Smith 1534422226 J 0 library-e-book, to-read 3.57 2018 Rabbit & Robot
author: Andrew Smith
name: J
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: library-e-book, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 4 {Manga}]]> 56138499 After breaking a "curse" on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster...and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated historical mystery series!

Though Maomao has left the palace behind and returned to her home in the pleasure district, it seems the Inner Court can't do without her! Jinshi comes to the erstwhile food taster with a request involving the attempted poisoning of the Virtuous Consort during the garden banquet and the identity of the mastermind behind it!]]> 192 Nekokurage 1646095553 J 4 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.61 2019 The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 4 {Manga}
author: Nekokurage
name: J
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/20
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> Perilous Times 61384251
Being reborn as an immortal defender of the realm gets awfully damn tiring over the years—or at least that's what Sir Kay's thinking as he claws his way up from beneath the earth, yet again.

Kay fought at Hastings, and at Waterloo, and in both World Wars. After a thousand years, he thought he was used to dealing with a crisis. But now he finds himself in a strange new world where oceans have risen, armies have been privatized, and half of Britain’s been sold to the Chinese. The dragon that's running amok, that he can handle. The rest? He's not so sure.

Mariam's devoted her life to fighting what's wrong with her country. But she's just one ordinary person, up against a hopelessly broken system. So when she meets Kay, a figure straight out of legend, she dares to hope that the world's finally found the savior it needs.

As the two quest through this strange land swarming with gangs, mercenaries, and talking squirrels, they realize that other ancient evils are afoot. Lancelot is back too--at the beck and call of immortal beings with a sinister agenda. And if their plans can’t be stopped, a dragon will be the least of the planet’s worries.

In perilous times like these, the realm doesn't just need a knight. It needs a true leader.

Luckily, Excalibur lies within reach--and Kay's starting to suspect that the hero fit to carry it is close at hand.]]> 560 Thomas D. Lee 0356518523 J 0 fiction, paused-for-reasons 3.96 2023 Perilous Times
author: Thomas D. Lee
name: J
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: fiction, paused-for-reasons
review:

]]> How to Survive a Summer 34686191 A searing debut novel centering around a gay-to-straight conversion camp in Mississippi and a man's reckoning with the trauma he faced there as a teen.

Grad student Will Dillard has largely buried memories of the summer he spent at a camp intended to “cure� homosexuality. But when he finds out a horror movie based on the camp is hitting theaters, he’s forced to face his past—and his role in another camper’s death.

As he recounts the events surrounding his “failed rehabilitation,� Will strikes out on an impromptu road trip back home to Mississippi, eventually returning to the abandoned campgrounds to solve the mysteries of that pivotal summer. With a masterful confluence of sensibility and place, How to Survive a Summer introduces an exciting new literary voice from the American South.
]]> 348 Nick White 0399573690 J 3 3.85 2017 How to Survive a Summer
author: Nick White
name: J
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2018/03/12
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:

]]> Annie on My Mind 35818578 Ěý
When Liza Winthrop first lays eyes on Annie Kenyon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she knows there’s something special between them. Soon, their close friendship develops into a deep and intimate romance. Neither imagined that falling in love could be so wonderful, but as Liza and Annie’s newfound sexuality sparks conflict in both their families and at their schools, they discover it will take more than love for their relationship to succeed.
Ěý
One of the first books to positively portray a lesbian relationship, Annie on My Mind is a groundbreaking classic of the genre. The subject of a First Amendment lawsuit over banned books and one of School Library Journal ’s “One Hundred Books that Shaped the Century,� Nancy Garden’s iconic novel is an important story for anyone discovering who they’re meant to be.]]> 240 Nancy Garden 1504046617 J 0 to-read, library-e-book 4.14 1982 Annie on My Mind
author: Nancy Garden
name: J
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: to-read, library-e-book
review:

]]> Fence, Vol. 1 40680873 107 C.S. Pacat 1641440074 J 3 3.93 2017 Fence, Vol. 1
author: C.S. Pacat
name: J
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2021/06/01
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians #2)]]> 25308174 Kevin Kwan, bestselling author ofCrazy Rich Asians, is back with a wickedly funny new novel of social climbing, secret e-mails, art-world scandal, lovesick billionaires, and the outrageous story of what happens when Rachel Chu, engaged to marry Asia's most eligible bachelor, discovers her birthfather.

On the eve of her wedding to Nicholas Young, heir to one of the greatest fortunes in Asia, Rachel should be over the moon. She has a flawless Asscher-cut diamond from JAR, a wedding dress she loves more than anything found in the salons of Paris, and a fiance willing to sacrifice his entire inheritance in order to marry her. But Rachel still mourns the fact that her birthfather, a man she never knew, won't be able to walk her down the aisle. a shocking revelation draws Rachel into a world of Shanghai splendor beyond anything she has ever imagined. Here we meet Carlton, a Ferrari-crashing bad boy known for Prince Harry-like antics; Colette, a celebrity girlfriend chased by fevered paparazzi; and the man Rachel has spent her entire life waiting to her father. Meanwhile, Singapore's It Girl, Astrid Leong, is shocked to discover that there is a downside to having a newly minted tech billionaire husband. A romp through Asia's most exclusive clubs, auction houses, and estates, China Rich Girlfriendbrings us into the elite circles of Mainland China, introducing a captivating cast of characters, and offering an inside glimpse at what it's like to be gloriously, crazily, China-rich.]]> 454 Kevin Kwan 1925267571 J 3 4.01 2015 China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians #2)
author: Kevin Kwan
name: J
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2020/07/30
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Ayesha at Last 43326558
Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her one hundredth marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to someone who looks down on her choices and who dresses like he belongs in the seventh century.

When a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Hafsa, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself.]]> 366 Uzma Jalaluddin 1984802801 J 2 3.97 2018 Ayesha at Last
author: Uzma Jalaluddin
name: J
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2022/04/23
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Young Mungo 58907411 From Booker-prizewinner Douglas Stuart an extraordinary, page-turning second novel, a vivid portrayal of working-class life and a highly suspenseful story of the dangerous first love of two young Mungo and James.

Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in the hyper-masculine and violently sectarian world of Glasgow’s housing estates. They should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all, and yet they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds. As they find themselves falling in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo works especially hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold.

But the threat of discovery is constant and the punishment unspeakable. When Mungo’s mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.

Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism and giving full voice to people rarely acknowledged in literary fiction, Douglas Stuart's Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the push and pull of family, the violence faced by so many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.]]> 399 Douglas Stuart 1529068797 J 5 4.56 2022 Young Mungo
author: Douglas Stuart
name: J
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2023/05/21
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 2 {Manga}]]> 51481712 After breaking a "curse" on the imperial heirs, a palace servant with training in herbal medicine is promoted up the ranks to food taster...and right into the thick of palace intrigue in this lushly illustrated period mystery series!

Maomao, a young woman trained in the art of herbal medicine, is forced to work as a lowly servant in the inner palace. Though she yearns for life outside its perfumed halls, she isn't long for a life of drudgery! Using her wits to break a "curse" afflicting the imperial heirs, Maomao attracts the attentions of the handsome eunuch Jinshi and is promoted to attendant food taster. But Jinshi has other plans for the erstwhile apothecary, and soon Maomao is back to brewing potions and...solving mysteries?!]]> 181 Nekokurage 1646095537 J 4 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.58 2018 The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 2 {Manga}
author: Nekokurage
name: J
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/06
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 2 22589345
Lesson learned--cats are cute, but they can be equally scary!]]> 162 Kanata Konami 1941220096 J 5 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.46 2005 Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 2
author: Kanata Konami
name: J
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/05
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> My Happy Marriage, Vol. 1 60572010
A browbeaten and mistreated daughter is cast out of her home and sent to audition as a bridal candidate for the heir to one of the most powerful families in the land�

Considered nigh worthless for having failed to inherit the superhuman powers of the bloodlines into which she was born, Miyo Saimori lives her days unwanted and unloved.

Her stepmother and very own father have little time or affection for her, and Miyo must suffer being treated as a servant by her half-sister who, unlike Miyo, is blessed with the unusual powers of their blood.

Ultimately seen as nothing more than a nuisance and a drain on the family wealth, Miyo is packed off to the Kudo house as a bridal candidate for its heir, Kiyoka Kudo.

Whispers abound about the Kudo clan, the most powerful in all the land, but will the allegedly cold and cruel house into which Miyo aims to marry prove much warmer than the family she left behind?]]> 192 Rito Kohsaka 1646096258 J 4 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.57 2019 My Happy Marriage, Vol. 1
author: Rito Kohsaka
name: J
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/12
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harrow County, Vol. 1: Countless Haints]]> 28163293 149 Cullen Bunn 1630083127 J 3 3.97 2015 Harrow County, Vol. 1: Countless Haints
author: Cullen Bunn
name: J
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2021/06/05
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> The Girl from the Sea 55574239 256 Molly Knox Ostertag 1338746472 J 5 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.22 2021 The Girl from the Sea
author: Molly Knox Ostertag
name: J
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/11
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota, #1)]]> 75385473 Shortlisted for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best SF Novel.

The year is 2454.

Humanity has engineered a hard-won golden age, forged in the aftermath of a bitter conflict that wiped both religion and nation state from the planet. Now seven factions or 'hives' co-govern the world, their rule fuelled by benign censorship, oracular statistical analytics and technological abundance. But this is a fragile Utopia � and someone is intent on pushing it to breaking point.

Convicted for his crimes, celebrated for his talents, Mycroft Canner is the indentured instrument � and confidant � of some of the world's most powerful figures. When he is asked to investigate a bizarre theft, he finds himself on the trail of a conspiracy that could shatter the tranquil world order the Hives have maintained for three centuries.

But Mycroft has his own secrets. He is concealing a much greater threat to the seven Hives, a wild card no degree of statistical analysis could have prophesised. This threat takes the unlikely form of a thirteen-year-old called Bridger. For how will a world that has banished God deal with a child who can perform miracles?

]]> 433 Ada Palmer 1786699478 J 0 fiction, did-not-finish 4.06 2016 Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota, #1)
author: Ada Palmer
name: J
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: fiction, did-not-finish
review:

]]> Chernobyl Prayer 29440004 The startling history of the Chernobyl disaster by Svetlana Alexievich, the winner of the Nobel prize in literature 2015

- A new translation based on the revised text -

On 26 April 1986, at 1.23am, a series of explosions shook the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. Flames lit up the sky and radiation escaped to contaminate the land and poison the people for years to come. While officials tried to hush up the accident, Svetlana Alexievich spent years collecting testimonies from survivors - clean-up workers, residents, firefighters, resettlers, widows, orphans - crafting their voices into a haunting oral history of fear, anger and uncertainty, but also dark humour and love. A chronicle of the past and a warning for our nuclear future, Chernobyl Prayer shows what it is like to bear witness, and remember in a world that wants you to forget.]]> 294 Svetlana Alexievich J 0 4.56 1997 Chernobyl Prayer
author: Svetlana Alexievich
name: J
average rating: 4.56
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves: to-read, non-fiction, own-and-need-to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle]]> 40804622 A brilliantly original high concept murder mystery from a fantastic new talent: Gosford Park meets Inception, by way of Agatha Christie and Black Mirror.

'Somebody's going to be murdered at the ball tonight. It won't appear to be a murder and so the murderer won't be caught. Rectify that injustice and I'll show you the way out.'

It is meant to be a celebration but it ends in tragedy. As fireworks explode overhead, Evelyn Hardcastle, the young and beautiful daughter of the house, is killed.

But Evelyn will not die just once. Until Aiden � one of the guests summoned to Blackheath for the party � can solve her murder, the day will repeat itself, over and over again. Every time ending with the fateful pistol shot.

The only way to break this cycle is to identify the killer. But each time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is determined to prevent him ever escaping Blackheath...

Also titled as The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.]]> 0 Stuart Turton 1489432582 J 0 did-not-finish 3.96 2018 The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
author: Stuart Turton
name: J
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: did-not-finish
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rilke on Love (Warbler Press Contemplations Book 3)]]> 52820411 117 Rainer Maria Rilke 1734588136 J 0 to-read, poetry 3.95 1975 Rilke on Love (Warbler Press Contemplations Book 3)
author: Rainer Maria Rilke
name: J
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1975
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read, poetry
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2)]]> 53317427
Harrow the Ninth , the New York Times and USA Today bestselling sequel to Gideon the Ninth , turns a galaxy inside out as one necromancer struggles to survive the wreckage of herself aboard the Emperor's haunted space station.

“Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space! Decadent nobles vie to serve the deathless emperor! Skeletons!� ―Charles Stross on Gideon the Ninth

“Unlike anything I've ever read.� ―V.E. Schwab on Gideon the Ninth

“Deft, tense and atmospheric, compellingly immersive and wildly original.� � The New York Times on Gideon the Ninth

She answered the Emperor's call.

She arrived with her arts, her wits, and her only friend.

In victory, her world has turned to ash.

After rocking the cosmos with her deathly debut, Tamsyn Muir continues the story of the penumbral Ninth House in Harrow the Ninth , a mind-twisting puzzle box of mystery, murder, magic, and mayhem. Nothing is as it seems in the halls of the Emperor, and the fate of the galaxy rests on one woman's shoulders.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, last necromancer of the Ninth House, has been drafted by her Emperor to fight an unwinnable war. Side-by-side with a detested rival, Harrow must perfect her skills and become an angel of undeath―but her health is failing, her sword makes her nauseous, and even her mind is threatening to betray her.

Sealed in the gothic gloom of the Emperor's Mithraeum with three unfriendly teachers, hunted by the mad ghost of a murdered planet, Harrow must confront two unwelcome questions: is somebody trying to kill her? And if they succeeded, would the universe be better off?

THE LOCKED TOMB SERIES
BOOK 1: Gideon the Ninth
BOOK 2: Harrow the Ninth
BOOK 3: Nona the Ninth
BOOK 4: Alecto the Ninth]]> 556 Tamsyn Muir 125031321X J 0 4.38 2020 Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2)
author: Tamsyn Muir
name: J
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves: to-read, fiction, own-and-need-to-read
review:

]]> The Paying Guests 24568234
'Frances had been picturing her lodgers in purely mercenary terms - as something like two great waddling shillings. But this, she thought, was what it really meant to have paying guests: this odd, unintimate proximity, this rather peeled-back moment, where the only thing between herself and a naked Mrs Barber was a few feet of kitchen and a thin scullery door. An image sprang into her head: that round flesh, crimsoning in the heat.'

It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.

For with the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the 'clerk class', the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. And as passions mount and frustration gathers, no one can foresee just how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.

This is vintage Sarah Waters: beautifully described with excruciating tension, real tenderness, believable characters, and surprises. It is above all a wonderful, compelling story.]]> 599 Sarah Waters 0349004609 J 3 fiction 3.61 2014 The Paying Guests
author: Sarah Waters
name: J
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/27
date added: 2024/07/27
shelves: fiction
review:
The back-end, consisting of 200-ish pages, was way too stressful to give this anything higher than a 3. But I still absolutely love Sarah Waters' writing.
]]> A Gift for a Ghost 50641217 An untalented punk band and a parallel dimension—what could go wrong?
Ěý
In Borja González’s stunning graphic novel, two parallel stories reflect and intertwine in a tale of youthful dreams and desires. In 1856, Teresa, a young aristocrat, is more interested in writing avantgarde horror poetry than making a suitable marriage. In 2016, three teenage girls, Gloria, Laura, and Cristina, want to start a punk band called the Black Holes. They have everything they need: attitude, looks, instinct . . . and an alarming lack of musical talent. They’ve barely started rehearsing when strange things begin to happen. As their world and Teresa’s intersect, they’re haunted by the echo of something that happened 160 years ago.
Ěý]]> 128 Borja González 1683357361 J 2 comics-and-graphic-novels 3.23 2018 A Gift for a Ghost
author: Borja González
name: J
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2018
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/24
date added: 2024/07/24
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> Little Men (Little Women, #2) 175407107
Spirited Jo March, now Mrs Bhaer, has settled into living and teaching at Plumfield boarding school, also home to a lively band of orphan boys. Jo's many pupils include Nat, a shy but talented musician, Dan, an ill-mannered troublemaker and Tommy Bangs, the school's mischievous class clown. Despite the troubles and scrapes that come with adolescent life, the lessons of kindness and gratitude taught at Plumfield prove to have a profound impact on each child.

Published in 1871, Little Men was received with delight by the many who cherished the coming-of-age tale Little Women, and proved a worthy sequel. Wisdom, courage and love is at the heart of Louisa May Alcott's writing, which continues to inspire and give solace to readers around the world today.]]> 320 Louisa May Alcott 0241652707 J 0 3.58 1871 Little Men (Little Women, #2)
author: Louisa May Alcott
name: J
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1871
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/16
shelves: to-read, own-and-need-to-read, fiction
review:

]]> Shuggie Bain 55358681 Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh "Shuggie" Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher's policies have put husbands and sons out of work, and the city's notorious drugs epidemic is waiting in the wings. Shuggie's mother Agnes walks a wayward path: she is Shuggie's guiding light but a burden for him and his siblings. She dreams of a house with its own front door while she flicks through the pages of the Freemans catalogue, ordering a little happiness on credit, anything to brighten up her grey life. Married to a philandering taxi-driver husband, Agnes keeps her pride by looking good--her beehive, make-up, and pearly-white false teeth offer a glamourous image of a Glaswegian Elizabeth Taylor. But under the surface, Agnes finds increasing solace in drink, and she drains away the lion's share of each week's benefits--all the family has to live on--on cans of extra-strong lager hidden in handbags and poured into tea mugs. Agnes's older children find their own ways to get a safe distance from their mother, abandoning Shuggie to care for her as she swings between alcoholic binges and sobriety. Shuggie is meanwhile struggling to somehow become the normal boy he desperately longs to be, but everyone has realized that he is "no right," a boy with a secret that all but him can see. Agnes is supportive of her son, but her addiction has the power to eclipse everyone close to her--even her beloved Shuggie.

A heartbreaking story of addiction, sexuality, and love, Shuggie Bain is an epic portrayal of a working-class family that is rarely seen in fiction. Recalling the work of Édouard Louis, Alan Hollinghurst, Frank McCourt, and Hanya Yanagihara, it is a blistering debut by a brilliant novelist who has a powerful and important story to tell.]]> 430 Douglas Stuart 1529019281 J 0 to-read, fiction 4.30 2020 Shuggie Bain
author: Douglas Stuart
name: J
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/13
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> The Virgin Suicides 179883941 260 Jeffrey Eugenides J 4 favorites 3.16 1993 The Virgin Suicides
author: Jeffrey Eugenides
name: J
average rating: 3.16
book published: 1993
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2024/07/12
shelves: favorites
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross]]> 368632 Professor Allegro (Univ. of Manchester) has hitherto been known for his several excellent books on the Dead Sea Scrolls. In an unusual reversal, he has now produced a book that will make The Passover Plot seem the last refuge of theological ultra-conservatism. The thesis of the book is simple enough: Jesus did not exist, the Gospels were & are a hoax, & Christianity is the atavistic vestige of an ancient fertility cult in which the object of worship was a peculiarly phallic mushroom, Amanita muscaria, capable of producing psychedelic reactions. As farfetched as all this may seem, it cannot be denied that he has brought to this work the same care & scholarly detachment that have characterized his earlier, & more conventional, works; & he has made not one concession to the sensational nature of his thesis. The book is, in fact, a demanding one, which presupposes in the reader at least a working knowledge of the ancient Semitic tongues & of the sciences considered auxiliary to biblical studies. Only the most determined non-professional iconoclast will be willing to wade through his unrelenting jargon. None of which, of course, will affect the demand for what is probably to become a very controversial work.--Kirkus (edited)]]> 381 John Marco Allegro 0340128755 J 0 3.54 1970 The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross
author: John Marco Allegro
name: J
average rating: 3.54
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/06
shelves: non-fiction, own-and-need-to-read, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)]]> 865293
Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves: the Gentleman Bastards.

Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city.

But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming.

A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi and The Grey King. Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr. As for Locke Lamora ...]]> 530 Scott Lynch 0575079754 J 0 fiction, did-not-finish 4.35 2006 The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)
author: Scott Lynch
name: J
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/06
shelves: fiction, did-not-finish
review:

]]> My Happy Marriage, Vol. 4 75253535
A browbeaten and mistreated daughter is cast out of her home and sent to audition as a bridal candidate for the heir to one of the most powerful families in the land�

Miyo Saimori, the eldest of her clan and yet unblessed by the supernatural talent that graced her father and half sister, is sent off to marry into the Gifted Kudo clan. The young and aloof clan leader, Kiyoka Kudo, finds himself intrigued by this girl who stands worlds apart from the spoiled, social-climbing women who usually vie for his hand. All too soon, Kiyoka comes to regard Miyo with affection.

Kiyoka and Miyo make their engagement real and official, but Miyo still worries she lacks the training to be a wife worthy of the Kudo clan. Enter Kiyoka’s older sister, Hazuki, who takes it upon herself to tutor Miyo—and tease Kiyoka along the way!

Suddenly, Miyo and Kiyoka encounter a mysterious man named Arata Tsuruki. What does he want, and what connection does he have to the enigmatic and powerful Usuba clan that Miyo’s mother hailed from?]]> 224 Rito Kohsaka 1646097262 J 3 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.34 2022 My Happy Marriage, Vol. 4
author: Rito Kohsaka
name: J
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/03
date added: 2024/07/03
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> Our Wives Under the Sea 58724816 Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife, Miri, knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was the crew was supposed to be studying before they were stranded, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.

By turns elegiac and furious, wry and heartbreaking, Our Wives Under the Sea is an exploration of the unknowable depths within each of us and the love that compels us, nevertheless, toward one another. Fathomlessly inventive and original, Julia Armfield’s debut novel is a portrait of marriage as we’ve never seen it before.]]> 228 Julia Armfield 1250229898 J 0 3.69 2022 Our Wives Under the Sea
author: Julia Armfield
name: J
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/30
shelves: to-read, fiction, library-e-book
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines that Divide Us]]> 54063245
The vast majority of our country is entirely unknown to us because we are banned from setting foot on it. By law of trespass, we are excluded from 92 per cent of the land and 97 per cent of its waterways, blocked by walls whose legitimacy is rarely questioned. But behind them lies a story of enclosure, exploitation and dispossession of public rights whose effects last to this day.

The Book of Trespass takes us on a journey over the walls of England, into the thousands of square miles of rivers, woodland, lakes and meadows that are blocked from public access. By trespassing the land of the media magnates, Lords, politicians and private corporations that own England, Nick Hayes argues that the root of social inequality is the uneven distribution of land.

Weaving together the stories of poachers, vagabonds, gypsies, witches, hippies, ravers, ramblers, migrants and protestors, and charting acts of civil disobedience that challenge orthodox power at its heart, The Book of Trespass will transform the way you see England.]]> 448 Nick Hayes 1526604698 J 4 non-fiction 4.43 2020 The Book of Trespass: Crossing the Lines that Divide Us
author: Nick Hayes
name: J
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/28
date added: 2024/06/28
shelves: non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai]]> 50644618 92 Nina Mingya Powles 1912915340 J 0 non-fiction, to-read 4.22 2020 Tiny Moons: A Year of Eating in Shanghai
author: Nina Mingya Powles
name: J
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: non-fiction, to-read
review:

]]> The Kingdoms 54680112 A time twisting alternative history that asks whether it's worth changing the past to save the future, even if it costs you everyone you've ever loved.

Joe Tournier has a bad case of amnesia. His first memory is of stepping off a train in the nineteenth-century French colony of England. The only clue Joe has about his identity is a century-old postcard of a Scottish lighthouse that arrives in London the same month he does. Written in illegal English—instead of French—the postcard is signed only with the letter “M,� but Joe is certain whoever wrote it knows him far better than he currently knows himself, and he's determined to find the writer. The search for M, though, will drive Joe from French-ruled London to rebel-owned Scotland and finally onto the battle ships of a lost empire's Royal Navy. In the process, Joe will remake history, and himself.]]> 448 Natasha Pulley 1635576083 J 0 to-read, fiction 4.01 2021 The Kingdoms
author: Natasha Pulley
name: J
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> The Mars House 150277127 From the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, a queer sci-fi novel about an Earth refugee and a Mars politician who fake marry to save their reputations—and their planet.

In the wake of environmental catastrophe, January, once a principal in London’s Royal Ballet, has become a refugee on Tharsis, the terraformed colony on Mars. In Tharsis, January’s life is dictated by his status as an Earthstronger—a person whose body is not adjusted to Mars’s lower gravity and so poses a danger to those born on, or naturalized to, Mars. January’s job choices, housing, and even transportation options are dictated by this second-class status, and now a xenophobic politician named Aubrey Gale is running on a platform that would make it all worse: Gale wants all Earthstrongers to be surgically naturalized, a process that can be anything from disabling to deadly.

When Gale chooses January for an on-the-spot press junket interview that goes horribly awry, January’s life is thrown into chaos, but Gale’s political fortunes are damaged, too. Gale proposes a solution to both their problems: a five-year made-for-the-press marriage that would secure January’s financial future without naturalization and ensure Gale’s political future. But when January accepts the offer, he discovers that Gale is not at all like they appear in the press. And worse, soon, January finds himself entangled in political and personal events well beyond his imagining. Gale has an enemy, someone willing to destroy all of Tharsis to make them pay—and January may be the only person standing in the way.]]> 469 Natasha Pulley 1639732330 J 0 to-read, fiction 3.93 2024 The Mars House
author: Natasha Pulley
name: J
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> The Half Life of Valery K 58532153 From the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and The Kingdoms, an epic Cold War novel set in a mysterious town in Soviet Russia.

In 1963, in a Siberian gulag, former nuclear specialist Valery Kolkhanov has mastered what it takes to survive: the right connections to the guards for access to food and cigarettes, the right pair of warm boots to avoid frostbite, and the right attitude toward the small pleasures of life so he won’t go insane. But on one ordinary day, all that changes: Valery’s university mentor steps in and sweeps Valery from the frozen prison camp to a mysterious unnamed town that houses a set of nuclear reactors and is surrounded by a forest so damaged it looks like the trees have rusted from within.

In City 40, Valery is Dr. Kolkhanov once more, and he’s expected to serve out his prison term studying the effect of radiation on local animals. But as Valery begins his work, he is struck by the questions his research raises: why is there so much radiation in this area? What, exactly, is being hidden from the thousands who live in the town? And if he keeps looking for answers, will he live to serve out his sentence?

Based on real events in a surreal Soviet city, and told with bestselling author Natasha Pulley’s inimitable style, The Half Life of Valery K is a sweeping new adventure for readers of Stuart Turton and Sarah Gailey.]]> 375 Natasha Pulley 1635573270 J 0 to-read, fiction 4.16 2022 The Half Life of Valery K
author: Natasha Pulley
name: J
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: to-read, fiction
review:

]]> My Happy Marriage 03 (Manga) 62237471
Sent to the Kudo clan—itself preternaturally powerful—as a potential bride for its heir, Kiyoka, Miyo is surprised to experience kindness for the first time in her thus far sad life.

Though the rumors make him out to be cold and haughty, Kiyoka Kudo quickly warms up to the Saimoris' eldest daughter. Intrigued by the girl who stands worlds apart from the spoiled, social-climbing women who usually vie for his hand, Kiyoka soon comes to regard Miyo with affection.

Just as Miyo believes she may have found happiness at last, her jealous half sister, Kaya, kidnaps her and locks her in a cellar. Kaya's eyes are red with rage as she declares her intention to dissolve Miyo's engagement to Kiyoka and replace Miyo as his fiancée herself! Will Kiyoka's supernatural abilities deliver her from Kaya's clutches in time?]]> 224 Akumi Agitogi 1646096355 J 4 comics-and-graphic-novels 4.52 2021 My Happy Marriage 03 (Manga)
author: Akumi Agitogi
name: J
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/22
date added: 2024/06/22
shelves: comics-and-graphic-novels
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Traces: The memoir of a forensic scientist and criminal investigator]]> 48842075 'Engrossing, emotionally honest and forensically fascinating' - Dr Richard Shepherd, author of Unnatural Causes

In Traces, Professor Patricia Wiltshire will take you on a journey through the fascinating edgeland where nature and crime are intertwined.

She'll take you searching for bodies of loved ones - through woodlands, along hedgerows, field-edges, and through plantations - solving time since death, and disposal of remains, from ditches to living rooms. She will give you glimpses of her own history: her loves, her losses, and the narrow little valley in Wales where she first woke up to the wonders of the natural world. Pat will show you how her work with a microscope reveals tell-tale traces of the world around us, and how these have taken suspects of the darkest criminal activities to court.

From flowers, fungi, tree trunks to car pedals, walking boots, carpets, and corpses' hair, Traces is a fascinating, unique, and utterly compelling book on life, death, and one's indelible link with nature.]]> Patricia Wiltshire 1788701941 J 3 non-fiction 3.64 2019 Traces: The memoir of a forensic scientist and criminal investigator
author: Patricia Wiltshire
name: J
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/11
date added: 2024/06/11
shelves: non-fiction
review:

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