Alyssa's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 18 Feb 2025 13:57:45 -0800 60 Alyssa's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[MINDSET BREAKTHROUGH: The Power of Small Daily Changes to Achieve Big Results]]> 11586581 Note: This is the updated and revised (3rd Edition). Previously published as SPARK: 365 Daily Tasks Empowering YOU to Live Your Best Life! (2nd Edition) and originally published as Achieve Anything In Just One Year: Be Inspired Daily to Live Your Dreams and Accomplish Your Goals (1st Edition)

Mindset Breakthrough: The Power of Small Daily Changes to Achieve Big Results

5-Minute Daily Habits for Confidence, Motivation, and Success

Transform Your Life with Just 5 Minutes a Day!

Are you ready to unlock the best version of yourself and achieve the goals you’ve always dreamed of?

Life doesn’t change overnight—it changes with small, consistent actions.

With Mindset Breakthrough: The Power of Small Daily Changes to Achieve Big Results, you’ll learn how simple daily improvements can lead to monumental results. Whether you’re stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of where to start, this book provides the clarity and confidence to move forward.

What You’ll Gain:
- Achievable Daily Change: 365 practical, bite-sized exercises to help you build confidence, positivity, and resilience.
- 5-Minute Habits: Quick, simple tasks that fit into any busy schedule without overwhelming commitments.
- Daily Motivation: Fuel your growth with inspiring quotes, mindset tips, and actionable advice to stay on track.
- Step-by-Step Progress: A proven roadmap to break through obstacles and achieve the life you’ve always wanted.
- Personalized Growth: Whether you're a beginner or refining your journey, this book meets you where you are and empowers you to move forward.

Imagine the Transformation:
- Wake up energized and excited about the life you’re building.
- Conquer self-doubt and gain clarity as you tackle challenges with newfound confidence.
- Achieve goals you once thought were impossible with daily exercises that lead to lasting success.
- Reignite your passion for life by focusing on small, meaningful wins that compound into life-changing results.

Why This Book Works:

Unlike other self-help books that overwhelm you with theories and complex strategies, Mindset Breakthrough focuses on actionable tasks that fit into your daily life.

Here’s why it’s different:
- Small, Sustainable Steps: Based on the science of habit formation, this book helps you develop long-term success through small, daily improvements.
- Built for Busy Lives: With just 5 minutes a day, you can see real, lasting results without feeling overwhelmed.
- Designed for Immediate Action: No waiting, no fluff. Each task is designed to give you quick wins and keep you motivated.

Who Is This Book For?

If you’ve ever felt:
- Stuck or trapped in old habits
- Overwhelmed by complex self-help programs
- Unsure of where to start your journey to success

Then Mindset Breakthrough is exactly what you need. Whether you want to improve your mindset, achieve specific goals, or create daily habits that stick, this book is for you.

Your Transformation Starts Today

Why wait for “someday� when your new life can start today?

There’s no perfect moment—only this one, right here and now. Mindset Breakthrough gives you the tools to take control, rewrite your story, and create a future filled with purpose and possibility.

Imagine One Year From Now...

Picture yourself looking back and feeling proud of how far you’ve come—all because you decided to take the first step today. Your future self is already cheering for you.

Take the first step and start creating the life you deserve—order your copy of Mindset Breakthrough today!]]> 376 Jason Harvey Alyssa 0 to-read 3.54 2010 MINDSET BREAKTHROUGH: The Power of Small Daily Changes to Achieve Big Results
author: Jason Harvey
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2010
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date added: 2025/02/18
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]]> Guilty by Definition 216594965 She knew there'd be ghosts in Oxford, she just didn't think they'd make their way to the dictionary.

Oxford, England. After a decade abroad, Martha Thornhill has returned home to the city whose ancient institutions have long defined her family. But the ghosts she had thought to be at rest seem to have been waiting for her to return. When an anonymous letter is delivered to the Clarendon English Dictionary, where Martha is a newly hired senior editor, it's rapidly clear that this is not the usual lexicographical enquiry. Instead, the coded letter hints at secrets and lies linked to a particular year.Ěý

The date can mean only one, the summer Martha's brilliant older sister Charlie went missing.Ěý

When more letters arrive, Martha and her team pull apart the complex clues within them, and soon, the mystery becomes ever more insistent and troubling. Because it seems Charlie had been keeping a powerful secret, and someone may be trying to lead the lexicographers towards the truth that will unravel the mystery of her disappearance. But other forces are no less desperate to keep their secrets well and truly buried, and Martha and her team must crack the codes before it's too late.

From resident lexicographer Susie Dent comes a linguistic mystery that will both delight and shock readers.]]> 384 Susie Dent 1464236070 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.86 2024 Guilty by Definition
author: Susie Dent
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Big Jim and the White Boy: An American Classic Reimagined]]> 205436022 A thrilling graphic novel re-imagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that follows Jim, an enslaved man on a journey towards freedom, and his sidekick, Huck, in the antebellum South

Commonly regarded as one of the great American novels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has captured the hearts and imaginations of readers since 1885. But since its publication critics have rightfully condemned Mark Twain’s troubling portrayal of Black Americans as stereotypes and caricatures, with contemporary fans searching for a modern update to this iconic tale.

Big Jim and the White Boy is a radical retelling of this American classic, centering the experiences of Jim, an enslaved Black man in search of his kidnapped wife and children, along with his cheeky sidekick, Huckleberry Finn. Jim and Huck’s high-stakes adventures take them on an epic voyage across the antebellum South and Midwest, through Confederate war camps and runaway safe houses, into Old West standoffs, and on the road as covert Underground Railroad agents. Intertwined with the story of Jim and Huck are the stories of Jim’s descendants in the 1930s, 1980s, and 2020s, making this a multi-generational family epic as well as an adventure story.]]> 288 David F. Walker 0593836111 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.60 2024 Big Jim and the White Boy: An American Classic Reimagined
author: David F. Walker
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2024
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]]> <![CDATA[The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience]]> 203608467 AnĚýillustrated edition of The 1619 Project, with newly commissioned artwork and archival images, The New York Times Magazine's award-winning reframing of the American founding and its contemporary echoes, placing slavery and resistance at the center ofĚýthe American story.

Here, in these pages, Black art provides refuge. The marriage of beautiful, haunting and profound words and imagery creates an experience for the reader, a wanting to reflect, to sit in both the discomfort and the joy, to contemplate what a nation owes a people who have contributed so much and yet received so little, and maybe even, to act. --Nikole Hannah-Jones, from the Preface

Curated by the editors of The New York Times Magazine, led by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, this illustrated edition of The 1619 Project features seven chapters from the original book that lend themselves to beautiful, engaging visuals, deepening the experience of the content. The 1619 A Visual Experience offers the same revolutionary idea as the original book, an argument for a new national origin story that begins in late August of 1619, when a cargo ship of enslaved people from Africa arrived on the shores of Jamestown, Virginia. Only by reckoning with this difficult history and understanding its powerful influence on our present can we prepare ourselves for a more just future.Ěý

Filled with original art by thirteen Black artists like Carrie Mae Weems, Calida Rawles, Vitus Shell, Xaviera Simmons, on the themes of resistance and freedom, a brand-new photo essay about slave auction sites, vivid photos of Black Americans celebrating their own forms of patriotism, and a collection of archival images of Black families by Black photographers, this gorgeous volume offers readers a dynamic new way of experiencing the impact of The 1619 Project.

Complete with many of the powerful essays and vignettes from the original edition, written by some of the most brilliant journalists, scholars, and thinkers of our time, The 1619 A Visual Experience brings to life a fuller, more comprehensive understanding of American history and culture.]]> 288 Nikole Hannah-Jones 0593232259 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.44 The 1619 Project: A Visual Experience
author: Nikole Hannah-Jones
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.44
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]]> I Am Made of Death 212398691 From bestselling author Kelly Andrew comes the most electrifying dark romance of the decade...

Following the death of his father, Thomas Walsh had to grow up quickly, taking on odd-jobs to keep food on the table and help pay his gravely ill mother's medical bills. When he's offered a highly paid position as an interpreter for an heiress who exclusively signs, Thomas -- the hearing child of a Deaf adult -- jumps at the opportunity.

But the job is not without its challenges. Thomas is expected to accompany Vivienne wherever she goes, but from the start, she seems determined to shake him. To make matters worse, her parents keep her on an extremely short leash. She is not to go anywhere without express permission. She is not to deviate from her routine.

She is, most importantly, not to be out after dark.

A selective-mute, Vivienne Farrow hasn't said a word in years -- not since going missing in Red Rock Canyon when she was four years old. No one knows quite what happened to her out in the dark. They only know that the sound of her voice is now as deadly as a poison. Anyone who hears her speak suffers a horrible death.

Ever since that fatal family vacation, Vivienne has been desperately searching for a way to regain control of both her voice and her body. Because the face staring out of the mirror isn't hers. It's something with teeth.

Thankfully, Vivienne has a plan. She's finally found someone who claims to be able to perform a surgical exorcism. She just needs to find a way to get rid of Thomas first. But Thomas can't afford to walk away, nor is he willing to abandon the mysterious girl he's quickly falling for, no matter what dark powers threaten to swallow them both whole.]]> 368 Kelly Andrew 1546104488 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.04 2025 I Am Made of Death
author: Kelly Andrew
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
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]]> 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 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.71 2025 Maine Characters
author: Hannah Orenstein
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
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]]> A Killing Cold 211004079 A woman invited to her wealthy fiance’s family retreat realizes they are hiding a terrible secret—and that she’s been there before, by the bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods.

A whirlwind romance.
When Theodora Scott met Connor—wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family—she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives.

Stay away from Connor Dalton.
Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she can’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood.

I’ve been here before.
Theo has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone here has a shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger. Because the Daltons do not lose, and discovering what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything.]]> 291 Kate Alice Marshall 1250343054 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.80 2025 A Killing Cold
author: Kate Alice Marshall
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2025
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]]> The Heart of Winter 211025449
Abe Winter and Ruth Warneke were never meant to be together—at least if you ask Ruth. Yet their catastrophic blind date in college evolved into a seventy-year marriage and a life on a farm on Bainbridge Island with their hens and beloved Labrador, Megs. Through the years, the Winters have fallen in and out of lockstep, and from their haunting losses and guarded secrets, a dependable partnership has been forged.

But when Ruth’s loose tooth turns out to be something much more malicious, the beautiful, reliable life they’ve created together comes to a crisis. As Ruth struggles with her crumbling independence, Abe must learn how to take care of her while their three living children question his ability to look after his wife. And once again, the couple has to reconfigure how to be there for each other.

In this bighearted and profound portrait of a marriage, Jonathan Evison explores seventy years of big moments in subtle ways, elegantly braiding the Winters� turbulent history with their present-day battles, showing us how the oddly paired college kids became parents, fell apart and back together, andgrew into the Abe and Ruth of today. Endlessly heartwarming and moving, The Heart of Winter is a reminder that true love lives in small, everyday moments.]]> 368 Jonathan Evison 059347354X Alyssa 0 to-read 4.11 2025 The Heart of Winter
author: Jonathan Evison
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> A Family Matter 220161203 An exquisite and revelatory debut novel about the devastating consequences of one woman’s affair.

1982. Dawn is a young mother, still adjusting to life with her husband, when Hazel lights up her world like a torch in the dark. Theirs is the kind of connection that’s impossible to resist, and suddenly life is more complicated, and more joyful, than Dawn ever expected. But she has responsibilities and commitments. She has a daughter.

2022. Heron has just received news from his doctor that turns everything upside down. He’s an older man, stuck in the habits of a quiet existence. Telling Maggie, his only child—the person around whom his life has revolved—seems impossible. Heron can’t tell her about his diagnosis, just as he can’t reveal all the other secrets he’s been keeping from her for so many years.

A Family Matter is a heartbreaking and hopeful exploration of love and loss, intimacy and injustice, custody and care, and whether it is possible to heal from the wounds of the past in the changed world of today.]]> 240 Claire Lynch 1668078899 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.25 A Family Matter
author: Claire Lynch
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.25
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]]> The River's Daughter 214389569 Recalling memoirs like Wild and Educated, an internationally renowned whitewater rafting guide offers a gripping and inspiring memoir about overcoming hardship and coming into her own through her relationship with the rivers she has known.

After Bridget Crocker’s parents split in a vicious divorce, she moved with her mother from California to Wyoming, to a trailer park on the banks of the Snake River. Her childhood was nearly idyllic, with a stepfather she loved and a new baby brother, and with the river as her companion. When her mother underwent a drastic personality change seemingly overnight and left her stepfather for an eco-warrior and radical new lifestyle, Bridget’s world upended. She returned to California to live with her explosive father—until his violence sent her back to Wyoming.

The river was the most constant and nurturing influence in Bridget’s life; it helped instill in her the resilience she needed to overcome sexual assault and betrayals by those close to her and taught her to trust her intuition and embrace her strength as a woman. She became a world-class whitewater rafting guide, leading expeditions on the Snake, the Kern, the Salmon, and Zambia’s Zambezi rivers. Ultimately, her relationship with the rivers she came to know led her to reunite with her family and work with them to transform multi-generational cycles of poverty, trauma, and abuse.

In this propulsive story of finding hope and belonging in a life outdoors, Bridget Crocker not only takes us on exhilarating, and at times terrifying, adventures on the water but opens up a new way of experiencing the world—through its rivers, which can guide us, just as we can navigate them—and introduces a bold and vibrant new voice in adventure writing.]]> 320 Bridget Crocker 1954118546 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.65 2025 The River's Daughter
author: Bridget Crocker
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Last Days of Kira Mullan (Maud O'Connor, #2)]]> 214325839
Nancy North is ready to put her life back together. After suffering a psychotic break that ruined friendships, stalled her fledgling restaurant, and forced her to move out of her comfortable flat, she’ll do anything to get back to normal. She and her partner Felix—who has been a saint through her recent troubles—move into a new flat for a fresh start.

Nancy is taking her pills, seeing her therapist, and avoiding unnecessary stress. She’s doing absolutely everything right, but something is still very, very wrong. On the first day in the new flat, she hears them again; the mysterious voices that triggered her first episode. It could just be the unfamiliar sounds of water in the pipes, or the screaming baby across the hall, but deep down she knows something more sinister is going on. Her fears are confirmed when the young woman in the downstairs flat, Kira, is found dead. Felix, her neighbors, and even the police insist it’s a tragic suicide, but the pieces aren’t adding up for Nancy. Can she trust her own instincts, or is it all in her head?

Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Maud O’Connor has misgivings about her colleagues� investigation of Kira’s death. The boys club at the top seems intent on closing the case as quickly as possible, especially since the only person who thinks it could be anything other than suicide is known to be unreliable. But Maud knows what it’s like to be dismissed as an overemotional woman and isn’t so quick to discount Nancy’s claims. As tensions reach an explosive breaking point, the line between fact and delusion becomes dangerously blurred, but Maud will stop at nothing to ensure that the truth comes to light.]]> 464 Nicci French 0063298376 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.92 2024 The Last Days of Kira Mullan (Maud O'Connor, #2)
author: Nicci French
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
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]]> Sister, Butcher, Sister 217476763 The chilling prose of Karin Slaughter meets the high-stakes plotting of The Butcher and the Wren in a dark debut following three normal sisters, their own forgotten traumas, and the serial killer that lives within one, begging the question can you ever truly recognize the evil around you?

Three sisters. One killer. Which one is SHE?

The Rowling sisters have always been people you can understand � with partners and children, homes and dreams. And secrets, the sisters have those too. But when Kate, the eldest, finally returns to buy her late grandfather's home, the dark things each sister has kept buried soon rise to the surface.

Is Kate having unexplained visions tied to a past she can hardly recall? Is Aurora, the married mother of two, finally acting out in the face of her sisters' indiscretions? Is Peggy, the youngest and a recovering addict, able to move on from the memories that haunt her?

And then there's SHE.

SHE is one of them, but SHE is not like them at all. SHE is defined only by the carnage she lets the world see, the murders that have swept through their coastal community. And as the police close in on their newest serial killer, scrutiny lands on the Rowlings, forcing them to face their demons and reveal all they have kept hidden.]]> 368 K.D. Aldyn 1464236631 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.69 Sister, Butcher, Sister
author: K.D. Aldyn
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.69
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]]> Parents Weekend 217387739 From the bestselling author of If Something Happens to Me, comes one of the year’s most anticipated thrillers.

In the glow of their children’s exciting first year of college at a small private school in Northern California, five families plan on a night of dinner and cocktails for the opening festivities of Parents Weekend. As the parents stay out way past their bedtimes, their kids—five residents of Campisi Hall—never show up at dinner.

At first, everyone thinks that they’re just being college students, irresponsibly forgetting about the gathering or skipping out to go to a party. But as the hours click by and another night falls with not so much as a text from the students, panic ensues. Soon, the campus police call in reinforcements. Search parties are formed. Reporters swarm the small enclave. Rumors swirl and questions arise.

Libby, Blane, Mark, Felix, and Stella—The Five, as the podcasters, bloggers, and TikTok sleuths call them—come from five very different families. What led them out on that fateful night? Could it be the sins of their mothers and fathers come to cause them peril or a threat to the friend group from within?

Told through multiple points of view in past and present—and marking the return of FBI Special Agent Sarah Keller from Every Last Fear and The Night Shift—Parents Weekend explores the weight of expectation, family dysfunction, and those exhilarating first days we all remember in the dorms when our friends become our family.]]> 320 Alex Finlay 1250360722 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.65 2025 Parents Weekend
author: Alex Finlay
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> Shaw Connolly Lives to Tell 217387966 A page-turning, compelling thriller about a woman who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth behind her sister’s disappearance.

Shaw Connolly is no stranger to trauma. As a fingerprints analyst, she’s one of the first on-site for crimes, including murder scenes and a mysterious string of arsons popping up throughout the rural Maine community her department serves. But the tragedy of her little sister’s disappearance sixteen years ago has always weighed on her the most; Thea is never far from her thoughts or dreams, and Shaw knows that her obsession with finding the truth about Thea is driving her husband away and impacting her two boys. Still, she can't let it go and has even started taking disturbing calls from a man named Anders Jansen who all but claims to have committed the crime.

Anders taunts Shaw with hints and innuendo about what supposedly happened all those years ago. His calls go to the next level as he reveals just how much he knows about Shaw’s personal life, like her stalled career and ruined marriage. As his stalking escalates to threats on her and her family's lives, he begins to show just how dangerous he might be. Shaw is too desperate for answers to hang up now, just when she's getting close to finding proof. The only question left is what she must lose to learn the truth.

A taut, atmospheric thriller from Edgar Award-finalist young adult author Gillian French, Shaw Connolly Lives to Tell introduces a compelling new voice in adult suspense fiction.]]> 352 Gillian French 1250358515 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.69 2025 Shaw Connolly Lives to Tell
author: Gillian French
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> The Bachelorette Party 217388429 Scream meets The Guest List in this wickedly compelling and compulsively page-turning thriller of friendship and murder from the author of The Lost Village, Camilla Sten.

On a remote, craggy island nestled off the coast of Sweden, four friends—Tilly, Anna, Linnea and Evelina—meet every year. Best friends since childhood, the idea is to drink beer, dance by the water, and shake off the weight of life's expectations. The location of the island is a secret to everyone but them. One night of reckless fun and secret-sharing, and then they return to their normal lives.

Ten years later. Ever since she was a teenager, Tessa Nilsson has been consumed by the story of four friends who disappeared on their annual trip to a remote island together. As her true crime fervor turned into a wildly popular podcast, Tessa urgently covered Sweden’s most gruesome cases, but could never find the answers behind what happened to these women who disappeared, leaving a few maddening clues but no concrete answers. Now Tessa’s podcast has crashed and burned, any chance she had at uncovering the truth vanishing with it.

Anneliese is Tessa’s best friend, and before she walks down the aisle, she wants to have a bachelorette party. The Baltic Vinyasa, a sleek, sophisticated yoga retreat on a small island off the coast—one with such similar characteristics to the tragedy years ago that it raises the hair on Tessa’s neck. The idea is to drink gallons of cava, do sunrise yoga, and get in their last chance to bond with the bride. Tessa will not pass this up. It’s her last chance to find out what happened to the four women, once and for all.

And it’s someone else’s last chance to get revenge.]]> 304 Camilla Sten 1250868505 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.60 2025 The Bachelorette Party
author: Camilla Sten
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2025
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]]> Old School Indian 208580741 An astonishing coming-of-middle-age debut about an Ahkwesáhsne man’s reluctant return home, Old School Indian is a striking exploration of the resonance of love and family, culture and history.Forty-three-year-old Abe Jacobs has been told by his doctors that he’s dying—and fast. Having exhausted his doctors� regimens, he begins to contemplate the one path he thought he’d never a healing at the hands of his great uncle Budge Billings. His uncle still lives on the Ahkwesáhsne reservation where Abe was raised, so more than two decades after leaving, Abe reluctantly returns home.Budge, a wry, unceremonious, recovered alcoholic, is not the least bit sentimental about his gift. Which is good, because Abe’s last-ditch attempt to be healed is just that—a fragile hope, one of which he is thoroughly skeptical. But no healing is possible without hope or knowing oneself. To find both faith and himself again, Abe must confront how leaving the reservation at eighteen has affected him, and the loves and fears that have kept him far from home ever since.Delivered with crackling wit and wildly inventive linguistic turns by Abe’s wise-cracking, would-be-poet alter-ego, Dominick Deer Woods,Old School Indian possesses the insight into the contemporary indigenous experience of Tommy Orange’s There There and Louise Erdrich’s The Sentence, and a singularity of voice that evokes other unforgettable protagonists like Ocean Vuong’s Little Dog and Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead.]]> 352 Aaron John Curtis 1638931453 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.31 Old School Indian
author: Aaron John Curtis
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.31
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]]> Fast Boys and Pretty Girls 219542908 They say you can never go home again. And sometimes, you shouldn't.

Following a semi-successful career as a teen model in New York City, Danielle Greer has moved back to the mountains of North Georgia and is living in her childhood home with her husband and four daughters. One stifling, lazy afternoon, the girls are exploring the ravine behind the house when they come across a body.

Danielle knows the body doesn't belong to Benji Law, a younger local misfit who Danielle had an illicit relationship with as a teenager. No, his body was found right away, after he was killed in a motorcycle accident on the road in front of her family's house. Danielle has a good idea who the body might be, but she doesn't know how it got there.

When local police officer Cady Benson is called in to investigate, Danielle's world is turned upside down, and she's thrust back into those dark, confusing days leading up to Benji's death, battling the things she remembers with the things she can't forget.

From the acclaimed author of The Floating Girls and The Night the River Wept comes a gritty, coming-of-age, slow-burn Southern mystery with devastating characters and a twist that will leave you aching, exposing the all-consuming, obsessive power of first love and what it can do to a person.


]]> 336 Lo Patrick 1728290473 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.39 Fast Boys and Pretty Girls
author: Lo Patrick
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.39
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]]> <![CDATA[The Girls She Left Behind (Lizzie Snow, #2)]]> 25487427
For Lizzie Snow, the ice and snow of her first punishing North Woods winter are dreadful enough. But near the small town of Bearkill a stubborn forest fire now rages out of control, and as embers swirl dangerously in the smoke-filled air, a teenage girl with a history of running away has dropped out of sight again. The locals and the law both think Tara Wylie is up to her old tricks—until her mother receives a terrifying text message.

Equally disturbing: Henry Gemerle—a kidnapper and rapist who once held three girls prisoner for fifteen years—has escaped, and may be lurking in Bearkill. As the fire closes in, Lizzie teams up with her boss Sheriff Cody Chevrier and state cop Dylan Hudson to search for the missing girl and the wily fugitive. But they're blocked by Tara's mother, a frustrating teller of needless lies and keeper of dark, incomprehensible secrets.

Following a trail of grisly clues—a bloodstained motel room, a makeshift coffin in a shallow grave—Lizzie is drawn ever closer to the flames in her race to save an innocent and corner a monster. Someone else also wants to find Tara Wylie and Henry Gemerle, though, for reasons that have nothing to do with mercy or justice. And when they all meet, the inferno threatening Bearkill will pale in comparison to the hell that's about to break loose.]]> 238 Sarah Graves 0553390430 Alyssa 0 3.59 2016 The Girls She Left Behind (Lizzie Snow, #2)
author: Sarah Graves
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Winter at the Door (Lizzie Snow, #1)]]> 20307068
Moving from Boston to remote Bearkill, Maine, isn’t homicide cop Lizzie Snow’s idea of a step up. But breaking away from tragedy and personal betrayal is at least a step in the right direction. Her dead sister’s fate still torments her, as does her long-missing niece’s disappearance. Lizzie hopes to find the mysteriously vanished child here, amid the coming ice and snow. But in the Great North Woods, something darker and more dangerous than punishing winter is also bound for Bearkill.

The town is a world apart in more than distance—full of people who see everything, say little, and know more than they’ll share with an outsider. The only exceptions are the handsome state cop who once badly broke Lizzie’s heart and desperately wants another chance—and Lizzie’s new boss, sheriff Cody Chevrier, who’s counting on her years of homicide experience to help him solve his most troubling case, before it’s too late.

A rash of freak accidents and suicides has left a string of dead men—all former local cops. Now the same cruel eyes that watched them die are on Lizzie—and so is the pressure to find out what sort of monster has his hooks in this town, what his ruthless game is, and just how brutally he’ll play to win. Whatever the truth is, its twisted roots lie in the desolate backwoods of Allagash County: where the desperate disappear, the corrupt find shelter, and the innocent lose everything. It’s there that a cunning and utterly cold-blooded killer plans the fate of the helpless lives at his mercy—one of whom may be the lost child Lizzie will do anything to save. As a blizzard bears down, and Bearkill’s dark secrets claw their way to the surface, Lizzie gears up for a showdown that could leave the deep, driven snow stained blood red.]]> 272 Sarah Graves 0345535014 Alyssa 0 3.44 2015 Winter at the Door (Lizzie Snow, #1)
author: Sarah Graves
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2015
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]]> The Berry Pickers 210367324 A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years.

July 1962. A Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come.

In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. Norma is often troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret.

For readers of The Vanishing Half and Woman of Light, this showstopping debut by a vibrant new voice in fiction is a riveting novel about the search for truth, the shadow of trauma, and the persistence of love across time.]]> 307 Amanda Peters 1646222385 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.12 2023 The Berry Pickers
author: Amanda Peters
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
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]]> Greenwich 217388284 A riveting debut novel for readers of Celeste Ng, Greenwich explores the nature of desire and complicity against the backdrop of immense wealth and privilege, the ways that whiteness and power protect their own, and the uneasy moral ambiguity of redemption.

Summer, 1999. Rachel Fiske is almost eighteen when she arrives at her aunt and uncle’s mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut. Her glamorous aunt is struggling to heal from an injury, and Rachel wants to help—and escape her own troubles back home. But her aunt is oddly spacey and her uncle is consumed with business, and Rachel feels lonely and adrift, excluded from the world of adults and their secrets. The only bright spot is Claudia, a recent college graduate, aspiring artist, and the live-in babysitter for Rachel’s cousin. As summer deepens, Rachel eagerly hopes their friendship might grow into more.

But when a tragic accident occurs, the family turns on Claudia in a desperate bid to salvage their reputation. Caught between her upbringing and her feelings for Claudia, her desire to do the right thing and to protect her future, Rachel must make a pivotal choice. She’s the only one who knows what really happened—and her decision has consequences far beyond what she could have predicted.]]> 304 Kate Broad 1250363047 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.77 Greenwich
author: Kate Broad
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.77
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]]> <![CDATA[Toxic Productivity: Reclaim Your Time and Emotional Energy in a World That Always Demands More]]> 205275669 “Rise and grind!�

“Time is money.�

“You can rest when you're dead!�

For decades, societal pressures have had us scrambling to do more, achieve more, overcome more, BE MORE � all with the promise that we'll feel accomplished, fulfilled, worthy . . . even happy. Life has become a never-ending cycle of pursuing “the next thing”―always checking things off our to-do list and reaching for the next milestone. But it often comes at a price: our mental and physical health.

Are we happier? Will it ever be enough?

Being productive isn't necessarily about how you manage your time. It's about how you manage your emotions.

In a world obsessed with getting more done, Toxic Productivity unmasks the hidden roots of hustle culture and dismantles the myth that “doing more makes you more worthy.�

In this timely and unsparing guide, psychotherapist and well guide founder Israa Nasir offers research-backed insight on dynamics such as self-worth, shame, social comparison, burnout, and perfectionism that keep us always busy but never satisfied. Nasir gives expert and tangible guidance so you can separate who you are from what you do.

Combining therapeutic principles, personal anecdotes, client stories, as well as thought-provoking perspectives, Toxic Productivity will help you:
- Recognize the emotional patterns that drive your toxic productivity habits
- Cultivate a healthier perspective on achievement
- Create sustainable habits for reaching goals that are authentically meaningful to you

It's time to untangle yourself from the web of toxic productivity and embrace a life that is not just productive but profoundly meaningful. Let this book guide you toward a transformative journey of self-discovery―helping you reclaim your time, energy, and joy.]]> 262 Israa Nasir 196230535X Alyssa 0 to-read 4.07 Toxic Productivity: Reclaim Your Time and Emotional Energy in a World That Always Demands More
author: Israa Nasir
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.07
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]]> Freedom: Memoirs 1954-2021 212900939 The New York Times and USA Today bestselling memoir by one of the most important leaders of our time

For 16 years, Angela Merkel bore the governmental responsibility for Germany, leading the country through numerous crises and shaping German and international politics and society with her actions and attitude. But Angela Merkel was not born a Chancellor. In her memoirs, co-written with her long-standing political advisor Beate Baumann, she looks back on her life in two German states � 35 years in the GDR (German Democratic Republic), 35 years in reunified Germany. More personally than ever before, she talks about her childhood, youth, and her studies in the GDR, and the dramatic year of 1989, when the Wall fell and her political life began. She shares insights into her meetings and conversations with the world's most powerful leaders and elucidates, with clear and precise examples, significant national, European, and international turning points and how decisions were made that shape our times. Her book offers a unique insight into the inner workings of power � and is a decisive plea for freedom.


“What does freedom mean to me? This question has occupied me my entire life. Naturally, politically, because freedom needs democratic conditions, without democracy there is no freedom, no rule of law, no protection of human rights. But this question also occupies me on another level. Freedom, for me, is finding out where my own limits are, and pushing my own limits. Freedom is for me not to stop learning, not to have to stand still but to be allowed to continue, even after leaving politics.� - Angela Merkel]]> 720 Angela Merkel 1250319900 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.76 2024 Freedom: Memoirs 1954-2021
author: Angela Merkel
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2024
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]]> <![CDATA[Beyond Body Positive: A Mother's Science-Based Guide for Helping Girls Build a Healthy Body Image]]> 209282594 This book will help moms teach their 3- to 10-year-old daughters to value and respect their bodies from the start.Ěý

Girls� body image begins to develop very early in life, and many girls show body image concerns by middle childhood. As the primary influence on how girls feel about their bodies, mothers are in an ideal position to support their daughters� healthy body image development. Research shows that when a mother has a healthy body image, her daughter is much more likely to value and respect her own body.
Ěý
In this book, psychologists Janet Boseovski and Ashleigh Gallagher begin by prompting readers to reflect on their relationships with their own bodies. Science‑backed information and activities help facilitate reader insight into their own tendencies toward perfectionism and social comparison, as well as their reservoirs of self‑compassion, self‑esteem, and other factors related to healthy body image. Armed with this new self‑awareness, moms can commit to modeling healthy thoughts, feelings, and behaviors for their growing daughters.Ěý
Ěý
The authors then explain how key developmental considerations in early, middle, and late childhood relate to body image and show how moms can guide their girls through each phase of childhood in the context of peer, media, and other cultural influences. With scientific knowledge and intentional, health‑focused behaviors, moms can help their daughters develop a self-image that is not tied to physical appearance, learn to accept their bodies despite imperfections, and resist harmful cultural messages about their bodies.Ěý
Ěý
Includes a full appendix of activities written and compiled by the authors, with Julianne Peebles.]]> 313 Janet Boseovski 1433840995 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.12 Beyond Body Positive: A Mother's Science-Based Guide for Helping Girls Build a Healthy Body Image
author: Janet Boseovski
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.12
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]]> Saltwater 215362444 336 Katy Hays 0593875559 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.70 2025 Saltwater
author: Katy Hays
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> Honeysuckle and Bone 212203126 320 Trisha Tobias 163893102X Alyssa 0 to-read 3.54 2025 Honeysuckle and Bone
author: Trisha Tobias
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> A Game of Lies 205519753 But on this show, you can't trust anything you see.

Stranded in the Welsh mountains, seven reality show contestants have no idea what they've signed up for.

Each of these strangers has a secret. If another player can guess the truth, they won't just be eliminated - they'll be exposed live on air. The stakes are higher than they'd ever imagined, and they're trapped.

The disappearance of a contestant wasn't supposed to be part of the drama. Detective Ffion Morgan has to put aside what she's watched on screen, and find out who these people really are - knowing she can't trust any of them.

And when a murderer strikes, Ffion knows every one of her suspects has an alibi . . . and a secret worth killing for.]]> 416 Clare Mackintosh 1728296536 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.50 2023 A Game of Lies
author: Clare Mackintosh
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> Dirty Diana (Dirty Diana, #1) 209455855 A deliciously provocative novel about a woman caught between the comfortable stability of her marriage and her memories of a more sensual past—the first book in a three-part series based on the #1 fiction podcast starring Demi Moore.

“Diana Wood’s quest to reignite her sensual past while navigating the confines of her current marriage is funny and sexy�. Dirty Diana is wildly seductive—​perfect for anyone who loved The Idea of You.� � Renée Carlino, author of Before We Were Strangers and This Used to Be Us

“Too many women are made to feel that their sexuality is something dangerous, something that should be kept under wraps. Dirty Diana busts that myth wide open. Diana’s struggles will be relatable, and her awakening inspiring, to women everywhere. Dirty Diana is a deliciously entertaining, funny, tantalizing treat of a story.� � Demi Moore

Diana Wood has a job she likes and a husband, Oliver, she loves. Together, they have a daughter they adore. She and Oliver spend so much time together, they even carpool to work in the same office. They’re in married love, which isn’t exactly the same as love love, but it’s fine.

Or is it? Is fine good enough?Ěý

Diana and Oliver haven’t had sex in months and their intimacy seems more like a memory than a reality. The cozy trappings of Diana’s life in Dallas, Texas have become ever-more confining. She is restless, growing more distant from Oliver by the day.Ěý

A trip to see an old friend in Santa Fe prompts Diana to remember the woman she used to an aspiring artist; someone devoted to creativity, spontaneity, sensuality. In her past—especially with Jasper, the dashing photographer with whom she once had an unforgettable love affair—Diana let herself fantasize, she let her body lead the way. She was wholly…alive.Ěý

Returning to Dallas, Diana decides to rediscover the deeply feeling woman she once was. She begins interviewing other women, painting their portraits as they speak. She encourages them to give voice to their secret desires as she captures their deepest, innermost fantasies. But is it possible for Diana to reclaim her more sensual self and maintain the marriage she committed to? What if connecting to her own desires means dissolving the safe life she’s so carefully cultivated?]]> 272 Jen Besser 0593447662 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.63 Dirty Diana (Dirty Diana, #1)
author: Jen Besser
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.63
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]]> We Do Not Part 61121126 Han Kang’s most revelatory book since The Vegetarian, We Do Not Part tells the story of a friendship between two women while powerfully reckoning with a hidden chapter of Korean history.

One winter morning, Kyungha receives an urgent message from her friend Inseon to visit her at a hospital in Seoul. Inseon has injured herself in an accident, and she begs Kyungha to return to Jeju Island, where she lives, to save her beloved pet—a white bird called Ama.

A snowstorm hits the island when Kyungha arrives. She must reach Inseon’s house at all costs, but the icy wind and squalls slow her down as night begins to fall. She wonders if she will arrive in time to save the animal—or even survive the terrible cold that envelops her with every step. Lost in a world of snow, she doesn't yet suspect the vertiginous plunge into the darkness that awaits her at her friend's house.

Blurring the boundaries between dream and reality, We Do Not Part powerfully illuminates a forgotten chapter in Korean history, buried for decades—bringing to light the lost voices of the past to save them from oblivion. Both a hymn to an enduring friendship and an argument for remembering, it is the story of profound love in the face of unspeakable violence—and a celebration of life, however fragile it might be.]]> 272 Han Kang Alyssa 0 to-read 4.04 2021 We Do Not Part
author: Han Kang
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2021
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]]> <![CDATA[The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits]]> 215768414 One of the most anticipated books of the year, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner, a glimmering novel set in the world of pop music about sisters, motherhood, young love, and the dreams we chase.

Sisters Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were born just a year apart but could not have been more different. Zoe, blessed with charm and beauty, yearned for fame from the moment she could sing into a hairbrush. Cassie was a musical prodigy who never felt at home in her own skin and preferred the safety of the shadows.

On the brink of adulthood in the early 2000s, destiny intervened, catapulting the sisters into the spotlight as the pop sensation the Griffin Sisters, hitting all the touchstones of early aughts fame—SNL, MTV, Rolling Stone magazine—along the way.

But after a whirlwind year in the public eye, the band abruptly broke up.

Two decades later, Zoe’s a housewife; Cassie’s off the grid. The sisters aren’t speaking, and the real reason for the Griffin Sisters� breakup is still a mystery. Zoe’s teenage daughter, Cherry, who’s determined to be a star in spite of Zoe’s warnings, is on a quest to learn the truth about what happened to the band all those years ago.

As secrets emerge, all three women must face the consequences of their choices: the ones they made and the ones the music industry made for them. Can they forgive each other—and themselves? And will the Griffin Sisters ever make music again?]]> 384 Jennifer Weiner 0063342448 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.03 2025 The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits
author: Jennifer Weiner
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2025
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]]> Under the Same Stars 200982339
In 1940s Germany, Sophie is excited to discover a message waiting for her in the Bridegroom's Oak from a mysterious suitor. Meanwhile, her best friend, Hanna, is sending messages too—but not to find love. As World War II unfolds in their small town of Kleinwald, the oak may hold the key to resistance against the Nazis.

In 1980s West Germany, American teen transplant Jenny feels suffocated by her strict parents and is struggling to fit in. Until she finds herself falling for Lena, a punk-rock girl hell-bent on tearing down the wall separating West Germany from East Germany, and meeting Frau Hermann, a kind old lady with secrets of her own.

In Spring 2020, New York City, best friends Miles and Chloe are slogging through the last few months of senior year when an unexpected package from Chloe’s grandmother leads them to investigate a cold case about two unidentified teenagers who went missing under the Bridegroom’s Oak eighty years ago.

Age Range: 12-18]]> 480 Libba Bray 0374388946 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.22 2025 Under the Same Stars
author: Libba Bray
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Some Choose Darkness (Rory Moore/Lane Phillips, #1)]]> 209194381 A taut, gripping novel about the deadly secrets hiding in plain sight...

The truth is easy to miss, even when it’s right in front of us. As a forensic reconstructionist, Rory Moore sheds light on cold-case homicides by piecing together crime scene details others fail to see. Cleaning out her late father’s law office a week after his burial, she receives a call that plunges her into a decades-old case come to life once more.

In the summer of 1979, five Chicago women went missing.ĚýThe predator, nicknamed The Thief, left no bodies and no clues behind—until police received a package from a mysterious woman named Angela Mitchell, whose unorthodox investigation skills appear to have led to his identity. But before police could question her, Angela disappeared.ĚýForty years later, The Thief is about to be paroled for Angela’s murder—the only crime the DA could pin on him.ĚýAs a former client of her father’s, Rory becomes reluctantly involved with the killer—though he continues to insist he didn’t murder Angela. Now he wants Rory to do what her father once promised: prove that Angela is, in fact, still alive.

As Rory begins reconstructing Angela’s last days, another killer emerges from the shadows, replicating those long-ago murders. With every startling discovery she makes, Rory becomes more deeply entangled in the enigma of Angela Mitchell—and in The Thief’s tormented mind. Drawing connections between past and present is the only way to stop the nightmare, but even Rory can’t be prepared for the full, terrifying truth that is emerging...]]> 368 Charlie Donlea 1496750500 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.21 2019 Some Choose Darkness (Rory Moore/Lane Phillips, #1)
author: Charlie Donlea
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> Hidden Nature 217388081 The #1 New York Times-bestselling author presents a new novel about an injured cop who must fight to bring down a pair of twisted killers�

Natural Resources police officer, Sloan Cooper, and her partner had just taken down three men preying on hikers in the Western Maryland mountains. Driving back, she pulled in at a convenience store—and walked right into a robbery in progress. One gunshot from a jittery thief was about to change her world.

After being shocked back to life on the operating table, she has a long recovery ahead, so she moves back to her parents� peaceful house in Heron’s Rest. As for the boyfriend who dumped her via text while she was in the hospital, good riddance.

She may be down, but she’s not out. So when a woman vanishes, leaving her car behind in a supermarket parking lot, Sloan searches online for similar cases. She finds them, spread across three states. Men and women, old and young—the missing seem to have nothing in common. And the abductions keep happening.

Luckily, the new man in her life shares her passion for solving this mystery. But it will take every ounce of endurance to get to the dark heart of this bizarre case—and she's willing to risk her life again if that's what it takes to stop the horror.]]> 448 Nora Roberts 125037085X Alyssa 0 to-read 4.15 2025 Hidden Nature
author: Nora Roberts
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.15
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]]> When Breath Becomes Air 25614898 When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,� as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life� into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.]]> 229 Paul Kalanithi 081298840X Alyssa 0 to-read 4.37 2016 When Breath Becomes Air
author: Paul Kalanithi
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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]]> A Sharp Endless Need 214537791
“Brilliant � so alive and vibrating that it took my breath away.”—Kevin Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Nothing to See Here

Star point guard Mack Morris’s senior year of high school begins with twin cataclysms: the death of Mack’s father and the arrival of transfer student Liv Cooper. Playing side by side for their high school basketball team, Mack and Liv discover an electrifying, game-winning chemistry on the court. Off the court, they fall into an equally intoxicating more-than-friendship—one that feels out-of-bounds in their small Pennsylvania town. Mack teeters on the precipice of adulthood as desire and grief collide with drugs, sex, and the looming college signing deadline. Caught between the dual impulses of ambition and self-destruction, Mack must decide what kind of life they want to fight for.

Written with the lush longing of Andre Aciman’s Call Me By Your Name,the obsessive attention of Jean Kyoung Frazier’s Pizza Girl, and with all the romance and feeling of the beloved 2000 movie Love & Basketball, A Sharp Endless Need is a stunning testament to the big feelings of coming-of-age, falling in love, and, of course, playing sports.]]> 272 Marisa Crane 0593733649 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.24 A Sharp Endless Need
author: Marisa Crane
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.24
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]]> <![CDATA[The Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone]]> 214202089 Seven Children. Five Mothers. One idyllic commune. What could go wrong?

Annabel Cooper wants to save the world.ĚýHer story begins in 1964 with her journey to Freedom Summer in Mississippi, where the disappearance of her first love ignites a lifelong fight for justice. Years later, she, her husband, and four other couples form a Boston political collective where they live together with their children in a rambling Boston house. As the era's social upheaval intensifies, they move their children to a Vermont Eden, where they can remain safe from the world's threats; their parents continue their political work, taking turns traveling to Vermont to care for the children.

But not all danger comes from the outside.

Annabel's daughter, Ivy, yearns for normalcy, not the patchouli-soaked, natural-food-laden confines of Vermont. But mostly, she longs for Annabel's attention-until a cataclysmic event alters the course of all their lives and she learns the limits of her many mothers and fathers.

The Many Mothers of Ivy PuddingstoneĚýdelves into the intricate and nuanced dance of familial love and communal ties through the lens of sociopolitical upheaval from the 1960s to the present day, examining which sacrifices are worth the price.]]> 366 Randy Susan Meyers Alyssa 0 to-read 4.15 2024 The Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone
author: Randy Susan Meyers
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Josie's Story: A Mother's Inspiring Crusade to Make Medical Care Safe]]> 18945305 288 Sorrel King 0802198988 Alyssa 5 4.17 2009 Josie's Story: A Mother's Inspiring Crusade to Make Medical Care Safe
author: Sorrel King
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/09/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Publish Your Family History: A Step-by-step Guide to Writing the Stories of Your Ancestors]]> 27304399
Author_
Dina C. Carson has been involved in publishing and genealogy for more than two decades. She brings her experience with all phases of book publishing to help first­time self­publishers create quality family or local histories. She is the coordinator of the Boulder Pioneers Project, a comprehensive look at the original source documents for Boulder County during the territorial period (1858­1876) and is the author of more than a dozen annotated indexes of Boulder County source materials. She lectures frequently to genealogical, historical and philanthropic societies, gives workshops on publishing, pioneers and other topics, and is working with the Colorado State Archives on state­ wide records indexing projects. Although her formal education is in international law and economics, she owns Iron Gate Publishing, a publishing company that focuses on genealogy, local history and reunion planning. She is also a partner in Imagination Technology, a graphic design and marketing firm working with local businesses.

When she's not at a computer working on a publishing project, you can find her photographing the pioneer cemeteries of Colorado.

family history, genealogy, write a family history, write a genealogy, publish your family history, how to self-publish, book publishing, storytelling, book marketing, designing a book
]]> 386 Dina C. Carson 1622878256 Alyssa 0 5.00 2015 Publish Your Family History: A Step-by-step Guide to Writing the Stories of Your Ancestors
author: Dina C. Carson
name: Alyssa
average rating: 5.00
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2019/08/09
date added: 2024/09/24
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]]> The Bright Years 214152211 One family. Four generations. A secret son. A devastating addiction. A Texas family is met with losses and surprises of inheritance, but they’re unable to shake the pull back toward each other in this big-hearted family saga perfect for readers of Mary Beth Keane and Claire Lombardo.

Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall.

When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time.

Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.]]> 288 Sarah Damoff 1668061449 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.50 2025 The Bright Years
author: Sarah Damoff
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> <![CDATA[You Are Not Alone for Parents and Caregivers: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Your Child’s Mental Health]]> 209047387
“Makes the complex world of children’s mental health accessible to all while uplifting the voices and experiences of real parents and caregivers.� —Jay Shetty, #1New York Times bestselling author and host of the On Purpose podcast

The perfect follow-up to You Are Not Alone: a guide for parents, educators, caregivers, and mental health professionals on how to navigate mental healthcare for the young people in their lives.

A growing number of children and teens in the U.S. are struggling with mental health conditions, but parents, teachers, and other caregivers are often at a loss when concerns arise for their own child. Are your preschooler’s constant tantrums typical for their age, or an indication of a developmental difficulty? Is puberty or depression to blame for your pre-teen's challenging behavior? Is my child in the wrong school, or being influenced by the wrong friends? Am I a bad parent or teacher, or am I overreacting? What exactly should I do?

In You Are Not Alone for Parents and Caregivers, child psychiatrist and NAMI’s Associate Medical Director Dr. Christine M. Crawford provides a comprehensive, compassionate, and practical resource for anyone concerned about a child’s mental health. Drawing on her own clinical experience and guidance from leading experts, Dr. Crawford provides a lens through which to understand the many complex factors affecting children’s mental health. Analyzing young people from preschool to high school, she shares insights into how mental health conditions may manifest at different ages, what kind of interventions may be necessary, and what to do to help kids thrive. Throughout, the book channels the collective wisdom of the NAMI community. Parents, caregivers, and young people themselves share personal stories about their paths to recovery, ensuring readers know that they are not alone.]]> 432 Christine M. Crawford 1638930805 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.44 You Are Not Alone for Parents and Caregivers: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Your Child’s Mental Health
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]]> <![CDATA[Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me]]> 60372120
“She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.”—Toni Morrison

For Glory Edim, that "friend of my mind" is books. Edim, who grew up in Virginia to Nigerian immigrant parents, started the popular Well-Read Black Girl book club at age thirty, but her love of books stretches far to public libraries alongside her little brothers after elementary school while her mother was working; to high school librairies where she discovered books she wasn't being taught in class; to dorm rooms and airplanes and subway rides—and, eventually, to a community of half a million other readers.

When Edim's father moved back to Nigeria while she was still a child, she and her brothers were left with a single mother and little money, often finding a safe space at their local library. Books were where Edim found community, and as she grew older, she discovered the Black writers whose words would forever change her: Nikki Giovanni through children's poetry cassettes; Maya Angelou through a critical high school English teacher; Toni Morrison while attending Morrison's alma mater, Howard University; Audre Lorde on a flight to Nigeria. In prose full of both joy and heartbreak, Edim recounts how these writers and so many others helped her to value to find her own voice when her mother lost hers, to trust her feelings when her father remarried, to create bonds with other Black women and uplift their own stories.

Gather Me is a glowing testament to the power of representation and the lasting impact of literature to gather our disparate parts and put them back together.]]> 288 Glory Edim 0525619798 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.21 2024 Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me
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]]> <![CDATA[Looking at Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary]]> 211003691
When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Victoria Amelina was busy writing a novel, taking part in the country’s literary scene, and parenting her son. Now she became someone new: a war crimes researcher and the chronicler of extraordinary women like herself who joined the resistance. These heroines include Evgenia, a prominent lawyer turned soldier, Oleksandra, who documented tens of thousands of war crimes and won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, and Yulia, a librarian who helped uncover the abduction and murder of a children’s book author.

Everyone in Ukraine knew that Amelina was documenting the war. She photographed the ruins of schools and cultural centers; she recorded the testimonies of survivors and eyewitnesses to atrocities. And she slowly turned back into a storyteller, writing what would become this book.

On the evening of June 27th, 2023, Amelina and three international writers stopped for dinner in the embattled Donetsk region. When a Russian cruise missile hit the restaurant, Amelina suffered grievous head injuries, and lost consciousness. She died on July 1st. She was thirty-seven. She left behind an incredible account of the ravages of war and the cost of resistance. Honest, intimate, and wry, this book will be celebrated as a classic.]]> 320 Victoria Amelina 1250367689 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.48 Looking at Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary
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]]> <![CDATA[Object: A Memoir of Childhood Abuse and a Shocking Cover-Up at the Highest Ranks of Government]]> 217432222 What happens when an American diplomat is exposed as a sexual abuser of young girls?

In her searing memoir, Kristin Louise Duncombe takes us back to her childhood in West Africa, where her life is a tapestry of lazy family days by the pool and secret abuse at the hands of an esteemed member of the close-knit US Embassy community. When the assailant is outed by one brave girl and more preteens come forward, the scandal is hushed up by the State Department, the parents� fight for justice goes nowhere and the abuser is simply transferred back to Washington. But the consequences for the girls he assaulted will last a lifetime.

Duncombe tells her globe-trotting story in dual timelines � her struggle as a traumatized teen to navigate her sexuality against a backdrop of abuse, and her life as an older-but-none-the-wiser adult seeking self-worth in unfulfilling relationships. When she finally finds the courage to leave her complicated marriage, it is by facing the demons that have haunted her since childhood.

Object is a coming-of-age story twice once when a little girl grows up too fast, and a second time, in middle age, when the woman she has become finally heals. This important book is a fierce indictment of the silencing of girls and women in the United States and abroad.]]> 252 Kristin Louise Duncombe Alyssa 0 to-read 4.57 Object: A Memoir of Childhood Abuse and a Shocking Cover-Up at the Highest Ranks of Government
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]]> <![CDATA[Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things (Sisters of Light and Shadow, #1)]]> 214269343 A young witch cursed with sacrificing memories to cast spells must decide how much she’s willing to lose to save her town in this thrilling tale of magic, love, and self-discovery—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic.

In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice it: memories. The more powerful the magic, the greater the memory required.

Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget. Forget the mother who left them without a trace. Forget the cracks in her relationships with her judgmental oldest sister, Thalia, and her distant middle sister, Eurydice. Forget about the very cost of her magic. And most of all, forget the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago.

But when an ancient evil awakens in their town, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to an annoyingly handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power.

Battling a sizzling chemistry to a man she can't trust, Calliope needs to confront her sisters and the painful memories of her past, dark family secrets, and ancient magic in order to keep the town and all she loves safe. But will she have anything left of herself?]]> 400 Breanne Randall 0593875001 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.60 2025 Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things (Sisters of Light and Shadow, #1)
author: Breanne Randall
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.60
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]]> The Float Test 216325984
The Kenner siblings are at odds. Jenn is a harried mom struggling under the weight of family obligations. Fred is a novelist who can’t write, maybe because she’s lost faith in storytelling itself. Jude is a recovering corporate lawyer with her own story to tell, and a grudge against her former favorite sister, Fred. George, the baby, is estranged from his wife and harboring both a secret about his former employer and an ill-advised crush on one of his sisters� friends. Gathered after a major loss, each sibling needs the others more than ever—if only they could trust each other.

A family story is, of course, only as honest as the person telling it. This family story in particular is fraught with secrets about kids and sex and jobs and why the Kenner matriarch had a gun in her underwear drawer. The biggest secret of all though is the secret of what happened between Jude and Fred to create such a rift between the two once-close middle sisters. Over the course of a sweltering Florida summer, the Kenner siblings will revisit what it means to be a family and, if they are smart and kind and lucky, come out on the other side better for having each other.

A rich exploration of family, ambition, secrets, and love, The Float Test is an elegant and gripping testament to the power that family has to both nurture and destroy us from a critically acclaimed writer working at the top of her craft.]]> 272 Lynn Steger Strong 0063390736 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.32 The Float Test
author: Lynn Steger Strong
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]]> <![CDATA[Burnt Out to Lit Up: How to Reignite the Joy of Leading People]]> 206192720
Facing the challenges of global cultural, commercial, political, and technological shifts, managers are in dire need of strategies to move from survival to revival.

Burnt Out to Lit Up: How to Reignite the Joy of Leading People by Daisy Auger-DomĂ­nguez illuminates the often overlooked and difficult aspects of management and offers a lifeline for managers struggling to adapt and thrive. Crafted by a seasoned executive with experience at companies like Disney, Google, and VICE Media, this book delivers a rich blend of inspiration and practical tools for today's managers.

Through a compelling mix of personal anecdotes, research-backed insights, and actionable strategies, Auger-DomĂ­nguez walks business leaders and people managers down a path designed to reignite the passion and drive necessary for effective leadership. This book is for you if your work life leaves you seeking:

Rest, inspiration, and a renewed enthusiasm for your work
Techniques to help managers understand themselves, each other, and the members of their teams
Strategies for dealing with, and helping your teams deal with, unexpected and dramatic workplace upheavals - be they layoffs, organizational shifts, financial restructurings, global health crises, and more
Tactics to reignite your own passion for your role and share your enthusiasm with your teams in an approach that motivates and uplifts

Whether you're leading a small team or an entire organization, this book is the roadmap you need to overcome obstacles, re-energize your leadership, and achieve new levels of success. Discover how to transform your approach to management and create a more engaged, motivated, and thriving workplace with Burnt Out to Lit Up.]]> 240 Daisy Auger-Dominguez 1394254296 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.22 Burnt Out to Lit Up: How to Reignite the Joy of Leading People
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]]> <![CDATA[The Undoing of Violet Claybourne]]> 213570811
At Thornleigh, Gilly is dazzled by the family's faded grandeur, and above all by Violet's beguiling older sisters who seem to accept her as one of their own. But following a terrible accident in the house's grounds, Gilly begins to realise the Claybourne sisters aren't quite what she thought they were. And if she's to survive in their world, she may have to become just like them . . .

A captivating novel of family secrets, desperate ambition and deepest betrayal, set against the winter of 1938, The Undoing of Violet Claybourne is the irresistible new mystery from the acclaimed author of One Puzzling Afternoon.]]> 400 Emily Critchley 1728287197 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.96 2024 The Undoing of Violet Claybourne
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average rating: 3.96
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]]> Water Finds a Way 209801559
“What a fiercely original novel! This powerful read is truly a thoughtful stunner about where we find our place in the world—and our person.”—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder

Can coming home be a second chance? Or at least a place to hide out?
For Blake Alvares, recently released from prison, home means returning to the only place she ever felt safe, the now–derelict Maine town in which she harbored as a teen. Determined to conceal her secrets and losses, she soon finds herself dragged into others� lives when she takes a job on a boat owned by a notorious young lobsterman.

Leland Savard is nearly broke, trying to support himself and 9-year-old Quinnie as he wrestles with a dangerous family legacy. Though his choice to hire Blake raises local eyebrows, Leland and those around Blake are quickly surprised and jarred by how much they come to rely on her. At the same time, Blake stumbles into love from unexpected places. When Leland’s rash actions place her and Quinnie in peril, Blake feels forced to run again—only to discover the past is never more than a few steps behind her. On her quest for home, Blake must confront a daunting question: where does she truly belong?

Water Finds a Way is perfect for your next book club selection, for readers who enjoy the believable eccentricity a small town offers—and for those who trust in the redemptive powers of the sea and hard work.]]> 360 Meghan Perry 1953002412 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.25 Water Finds a Way
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]]> <![CDATA[A Fine Line: How Most American Kids Are Kept Out of the Best Public Schools]]> 40859234 What side of the line do you live on? The bestseller that started a movement.

In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that little Linda Brown couldn't be excluded from a public school because of her race. In that landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, the court famously declared that public education must be available to all on equal terms, but sixty-six years later, many of the best public schools remain closed to all but the most privileged families. Empowered by little-known state laws, school districts draw attendance zones around their best schools, indicating who is, and who isn't, allowed to enroll. In many American cities, this means that living on one side of the street or the other will determine whether you leave eighth grade on a track for future success or barely able to read.

In A Fine Line, bestselling author Tim DeRoche takes a close look at the laws and policies that dictate which kids are allowed to go to which schools. And he finds surprising parallels between current education policies and the redlining practices of the New Deal era in which minority families were often denied mortgages and government housing assistance because they didn't live within certain desirable zones of the city. It is an extraordinary story of American democracy gone wrong that will make you question everything you think you know about our public education system.]]> 280 Tim DeRoche 0999277626 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.95 2020 A Fine Line: How Most American Kids Are Kept Out of the Best Public Schools
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]]> Count My Lies 214151565 A read-in-one-night suspense thriller narrated by a compulsive liar whose little white lies allow her to enter into the life and comfort of a wealthy married couple who are harboring much darker secrets themselves. For the millions of us still chasing those gone girls, this is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Lucy Foley, and Laura Dave.

Sloane Caraway is a liar.

Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting.

So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can't help herself—she tells the girl's (very attractive) dad she's a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl's foot.

With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.

But maybe Sloane isn't the only one lying, and all that's picture-perfect harbors a much more dangerous truth. To say anything more is to spoil the most exciting, twisty, and bitingly smart suspense novel to come out in years.

The thing about lies is that they add up, form their own truth and a twisted prison of a world. And in Count My Lies, Sophie Stava spins a breakneck, unputdownable thriller about the secrets we keep, and the terrifying dangers that lurk just under the images we spend so much time trying to maintain.

Careful what you lie for.]]> 336 Sophie Stava 1668079348 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.75 2025 Count My Lies
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]]> Where I End 204294822 At night, my mother creaks. The house creaks along with her. Sometimes in the morning we find her in places. We never see her move. We just come upon her.

Aoileann is cursed. She has no friends, never gone to school. She has never left this windswept craggy isle off the coast of Ireland.

Her mother is cursed: a silent wreck Aoileann calls the “bed-thing.� Alongside her grandmother, Aoileann’s days are an endless monotony of feeding, changing, and caring for the bed-thing.

Their island seems cursed, whispering secrets only Aoileann hears. Then Rachel, a vivacious artist from the mainland, arrives with her colicky newborn. Rachel arouses yearnings Aoileann cannot fully comprehend. Soon, the unfolding of her mother’s secret tragedy and Aoileann’s pursuit of her own dark desires are both destined to unleash a maelstrom upon all three of their lives.]]> 256 Sophie White 1645661857 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.68 2022 Where I End
author: Sophie White
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.68
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]]> Murder Between Friends 212105788 Two years ago, the murder of a neighbor tore three best friends apart--now the killer is going to walk free and the ex-friends are going to have to face the past--and each other--in another twisty thriller from the New York Times bestselling co-author of The Agathas

Grace, Henry, and Ally grew up together on the same block. They used to be best friends--until Grace's testimony put Henry's brother, Jake, away for killing their English teacher. Now, two years later, Ally and Henry hate Grace, and Grace is doubting what she thinks she saw that night.Ěý

It feels like everyone's getting a second chance, then, when due to a mistrial, Jake is suddenly released. And Henry knows his brother is innocent, but when Grace reaches out to say she’s rethinking what she saw the night of the murder, Jake’s reaction is confusing. He doesn’t want Henry—or Grace--getting involved.

For Ally not getting involved isn’t an option, and there’s nothing Grace can say to convince Ally she’s not the enemy. But can Ally afford to push Grace out when she’s one of the only other people willing to believe in Jake’s innocence? Ěý

The clock is ticking. Jake’s new trial date is about to be set, and he's sure to be foud guilty again unless there's new evidence to prove he's innocent. Grace, Henry, and Ally are going to have to decide whether you can trust an old friend now that they’re your enemy.]]> 384 Liz Lawson 059330103X Alyssa 0 to-read 4.07 2025 Murder Between Friends
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]]> The Undercurrent 216601219 An overwhelmed new mother becomes obsessed with the unsolved disappearance of a young girl from her small Texas hometown—and unearths her own family’s dark secret.

It’s 2011 and Deecie Jeffries’s missing person’s case in Austin, Texas, is still cold. New mom Bee, struggling with postpartum depression, is living in Portland, Maine, having left Austin–and those memories–far behind. Until Leo, her childhood crush and her estranged twin Gus’s best friend, suddenly resurfaces, drawing Bee back into their shared past.

Bee’s predictable life is upended, pushing her to return to her childhood home and piece together a neighborhood’s shattered history. Bee becomes consumed with a need to uncover the truth about Deecie’s disappearance and what happened to the families who lived across the field from one another—Gus, Leo, and their mothers: Mary, a homemaker, whose only escape is the local community theater, and Diana, a serious academic dedicated to her studies.

Told in multiple perspectives with two different timelines, The Undercurrent is a gripping portrait of motherhood, obsession, broken family bonds, and buried secrets.]]> 288 Sarah Sawyer 1958506435 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.50 2025 The Undercurrent
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]]> <![CDATA[Well Lived: Shaping a Legacy of Gratitude and Grace]]> 204242186 Write a Beautiful Story with Your LifeĚý

You are invited to embark on a journey toward greater service, lasting significance, and wholehearted delight—a life truly well lived!

In this transformative journey through heartfelt reflections and breathtaking photos, bestselling author Sally Clarkson explores how God’s astounding grace empowers you to lead a joyful life loving and encouraging others. Drawing from her time in Oxford and years in ministry, she offers wisdom on the topics of discipleship, family, hospitality, and cultivating joy that will inspire you to invite God more fully into your own story.

Wherever you are in your life’s journey, Sally’s encouraging insights will call you to deeper faith and guide you toward a life filled with direction, meaning, courage, and contentment.Ěý
"Our way to this fruitful, flourishing, well-lived life comes when
we willingly accept the mantle of devotion with a servant’s heart full of love for Him�
creating beauty again and again, loving, forgiving, sacrificing,
pouring our lives out to bring light and redemption to our world every day.�]]> 224 Sally Clarkson 0736985476 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.64 Well Lived: Shaping a Legacy of Gratitude and Grace
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]]> Promise Me Sunshine 214269328 Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of... a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no one will notice she’s falling apart.

Miles sees right through her though. Turns out, he knows a lot about grief and, surprisingly, he offers her a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again� list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the Lou has left behind, but she begins to spend more time with Miles, Lenny is surprised to discover that, sometimes, losing everything is only the first step to finding yourself, and love, again.]]> 416 Cara Bastone 0593595734 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.29 2025 Promise Me Sunshine
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average rating: 4.29
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]]> Wrinkled Rebels 210512757
During their three days together, they confront their inner demons, each other, and their future. Does Rebecca, the prime mover of the event, find solace after losing her wife and career? Can Malaika regain her sense of self after stepping down from her successful law practice? Mourning the loss of her youthful athletic prowess and attractiveness, what happens when Deanna faces her old friends?

Struggling with two divorces and a failing marriage, can Russell attain peace of mind? How will Max, an expat living in Canada, manage with his incipient dementia? Will the demoralized Keith recover his idealism?

Wrinkled Rebels is a story of how six people achieve meaningful lives through the struggle for social justice. It is also a tale of love, the bonds of friendship, and growing old positively.]]> 306 Laura Katz Olson 3988320757 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.21 2024 Wrinkled Rebels
author: Laura Katz Olson
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.21
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]]> <![CDATA[I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying]]> 207567772 “Do you know what happens if you laugh while crying? Hair grows out of your butthole.� It was a constant truism Youngmi Mayer’s mother would say threateningly after she would make her daughter laugh while crying. Her mother used it to cheer her up in moments when she could tell Youngmi was overtaken with grief. The humorous saying would never fail to lighten the mood, causing both daughter and mother to laugh and cry at the same time. Her mother had learned this trick from her mother, and her mother had learned this from her mother before it had also helped an endless string of her family laugh through suffering.

In I’m Laughing Because I’m Crying, Youngmi jokes through the retelling of her childhood as an offbeat biracial kid in Saipan, a place next to a place that Americans might know. She jokes through her difficult adolescence where she must parent her own mother, who married her husband because he looked like white Jesus (and the singer of The Bee Gees). And with humor and irreverence and full-throated openness, she jokes even while sharing the story of what her family went through during the last century of colonialism and war in Korea, while reflecting how years later, their wounds affect her in New York City as a single mom, all the while interrogating whiteness, gender, and sexuality.

Youngmi jokes through these stories in hopes of passing onto the reader what her family passed down to The gift of laughing while crying. The gift of a hairy butthole. Because throughout it all, the one thing she learned was one cannot exist without the other. And like a yin and yang, this duality is reflected in this whip-smart, heart-wrenching, and disarmingly funny memoir told by a bright new voice with so much heart and wisdom.

Ěý]]> 256 Youngmi Mayer 0316569232 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.27 2024 I'm Laughing Because I'm Crying
author: Youngmi Mayer
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.27
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]]> Lucky Night 215361984 Two people, one hotel room, and all the choices and complications that make up a life.

After six years of a stolen hour here, another there, tonight is going to be different—very different—for Nick Holloway and Jenny Parrish. They’ve booked a room in a new luxury hotel in Manhattan, where they’ll spend the entire night together for the first time. Expectations are running high for this brief reprieve from ordinary life: they both need a good bout of ravishing sex and witty conversation.

But that’s not what they get.

Because they’ve barely gotten started when a smoke alarm goes off. Nick is annoyed, but not worried about what must be only a minor glitch. Jenny is anxious, guilty—is karma coming for them at last?

This existential page-turner seamlessly shifts between Nick and Jenny’s perspectives as the reality of their situation becomes apparent, and all their secrets, evasions and regrets come spilling out. Stripped of their defenses, disagreeing about everything, these two flawed, funny, very different people are forced to be honest—with each other and themselves—about what they want, where they’ve screwed up, and whether their affair is really as casual as it seems.]]> 288 Eliza Kennedy 0593800834 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.70 2025 Lucky Night
author: Eliza Kennedy
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.70
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]]> <![CDATA[Folly: The Memoir of a Call Girl Saved by Grace]]> 216617227
While most people in university were going on dates or hanging with friends between classes, Kelsey was unknowingly entering the underground world of sex work. Juggling the demands of being a college athlete while battling with depression and her own self-worth, Kelsey was enticed the first time she heard her college professor mutter the words “sugar baby.�

In search of money and attention, Kelsey found herself slowly entangled in an industry where she would inadvertently be groomed, ensnared, and ultimately, exploited. Moving to Texas after college, Kelsey scaled her business and began jet-setting around the world, clinging to the illusion that she was in control—that is, until an encounter with the Holy Spirit changed everything.

In Folly, Daniels paints an intricate portrait of her path into sex work and the difficult journey to untangle herself from the lure of an industry that had shaped her. In this unfiltered, witty and raw account of Kelsey’s time as an Escort, Folly showcases the dark subculture that exists behind the veil of luxury. This story is a testament to the power of God’s grace and mercy, and His ability to meet His children exactly where they are, regardless of setting or circumstance.]]> 328 Kelsey Daniels 1964508037 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.07 Folly: The Memoir of a Call Girl Saved by Grace
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]]> After the Ocean 210366432 A painful unsolved mystery resurfaces after decades of confusion in this emotional story about inter-generational trauma, family, and the beauty of Puerto Rico.

Thirty years ago young music student Emilia Oliveras married Paul, her dream man. Their Caribbean honeymoon cruise was idyllic—until the night he disappeared from their ship, presumed drowned. Reeling from the loss, Emilia was horrified when Paul's wealthy, vindictive family tried to railroad her as a gold-digging murderer. She escaped home to Puerto Rico and then across the country, where she became Emily Oliver, suburban wife and mother of two. Still, the trauma and secrets of her past ruined her second marriage, and created a disconnect with, and between, her grown daughters. But now a mysterious phone call suggests Paul is alive and well.Ěý]]> 288 Lauren E. Rico 1496744667 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.96 2024 After the Ocean
author: Lauren E. Rico
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> Tilt 214151301 Set over the course of one day, a heart-racing story about a woman facing the unimaginable, determined to find safety

Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, she realizes there’s nothing to do but walk.

Making her way across the wreckage of Portland, Annie experiences human desperation and kindness: strangers offering help, a riot at a grocery store, and an unlikely friendship with a young mother. As she walks, Annie reflects on her struggling marriage, her disappointing career, and her anxiety about having a baby. She’s determined to change her life if she can just make it home.]]> 240 Emma Pattee 1668055473 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.91 2025 Tilt
author: Emma Pattee
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> Penitence 211003837 For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive page-turner filled with literary insight that compels readers to consider whether each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of post-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.]]> 320 Kristin Koval 1250342996 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.70 2025 Penitence
author: Kristin Koval
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Lifescapes: A Biographer's Search for the Soul]]> 216052842
Ann Wroe, obituaries editor for The Economist, reflects on the art and impossibility of capturing life on the page. Through her experiences and through people she has known, studied, or merely glimpsed in windows, she movingly explores what makes a life and how that life lingers after in this breathtaking combination of poetry, memoir, and observation.

'What is life?' asked the poet Shelley, and he could not come up with an answer. Scientists, too, for all their understanding of how life manifests, thrives and evolves, have still not answered that fundamental question. Yet biographers and obituarists continue to corral lives in a few columns, or a few hundred pages, aware all the time how fleeting and elusive their subject is.

In this dazzlingly original blend of poetry, biography, observation, and memoir, Wroe explores the experience of trying to capture the essence of a person. Animated by her rare imagination, eye for the telling detail, and the wit, beauty and clarity of her writing, Lifescapes is a luminous, deeply personal answer to Shelley's question.]]> 224 Ann Wroe 1400347939 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.41 Lifescapes: A Biographer's Search for the Soul
author: Ann Wroe
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.41
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]]> We Are Watching 199393130 From USA Today bestselling and Edgar and Shamus Award-winning author Alison Gaylin comes a slick, riveting, and all too frighteningly plausible tale of psychological suspense where a single mother is desperate to protect her family as they become targets of a group of violent conspiracy theorists.

Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car sidled up beside them, the young men inside it behaving erratically. The Russos� car went off the road, and Justin didn’t survive the accident.

Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after returning to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and vandalizing the store. They are obsessed with a young adult novel tiled The Prophesy, which was published 20 years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced the book predicted a plague, and social media posts link it to Satanism. People are sure it heralds the apocalypse. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on its author...Meg.

As the threats turn more violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin's death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save herself and Lily, she must get to the root of the lies fueling these people to come after them—and find a way to face them head on.]]> 325 Alison Gaylin 006327518X Alyssa 0 to-read 3.49 2025 We Are Watching
author: Alison Gaylin
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> The Night Before Christmas 11567696 Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse Carry on a family tradition or start one of your own with this new version of the classic Christmas book for children and families. Initially published anonymously as A Visit from Saint Nicholas, and credited as a work by Clement Clark Moore, this timeless tale has been lovingly preserved in this classic edition. Bring the family together for a read-aloud as children prepare for Santa and his reindeer on Christmas Eve.
This classic edition The Night Before Charles Santore’s works has been widely exhibited in museums and celebrated with recognitions such as the prestigious Hamilton King Award, the Society of Illustrators Award of Excellence, and the Original Art 2000 Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators. He is best known for his luminous interpretations of classic children’s stories, including Aesop Fables , The Velveteen Rabbit , The Classic Tale of Peter Rabbit , and more!]]> 48 Clement Clarke Moore 1604332379 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.70 1823 The Night Before Christmas
author: Clement Clarke Moore
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.70
book published: 1823
rating: 0
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]]> Shock Induction 207299641 From the bestselling author of Fight Club comes a dark, satirical parable about a string of mysterious high school disappearances, the seedy underbellies of billionaires, and the tough choices we make in the face of an uncertain future. In Shock Induction, the best and brightest students at a seemingly reputable high school are disappearing. Every day it seems another overachiever is lost to an apparent suicide. But something far more sinister is lurking beneath the surface. These kids have been under surveillance since birth, monitored and measured by an online service called “Greener Pastures.� It’s here, in Greener Pastures, that billionaires observe and recruit the next generation of talent. The highest test scores, the best grades, and the most niche extracurriculars just might land these teenagers an enticing offer at auction. A couple billion dollars in exchange for the remainder of your life and intellectual labor sounds like a pretty fair deal—doesn’t it? In a high school only Chuck Palahniuk could imagine, students must choose between the risk of following their dreams or the security of money and a lifetime of servitude to the world’s wealthiest and most elite—but how much of a choice do they truly have?]]> 240 Chuck Palahniuk 1668021447 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.17 2024 Shock Induction
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.17
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age]]> 210137188
The West has become "disenchanted"--closed to the idea that the universe contains the supernatural, the metaphysical, or the non-material. Christianity is in crisis. People today are leaving the Church because faith has become dry and lifeless. But people aren't leaving faith for atheism. They are still searching for the divine, and it might just be right under their noses.

InĚýLiving in Wonder, thought leader, cultural critic, andĚýNew York TimesĚýbestselling author Rod Dreher shows you how to encounter and embrace wonder in the world. In his trademark mixture of analysis, reporting, and personal story, Dreher brings together history, cultural anthropology, neuroscience, and the ancient Church to show you--no matter your religious affiliation--how to reconnect with the natural world and the Great Tradition of Christianity so you can relate to the world with more depth and connection.

He shares stories of miracles, rumors of angels, and outbreaks of awe to offer hope, as well as a guide for discerning and defending the truth in a confusing and spiritually dark culture, full of contemporary spiritual deceptions and tempting counterfeit spiritualities.

The world is not what we think it is. It is far more mysterious, exciting, connected, and adventurous. As you learn practical ways to regain a sense of wonder and awaken your sense of God's presence--through prayer, attention, and living by spiritual disciplines--your eyes will be opened, and you will find the very thing every one of us searches our ultimate meaning.]]> 288 Rod Dreher 0310369126 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.93 Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and Meaning in a Secular Age
author: Rod Dreher
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.93
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]]> <![CDATA[Sideshow: Living with Loss and Moving Forward with Faith]]> 201335423
Comedian Rickey Smiley has dealt with these immensely difficult questions for years—first with his father, then with his son. Both battled drug addictions. Both died from overdoses. Both left Rickey weary and wounded.

Far from healed, Rickey has learned how to find moments of peace. He's practicing how to hold the good with the grief, the past gifts with the present heartache, the hope with the hurt. It's the "sideshow" he's living. It's anything but a smooth path, but he's on it, and he's moving forward. And he invites you to come with him.

Join a fellow hurting soul as he sits with his trauma, leans into therapy, and relies heavily on his faith and Scripture, which give him solace and strength. Rickey and his story will help

Feel seen and know you are not aloneProcess your pain and manage weariness and griefInvite God's strength into your weaknessFind a way forward and move toward peaceĚý

Our pain may take hold of us in ways that are crippling, out of nowhere, and impossible to control. But there is One who can hold us tighter and keep us grounded, who gives the gift of peace that goes beyond understanding and guides us through each day.]]> 224 Rickey Smiley 1400342996 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.41 Sideshow: Living with Loss and Moving Forward with Faith
author: Rickey Smiley
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.41
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]]> <![CDATA[The Art of Thriving Online: A Workbook: Creative Exercises to Help You Stay Grounded and Feel Joy in the World of Social Media]]> 203147387
Do you wish you could spend less time on social media, or maybe even quit it altogether? You’re not alone! “Social media is woven into so many aspects of our daily lives,� says Amelia Knott, “but it is not designed with our psychological well-being in mind.� Thankfully, it is possible to create a conscious relationship with the online world.

The Art of Thriving Online: A Workbook goes far beyond “digital detoxing,� with innovative methods for counteracting manipulative, compulsive, and stress-inducing aspects of social media while preserving the goodness of your time online. The foundation of Knott’s method is creativity―she provides a playful, interactive place to explore the impact social media has on you as you shift to a more positive, health-promoting approach.

Through creative activities, reflections, therapeutic art, writing prompts, and more, you’ll learn how to safely process emotions through the forms of personal expression suited to your unique style. Looking through the many lenses of the internet’s impact―such as attention, productivity, privacy, worthiness, fear, disinformation, and belonging―this is a space for you to become aware of the invisible influences shaping your thoughts and feelings. Break beyond the boundary set by algorithms to find your own answers and author your own definition of wellness.

Designed for self-guidance, this workbook will help you to:
� Carve out space in your life to reflect on your relationship and habits with social media
� Learn to explore and express emotions using art materials
� Understand the ways technology impacts your mental health
� Unpack systemic barriers to personal and collective wellness
� Discover the political and economic motivations shaping social media

“Our digital lives are meaningful,� says Knott, “and we can show up online while also caring for our mental health.� Here is a “gentle manifesto� for establishing new habits and boundaries that make you feel truly well―online and off.]]> 304 Amelia Knott 1649632738 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.86 The Art of Thriving Online: A Workbook: Creative Exercises to Help You Stay Grounded and Feel Joy in the World of Social Media
author: Amelia Knott
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.86
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date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> <![CDATA[The Inherited Mind: A Story of Family, Hope, and the Genetics of Mental Illness]]> 211026628 A compelling memoir by ABC News correspondent James Longman in which he discusses mental illness and trauma in families, what the latest genetic science is telling us, and how to not only persevere but thrive.

James Longman was a preteen in boarding school when his dad, who was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia, died by suicide. As he got older, James’s own bouts of depression spurred him to examine how his father’s mental health might have affected his own. He engaged with experts to uncover the science behind what is inherited, how much environmental factors can impact genetic traits, and how one can overcome a familial history of mental illness and trauma.

In The Inherited Mind, James Longman invites readers to reflect on their own stories as he shares his quest to better understand himself and his family. Through speaking to mental health experts, to those who have had similar familial experiences, and about his own life stories, James shows us, with heart and humor, how much our bodies can empower and inform us about our own personal mental health histories.]]> 304 James Longman 1368099475 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.08 The Inherited Mind: A Story of Family, Hope, and the Genetics of Mental Illness
author: James Longman
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.08
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]]> Station Eleven 23995368 An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization’s collapse—the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.

Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.]]> 336 Emily St. John Mandel 0804172447 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.14 2014 Station Eleven
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> Never Never 208456112 The twisty and devastating instant #1 New York Times bestselling romantic mystery—now in a stunning hardcover Collector's Edition featuring nine exclusive illustrations, a foil-stamped case, beautifully stained edges and custom designed endpapers.

Never stop...Never forget...Just remember.

Charlie Wynwood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They've been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning...they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love...every memory has vanished. Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why.

But the more they learn about the couple they used to be...the more they question why they were ever together to begin with. Forgetting is terrifying, but remembering may be worse.

Heart-stopping and utterly captivating, Never Never will leave readers breathless and believing in the power of love.]]> 400 Colleen Hoover 1335080090 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.25 2016 Never Never
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/20
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]]> <![CDATA[The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery]]> 8266853 With six other children at home, Kathryn Lynard Soper was prepared for the challenges another newborn would bring. But after Thomas's complicated birth, his diagnosis—Down syndrome—forced her to face her deepest fears and weaknesses, her ignorance and prejudice, and her limitations as a mother and as a human being. Her struggle, coupled with the demands of caring for a fragile baby and juggling her family's needs, sparked the worst episode of depression she'd experienced in decades.

The Year My Son and I Were Born is Soper's brutally honest yet beautiful account of how she escaped a downward spiral of despair and emerged with newfound peace. Antidepressant therapy restored her equilibrium, and interactions with friends and family brought needed perspective. But the most profound change came through her growing relationship with Thomas. His radiant presence shone through her outer layers of self, where fear and guilt festered, and reached the center of her very being—where love, acceptance, and gratitude blossomed in abundance.

A Reading Group Guide is available at:

]]> 336 Kathryn Lynard Soper 0762755601 Alyssa 5 3.72 2009 The Year My Son and I Were Born: A Story of Down Syndrome, Motherhood, and Self-Discovery
author: Kathryn Lynard Soper
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2009
rating: 5
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date added: 2024/09/10
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]]> <![CDATA[Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote-A History, a Crisis, a Plan]]> 123201426 A brutal, bloody, and at times hopeful history of the vote; a primer on the opponents fighting to take it away; and a playbook for how we can save our democracy before it's too late--from the former U.S. Attorney General on the front lines of this fight

Voting is our most important right as Americans--"the right that protects all the others," as Lyndon Johnson famously said when he signed the Voting Rights Act--but it's also the one most violently contested throughout U.S. history. Since the gutting of the act in the landmark Shelby County v. Holder case in 2013, many states have passed laws restricting the vote. After the 2020 election, President Trump's effort to overturn the vote has evolved into a slow-motion coup, with many Republicans launching an all-out assault on our democracy. The vote seems to be in unprecedented peril.

But the peril is not at all unprecedented. America is a fragile democracy, Eric Holder argues, whose citizens have only had unfettered access to the ballot since the 1960s. He takes readers through three dramatic stories of how the vote was won: first by white men, through violence and insurrection; then by white women, through protests and mass imprisonments; and finally by African Americans, in the face of lynchings and terrorism. Next, he dives into how the vote has been stripped away since Shelby--a case in which Holder was one of the parties. He ends with visionary chapters on how we can reverse this tide of voter suppression and become a true democracy where every voice is heard and every vote is counted.

Full of surprising history, intensive analysis, and actionable plans for the future, this is a powerful primer on our most urgent political struggle from one of the country's leading advocates.]]> 304 Eric Holder 0593445767 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.73 Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote-A History, a Crisis, a Plan
author: Eric Holder
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.73
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date added: 2024/08/30
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]]> There There 43076988 292 Tommy Orange 0525436146 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.05 2018 There There
author: Tommy Orange
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/26
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]]> <![CDATA[The Windeby Puzzle: History and Story]]> 61491782 Newbery Medalist and New York Times bestselling author Lois Lowry transports readers to an Iron Age world through the suspenseful dual narrative of a boy and girl both battling to survive. In an utterly one-of-a-kind blend of fiction and history, a master storyteller explores the mystery and life of the 2,000-year-old Windeby bog body.

Estrild is not like the other girls in her village; she wants to be a warrior. Varick, the orphan boy who helps her train in spite of his twisted back, also stands apart. In a world where differences are poorly tolerated, just how much danger are they in?

Inspired by the true discovery of the 2,000-year-old Windeby bog body in Northern Germany, Newbery Medalist and master storyteller Lois Lowry transports readers to an Iron age world as she breathes life back into the Windeby child, left in the bog to drown with a woolen blindfold over its eyes.

This suspenseful exploration of lives that might have been by a gifted, intellectually curious author is utterly one of a kind. Includes several arresting photos of archeological finds, including of the Windeby child.]]> 202 Lois Lowry 0358672465 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.80 2023 The Windeby Puzzle: History and Story
author: Lois Lowry
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/22
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]]> In Memoriam 59948520 A haunting, virtuosic debut novel about two young men who fall in love during a time of war.

It's 1914, and World War I is ceaselessly churning through thousands of young men on both sides of the fight. The violence of the front feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. News of the heroic deaths of their friends only makes the war more exciting.

Gaunt, half German, is busy fighting his own private battle--an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the glamorous, charming Ellwood--without a clue that Ellwood is pining for him in return. When Gaunt's family asks him to enlist to forestall the anti-German sentiment they face, Gaunt does so immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood. To Gaunt's horror, Ellwood rushes to join him at the front, and the rest of their classmates soon follow. Now death surrounds them in all its grim reality, often inches away, and no one knows who will be next.

An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.]]> 382 Alice Winn 0593534565 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.51 2023 In Memoriam
author: Alice Winn
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/02
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]]> <![CDATA[When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary]]> 204806515 Bestselling author Alice Hoffman delivers a stunning novel about one of contemporary history's most acclaimed figures, exploring the little-known details of Anne Frank's life before she went into hiding.

Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl has captivated and inspired readers for decades. Published posthumously by her bereaved father, Anne's journal, written while she and her family were in hiding during World War II, has become one of the central texts of the Jewish experience during the Holocaust, as well as a work of literary genius.

With the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family's life is turned inside out, blow by blow, restriction by restriction. Prejudice, loss, and terror run rampant, and Anne is forced to bear witness as ordinary people become monsters, and children and families are caught up in the inescapable tide of violence.

In the midst of impossible danger, Anne, audacious and creative and fearless, discovers who she truly is. With a wisdom far beyond her years, she becomes a writer who will go on to change the world as we know it.

Critically acclaimed author Alice Hoffman weaves a lyrical and heart-wrenching story of the way the world closes in on the Frank family from the moment the Nazis invade the Netherlands until they are forced into hiding, bringing Anne to bold, vivid life. Based on extensive research and published in cooperation with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, When We Flew Away is an extraordinary and moving tour de force.

"Adding new poignance to a story whose ending we already knew, Alice Hoffman has deftly recreated the child Anne Frank with all her wit, mischief, and uncertainties. This fictionalized account of the increasingly desperate years that preceded the famous diary breaks readers' hearts one more time. But it reminds us of how important it is to remember and honor all that was lost." -- Lois Lowry, Newbery Award-winning author of Number the Stars]]> 304 Alice Hoffman 1338856944 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.03 2024 When We Flew Away: A Novel of Anne Frank Before the Diary
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/02
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]]> Tell It to Me Singing 199798583
Monica Campo is pregnant with her first child when, moments before being wheeled into emergency heart surgery, her mother confesses a long-held Monica’s father is not the man who raised her. But when her mother wakes up and begins having delusional episodes, Monica doesn’t know what to believe—whether the confession was real or just a channeling of the telenovela her mother watches nightly.

In her despair, Monica wants to speak with only one her ex-boyfriend of five years, Manny. She can’t help but worry, though, what this says about her relationship with her fiancé and father of her unborn child.

Monica’s search for the truth leads her to a new understanding of the the early eighties when her parents arrived from Cuba on the famous Mariel boatlift, and the tumultuous seventies, a decade after Castro’s takeover, when some people were still secretly fighting his regime—people like her mother and the man she claims is Monica’s real father. Tell It to Me Singing is a story that takes readers from Miami to Cuba to the jungles of Costa Rica and, along the way, explores the question of how and to whom we belong, how a life is built, and how we know when we’re home.]]> 400 Tita Ramírez 1982157313 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.76 2024 Tell It to Me Singing
author: Tita RamĂ­rez
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/02
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]]> This Used to Be Us 199347400 There are two sides to every love story—and every breakup. Get ready for an emotional roller coaster of family, marriage, and divorce that will have you both laughing and crying, from the bestselling author of Before We Were Strangers.

After twenty-two years together, Danielle and Alex are getting a divorce. Once fiercely in love, they can barely stand the sound of each other’s voice. Instead of shuttling the kids between two broken homes, Alex and Dani decide to share a nesting apartment while swapping days with their two teenage boys at the family home.

In the apartment, Dani and Alex, on their own, begin to reflect on the last two decades—why they fell in love and why the marriage fell, spectacularly, apart. With the newfound space and time, they are given a chance to rediscover their autonomous selves again. They both get back in the dating pool. Dani finds major success at work as a showrunner on her own TV project, while Alex faces the challenges of a new relationship.

Still, they find that they just can’t stay away from each other, and somehow, the distance allows them to remember (for the first time in years) what each used to love about the other. When a family crisis draws them back into each other’s orbit, Dani and Alex are once again put to the test, which leads to a dramatic conclusion that will have listeners weeping.]]> 384 Renee Carlino 0593729285 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.00 This Used to Be Us
author: Renee Carlino
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Anna Bright Is Hiding Something]]> 181695067 The Dropout meets Inventing Anna in this cinematic and page-turning summer read! A ripped-from-the-headlines story set in the glossy offices of Silicon Valley startups and NYC new media, Anna Bright Is Hiding Something explores our fascination with female founders breaking barriers—and sometimes behaving badly in the process.

Anna Bright is committing fraud. But nobody knows it yet. Not the board of her multibillion-dollar company, not her investors, not the public breathlessly anticipating the launch of BrightSpot, and not the media—including Jamie Roman, a hardworking journalist for BusinessBerry. But when Jamie does learn about Anna’s misconduct, she embarks on a bicoastal journey to expose the crimes and make a name for herself as a journalist. It’s not long before Anna learns what the reporter is up to, however—and she’ll do anything to stop Jamie.

Especially now that BrightLife’s IPO is days away.]]> 331 Susie Orman Schnall 1684632528 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.46 2024 Anna Bright Is Hiding Something
author: Susie Orman Schnall
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/02
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]]> Banyan Moon 179688977 Thao Thai 1529431980 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.91 2023 Banyan Moon
author: Thao Thai
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/02
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]]> <![CDATA[Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil]]> 195790835 Stories I Wrote for the Devil lures readers into surreal pockets of the United States and Brazil, where they’ll find bite-size Americans in vending machines and the ghosts of living people. Ananda Lima speaks to modern Brazilian-American immigrant experiences―of ambition, fear, longing, and belonging―and reveals the porousness of storytelling and of the places we call home.]]> 181 Ananda Lima 1250292972 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.42 2024 Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil
author: Ananda Lima
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.42
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder]]> 199344846
On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man in black—black clothes, black mask—rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife. His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.

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

Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty. It is also a deeply moving reminder of literature’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again.]]> 209 Salman Rushdie 0593730240 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.00 2024 Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> Americanah 58459094 --back cover]]> 588 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Alyssa 0 to-read 4.26 2013 Americanah
author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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]]> The Lost Story 199927030 The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.

As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.

Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons� investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.

Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.

Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.]]> 352 Meg Shaffer 0593598873 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.79 2024 The Lost Story
author: Meg Shaffer
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> House of Bone and Rain 203163914 In the latest from Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME, a group of five teenage boys, living in Puerto Rico, seek vengeance after one of their mothers is murdered; a doomed tale of devotion and the afterlife of violence. Ěý

For childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo, death has always been close. Hurricanes. Car accidents. Gang violence. Suicide. Estamos rodeados de fantasmas was Gabe’s grandmother’s refrain. We are surrounded by ghosts. But this time is different. Bimbo's mom has been shot dead. We’re gonna kill the guys who killed her Bimbo swears. And they all agree.

Feral with grief, Bimbo has become unrecognizable, taking no prisoners in his search for names. Soon, they learn Maria was gunned down by guys working for the drug kingpin of Puerto Rico. No one has ever gone up against him and survived. As the boys strategize, a storm gathers far from the coast. Hurricanes are known to carry evil spirits in their currents and bring them ashore, spirits which impose their own order.

Blurring the boundaries between myth, mysticism, and the grim realities of our world, House of Bone and Rain is a harrowing coming of age story; a doomed tale of devotion, the afterlife of violence, and what rolls in on the tide.]]> 345 Gabino Iglesias 0316427012 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.84 2024 House of Bone and Rain
author: Gabino Iglesias
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Last Day Julian Was My Best Friend]]> 195946302 32 Jody Jensen Shaffer 1662516169 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.26 2024 The Last Day Julian Was My Best Friend
author: Jody Jensen Shaffer
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> Familiaris 200262412 The follow-up to the beloved #1 New York Times bestselling modern classic The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Familiaris is the stirring origin story of the Sawtelle family and the remarkable dogs that carry the Sawtelle name.

It is spring 1919, and John Sawtelle's imagination has gotten him into trouble ... again. Now John and his newlywed wife, Mary, along with their two best friends and their three dogs, are setting off for Wisconsin's north woods, where they hope to make a fresh start—and, with a little luck, discover what it takes to live a life of meaning, purpose, and adventure. But the place they are headed for is far stranger and more perilous than they realize, and it will take all their ingenuity, along with a few new friends—human, animal, and otherworldly—to realize their dreams.

By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, mysterious and enchanting, Familiaris takes readers on an unforgettable journey from the halls of a small-town automobile factory, through an epic midwestern firestorm and an ambitious WWII dog training program, and far back into mankind's ancient past, examining the dynamics of love and friendship, the vexing nature of families, the universal desire to create something lasting and beautiful, and of course, the species-long partnership between Homo sapiens and Canis familiaris.]]> 979 David Wroblewski Alyssa 0 to-read 4.07 2024 Familiaris
author: David Wroblewski
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> Dust 203578954 In this haunting, speculative coming-of-age novel about finding your place in an unforgiving environment, a partially deaf teen questions everything she knows about family, love, and her future.

After her father has a premonition, Thea and her family move to the Bloodless Valley of southern Colorado, hoping to make a fresh start. But the rivers are dry, the crops are dying, and the black blizzards of Colorado have returned. Much like the barren land, Thea feels her life has stopped growing. She is barely homeschooled, forbidden from going to the library, and has no way to contact her old friends―all due to her parents� fear of the outside world’s dangerous influence.

But to make ends meet, Thea is allowed to work at the café in town. There, she meets Ray, who is deaf. Thea, who was born hard of hearing, has always been pushed by her parents to pass as someone who can hear. Now, with Ray secretly teaching Thea how to sign, she begins to learn what she’s been missing―not just a new language but a whole community and maybe even a chance at love.]]> 320 Alison Stine 125087873X Alyssa 0 to-read 3.98 2024 Dust
author: Alison Stine
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Like Mother, Like Son: From the Deepest Despair of Mental Illness to the Grittiest End-Of-Life Battle with Metabolic Syndrome]]> 211759503 She was carried off by law enforcement in a straitjacket. She was committed and institutionalized. She was carted off on a gurney by paramedics over 20 times with 10 visits ending in the ICU (intensive care unit). She lost her husband and caretaker. More than once, she was thought unfixable by society, family and the medical profession.Like Mother, Like Son tells the inspiring story of an ordinary mother and homemaker who overcame mental illness and loss to live her best life. With her indomitable spirit, she faced her end-of-life illnesses with strength, grace and a smile.Experience the power of perseverance and grace in the face of adversity with this heartwarming tale. Through the eyes of her son and caretaker, discover the incredible impact dogs can have on healing and motivation.In Like Mother, Like Son, you will ĚýĚýĚý An intimate look into the life of an indomitable woman. Heartwarming memories shared by her son. A journey of overcoming mental illness and loss, with dogs, exercise and love. Lessons on perseverance, second-chances, grace, and strength. Insight into the power of love and her family of dogs.ĚýThe Foreword was written by Daniel Fredman, M.D. - Diplomate of Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.Buy now and be inspired by the compelling story of love, strength, and resilience in "Like Mother, Like Son." ]]> 301 Stephen Bryant Biles Alyssa 0 to-read 4.33 Like Mother, Like Son: From the Deepest Despair of Mental Illness to the Grittiest End-Of-Life Battle with Metabolic Syndrome
author: Stephen Bryant Biles
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.33
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]]> The Way 205900986 A postapocalyptic road trip and a quest for redemption.

The world has been ravaged by a lethal virus and, with few exceptions, only the young have survived. Cities and infrastructures have been destroyed, and the natural world has reclaimed the landscape in surprising ways, with herds of wild camels roaming the American West and crocodiles that glow neon green lurking in the rivers.

Against this perilous backdrop, Will Collins, the de facto caretaker of a Buddhist monastery in Colorado, receives an urgent and mysterious request: to deliver a potential cure to a scientist in what was once California. So Will sets out, haunted by dreams of the woman he once loved, in a rusted-out pickup pulled by two mules. A menacing thug is on his tail. Armed militias patrol the roads. And the only way he’ll make it is with the help of a clever raven, an opinionated cat, and a tough teenage girl who has learned to survive on her own.

A highly original contribution to the canon of dystopian literature, The Way is a thrilling and imaginative novel, full of warmth, wisdom, and surprises that reflect our world in unsettling, uncanny, and even hopeful ways.]]> 304 Cary Groner 1954118422 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.82 2024 The Way
author: Cary Groner
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> The Last Love Note 123087802 You may never stop loving the one you lost. But you can still find love again.

Kate is a bit of a mess. Two years after losing her young husband Cameron, she’s grieving, solo parenting, working like mad at her university fundraising job, always dropping the ball—and yet clinging to her sense of humor.

Lurching from one comedic crisis to the next, she also navigates an overbearing mom and a Tinder-obsessed best friend who's determined to matchmake Kate with her hot new neighbor.

When an in-flight problem leaves Kate and her boss, Hugh, stranded for a weekend on the east coast of Australia, she finally has a chance, away from her son, to really process her grief and see what’s right in front of her. Can she let go of the love of her life and risk her heart a second time?

When it becomes clear that Hugh is hiding a secret, Kate turns to the trail of scribbled notes she once used to hold her life together. The first note captured her heart. Will the last note set it free?

The Last Love Note will make listeners laugh, cry, and renew their faith in the resilience of the human heart—and in love itself.]]> 384 Emma Grey 1958506281 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.04 2023 The Last Love Note
author: Emma Grey
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> This Book Kills 202204725
All Jess Choudhary wants is to keep her head down, do her work, and make it through high school without any problems. As a scholarship student—and one of only two students of Indian heritage—her future at the elite school depends on her ability to keep a low profile and spotless record. But when one of the most popular and richest kids in the school ends up dead in the exact same way as a character in a short story she wrote, Jess unintentionally finds herself at the center of the investigation.

And then Jess receives an anonymous text thanking her for the inspiration.

As rumors run rampant about who the murderer could be, Jess knows if she doesn't solve this mystery herself, she'll finally have something in common with she'll be dead too.]]> 357 Ravena Guron 1728296900 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.86 2023 This Book Kills
author: Ravena Guron
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> Liars 200555235 A searing novel about being a wife, a mother, and an artist, and how marriage makes liars out of us all, from the author of Very Cold People and 300 Arguments.

“Painful and brilliant—I loved it.”—Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot and Either/Or

A nuclear family can destroy a woman artist. I’d always known that. But I’d never suspected how easily I’d fall into one anyway.

When Jane, an aspiring writer, meets filmmaker John Bridges, they both want the same things: to be in love, to live a successful creative life, and to be happy. When they marry, Jane believes she has found everything she was looking for, including—a few years later—all the attendant joy and labor of motherhood. But it’s not long until Jane finds herself subsumed by John’s ambitions, whims, and ego; in short, she becomes a wife.

As Jane’s career flourishes, their marriage starts to falter. Throughout the upheavals of family life, Jane tries to hold it all together. That is, until John leaves her.

Combining the intensity of Elena Ferrante’s Days of Abandonment and the pithy wisdom of Jenny Offill’s Dept of Speculation, Liars is a tour de force of wit and rage, telling the blistering story of a marriage as it burns to the ground, and of a woman rising inexorably from its ashes.]]> 272 Sarah Manguso 0593241258 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.67 2024 Liars
author: Sarah Manguso
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> City of Books 181695094
Then the store’s elderly owner, Mr. Bruebaker, suffers a stroke, and just like that Jo’s perfect job is on the chopping block. Mr. B’s daughters and the bookstore’s icy CEO think the time is right to close for good, and they order Jo to lock up. But she doesn’t know what she would be without Bruebaker’s—and besides, the place is an institution. So instead of following orders, she decides to take a along with a few brave team members, she barricades herself in the store, trying to buy time until Mr. Bruebaker recovers and can speak for himself.

Living in a bookstore has a certain magic to it, but the quiet hours among the books throw the choices Jo has made in her life into sharp relief. As supporters—and detractors—start to voice their opinions about her actions, Jo will have to decide what, exactly, is worth saving.]]> 304 Nicole Meier 1684632463 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.49 2024 City of Books
author: Nicole Meier
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> The Lantern of Lost Memories 204593511 From acclaimed Japanese authorĚýSanaka Hiigari comes aĚýheartwarming, life-affirming novel about aĚýmagical photo studio, where people go after they die to view key moments from their life—and relive one precious memory before they pass into the afterlife.

The hands and pendulum of the old wooden clock on the wall were motionless. HirasakaĚýcocked his head to listen, but the silence inside the photo studio was almost deafening. HisĚýleather shoes sank softly into the aging red carpet as he strode over to the arrangement ofĚýflowers on the counter and carefully adjusted the angle of the petals...

This is the story of the peculiar and magical photo studio owned by Mr. Hirasaki, a collector of antique cameras. In the dimly lit interior, a paper background is pulled down in front of a wall, and in front of it stands a single, luxurious chair with an armrest on one side. On a stand is a large bellows camera. On the left is the main studio; photos can also be taken in the courtyard.

Beyond its straightforward interior, however, is a secret. The studio is, in fact, the door to the afterlife, the place between life and deathĚýwhere those who have departed have a chance—one last time—to see their entire life flash before their eyes viaĚýMr. Hirasaki's "spinning lantern ofĚýmemories."

We meetĚýHatsue, a ninety-two year old woman who worked as a nursery teacher,Ěýthe rowdy Waniguchi, a yakuza overseer in his life who is also capable of great compassion, and finallyĚýMitsuru, a young girl who has died tragically young at the hands of abusive parents.Ěý

Sorting through the many photos of their lives,ĚýMr. Hirasaki also offers guests one guests a second aĚýchance to travel back in time to take a photo of oneĚýparticular moment in their lives that they wish to cherish in a special way.

Full of charm and whimsy, The Lantern of Lost Memories will sweep you away to a world of nostalgia,Ěýlaughter, and love.]]> 208 Sanaka Hiiragi 1538757435 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.12 2019 The Lantern of Lost Memories
author: Sanaka Hiiragi
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions]]> 209786389
A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty there is very little room to prove doubt. Framed shares ten true stories of men who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, wives, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place, and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and the corrupt court system that can make them so hard to reverse.

Told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of overcoming adversity when the battle already seems lost, and the deck is stacked against you.]]> 368 John Grisham 0385550448 Alyssa 0 to-read 4.09 2024 Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions
author: John Grisham
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> Two Good Men 209528310 From the internationally bestselling author of In an Instant and Hadley & Grace comes Two Good Men, a searing drama about two men on a quest for justice—from opposite sides of the law.

Dick Raynes feared this day would come. Otis Parsons, a violent felon, has been released from prison, and Dick’s sister, Dee, is the one who helped put him there. Dick’s marriage is over, and his career is in shambles, so with nothing to lose, he sets out to do whatever it takes to keep Dee and her son safe. But Otis is just the beginning. Using his knowledge as a scientist to develop a formula able to predict those offenders most likely to strike again, he sets out to protect future victims the law is powerless to defend.

FBI agent Steve Patterson investigates crimes against those who have paid their dues for past mistakes, running a department he created after his son was killed by a vigilante mother who targeted the wrong person. Recognizing a disturbing pattern of untimely deaths in recently released felons, he sets out to discover who’s behind it. What he doesn’t expect is to find another chance at love—with the sister of the man he is chasing.

Dick’s sense of right and wrong is tested as he pursues and neutralizes the most dangerous threats, while Steve makes it his mission to stop this vigilante serial killer before he is labeled a hero. Both men pursue a noble cause, but only one can prevail.]]> 336 S.E. Redfearn Alyssa 0 to-read 4.02 2024 Two Good Men
author: S.E. Redfearn
name: Alyssa
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
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]]> Wild Failure: Stories 202468433 In these raucous and poignant short stories, bestselling novelist Zoe Whittall contends with the meaning of desire for both intimacy and danger in a world that questions the validity of femininity and queerness.

In “Oh, El� a dominant woman can’t stop herself from toying with a tender heart. In “Half Pipe� a teen girl’s heterosexual ambivalence gets her in trouble at a skate park. The title story, “Wild Failure,� is about the doomed love between an agoraphobic and a wilderness hiker trapped in a passionate relationship that might ruin them both—if a mountain lion doesn’t kill them first. Living collectively in a rental house, a group of bisexual roommates find themselves the subject of a true crime podcast in “Murder at the Elm Street Collective House.� In “The Sex Castle Lunch Buffet� a femme reflects on her brief stint at a strip club in the 90s when she learns of the death of a regular client. “The Sell-Out" is a satirical look at the role of literary ambition at a time when making a living as an artist has never been more difficult.

Whittall’s characters navigate shame, attachment, and disconnection in this collection of outsider stories. Through playful prose and dark humor, Whittall’s subjects challenge what we mean by a beautiful life in this addition to the genre of outlaw literature.]]> 176 Zoe Whittall 0593499913 Alyssa 0 to-read 3.74 Wild Failure: Stories
author: Zoe Whittall
name: Alyssa
average rating: 3.74
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]]>