Rue's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 25 Apr 2025 00:13:35 -0700 60 Rue's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 式の前日 [Shiki no Zenjitsu] 17190820
双子の兄弟、ワケありの亲子、结婚をひかえた男と女…。“ふたりきり”という情景を温かく、鲜やかに切り取った珠玉の短编よみきり集。新进気鋭の着者?穂积のデビューコミックスにて最高杰作。闭闭> 192 Hozumi 4091345859 Rue 4 manga 3.33 2012 式の前日 [Shiki no Zenjitsu]
author: Hozumi
name: Rue
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2020/11/09
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: manga
review:

]]> <![CDATA[くれよん?でいず - 大キライなアイツ 4 [Crayon Days: Daikirai na Aitsu 4]]]> 69446950 192 Kozue Chiba 409135176X Rue 0 manga 3.91 2013 くれよん?でいず - 大キライなアイツ 4 [Crayon Days: Daikirai na Aitsu 4]
author: Kozue Chiba
name: Rue
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: manga
review:

]]> <![CDATA[くれよん?でいず - 大キライなアイツ 3 [Crayon Days: Daikirai na Aitsu 3]]]> 69347278 192 Kozue Chiba 4091348483 Rue 0 manga 3.95 2013 くれよん?でいず - 大キライなアイツ 3 [Crayon Days: Daikirai na Aitsu 3]
author: Kozue Chiba
name: Rue
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: manga
review:

]]> I'm Glad My Mom Died 60763786
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.]]> 320 Jennette McCurdy Rue 4 4-star 4.50 2022 I'm Glad My Mom Died
author: Jennette McCurdy
name: Rue
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: 4-star
review:

]]> Funny Story 194802722 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry Rue 2 2-star 4.21 2024 Funny Story
author: Emily Henry
name: Rue
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: 2-star
review:

]]> Hidden Pictures 58938609 From Jason Rekulak, Edgar-nominated author of The Impossible Fortress, comes a wildly inventive spin on the classic horror story in Hidden Pictures, a creepy and warm-hearted mystery about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets.

Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves this new job. She lives in the Maxwell’s pool house, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

As the days pass, Teddy’s artwork becomes more and more sinister, and his stick figures steadily evolve into more detailed, complex, and lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to suspect these are glimpses of an unsolved murder from long ago, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force lingering in the forest behind the Maxwell’s house.

With help from a handsome landscaper and an eccentric neighbor, Mallory sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy—while coming to terms with a tragedy in her own past—before it’s too late.]]> 375 Jason Rekulak 1250819369 Rue 2 mystery-thriller, horror 4.29 2022 Hidden Pictures
author: Jason Rekulak
name: Rue
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: mystery-thriller, horror
review:

]]> The Stranger in Her House 141236527 A stranger has infiltrated your family…and now he’s taking over.

Paul’s just here to help, or so he claims—sent by a charity for vulnerable people to do odd jobs for elderly widow Gwen. But for Gwen’s daughter Connie, there’s just something about Paul that rings alarm bells from day one. He’s a little too kind, a little too involved…Worse still, Gwen seems to have fallen under his spell.

The last thing Connie wants is a stranger meddling in the safe routine she’s built around Gwen. She loves being the one Gwen turns to for cooking, cleaning and company. But the more Paul visits, the more Gwen is relying on him. By the time he conveniently finds himself between homes and has no choice but to move in, Connie is certain he’s trying to push her out completely.

It’s her word against his, though, and as her attempts to unmask him become ever more desperate she’s not the only one left wondering if she’s lost her grip on reality. But when events start spiralling rapidly out of her control, should Connie wage all-out war on Paul and risk losing Gwen forever—or has that been his plan all along?]]> 347 John Marrs 1662506473 Rue 3 mystery-thriller, 3-star 3.94 2024 The Stranger in Her House
author: John Marrs
name: Rue
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: mystery-thriller, 3-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall, #1)]]> 210458862 The Creators did not expect their beloved dragons to sail skyward upon their end. To curl into balls just beyond gravity’s grip, littering the sky with tombstones. With moons. They certainly did not expect them to FALL.

As an assassin for the rebellion group Fíur du Ath, Raeve’s job is to complete orders and never get caught. When a rival bounty hunter turns her world upside down, blood spills, hearts break, and Raeve finds herself imprisoned by the Guild of Nobles—a group of powerful fae who turn her into a political statement.

Crushed by the loss of his great love, Kaan Vaegor took the head of a king and donned his melted crown. Now on a tireless quest to quell the never-ebbing ache in his chest, a clue lures him into the capitol’s high-security prison where he stumbles upon the imprisoned Raeve …

Echoes of the past race between them.

There’s more to their story than meets the eye, but some truths are too poisonous to swallow.

The bestselling phenomenon,?When the Moon Hatched, is a fast-paced fantasy romance featuring an immersive, vibrant world with mysterious creatures, a unique magic system, and a love that blazes through the ages.]]> 576 Sarah A. Parker 006341581X Rue 0 to-read 4.21 2024 When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall, #1)
author: Sarah A. Parker
name: Rue
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> We Used to Live Here 199898250
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve 肠补苍’迟 believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family 肠补苍’迟 seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it” (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).]]> 320 Marcus Kliewer Rue 0 to-read 3.77 2024 We Used to Live Here
author: Marcus Kliewer
name: Rue
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Chain-Gang All-Stars 61618096
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara 'Hurricane Staxxx' Stacker, teammates and lovers, are the fan favourites. If all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. But will the price be simply too high?]]> 384 Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 0593317343 Rue 3 3-star 4.16 2023 Chain-Gang All-Stars
author: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
name: Rue
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: 3-star
review:

]]> The Four Winds 53496907
Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.

By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.

In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.

The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it—the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.]]> 464 Kristin Hannah 1250178622 Rue 4 4-star 4.44 2021 The Four Winds
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Rue
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: 4-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Tale of the Flower Bride]]> 61121494 A sumptuous, gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cursed to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairy tales—the breathtaking adult debut from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi.

Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Caste?ada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after—and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past.

But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple is forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor’s extravagant rooms and musty halls, there lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo’s dearest childhood friend who suddenly disappeared. As the house slowly reveals his wife’s secrets, the bridegroom will be forced to choose between reality and fantasy, even if doing so threatens to destroy their marriage . . . or their lives.

Combining the lush, haunting atmosphere of Mexican Gothic with the dreamy enchantment of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride is a spellbinding and darkly romantic page-turner about love and lies, secrets and betrayal, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive.]]> 301 Roshani Chokshi Rue 3 3-star, fantasy 3.81 2023 The Last Tale of the Flower Bride
author: Roshani Chokshi
name: Rue
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: 3-star, fantasy
review:

]]> Heartless 58443261 Alternate cover edition can be found here

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland, she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love. Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

In her first stand-alone teen novel, the New York Times-bestselling author dazzles us with a prequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

]]> 464 Marissa Meyer Rue 0 fantasy, on-hold 4.03 2016 Heartless
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Rue
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: fantasy, on-hold
review:

]]> The Spear Cuts Through Water 58258967 544 Simon Jimenez 0593156609 Rue 0 to-read 4.14 2022 The Spear Cuts Through Water
author: Simon Jimenez
name: Rue
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Kindred 38190066 In 1976, Dana dreams of being a writer. In 1815, she is assumed a slave.

When Dana first meets Rufus on a Maryland plantation, he's drowning. She saves his life - and it will happen again and again.

Neither of them understands his power to summon her whenever his life is threatened, nor the significance of the ties that bind them.

And each time Dana saves him, the more aware she is that her own life might be over before it's even begun.]]> 295 Octavia E. Butler 1472258223 Rue 4 4-star 4.33 1979 Kindred
author: Octavia E. Butler
name: Rue
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: 4-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)]]> 7581796 396 Rick Riordan Rue 4 fantasy, 4-star 4.24 2005 The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Rue
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: fantasy, 4-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell, #1)]]> 26556644 354 Deanna Raybourn 1785650491 Rue 0 to-read 4.15 2015 A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell, #1)
author: Deanna Raybourn
name: Rue
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> My Husband 59818097 In this suspenseful and darkly funny debut novel, a sophisticated French woman spends her life obsessing over her perfect husband--but can their marriage survive her passionate love?

At forty years old, she has an enviable life: a successful career, stunning looks, a beautiful house in the suburbs, two healthy children, and most importantly, an ideal husband. After fifteen years together, she is still besotted with him. But she's never quite sure that her passion is reciprocated. After all, would a truly infatuated man ever let go of his wife's hand when they're sitting on the couch together?

Determined to keep their relationship perfect, she meticulously prepares for every encounter they have, always taking care to make her actions seem effortless. She watches him attentively, charting every mistake and punishing him accordingly to help him improve. And she tests him--setting traps to make sure that he still loves her just as much as he did when they first met.

Until one day she realizes she may have gone too far . . .

The winner of France's First Novel Prize in 2021, My Husband builds on the premise of hits like Gone Girl and Fates and Furies--how well can you really know your spouse?--and adds the tension and creepy obsession of You. The result is an irresistible read--compelling, tense, and engaging, infused with sly subversive humor, and told in an utterly original voice that makes it unforgettable.

Translated from the French by Emma Ramadan]]> 272 Maud Ventura 0063274841 Rue 0 to-read 3.58 2021 My Husband
author: Maud Ventura
name: Rue
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Daphne 59763901
But the night before the big game, one of the players tells a ghost story about Daphne, a girl who went to their school many years ago and died under mysterious circumstances. Some say she was murdered, others that she died by her own hand. And some say that Daphne is a murderer herself. They also say that Daphne is still out there, obsessed with revenge, and will appear to kill again anytime someone thinks about her.

After Kit hears the story, her teammates vanish, one by one, and Kit begins to suspect that the stories about Daphne are real . . . and to fear that her own mind is conjuring the killer. Now it’s a race against time as Kit searches for the truth behind the legend and learns to face her own fears—before the summer of her life becomes the last summer of her life.

Mixing a nostalgic coming-of-age story and an instantly iconic female villain with an innovative new vision of classic horror, Daphne is an unforgettable thriller as only Josh Malerman could imagine it.]]> 262 Josh Malerman 059315701X Rue 3 3-star, horror 3.37 2022 Daphne
author: Josh Malerman
name: Rue
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves: 3-star, horror
review:

]]> Jar of Hearts 38772522 Aged just 16, Geo's best friend Angela disappeared without a trace. Years later, Angela's body is discovered in the woods near Geo's childhood home, revealed as yet another victim of the notorious serial killer Calvin James. Geo's high-school boyfriend.

For fourteen years, Geo knew what had happened and told no one, carrying the secret until she was arrested and sent to prison. Why would any woman protect a man capable of committing such a heinous crime? Geo had her reasons...

To Geo, Calvin is more than a monster, a serial killer with no remorse. He is something else entirely. And while Geo did her time, Calvin escaped and went on the run. Now released, Geo is ready to start over. But then the bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela...

As chilling secrets are revealed, everything turns on what really happened one fateful night, almost 20 years ago. Is it too late for anyone, Geo included, to survive the truth?

]]> 320 Jennifer Hillier 1786495155 Rue 3 mystery-thriller, 3-star 4.13 2018 Jar of Hearts
author: Jennifer Hillier
name: Rue
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: mystery-thriller, 3-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees]]> 217417790 Live, laugh, shed blood. Dexter meets Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy Town in this twisted debut graphic novel.

Don’t murder the locals—this is small-town serial killer, upstanding citizen, and adorable brown bear Samantha Strong’s cardinal rule. A sea of potential victims is in the city just beyond the forest, but when you’ve worked as hard as Sam to build a cozy life and a thriving business in a community surrounded by friendly fellow animal folk, warm decor, and the aroma of cedar trees and freshly baked apple pie, the last thing you want is to disturb the peace. So imagine Sam's indignation when one of Woodbrook’s own meets a grisly, mysterious demise. You wouldn’t blame her for doing anything it takes to hunt down her rival before the town self-destructs and Sheriff Patterson starts barking up the wrong tree.]]> 156 Patrick Horvath 1649362366 Rue 4 mystery-thriller, comics 4.40 2024 Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees
author: Patrick Horvath
name: Rue
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: mystery-thriller, comics
review:

]]> Mexican Gothic 48717236
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness.

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 302 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 1529402662 Rue 3 horror, 2-star Symbiotic Relationship with WHAT????
tumblr-nlqof3-Dq-Wi1upxwm8o1-400]]> 3.72 2020 Mexican Gothic
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Rue
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/04/03
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: horror, 2-star
review:
?2.5 stars
Symbiotic Relationship with WHAT????
tumblr-nlqof3-Dq-Wi1upxwm8o1-400
]]> <![CDATA[Murdle: Volume 1, 100 Elementary to Impossible Mysteries to Solve Using Logic, Skill, and the Power of Deduction]]> 61885102
Who committed the ghastly deed?
What weapon was used to dispatch the victim?
Where did the calculated demise occur?

Join Deductive Logico and investigate murders most foul in Volume 1 . The first of their kind, these humorous mini-mystery puzzles challenge you to find whodunit, how, where, and why. Examine the clues, interview the witnesses, and use the power of deduction to complete the grid and catch the culprit. Together, you’ll uncover a buried secret beneath all of the murders and a message that can only be decrypted when you’ve solved them all.

Packed with illustrations, codes, and maps, and brimming with wit and intrigue , Volume 1 is the must-have detective casebook for the secret sleuth in everyone.]]> 380 G.T. Karber 1250892317 Rue 0 to-read 4.39 2023 Murdle: Volume 1, 100 Elementary to Impossible Mysteries to Solve Using Logic, Skill, and the Power of Deduction
author: G.T. Karber
name: Rue
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Night Olivia Fell 40964815 In the vein of Big Little Lies and Reconstructing Amelia comes an emotionally charged domestic suspense novel about a mother unraveling the truth behind how her daughter became brain dead. And pregnant.

A search for the truth. A lifetime of lies.

In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists.

When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter’s life. Was Olivia’s fall an accident? Or something far more sinister?

Christina McDonald weaves a suspenseful and heartwrenching tale of hidden relationships, devastating lies, and the power of a mother’s love. With flashbacks of Olivia’s own resolve to uncover family secrets, this taut and emotional novel how well do you know your children? And how well do they know you?]]> 368 Christina McDonald Rue 2 mystery-thriller 3.95 2019 The Night Olivia Fell
author: Christina McDonald
name: Rue
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/03
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: mystery-thriller
review:

]]> Daisy Darker 59843691
The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.

With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.]]> 342 Alice Feeney Rue 0 to-read 3.81 2022 Daisy Darker
author: Alice Feeney
name: Rue
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Last Word 61767153 After posting a negative book review, a woman living in a remote location begins to wonder if the author is a little touchy--or very, very dangerous--in this pulse-pounding novel of psychological suspense and terror from the critically acclaimed author of No Exit and Hairpin Bridge.

Emma Carpenter lives in isolation with her golden retriever Laika, house-sitting an old beachfront home on the rainy Washington coast. Her only human contact is her enigmatic old neighbor, Deek, and (via text) the house's owner, Jules.

One day, she reads a poorly written--but gruesome--horror novel by the author H. G. Kane, and posts a one-star review that drags her into an online argument with none other than the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. To Emma, this can't just be a coincidence. It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online about a lousy review; could he be stalking her, too?

As Emma digs into Kane's life and work, she learns he has published sixteen other novels, all similarly sadistic tales of stalking and murder. But who is he? How did he find her? And what else is he capable of?


]]> 320 Taylor Adams 0063222914 Rue 0 to-read 3.79 2023 The Last Word
author: Taylor Adams
name: Rue
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Annie Bot 156007669
She’s learning, too.

Doug says he loves that Annie’s artificial intelligence makes her seem more like a real woman, but the more human Annie becomes, the less perfectly she behaves. As Annie's relationship with Doug grows more intricate and difficult, she starts to wonder whether Doug truly desires what he says he does. In such an impossible paradox, what does Annie owe herself?]]> 298 Sierra Greer 0063312719 Rue 0 to-read 3.98 2024 Annie Bot
author: Sierra Greer
name: Rue
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> To Be Devoured 123893412 —Jonathan Janz, Author of Marla and The Siren and the Specter

"Sara Tantlinger's To Be Devoured capitalizes on our macabre preoccupation with the uglier side of nature, with love that topples into obsession, and with madness that is strangely beautiful in its barbarity. Her writing is equivalent to those unremitting avian beings her protagonist is so enamored of: It will hook its talons through your flesh, sink its neck into the ribboned edges of your wounds, and only relinquish your blighted body when it has swallowed your very soul."
—Christa Carmen, author of Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked , winner of the Indie Horror Book Awards for Best Debut Collection

"Vultures, obsession, and an unnatural hunger: What more can you want in a horror story? With To Be Devoured , Sara Tantlinger has done it again as she ratchets up the terror in wonderfully surprising ways while crafting prose that's always a heady blend of the vicious and the vibrant. A book that's absolutely not to be missed!"
—Gwendolyn Kiste, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Rust Maidens]]> 92 Sara Tantlinger Rue 0 horror, to-read 3.83 2019 To Be Devoured
author: Sara Tantlinger
name: Rue
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: horror, to-read
review:

]]> Hearts in the Hard Ground 55246122
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 44 G.V. Anderson 1250784433 Rue 3 horror, 3-star 3.50 2020 Hearts in the Hard Ground
author: G.V. Anderson
name: Rue
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2022/01/21
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: horror, 3-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Strange Planet (Strange Planet #1)]]> 44889830 I feel more attractive.
Honestly, you are.
It’s the star damage.
I CRAVE STAR DAMAGE.

Straight from the mind of New York Times bestselling author Nathan W. Pyle comes an adorable and profound universe in pink, blue, green, and purple. Based on the phenomenally popular Instagram of the same name, Strange Planet covers a full life cycle of the planet’s inhabitants, including milestones such as:


The Emergence Day
Being Gains a Sibling
The Being Family Attains a Beast
The Formal Education of a Being
Celebration of Special Days
Being Begins a Vocation
The Beings at Home
Health Status of a Being
The Hobbies of a Being
The Extended Family of the Being
The Being Reflects on Life While Watching the Planet Rotate

With dozens of never-before-seen illustrations in addition to old favorites, this book offers a sweet and hilarious look at a distant world not all that unlike our own.]]> 144 Nathan W. Pyle 0062970690 Rue 3 comics 4.46 2019 Strange Planet (Strange Planet #1)
author: Nathan W. Pyle
name: Rue
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2021/03/29
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: comics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[In Shadows We Fall (The Vengeance Trilogy, #0.5)]]> 36461289
You will die. Your children will die. The empire will burn.

Empress Li is out of favour at court. Foreign-born and past her prime, she is to be set aside. But she won't go quietly. With nothing left to lose, Li will do anything to stop Emperor Lan signing a secret alliance that could tear the empire apart. Yet when her life is threatened, old mistakes come back to haunt her and only a three-year-old boy can change the course of history.

With everything at stake, could an innocent child be the best assassin?]]> 108 Devin Madson 0995413355 Rue 3 3-star
Merged review:

3.5? stars]]> 3.92 2017 In Shadows We Fall (The Vengeance Trilogy, #0.5)
author: Devin Madson
name: Rue
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2021/05/02
date added: 2024/09/27
shelves: 3-star
review:
3.5? stars

Merged review:

3.5? stars
]]> <![CDATA[Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)]]> 61298799 High fantasy, low stakes – with a double-shot of coffee.

After decades of adventuring, Viv the orc barbarian is finally hanging up her sword for good. Now she sets her sights on a new dream – for she plans to open the first coffee shop in the city of Thune. Even though no one there knows what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the past behind her, she 肠补苍’迟 go it alone. And help might arrive from unexpected quarters. Yet old rivals and new stand in the way of success. And Thune’s shady underbelly could make it all too easy for Viv to take up the blade once more.

But the true reward of the uncharted path is the travellers you meet along the way. Whether bound by ancient magic, delicious pastries or a freshly brewed cup, they may become something deeper than Viv ever could have imagined.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree is a cosy, heartwarming slice-of-life fantasy about found families and fresh starts – perfect for fans of TJ Klune, Katherine Addison and T. Kingfisher.]]> 318 Travis Baldree Rue 3 3-star, fantasy 4.08 2022 Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)
author: Travis Baldree
name: Rue
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/25
date added: 2024/09/25
shelves: 3-star, fantasy
review:

]]> Sharp Objects 6460221 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B000JMKTLO

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.]]> 394 Gillian Flynn Rue 0 to-read 4.05 2006 Sharp Objects
author: Gillian Flynn
name: Rue
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Man Called Ove 20492604 here.

At first sight, Ove is almost certainly the grumpiest man you will ever meet. He thinks himself surrounded by idiots - neighbours who can't reverse a trailer properly, joggers, shop assistants who talk in code, and the perpetrators of the vicious coup d'etat that ousted him as Chairman of the Residents' Association. He will persist in making his daily inspection rounds of the local streets.

But isn't it rare, these days, to find such old-fashioned clarity of belief and deed? Such unswerving conviction about what the world should be, and a lifelong dedication to making it just so?

In the end, you will see, there is something about Ove that is quite irresistible . . .]]> 353 Fredrik Backman Rue 3 3-star 4.50 2012 A Man Called Ove
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Rue
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/25
date added: 2024/09/25
shelves: 3-star
review:

]]> You've Lost a Lot of Blood 60585628
"Each precious thing I show you in this book is a holy relic from the night we both perished-the night when I combed you from my hair and watered the moon with your blood.

You've lost a lot of blood . . ."]]> 209 Eric LaRocca 1088025757 Rue 2 horror, 2-star 3.25 2022 You've Lost a Lot of Blood
author: Eric LaRocca
name: Rue
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/23
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: horror, 2-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Town (Wayward Pines, #3)]]> 20423680
Secret Service agent Ethan Burke arrived in Wayward Pines, Idaho, three weeks ago. In this town, people are told who to marry, where to live, where to work. Their children are taught that David Pilcher, the town’s creator, is god. No one is allowed to leave; even asking questions can get you killed.

But Ethan has discovered the astonishing secret of what lies beyond the electrified fence that surrounds Wayward Pines and protects it from the terrifying world beyond. It is a secret that has the entire population completely under the control of a madman and his army of followers, a secret that is about to come storming through the fence to wipe out this last, fragile remnant of humanity.]]> 294 Blake Crouch 1477872582 Rue 0 on-hold 4.09 2014 The Last Town (Wayward Pines, #3)
author: Blake Crouch
name: Rue
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves: on-hold
review:

]]> Vigilance 41940477 Robert Jackson Bennett's Vigilance is a dark science fiction action parable from an America that has permanently surrendered to gun violence.The United States. 2030. John McDean executive produces "Vigilance," a reality game show designed to make sure American citizens stay alert to foreign and domestic threats. Shooters are introduced into a "game environment," and the survivors get a cash prize.The TV audience is not the only one that's watching though, and McDean soon finds out what it's like to be on the other side of the camera.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 192 Robert Jackson Bennett 1250209439 Rue 3 sci-fi, 3-star "gun culture".
71t
The public fear because of which is then misused by big cooperation for revenue. Capitalising on societies paranoia and manipulating it to their advantage is basically whats explored in a reality game show "Vigilance" that encourages mass shooting.

More than anyone alive, John McDean knows America isn’t a place you live in—not anymore. It’s a place you survive. And such a place is highly monetizable for Our Nation’s Truth.


We also get the insight into how the organisation chooses target to maximise audience engagement by using advanced technology that can basically scan a crowd, and tell you in seconds everyone’s ages, places of birth, religions, even people’s hobbies. The format of the show is unpredictable and the mass shooting can start anywhere at anytime because of which common citizens are urged to carry guns and be vigilant at any time. We follow the perspective of John McDean who finds all this entertaining and is also the producer of the show. His screwed thought process to get profit out of something so horrendous is unpleasant to witness.


I won't say I enjoyed this book, given the subject matter. It has its flaws. We don't get to explore the "How" and "Why" of the story. There were some loose threads that were unanswered. And also I found the plot to be little predictable as I could notice certain seeds been planted for later payoff.

Merged review:

The author successfully shows the disturbing picture of America in (future) 2030. Where lack of gun control has lead to glorifying "gun culture".
71t
The public fear because of which is then misused by big cooperation for revenue. Capitalising on societies paranoia and manipulating it to their advantage is basically whats explored in a reality game show "Vigilance" that encourages mass shooting.

More than anyone alive, John McDean knows America isn’t a place you live in—not anymore. It’s a place you survive. And such a place is highly monetizable for Our Nation’s Truth.


We also get the insight into how the organisation chooses target to maximise audience engagement by using advanced technology that can basically scan a crowd, and tell you in seconds everyone’s ages, places of birth, religions, even people’s hobbies. The format of the show is unpredictable and the mass shooting can start anywhere at anytime because of which common citizens are urged to carry guns and be vigilant at any time. We follow the perspective of John McDean who finds all this entertaining and is also the producer of the show. His screwed thought process to get profit out of something so horrendous is unpleasant to witness.


I won't say I enjoyed this book, given the subject matter. It has its flaws. We don't get to explore the "How" and "Why" of the story. There were some loose threads that were unanswered. And also I found the plot to be little predictable as I could notice certain seeds been planted for later payoff.]]> 3.71 2019 Vigilance
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Rue
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2021/02/15
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: sci-fi, 3-star
review:
The author successfully shows the disturbing picture of America in (future) 2030. Where lack of gun control has lead to glorifying "gun culture".
71t
The public fear because of which is then misused by big cooperation for revenue. Capitalising on societies paranoia and manipulating it to their advantage is basically whats explored in a reality game show "Vigilance" that encourages mass shooting.

More than anyone alive, John McDean knows America isn’t a place you live in—not anymore. It’s a place you survive. And such a place is highly monetizable for Our Nation’s Truth.


We also get the insight into how the organisation chooses target to maximise audience engagement by using advanced technology that can basically scan a crowd, and tell you in seconds everyone’s ages, places of birth, religions, even people’s hobbies. The format of the show is unpredictable and the mass shooting can start anywhere at anytime because of which common citizens are urged to carry guns and be vigilant at any time. We follow the perspective of John McDean who finds all this entertaining and is also the producer of the show. His screwed thought process to get profit out of something so horrendous is unpleasant to witness.


I won't say I enjoyed this book, given the subject matter. It has its flaws. We don't get to explore the "How" and "Why" of the story. There were some loose threads that were unanswered. And also I found the plot to be little predictable as I could notice certain seeds been planted for later payoff.

Merged review:

The author successfully shows the disturbing picture of America in (future) 2030. Where lack of gun control has lead to glorifying "gun culture".
71t
The public fear because of which is then misused by big cooperation for revenue. Capitalising on societies paranoia and manipulating it to their advantage is basically whats explored in a reality game show "Vigilance" that encourages mass shooting.

More than anyone alive, John McDean knows America isn’t a place you live in—not anymore. It’s a place you survive. And such a place is highly monetizable for Our Nation’s Truth.


We also get the insight into how the organisation chooses target to maximise audience engagement by using advanced technology that can basically scan a crowd, and tell you in seconds everyone’s ages, places of birth, religions, even people’s hobbies. The format of the show is unpredictable and the mass shooting can start anywhere at anytime because of which common citizens are urged to carry guns and be vigilant at any time. We follow the perspective of John McDean who finds all this entertaining and is also the producer of the show. His screwed thought process to get profit out of something so horrendous is unpleasant to witness.


I won't say I enjoyed this book, given the subject matter. It has its flaws. We don't get to explore the "How" and "Why" of the story. There were some loose threads that were unanswered. And also I found the plot to be little predictable as I could notice certain seeds been planted for later payoff.
]]> Not My Problem 54698065
But when Aideen stumbles on her nemesis, overachiever Meabh Kowalski, in the midst of a full-blown meltdown, she sees a problem that—unlike her own disaster of a life—seems refreshingly easy to solve. Meabh is desperate to escape her crushing pile of extracurriculars. Aideen volunteers to help. By pushing Meabh down the stairs.

Problem? Solved. Meabh’s sprained ankle is the perfect excuse to ditch her overwhelming schedule. But when another student learns about their little scheme and brings Aideen another “client” who needs her “help,” it kicks off a semester of traded favors, ill-advised hijinks, and an unexpected chance at love. Fixing other people’s problems won’t fix her own, but it might be the push she needs to start.]]> 368 Ciara Smyth 0062957163 Rue 4 4-star 4.17 2021 Not My Problem
author: Ciara Smyth
name: Rue
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/29
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: 4-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, #1)]]> 59729041 For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom—but the monster in her head isn't the only threat lurking.

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason.

He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.]]> 419 Rachel Gillig Rue 0 to-read 4.40 2022 One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, #1)
author: Rachel Gillig
name: Rue
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)]]> 74778950 No god, no creature, no war can come between them

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, their fate depends on their facing the depths of hell… together.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again…

All eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow wants to do is hold her family together. With a brother on the frontline forced to fight on behalf of the Gods now missing from the frontline and a mother drowning her sorrows, Iris’s best bet is winning the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

But when Iris’s letters to her brother fall into the wrong hands – that of the handsome but cold Roman Kitt, her rival at the paper – an unlikely magical connection forms.

Expelled into the middle of a mystical war, magical typewriters in tow, can their bond withstand the fight for the fate of mankind and, most importantly, love?

An epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.]]> 368 Rebecca Ross 0008588171 Rue 0 to-read, read-for-trope 4.16 2023 Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)
author: Rebecca Ross
name: Rue
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: to-read, read-for-trope
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1)]]> 61851401 An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.


How far would you go for happily ever after?

From the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Caraval series, the first book in a new series about love, curses, and the lengths that people will go to for happily ever after.

For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in happily ever after. Until she learns that the love of her life is about to marry another, and her dreams are shattered.

Desperate to stop the wedding, and heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline's first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game - and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy . . .]]> 417 Stephanie Garber 1529380952 Rue 0 to-read Cari Can Read mention this book on YouTube, and she seemed to really like it. I didn’t watch the whole video, though, because I didn’t want to risk any spoilers. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure what the book’s about since she kept things pretty vague, but it’s got me curious.]]> 3.96 2021 Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1)
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Rue
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/16
shelves: to-read
review:
Okay, so I saw Cari Can Read mention this book on YouTube, and she seemed to really like it. I didn’t watch the whole video, though, because I didn’t want to risk any spoilers. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure what the book’s about since she kept things pretty vague, but it’s got me curious.
]]> The Goblin Emperor 44028560 449 Katherine Addison 1786182092 Rue 0 to-read 4.26 2014 The Goblin Emperor
author: Katherine Addison
name: Rue
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Crier's War (Crier's War, #1) 44652403 Impossible love between two girls —one human, one Made.
A love that could birth a revolution.

After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, Designed to be the playthings of royals, took over the estates of their owners and bent the human race to their will.

Now, Ayla, a human servant rising the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging the death of her family… by killing the Sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier. Crier, who was Made to be beautiful, to be flawless. And to take over the work of her father.

Crier had been preparing to do just that—to inherit her father’s rule over the land. But that was before she was betrothed to Scyre Kinok, who seems to have a thousand secrets. That was before she discovered her father isn’t as benevolent as she thought. That was before she met Ayla.

Set in a richly-imagined fantasy world, Nina Varela’s debut novel is a sweepingly romantic tale of love, loss and revenge, that challenges what it really means to be human.]]> 448 Nina Varela Rue 0 to-read 4.17 2019 Crier's War (Crier's War, #1)
author: Nina Varela
name: Rue
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Wayward (Wayward Pines, #2) 17920175 None of the residents know how they got here. They are told where to work, how to live, and who to marry. Some believe they are dead. Others think they’re trapped in an unfathomable experiment. Everyone secretly dreams of leaving, but those who dare face a terrifying surprise.

Ethan Burke has seen the world beyond. He’s sheriff, and one of the few who knows the truth—Wayward Pines isn’t just a town. And what lies on the other side of the fence is a nightmare beyond anyone’s imagining.]]> 298 Blake Crouch 1477808701 Rue 5 sci-fi 4.12 2013 Wayward (Wayward Pines, #2)
author: Blake Crouch
name: Rue
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: sci-fi
review:

]]> Pines (Wayward Pines, #1) 15096164
WHY CAN'T HE MAKE CONTACT WITH HIS FAMILY IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD? WHY DOESN'T ANYONE BELIEVE HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS? AND WHAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THE ELECTRIFIED FENCES ENCIRCLING THE TOWN? ARE THEY KEEPING THE RESIDENTS IN? OR SOMETHING ELSE OUT?

Each step toward the truth takes Ethan further from the world he knows, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.....]]> 307 Blake Crouch 1612183956 Rue 3 3.94 2012 Pines (Wayward Pines, #1)
author: Blake Crouch
name: Rue
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2019/04/14
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: 3-star, mystery-thriller, sci-fi
review:

]]> Mickey7 (Mickey7, #1) 60006489 Now experience where the hit movie from Academy Award-winning director Bong Joon-ho, starring Robert Pattinson, started in Mickey7 (the inspiration for the film Mickey 17).

Dying isn’t any fun…but at least it’s a living.

Mickey7 is an Expendable: a disposable employee on a human expedition sent to colonize the ice world Niflheim. Whenever there’s a mission that’s too dangerous—even suicidal—the crew turns to Mickey. After one iteration dies, a new body is regenerated with most of his memories intact. After six deaths, Mickey7 understands the terms of his deal…and why it was the only colonial position unfilled when he took it.

On a fairly routine scouting mission, Mickey7 goes missing and is presumed dead. By the time he returns to the colony base, surprisingly helped back by native life, Mickey7’s fate has been sealed. There’s a new clone, Mickey8, reporting for Expendable duties. The idea of duplicate Expendables is universally loathed, and if caught, they will likely be thrown into the recycler for protein.

Mickey7 must keep his double a secret from the rest of the colony. Meanwhile, life on Niflheim is getting worse. The atmosphere is unsuitable for humans, food is in short supply, and terraforming is going poorly. The native species are growing curious about their new neighbors, and that curiosity has Commander Marshall very afraid. Ultimately, the survival of both lifeforms will come down to Mickey7.

That is, if he can just keep from dying for good.]]> 288 Edward Ashton Rue 0 to-read 4.05 2022 Mickey7 (Mickey7, #1)
author: Edward Ashton
name: Rue
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Ministry of Time 125982351 A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley.

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats” from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge”: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as “1847” or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,” “Spotify,” and “the collapse of the British Empire.” But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley’s answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.]]> 352 Kaliane Bradley Rue 0 to-read 3.72 2024 The Ministry of Time
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: Rue
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Blighted Stars (The Devoured Worlds #1)]]> 61436294
She’s a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they’re found and Naira Sharp knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity’s expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.

He’s the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin’s father has tasked him with monitoring the mining of a new planet, and he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.

Disguised as Tarquin’s new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy his ship before it lands. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she’s sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that’s bigger than both of them.]]> 544 Megan E. O'Keefe 0316290807 Rue 0 to-read 4.20 2023 The Blighted Stars (The Devoured Worlds #1)
author: Megan E. O'Keefe
name: Rue
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Masters of Death 38311338 From Olivie Blake, the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes Masters of Death, a story about vampires, ghosts, and death itself!

Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the house has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on.

Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death.

When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with her ghost-infested mansion, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a few high-functioning creatures, Vi and Fox soon discover the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as they thought.]]> 349 Olivie Blake Rue 0 to-read 3.64 2018 Masters of Death
author: Olivie Blake
name: Rue
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Velocity Weapon (The Protectorate, #1)]]> 44169981 ***SHORTLISTED FOR THE PHILIP K. DICK AWARD***

The last thing Sanda remembers is her gunship exploding.

She expected to be recovered by salvage-medics and to awaken in friendly hands, patched-up and ready to rejoin the fight. Instead she wakes up 230 years later, on a deserted enemy starship called The Light of Berossus - or, as he prefers to call himself, 'Bero'.

Bero tells Sanda the war is lost. That the entire star system is dead.

But is that the full story? After all, in the vastness of space, anything is possible . . .

Dazzling space battles, deadly galactic politics and rogue AI collide in Velocity Weapon, an epic space opera from award-winning author Megan E. O'Keefe.]]> 569 Megan E. O'Keefe 0356512215 Rue 0 to-read 3.91 2019 Velocity Weapon (The Protectorate, #1)
author: Megan E. O'Keefe
name: Rue
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Watch (The Divide #1)]]> 55628172 The Expanse meets Game of Thrones in J. S. Dewes's fast-paced, sci-fi adventure The Last Watch, the first book in the Divide series, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.

Space.com—Best Sci-fi Books 2022

New York Public Library—Best Science Fiction 2021
Business Insider—Best Science Fiction 2021
Polygon—Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021
Amazon—Best Science Fiction 2021
FanFiAddict—Lord TBR's Best of 2021
Best SciFi Books—Best of 2021
P. S. Hoffman—Best of 2021
10 Best Books Like Foundation—ScreenRant
20 Must Read Space Fantasy Books for 2021—Bookriot

Most Anticipated Book for April 2021:
Bookish
Nerd Daily
Geek Tyrant
SFF 180

Amazon Best of the Month April 2021

The Divide.

It’s the edge of the universe.

Now it’s collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it.

The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.

At the Divide, Adequin Rake commands the Argus. She has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted. Her ace in the hole could be Cavalon Mercer--genius, asshole, and exiled prince who nuked his grandfather's genetic facility for “reasons.”

She knows they’re humanity's last chance.

The Divide series
The Last Watch
The Exiled Fleet

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 472 J.S. Dewes 1250236339 Rue 0 to-read 4.14 2021 The Last Watch (The Divide #1)
author: J.S. Dewes
name: Rue
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Star Splitter 62079311 Crash-landed on a desolate planet lightyears from Earth, sixteen-year-old Jessica Mathers must unravel the mystery of the destruction all around her--and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger.

For Jessica Mathers, teleportation and planetary colonization in deep space aren't just hypotheticals--they're real. They're also the very real reason her scientist parents left her behind six years ago. Now she is about to be reunited with them, forced to leave behind everyone she knows and loves, to join their research assignment on Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet almost 14 lightyears from Earth.

Teleportation is safe and routine in the year 2198, but something seems to have gone very, very wrong. Jessica wakes up in an empty, and utterly destroyed, landing unit from the DS Theseus, the ship where she was supposed to rendezvous with her parents. But Jessica isn't on the Theseus orbiting Carver 1061c. The lander seems to have crashed on the planet's surface. Its corridors are empty and covered in bloody handprints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, are the carefully, and recently, marked graves of strangers.]]> 320 Matthew J. Kirby 0735229619 Rue 0 to-read 3.96 2023 Star Splitter
author: Matthew J. Kirby
name: Rue
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)]]> 74891269 At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.


AUDI. VIDE. TACE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.]]> 639 James Islington Rue 0 to-read 4.66 2023 The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)
author: James Islington
name: Rue
average rating: 4.66
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dead Silence 58368819 Titanic meets Event Horizon in this SF horror novel in which a woman and her crew board a decades-lost luxury cruiser and find the wreckage of a nightmare that hasn't yet ended.

Claire Kovalik is days away from being unemployed—made obsolete—when her beacon repair crew picks up a strange distress signal. With nothing to lose and no desire to return to Earth, Claire and her team decide to investigate.

What they find is shocking: the Aurora, a famous luxury spaceliner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system more than twenty years ago. A salvage claim like this could set Claire and her crew up for life. But a quick search of the ship reveals something isn’t right.

Whispers in the dark. Flickers of movement. Messages scrawled in blood. Claire must fight to hold on to her sanity and find out what really happened on the Aurora before she and her crew meet the same ghastly fate.]]> 343 S.A. Barnes Rue 0 to-read 3.99 2022 Dead Silence
author: S.A. Barnes
name: Rue
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet]]> 55223004 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B08GJVLGGX.

A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 304 John Green Rue 0 to-read 4.31 2021 The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
author: John Green
name: Rue
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Artificial Wisdom 207721221 SALVATION HAS A PRICE.

An enthralling murder mystery with a vividly realised future world, forcing readers to grapple with hard hitting questions our relationship with Artificial Intelligence and the price we would be willing to pay, as a species, to be saved from crises of our own making. Perfect for fans of Blake Crouch, Neal Stephenson, Philip K Dick, Kim Stanley Robinson and RR Haywood.

It's 2050, a decade after a heatwave that killed four hundred million across the Persian Gulf, including journalist Marcus Tully's wife. Now he must uncover the was the disaster natural? Or is the weather now a weapon of genocide?

A whistleblower pulls Tully into a murder investigation at the centre of an election battle for a global dictator, with a mandate to prevent a climate apocalypse. A former US President campaigns against the first AI politician of the position, but someone is trying to sway the outcome.

As the murder of a crucial witness derails the investigation, Tully must find the truth, convince the world to face it and make hard choices about the future of the species. But will humanity ultimately choose salvation over freedom, whatever the cost?]]> 0 Thomas R. Weaver 1739434358 Rue 0 to-read 4.05 2023 Artificial Wisdom
author: Thomas R. Weaver
name: Rue
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Darkness Outside Us (The Darkness Outside Us, #1)]]> 55200663
After the first settler on Titan trips her distress signal, neither remaining country on Earth can afford to scramble a rescue of its own, and so two sworn enemies are installed in the same spaceship.

Ambrose wakes up on the Coordinated Endeavor, with no memory of a launch. There’s more that doesn’t add up: Evidence indicates strangers have been on board, the ship’s operating system is voiced by his mother, and his handsome, brooding shipmate has barricaded himself away. But nothing will stop Ambrose from making his mission succeed—not when he’s rescuing his own sister.

In order to survive the ship’s secrets, Ambrose and Kodiak will need to work together and learn to trust one another… especially once they discover what they are truly up against. Love might be the only way to survive.]]> 397 Eliot Schrefer 0062888285 Rue 0 to-read 4.31 2021 The Darkness Outside Us (The Darkness Outside Us, #1)
author: Eliot Schrefer
name: Rue
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Shadow Slave: Book5 195072487 What's worse, the shadow powers he received happened to possess a small, but potentially fatal side effect...]]> 214 Guiltythree Rue 0 web-novel 4.64 Shadow Slave: Book5
author: Guiltythree
name: Rue
average rating: 4.64
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/09
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves: web-novel
review:

]]> Shadow Slave: Book4 193415666 214 Guiltythree Rue 0 web-novel 4.57 Shadow Slave: Book4
author: Guiltythree
name: Rue
average rating: 4.57
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves: web-novel
review:

]]> Shadow Slave: Book3 193357381 What's worse, the shadow powers he received happened to possess a small, but potentially fatal side effect...]]> 216 Guiltythree Rue 0 web-novel 4.51 Shadow Slave: Book3
author: Guiltythree
name: Rue
average rating: 4.51
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/07
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves: web-novel
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Thousand Boy Kisses (A Thousand Boy Kisses, #1)]]> 25912358
When seventeen-year-old Rune Kristiansen returns from his native Norway to the sleepy town of Blossom Grove, Georgia, where he befriended Poppy Litchfield as a child, he has just one thing on his mind. Why did the girl who was one half of his soul, who promised to wait faithfully for his return, cut him off without a word of explanation? Rune's heart was broken two years ago when Poppy fell silent. When he discovers the truth, he finds that the greatest heartache is yet to come.

A stand-alone young adult tearjerker romance, recommended for ages fourteen and up.]]> 316 Tillie Cole Rue 2 2-star
Unfortunately, my experience didn’t match the hype. While I can see why others might find it touching, for me, it felt painfully clichéd and overly sentimental. The story lacked the depth and authenticity needed to truly move me. I found it difficult to connect with the characters and their journey, leaving me feeling more lukewarm than emotionally stirred.]]> 3.99 2016 A Thousand Boy Kisses (A Thousand Boy Kisses, #1)
author: Tillie Cole
name: Rue
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/05
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves: 2-star
review:
I’m always intrigued when a book resonates so deeply with readers that it brings them to tears, even if it falls outside my usual reading preferences. I love to explore what elements create such a strong emotional connection. When I saw countless people moved to tears by this book, my curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to dive in.?

Unfortunately, my experience didn’t match the hype. While I can see why others might find it touching, for me, it felt painfully clichéd and overly sentimental. The story lacked the depth and authenticity needed to truly move me. I found it difficult to connect with the characters and their journey, leaving me feeling more lukewarm than emotionally stirred.
]]> <![CDATA[The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles, #3)]]> 28542772
Lia has survived Venda—but so has a great evil bent on the destruction of Morrighan. And only Lia can stop it.

With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.

In this heart-stopping conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy that started with The Kiss of Deception and The Heart of Betrayal, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance. New York Times-bestselling author Mary E. Pearson's combination of intrigue, suspense, romance, and action makes this a riveting YA page-turner for teens.

Read all of The Remnant Chronicles:
The Kiss of Deception
The Heart of Betrayal
The Beauty of Darkness]]> 689 Mary E. Pearson Rue 4 fantasy, 4-star 4.31 2016 The Beauty of Darkness (The Remnant Chronicles, #3)
author: Mary E. Pearson
name: Rue
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/05
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves: fantasy, 4-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles, #2)]]> 22718692
Desperate to save her life, Lia’s erstwhile assassin, Kaden, has told the Vendan Komisar that she has a magical gift, and the Komisar's interest in Lia is greater than either Kaden or Lia foresaw.

Meanwhile, the foundations of Lia's deeply-held beliefs are crumbling beneath her. Nothing is straightforward: there's Rafe, who lied to her, but has sacrificed his freedom to protect her; Kaden, who meant to assassinate her but has now saved her life; and the Vendans, whom she always believed to be barbarians but whom she now realizes are people who have been terribly brutalized by the kingdoms of Dalbreck and Morrighan. Wrestling with her upbringing, her gift, and her very sense of self, Lia will have to make powerful choices that affect her country, her people . . . and her own destiny.]]> 480 Mary E. Pearson Rue 2 2-star, fantasy 4.28 2015 The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles, #2)
author: Mary E. Pearson
name: Rue
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2024/09/02
date added: 2024/09/02
shelves: 2-star, fantasy
review:

]]> The Master and Margarita 25716554
Nothing in the whole of literature compares with The Master and Margarita. One spring afternoon, the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow. Mikhail Bulgakov’s fantastical, funny, and devastating satire of Soviet life combines two distinct yet interwoven parts, one set in contemporary Moscow, the other in ancient Jerusalem, each brimming with historical, imaginary, frightful, and wonderful characters. Written during the darkest days of Stalin’s reign, and finally published in 1966 and 1967, The Master and Margarita became a literary phenomenon, signaling artistic and spiritual freedom for Russians everywhere.]]> 412 Mikhail Bulgakov 0143108271 Rue 0 to-read 4.17 1967 The Master and Margarita
author: Mikhail Bulgakov
name: Rue
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1967
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, #1)]]> 16429619
On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her.?Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

The Kiss of Deception?is the first audiobook in?Mary E. Pearson's Remnant Chronicles]]> 492 Mary E. Pearson Rue 3 3-star, fantasy 3.92 2014 The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, #1)
author: Mary E. Pearson
name: Rue
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/31
date added: 2024/08/31
shelves: 3-star, fantasy
review:

]]> Before She Knew Him 40523948 Catching a killer is dangerous. And could be fatal if the best bait . . . is you.

From the hugely talented author of The Kind Worth Killing comes an exquisitely chilling tale of a young suburban wife with a history of psychological instability whose fears about her new neighbor could lead them both to murder . . .

Hen and her husband Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hen (short for Henrietta) is an illustrator and works out of a studio nearby, and has found the right meds to control her bipolar disorder. Finally, she’s found some stability and peace.

But when they meet the neighbors next door, that calm begins to erode as she spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf. The sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a young man who was killed two years ago. Hen knows because she’s long had a fascination with this unsolved murder—an obsession she doesn’t talk about anymore, but 肠补苍’迟 fully shake either.

Could her neighbor, Matthew, be a killer? Or is this the beginning of another psychotic episode like the one she suffered back in college, when she became so consumed with proving a fellow student guilty that she ended up hurting a classmate?

The more Hen observes Matthew, the more she suspects he’s planning something truly terrifying. Yet no one will believe her. Then one night, when she comes face to face with Matthew in a dark parking lot, she realizes that he knows she’s been watching him, that she’s really on to him. And that this is the beginning of a horrifying nightmare she may not live to escape. . .]]> 323 Peter Swanson 0062838172 Rue 4 4-star, mystery-thriller 3.90 2019 Before She Knew Him
author: Peter Swanson
name: Rue
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/29
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves: 4-star, mystery-thriller
review:

]]> Attachments 11065441 "Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you ..."

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say ...?]]> 338 Rainbow Rowell 1101476346 Rue 0 read-for-trope, on-hold 4.01 2011 Attachments
author: Rainbow Rowell
name: Rue
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/27
shelves: read-for-trope, on-hold
review:

]]> Beach Read 52195137
They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer's block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.]]> 380 Emily Henry Rue 3 3-star 4.10 2020 Beach Read
author: Emily Henry
name: Rue
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/26
date added: 2024/08/26
shelves: 3-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Unhoneymooners (Unhoneymooners, #1)]]> 42201431
Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781501128035.]]> 432 Christina Lauren 1501128035 Rue 3 3-star 3.88 2019 The Unhoneymooners (Unhoneymooners, #1)
author: Christina Lauren
name: Rue
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/22
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves: 3-star
review:

]]> He Will Be My Ruin 25814244
On the surface, Celine Gonzalez had everything a twenty-eight-year-old woman could want: a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a job that (mostly) paid the bills, and an acceptance letter to the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where she would finally live out her dream of becoming an antiques appraiser for a major auction house. All she had worked so hard to achieve was finally within her reach. So why would she kill herself?

A man who was supposed to be her salvation . . .

Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a lethal cocktail of pills and vodka, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers a scandalous photograph in a lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man Celine believed would change her life.

Until he became her ruin.

On the hunt for evidence that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer. A killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered.]]> 341 K.A. Tucker 1501112074 Rue 2 mystery-thriller, 2-star 3.85 2016 He Will Be My Ruin
author: K.A. Tucker
name: Rue
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/20
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves: mystery-thriller, 2-star
review:

]]> The Kite Runner 200726073 343 Khaled Hosseini 1526668432 Rue 4 4-star 4.60 2003 The Kite Runner
author: Khaled Hosseini
name: Rue
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/16
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves: 4-star
review:

]]> Later 54798175
Later is Stephen King at his finest, a terrifying and touching story of innocence lost and the trials that test our sense of right and wrong. With echoes of King's classic novel It, Later is a powerful, haunting, unforgettable exploration of what it takes to stand up to evil in all the faces it wears.]]> 248 Stephen King Rue 3 horror, 3-star 3.99 2021 Later
author: Stephen King
name: Rue
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/15
date added: 2024/08/15
shelves: horror, 3-star
review:

]]> Conversations with Friends 35067442 here

Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed and darkly observant. A college student in Dublin and aspiring writer, she works at a literary agency by day. At night, she performs spoken word with her best friend Bobbi, who used to be her girlfriend. When they are profiled by Melissa, a well-known journalist, they enter an exotic orbit of beautiful houses, raucous dinner parties and holidays in Provence.

Initially unimpressed, Frances finds herself embroiled in a risky ménage a quatre when she begins an affair with Nick, Melissa's actor husband. Desperate to reconcile herself to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances's intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new - a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment. But as Frances tries to keep control, her relationships increasingly unspool: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally even with Bobbi.

Written with rare precision and probing intelligence, Conversations with Friends is exquisitely alive to the pleasures and inhibitions of youth.]]> 304 Sally Rooney Rue 0 to-read 3.86 2017 Conversations with Friends
author: Sally Rooney
name: Rue
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cleopatra and Frankenstein 60238700
Cleo and Frank run head-first into a romance that neither of them can quite keep up with. It reshapes their lives and the lives of those around them, whether that’s Cleo's best friend struggling to embrace his gender identity in the wake of her marriage, or Frank's financially dependent sister arranging sugar daddy dates after being cut off. Ultimately, this chance meeting between two strangers outside of a New Year’s Eve party changes everything, for better or worse.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein is an astounding and painfully relatable debut novel about the spontaneous decisions that shape our entire lives and those imperfect relationships born of unexpectedly perfect evenings.]]> 435 Coco Mellors 0008421781 Rue 0 to-read 3.93 2022 Cleopatra and Frankenstein
author: Coco Mellors
name: Rue
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Motherthing 62621282 New York Times , Notable Book of the Year
'A buzz-worthy and ferocious horror comedy from one of the genre's most promising voices'
Buzzfeed
Abby Lamb has done it. She's found the Great Good in her husband, Ralph, and together they will start a family and put all the darkness in her childhood to rest. But then the Lambs move in with Ralph's mother, Laura, whose depression has made it impossible for her to live on her own. She's venomous and cruel, especially to Abby, who has a complicated understanding of motherhood given the way her own, now-estranged, mother raised her.
When Laura takes her own life, her ghost starts to haunt Abby and Ralph in very different ways. Ralph is plunged into depression, and Abby is being terrorized by a force intent on taking everything she loves away from her. With everything on the line, Abby must make the ultimate sacrifice in order to prove her adoration to Ralph and break Laura's hold on the family for good.]]> 290 Ainslie Hogarth 1838957790 Rue 0 to-read 3.53 2022 Motherthing
author: Ainslie Hogarth
name: Rue
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Better Than the Movies (Better than the Movies, #1)]]> 59365218
Perfect for fans of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, this “sweet and funny” (Kerry Winfrey, author of Waiting for Tom Hanks ) teen rom-com follows a hopelessly romantic teen girl and her cute yet obnoxious neighbor as they scheme to get her noticed by her untouchable crush.

Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar—and maybe snag him as a prom date—even befriend Wes Bennet.

The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.

But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must reexamine everything she thought she knew about love—and rethink her own ideas of what Happily Ever After should look like.]]> 356 Lynn Painter 1534467637 Rue 0 to-read 4.33 2021 Better Than the Movies (Better than the Movies, #1)
author: Lynn Painter
name: Rue
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Quiet Tenant 74824568
When Aidan’s wife dies, he and his thirteen-year-old daughter Cecilia are forced to move. Aidan has no choice but to bring Rachel along, introducing her to Cecilia as a “family friend” who needs a place to stay. Aidan is betting on Rachel, after five years of captivity, being too brainwashed and fearful to attempt to escape. But Rachel is a fighter and survivor, and recognizes Cecilia might just be the lifeline she has waited for all these years. As Rachel tests the boundaries of her new living situation, she begins to form a tenuous connection with Cecilia. And when Emily, a local restaurant owner, develops a crush on the handsome widower, she finds herself drawn into Rachel and Cecilia’s orbit, coming dangerously close to discovering Aidan’s secret.

Told through the perspectives of Rachel, Cecilia, and Emily, The Quiet Tenant explores the psychological impact of Aidan’s crimes on the women in his life—and the bonds between those women that give them the strength to fight back. Both a searing thriller and an astute study of trauma, survival, and the dynamics of power, The Quiet Tenant is an electrifying debut thriller by a major talent.]]> 320 Clémence Michallon 0593534654 Rue 0 to-read 3.98 2023 The Quiet Tenant
author: Clémence Michallon
name: Rue
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Wife Upstairs 52636419
A great career. A handsome and loving husband. A beautiful home in the suburbs and a plan to fill it with children. Life is perfect—or so it seems.

Then she’s in a terrible accident… and everything falls apart.

Now Victoria is unable to walk. She 肠补苍’迟 feed or dress herself. She 肠补苍’迟 even speak. She is confined to the top floor of her house with twenty-four-hour care.

Sylvia Robinson is hired by Victoria’s husband to help care for her. But it turns out Victoria isn’t as impaired as Sylvia was led to believe. There’s a story Victoria desperately wants to tell... if only she could get out the words.

Then Sylvia discovers Victoria’s diary hidden away in a drawer.

And what’s inside is shocking.]]> 414 Freida McFadden Rue 4 mystery-thriller, 4-star 4.08 2020 The Wife Upstairs
author: Freida McFadden
name: Rue
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves: mystery-thriller, 4-star
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Unlocked (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #8.5)]]> 51481198 Book 8.5 in the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series delivers what fans of the series have been begging for! Told in an exciting new way, the saga continues with plenty of huge reveals and shocking new twists—plus a complete series guide with beautiful color and black-and-white illustrations and other awesome bonuses!

In this extra special installment of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, the story picks up right from Legacy’s particularly devastating cliffhanger. But chapters alternate between Sophie and Keefe’s perspectives to give readers deeper insights into both beloved characters. New powers will be discovered. Hard truths from the past will come to light. And all of your favorite characters will find themselves tested in ways they never imagined.

And that's not all!

Unlocked also includes a comprehensive guide to the world of the Lost Cities, featuring new character and world details that have never been revealed before—plus fun bonuses like Keeper-themed recipes, a detailed map of the Lost Cities, gorgeous full-color illustrations, and so much more!]]> 764 Shannon Messenger 1534463437 Rue 3 fantasy, 3-star 4.23 2020 Unlocked (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #8.5)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Rue
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/12
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves: fantasy, 3-star
review:

]]> Elantris (Elantris, #1) 12316191
Can a young Princess unite the people of Elantris, rediscover the lost magic and lead a rebellion against the imperial zealots?

Brandon Sanderson's debut fantasy showed his skill as a storyteller and an imaginer of baroque magical systems to be fully developed from the start.]]> 609 Brandon Sanderson 0575097450 Rue 4 It was actually good but there was a lot of info dumping. Maybe this is how it's supposed to be. I haven't read any high fantasy before so I don't know if my assessment is correct.
K6-Vh-Xtbg-CXq-QU
All the characters were developed just enough to get the idea of their individual motives to secure their country or to help one another. I tend to enjoy a good political plot with tons of tense moments this had it all alongside intricate magic system surrounding elantris. Because of all the information that was woven into the story I could figure out two twist while reading. I found the beginning to be kind of slow but it picked up shortly after. I also liked that Sarene and Raoden's relationship didn't really took over the plot and we got to see them interact and acknowledge eachother through their intellect and shared curiosity to seek for what is right. I would also like to mention that it has one of my favourite tropes in it which I found was done tastefully.]]> 4.28 2005 Elantris (Elantris, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Rue
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2021/04/16
date added: 2024/08/11
shelves: fantasy, read-for-trope, 4-star, must-read
review:
?3.5 stars
It was actually good but there was a lot of info dumping. Maybe this is how it's supposed to be. I haven't read any high fantasy before so I don't know if my assessment is correct.
K6-Vh-Xtbg-CXq-QU
All the characters were developed just enough to get the idea of their individual motives to secure their country or to help one another. I tend to enjoy a good political plot with tons of tense moments this had it all alongside intricate magic system surrounding elantris. Because of all the information that was woven into the story I could figure out two twist while reading. I found the beginning to be kind of slow but it picked up shortly after. I also liked that Sarene and Raoden's relationship didn't really took over the plot and we got to see them interact and acknowledge eachother through their intellect and shared curiosity to seek for what is right. I would also like to mention that it has one of my favourite tropes in it which I found was done tastefully.
]]> adabana―徒花― 下 61739299 256 NoN 4088920228 Rue 0 manga 4.38 2021 adabana―徒花― 下
author: NoN
name: Rue
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: manga
review:

]]> <![CDATA[adabana 徒花 （中） (ヤングジャンプコミックスDIGITAL) (Japanese Edition)]]> 56707416 231 NoN Rue 0 manga 4.31 2021 adabana 徒花 （中） (ヤングジャンプコミックスDIGITAL) (Japanese Edition)
author: NoN
name: Rue
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: manga
review:

]]> <![CDATA[adabana 徒花 （上） (ヤングジャンプコミックスDIGITAL) (Japanese Edition)]]> 55012069 201 NoN Rue 0 manga 4.17 2020 adabana 徒花 （上） (ヤングジャンプコミックスDIGITAL) (Japanese Edition)
author: NoN
name: Rue
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: manga
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)]]> 62015945 A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match.

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,” and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she 肠补苍’迟 refuse.]]> 417 Abby Jimenez 1538704412 Rue 1 read-for-trope, 1-star 4.38 2023 Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Rue
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2023
rating: 1
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: read-for-trope, 1-star
review:

]]> An Unwanted Guest 38240386 A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway . . . but when the storm hits, no one is getting away

It's winter in the Catskills and Mitchell's Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing--maybe even romantic--weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery.

So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity--and all contact with the outside world--the guests settle in and try to make the best of it.

Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead--it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic.

Within the snowed-in paradise, something--or someone--is picking off the guests one by one. And there's nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm--and one another.]]> 352 Shari Lapena 0525557628 Rue 0 to-read 3.73 2018 An Unwanted Guest
author: Shari Lapena
name: Rue
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> No Exit 39938177
A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do?

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.

Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?

There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?

Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.

But who can she trust?]]> 336 Taylor Adams 0062875655 Rue 0 mystery-thriller, to-read 3.98 2017 No Exit
author: Taylor Adams
name: Rue
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: mystery-thriller, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)]]> 17835248 B005CVWWJY

It's the year 2044, and the real world has become an ugly place. We're out of oil. We've wrecked the climate. Famine, poverty, and disease are widespread.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes this depressing reality by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia where you can be anything you want to be, where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets. And like most of humanity, Wade is obsessed by the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this alternate reality: OASIS founder James Halliday, who dies with no heir, has promised that control of the OASIS - and his massive fortune - will go to the person who can solve the riddles he has left scattered throughout his creation.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that the riddles are based in the culture of the late twentieth century. And then Wade stumbles onto the key to the first puzzle.

Suddenly, he finds himself pitted against thousands of competitors in a desperate race to claim the ultimate prize, a chase that soon takes on terrifying real-world dimensions - and that will leave both Wade and his world profoundly changed.]]> 388 Ernest Cline Rue 0 sci-fi, to-read 4.09 2011 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1)
author: Ernest Cline
name: Rue
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: sci-fi, to-read
review:

]]> One by One 54197718
A night spent sleeping on dirt and leaves is not how Claire Matchett expected to spend her vacation.

She thought this would be a break from the stresses of work and raising her young children. A chance to repair her damaged marriage. A week of hiking and hot tubs with two other couple friends. It sounded like heaven.

Then Claire’s minivan breaks down on a lonely dirt road. With no cell reception, the group has no choice but to hike the rest of the way to their hotel. But it turns out the woods aren’t as easy to navigate as they thought.

Hours later, they are lost. Hopelessly lost.

And as they navigate deeper into the woods, the members of their party are struck down mysteriously one by one. Has a wild animal been hunting them? Or is the hunter one of them?

But as more time passes, one thing becomes clear:

Only one of them will return home alive.]]> 295 Freida McFadden Rue 3 mystery-thriller, 3-star 3.87 2020 One by One
author: Freida McFadden
name: Rue
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2024/08/10
shelves: mystery-thriller, 3-star
review:

]]> The Perfect Son 52616342
Erika Cass has a perfect family and a perfect life. Until the evening when two detectives show up at her front door.

A high school girl has vanished from Erika's quiet suburban neighborhood. The police suspect the worst--murder. And Erika's teenage son, Liam, was the last person to see the girl alive.

Erika has always sensed something dark and disturbed in her seemingly perfect older child. She wants to believe he's innocent, but as the evidence mounts, she can't deny the truth--Liam may have done the unthinkable.

Now she must ask herself:

How far will she go to protect her son?]]> 373 Freida McFadden Rue 3 mystery-thriller, 3-star 4.03 2019 The Perfect Son
author: Freida McFadden
name: Rue
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/09
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves: mystery-thriller, 3-star
review:

]]> Do You Remember? 59817247
She 肠补苍’迟 recognize her home. Her bedroom is unfamiliar. And she 肠补苍’迟 remember the handsome stranger lying next to her in bed. A stranger who claims he’s her husband.

Tess reads a letter in her own handwriting, composed during a rare lucid day, explaining her life as it now exists: She was in a terrible car accident one year ago. Every morning, she wakes up unable to remember most of the last decade. Including her own wedding.

Tess has no choice but to accept her new life and hope her memory will return. After all, why should she doubt the letter she wrote to herself? Or the kind man from the wedding photos on her dresser who seems to genuinely care about her well-being?

And then Tess receives a text message on her phone. One that changes everything:

"Don’t trust the man who calls himself your husband."]]> 333 Freida McFadden Rue 2 mystery-thriller, 2-star 3.98 2022 Do You Remember?
author: Freida McFadden
name: Rue
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/07
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: mystery-thriller, 2-star
review:

]]> The Gift 63945326 It’s Christmas Eve and Stella Hansen is broke.

She is so broke that despite working two jobs, she 肠补苍’迟 even afford a present for her husband on their first Christmas as man and wife. But then a mysterious storekeeper at a pawn shop offers Stella an intriguing trade.

Stella wants more than anything to buy her husband the Christmas gift of his dreams. But will it come at a terrible price?


The Gift is a gripping Christmas-themed thriller inspired by the classic O. Henry tale, The Gift of the Magi.]]> 47 Freida McFadden Rue 0 mystery-thriller 3.24 2022 The Gift
author: Freida McFadden
name: Rue
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/06
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: mystery-thriller
review:

]]> Do Not Disturb 58979946
To avoid spending her life in prison, Quinn makes a run for it. She leaves behind her home, her job, and her family. She grabs her passport and heads for the northern border before the police can discover what she’s done.

But when an unexpected snowstorm forces her off the road, Quinn must take refuge at the broken-down, isolated Baxter Motel. The handsome and kindly owner, Nick Baxter, is only too happy to offer her a cheap room for the night.

Unfortunately, the Baxter Motel isn’t the quiet, safe haven it seemed to be. The motel has a dark and disturbing past. And in the dilapidated house across the way, the silhouette of Nick's ailing wife is always at the window. Always watching.

In the morning, Quinn must leave the motel. She'll pack up her belongings and get back on the road to freedom.

But first, she must survive the night.


Do Not Disturb is a Hitchcock-style psychological thriller that will keep you tearing through the pages until you reach the shocking conclusion!]]> 357 Freida McFadden Rue 3 3-star, mystery-thriller 3.82 2021 Do Not Disturb
author: Freida McFadden
name: Rue
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/06
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: 3-star, mystery-thriller
review:

]]> The Divine Comedy 2764176
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
]]> 752 Dante Alighieri 0199535647 Rue 0 to-read, classic-literature 4.09 1320 The Divine Comedy
author: Dante Alighieri
name: Rue
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1320
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves: to-read, classic-literature
review:

]]> Carrie 206302651 Carrie, produced for the fiftieth Anniversary, with a new introduction by Margaret Atwood.

Carrie White is no ordinary girl.

Carrie White has the gift of telekinesis.

To be invited to Prom Night by Tommy Ross is a dream come true for Carrie—the first step towards social acceptance by her high school colleagues.

But events will take a decidedly macabre turn on that horrifying and endless night as she is forced to exercise her terrible gift on the town that mocks and loathes her...]]> 242 Stephen King 1399731297 Rue 0 to-read, horror 4.14 1974 Carrie
author: Stephen King
name: Rue
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1974
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/04
shelves: to-read, horror
review:

]]> The Maid's Diary 60588456
When homicide cop Mallory Van Alst is called to a scene at a luxury waterfront home known as the Glass House, she’s confronted with evidence of a violent attack so bloody it’s improbable the victim is alive. But there’s no body. The homeowners are gone. And their maid is missing. The only witness is the elderly woman next door, who woke to screams in the night. The neighbor was also the last person to see Kit Darling alive.

As Mal begins to uncover the secret that has sent the lives of everyone involved on a devious and inescapable collision course, she realizes that nothing is quite as it seems.

And no one escapes their past.]]> 376 Loreth Anne White Rue 0 to-read, tbr-for-a-non-reader 4.23 2023 The Maid's Diary
author: Loreth Anne White
name: Rue
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/02
shelves: to-read, tbr-for-a-non-reader
review:

]]> Episode Thirteen 61054281 From the macabre mind of Bram Stoker Award nominated author Craig DiLouie, Episode Thirteen is a heart pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense that takes a ghost hunting reality TV crew into a world they could never have imagined possible. A beautiful Russian doll of a story... Episode Thirteen hooks you, creeps you out, and then it overwhelms you. It's House of Leaves meets Haunting of Hill House, in all the best possible ways. -- Peter Clines, NYT bestselling author of The Broken Room Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin, it delivers weekly hauntings investigated by a dedicated team of ghost hunting experts. Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of. A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, and correspondence, this is the story of Episode Thirteen -- and how everything went terribly, horribly wrong. An epistolary descent into a living nightmare . . . well-written and genuinely unsettling. Fans of paranormal documentaries, ghost-hunting shows, and found-footage horror will lose their minds over this one. - Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award winning author of Kin For more from Craig DiLouie, check out: The Children of Red Peak Our War One of Us]]> 467 Craig DiLouie 0316443204 Rue 5 5-star, horror 3.60 2023 Episode Thirteen
author: Craig DiLouie
name: Rue
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/30
date added: 2024/07/30
shelves: 5-star, horror
review:

]]> The Escape Room 41150380 Welcome to the escape room. Your goal is simple. Get out alive.

In the lucrative world of finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are at the top of their game. They’ve mastered the art of the deal and celebrate their success in style―but a life of extreme luxury always comes at a cost.

Invited to participate in an escape room challenge as a team-building exercise, the ferociously competitive co-workers crowd into the elevator of a high-rise building, eager to prove themselves. But when the lights go off and the doors stay shut, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary competition: they’re caught in a dangerous game of survival.

Trapped in the dark, the colleagues must put aside their bitter rivalries and work together to solve cryptic clues to break free. But as the game begins to reveal the team’s darkest secrets, they realize there’s a price to be paid for the terrible deeds they committed in their ruthless climb up the corporate ladder. As tempers fray, and the clues turn deadly, they must solve one final chilling puzzle: which one of them will kill in order to survive?]]> 357 Megan Goldin 1250219655 Rue 4 4-star, mystery-thriller 3.80 2018 The Escape Room
author: Megan Goldin
name: Rue
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/28
date added: 2024/07/28
shelves: 4-star, mystery-thriller
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam: The Junior Novel]]> 8802595 When Mitchie, Shane, Jason, and Nate return for another summer at Camp Rock, they soon learn that a new state-of-the-art music camp has opened across the lake. Camp Star has lured away many of the Camp Rock instructors and campers, and the future of Camp Rock is in jeopardy. The rivalry gets even more intense when Camp Star challenges Camp Rock to a musical showdown. Which group will win the battle of the bands? Fans of the hit Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam can relive all the fun in this exciting junior novel with eight pages of color photos from the movie!

]]> 144 Wendy Loggia 1423126521 Rue 0 teenage-books 4.04 2010 Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam: The Junior Novel
author: Wendy Loggia
name: Rue
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves: teenage-books
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Camp Rock The Book Of The Film]]> 18039094 Mitchie, a stage shy fourteen year old, loves to sing. So when her mom takes a job as a cook at a summer camp for aspiring rock stars, Mitchie is thrilled. But to get in with Tess, the most popular camper, Mitchie pretends her mother is high up in the music biz. Will her act put her singing in jeopardy? Or will all the high-volume drama make for a summer to remember?
]]> 140 Lucy Ruggles 1407538977 Rue 0 teenage-books 3.62 2008 Camp Rock The Book Of The Film
author: Lucy Ruggles
name: Rue
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves: teenage-books
review:

]]> Hannah Montana: The Movie 7978953 Miley Stewart knows she's got it made. Living out her superstar dreams as popstar Hannah Montana, then switching gears to live as a regular team, she's got the best of both worlds.

But when fame starts to go to her head, her father puts her on a nonstop flight back to her roots in Tennessee. Trading in her sparkly costumes for overalls and crowds of adoring fans for the family and friends she left behind, Miley's in for a big adjustment. And the only way she can get back to her life in California is to give life in the country a chance.

]]> 140 Walt Disney Company Rue 0 teenage-books 4.00 2009 Hannah Montana: The Movie
author: Walt Disney Company
name: Rue
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves: teenage-books
review:

]]>