chloe's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 22 Apr 2025 00:52:22 -0700 60 chloe's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Prospects 193556691 The pressure cooker of minor league baseball leads to major chemistry in this exhilarating, sexy, and triumphant rivals to lovers debut romance.

Hope is familiar territory for Gene Ionescu. He has always loved baseball, a sport made for underdogs and optimists like him. He also loves his team, the minor league Beaverton Beavers, and, for the most part, he loves the career he’s built. As the first openly trans player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s ever let himself dream of—that is, until Luis Estrada, Gene’s former teammate and current rival, gets traded to the Beavers, destroying the careful equilibrium of Gene’s life.

Gene and Luis can’t manage a civil conversation off the field or a competent play on it, but in the close confines of dugout benches and roadie buses, they begrudgingly rediscover a comfortable rhythm. As the two grow closer, the tension between them turns electric, and their chemistry spills past the confines of the stadium. For every tight double play they execute, there’s also a glance at summer-tan shoulders or a secret shared, each one a breathless moment of possibility that ignites in Gene the visceral, terrifying kind of desire he’s never allowed himself. Soon, Gene has to reconcile the quiet, minor-league-sized life he used to find fulfilling with the major-league dreams Luis makes feel possible.

A joyful, heartfelt debut rom-com revealing what’s possible when we allow ourselves to want something enough to swing for the fences.]]> 384 K.T. Hoffman 0593596862 chloe 0 to-read 4.22 2024 The Prospects
author: K.T. Hoffman
name: chloe
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Floating World (The Floating World, #1)]]> 215149209 From Axie Oh, the New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in this romantic fantasy reimagining the Korean legend of Celestial Maidens.

Sunho lives in the Under World, a land of perpetual darkness. An ex-soldier, he can remember little of his life from before two years ago, when he woke up alone with only his name and his sword. Now he does odd-jobs to scrape by, until he comes across the score of a lifetime—a chest of coins for any mercenary who can hunt down a girl who wields silver light.

Meanwhile, far to the east, Ren is a cheerful and spirited acrobat traveling with her adoptive family and performing at villages. But everything changes during one of their festival performances when the village is attacked by a horrific humanlike demon. In a moment of fear and rage, Ren releases a blast of silver light—a power she has kept hidden since childhood—and kills the monster. But her efforts are not in time to prevent her adoptive family from suffering a devastating loss, or to save her beloved uncle from being grievously wounded.

Determined to save him from succumbing to the poisoned wound, Ren sets off over the mountains, where the creature came from—and from where Ren herself fled ten years ago. Her path sets her on a collision course with Sunho, but he doesn't realize she's the girl that he—and a hundred other swords-for-hire—is looking for. As the two grow closer through their travels, they come to realize that their pasts—and destinies—are far more entwined than either of them could have imagined...]]> 368 Axie Oh 1250853087 chloe 0 to-read 4.17 2025 The Floating World (The Floating World, #1)
author: Axie Oh
name: chloe
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Blood Over Bright Haven 208430658 Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.

An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant.

What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power.

Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance?

A standalone dark academia brimming with mystery, tragedy, and the damning echoes of the past. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, V. E. Schwab, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

(Content warnings for gore, sexual assault, and suicidal ideation)]]> 430 M.L. Wang 0593873351 chloe 0 to-read 4.40 2023 Blood Over Bright Haven
author: M.L. Wang
name: chloe
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in an Actual Cult!)]]> 208840265 A deliciously witty and inspiring memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her decade in a cult and her quest to break free.

In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to breakthrough as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her career was about to take off, but her personal life was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show’s millions of fans knew, hidden even from her costars, was her secret double life in a cult.

An only child who often had to fend for herself and always wanted a place to belong, Lenz found the safe haven she’d been searching for in a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives. However, the group soon morphed into something more sinister—a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse, and fear under the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family. Piece by piece, Lenz began to give away her autonomy, ultimately relocating to the Family’s Pacific Northwest compound, overseen by a domineering minister who would convince Lenz to marry one of his sons and steadily drained millions of her TV income without her knowledge. Family “minders� assigned to her on set, “Maoist struggle session”–inspired meetings in the basement of a filthy house, and regular counseling with “Leadership� were just part of the tactics used to keep her loyal.

Only when she became a mother did Lenz find the courage to leave and spare her child from a similar fate. After nearly a decade (and with the unlikely help of a One Tree Hill superfan), she finally managed to escape the family’s grip and begin to heal from the deep trauma that forever altered her relationship with God and her understanding of faith. Written with powerful honesty and dark humor, Dinner for Vampires is an inspiring story about the importance of identity and understanding what you believe.]]> 303 Bethany Joy Lenz 1668067307 chloe 0 to-read 4.28 2024 Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show (While Also in an Actual Cult!)
author: Bethany Joy Lenz
name: chloe
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1) 55196813
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it's too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.]]> 304 Nita Prose 0593356152 chloe 0 to-read 3.71 2022 The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1)
author: Nita Prose
name: chloe
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Return of the King (Lord of the Rings #3)]]> 899759 here.

Concluding the story begun in The Hobbit, this is the final part of Tolkien's epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. Featuring a striking black cover based on Tolkien's own design, the definitive text, and a detailed map of Middle-earth.

The armies of the Dark Lord are massing as his evil shadow spreads ever wider. Men, Dwarves, Elves and Ents unite forces to do battle agains the Dark. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam struggle further into Mordor in their heroic quest to destroy the One Ring.

Impossible to describe in a few words, JRR Tolkien's great work of imaginative fiction has been labelled both a heroic romance and a classic fantasy fiction. By turns comic and homely, epic and diabolic, the narrative moves through countless changes of scene and character in an imaginary world which is totally convincing in its detail. Tolkien created a vast new mythology in an invented world which has proved timeless in its appeal.

source: harpercollins.com.au]]> 432 J.R.R. Tolkien chloe 0 currently-reading 4.52 1955 The Return of the King (Lord of the Rings #3)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: chloe
average rating: 4.52
book published: 1955
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)]]> 899758
The second volume in J.R.R. Tolkien's epic adventure The Lord of the Rings.

Frodo and the Companions of the Ring have been beset by danger during their quest to prevent the Ruling Ring from falling into the hands of the Dark Lord by destroying it in the Cracks of Doom. They have lost the wizard, Gandalf, in the battle with an evil spirit in the Mines of Moria; and at the falls of Rauros, Boromir, seduced by the power of the Ring, tried to seize it by force. While Frodo and Sam made their escape the rest of the company were attacked by orcs.

Now they continue their journey alone down the great River Anduin - alone, that is, save for the mysterious creeping figure that follows wherever they go.

This is the second part of a new three-book edition in B-format paperback which reproduces the complete unabridged text of the three books, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, that together make up The Lord of the Rings. The Appendices and Index are included in The Return of the King. This reset edition contains newly drawn maps by Stephen Raw, based on Christopher Tolkien's original maps.]]> 338 J.R.R. Tolkien chloe 5
i do feel the two formats of the story enhance each other. the total awe of the films scenery and soundtrack immerses you in a different way, particularly helping me visualize scale (and the more imaginative of tolkien's characters - the ents, for example!)

of course, there were many moments that were omitted from the films - but I was more surprised that certain scenes within the films felt more prolonged in comparison to their much faster pace in the novel? TTT is, naturally, structured completely differently to the corresponding screenplay of its major motion picture (this novel is split into 'books' that follow one set of characters at a time - so the latter half of the novel is told entirely from Sam and Frodo's perspective, for e.g)

i'm not sure why, but i was expecting chapters and chapters dedicated to isengard, the ents and helms deep, but was surprised by their much more rapid depictions. this doesn't mean to say that the story was rushed in any way as it it felt well paced, with a good blend of action and exposition.

i do think that there were some really heartfelt moments that would have translated strongly from page to screen, to help shape understanding of certain characters - especially faramir and sam - but overall this was truly a wonderful continuation. it is still worth noting that once again the little dialogue that the (very few) strong female characters get in the films just simply don't exist in the novels (with exception of galadriel) and i realllly hope that we see Éowyn shine in TROTK <3
]]> 4.41 1954 The Two Towers (The Lord of the Rings, #2)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: chloe
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/21
shelves:
review:
i feel like TTT is desolately sad but very beautiful, and its difficult to read without instantly comparing it to the film that i love so dearly. i know that getting tied up with 'what changed where' could potentially detract you from enjoying Tolkien's words in isolation but i think that the comparison is natural with a franchise so epic, and actually complements the experience.

i do feel the two formats of the story enhance each other. the total awe of the films scenery and soundtrack immerses you in a different way, particularly helping me visualize scale (and the more imaginative of tolkien's characters - the ents, for example!)

of course, there were many moments that were omitted from the films - but I was more surprised that certain scenes within the films felt more prolonged in comparison to their much faster pace in the novel? TTT is, naturally, structured completely differently to the corresponding screenplay of its major motion picture (this novel is split into 'books' that follow one set of characters at a time - so the latter half of the novel is told entirely from Sam and Frodo's perspective, for e.g)

i'm not sure why, but i was expecting chapters and chapters dedicated to isengard, the ents and helms deep, but was surprised by their much more rapid depictions. this doesn't mean to say that the story was rushed in any way as it it felt well paced, with a good blend of action and exposition.

i do think that there were some really heartfelt moments that would have translated strongly from page to screen, to help shape understanding of certain characters - especially faramir and sam - but overall this was truly a wonderful continuation. it is still worth noting that once again the little dialogue that the (very few) strong female characters get in the films just simply don't exist in the novels (with exception of galadriel) and i realllly hope that we see Éowyn shine in TROTK <3

]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)]]> 7736182 JASON HAS A PROBLEM. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and his best friend is a guy named Leo. They’re all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids," as Leo puts it. What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Jason doesn't know anything—except that everything seems very wrong.

PIPER HAS A SECRET. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out, whether she wants to or not.

LEO HAS A WAY WITH TOOLS. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Best-selling author Rick Riordan has pumped up the action, humor, suspense, and mystery in an epic adventure that will leave readers panting for the next installment.]]> 576 Rick Riordan 142311339X chloe 4 currently-reading 4.28 2010 The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: chloe
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5)]]> 4556058
While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it's up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy's sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.]]> 381 Rick Riordan 1423101472 chloe 4
]]> 4.59 2009 The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5)
author: Rick Riordan
name: chloe
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves:
review:
just wanna give them all a big hug really


]]> <![CDATA[The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom]]> 214151420 From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing.

Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface—Ruby’s wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.

As the family’s YouTube notoriety grew, so too did Ruby’s delusions of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.

Ruby and Jodi were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word: “Finally.�

For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family’s devastating involvement with Jodi Hildebrandt’s cultish life coaching program, “ConneXions.� No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother’s cruelty.]]> 320 Shari Franke 1668065398 chloe 0 to-read 4.43 2025 The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom
author: Shari Franke
name: chloe
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)]]> 3875037 One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell into the hands of Bilbo Baggins, as told in The Hobbit.

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.]]> 398 J.R.R. Tolkien chloe 5
... how do you even rate such a fundamental piece of literature

Tolkien's ability to slowly construct delicate watercolor vignette's of nature writing alongside lightning paced dialogue and action sequences (often on the same page) is truly mesmerizing.

his commentary on man's obsession with power and the consequent, far reaching ripples of devastation this unleashes upon the world through war will only become far more devastating (and eerily echo ever closer to the world today). sometimes only fantasy can deliver us the facts.

the sheer craftmanship behind the creation of middle earth and the complexities of LOTR's plot is overwhelming when i think about it too much, but is certainly not overwhelming to read. i think the reason i delayed reading this for so long was because i was frightened of not understanding what was happening, but i can assure you that anything but this happened. you cannot help but become truly rooted in place with these characters, as if you lived in this world yourself, for it is so meticulously crafted.

(although the little screen time our girl arwen gets in the first movie simply does not exist in this book but alas x)]]> 4.41 1954 The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, #1)
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: chloe
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1954
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
review:
epic for a reason and (possibly?) even more epic listening on audiobook whilst walking so you too can feel like you're part of the fellowship! so I 100% recommend that. andy serkis truly brought this novel to life, all voices and songs included, and it was a powerful storytelling experience.

... how do you even rate such a fundamental piece of literature

Tolkien's ability to slowly construct delicate watercolor vignette's of nature writing alongside lightning paced dialogue and action sequences (often on the same page) is truly mesmerizing.

his commentary on man's obsession with power and the consequent, far reaching ripples of devastation this unleashes upon the world through war will only become far more devastating (and eerily echo ever closer to the world today). sometimes only fantasy can deliver us the facts.

the sheer craftmanship behind the creation of middle earth and the complexities of LOTR's plot is overwhelming when i think about it too much, but is certainly not overwhelming to read. i think the reason i delayed reading this for so long was because i was frightened of not understanding what was happening, but i can assure you that anything but this happened. you cannot help but become truly rooted in place with these characters, as if you lived in this world yourself, for it is so meticulously crafted.

(although the little screen time our girl arwen gets in the first movie simply does not exist in this book but alas x)
]]> Maine Characters 217453516 From beloved author Hannah Orenstein, this love letter to lake life is “the Parent Trap for adults,� the story of two half-sisters who meet for the first time at their father’s cabin in Maine after his unexpected death.

Every summer, Vivian Levy and Lucy Webster spend a month with their father at his lake house � separately. Raised in New York City, Vivian is an ambitious sommelier with a secret that could derail her future. Lucy grew up in a tiny Maine town, where she now teaches high school English while watching her marriage unravel. They’ve never met. While Lucy envied her half-sister from afar, their father kept Vivian in the dark.

When Vivian arrives at the lake to spread his ashes and sell his cabin, she's shocked to find Lucy there, awaiting his return. In an ideal world, they’d help each other through their grief. Instead, forced to spend the summer together, they fight through a storm of suspicion and hostility to untangle the messy truth about their parents� pasts. While Lucy is desperate to hold onto the house, Vivian is scrambling after a betrayal. After thirty years apart, is it too late for them to be a family?

For fans of Carley Fortune and Elin Hilderbrand, this sister story set on a lush lake brims with the undeniable heart, depth, charm, and humor that have endeared Hannah Orenstein to legions of readers.]]> 400 Hannah Orenstein 0593851552 chloe 0 to-read 3.71 2025 Maine Characters
author: Hannah Orenstein
name: chloe
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Big Fan 211350358
Maya was a rising star in the political world until her ex-husband’s high-profile sex scandal nearly derailed her career. Landing a gubernatorial candidate like Teresa Powell is the fresh start she desperately needs � a chance to focus on meaningful work and leave the drama behind.

But then an email from her past sends her world spinning: Charlie, former lead singer of Mischief, the boy band that fueled her teenage obsession, is staging a solo comeback and wants Maya’s help to make it happen. Turns out, she likes the grown-up Charlie and his genuine engagement with the world.

Maya’s not about to ditch her political ambitions for a teenage crush, but if she can leverage Charlie to draw attention to the policies she cares about, shouldn’t she give it a try?]]> 176 Alexandra Romanoff chloe 0 to-read 3.78 Big Fan
author: Alexandra Romanoff
name: chloe
average rating: 3.78
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Comedic Timing 217951320
Naina Rao is ready for this to be her year: She’s entered her mid-twenties, landed a steady job, broken up with her intensely passionate older girlfriend Sofia, and committed to hustling her way into a creative career.

But the city doesn’t exactly embrace her with open arms � at least not until she meets David, an aspiring filmmaker and collaborator who makes New York start to feel like home.

But is this a professional connection or a romantic one? And does opening herself up to a relationship with David mean compromising her sexual identity and her aspirations?]]> 176 Upasna Barath chloe 0 to-read 3.51 2025 Comedic Timing
author: Upasna Barath
name: chloe
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)]]> 44421460 What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 213 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529029589 chloe 0 to-read 3.66 2015 Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: chloe
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lightfall (The Everlands Trilogy, #1)]]> 211003690 An epic fantasy of vampires, werewolves and sorcerers, Lightfall is the debut novel of Ed Crocker, for fans of Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire and Richard Swan’s The Justice of Kings.

No humans here. Just immortals: their politics, their feuds—and their long buried secrets.

For centuries, vampires freely roamed the land until the Grays came out of nowhere, wiping out half the population in a night. The survivors fled to the last vampire city of First Light, where the rules are simple. If you’re poor, you drink weak blood. If you’re nobility, you get the good stuff. And you can never, ever leave.

Palace maid Sam has had enough of these rules, and she’s definitely had enough of cleaning the bedpans of the lords who enforce them. When the son of the city’s ruler is murdered and she finds the only clue to his death, she seizes the chance to blackmail her way into a better class and better blood. She falls in with the Leeches, a group of rebel maids who rein in the worst of the Lords. Soon she’s in league with a sorcerer whose deductive skills make up for his lack of magic, a deadly werewolf assassin and a countess who knows a city’s worth of secrets.

There’s just one problem. What began as a murder investigation has uncovered a vast conspiracy by the ruling elite, and now Sam must find the truth before she becomes another victim. If she can avoid getting murdered, she might just live forever.]]> 368 Ed Crocker 1250287731 chloe 0 to-read 3.55 2025 Lightfall (The Everlands Trilogy, #1)
author: Ed Crocker
name: chloe
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)]]> 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 382 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 chloe 0 to-read 4.63 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: chloe
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Atmosphere 220817728 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s Space Shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits.

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.

As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.

Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love, this time among the stars.]]> 352 Taylor Jenkins Reid 0593158717 chloe 0 to-read 4.45 2025 Atmosphere
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: chloe
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Magician’s Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #6)]]> 65605
Narnia... a land where the woods are thick and cold, where Talking Beasts come to life—an entirely new world where adventure begins.

One cold, wet summer in London, Digory and Polly meet and become fast friends. Their lives take a sudden turn when Digory’s Uncle Andrew, who fancies himself a magician, sends them hurtling to... somewhere else. They arrive in Narnia, just as it is born from the song of the great Lion, Aslan. Along the way, they encounter the evil sorceress Jadis, whose dark magic threatens everything. After a whirlwind adventure, they finally find their way back home.]]> 221 C.S. Lewis 0060764902 chloe 0 4.06 1955 The Magician’s Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #6)
author: C.S. Lewis
name: chloe
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1955
rating: 0
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village]]> 57030070 Winner of the 2019 August Prize

Near the river Klarälven, snug in the dense forest landscape of northern Värmland, lies the Swedish village of Osebol. It is a quiet place, one where relationships take root over decades, and where the bustle of city life is replaced by the sound of wind in the trees.

In the last half-century, the automation of the lumber industry and the steady drip of relocations to the cities for work have seen Osebol's adult population dwindle to only 40-odd residents. But still, life goes on. Those who have inherited their farms for generations live alongside recent arrivals from near and far. People age; children grow up. Heirlooms are passed from hand to hand, and memories from mouth to mouth.

In this extraordinary book, Marit Kapla has gathered the voices of the villagers themselves, interviewing almost all of those remaining between the ages of 18 and 92. Arranged with only a handful of lines on each page, they tell of their griefs and joys, resentments and pleasures, enmities and loves, and memories that span a century of progress and upheaval.

To read Osebol is to lose oneself in its gentle rhythms of simple language and open space, and to emerge feeling like one has really grown to know the inhabitants of this varied community, nestled among the trees in a changing world.]]> 816 Marit Kapla 0241535204 chloe 0 currently-reading 4.00 2019 Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village
author: Marit Kapla
name: chloe
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magnolia Parks (Magnolia Parks Universe, #1)]]> 58527403 423 Jessa Hastings 1737281198 chloe 3
if you’re not a reality tv fan I can very easily see how you would hate this - but if you are fascinated by the lives of the utterly ridiculous then give it a whirl.

(although- the male mc is truly the worst and I think I would have enormously preferred it if this was written entirely from magnolias pov - what she sees in him is genuinely beyond me x) ]]> 3.68 2021 Magnolia Parks (Magnolia Parks Universe, #1)
author: Jessa Hastings
name: chloe
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:
perhaps a 2.5, perhaps a 3 - this is a tricky one again for me to rate because I’m not a ✨romance girly� (I am inherently picky when it comes to writing style and there were definitely some language choices here steeped in cringe) but to be honest, I did have a good time with this one. I was and am a die hard OG MIC and RHOBH girl and this allowed me to reminisce on the joy I felt when watching that old school drama - I had some laugh out loud moments whilst this cast of insufferably arrogant Londoners spent their money and broke each others hearts (again, and again and again)

if you’re not a reality tv fan I can very easily see how you would hate this - but if you are fascinated by the lives of the utterly ridiculous then give it a whirl.

(although- the male mc is truly the worst and I think I would have enormously preferred it if this was written entirely from magnolias pov - what she sees in him is genuinely beyond me x)
]]> <![CDATA[Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)]]> 37173847
But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic--the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience--have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.]]> 501 Robert Jackson Bennett 1524760374 chloe 0 to-read 4.16 2018 Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: chloe
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)]]> 150247395
Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears--quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times, and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home.

Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.

As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.]]> 410 Robert Jackson Bennett 1984820702 chloe 0 to-read 4.28 2024 The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: chloe
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Year of Magical Thinking 7815
From one of America's iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage–and a life, in good times and bad–that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.

Several days before Christmas 2003, John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion saw their only daughter, Quintana, fall ill with what seemed at first flu, then pneumonia, then complete septic shock. She was put into an induced coma and placed on life support. Days later–the night before New Year's Eve–the Dunnes were just sitting down to dinner after visiting the hospital when John Gregory Dunne suffered a massive and fatal coronary. In a second, this close, symbiotic partnership of forty years was over. Four weeks later, their daughter pulled through. Two months after that, arriving at LAX, she collapsed and underwent six hours of brain surgery at UCLA Medical Center to relieve a massive hematoma.

This powerful book is Didion's attempt to make sense of the "weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness . . . about marriage and children and memory . . . about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself."]]> 227 Joan Didion 1400078431 chloe 0 to-read 3.94 2005 The Year of Magical Thinking
author: Joan Didion
name: chloe
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> M Train: A Memoir 28503848
M Train begins in the tiny Greenwich Village café where Smith goes every morning for black coffee, ruminates on the world as it is and the world as it was, and writes in her notebook. Through prose that shifts fluidly between dreams and reality, past and present, we travel to Frida Kahlo’s Casa Azul in Mexico; to the fertile moon terrain of Iceland; to a ramshackle seaside bungalow in New York’s Far Rockaway that Smith acquires just before Hurricane Sandy hits; to the West 4th Street subway station, filled with the sounds of the Velvet Underground after the death of Lou Reed; and to the graves of Genet, Plath, Rimbaud, and Mishima.

Woven throughout are reflections on the writer’s craft and on artistic creation. Here, too, are singular memories of Smith’s life in Michigan and the irremediable loss of her husband, Fred Sonic Smith.

Braiding despair with hope and consolation, illustrated with her signature Polaroids, M Train is a meditation on travel, detective shows, literature, and coffee. It is a powerful, deeply moving book by one of the most remarkable multiplatform artists at work today.

Featuring a postscript with five new photos from Patti Smith]]> 288 Patti Smith 110191016X chloe 0 to-read 4.16 2015 M Train: A Memoir
author: Patti Smith
name: chloe
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Greenlights 52838315 From the Academy Award®–winning actor, an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction.

I’ve been in this life for fifty years, been trying to work out its riddle for forty-two, and been keeping diaries of clues to that riddle for the last thirty-five. Notes about successes and failures, joys and sorrows, things that made me marvel, and things that made me laugh out loud. How to be fair. How to have less stress. How to have fun. How to hurt people less. How to get hurt less. How to be a good man. How to have meaning in life. How to be more me.

Recently, I worked up the courage to sit down with those diaries. I found stories I experienced, lessons I learned and forgot, poems, prayers, prescriptions, beliefs about what matters, some great photographs, and a whole bunch of bumper stickers. I found a reliable theme, an approach to living that gave me more satisfaction, at the time, and still: If you know how, and when, to deal with life’s challenges - how to get relative with the inevitable - you can enjoy a state of success I call “catching greenlights.�

So I took a one-way ticket to the desert and wrote this book: an album, a record, a story of my life so far. This is fifty years of my sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls. Graces, truths, and beauties of brutality. Getting away withs, getting caughts, and getting wets while trying to dance between the raindrops.

Hopefully, it’s medicine that tastes good, a couple of aspirin instead of the infirmary, a spaceship to Mars without needing your pilot’s license, going to church without having to be born again, and laughing through the tears.

It’s a love letter. To life.

It’s also a guide to catching more greenlights - and to realizing that the yellows and reds eventually turn green too.

Good luck.]]> 289 Matthew McConaughey 0593139135 chloe 4
a joyful ride on the highway of learning, loving and livin ]]> 4.21 2020 Greenlights
author: Matthew McConaughey
name: chloe
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves:
review:
i find it difficult to review autobiographical work as it feels as though you’re giving someone’s life story a rating, but this one was truly spectacular. I listened to ‘greenlights� on audio which I highly recommend. McConaughey’s vocals elevate the decades of his journal entries to another place, making you laugh and loud and then leaving you deep in thought five minutes later.

a joyful ride on the highway of learning, loving and livin
]]> Rewitched 207928193 Belladonna Blackthorn hasn’t lost her magical spark . . . but she hasn’t seen it in a while, either.

Balancing work at her beloved Lunar Books with protecting it from her toxic boss, who’s running it into the ground, and all the while concealing her witchcraft from the non-wicches around her � Belle is burnt out. Perfecting the potential of her magic is the last thing on her mind.

But when her 30th birthday brings a summons from her coven, and a trial that tests her worthiness as a witch, Belle risks losing her magic forever. With the month of October to fix things, and signs that dark forces may be working against her, Belle will need all the help she can get � from the women in her life, from an unlikely mentor figure, and even an (infuriatingly handsome) watchman who’s sworn to protect her . . .

With found family, slow burn romance and an uplifting message about self-love, this is the cosy, autumnal read that you've been waiting for.]]> 416 Lucy Jane Wood 1035045451 chloe 0 to-read 3.96 2024 Rewitched
author: Lucy Jane Wood
name: chloe
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Life Ceremony 59793324 Life Ceremony, the incomparable Sayaka Murata is back with her first collection of short stories ever to be translated into English. In Japan, Murata is particularly admired for her short stories, which are sometimes sweet, sometimes shocking, and always imbued with an otherworldly imagination and uncanniness.

In these twelve stories, Murata mixes an unusual cocktail of humor and horror to portray both the loners and outcasts as well as turning the norms and traditions of society on their head to better question them. Whether the stories take place in modern-day Japan, the future, or an alternate reality is left to the reader’s interpretation, as the characters often seem strange in their normality in a frighteningly abnormal world. In “A First-Rate Material�, Nana and Naoki are happily engaged, but Naoki can’t stand the conventional use of deceased people’s bodies for clothing, accessories, and furniture, and a disagreement around this threatens to derail their perfect wedding day. “Lovers on the Breeze� is told from the perspective of a curtain in a child’s bedroom that jealously watches the young girl Naoko as she has her first kiss with a boy from her class and does its best to stop her. “Eating the City� explores the strange norms around food and foraging, while “Hatchling� closes the collection with an extraordinary depiction of the fractured personality of someone who tries too hard to fit in.

In these strange and wonderful stories of family and friendship, sex and intimacy, belonging and individuality, Murata asks above all what it means to be a human in our world and offers answers that surprise and linger.]]> 256 Sayaka Murata 0802159583 chloe 0 to-read 3.76 2019 Life Ceremony
author: Sayaka Murata
name: chloe
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Convenience Store Woman 38357895
A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.]]> 163 Sayaka Murata chloe 5 3.70 2016 Convenience Store Woman
author: Sayaka Murata
name: chloe
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/21
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves:
review:
a very emotional, weirdly pleasant surprise of a story, standing as a powerful statement on societal performance and expectation, gender, what the hell ‘being normal� is and how little it all matters
]]> In Search of Lost Time 18796
For this authoritative English-language edition, D. J. Enright has revised the late Terence Kilmartin’s acclaimed reworking of C. K. Scott Moncrieff’s translation to take into account the new definitive French editions of À la recherche du temps perdu (the final volume of these new editions was published by the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade in 1989).]]> 4211 Marcel Proust 0812969642 chloe 0 to-read 4.34 1913 In Search of Lost Time
author: Marcel Proust
name: chloe
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1913
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The God of the Woods 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

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

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]> 490 Liz Moore chloe 0 to-read 4.15 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: chloe
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Intermezzo 208931300 An exquisitely moving story about grief, love, and family—but especially love—from the global phenomenon Sally Rooney.

Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common.

Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties—successful, competent, and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father’s death, he’s medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women—his enduring first love, Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke.

Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.

For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude—a period of desire, despair, and possibility; a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.]]> 454 Sally Rooney 0374602638 chloe 0 to-read 3.87 2024 Intermezzo
author: Sally Rooney
name: chloe
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Blue Sisters 195430687 Three estranged siblings return to their family home in New York after their beloved sister's death in this unforgettable story of grief, identity, and the complexities of family.

The three Blue sisters are exceptional—and exceptionally different. Avery, the eldest and a recovering heroin addict turned strait-laced lawyer, lives with her wife in London; Bonnie, a former boxer, works as a bouncer in Los Angeles following a devastating defeat; and Lucky, the youngest, models in Paris while trying to outrun her hard-partying ways. They also had a fourth sister, Nicky, whose unexpected death left Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky reeling. A year later, as they each navigate grief, addiction, and ambition, they find they must return to New York to stop the sale of the apartment they were raised in.

But coming home is never as easy as it seems. As the sisters reckon with the disappointments of their childhood and the loss of the only person who held them together, they realize the greatest secrets they've been keeping might not have been from each other, but from themselves.]]> 342 Coco Mellors 0593723767 chloe 0 to-read 3.93 2024 Blue Sisters
author: Coco Mellors
name: chloe
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens 58894458
Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney � populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings. This is their safe place, an oasis of familiar delights � a beautiful garden, a busy kitchen and a bountiful recreation schedule.

But this ordinary neighbourhood is not without its prejudices. The serenity of Cinnamon Gardens is threatened by malignant forces more interested in what makes this refuge different rather than embracing the calm companionship that makes this place home to so many. As those who challenge the residents� existence make their stand against the nursing home with devastating consequences, our characters are forced to reckon with a country divided.

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is about family and memory, community and race, but is ultimately a love letter to story-telling and how our stories shape who we are.]]> 384 Shankari Chandran 1761150316 chloe 0 to-read 4.15 2022 Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens
author: Shankari Chandran
name: chloe
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Burial Rites 17333319
Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master, is sent to an isolated farm to await execution.

Horrified at the prospect of housing a convicted murderer, the family at first avoids Agnes. Only Tóti, a priest Agnes has mysteriously chosen to be her spiritual guardian, seeks to understand her. But as Agnes's death looms, the farmer's wife and their daughters learn there is another side to the sensational story they've heard.

Riveting and rich with lyricism, Burial Rites evokes a dramatic existence in a distant time and place, and asks the question, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?]]> 336 Hannah Kent 0316243914 chloe 0 to-read 4.00 2013 Burial Rites
author: Hannah Kent
name: chloe
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Assassin's Quest (Farseer Trilogy, #3)]]> 22016392
But Fitz will not wait. Driven by loss and bitter memories, he undertakes a quest: to kill Regal. The journey casts him into deep waters, as he discovers wild currents of magic within him--currents that will either drown him or make him something more than he was.]]> 838 Robin Hobb 0007562276 chloe 5

hobb slowly pulls at gruelling and gorgeous threads of a tapestry, weaving together a tale which is, for so long, slow paced, subtle, and selective; and then all at once, she turns everything over in a moment of revelation, tying everything together in the most splendid conclusion I’ve ever read - echoing and amplifying the endings of the proceeding novels in this series.


i cannot wait to start the next instalment in this incredible realm that hobb has built - I am in awe of her skill (in every sense of the word) ]]> 4.19 1997 Assassin's Quest (Farseer Trilogy, #3)
author: Robin Hobb
name: chloe
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/21
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves:
review:
it took me nearly a full year to read this which inadvertently enhanced my reading experience - which was, in every sense of the word, a quest.


hobb slowly pulls at gruelling and gorgeous threads of a tapestry, weaving together a tale which is, for so long, slow paced, subtle, and selective; and then all at once, she turns everything over in a moment of revelation, tying everything together in the most splendid conclusion I’ve ever read - echoing and amplifying the endings of the proceeding novels in this series.


i cannot wait to start the next instalment in this incredible realm that hobb has built - I am in awe of her skill (in every sense of the word)
]]> Nora Goes Off Script 58988426 Nora's life is about to get a rewrite...

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

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

Filled with warmth, wit, and wisdom, Nora Goes Off Script is the best kind of love story--the real kind where love is complicated by work, kids, and the emotional baggage that comes with life. For Nora and Leo, this kind of love is bigger than the big screen.]]> 272 Annabel Monaghan 0593420039 chloe 0 to-read 4.03 2022 Nora Goes Off Script
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: chloe
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Akata Witch (The Nsibidi Scripts, #1)]]> 7507944 Akata Witch transports the reader to a magical place where nothing is quite as it seems. Born in New York, but living in Aba, Nigeria, twelve-year old Sunny is understandably a little lost. She is albino and thus, incredibly sensitive to the sun. All Sunny wants to do is be able to play football and get through another day of school without being bullied. But once she befriends Orlu and Chichi, Sunny is plunged in to the world of the Leopard People, where your worst defect becomes your greatest asset. Together, Sunny, Orlu, Chichi and Sasha form the youngest ever Oha Coven. Their mission is to track down Black Hat Otokoto, the man responsible for kidnapping and maiming children. Will Sunny be able to overcome the killer with powers stronger than her own, or will the future she saw in the flames become reality?]]> 349 Nnedi Okorafor 0670011967 chloe 0 to-read 4.02 2011 Akata Witch (The Nsibidi Scripts, #1)
author: Nnedi Okorafor
name: chloe
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World]]> 613890 320 Ewan McGregor 0743499336 chloe 0 to-read 3.96 2004 Long Way Round: Chasing Shadows Across the World
author: Ewan McGregor
name: chloe
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Kala 83817583
In the seaside village of Kinlough, on Ireland's west coast, three old friends meet for the first time in years. They-Helen, Joe and Mush-were part of an original group of six inseparable teenagers in the summer of 2003, with motherless, reckless Kala Lanann at its white-hot center. But later that year, Kala disappeared without a trace. Now human remains have been discovered in the woods-including a skull with a Polaroid photo tucked inside-and the town is both aghast and titillated at the reopening of such an old wound.

On the eve of this gruesome discovery, Helen had reluctantly returned for her father's wedding; the world-famous musician Joe had come home to dry out and reconnect with something authentic; and Mush had never left, too shattered by the events of that summer to venture beyond the counter of his mother's café. But when two more girls go missing, they are forced to confront their own complicity in the events that led to Kala's disappearance. Ultimately, they must do what others should have done before to stop the violent patterns of their town's past repeating themselves once again.

In cracklingly vivid prose, Kala brilliantly examines the sometimes brutal costs of belonging, as well as the battle in the human heart between vengeance and forgiveness, despair and redemption.]]> 417 Colin Walsh chloe 0 to-read 4.07 2023 Kala
author: Colin Walsh
name: chloe
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Butter 209220917 The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer", Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.]]> 464 Asako Yuzuki 0008511683 chloe 0 to-read 3.54 2017 Butter
author: Asako Yuzuki
name: chloe
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/31
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]]> Pride and Prejudice 18300267 The traditional favorite Jane Austen novel—her enduring story of pride and prejudice

When Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr. Darcy she is repelled by his overbearing pride, and prejudice towards her family. But the Bennet girls are in need of financial security in the shape of husbands, so when Darcy's friend, the affable Mr. Bingley, forms an attachment to Jane, Darcy becomes increasingly hard to avoid. Polite society will be turned upside down in this witty drama of friendship, rivalry, and love—Jane Austen's classic romance novel.]]> 443 Jane Austen 0099589338 chloe 0 to-read 4.43 1813 Pride and Prejudice
author: Jane Austen
name: chloe
average rating: 4.43
book published: 1813
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/31
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]]> A Stolen Life 11330361
Dugard's memoir is written by the 30-year-old herself and covers the period from the time of her abduction in 1991 up until the present. In her stark, utterly honest and unflinching narrative, Jaycee opens up about what she experienced, including how she feels now, a year after being found. Garrido and his wife Nancy have since pleaded guilty to their crimes.]]> 273 Jaycee Dugard 1451629184 chloe 0 to-read 3.95 2011 A Stolen Life
author: Jaycee Dugard
name: chloe
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/30
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]]> Tom Lake 63241104 In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.]]> 309 Ann Patchett 006332752X chloe 0 to-read 3.92 2023 Tom Lake
author: Ann Patchett
name: chloe
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/17
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]]> The Great Alone 34927828 Alaska, 1974.
Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

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

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

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

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

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.]]> 440 Kristin Hannah 0312577230 chloe 0 to-read 4.35 2018 The Great Alone
author: Kristin Hannah
name: chloe
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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]]> The Rabbit Hutch 59576076
An online obituary writer. A young mother with a dark secret. A woman waging a solo campaign against rodents� neighbors, separated only by the thin walls of a low-cost housing complex in the once bustling industrial center of Vacca Vale, Indiana.

Welcome to the Rabbit Hutch.

Ethereally beautiful and formidably intelligent, Blandine shares her apartment with three teenage boys she neither likes nor understands, all, like her, now aged out of the state foster care system that has repeatedly failed them, all searching for meaning in their lives.

Set over one sweltering week in July and culminating in a bizarre act of violence that finally changes everything, The Rabbit Hutch is a savagely beautiful and bitingly funny snapshot of contemporary America, a gorgeous and provocative tale of loneliness and longing, entrapment and, ultimately, freedom.]]> 399 Tess Gunty chloe 0 to-read 3.50 2022 The Rabbit Hutch
author: Tess Gunty
name: chloe
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/17
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]]> Counting the Cost 166175422
For the first time, discover the unedited truth about the Duggars, the traditional Christian family that captivated the nation on TLC’s hit show 19 Kids and Counting . Jill Duggar and her husband Derick are finally ready to share their story, revealing the secrets, manipulation, and intimidation behind the show that remained hidden from their fans.

Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting , Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines. She didn’t protest the strict model of patriarchy that her family followed, which declares that men are superior, that women are expected to be wives and mothers and are discouraged from attaining a higher education, and that parental authority over their children continues well into adulthood, even once they are married.

But as Jill got older, married Derick, and they embarked on their own lives, the red flags became too obvious to ignore.

For as long as they could, Jill and Derick tried to be obedient family members—they weren’t willing to rock the boat. But now they’re raising a family of their own, and they’re done with the secrets. Thanks to time, tears, therapy, and blessings from God, they have the strength to share their journey. Theirs is a remarkable story of the power of the truth and is a moving example of how to find healing through honesty.]]> 288 Jill Duggar 1668024446 chloe 0 to-read 4.11 2023 Counting the Cost
author: Jill Duggar
name: chloe
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/01
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]]> <![CDATA[A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1)]]> 40916679
Pretty and popular high school senior Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, who then killed himself. It was all anyone could talk about. And five years later, Pip sees how the tragedy still haunts her town.

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

Now a senior herself, Pip decides to reexamine the closed case for her final project, at first just to cast doubt on the original investigation. But soon she discovers a trail of dark secrets that might actually prove Sal innocent . . . and the line between past and present begins to blur. Someone in Fairview doesn't want Pip digging around for answers, and now her own life might be in danger.]]> 433 Holly Jackson 1405293187 chloe 0 to-read 4.30 2019 A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, #1)
author: Holly Jackson
name: chloe
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Abroad in Japan: Ten Years In The Land Of The Rising Sun]]> 64645770
Abroad in Japan charts a decade of living in a foreign land and the chaos and culture clash that came with it. Packed with hilarious and fascinating stories, this book seeks out to unravel one the world's most complex cultures.

Spanning ten years and all forty-seven prefectures, Chris takes us from the lush rice fields of the countryside to the frenetic neon-lit streets of Tokyo. With blockbuster moments such as a terrifying North Korean missile incident, a mortifying experience at a love hotel and a week spent with Japan's biggest movie star, Abroad in Japan is an extraordinary and informative journey through the Land of the Rising Sun.]]> 320 Chris Broad 1787637077 chloe 0 to-read 4.11 2023 Abroad in Japan: Ten Years In The Land Of The Rising Sun
author: Chris Broad
name: chloe
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV]]> 203020280 Cue The Sun! explores the morally charged, funny, and sometimes tragic consequences of the hunt for something real inside something fake.

Nussbaum traces four paths of reality innovation—game shows, prank shows, soap operas, and clip shows—that united in the Survivor format, sparking a tumultuous Hollywood gold-rush. Along the way, we meet tricksters and innovators—from the icy Allen Funt to the shambolic Chuck Barris; Cops auteur John Langley; Bachelor mastermind Mike Fleiss; and Jon Murray, the visionary behind The Real World—along with dozens of crew members and ordinary people whose lives became fodder for the reality revolution. We learn about the tools of the trade—like Candid Camera’s brilliant “reveal� and the notorious Frankenbite, a deceptive editor’s best friend—and the moral outrage that reality shows provoked. But Cue The Sun! also celebrates what made the genre so powerful: a jolt of authentic emotion.

Through broad-ranging reporting, Nussbaum examines seven tumultuous decades, exploring the celebreality boom, reality TV as a strike-breaker, the queer roots of Bravo, and the dark truth behind The Apprentice. A shrewd observer who cares about television, she is the ideal voice for the first substantive cultural history of the genre that has, for better or worse, made America what it is today.]]> 464 Emily Nussbaum 0525508996 chloe 0 to-read 3.94 2024 Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV
author: Emily Nussbaum
name: chloe
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Year in Provence (Provence, #1)]]> 40189 A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.]]> 224 Peter Mayle 0679731148 chloe 0 to-read 3.99 1989 A Year in Provence (Provence, #1)
author: Peter Mayle
name: chloe
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1989
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/07
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]]> <![CDATA[The Reappearance of Rachel Price]]> 182484360
Lights. Camera. Lies.

18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And � could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.]]> 438 Holly Jackson 0593374207 chloe 0 to-read 4.09 2024 The Reappearance of Rachel Price
author: Holly Jackson
name: chloe
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Five Broken Blades (The Broken Blades, #1)]]> 200982383 It’s the season
for treason�

The king of Yusan must die.

The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the God King Joon.

He has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles flourish, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined…or sold.

And now each of the five blades will come for him. Each has tasted bitterness―from the hired hitman seeking atonement, a lovely assassin who seeks freedom, or even the prince banished for his cruel crimes. None can resist the sweet, icy lure of vengeance.

They can agree on murder.

They can agree on treachery.

But for these five killers―each versed in deception, lies, and betrayal―it’s not enough to forge an alliance. To survive, they’ll have to find a way to trust each other…but only one can take the crown.

Let the best liar win.]]> 474 Mai Corland 1649376901 chloe 0 to-read 3.81 2024 Five Broken Blades (The Broken Blades, #1)
author: Mai Corland
name: chloe
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/06
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]]> <![CDATA[The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)]]> 5043 Ken Follett is known worldwide as the master of split-second suspense, but his most beloved and bestselling book tells the magnificent tale of a twelfth-century monk driven to do the seemingly impossible: build the greatest Gothic cathedral the world has ever known.

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape.

Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined lives of his characters into their dreams, their labors, and their loves: Tom, the master builder; Aliena, the ravishingly beautiful noblewoman; Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge; Jack, the artist in stone; and Ellen, the woman of the forest who casts a terrifying curse. From humble stonemason to imperious monarch, each character is brought vividly to life.

The building of the cathedral, with the almost eerie artistry of the unschooled stonemasons, is the center of the drama. Around the site of the construction, Follett weaves a story of betrayal, revenge, and love, which begins with the public hanging of an innocent man and ends with the humiliation of a king.

For the TV tie-in edition with the same ISBN go to this Alternate Cover Edition
]]> 976 Ken Follett 045122213X chloe 0 to-read 4.34 1989 The Pillars of the Earth (Kingsbridge, #1)
author: Ken Follett
name: chloe
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1989
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]]> Between Two Trailers 191746539
“Home, it turns out, is where the war is. It’s also where the healing begins.�

Born to drug-dealing parents in rural Indiana, Dana Trent is a preschooler the first time she uses a razor blade to cut up weed and fill dime bags for her schizophrenic father, King. While King struggles with his unmedicated psychosis, Dana’s mother, the Lady, a cold and self-absorbed woman whose personality disorders rule the home, guards large bricks of drugs from the safety of their squalid trailer, where she watches TV evangelist Tammy Faye on repeat. Growing up, Dana tries to be the daughter each of her parents wanted: a drug lord’s heir and a debutante minister. But when the Lady impulsively plucks Dana from the Midwest and moves the two of them south, their fresh start results in homelessness and bankruptcy. In North Carolina, Dana becomes torn between her gritty midwestern past and her desire to be a polite southern girl, hiding her homelife of drugs and parents whose severe mental illnesses have left them debilitated.

Dana imagines that her hidden Indiana life is finally behind her after she graduates from Duke University and becomes a professor and an ambivalent female Southern Baptist minister. But Dana was a child of the drug trade. Though she escapes flyover country, she realizes that she will never be able to escape her father’s legacy, and that her childhood secrets have kept her from making peace with the people and places that shaped her. Ultimately, Dana finds that no one can really “make it� until they return to where their story home.]]> 256 J. Dana Trent 0593444078 chloe 0 to-read 3.59 2024 Between Two Trailers
author: J. Dana Trent
name: chloe
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/09
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]]> <![CDATA[There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension]]> 181346634
There’s Always This Year is a triumph, brimming with joy, pain, solidarity, comfort, outrage, and hope. No matter the subject of his keen focus—whether it's basketball, or music, or performance—Hanif Abdurraqib’s exquisite writing is always poetry, always profound, and always a clarion call to radically reimagine how we think about our culture, our country, and ourselves.]]> 334 Hanif Abdurraqib 0593448790 chloe 0 to-read 4.32 2024 There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension
author: Hanif Abdurraqib
name: chloe
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks]]> 123286433
People are always surprised that Black people reside in the hills of Appalachia. Those not surprised that we were there, are surprised that we stayed.

Years ago, when O. Henry Prize-winning writer Crystal Wilkinson was baking a jam cake, shefelt her late grandmother’s presence. She soon realized that she was not the only cook in herkitchen; there were her ancestors, too, stirring, measuring, and braising alongside her. These areher kitchen ghosts, five generations of Black women who settled in Appalachia and made a life,a legacy, and a cuisine.

An expert cook, Wilkinson shares nearly forty family recipes rooted deep in the past, full offlavor—delicious favorites including Corn Pudding, Chicken and Dumplings, GrannyChristine’s Jam Cake, and Praisesong Biscuits , brought to vivid life through stunningphotography. Together, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts honors the mothers who came before,the land that provided for generations of her family, and the untold heritage of Black Appalachia.

As the keeper of her family’s stories and treasured dishes,Wilkinson shares her inheritance in Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts. She found their stories in her apron pockets, floating inside the steam of hot mustard greens and tucked into the sweet scent of clove and cinnamon in her kitchen. Part memoir, part cookbook, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts weaves those stories together with recipes, family photos, and a lyrical imagination to present a culinary portrait of a family that has lived and worked the earth of the mountains for over a century.]]> 256 Crystal Wilkinson 0593236513 chloe 0 to-read 4.36 2024 Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks
author: Crystal Wilkinson
name: chloe
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
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]]> Hotel Splendide 6627090
In hilarious detail, Bemelmans sketches the hierarchy of hotel life and its strange and fascinating from the ruthlessly authoritarian maître d’hôtel Monsieur Victor to the kindly waiter Mespoulets to Frizl the homesick busboy. Illustrated with his own charming line drawings, Bemelmans� tales of a bygone era of extravagance are as charming as they are riotously entertaining.]]> 192 Ludwig Bemelmans chloe 0 to-read 3.43 1941 Hotel Splendide
author: Ludwig Bemelmans
name: chloe
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1941
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/25
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]]> <![CDATA[Great Japanese Stories: 10 Parallel Texts]]> 96177646 A captivating selection of short stories in the original Japanese alongside their English translations This new dual-language edition of ten stories selected from The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories celebrates some of the very best twentieth-century literature from Japan. Each story appears in the original Japanese alongside an expert English translation, providing unique cultural insight and literary inspiration for language learners. Ranging from a witty send-up of modern social graces to a powerful evocation of the aftermath of the atomic bomb, this remarkable collection includes works from beloved authors Abe Akira, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Betsuyaku Minoru, Hoshi Shinichi, Kawakami Mieko, Kono Taeko, Murakami Hakuri, Ohba Minako, Ota Yoko and Uchida Hyakken.]]> 272 Jay Rubin 0241634474 chloe 0 to-read 3.68 Great Japanese Stories: 10 Parallel Texts
author: Jay Rubin
name: chloe
average rating: 3.68
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date added: 2024/03/25
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]]> Pizza Girl 44088751 In the tradition of audacious and wryly funny novels like The Idiot and Convenience Store Woman comes the wildly original coming-of-age story of a pregnant pizza delivery girl who becomes obsessed with one of her customers.

Eighteen years old, pregnant, and working as a pizza delivery girl in suburban Los Angeles, our charmingly dysfunctional heroine is deeply lost and in complete denial about it all. She's grieving the death of her father (who she has more in common with than she'd like to admit), avoiding her supportive mom and loving boyfriend, and flagrantly ignoring her future.

Her world is further upended when she becomes obsessed with Jenny, a stay-at-home mother new to the neighborhood, who comes to depend on weekly deliveries of pickled covered pizzas for her son's happiness. As one woman looks toward motherhood and the other towards middle age, the relationship between the two begins to blur in strange, complicated, and ultimately heartbreaking ways.

Bold, tender, propulsive, and unexpected in countless ways, Jean Kyoung Frazier's Pizza Girl is a moving and funny portrait of a flawed, unforgettable young woman as she tries to find her place in the world.]]> 208 Jean Kyoung Frazier 038554572X chloe 0 to-read 3.35 2020 Pizza Girl
author: Jean Kyoung Frazier
name: chloe
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Bookseller's Tale (Oxford Medieval Mysteries, #1)]]> 59434073
Soon, however, Nicholas finds evidence of murder. Who could have wanted to kill this promising student?

As Nicholas and his scholar friend Jordain try to unravel what lies behind William’s death, they learn that he was innocently caught up in a criminal plot.

When their investigations begin to involve town, university, and abbey, Nicholas takes a risky gamble � and puts his family in terrible danger.]]> 294 Ann Swinfen 180032751X chloe 0 to-read 4.32 2016 The Bookseller's Tale (Oxford Medieval Mysteries, #1)
author: Ann Swinfen
name: chloe
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/25
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]]> <![CDATA[A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)]]> 55077657 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250236210.

Centuries before, robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered, en masse into the wilderness, never to be seen again. They faded into myth and urban legend.

Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They will need to ask it a lot. Chambers' series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?]]> 147 Becky Chambers chloe 0 to-read 4.25 2021 A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)
author: Becky Chambers
name: chloe
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Complete Liveship Traders Trilogy: Ship of Magic, The Mad Ship, Ship of Destiny]]> 18942961 The Liveship Traders trilogy returns readers to Robin Hobb’s most loved world.

The perilous waters of the Rain River Wilds can only be negotiated by a sentient liveships made of Wizardwood, but a such a ship is difficult to come by. Rare and valuable, it will quicken only when three family members from successive generations have died on board.

The liveship Vivacia is about to undergo her quickening as Althea Vestrit’s dying father is carried on to her deck. Althea waits with both sadness and awe for the ship that she loves more than anything in the world to awaken, only to find that her family have other plans for them both�

Liveship Traders Trilogy by international betselling author Robin Hobb.

]]> 2474 Robin Hobb chloe 0 to-read 4.64 2012 The Complete Liveship Traders Trilogy: Ship of Magic, The Mad Ship, Ship of Destiny
author: Robin Hobb
name: chloe
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/14
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]]> The Hedgewitch of Foxhall 176822897
Ffion is the last hedgewitch in Foxhall. To work her magic, she takes only what nature can spare, unlike the witches of the powerful Foxhall coven, who sacrifice whole forests to fuel their spells. But across the warring kingdoms of Wales, all magic is fading. Even the dragons have vanished.

Prince Taliesin would love nothing more than to watch magic die. But when his father charges Tal and his brother, Dafydd, with destroying King Offa’s dyke—the massive earthen wall raised by their Mercian enemies to the east, which may be the cause of magic’s disappearance—he begrudgingly seeks aid from a witch.

Because whichever prince succeeds in destroying the dyke will win the throne, and Tal is willing to do whatever it takes to become king. Even if the Foxhall coven refuses to help him. Even if he’s forced to team up with a spitfire hedgewitch who hates him almost as much as he hates her magic. And even if Dafydd proves to be a worthier rival than he anticipated…for the crown, and for Ffion’s heart.]]> 392 Anna Bright 0063083574 chloe 0 to-read 3.72 2024 The Hedgewitch of Foxhall
author: Anna Bright
name: chloe
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/14
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]]> <![CDATA[The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)]]> 944073
Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

]]> 515 Joe Abercrombie 0575079797 chloe 0 to-read 4.21 2006 The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: chloe
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2006
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Malice (The Faithful and the Fallen, #1)]]> 15750692
Young Corban watches enviously as boys become warriors under King Brenin’s rule, learning the art of war. He yearns to wield his sword and spear to protect his king’s realm. But that day will come all too soon. Only when he loses those he loves will he learn the true price of courage.

The Banished Lands has a violent past where armies of men and giants clashed shields in battle, the earth running dark with their heartsblood. Although the giant-clans were broken in ages past, their ruined fortresses still scar the land. But now giants stir anew, the very stones weep blood and there are sightings of giant wyrms. Those who can still read the signs see a threat far greater than the ancient wars. Sorrow will darken the world, as angels and demons make it their battlefield. Then there will be a war to end all wars.

High King Aquilus summons his fellow kings to council, seeking an alliance in this time of need. Some are skeptical, fighting their own border skirmishes against pirates and giants. But prophesy indicates darkness and light will demand two champions, the Black Sun and the Bright Star. They would be wise to seek out both, for if the Black Sun gains ascendancy, mankind’s hopes and dreams will fall to dust.]]> 672 John Gwynne 0230758452 chloe 0 to-read 4.15 2012 Malice (The Faithful and the Fallen, #1)
author: John Gwynne
name: chloe
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> The English Understand Wool 59468833 Maman was exigeante—there is no English word–and I had the benefit of her training. Others may not be so fortunate. If some other young girl, with two million dollars at stake, finds this of use I shall count myself justified.

Raised in Marrakech by a French mother and English father, a 17-year-old girl has learned above all to avoid mauvais ton ("bad taste" loses something in the translation). One should not ask servants to wait on one during Ramadan: they must have paid leave while one spends the holy month abroad. One must play the piano; if staying at Claridge’s, one must regrettably install a Clavinova in the suite, so that the necessary hours of practice will not be inflicted on fellow guests. One should cultivate weavers of tweed in the Outer Hebrides but have the cloth made up in London; one should buy linen in Ireland but have it made up by a Thai seamstress in Paris (whose genius has been supported by purchase of suitable premises). All this and much more she has learned, governed by a parent of ferociously lofty standards. But at 17, during the annual Ramadan travels, she finds all assumptions overturned. Will she be able to fend for herself? Will the dictates of good taste suffice when she must deal, singlehanded, with the sharks of New York?]]> 69 Helen DeWitt 0811230074 chloe 0 to-read 4.06 2022 The English Understand Wool
author: Helen DeWitt
name: chloe
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/10
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]]> Hideki Smith, Demon Queller 125710802
But that same day, Caleb and his sister Emily stumble upon a Shinto shrine deep in the Great Smoky Mountains, a shrine Caleb knows for a fact wasn't there the day before. Things get only stranger from there, as Caleb finds he has developed some unusual abilities and his sister is doing her best not to accidentally turn into a fox. They need answers, and that means tapping into a family heritage they know nothing about, and fast. Something unspeakable has been trapped under the mountain. But it has found a way out...

If Caleb and Emily are going to stop the disaster threatening Portersville, they are going to have to start figuring out who they really are.

Hideki Smith, Demon Queller is the new mythological fantasy from New York Times bestselling author A.J. Hartley, with family members Hisako Osako, and Kuma Hartley.]]> 309 A.J. Hartley chloe 0 to-read 3.96 Hideki Smith, Demon Queller
author: A.J. Hartley
name: chloe
average rating: 3.96
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rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Travels with Charley: In Search of America]]> 5306 A quest across America, from the northernmost tip of Maine to California’s Monterey Peninsula

To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the light—these were John Steinbeck's goals as he set out, at the age of fifty-eight, to rediscover the country he had been writing about for so many years.

With Charley, his French poodle, Steinbeck drives the interstates and the country roads, dines with truckers, encounters bears at Yellowstone and old friends in San Francisco. Along the way he reflects on the American character, racial hostility, the particular form of American loneliness he finds almost everywhere, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.]]> 214 John Steinbeck 0142000701 chloe 0 to-read 4.07 1961 Travels with Charley: In Search of America
author: John Steinbeck
name: chloe
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1961
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail]]> 9791 A Walk in the Woods will make you long for the great outdoors (or at least a comfortable chair to sit and read in).]]> 397 Bill Bryson 0307279464 chloe 0 to-read 4.07 1998 A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
author: Bill Bryson
name: chloe
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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]]> Greta & Valdin 176443453
It’s been a year since his ex-boyfriend dumped him and moved from Auckland to Buenos Aires, and Valdin is doing fine. He has a good flat with his sister Greta, a good career where his colleagues only occasionally remind him that he is the sole Māori person in the office, and a good friend who he only sleeps with when he’s sad. But when work sends him to Argentina and he’s thrown back in his former lover’s orbit, Valdin is forced to confront the feelings he’s been trying to ignore—and the future he wants.

Greta is not letting her painfully unrequited crush (or her possibly pointless master’s thesis, or her pathetic academic salary...) get her down. She would love to focus on the charming fellow grad student she meets at a party and her friendships with a circle of similarly floundering twenty-somethings, but her chaotic family life won’t stop her mother is keeping secrets, her nephew is having a gay crisis, and her brother has suddenly flown to South America without a word.

Sharp, hilarious, and with an undeniable emotional momentum that builds to an exuberant conclusion, Greta & Valdin careens us through the siblings� misadventures and the messy dramas of their sprawling, eccentric Maaori-Russian-Catalonian family. An acclaimed bestseller in New Zealand, Greta & Valdin is fresh, joyful, and alive with the possibility of love in its many mystifying forms.]]> 352 Rebecca K. Reilly 1668028042 chloe 0 to-read 3.89 2021 Greta & Valdin
author: Rebecca K. Reilly
name: chloe
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/14
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]]> A Far Wilder Magic 48909025
Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist--yet. Fired from every apprenticeship he's landed, his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret and her bloodhound Trouble. Margaret begrudgingly allows him to stay, but on one condition: he must join the hunt with her.

Although they make an unlikely team, Wes is in awe of the girl who has endured alone on the outskirts of a town that doesn’t want her, in this creaking house of ghosts and sorrow. And even though Wes disrupts every aspect of her life, Margaret is drawn to him. He, too, knows what it's like to be an outsider. As the hunt looms closer and tensions rise, Margaret and Wes uncover dark magic that could be the key to winning the hunt - if they survive that long.]]> 384 Allison Saft 1250623650 chloe 0 to-read 3.84 2022 A Far Wilder Magic
author: Allison Saft
name: chloe
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Sorcery of Thorns (Sorcery of Thorns, #1)]]> 42201395
Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.]]> 456 Margaret Rogerson 1481497618 chloe 0 to-read 4.03 2019 Sorcery of Thorns (Sorcery of Thorns, #1)
author: Margaret Rogerson
name: chloe
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> The Marriage Portrait 60353768 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

The author of award-winning Hamnet brings the world of Renaissance Italy to jewel-bright life in this unforgettable fictional portrait of the captivating young duchess Lucrezia de� Medici as she makes her way in a troubled court.

Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding to the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, Lucrezia is thrust unwittingly into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf.

Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must now enter an unfamiliar court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed. Perhaps most mystifying of all is her new husband himself, Alfonso. Is he the playful sophisticate he appeared to be before their wedding, the aesthete happiest in the company of artists and musicians, or the ruthless politician before whom even his formidable sisters seem to tremble?

As Lucrezia sits in constricting finery for a painting intended to preserve her image for centuries to come, one thing becomes worryingly clear. In the court’s eyes, she has one duty: to provide the heir who will shore up the future of the Ferranese dynasty. Until then, for all of her rank and nobility, the new duchess’s future hangs entirely in the balance.

Full of the beauty and emotion with which she illuminated the Shakespearean canvas of Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell turns her talents to Renaissance Italy in an extraordinary portrait of a resilient young woman’s battle for her very survival.]]> 355 Maggie O'Farrell chloe 0 to-read 3.97 2022 The Marriage Portrait
author: Maggie O'Farrell
name: chloe
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2022
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]]> Homegoing 27071490 An alternate cover edition can be found here.

A novel of breathtaking sweep and emotional power that traces three hundred years in Ghana and along the way also becomes a truly great American novel. Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, Homegoing heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.

Two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, are born into different villages in eighteenth-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and lives in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle. Unbeknownst to Effia, her sister, Esi, is imprisoned beneath her in the castle's dungeons, sold with thousands of others into the Gold Coast's booming slave trade, and shipped off to America, where her children and grandchildren will be raised in slavery. One thread of Homegoing follows Effia's descendants through centuries of warfare in Ghana, as the Fante and Asante nations wrestle with the slave trade and British colonization. The other thread follows Esi and her children into America. From the plantations of the South to the Civil War and the Great Migration, from the coal mines of Pratt City, Alabama, to the jazz clubs and dope houses of twentieth-century Harlem, right up through the present day, Homegoing makes history visceral, and captures, with singular and stunning immediacy, how the memory of captivity came to be inscribed in the soul of a nation.

Generation after generation, Yaa Gyasi's magisterial first novel sets the fate of the individual against the obliterating movements of time, delivering unforgettable characters whose lives were shaped by historical forces beyond their control. Homegoing is a tremendous reading experience, not to be missed, by an astonishingly gifted young writer.]]> 305 Yaa Gyasi chloe 0 to-read 4.48 2016 Homegoing
author: Yaa Gyasi
name: chloe
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain]]> 1454159
Detained by water bailiffs in Winchester, intercepted in the Fowey estuary by coastguards, mistaken for a suicide on Camber sands, confronting the Corryvreckan whirlpool in the Hebrides, he discovers just how much of an outsider the native swimmer is to his landlocked, fully-dressed fellow citizens.

This is a personal journey, a bold assertion of the native swimmer's right to roam, and an unforgettable celebration of the magic of water.]]> 340 Roger Deakin 0099282550 chloe 0 to-read 4.28 1999 Waterlog: A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain
author: Roger Deakin
name: chloe
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/04
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]]> The Wild Places 2688775 "An eloquent (and compulsively readable) reminder that, though we're laying waste the world, nature still holds sway over much of the earth's surface."
Bill McKibben

Are there any genuinely wild places left in Britain and Ireland? That is the question that Robert Macfarlane poses to himself as he embarks on a series of breathtaking journeys through some of the archipelago's most remarkable landscapes. He climbs, walks, and swims by day and spends his nights sleeping on cliff-tops and in ancient meadows and wildwoods. With elegance and passion he entwines history, memory, and landscape in a bewitching evocation of wildness and its vital importance. A unique travelogue that will intrigue readers of natural history and adventure, The Wild Places solidifies Macfarlane's reputation as a young writer to watch.]]> 340 Robert Macfarlane 0143113933 chloe 0 to-read 4.27 2007 The Wild Places
author: Robert Macfarlane
name: chloe
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2007
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]]> <![CDATA[The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot]]> 13369533
Following the tracks, holloways, drove-roads and sea paths that form part of a vast ancient network of routes criss-crossing the British Isles and beyond, Robert Macfarlane discovers a lost world - a landscape of the feet and the mind, of pilgrimage and ritual, of stories and ghosts; above all of the places and journeys which inspire and inhabit our imaginations.]]> 433 Robert Macfarlane 0241143810 chloe 0 to-read 4.14 2012 The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot
author: Robert Macfarlane
name: chloe
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[DallerGut Dream Department Store (DallerGut Dream Department Store, #1)]]> 194036469
For Penny, an enthusiastic new hire, working at the store is the opportunity of a lifetime. As she uncovers the workings of this whimsical world, she bonds with a cast of unforgettable characters, including DallerGut, the flamboyant and wise owner, Babynap Rockabye, a famous dream designer, Maxim, a nightmare producer, and the many customers who dream to heal, dream to grow, and dream to flourish.

A captivating story that will leave a lingering magical feeling in readers' minds, this is the first book in a bestselling duology for anyone exhausted from the reality of their daily life.]]> 243 Lee Mi-ye 1035412748 chloe 0 to-read 3.66 2020 DallerGut Dream Department Store (DallerGut Dream Department Store, #1)
author: Lee Mi-ye
name: chloe
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/03
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]]> <![CDATA[Magician: Apprentice (The Riftwar Saga, #1)]]> 13812 here.

To the forest on the shore of the Kingdom of the Isles, the orphan Pug came to study with the master magician Kulgan. His courage won him a place at court and the heart of a lovely Princess, but he was ill at ease with normal wizardry. Yet his strange magic may save two worlds from dark beings who opened spacetime to renew the age-old battle between Order and Chaos.]]> 485 Raymond E. Feist 0553564943 chloe 0 to-read 4.18 1982 Magician: Apprentice (The Riftwar Saga, #1)
author: Raymond E. Feist
name: chloe
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/02
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]]> <![CDATA[The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)]]> 45047384
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 394 T.J. Klune chloe 0 to-read 4.37 2020 The House in the Cerulean Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #1)
author: T.J. Klune
name: chloe
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)]]> 58416952 At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.

AUDI. VIDE. TACE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.]]> 639 James Islington 1982141190 chloe 0 to-read 4.60 2023 The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)
author: James Islington
name: chloe
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)]]> 32758901 "As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

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

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.� Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.]]> 144 Martha Wells chloe 0 to-read 4.11 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: chloe
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/19
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]]> <![CDATA[The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches]]> 60018635 A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family--and a new love--changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....
]]> 318 Sangu Mandanna 059343935X chloe 0 to-read 4.05 2022 The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: chloe
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/18
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]]> Swordheart 42747739 426 T. Kingfisher 1614504636 chloe 0 to-read 4.06 2018 Swordheart
author: T. Kingfisher
name: chloe
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House, #1)]]> 60596112
Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She understands the dangers of bespelled homes given to tantrums. She advises that it’s in Merritt’s best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she’ll need to move in, too.

Prepared as she is with augury, a set of magic tools, and a new staff trained in the uncanny, Hulda’s work still proves unexpectedly difficult. She and Merritt grow closer as the investigation progresses, but the house’s secrets run deeper than they anticipated. And the sentient walls aren’t their only concern—something outside is coming for the enchantments of Whimbrel House, and it could be more dangerous than what rattles within.]]> 347 Charlie N. Holmberg 1662500335 chloe 0 to-read 4.14 2022 Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House, #1)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: chloe
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/18
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]]> <![CDATA[A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)]]> 165940202
Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland as king, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders Bjorn to protect her from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. The greatest test of all, however, may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.]]> 419 Danielle L. Jensen 0593599837 chloe 0 to-read 3.91 2024 A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated, #1)
author: Danielle L. Jensen
name: chloe
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/17
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]]> Bloodguard (Old Erth, #1) 61431953
Everything in the Kingdom of Arrow is a lie.

Leith of Grey thought coming to this new land and volunteering to fight in the gladiator arena—vicious, bloodthirsty tournaments where only the strongest survive—would earn him enough gold to save his dying sister. He thought there was nothing left to lose.

He was wrong—and they took everything. His hope. His freedom. His very humanity.

All Leith has left is his battle-scarred body, fueled by rage and hardened from years of fighting for the right to live another day.

Then Leith meets Maeve, an elven royal who is everything he despises. Everything he should hate. Until the alluring princess offers him the one thing he needs most: a chance to win the coveted title of Bloodguard—and his freedom.

But in a kingdom built on secrets and lies, hope doesn’t come cheap.

Nor will his ultimate revenge…]]> 448 Cecy Robson 1649374054 chloe 0 to-read 3.56 2024 Bloodguard (Old Erth, #1)
author: Cecy Robson
name: chloe
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> Lady Susan 91582 180 Jane Austen 0486444074 chloe 1 3.64 1871 Lady Susan
author: Jane Austen
name: chloe
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1871
rating: 1
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]]> <![CDATA[I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer]]> 35068432
"You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark."

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.

At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle’s lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.]]> 352 Michelle McNamara 0062319809 chloe 0 to-read 4.12 2018 I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
author: Michelle McNamara
name: chloe
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/13
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]]> Dark Rise (Dark Rise, #1) 55424891
Sixteen-year-old dock boy Will is on the run, pursued by the men who killed his mother. When an old servant tells him of his destiny to fight beside the Stewards, Will is ushered into a world of magic, where he must train to play a vital role in the oncoming battle against the Dark.

As London is threatened by the Dark King’s return, the reborn heroes and villains of a long-forgotten war begin to draw battle lines. But as the young descendants of Light and Dark step into their destined roles, old allegiances, old enmities and old flames are awakened. Will must stand with the last heroes of the Light to prevent the fate that destroyed their world from returning to destroy his own.]]> 464 C.S. Pacat 0062946161 chloe 0 to-read 4.15 2021 Dark Rise (Dark Rise, #1)
author: C.S. Pacat
name: chloe
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Study in Drowning (A Study in Drowning, #1)]]> 75302266 Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.

But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.]]> 378 Ava Reid 0063211505 chloe 0 to-read 3.73 2023 A Study in Drowning (A Study in Drowning, #1)
author: Ava Reid
name: chloe
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1)]]> 60657589
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.]]> 336 Heather Fawcett 059350013X chloe 0 to-read 3.99 2023 Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1)
author: Heather Fawcett
name: chloe
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Patricia Wants to Cuddle 59093587 The contestants of a reality television dating show compete for love—and their lives—in this pulse-pounding and viciously funny fiction debut from the GLAAD Award-winning author of Real Queer America.

When the final four women in competition for an aloof, if somewhat sleazy, bachelor's heart arrive on a mysterious island in the Pacific Northwest, they mentally prepare themselves for another week of extreme sleep deprivation, invasive interviews, and of course, the salacious drama that viewers nationwide tune in to eagerly devour. Each woman came on 'The Catch' for her own reasons—brand sponsorships, followers, and yes, even love—and they've all got their eyes steadfastly trained on their respective prizes.

Enter Patricia, a temperamental, but woefully misunderstood local, living alone in the dark, verdant woods and desperate to forge a connection of her own. As the contestants perform for the cameras that surround them, Patricia watches from her place in the shadows, a queer specter haunting the bombastic display of heterosexuality before her. But when the cast and crew at last make her acquaintance atop the island's tallest and most desolate peak, they soon realize that if they're to have any hope of making it to the next Elimination Event, they'll first have to survive the night.

A whirlwind romp careening toward a last-girl-standing conclusion and a scathing indictment of contemporary American media culture, Patricia Wants to Cuddle is also a love story: between star-crossed lesbians who rise above their intolerant town, a deeply ambivalent woman and her budding self-actualization, and a chosen family of misfit islanders forging community against all odds.]]> 256 Samantha Allen 163893004X chloe 0 to-read 3.52 2022 Patricia Wants to Cuddle
author: Samantha Allen
name: chloe
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires]]> 44074800 Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she--and her book club--are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.]]> 410 Grady Hendrix chloe 0 to-read 3.78 2020 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
author: Grady Hendrix
name: chloe
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Library at Mount Char 23363928
After all, she was a normal American herself, once.

That was a long time ago, of course—before the time she calls “adoption day,� when she and a dozen other children found themselves being raised by a man they learned to call Father.

Father could do strange things. He could call light from darkness. Sometimes he raised the dead. And when he was disobeyed, the consequences were terrible.

In the years since Father took her in, Carolyn hasn't gotten out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient Pelapi customs. They've studied the books in his library and learned some of the secrets behind his equally ancient power.

Sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.

Now, Father is missing. And if God truly is dead, the only thing that matters is who will inherit his library—and with it, power over all of creation.

As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her.

But Carolyn can win. She's sure of it. What she doesn't realize is that her victory may come at an unacceptable price—because in becoming a God, she's forgotten a great deal about being human.]]> 390 Scott Hawkins 0553418602 chloe 0 to-read 4.01 2015 The Library at Mount Char
author: Scott Hawkins
name: chloe
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/12
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Anthony Bourdain Omnibus: Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour]]> 40142 608 Anthony Bourdain 0747574987 chloe 0 to-read 4.26 2004 Anthony Bourdain Omnibus: Kitchen Confidential and A Cook's Tour
author: Anthony Bourdain
name: chloe
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Miracles of the Namiya General Store]]> 44287550
By acclaimed author Keigo Higashino, The Miracles of the Namiya General Store is a work that has touched the hearts of readers around the world.]]> 314 Keigo Higashino 1975382579 chloe 0 to-read 4.40 2012 The Miracles of the Namiya General Store
author: Keigo Higashino
name: chloe
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/12/03
shelves: to-read
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 chloe 0 to-read 3.94 2022 Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
author: Hwang Bo-Reum
name: chloe
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)]]> 13496
Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.]]> 835 George R.R. Martin 0553588486 chloe 0 to-read 4.44 1996 A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1)
author: George R.R. Martin
name: chloe
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/31
shelves: to-read
review:

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