Diane's bookshelf: all en-US Mon, 31 Mar 2025 20:10:42 -0700 60 Diane's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Otherwhere Post 214268980 The New York Times bestselling author of Hotel Magnifique returns with another glittering dark fantasy about a deadly mystery that spans worlds and a teenage girl who must risk everything to uncover the truth.

Seven years ago, Maeve Abenthy lost her world, her father, even her name. Desperate to escape the stain of her father’s crimes, she lives under a fake name, never staying in one place long enough to put down roots.

Then she receives a mysterious letter with four impossible words Your father was innocent.

To uncover the truth, she poses as an apprentice for the Otherwhere Post, where she’ll be trained in the art of scriptomancy—the dangerous magic that allows couriers to enchant letters and deliver them to other worlds. But looking into her father’s past draws more attention than she’d planned.

Her secretive, infuriatingly handsome mentor knows she’s lying about her identity, and time is running out to convince him to trust her. Worse, she begins to receive threatening letters, warning her to drop her investigation�or else. For Maeve to unravel the mystery of what happened seven years ago, she may have to forfeit her life.]]> 400 Emily J. Taylor 0593404548 Diane 0 to-read 4.11 2025 The Otherwhere Post
author: Emily J. Taylor
name: Diane
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Witchcraft for Wayward Girls 207611566 There’s power in a book�

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master� (NPR).]]> 482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 Diane 0 currently-reading 4.02 2025 Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Diane
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall, #1)]]> 202507554 moons.

They certainly did not expect them to fall.

As a valued Elding Blade of the rebellion group Fíur du Ath, Raeve’s job is to kill. To complete orders and never get caught. When a renowned bounty hunter is employed by The Crown to capture a member of the Ath, Raeve’s world is turned upside down. Blood spills, hearts break, and Raeve finds herself at the mercy of the Guild of Nobles—a group of dual-beaded elementals who intend to turn her into a political statement. Only death will set her free.

Crushed beneath a mourning weight, Kaan Vaegor took the head of a king and donned his melted crown. Now on a tireless quest to assuage the never-ebbing ache in his chest, his hunt for a moonshard lures him into the belly of Gore’s notorious prison where he stumbles upon something that rips apart his perception of reality. A shackled miracle with eyes full of rage and blood on her hands.

The echo of the past sings louder than the Creators themselves, and even Raeve ’t ignore the truths blaring at her from a warmer, happier time.
However.
There’s more to this song than meets the eye, and some truths �
They’re too poisonous to swallow.

When the Moon Hatched is a fast-paced fantasy romance for fans of witty banter and strong, sassy protagonists. Beneath the cover is an immersive, vibrant world with mysterious creatures, a unique magic system, and a love that blazes through the ages. ]]> 718 Sarah A. Parker Diane 4 3.99 2024 When the Moon Hatched (Moonfall, #1)
author: Sarah A. Parker
name: Diane
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
This is a fun world of dragons, fae, and elemental gods. I am looking forward to reading the next book to get some questions answered.
]]> The God of the Woods 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

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

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]> 490 Liz Moore Diane 3 4.16 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: Diane
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
I didn’t love this as much as I wanted to love this. It mostly just made me sad.
]]> <![CDATA[If I Break (If I Break Series, #1)]]> 56514107 This is not your typical happily ever after... Lauren Brooks wants to accomplish three escape the small town she grew up in, get accepted to her dream school in Chicago, and graduate without drowning in debt. Now, she's working her ass off to do just that.

With a full course load and a waitressing job at one of the hottest nightclubs in Chicago, she doesn't have time for distractions - namely, ones who only want to get into her pants. She's been burned before.

Only a fool goes for a second round... With just two semesters left until graduation, everything's on track. Until she meets Cal. Enter distraction. At six-foot-two, with ebony hair, deep grey eyes, and a smile that could hide an agenda, she knows he's trouble. And for the first time in her life, a little trouble might be just what she needs.

No, what she wants. It isn't like she'd ever marry the guy. Until she does.

What she thinks will be her happily ever after is only the beginning.

Cal has a secret. One that makes loving him come with a price, and being his wife costs more than she bargained for.Authors For the best reading experience possible. I recommend avoiding spoilers and going in blind.]]> 331 Portia Moore Diane 0 currently-reading 3.89 2014 If I Break (If I Break Series, #1)
author: Portia Moore
name: Diane
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Part of Your World (Part of Your World, #1)]]> 58706519 A refreshingly modern fairy tale and instantNew York Times bestseller thatLove Hypothesis author Ali Hazelwood hails as "an uplifting, feel-good, romantic read." After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable. While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere� ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people. Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she ’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?"Abby Jimenez’s words are like fairy dust... they sprinkled humor and warmth all over my life. Pick upPart of Your Worldif you’re looking for an uplifting, feel-good, romantic read—and for a beautiful reminder that we should always try to live the life that makes us the happiest." --Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author ofThe Love Hypothesis Book of the Month Club Best Book of the Year finalistŷ Choice Awards finalistBookPage Magazine Best Books of the YearBooklist Best Romances of the YearSheReads RomanceBook of the YearAwardnomination ]]> 401 Abby Jimenez 1538704366 Diane 0 4.33 2022 Part of Your World (Part of Your World, #1)
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Diane
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Keeper of the Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #1)]]> 12842828
Everything changes the day she meets Fitz, a mysterious boy who appears out of nowhere and also reads minds. She discovers there’s a place she does belong, and that staying with her family will place her in grave danger. In the blink of an eye, Sophie is forced to leave behind everything and start a new life in a place that is vastly different from anything she has ever known.

Sophie has new rules to learn and new skills to master, and not everyone is thrilled that she has come “home.�
There are secrets buried deep in Sophie’s memory—secrets about who she really is and why she was hidden among humans—that other people desperately want. Would even kill for.

In this page-turning debut, Shannon Messenger creates a riveting story where one girl must figure out why she is the key to her brand-new world, before the wrong person finds the answer first.]]> 496 Shannon Messenger 1442445939 Diane 0 currently-reading 4.39 2012 Keeper of the Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #1)
author: Shannon Messenger
name: Diane
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> Happy Place 61718053
They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They ’t stand to break their friends� hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week� in front of those who know you best?

A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.]]> 400 Emily Henry 0593441273 Diane 5 3.95 2023 Happy Place
author: Emily Henry
name: Diane
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/10
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:
I don’t usually give 5 stars to “light� reads like this, but I ’t help it, I LOVED this book! I connected with the characters and I felt so many emotions. Emily Henry created such fast paced dialogue, emotional conflict, and it was� just everything. This book was everything.
]]> The Broken Girls 59053218 A suspense novel from the award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare...

Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them mysteriously disappears... .

Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past--and a voice that won't be silenced... .]]> 334 Simone St. James Diane 4 4.19 2018 The Broken Girls
author: Simone St. James
name: Diane
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves:
review:
I love this author. She writes a good mystery/ghost story.
]]> 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 Diane 2 4.03 2019 The Perfect Son
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diane
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
review:
Probably my least favorite from Freida.
]]> The Inmate 61149872 1) Treat all prisoners with respect.
2) Never reveal any personal information.
3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates.

But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary's most notorious and dangerous inmates. And they certainly don't know that Shane was Brooke's high school sweetheart―the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke's testimony was what put him there.

But Shane knows. And he will never forget.]]> 388 Freida McFadden Diane 3 4.03 2022 The Inmate
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diane
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
Definitely twisty as only Freida can twist. Did NOT see that coming!!!
]]> Never Lie 62080187
But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate� with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale’s mysterious disappearance.

Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale’s web of lies slowly unravels.

And then Tricia reaches the final cassette.

The one that reveals the entire horrifying truth.]]> 286 Freida McFadden Diane 3 4.09 2022 Never Lie
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diane
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves:
review:
I thought I had this one figured out, but then it twisted at the end! A fun, quick thriller!
]]> <![CDATA[A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1)]]> 12974372 You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart—no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon's presence, even for the briefest of moments—even at the risk of one's life—is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . .

All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day.

Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever.]]> 334 Marie Brennan 0765331969 Diane 3 3.83 2013 A Natural History of Dragons (The Memoirs of Lady Trent, #1)
author: Marie Brennan
name: Diane
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves:
review:
This was fun! Like Jane Austen but with dragons!
]]> 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 Diane 4 4.21 2024 Funny Story
author: Emily Henry
name: Diane
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:
I devoured this book! Stayed up past my bedtime; couldn’t put it down. If you love RomComs, then this book is for you.
]]> <![CDATA[Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)]]> 61918816 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 ’t refuse.]]> 416 Abby Jimenez 1538704390 Diane 4 4.29 2023 Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Diane
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves:
review:
This was another really fun RomCom! Characters were well developed and I loved the two his/her points of view.
]]> Ward D 123193218 spending the night on a locked psychiatric ward.

Amy has been dreading her evening working on Ward D, the hospital’s inpatient mental health unit. There are very specific reasons why she never wanted to do this required overnight rotation. Reasons nobody can ever find out.

And as the hours tick by, Amy grows increasingly convinced something terrible is happening within these tightly secured walls. When patients and staff start to vanish without a trace, it becomes clear that everyone on the unit is in grave danger.

Amy’s worst nightmare was spending the night on Ward D.

And now she might never escape.
]]> 348 Freida McFadden Diane 3 3.98 2023 Ward D
author: Freida McFadden
name: Diane
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves:
review:
Entertaining, but predictable.
]]> Shelterwood 198563674 A sweeping novel inspired by the untold history of women pioneers who fought to protect children caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth.

Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the rugged Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . . . or worse.

Oklahoma, 1990. Law Enforcement Ranger Valerie Boren O’dell arrives at Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children deep in a cave. Val’s quest to uncover the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.

In this emotional and enveloping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val traverse the wild and beautiful terrain, each leaving behind one life in search of another.]]> 368 Lisa Wingate 0593726502 Diane 0 currently-reading 3.81 2024 Shelterwood
author: Lisa Wingate
name: Diane
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science]]> 208580608 The acclaimed Pulitzer Prize finalist and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Galileo’s Daughter crafts a luminous chronicle of the life and work of the most famous woman in the history of science, and the untold story of the many young women trained in her laboratory who were launched into stellar scientific careers of their own

“Even now, nearly a century after her death, Marie Curie remains the only female scientist most people can name,� writes Dava Sobel at the opening of her shining portrait of the sole Nobel laureate decorated in two separate fields of science—Physics in 1903 with her husband Pierre and Chemistry by herself in 1911. And yet, Sobel makes clear, as brilliant and creative as she was in the laboratory, Marie Curie was equally passionate outside it. Grieving Pierre’s untimely death in 1906, she took his place as professor of physics at the Sorbonne; devotedly raised two brilliant daughters; drove a van she outfitted with x-ray equipment to the front lines of World War I; befriended Albert Einstein and other luminaries of twentieth-century physics; won support from two U.S. presidents; and inspired generations of young women the world over to pursue science as a way of life.

As Sobel did so memorably in her portrait of Galileo through the prism of his daughter, she approaches Marie Curie from a unique angle, narrating her remarkable life of discovery and fame alongside the women who became her legacy—from France’s Marguerite Perey, who discovered the element francium, and Norway’s Ellen Gleditsch, to Mme. Curie’s elder daughter, Irène, winner of the 1935 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. For decades the only woman in the room at international scientific gatherings that probed new theories about the interior of the atom, Marie Curie traveled far and wide, despite constant illness, to share the secrets of radioactivity, a term she coined. Her two triumphant tours of the United States won her admirers for her modesty even as she was mobbed at every stop; her daughters, in Ève’s later recollection, “discovered all at once what the retiring woman with whom they had always lived meant to the world.�

With the consummate skill that made bestsellers of Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, and the appreciation for women in science at the heart of her most recent The Glass Universe, Dava Sobel has crafted a radiant biography and a masterpiece of storytelling, illuminating the life and enduring influence of one of the most consequential figures of our time.]]> 318 Dava Sobel 0802163823 Diane 5 3.93 2024 The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
author: Dava Sobel
name: Diane
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:
I had NO idea that Marie Curie was such an absolute BOSS! I loved the way this book showed how she gracefully inserted herself into a male dominated world and literally showed them how it is done. It also paints a picture of the different women that benefited from her tutelage and the domino effect that had for women all over the world. I learned so much from this book and Madame Curie is now one of my heroes.
]]> Nightweaver (Nightweaver, #1) 215750325
Six hundred years ago, Nightweavers, cursed beings with untamed power, claimed the continents for their own. The ocean was meant to be a safe haven for humanity, including seventeen-year-old Aster Oberon and her pirate family. But after Aster’s brother is killed in an epic battle at sea against Nightweavers, Aster and her family are thrust into a new life on land.

When a handsome Nightweaver named Will offers the Oberons protection and work at his opulent estate, Aster is suspicious. As the arrogant and entitled right hand to the wicked prince, Will is everything that she has been taught to hate. But as he shows empathy and kindness, Aster ’t ignore a blooming attraction. And even more, Will opens her eyes to a new There are monsters worse than Nightweavers, monsters who may be behind her brother’s death.

As Aster hunts the creatures responsible, dark secrets threaten to unravel everything she once believed about her family, herself, and her world.

Filled with elemental magic, forbidden romance, and breathtaking twists, this is a propulsive romantasy about an iron-willed heroine avenging her brother and discovering her destiny—perfect for fans of Powerless and Heartless Hunter.]]> 432 R.M. Gray 0316583367 Diane 0 to-read 3.89 2025 Nightweaver (Nightweaver, #1)
author: R.M. Gray
name: Diane
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3) 209668781
Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything.

They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth.

But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.]]> 758 Rebecca Yarros 1649376944 Diane 5 4.43 2025 Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Diane
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/25
shelves:
review:
Let me just say, I feel like the third book in the series is usually when the author loses me. So, I was a little nervous going into this one. However, this book HAD me! I laughed. I screamed. I gasped. I cried. The ending has me in a chokehold and I cannot freaking wait until we fly again in the fourth book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)]]> 18892998 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]> 564 Deborah Harkness Diane 4 4.36 2014 The Book of Life (All Souls, #3)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Diane
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves:
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I usually don’t love the third book of a trilogy, but this one was really well done.
]]> The Girl Who Drank the Moon 28110852
One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this enmagicked girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. To keep young Luna safe from her own unwieldy power, Xan locks her magic deep inside her. When Luna approaches her thirteenth birthday, her magic begins to emerge on schedule--but Xan is far away. Meanwhile, ayoung man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Soon, it is up to Luna to protect those who have protected her--even if it means the end of the loving, safe world she’s always known.]]> 388 Kelly Barnhill 1616205679 Diane 0 to-read 4.11 2016 The Girl Who Drank the Moon
author: Kelly Barnhill
name: Diane
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, #2)]]> 9440817
A serial murderer known only by a grotesquely apt nickname--Buffalo Bill--is stalking women. He has a purpose, but no one can fathom it, for the bodies are discovered in different states. Clarice Starling, a young trainee at the FBI Academy, is surprised to be summoned by Jack Crawford, chief of the Bureau's Behavioral Science section. Her to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter--Hannibal the Cannibal--who is kept under close watch in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Dr. Lecter is a former psychiatrist with a grisly history, unusual tastes, and an intense curiosity about the darker corners of the mind. His intimate understanding of the killer and of Clarice herself form the core of Thomas Harris' The Silence of the Lambs--and ingenious, masterfully written book and an unforgettable classic of suspense fiction.]]> 384 Thomas Harris 1429957654 Diane 0 to-read 4.51 1988 The Silence of the Lambs (Hannibal Lecter, #2)
author: Thomas Harris
name: Diane
average rating: 4.51
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women]]> 337615
"Frank, enraging, and captivating." - The New York Times

Nine Parts of Desire is the story of Brooks' intrepid journey toward an understanding of the women behind the veils, and of the often contradictory political, religious, and cultural forces that shape their lives. Defying our stereotypes about the Muslim world, Brooks' acute analysis of the world's fastest growing religion deftly illustrates how Islam's holiest texts have been misused to justify repression of women, and how male pride and power have warped the original message of a once liberating faith. As a prizewinning foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal , Geraldine Brooks spent six years covering the Middle East through wars, insurrections, and the volcanic upheaval of resurgent fundamentalism. Yet for her, headline events were only the backdrop to a less obvious but more enduring drama: the daily life of Muslim women.]]> 255 Geraldine Brooks 0385475772 Diane 0 to-read 4.05 1994 Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women
author: Geraldine Brooks
name: Diane
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Messenger (The Giver, #3) 12930
Matty has lived in Village and flourished under the guidance of Seer, a blind man known for his special sight. Village once welcomed newcomers, but something sinister has seeped into Village and the people have voted to close it to outsiders. Matty has been invaluable as a messenger. Now he must risk everything to make one last journey through the treacherous forest with his only weapon, a power he unexpectedly discovers within himself.]]> 169 Lois Lowry 0385732538 Diane 0 to-read 3.90 2004 Messenger (The Giver, #3)
author: Lois Lowry
name: Diane
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Book of Witching 205064706 A mother must fight for her daughter’s life in this fierce and haunting tale of witchcraft and revenge from the author of A Haunting in the Arctic.

Clem gets a call that is every mother’s worst nightmare. Her nineteen-year-old daughter Erin is unconscious in the hospital after a hiking trip with her friends on the remote Orkney Islands that met a horrifying end, leaving her boyfriend dead and her best friend missing. When Erin wakes, she doesn’t recognize her mother. And she doesn’t answer to her name, but insists she is someone named Nyx.

Clem travels the site of her daughter’s accident, determined to find out what happened to her. The answer may lie in a dark secret in the history of the Orkneys: a woman wrongly accused of witchcraft and murder four centuries ago. Clem begins to wonder if Erin’s strange behavior is a symptom of a broken mind, or the effects of an ancient curse?]]> 365 C.J. Cooke 059381696X Diane 0 to-read 3.74 2024 The Book of Witching
author: C.J. Cooke
name: Diane
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> Les Misérables 24280 1463 Victor Hugo 0451525264 Diane 0 currently-reading 4.19 1862 Les Misérables
author: Victor Hugo
name: Diane
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1862
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shadow of Night (All Souls, #2)]]> 11559200 A Discovery of Witches� cliffhanger ending, Shadow of Night takes Diana and Matthew on a trip through time to Elizabethan London, where they are plunged into a world of spies, magic, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the School of Night. As the search for Ashmole 782 deepens and Diana seeks out a witch to tutor her in magic, the net of Matthew’s past tightens around them, and they embark on a very different—and vastly more dangerous—journey.]]> 584 Deborah Harkness 0670023485 Diane 4 4.04 2012 Shadow of Night (All Souls, #2)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Diane
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves:
review:
I am really loving the way this series seamlessly blends academia, science, history, and magic. It’s been such an adventure! I ’t wait to keep reading this series.
]]> <![CDATA[Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #1)]]> 123471760 When old secrets catch fire, everything will burn.

In a mortal world colonized by the gods and ruled over by the Descended, their cruel offspring, Diem Bellator yearns to escape the insular life of her poor village.

Her mother’s sudden disappearance—and the discovery of a dangerous secret about her past—offer Diem an unexpected opportunity to enter the dark world of Descended royalty and unlock the web of mysteries her mother left behind.

With the dying King’s handsome, mysterious heir watching her every move, and a ruthless mortal alliance recruiting her to join the growing civil war, Diem will have to navigate the unwritten rules of love, power, and politics in order to save her family—and all of mortalkind.

Spark of the Everflame is the first book in The Kindred's Curse Saga, a four-book fantasy romance series. This slow burn, enemies-to-lovers epic is perfect for lovers of magic, dragons, angst, and banter and will appeal to fans of books like A Court of Thorns and Roses, From Blood and Ash, Gild, and The Serpent & the Wings of Night.]]> 438 Penn Cole Diane 0 to-read 4.20 2023 Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #1)
author: Penn Cole
name: Diane
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) 150260809
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders� capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 895 Rebecca Yarros Diane 4 4.56 2023 Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Diane
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
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]]> <![CDATA[Scythe & Sparrow (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #3)]]> 127616032 Discover the serial killer romance series everyone is talking about!From the no.1 New York Times bestselling author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird and Leather & Lark comes the final book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy - a friends-with-benefits dark romantic comedy.

Murder.

Mayhem.

And spice.

Doctor Fionn Kane is running from a broken heart, one he hopes to mend in small-town Nebraska, far away from his almost-fiance and his derailed surgical career. It's a simpler head down, hard work, and absolutely no romantic relationships. He wants none of the circus he left behind in Boston.

But then the real circus finds him.

Motorcycle performer Rose Evans has spent a decade on the road with the Silveria Circus, and it suits her just fine, especially when she has the urge to indulge in a little murder when she's not in the spotlight. But when a kill goes awry and she ends up with an injured leg, Rose finds herself stuck in Nebraska, at the home of the adorably nerdy town doctor.

The problem is, not every broken heart can be sewn back together.

. . . And the longer you stay in one place, the more likely your ghosts are to catch up.

***


Friends with benefits
Small town romance
Fish out of water
Forced proximity
Hurt/care
Touch her and die]]> 416 Brynne Weaver Diane 0 to-read 4.11 2025 Scythe & Sparrow (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #3)
author: Brynne Weaver
name: Diane
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond]]> 207567691 From the acclaimed author ofAmerican ComicsandJewish Comedycomes a sweeping and entertaining narrative that details the rise and enduring grip of horror inAmerican literature, cinema, and, ultimately, culture—from the taut, terrifying stories of Edgar Allan Poe to the grisly, lingering films of Jordan Peele

America is held captive by horror stories. They flicker on the screen of a darkened movie theater and are shared around the campfire. They blare out in tabloid true-crime headlines, and in the worried voices of local news anchors. They are consumed, virally, on the phones in each of our pockets. Like the victims in any slasher worth its salt, we ’t escape the thrall of scary stories.

In American Scary, noted cultural historian and Columbia professor Jeremy Dauber takes the reader to the startling origins of the horror genre in the United States, drawing a surprising through-line between the lingering influence of the European Gothic, the enslaved insurrection tales propagated by slaveholders, and the apocryphal chronicles of colonial settlers kidnapped by Native Americans, among many others.

These foundational narratives give rise to and are influenced by the body of work we more closely associate with the weird fiction of HP Lovecraft, the lingering stories of Shirley Jackson, the unsettling films of Alfred Hitchcock, the up-all-night tales of Stephen King, and the gripping critiques of Jordan Peele. From “The Tell-Tale Heart� to M3gan, we begin to see why the horror genre is the perfect prism through which to view America’s past and present.

With the extraordinary historical breadth and dexterous weave of insight and style that has made him twice a finalist for the National Jewish Book, Dauber makes the haunting case that horror reveals the true depths of the American mind.

Featuring cameos
Shirley Jackson � The Sixth Sense � Edgar Allan Poe � Nathaniel Hawthorne � Anne Radcliffe � Charles Brockden Brown � Los Espookys � Washington Irving � Nat Turner � Night of the Living Dead � H.P. Lovecraft � Alien � Mary Heaton Vorse � Edith Wharton � Norman Bates � Lon Chaney � Frankenstein � Dracula � H.G. Wells � William Faulkner � Dashiell Hammett � Tananarive Due � Twilight Zone � The Handmaid’s Tale � Ray Bradbury � I Am Legend � Elia Kazan � Psycho � Ralph Ellison � The Blair Witch Project � Stanley Kubrick � Helter Skelter � Jordan Peele � The Walking Dead � H.H. Holmes � Harriet Beecher Stowe]]> 480 Jeremy Dauber 1643753568 Diane 0 to-read 3.62 2024 American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond
author: Jeremy Dauber
name: Diane
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You]]> 142402923 The secret to productivity isn’t discipline. It’s joy.

We think that productivity is all about hard work. That the road to success is lined with endless frustration and toil. But what if there’s another way?

Dr Ali Abdaal � the world's most-followed productivity expert � has uncovered an easier and happier path to success. Drawing on decades of psychological research, he has found that the secret to productivity and success isn't grind � it's feeling good. If you can make your work feel good, then productivity takes care of itself.

In this revolutionary book, Ali reveals how the science of feel-good productivity can transform your life. He introduces the three hidden 'energisers' that underpin enjoyable productivity, the three 'blockers' we must overcome to beat procrastination, and the three 'sustainers' that prevent burnout and help us achieve lasting fulfillment. He recounts the inspiring stories of founders, Olympians, and Nobel-winning scientists who embody the principles of Feel-Good Productivity. And he introduces the simple, actionable changes that you can use to achieve more and live better, starting today.

Armed with Ali’s insights, you won’t just accomplish more. You’ll feel happier and more fulfilled along the way.]]> 304 Ali Abdaal 1250865034 Diane 0 to-read 3.95 2023 Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You
author: Ali Abdaal
name: Diane
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness]]> 171681821
A must-read for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.� —Shannon Carlin, ,i>TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood� began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood� in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood� has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems� that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.]]> 400 Jonathan Haidt 0593655036 Diane 0 to-read 4.36 2024 The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Diane
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Grandest Game (The Grandest Game, #1)]]> 197392670 Get caught up in the puzzles, games, danger, romance, and riches of this lush new chapter in the #1 bestselling Inheritance Games saga—set a year after we last saw Avery and the Hawthornes.

Seven tickets. An island of dreams. The chance of a lifetime.

Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited. Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year’s game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win.

Some of the players are in it for the money. Some for power. Some for reasons all their own. Every single one of them has secrets. Amidst it all is Grayson Hawthorne, tasked with a vital role in this year’s game. But as tensions rise and the mind-bending challenges push the players to their limits—physically, mentally, and emotionally—it soon becomes clear that not everyone is playing by the rules.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes delivers a new series in the world of The Inheritance Games, where fan-favorite and new characters collide in a game you’ll never forget.

Do you have what it takes to play?]]> 384 Jennifer Lynn Barnes 0316481017 Diane 0 to-read 3.93 2024 The Grandest Game (The Grandest Game, #1)
author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
name: Diane
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment, #2)]]> 127280062 Torn apart by war. Reunited by love?

Two weeks have passed since Iris returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over.

Roman is missing, lost behind enemy lines, with no memory of his past, or Iris. Hoping his memories return, he begins to write again � but this time for the enemy.

When a strange letter arrives through his wardrobe door, he strikes up a correspondence with a penpal who seems at once mysterious� and strangely familiar.

As their connection deepens, the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.]]> 420 Rebecca Ross 1250857457 Diane 0 to-read 3.99 2023 Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment, #2)
author: Rebecca Ross
name: Diane
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> Dragonfruit 181325033 From acclaimed author Makiia Lucier, a dazzling, romantic fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology.

In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. An unwanted marriage, a painful illness, and unpaid debt ... gone. But as with all things that promise the moon and the stars and offer hope when hope has gone, the tale comes with a warning.

Every wish demands a price.

Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong.

Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time - hope.

But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself. ]]> 356 Makiia Lucier 0358272106 Diane 0 to-read 3.85 2024 Dragonfruit
author: Makiia Lucier
name: Diane
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> Murder Road 196614815 A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel.

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to be a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchhiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.]]> 341 Simone St. James 0593200381 Diane 0 to-read 3.67 2024 Murder Road
author: Simone St. James
name: Diane
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> The Ministry of Time 199798179 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:

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.]]> 339 Kaliane Bradley 1668045141 Diane 0 to-read 3.54 2024 The Ministry of Time
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: Diane
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)]]> 212127083
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn't much a girl wouldn't do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently re-opens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares... but it turns out they're real, and Saeris has landed herself in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist's magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him . . . or her.

Death has a name. It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate. His past is murky. His attitude stinks. And he's the only way Saeris is going to make it home.]]> 588 Callie Hart Diane 0 to-read 4.35 2024 Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)
author: Callie Hart
name: Diane
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Leather & Lark (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #2)]]> 127611580
And they ’t stand each other.

Indie singer-songwriter Lark is the sunshine and glitter that burns through every cloud and clings to every crevice that Lachlan Kane tries to hide inside. The surly older brother of her best friend’s soulmate, Lachlan thinks she’s just a privileged princess, but Lark has plenty of secrets hiding in the shadows of her bright light. With her formidable family in a tailspin and her best friend’s happiness on the line, she’s willing to make a vow to the man she’s determined to hate, no matter how tempting the broody assassin might be.

As Lachlan and Lark navigate the dark world that binds them together, it becomesimpossible to discerntheirfake marriage from a real one. But it’s not just familiar dangers that haunt them.
There’s another phantom lurking on their doorstep.

And this one has come for blood.]]> 416 Brynne Weaver 0349441588 Diane 0 3.98 2024 Leather & Lark (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #2)
author: Brynne Weaver
name: Diane
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> The Wedding People 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

A propulsive and uncommonly wise novel about one unexpected wedding guest and the surprising people who help her start anew.

It’s a beautiful day in Newport, Rhode Island, when Phoebe Stone arrives at the grand Cornwall Inn wearing a green dress and gold heels, not a bag in sight, alone. She's immediately mistaken by everyone in the lobby for one of the wedding people, but she’s actually the only guest at the Cornwall who isn’t here for the big event. Phoebe is here because she’s dreamed of coming for years—she hoped to shuck oysters and take sunset sails with her husband, only now she’s here without him, at rock bottom, and determined to have one last decadent splurge on herself. Meanwhile, the bride has accounted for every detail and every possible disaster the weekend might yield except for, well, Phoebe and Phoebe's plan—which makes it that much more surprising when the two women ’t stop confiding in each other.

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Diane 0 to-read 4.11 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Diane
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Where the Library Hides (Secrets of the Nile, #2)]]> 203578814 400 Isabel Ibañez 1250822998 Diane 5 3.85 2024 Where the Library Hides (Secrets of the Nile, #2)
author: Isabel Ibañez
name: Diane
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/24
date added: 2024/12/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 25 Days 217538341 25 days, 25 chapters. This December, the countdown to Christmas will chill you to the bone.

Hoping to bring his family closer together, Adam Gray arranges a vacation in a remote cabin on a snowy mountain. Things take a dark turn, however, when someone starts leaving gifts in the Christmas stocking mounted on the barn door.

Each morning brings something new, and with every passing day, the contents become more terrifying. Soon, the family makes a spine-chilling they’ve been dragged into a deranged game of Secret Santa, and if they want to survive, they will have to fight.]]> 360 Per Jacobsen 8794319308 Diane 0 3.65 25 Days
author: Per Jacobsen
name: Diane
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder]]> 61854923 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. With the twists and turns of a thriller Grann unearths the deeper meaning of the events on the Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty's Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as "the prize of all the oceans," it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing 2500 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.

But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes - they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death--for whomever the court found guilty could hang.

The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann's recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O'Brian, his portrayal of the castaways' desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann's work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.]]> 352 David Grann Diane 0 to-read 4.34 2023 The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
author: David Grann
name: Diane
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile� humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die]]> 665 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 Diane 5 4.56 2023 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Diane
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/20
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What the River Knows (Secrets of the Nile, #1)]]> 65213381
When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.]]> 416 Isabel Ibañez 1250803373 Diane 5 3.83 2023 What the River Knows (Secrets of the Nile, #1)
author: Isabel Ibañez
name: Diane
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/09
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves:
review:

]]> The Afterlife of Holly Chase 33843251 Before I Fall meets “bah, humbug� in this contemporary YA reimagining of A Christmas Carol from New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand.

On Christmas Eve five years ago, seventeen-year-old Holly Chase was visited by three Ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways. She didn’t. And then she died.

Now she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge—as their latest Ghost of Christmas Past. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been miserable. But this year’s Scrooge is different. This year’s Scrooge might change everything�

The Afterlife of Holly Chase is a witty, poignant, and insightful novel about life, love, and seizing second (or third) chances, perfect for readers who loved Before I Fall or Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares.]]> 400 Cynthia Hand 0062318500 Diane 5 3.94 2017 The Afterlife of Holly Chase
author: Cynthia Hand
name: Diane
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2024/12/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife]]> 14990 311 Mary Roach 0393329127 Diane 0 to-read 3.60 2005 Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
author: Mary Roach
name: Diane
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers]]> 56769575
For two thousand years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They’ve tested France’s first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender confirmation surgery, cadavers have helped make history in their quiet way. Stiff investigates the strange lives of our bodies postmortem and answers the question: What should we do after we die?]]> 320 Mary Roach 0393881725 Diane 0 to-read 4.13 2003 Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
author: Mary Roach
name: Diane
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Stand-in Christmas Date 56221472
Alyssa Owens hasn’t swapped places with her lookalike cousin in years, and never for a date. Reluctantly, she agrees to what sounds like a simple favor—spend twenty minutes with the guy, make sure he believes she’s interested so her cousin can have him back when she returns after New Year’s, then make an excuse to leave. At least, that was the plan.

It doesn’t take Wes Fielding long to figure out that this isn’t the same girl he met at a speed dating event. After all, as a cop, he’s trained to study faces. But if this isn’t her, who is it, and why does she have to be so funny and easy to talk to? To unravel the mystery, he decides to play along, but the more he gets to know her, the harder it is not to wish for a happy ending rather than the humiliating one they now face.

Curl up with this sweet Christmas romance about mistaken identity and unexpected chemistry.]]> 89 Rachel John Diane 0 3.95 2018 The Stand-in Christmas Date
author: Rachel John
name: Diane
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/11/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 10 Blind Dates 44166874 337 Ashley Elston 1368044271 Diane 0 4.06 2019 10 Blind Dates
author: Ashley Elston
name: Diane
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1)]]> 8667848
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series-with an extra serving of historical realism.]]> 592 Deborah Harkness 0670022411 Diane 5 4.01 2011 A Discovery of Witches (All Souls, #1)
author: Deborah Harkness
name: Diane
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heroes Within: A Framework for Empowering Students to Own Their Learning Journeys (Instill hope, self-efficacy, and ownership in your students)]]> 213959232



This book will help K�12 teachers and collaborative

Access templates and tools to guide metacognitive reflection and assist in students� self-assessment
Be reinspired and rejuvenated in their calling as teachers by true stories of transformation that every educator can relate to
Select relevant content with real-world applications that boost student engagement
Build self-efficacy and ownership of learning in all students
Learn how to use the simple six-step framework for empowering (1) clarify learning goals, (2) establish trusting relationships, (3) choose worthy content, (4) facilitate student self-assessment, (5) encourage metacognition, and (6) develop a vision for their future



Stories, Journeys, Heroes, and Hope

Chapter 1: Step 1—Clarify Learning Goals

Chapter 2: Step 2—Leverage Relationships of Trust to Help Students Overcome Fear

Chapter 3: Step 3—Select Worthy Content to Help Students Develop Skills

Chapter 4: Step 4—Encourage Facilitated Feedback and Self-Assessment

Chapter 5: Step 5—Encourage Metacognition

Chapter 6: Step 6—Help Students Find a Compelling Vision

Chapter 7: Hero-Maker Framework Tasks

Epilogue

References and Resources

Index]]> 0 Aaron Hansen 1945349557 Diane 0 4.36 Heroes Within: A Framework for Empowering Students to Own Their Learning Journeys (Instill hope, self-efficacy, and ownership in your students)
author: Aaron Hansen
name: Diane
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success Guide]]> 783127 Being a teenager is both wonderful and challenging. In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, author Sean Covey applies the timeless principles of the 7 Habits to teens and the tough issues and life-changing decisions they face. In an entertaining style, Covey provides a step-by-step guide to help teens improve self-image, build friendships, resist peer pressure, achieve their goals, get along with their parents, and much more. In addition, this book is stuffed with cartoons, clever ideas, great quotes, and incredible stories about real teens from all over the world. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens will engage teenagers unlike any other book.

An indispensable book for teens, as well as parents, grandparents, and any adult who influences young people, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens is destined to become the last word on surviving and thriving as a teen and beyond.

]]> 268 Sean Covey 0684856093 Diane 0 4.04 1997 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens: The Ultimate Teenage Success Guide
author: Sean Covey
name: Diane
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Nightbooks 40199171
Alex’s original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping the witch Natacha happy, but soon he’ll run out of pages to read from and be trapped forever. He’s loved scary stories his whole life, and he knows most don’t have a happily ever after. Now that Alex is trapped in a true terrifying tale, he’s desperate for a different ending—and a way out of this twisted place.

This modern spin on the Scheherazade story is perfect for fans of Coraline and A Tale Dark and Grimm. With interwoven tips on writing with suspense, adding in plot twists, hooks, interior logic, and dealing with writer’s block, this is the ideal book for budding writers and all readers of delightfully just-dark-enough tales.

* Summer 2018 Kids' Indie Next List * YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * 2019-2020 Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award * 2020 Rhode Island Children's Book Award Nominee* Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year 2019 (9-12) * 2020-2021 Missouri Association of School Librarians Truman Readers Award Preliminary Nominee *Texas Bluebonnet Award List 2020-2021 * South Carolina Junior Book Award Nominee (2021-2022) *

Plus return to the world of Nightbooks—if you dare—with J. A. White's follow-up, Gravebooks!]]> 309 J.A. White Diane 0 4.10 2018 Nightbooks
author: J.A. White
name: Diane
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/07
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Marriage Auction: Book Three]]> 63112072 From #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Audrey Carlan, discover The Marriage Book Three

You can now dive into the Kindle Vella phenomenon with over 2 MILLON READS. This saga has ranked #1 for over a full year and continues to break records each month as America’s favorite serial. Each volume contains more than 10% new content that includes two never before seen scenes from some of our favorite couples.

What would you do for three million dollars?

Four young women enter into a clandestine auction to be married to the highest bidders. For no less than a million dollars a year, for three years, each woman will do what it takes to secure her future. Entangled in a high-stakes game of money, lust, power, and the hope for absolution, this group of women becomes a sisterhood unlike any other.

Once chosen by a man she’s never met and agrees to marry sight unseen…there is no going back. Hidden secrets, wicked desires, fiery couplings and intense family drama are all part of the deal when you willingly enter into The Marriage Auction.

You may now kiss the bride�

Reviews for The Marriage

Audrey Carlan brings a whole lot of heat to the forced proximity trope along with a surprising sweetness that digs right in and takes hold! The Marriage Auction series is a compilation of passionate romances at their very best! Sexy, intriguing, and sprinkled with swoon-worthy moments, these romances kept me turning the pages late into the night! ~ New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti

Audrey Carlan has taken a beautifully provocative premise and turned it into my unable-to-put-down series of the year! ~ New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst

Audrey is a phenomenal writer, and one of my favorite humans, and when I tell you that The Marriage Auction is some of the best writing I’ve read in a long time, well, it’s the truth! ~ New York Times bestselling author Kristen Proby]]> 317 Audrey Carlan 1957568399 Diane 0 4.14 The Marriage Auction: Book Three
author: Audrey Carlan
name: Diane
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves:
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]]> Dearest 204593562 B&N Best Horror of 2024
A Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award Finalist
A Book of the Month Club Pick

A new mom in need of help opens her door to her long-estrangedmother—only to invite something much darker inside—in this "fast-paced and frightening debut" (Rachel Harrison) about the long shadows cast by family secrets, perfect for readers of Grady Hendrix or Ashley Audrain.

Flora is a new mom enamored of her baby girl, Iris, even if she arrived a few weeks early. With her husband still deployed, Flora navigates the newborn stage alone. But as the sleepless nights pass in the loneliness of their half-empty home, the edges of her reality begin to blur.

Just as Flora becomes convinced she is losing her mind, a surprising guest shows up: Flora’s own mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken in years. Can they mend their fraught relationship? Or is there more Flora’s mother isn’t telling her about the events that led to their estrangement?

As stranger and scarier events unfold, Flora begins to suspect the house is not as empty as she once thought. She must determine: is her hold on reality slipping dangerously away? Or is she, in fact, the only thing standing between a terrifying visitor and her baby?]]> 297 Jacquie Walters 0316580295 Diane 4 3.50 2024 Dearest
author: Jacquie Walters
name: Diane
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves:
review:

]]> Dreadful 63051209 A sharp-witted, high fantasy farce featuring killer moat squid, toxic masculinity, evil wizards and a garlic festival - all at once. Perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, K. J. Parker and Travis Baldree.

It’s bad enough waking up in a half-destroyed evil wizard’s workshop with no eyebrows, no memories, and no idea how long you have before the Dread Lord Whomever shows up to murder you horribly and then turn your skull into a goblet or something.
It’s a lot worse when you realize that Dread Lord Whomever is� you.
Gav isn’t really sure how he ended up with a castle full of goblins, or why he has a princess locked in a cell. All he can do is play along with his own evil plan in hopes of getting his memories back before he gets himself killed.
But as he realizes that nothing � from the incredibly tasteless cloak adorned with flames to the aforementioned princess � is quite what it seems, Gav must face up to all the things the Dread Lord Gavrax has done. And he’ll have to answer the hardest question of all � who does he want to be?
Dread Lord Gavrax has had better weeks.]]> 344 Caitlin Rozakis 1803365471 Diane 4 3.67 2024 Dreadful
author: Caitlin Rozakis
name: Diane
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/18
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:

]]> The Twisted Ones 42527596 When a young woman clears out her deceased grandmother’s home in rural North Carolina, she finds long-hidden secrets about a strange colony of beings in the woods.

When Mouse’s dad asks her to clean out her dead grandmother's house, she says yes. After all, how bad could it be?

Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there’s more—Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather’s journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants…until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself.

Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors—because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they’re looking for you. And if she doesn’t face them head on, she might not survive to tell the tale.

From Hugo Award–winning author Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher.]]> 385 T. Kingfisher 1534429573 Diane 3 3.60 2019 The Twisted Ones
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Diane
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/17
date added: 2024/10/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Marriage Auction (The Marriage Auction, #2)]]> 63112076 From #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Audrey Carlan, discover The Marriage Book Two

You can now dive into the Kindle Vella phenomenon with over 2 MILLON READS. This saga has ranked #1 for over a full year and continues to break records each month as America’s favorite serial. Each volume contains more than 10% new content that includes two never before seen scenes from some of our favorite couples.

What would you do for three million dollars?

Four young women enter into a clandestine auction to be married to the highest bidders. For no less than a million dollars a year, for three years, each woman will do what it takes to secure her future. Entangled in a high-stakes game of money, lust, power, and the hope for absolution, this group of women becomes a sisterhood unlike any other.

Once chosen by a man she’s never met and agrees to marry sight unseen…there is no going back. Hidden secrets, wicked desires, fiery couplings and intense family drama are all part of the deal when you willingly enter into The Marriage Auction.

You may now kiss the bride�

Reviews for The Marriage

Audrey Carlan brings a whole lot of heat to the forced proximity trope along with a surprising sweetness that digs right in and takes hold! The Marriage Auction series is a compilation of passionate romances at their very best! Sexy, intriguing, and sprinkled with swoon-worthy moments, these romances kept me turning the pages late into the night! ~ New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti

Audrey Carlan has taken a beautifully provocative premise and turned it into my unable-to-put-down series of the year! ~ New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst

Audrey is a phenomenal writer, and one of my favorite humans, and when I tell you that The Marriage Auction is some of the best writing I’ve read in a long time, well, it’s the truth! ~ New York Times bestselling author Kristen Proby]]> 318 Audrey Carlan 1957568364 Diane 0 4.14 The Marriage Auction (The Marriage Auction, #2)
author: Audrey Carlan
name: Diane
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/02
date added: 2024/10/02
shelves:
review:

]]> Phantasma (Wicked Games, #1) 204593914 Caraval meets Throne of the Fallen in this spicy dark romantasy where a necromancer needs help from a dangerous phantom to win a deadly competition, only to find their partnership puts her at risk of breaking the game’s most vital rule: don't fall in love.

When Ophelia and her sister discovers their mother brutally murdered, there is no time to grieve: Ophelia has inherited both her powerful death-driven magic and enormous debt on their home. Circumstances go from dire to deadly, however, when Ophelia’s sister decides to pay off the loan by entering Phantasma—a competition where most contestants don’t make it out alive and the winner is granted a single wish.

The only way to save her sister is to compete. But Phantasma is a cursed manor, with twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, and filled with enticing demons and fatal temptations. Ophelia will need to face nine floors of challenges to win... if her fears don’t overtake her first.

When a charming, arrogant stranger claims he can protect and guide Ophelia, she knows she shouldn’t trust him. While Blackwell may not seem dangerous, appearances can be deceptive. But with her sister’s life on the line, Ophelia ’t afford to turn him away. She just needs to ignore the overwhelming, dark attraction drawing them closer and closer together.

Because in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart.]]> 497 Kaylie Smith 1538769255 Diane 5 4.06 2024 Phantasma (Wicked Games, #1)
author: Kaylie Smith
name: Diane
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/22
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery]]> 28268515 Ignorance is bliss except in self-awareness...

What you don't know about yourself can hurt you and your relationships―and even keep you in the shallows with God. Do you want help figuring out who you are and why you're stuck in the same ruts? The Enneagram is an ancient personality typing system with an uncanny accuracy in describing how human beings are wired, both positively and negatively.

In The Road Back to You Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile forge a unique approach―a practical, comprehensive way of accessing Enneagram wisdom and exploring its connections with Christian spirituality for a deeper knowledge of ourselves, compassion for others, and love for God. Witty and filled with stories, this book allows you to peek inside each of the nine Enneagram types, keeping you turning the pages long after you have read the chapter about your own number. Not only will you learn more about yourself, but you will also start to see the world through other people's eyes, understanding how and why people think, feel, and act the way they do. Beginning with changes you can start making today, the wisdom of the Enneagram can help take you further along into who you really are―leading you into places of spiritual discovery you would never have found on your own, and paving the way to the wiser, more compassionate person you want to become.]]> 238 Ian Morgan Cron 0830846190 Diane 5 4.20 2016 The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
author: Ian Morgan Cron
name: Diane
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/10
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Reappearance of Rachel Price]]> 182484360
Lights. Camera. Lies.

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

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

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

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.]]> 448 Holly Jackson 0593374207 Diane 4 4.09 2024 The Reappearance of Rachel Price
author: Holly Jackson
name: Diane
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/10
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Marriage Auction (The Marriage Auction, #1)]]> 63112074 What would you do for three million dollars?

Four young women enter into a clandestine auction to be married to the highest bidders. For no less than a million dollars a year, for three years, each woman will do what it takes to secure her future. Entangled in a high-stakes game of money, lust, power, and the hope for absolution, this group of women becomes a sisterhood unlike any other.

Once chosen by a man she’s never met and agrees to marry sight unseen…there is no going back. Hidden secrets, wicked desires, fiery couplings and intense family drama are all part of the deal when you willingly enter into The Marriage Auction.

You may now kiss the bride�

***

Content Warnings: Intended for mature audiences only. Explicit content. Please check the author's website for detailed content warnings.]]> 334 Audrey Carlan 195756833X Diane 0 4.11 The Marriage Auction (The Marriage Auction, #1)
author: Audrey Carlan
name: Diane
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance]]> 27213329
Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success. Rather, other factors can be even more crucial such as identifying our passions and following through on our commitments.

Drawing on her own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently bemoaned her lack of smarts, Duckworth describes her winding path through teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what really drives success is not genius, but a special blend of passion and long-term perseverance. As a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Duckworth created her own character lab and set out to test her theory.

Here, she takes readers into the field to visit teachers working in some of the toughest schools, cadets struggling through their first days at West Point, and young finalists in the National Spelling Bee. She also mines fascinating insights from history and shows what can be gleaned from modern experiments in peak performance. Finally, she shares what she's learned from interviewing dozens of high achievers; from JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon to the cartoon editor of The New Yorker to Seattle Seahawks Coach Pete Carroll.

Winningly personal, insightful, and even life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that not talent or luck makes all the difference.]]> 277 Angela Duckworth 1443442313 Diane 5 4.07 2016 Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
author: Angela Duckworth
name: Diane
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/23
date added: 2024/08/23
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]]> Shark Heart 62919375
At first, Wren internally resists her husband’s fate. Is there a way for them to be together after Lewis changes? Then, a glimpse of Lewis’s developing carnivorous nature activates long-repressed memories for Wren, whose story vacillates between her childhood living on a houseboat in Oklahoma, her time with her college ex-girlfriend, and her unusual friendship with a woman pregnant with twin birds.]]> 416 Emily Habeck 1668006499 Diane 3 3.96 2023 Shark Heart
author: Emily Habeck
name: Diane
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/20
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves:
review:
That was� different. Very lyrical. Beautiful writing. Not really my cup of tea, though.
]]> Twelfth Knight 198536668 Reese's Book Club Summer YA Pick '24

"YA is a feeling. It's a warm summer day reading in the sun, lots of nostalgia, gushing together over the characters in Twelfth Knight."—Reese Witherspoon

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Atlas Six (under the penname Olivie Blake) comes Twelfth Knight, a grumpy/sunshine YA romantic comedy and coming of age story about taking up space in the world and learning what it means to let others in.

Viola Reyes is annoyed.

Her painstakingly crafted tabletop game campaign was shot down, her best friend is suggesting she try being more “likable,� and school running back Jack Orsino is the most lackadaisical Student Body President she’s ever seen, which makes her job as VP that much harder. Vi’s favorite escape from the world is the MMORPG Twelfth Knight, but online spaces aren’t exactly kind to girls like her―girls who are extremely competent and have the swagger to prove it. So Vi creates a masculine alter ego, choosing to play as a knight named Cesario to create a safe haven for herself.

But when a football injury leads Jack Orsino to the world of Twelfth Knight, Vi is alarmed to discover their online alter egos―Cesario and Duke Orsino―are surprisingly well-matched.

As the long nights of game-play turn into discussions about life and love, Vi and Jack soon realise they’ve become more than just weapon-wielding characters in an online game. But Vi has been concealing her true identity from Jack, and Jack might just be falling for her offline…]]> 320 Alexene Farol Follmuth 1250884896 Diane 5 3.83 2024 Twelfth Knight
author: Alexene Farol Follmuth
name: Diane
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/08/17
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]]> Winter Storms 29337028 The Quinn family gathers for one last holiday at the Winter Street Inn in the heartwarming conclusion to Elin Hilderbrand's bestselling trilogy.

Preparing for another holiday season in Nantucket, the Quinns are optimistic that despite a health scare for Kelley, this year's celebration will be their best in ages. After a year apart, and an ill-fated affair with the Inn's old Santa Claus, Mitzi has returned to rule the roost; there is hopeful news about Bart, who has been MIA in Afghanistan; and love is in the air as Kevin and Isabelle are preparing to get married. But as the family gathers together, a powerful blizzard bears down on the Eastern seaboard. With a wedding, an emotional reunion, and enough holiday drama to test the closest of family bonds, WINTER STORMS proves that when the holidays roll around, you can always go home again.]]> 257 Elin Hilderbrand 0316261157 Diane 0 4.13 Winter Storms
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Diane
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2019/11/14
date added: 2024/08/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Winter Stroll (Winter Street, #2)]]> 25324421 "Happy Holidays 2015! It has been a rough year for the Quinns, but I would like to start by saying thank you for all of the well wishes and positive missives sent our way."

Another Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn reflecting on the past year as he writes a holiday letter to friends and family. Though the year has had its share of misfortune and worry, the Quinns have much to celebrate. Kelley, now single, at least is on better terms with his first wife Margaret, who is using her celebrity to lure customers to the inn in record numbers. Their son Kevin has a beautiful new baby, Genevieve, with the Inn's French housekeeper, Isabelle; and their daughter, Ava, is finally dating a nice guy--her devoted colleague, Scott.
Now the Quinns are looking forward to celebrating Genevieve's baptism, welcoming Isabelle to the family, and enjoying the cheer of Nantucket's traditional Christmas Stroll. But just when a peaceful family gathering seems within reach, Kelley's estranged second wife, Mitzi, shows up on the island after souring on her relationship with the inn's former Santa Claus. Soon Kelley isn't the only Quinn entertaining a surprise guest from Christmases past as lovers old and new gather beneath the mistletoe. With jealousy, passion, and eggnog consumption at an all-time high, it's going to take a whole lot more than a Christmas miracle to get the Quinns--and the inn--through the holidays intact.]]> 256 Elin Hilderbrand 0316261122 Diane 4 4.04 2015 Winter Stroll (Winter Street, #2)
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Diane
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2019/11/10
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Around the World in Eighty Days]]> 54479 252 Jules Verne 014044906X Diane 4 3.95 1872 Around the World in Eighty Days
author: Jules Verne
name: Diane
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1872
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> Mansfield Park 45032 488 Jane Austen Diane 4 3.86 1814 Mansfield Park
author: Jane Austen
name: Diane
average rating: 3.86
book published: 1814
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> Hoot 13083 Roy has most definitely arrived in Carl Hiaasen’s Florida.


From the Hardcover edition.]]> 304 Carl Hiaasen 0440421705 Diane 0 3.83 2002 Hoot
author: Carl Hiaasen
name: Diane
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/08/04
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]]> My Best Friend's Exorcism 41015038 337 Grady Hendrix Diane 4 3.94 2016 My Best Friend's Exorcism
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Diane
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/07/26
shelves:
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]]> Midnight Bayou 114132 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts presents a novel set deep in the bayou of Louisiana—where the only witness to a long-ago tragedy is a once-grand house…�

Declan Fitzgerald had always been the family maverick, but even he couldn't understand his impulse to buy a dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans. All he knew was that ever since he first saw Manet Hall, he'd been enchanted-and obsessed-with it. So when the opportunity to buy the house comes up, Declan jumps at the chance to live out a dream.

Determined to restore Manet Hall to its former splendor, Declan begins the daunting renovation room by room, relying on his own labor and skills. But the days spent in total isolation in the empty house take a toll. He is seeing visions of days from a century past, and experiencing sensations of terror and nearly unbearable grief-sensations not his own, but those of a stranger. Local legend has it that the house is haunted, and with every passing day Declan's belief in the ghostly presence grows.

Only the companionship of alluring Angelina Simone can distract him from the mysterious happenings in the house, but Angelina too has her own surprising connection to Manet Hall-a connection that will help Declan uncover a secret that's been buried for a hundred years.
]]> 338 Nora Roberts 0515142867 Diane 4 3.98 2001 Midnight Bayou
author: Nora Roberts
name: Diane
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/19
date added: 2024/07/19
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]]> Weyward 127280850
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.]]> 392 Emilia Hart 1250842727 Diane 5 4.02 2023 Weyward
author: Emilia Hart
name: Diane
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/13
date added: 2024/07/13
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]]> <![CDATA[Fable (The World of the Narrows, #1)]]> 44012880
But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn't who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they're going to stay alive.

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men. Fable takes you on a spectacular journey filled with romance, intrigue, and adventure.

A newer edition of ISBN 9781250254368 can be found here.]]> 357 Adrienne Young Diane 4 4.00 2020 Fable (The World of the Narrows, #1)
author: Adrienne Young
name: Diane
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2024/07/12
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]]> Austenland (Austenland, #1) 248483 197 Shannon Hale 1596912855 Diane 4 3.55 2007 Austenland (Austenland, #1)
author: Shannon Hale
name: Diane
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/10
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves:
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]]> Wander in the Dark 156740461
Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. Chloe is rich, and hot, and fits right into the perfect life Marcel inherited when their father left Amir’s mother to start a new family with Marcel’s mom. But Chloe is hot enough for Amir to forget that for one night.

Does she want to hook up? Or is she trying to meddle in the estranged brothers� messy family drama? Amir ’t tell. He doesn’t know what Chloe wants from him when, in the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone.

Amir never gets an answer to his question, because when he wakes up, Chloe is dead—stabbed while he was passed out on the couch downstairs—and Amir becomes the only suspect. A Black teenager caught fleeing the scene of the murder of a rich white girl? All of New Orleans agrees, the case is open and shut.

Amir is innocent. He has a lawyer, but unless someone can figure out who really killed Chloe, it doesn’t look good for him. His number one ally? Marcel. Their relationship is messy, but his half brother knows that Amir isn’t a murderer—and maybe proving Amir’s innocence will repair the rift that’s always existed between them.

To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.]]> 400 Jumata Emill 0593651855 Diane 0 4.07 2024 Wander in the Dark
author: Jumata Emill
name: Diane
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/08
date added: 2024/07/08
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]]> <![CDATA[Winter's Redemption (Winter Black #3)]]> 51019508 The Preacher is killing again...

The serial killer who slaughtered Winter’s parents has come out of retirement, leaving bloody victims in his wake. Special Agent Winter Black has spent her entire life preparing for this moment, and she intends to end the man who took everything from her and solve the disappearance of her little brother—no matter the cost.

Though she’s taken off the case, it doesn’t take Winter long to discover that The Preacher isn’t after just another victim.

He’s after her.

In his mind, he’s killing Winter over and over. And with each new murder, he’s leaving a message, one that is holy in the most chilling way.

When the madman kidnaps a fellow agent, Winter is desperate to find him before he kills another person she cares about.]]> 316 Mary Stone Diane 0 4.48 2019 Winter's Redemption (Winter Black #3)
author: Mary Stone
name: Diane
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/06
date added: 2024/07/06
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]]> The Secret Garden 3004
The discovery of a neglected garden transforms the life of a sullen and unloved little girl-and everyone around her, too. When the newly orphaned Mary Lennox leaves her native India and arrives at her uncles mansion in Yorkshire, everything seems strange to her. Then Mary hears of a mysterious garden where no one has set foot in 10 years. With the help of some new friends, she plans to uncover its secrets...and make it blossom once again.]]> 160 Martha Hailey DuBose 1402713193 Diane 0 4.40 The Secret Garden
author: Martha Hailey DuBose
name: Diane
average rating: 4.40
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/05
date added: 2024/07/05
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]]> <![CDATA[The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (The Penderwicks, #1)]]> 266904 262 Jeanne Birdsall Diane 0 4.19 2005 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy (The Penderwicks, #1)
author: Jeanne Birdsall
name: Diane
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/05
date added: 2024/07/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Winter's Curse (Winter Black #2)]]> 51019146 Knowing someone will die is the worst curse...

A bank robbery turns into a blood trail as a pair of unhinged masterminds hack their way through a list of the most notorious US heists. The copycat crimes, emulating famous robberies, escalate as the FBI work with local law enforcement.

But the federal team has problems of its own. Sun Ming, Winter Black’s partner and nemesis, has her own agenda, while Winter ’t keep her mind off The Preacher, the notorious serial killer who murdered her parents and holds the key to finding her missing little brother.

To make matters worse, Winter must attempt to hide her ever growing abilities as the "gift" The Preacher gave her years before turns into a curse that threatens to destroy her, body and soul.]]> 290 Mary Stone Diane 0 4.58 2019 Winter's Curse (Winter Black #2)
author: Mary Stone
name: Diane
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/04
date added: 2024/07/04
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]]> <![CDATA[Winter's Mourn (Winter Black #1)]]> 51018423 A killer is watching�

Thirteen years ago, Winter Black came home early from a sleepover to find her parents brutally murdered and her little brother gone—taken by a serial killer called The Preacher.

Now a rookie FBI agent assigned to her first murder case, Winter has returned to the small Virginia town where she grew up. But when bones found by a hunter lead to the discovery of a secret burial ground containing the remains of children, the investigation suddenly hits close to home as the past and future collide with each new shocking discovery. Will they find her brother’s bones in the makeshift graveyard next?

Only The Preacher knows, and he’ll do anything to keep the past—and its secrets—buried until he’s ready to make his final move.]]> 318 Mary Stone Diane 0 4.30 2019 Winter's Mourn (Winter Black #1)
author: Mary Stone
name: Diane
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/30
date added: 2024/06/30
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]]> <![CDATA[A Dictionary of Scoundrels (The Swifts #1)]]> 61103085 In her family, Shenanigan Swift has always been synonymous with mischief. As Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude always says, "She can't help her name." When a family reunion suddenly turns into a murder mystery, Shenanigan is determined to catch the perpetrator. A celebration of words and individuality, this remarkable debut is both brilliantly contemporary and instantly classic.

shenanigan, noun
1. Tomfoolery, skulduggery, mischief of all varieties
2. A devious trick for an underhanded purpose

On the day they are born, every Swift child is brought before the sacred family dictionary. They are given a name and a definition, one it's assumed they will grow up to match. Unfortunately, Shenanigan Swift doesn't much like being told what to do.

Troublemaker and mischief enthusiast Shenanigan rattles around the grand old Swift house rehearsing Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude's funeral with her older sisters Phenomena and Felicity, plotting future crimes, and wondering whether she is herself by choice or design. When the Family Reunion floods the house with people, Shenanigan is excited to meet her rogue's gallery of relatives--until one of them gives Schadenfreude a deadly shove down the stairs. Shenanigan had planned to spend the reunion hunting for Grand-Uncle Vile's hidden treasure. But more murders and an awful lot of suspects--from newcomers Daisy and Atrocious to beloved Uncle Maelstrom--keep complicating Shenanigans plans.

With some help from her sisters and their newly befriended cousin Erf, can Shenanigan catch the killer? And in a world where definitions are so important, how will she define herself?
]]> 338 Beth Lincoln 0593533232 Diane 0 4.06 2023 A Dictionary of Scoundrels (The Swifts #1)
author: Beth Lincoln
name: Diane
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/30
date added: 2024/06/30
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]]> Pirate Latitudes 6428887
Word in port is that the Spanish treasure galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is stalled in nearby Matanceros harbor awaiting repairs. Heavily fortified, the impregnable Spanish outpost is guarded by the blood-swiller Cazalla, a favorite commander of King Philip IV himself. With the governor′s backing, Hunter assembles a roughneck crew to infiltrate the enemy island and commandeer the galleon, along with its fortune in Spanish gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloody legends of Matanceros suggest, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he finds himself on the island′s shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry are all that stand between him and the treasure.

With the help of his cunning crew, Hunter hijacks El Trinidad and escapes the deadly clutches of Cazalla, leaving plenty of carnage in his wake. But his troubles have just begun. . . .]]> 312 Michael Crichton 0061929379 Diane 0 currently-reading 3.46 2009 Pirate Latitudes
author: Michael Crichton
name: Diane
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead]]> 13588356 Researcher and thought leader Dr. Brené Brown offers a powerful new vision that encourages us to dare greatly: to embrace vulnerability and imperfection, to live wholeheartedly, and to courageously engage in our lives.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; . . . who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.� —Theodore Roosevelt

Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Whether the arena is a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation, we must find the courage to walk into vulnerability and engage with our whole hearts.

In Daring Greatly, Dr. Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability. Based on twelve years of research, she argues that vulnerability is not weakness, but rather our clearest path to courage, engagement, and meaningful connection. The book that Dr. Brown’s many fans have been waiting for, Daring Greatly will spark a new spirit of truth—and trust—in our organizations, families, schools, and communities.]]> 287 Brené Brown 1592407331 Diane 0 currently-reading 4.29 2012 Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
author: Brené Brown
name: Diane
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/23
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> Starling House 65213595 A grim and gothic new tale from author Alix E. Harrow about a small town haunted by secrets that can't stay buried and the sinister house that sits at the crossroads of it all.

Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote The Underland--and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it’s best to let the uncanny house―and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling―go to rot.

Opal knows better than to mess with haunted houses or brooding men, but an unexpected job offer might be a chance to get her brother out of Eden. Too quickly, though, Starling House starts to feel dangerously like something she’s never had: a home.

As sinister forces converge on Starling House, Opal and Arthur are going to have to make a dire choice to dig up the buried secrets of the past and confront their own fears, or let Eden be taken over by literal nightmares.

If Opal wants a home, she’ll have to fight for it.]]> 320 Alix E. Harrow 1250799058 Diane 5 3.77 2023 Starling House
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Diane
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/23
date added: 2024/06/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, #1)]]> 249747 Artemis Fowl is a riveting, magical adventure.]]> 396 Eoin Colfer Diane 0 3.86 2001 Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl, #1)
author: Eoin Colfer
name: Diane
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/21
date added: 2024/06/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)]]> 196864520

The viral TikTok friends-to-lovers dark romantic comedy full of murder, chaos, and spice—unlike anything you’ve read before—now available in all bookstores.


When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of like-minded, pitch-black souls. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country.


But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

]]> 360 Brynne Weaver Diane 0 4.00 2023 Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)
author: Brynne Weaver
name: Diane
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/20
date added: 2024/06/20
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]]> Nantucket Nights 8145194 The ties between women can run as deep as the ocean--but so can the secrets.For 20 years, Kayla, Antoinette and Val have performed their own special summer ritual. Once a year, the old friends put aside their daily, separate lives to drink champagne, swap stories and swim naked under the Nantucket stars. But on one of those bonding nights, one of their trio swims out from the shore and doesn't return. After the surviving friends emerge from their grief, they realize that the repercussions of their loss go far beyond their little circle, and they begin to uncover layers of secrets--and their connections to each other--that were never revealed on the beach. What has made their friendship strong now has the power to destroy--their marriages, families, even themselves, in Elin Hilderbrand's Nantucket Nights.]]> 240 Elin Hilderbrand Diane 0 3.83 2002 Nantucket Nights
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Diane
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/19
date added: 2024/06/19
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]]> <![CDATA[Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons, #4)]]> 110384
Colin Bridgerton is tired of being thought nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of everyone's preoccupation with the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can't seem to publish an edition without mentioning him in the first paragraph. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same - especially Penelope Featherington! The girl haunting his dreams. But when he discovers that Penelope has secrets of her own, this elusive bachelor must decide...is she his biggest threat - or his promise of a happy ending?]]> 370 Julia Quinn 0380820846 Diane 0 3.86 2002 Romancing Mister Bridgerton (Bridgertons, #4)
author: Julia Quinn
name: Diane
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/14
date added: 2024/06/14
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Prisoner of Cell 25 (Michael Vey, #1)]]> 11337912 My name is Michael Vey, and the story I’m about to tell you is strange. Very strange. It’s my story.

To everyone at Meridian High School, Michael Vey is an ordinary fourteen-year-old. In fact, the only thing that seems to set him apart is the fact that he has Tourette’s syndrome. But Michael is anything but ordinary. Michael has special powers. Electric powers.

Michael thinks he's unique until he discovers that a cheerleader named Taylor also has special powers. With the help of Michael’s friend, Ostin, the three of them set out to discover how Michael and Taylor ended up this way, but their investigation brings them to the attention of a powerful group who wants to control the electric children � and through them the world. Michael will have to rely on his wits, powers, and friends if he’s to survive.]]> 336 Richard Paul Evans 1451656505 Diane 0 4.23 2011 The Prisoner of Cell 25 (Michael Vey, #1)
author: Richard Paul Evans
name: Diane
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/13
date added: 2024/06/13
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]]> The Last Thing He Told Me 56169546
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a U.S. marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.]]> 316 Laura Dave 1501171364 Diane 4 4.08 2021 The Last Thing He Told Me
author: Laura Dave
name: Diane
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/10
date added: 2024/06/10
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[It Had to be Mason (Beachbreak High, #1)]]> 55813697 Ask your brother’s best friend nicely, and he’ll teach you how to date. He might even teach you how to kiss�

Zoe Walsh is the most awkward girl in Beachbreak High. For years, she’s admired her crush from afar, but she’s NEVER talked to him. What would she even say? She doesn’t know the first thing about boys, or dating. The only thing she really knows is dancing.

Mason McClellan is the charming, all-star quarterback who gets all the girls. He’s also Zoe’s brother’s best friend. This year, he plans to take the hottest girl in school to Homecoming. But she refuses to be his date unless he can dance. Sadly, Mason has two left feet.

When Zoe approaches Mason for dating advice, he cuts her a deal: if she teaches him how to dance, he’ll teach her how to date. Lessons include how to get your crush to notice you, how to get asked on a date, and how to kiss.

The last thing they expect is to fall for each other. But as Homecoming draws near, Zoe wonders � if dating Mason is just practice, how come it feels so much like the real thing?

It Had to be Mason is the first book in the Beachbreak High YA sweet romance series. If you like adorable dates, laugh-out-loud moments, and all of the feels, you’ll love Emily Lowry’s sweet romances.]]> 206 Emily Lowry Diane 0 4.03 2020 It Had to be Mason (Beachbreak High, #1)
author: Emily Lowry
name: Diane
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Remember When (Remember Trilogy, #1)]]> 75261903 Alternative cover editions for this ASIN can be found here, here & here.


You know how sometimes, your high school crush grows up to become an insanely famous movie star?
Okay, probably not. But I do.

Although, I guess I’m getting ahead of myself.

Trip wasn’t always the gorgeous Hollywood A-lister you see these days on the big screen. Back in 1990 he was just the “new kid� who sat behind me in my fifth period English class.

He was always gorgeous, however.

I mean, he was That Guy. You know the one. That guy who could raise your blood pressure just by passing you in the hall. That guy who could melt you with a single look aimed in your general direction.

So, you may want to bust out your stretch pants and tease out those mall bangs, ladies, because we’re going back in time. Back to the days of keg parties, making out in cars, and big fricking hair. Back to a time when almost every girl in town found themselves drooling over a guy named Trip.

I should know.

I was one of them.

And my life hasn’t been the same since.

With heart-shredding romance, steamy love scenes, and hilarious eighties references, readers of all ages will find themselves remembering their own first loves. Remember When is an endearing journey through the tumultuous world of friendship and family, adolescence and adulthood�

…and the memory of that one incredible guy your heart just can't seem to forget.

** This romantic comedy novel is intended for mature teen readers and immature adult readers due to some sexual situations, underage drinking, questionable language, and 1980s flashbacks. **]]> 291 T. Torrest Diane 0 3.81 2012 Remember When (Remember Trilogy, #1)
author: T. Torrest
name: Diane
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/01
shelves:
review:

]]> Wretched (Never After, #3) 60601111 From international bestselling author, Emily McIntire, comes a dark and delicious fractured fairy tale reimagining of The Wizard of Oz.

A woman can be great, and terrible too.

Evelina Westerly has always been the bad guy. As the brains, brawn, and botanist behind her family's drug empire, she's her father's ruthless secret weapon. With her days divided between perfecting her greenhouse, seeking revenge for her sister's murder, and putting a gun to the head of anyone in her way, Evelina doesn't have time for anything else. Especially not for love. After a one-night stand with a gorgeous man at a nightclub, she's sated her urges and is back to her criminal ways. That is, until that same man shows up as the new Westerly lackey...under a totally different name.

But Nicholas Woodsworth's real secret is much more dangerous than an alias. He's an undercover DEA agent, and he's hell-bent on destroying the drug trade that devastated his family. When he realizes the youngest daughter of the Westerly empire is the same woman he's been fantasizing about since that night at the club, attraction wars violently with disgust. Evelina embodies everything he's against, and he's been sent here to be her downfall. Yet the more they learn about the darkness in each other's hearts, the more alike they seem, and when hatred turns to something more, Nicholas will have to decide whether he can love a wretched woman, even if it means bringing both of their lives to ruin.

Wretched is a dark, contemporary romance and the third complete standalone in The Never After Series: A collection of fractured fairy tales inspired by our favorite villains. It is not fantasy and it is not a retelling. Reader discretion is advised. For all content warnings check the author's website. ]]> 282 Emily McIntire Diane 0 3.84 2022 Wretched (Never After, #3)
author: Emily McIntire
name: Diane
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/05/19
date added: 2024/05/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Dark One (Vicious Lost Boys, #2)]]> 60503280 I spent most of my life feeling dead inside -- until I met Peter Pan and the Lost Boys.

It wasn't until Pan and Neverland that I finally felt alive.

But things are not all full of magic and sunlight on the island. There's something darker and more sinister haunting the forest.

And worse, the fae queen and Captain Hook are ready to fight for control of Neverland and they will stop at nothing to get what they want. Including using the one thing Pan never thought he wanted or needed -- me. I'm a descendant of the Darling family and now I belong to him and the Lost Boys.

War is brewing -- can the Never King get his shadow back and assume his rightful throne? And if he does, where will I fit?

Or will all of Neverland be in jeopardy right along with my dark, twisted heart?

NOTE: The Dark One is book two in the Vicious Lost Boys series. It is a dark reimagining of Peter and Wendy. If you like your enemies to lovers romance with hot, ruthless, morally gray love interests, you’ll enjoy The Dark One and the Lost Boys. You can expect hate kissing, fighting, bickering, and ‘touch her and I’ll unalive you� vibes.

Please check the author's website for CWs.]]> 226 Nikki St. Crowe Diane 2 3.96 2022 The Dark One (Vicious Lost Boys, #2)
author: Nikki St. Crowe
name: Diane
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout, #1)]]> 60060431 Bearded, bad-boy barber Knox prefers to live his life the way he takes his coffee: Alone. Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon.
Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.

Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.

Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.

There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.

At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.]]> 572 Lucy Score 1945631848 Diane 4 4.15 2022 Things We Never Got Over (Knockemout, #1)
author: Lucy Score
name: Diane
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/28
date added: 2024/04/28
shelves:
review:

]]> Hush-A-Bye 57535481 A delightfully creepy story perfect for the middle school set! Hush-a-Bye is an old, broken doll found by Lucy and her sister in the woods. It seems to possess extraordinary powers, but will it use them for good or evil?

Like most kids with younger siblings, Lucy loves her sister Antonia, but is all too frequently annoyed with her as well. The two spend most of their time together since their mother works so hard, but without friends Lucy ’t help but feel lonely anyway. She’s always tried to ignore the bullying and teasing at school about her family being poor—it’s always best to keep her head down and do nothing.

When the girls find an old, muddy doll head in the river, Antonia claims it as her newest treasure. At night Lucy hears her talking to Hush-a-Bye—and does she hear the doll talking back? Soon, Hush-a-Bye seems to be protecting Antonia by making bad things happen to others, and it isn’t long before Lucy asks for its help against her tormentors, too. Slowly Hush-a-Bye’s influence forms a wedge between the sisters, and Antonia’s dependence on it becomes frightening. The doll has a mind of its own, and soon it will have Antonia’s as well. Can Lucy solve the mystery of Hush-a-Bye to stop its evil plans?]]> 240 Jody Lee Mott 0593206800 Diane 0 3.81 2021 Hush-A-Bye
author: Jody Lee Mott
name: Diane
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/22
date added: 2024/04/22
shelves:
review:

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