en-US Thu, 24 Apr 2025 14:48:05 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 59237338 Gritty and unflinching, yet also tender, fantastical, and funny, a trans woman’s coming-of-age tale about finding a community among fellow outcasts.

Born in the small Argentine town of Mina Clavero, Camila is designated male but begins to identify from an early age as a girl. She is well aware that she’s different from other children and reacts to her oppressive, poverty-stricken home life, with a cowed mother and abusive, alcoholic father, by acting out—with swift consequences. Deeply intelligent, she eventually leaves for the city to attend university, slipping into prostitution to make ends meet. And in Sarmiento Park, in the heart of Córdoba, she discovers the strange, wonderful world of the trans sex workers who dwell there.

Taken under the wing of Auntie Encarna, the 178-year-old eternal whose house shelters this unconventional extended family, Camila becomes a part of their stories—of a Headless Man who fled his country’s wars, a mute young woman who transforms into a bird, an abandoned baby boy who brings a twinkle to your eye.

Camila Sosa Villada’s extraordinary first novel is a rich, nuanced portrait of a marginalized community: their romantic relationships, friendships and squabbles, difficulties at work, aspirations and disappointments. It bears witness to these lives constantly haunted by the specter of death—by disease or more violent means at the hands of customers, boyfriends, or the police—yet full of passion, empathy, and insight.]]> 208 Camila Sosa Villada 1635422027 Leila 0 currently-reading 4.32 2019
author: Camila Sosa Villada
name: Leila
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: currently-reading
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]]> 382450
Marsh meant to turn down York’s offer. It was too full of secrets that spelled danger. But the promise of both gold and a grand new boat that could make history crushed his resolve—coupled with the terrible force of York’s mesmerizing gaze. Not until the maiden voyage of his new sidewheeler Fevre Dream would Marsh realize he had joined a mission both more sinister, and perhaps more noble, than his most fantastic nightmare...and mankind’s most impossible dream.

Here is the spellbinding tale of a vampire’s quest to unite his race with humanity, of a garrulous riverman’s dream of immortality, and of the undying legends of the steamboat era and a majestic, ancient river.]]> 334 George R.R. Martin 0553383051 Leila 0 3.88 1982
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Leila
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
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]]> 18626865
Contains stories such as "The Goose Girl", "Hansel and Grethel", "Cinderella", "The Golden Goose", "The Frog Prince" and many more.]]> 144 Jacob Grimm Leila 0 4.16 1812
author: Jacob Grimm
name: Leila
average rating: 4.16
book published: 1812
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/20
date added: 2025/04/21
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]]> 223900 212 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 0451527712 Leila 0 3.76 1818
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: Leila
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1818
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/20
date added: 2025/04/21
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]]> 55452104 "‘I have heard all of the stories about girls like me, and I am unafraid to make more of them.��

If you read this story out loud, please use the following voices:
Me: as a child, high-pitched, forgettable; as a woman, the same.
The boy who will grow into a man, and be my spouse: robust with his own good fortune.
My father: Like your father, or the man you wish was your father.
My son: as a small child, gentle, rounded with the faintest of lisps; as a man, like my husband.
All other women: interchangeable with my own.

Carmen Maria Machado is the celebrated author of the memoir In the Dream House and the vibrant story collection Her Body and Other Parties. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, the Brooklyn Public Library Literature Prize, a Shirley Jackson Award and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize.]]> 45 Carmen Maria Machado Leila 0 4.32
author: Carmen Maria Machado
name: Leila
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/15
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]]> 1371
Combining the skills of a poet and scholar, Robert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, brings the energy of contemporary language to this enduring heroic epic. He maintains the drive and metric music of Homer’s poetry, and evokes the impact and nuance of the Iliad’s mesmerizing repeated phrases in what Peter Levi calls “an astonishing performance.”]]> 614 Homer 0140275363 Leila 4 currently-reading 3.88 -800
author: Homer
name: Leila
average rating: 3.88
book published: -800
rating: 4
read at: 2006/12/01
date added: 2025/04/15
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]]> 201750794
They aren’t the heroes of legend, like Lancelot or Gawain. They’re the oddballs of the Round Tables, from the edges of the stories, like Sir Palomides, the Saracen Knight and Sir Dagonet, Arthur’s fool, who was knighted as a joke. They’re joined by Nimue, who was Merlin’s apprentice until she turned on him and buried him under a hill. Together this ragtag fellowship will set out to rebuild Camelot in a world that has lost its balance.

But Arthur’s death has revealed Britain’s fault lines. God has abandoned it, and the fairies and monsters and old gods are returning, led by Arthur’s half-sister Morgan le Fay. Kingdoms are turning on each other, warlords are laying siege to Camelot, and rival factions are forming around the disgraced Lancelot and the fallen Queen Guinevere. It is up to Collum and his companions to reclaim Excalibur, solve the mysteries of this ruined world and make it whole again. But before they can restore Camelot they’ll have to learn the truth of why the lonely, brilliant King Arthur fell and lay to rest the ghosts of his troubled family and of Britain’s dark past.]]> 673 Lev Grossman 0735224048 Leila 0 3.94 2024
author: Lev Grossman
name: Leila
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/15
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]]> 39885660 104 T.H. White Leila 0 3.03 1939
author: T.H. White
name: Leila
average rating: 3.03
book published: 1939
rating: 0
read at: 2021/10/01
date added: 2025/04/08
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]]> 56179377
Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.

On her quest, Marra is joined by the gravewitch, a reluctant fairy godmother, a strapping former knight, and a chicken possessed by a demon. Together, the five of them intend to be the hand that closes around the throat of the prince and frees Marra's family and their kingdom from its tyrannous ruler at last.]]> 243 T. Kingfisher 1250244048 Leila 0 4.07 2022
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Leila
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
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]]> 51190882
Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

At once feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.

Librarian Note: Older cover of B07VH6Y4JD.]]> 119 Nghi Vo Leila 3 3.91 2020
author: Nghi Vo
name: Leila
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> 53265678
Nghi Vo returns to the empire of Ahn and The Singing Hills Cycle in this mesmerizing, lush standalone follow-up to The Empress of Salt and Fortune.]]> 128 Nghi Vo 1250786169 Leila 3 4.15 2020
author: Nghi Vo
name: Leila
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> 36896898 Spinning Silver draws readers deeper into a glittering realm of fantasy, where the boundary between wonder and terror is thinner than a breath, and safety can be stolen as quickly as a kiss.

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty—until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.

When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh—Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar.

But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love.

Channeling the vibrant heart of myth and fairy tale, Spinning Silver weaves a multilayered, magical tapestry that readers will want to return to again and again.]]> 465 Naomi Novik Leila 4 4.20 2018
author: Naomi Novik
name: Leila
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> 752900
Euripides' masterly portrayal of the motives fiercely driving Medea's pursuit of vengeance for her husband's insult and betrayal has held theater audiences spellbound for more than twenty centuries. Rex Warner's authoritative translation brings this great classic of world literature vividly to life.

Reprint of the John Lane, The Bodley Head Limited, London, 1944 edition.]]> 59 Euripides 0486275485 Leila 0 3.93 -431
author: Euripides
name: Leila
average rating: 3.93
book published: -431
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/31
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]]> 18423 The Left Hand of Darkness tells the story of a lone human emissary to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants spend most of their time without a gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely dissimilar culture that he encounters.

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science fiction.]]> 304 Ursula K. Le Guin Leila 4 4.11 1969
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Leila
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1969
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/27
date added: 2025/03/27
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]]> 8117484 140 Frederic P. Miller 6130738285 Leila 0 4.10 2010
author: Frederic P. Miller
name: Leila
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at: 2015/01/01
date added: 2025/03/24
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]]> 2956 327 Mark Twain 0142437174 Leila 0 to-read 3.82 1884
author: Mark Twain
name: Leila
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1884
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: to-read
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]]> 52570 Down and Dirty Pictures chronicles the rise of independent filmmakers and of the twin engines the Sundance Film Festival and Miramax Films that have powered them. Peter Biskind profiles the people who took the independent movement from obscurity to the Oscars, most notably Sundance founder Robert Redford and Harvey Weinstein, who with his brother, Bob, made Miramax an indie powerhouse. Candid, penetrating and controversial, Down and Dirty Pictures is a must read for anyone interested in the film world.]]> 560 Peter Biskind 0684862581 Leila 0 3.79 2004
author: Peter Biskind
name: Leila
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at: 2016/02/01
date added: 2025/03/24
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]]> 35959740
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.]]> 393 Madeline Miller 0316556343 Leila 4 4.22 2018
author: Madeline Miller
name: Leila
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
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]]> 5313289
Published here alongside their evocative original illustrations, these fairy tales, as Oscar Wilde himself explained, were written “partly for children, and partly for those who have kept the childlike faculties of wonder and joy.”]]> 240 Oscar Wilde 0451531078 Leila 0 4.15 1891
author: Oscar Wilde
name: Leila
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1891
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/03/23
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]]> 57224204
Ten years after his prize-winning novel Chinaman established him as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost authors, Shehan Karunatilaka is back with a “thrilling satire�� (Economist) and rip-roaring state-of-the-nation epic that offers equal parts mordant wit and disturbing, profound truths.]]> 386 Shehan Karunatilaka 1908745908 Leila 5 3.89 2022
author: Shehan Karunatilaka
name: Leila
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/18
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]]> 67695
Mary Renault wrote this delightfully provocative novel in the early 1940s, creating characters that are lighthearted, charming, and free-spirited partly in answer to the despair characteristic of Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness or Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour. The result is a witty and stylish story that offers exceptional insight into the world of upcoming writers and artists of in 1930s London, chronicling their rejection of society’s established sexual mores and their heroic pursuits of art and life.]]> 304 Mary Renault 0375714219 Leila 0 3.39 1943
author: Mary Renault
name: Leila
average rating: 3.39
book published: 1943
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/16
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]]> 58526936 Jordan L. Hawk, author of the Whyborne & Griffin series.“If you're looking for fainting pretty boys, this book is not for you. Fenn and Morgrim are grown worn, world weary, stronger than they know, and scared to reach for what they want—for a while. The world is tangible, often beautiful, the story complex and engrossing, by turns dark, gritty, humorous, tragic, and rough. It's the kind of story that stays with you after you've devoured the final page.�� - Lynn Flewelling, author of the Nightrunner Series and the Tamír Triad.“Seducing the Sorcerer is tender, sharp, and funny all at once. I was immediately drawn into the magical world that Lee Welch deftly creates and happily stayed up well into the night reading.�� �� Cat Sebastian, author of The Queer Principles of Kit Webb and the Seducing the Sedgwicks series.“Seducing the Sorcerer is a classic ‘grumpy one falls for…extremely grumpy one�� romance, featuring two middle-aged cynics who might just be each other’s sunshine. Throw in some magical mysteries, a gothic tower, and a healthy dose of skullduggery. Add libraries, kittens and magical horses. It all adds up to a bracing hug of a book that’s full of heart.�� �� Dr Sam Hirst, Romancing the Gothic.]]> 261 Lee Welch 0473583283 Leila 0 4.06 2021
author: Lee Welch
name: Leila
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
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]]> 29780253
Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents�� indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.]]> 289 Trevor Noah 0385689225 Leila 0 4.48 2016
author: Trevor Noah
name: Leila
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2018/10/01
date added: 2025/03/10
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]]> 43587154 JADE CITY is a gripping Godfather-esque saga of intergenerational blood feuds, vicious politics, magic, and kungfu.

The Kaul family is one of two crime syndicates that control the island of Kekon. It's the only place in the world that produces rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities.

The Green Bone clans of honorable jade-wearing warriors once protected the island from foreign invasion--but nowadays, in a bustling post-war metropolis full of fast cars and foreign money, Green Bone families like the Kauls are primarily involved in commerce, construction, and the everyday upkeep of the districts under their protection.

When the simmering tension between the Kauls and their greatest rivals erupts into open violence in the streets, the outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones and the future of Kekon itself.]]> 540 Fonda Lee 0316440884 Leila 0 to-read 4.06 2017
author: Fonda Lee
name: Leila
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> 61242426
The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success �� not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.]]> 296 Travis Baldree Leila 0 4.04 2022
author: Travis Baldree
name: Leila
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
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]]> 66693 344 R.A. Salvatore 0786942460 Leila 0 to-read 4.13 1988
author: R.A. Salvatore
name: Leila
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/09
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]]> 14201
Proceeding to London, he raises a beautiful woman from the dead and summons an army of ghostly ships to terrify the French. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician: the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange.

Young, handsome and daring, Strange is the very antithesis of Norrell. So begins a dangerous battle between these two great men which overwhelms that between England and France. And their own obsessions and secret dabblings with the dark arts are going to cause more trouble than they can imagine.]]> 1006 Susanna Clarke Leila 5 3.84 2004
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Leila
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/03/07
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]]> 67700 The Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexander’s life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. Abducted and gelded as a boy, Bagoas was sold as a courtesan to King Darius of Persia, but found freedom with Alexander after the Macedon army conquered his homeland.
Their relationship sustains Alexander as he weathers assassination plots, the demands of two foreign wives, a sometimes-mutinous army, and his own ferocious temper. After Alexander’s mysterious death, we are left wondering if this Persian boy understood the great warrior and his ambitions better than anyone.]]> 420 Mary Renault 0394751019 Leila 5 4.18 1972
author: Mary Renault
name: Leila
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1972
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/07
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]]> 17403672
But a day after the caravan had departed from Bessa, Hakkim discovered the terrible secret that the concubines had hidden from him.His reaction was swift and cruel.

Kill the women of the harem forthwith, along with their children and maidservants. Let not one survive. Their bodies let the desert claim, and their names be fed to silence.

This, then, is the tale - or tales - of how a remarkable group of women fight together to survive both the fury of Hakkim and the rigours of the desert. It is the tale of Zuleika, whose hidden past holds the key to their future, and of Rem, the librarian whose tears are ink. Of the wise Gursoon, who defines the group's conscience, and of the silver-tongued thief, Anwar Das, who knows when to ignore that conscience.

This is the tale of the forging of a rabble of concubines, children, camel-herds and thieves into an army of silk and steel. It is the tale of the redemption and rise of Bessa, fabled City of Women. And it is the tale of an act of kindness that carries the seed of death, and will return to bring darkness and the end of a dream . . .]]> 544 Mike Carey 0575132663 Leila 0 to-read 3.91 2012
author: Mike Carey
name: Leila
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/06
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]]> 203578730 Her beauty hides a deadly purpose.

Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue—convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.

Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.

Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall—and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.]]> 325 Ann Liang 1250289467 Leila 0 3.84 2024
author: Ann Liang
name: Leila
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
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]]> 4822565 151 Andrea Camilleri 8838922489 Leila 0 to-read 3.95 2008
author: Andrea Camilleri
name: Leila
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> 3227063 New York Times Bestselling author Brent Weeks...
For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art-and he is the city's most accomplished artist.

For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he's grown up in the slums, and learned to judge people quickly - and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.

But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins' world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death.]]> 645 Brent Weeks 0316033677 Leila 0 to-read 4.15 2008
author: Brent Weeks
name: Leila
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/04
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]]> 52378525
Lito val Lucius climbed his way out of the slums to become an elite soldier of Venus, but was defeated in combat by none other than Saito Ren, resulting in the disappearance of his partner, Hiro. When Lito learns that Hiro is both alive and a traitor to the cause, he now has a shot at redemption: track down and kill his former partner. But when he discovers recordings that Hiro secretly made, Lito’s own allegiances are put to the test. Ultimately, he must decide between following orders and following his heart.]]> 352 Linden A. Lewis 198212699X Leila 0 to-read 3.83 2020
author: Linden A. Lewis
name: Leila
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> 29588376 ASIN B000JMKNJ2 moved to the more recent edition

An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.]]> 752 Scott Lynch Leila 0 to-read 4.32 2006
author: Scott Lynch
name: Leila
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> 56396442 177 J.C. Kang 171226592X Leila 0 to-read 3.83 2019
author: J.C. Kang
name: Leila
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> 50608676
Tracker is known far and wide for his skills as a hunter: "He has a nose," people say. Engaged to track down a mysterious boy who disappeared three years earlier, Tracker breaks his own rule of always working alone when he finds himself part of a group that comes together to search for the boy. The band is a hodgepodge, full of unusual characters with secrets of their own, including a shape-shifting man-animal known as Leopard.

Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written an adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf explores the fundamentals of truths, the limits of power, the excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all.]]> 640 Marlon James 0735220182 Leila 0 to-read 3.47 2019
author: Marlon James
name: Leila
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> 56036276
Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he's been cast from home. He's found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.

Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli's best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven't been in centuries.

And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.

Darcie Little Badger introduced herself to the world with Elatsoe. In A Snake Falls to Earth, she draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family. It is not to be missed.]]> 377 Darcie Little Badger Leila 0 3.90 2021
author: Darcie Little Badger
name: Leila
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/03
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]]> 7332 386 J.R.R. Tolkien 0618391118 Leila 5 3.99 1977
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Leila
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1977
rating: 5
read at: 2021/02/01
date added: 2025/03/03
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]]> 39359728 “Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers. She does not pretend the past is like the present, or that the people of ancient Greece were just like us. She shows us their strangeness; discerning, sure-footed, challenging our values, piquing our curiosity, she leads us through an alien landscape that moves and delights us.�� —Hilary Mantel

In myth, Theseus was the slayer of the child-devouring Minotaur in Crete. What the founder-hero might have been in real life is another question, brilliantly explored in The King Must Die. Drawing on modern scholarship and archaeological findings at Knossos, Mary Renault’s Theseus is an utterly lifelike figure—a king of immense charisma, whose boundless strivings flow from strength and weakness—but also one steered by implacable prophecy.

The story follows Theseus’s adventures from Troizen to Eleusis, where the death in the book’s title is to take place, and from Athens to Crete, where he learns to jump bulls and is named king of the victims. Richly imbued with the spirit of its time, this is a page-turner as well as a daring act of imagination.

Renault’s story of Theseus continues with the sequel The Bull from the Sea.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Mary Renault including rare images of the author.
]]> 354 Mary Renault 1480433128 Leila 0 to-read 3.92 1958
author: Mary Renault
name: Leila
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1958
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 360436 Funeral Games opens, Alexander the Great lies dying. Around his body gather the generals, the provincial satraps and the royal wives, already competing for the prizes of power and land. Only Bagoas, the Persian boy mourning in the shadows, wants nothing. Tracing the events of the fifteen years following Alexander's death, Funeral Games sees his mighty empire disintegrate, and brings Mary Renault's Alexander trilogy to a dramatic close.]]> 284 Mary Renault 0099463490 Leila 0 to-read 4.02 1981
author: Mary Renault
name: Leila
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1981
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 67697
In Alexander's childhood, his defiant character was molded into the makings of a king. His mother, Olympias, and his father, King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son's loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. His love for the youth Hephaistion, on whom he depended for he rest of his life, taught him trust, whilst Aristotle's tutoring provoked his mind and Homer's Iliad fuelled his aspirations. He killed his first man in battle at the age of twelve and became the commander of Macedon's cavalry at eighteen - by the time his father was murdered and he acceded to the throne, Alexander's skills had grown to match his fiery ambition.]]> 375 Mary Renault 0375726829 Leila 0 to-read 3.98 1969
author: Mary Renault
name: Leila
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1969
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 17343
Set against the backdrop of Glome, a barbaric, pre-Christian world, the struggles between sacred and profane love are illuminated as Orual learns that we cannot understand the intent of the gods "till we have faces" and sincerity in our souls and selves.]]> 313 C.S. Lewis Leila 0 to-read 4.19 1956
author: C.S. Lewis
name: Leila
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> 333333 Georges is a classic swashbuckling adventure. Brilliantly translated by Tina A. Kover in lively, fluid prose, this is Dumas's most daring work, in which his themes of intrigue and romance are illuminated by the issues of racial prejudice and the profound quest for identity.

Georges Munier is a sensitive boy growing up in the nineteenth century on the island of Mauritius. The son of a wealthy mulatto, Pierre Munier, Georges regularly sees how his father's courage is tempered by a sense of inferiority before whites and Georges vows that he will be different.

When Georges matures into a man committed to moral superiority mixed with physical strength; the stage is set for a conflict with the island's rich and powerful plantation owner, Monsieur de Malm[;die)I can't connect this to anything], and a forbidden romance with Sara, the beautiful woman engaged to Malm's son.

With swordplay, a slave rebellion, a harrowing escape, and a vow of vengeance Georges is unmistakably the work of the master who wrote "The Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte Cristo." Yet it stands apart as the only book Dumas ever wrote that confronts the subject of race, a potent topic, since Dumas was of African ancestry himself.

This edition also features a captivating Introduction by Jamaica Kincaid and an eloquent Afterword and Notes by Werner Sollors, who addresses key themes such as colonialism, racism, African slavery, and interracial intimacy.

Long out of print in America, Georges can now be appreciated as never before and added to the greatest works of this immortal author.]]> 336 Alexandre Dumas 067964346X Leila 0 to-read 3.83 1843
author: Alexandre Dumas
name: Leila
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1843
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> 82192 494 Mary Stewart 0060548258 Leila 0 to-read 4.14 1970
author: Mary Stewart
name: Leila
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> 6101718
Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he’s still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery.

He also discovers all the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Something is missing, though. Magic doesn’t bring Quentin the happiness and adventure he dreamed it would. After graduation he and his friends make a stunning discovery: Fillory is real. But the land of Quentin’s fantasies turns out to be much darker and more dangerous than he could have imagined. His childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart.

At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, The Magicians boldly moves into uncharted literary territory, imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions. Lev Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren’t black and white, love and sex aren’t simple or innocent, and power comes at a terrible price.]]> 402 Lev Grossman 0670020559 Leila 0 3.53 2009
author: Lev Grossman
name: Leila
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
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]]> 2166541 Anthropological study 157 Evon Zartman Vogt 003033344X Leila 0 3.44 1970
author: Evon Zartman Vogt
name: Leila
average rating: 3.44
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at: 2016/02/01
date added: 2025/02/27
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]]> 25489134
After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales.

The Bear and the Nightingale is a magical debut novel from a gifted and gorgeous voice. It spins an irresistible spell as it announces the arrival of a singular talent.]]> 319 Katherine Arden 1101885939 Leila 0 to-read 4.07 2017
author: Katherine Arden
name: Leila
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/26
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]]> 150247395
Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities.

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

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

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

Featuring an unforgettable Holmes-and-Watson style pairing, a gloriously labyrinthine plot, and a haunting and wholly original fantasy world, The Tainted Cup brilliantly reinvents the classic mystery tale.]]> 410 Robert Jackson Bennett 1984820702 Leila 0 to-read 4.28 2024
author: Robert Jackson Bennett
name: Leila
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> 6294 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.]]> 329 Diana Wynne Jones 006441034X Leila 0 4.30 1986
author: Diana Wynne Jones
name: Leila
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/21
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]]> 136161488 0 Unknown Leila 0 4.04
author: Unknown
name: Leila
average rating: 4.04
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2021/08/20
date added: 2025/02/17
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]]> 60657589
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.

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

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.]]> 336 Heather Fawcett 059350013X Leila 0 3.99 2023
author: Heather Fawcett
name: Leila
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
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]]> 152034931 A rollicking history of England's earliest kings and queens, a story of narcissists, excessive beheadings, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars, and more, from award-winning British actor and comedian David Mitchell

Think you know the kings and queens of England? Think again.

In Unruly , David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects�� destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear to us today in their portraits.

Taking us right back to King Arthur ( he didn’t exist), Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England right up to the reign of Elizabeth I ( she dies), as the monarchy began to lose its power. It’s a tale of bizarre and curious ascensions, inadequate self-control, and at least one total Cnut, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed King.

How this happened, who it happened to, and why the hell it matters are all questions Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit, and the full erudition of a man who once studied history—and is damned if he’ll let it off the hook for the mess it’s made of everything. 

A funny book that takes history seriously, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how the monarchy came to be—and who is to blame.]]> 433 David Mitchell 0593728491 Leila 0 to-read 4.13 2023
author: David Mitchell
name: Leila
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/14
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]]> 24611565
Or so it seems, until Çeda, a brave young woman from the west end slums, defies the Kings' laws by going outside on the holy night of Beht Zha'ir. What she learns that night sets her on a path that winds through both the terrible truths of the Kings' mysterious history and the hidden riddles of her own heritage. Together, these secrets could finally break the iron grip of the Kings' power...if the nigh-omnipotent Kings don't find her first. ]]> 592 Bradley P. Beaulieu 0756409721 Leila 0 to-read 3.90 2015
author: Bradley P. Beaulieu
name: Leila
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/13
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]]> 263758 THE STALLION: Equally spoiled, equally reckless, bound until death to a bitter servitude.
THE TURK'S HEIR: Fiercest of rivals, most devoted of enemies, whose armor hides a secret. Come into the world of the Arabian Nights, where magic and mystery meet; where justice lays a sinner low, and the magic of the heart turns hate to love.

Includes the full text of the original Bantam edition, slightly revised, with a new introduction and a bonus short story.]]> 262 Judith Tarr 0553276093 Leila 0 to-read 4.06 1989
author: Judith Tarr
name: Leila
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1989
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/13
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]]> 30095 496 Michael Moorcock 0446691402 Leila 0 to-read 3.65 1978
author: Michael Moorcock
name: Leila
average rating: 3.65
book published: 1978
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> 38118138 Rising SFF star P. Djèlí Clark brings an alternate New Orleans of orisha, airships, and adventure to life in his immersive debut novella The Black God's Drums

In an alternate New Orleans caught in the tangle of the American Civil War, the wall-scaling girl named Creeper yearns to escape the streets for the air �� in particular, by earning a spot on-board the airship Midnight Robber. Creeper plans to earn Captain Ann-Marie’s trust with information she discovers about a Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.

But Creeper also has a secret Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, speaks inside her head, and may have her own ulterior motivations.

Soon, Creeper, Oya, and the crew of the Midnight Robber are pulled into a perilous mission aimed to stop the Black God’s Drums from being unleashed and wiping out the entirety of New Orleans.

“Asinewy mosaic of Haitian sky pirates, wily street urchins, and orisha magic.Beguiling and bombastic!�� —Scott Westerfeld, New York Times bestselling author

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 112 P. Djèlí Clark 1250294703 Leila 0 to-read 4.02 2018
author: P. Djèlí Clark
name: Leila
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> 157372468 0 unknown author Leila 0 to-read 0.0
author: unknown author
name: Leila
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/08
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]]> 13623848 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062060624.

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.]]> 408 Madeline Miller Leila 0 to-read 4.30 2011
author: Madeline Miller
name: Leila
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
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]]> 54369251
But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…]]> 306 T. Kingfisher 1614505241 Leila 0 to-read 4.02 2020
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Leila
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> 104089
Tigana is the magical story of a beleaguered land struggling to be free. It is the tale of a people so cursed by the black sorcery of a cruel despotic king that even the name of their once-beautiful homeland cannot be spoken or remembered...

But years after the devastation, a handful of courageous men and women embark upon a dangerous crusade to overthrow their conquerors and bring back to the dark world the brilliance of a long-lost name...Tigana.

Against the magnificently rendered background of a world both sensuous and barbaric, this sweeping epic of a passionate people pursuing their dream is breathtaking in its vision, changing forever the boundaries of fantasy fiction.]]> 676 Guy Gavriel Kay 0451457765 Leila 0 4.07 1990
author: Guy Gavriel Kay
name: Leila
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
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]]> 25622780 Wide Sargasso Sea, a masterpiece of modern fiction, was Jean Rhys’s return to the literary center stage. She had a startling early career and was known for her extraordinary prose and haunting women characters. With Wide Sargasso Sea, her last and best-selling novel, she ingeniously brings into light one of fiction’s most fascinating characters: the madwoman in the attic from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. This mesmerizing work introduces us to Antoinette Cosway, a sensual and protected young woman who is sold into marriage to the prideful Mr. Rochester. Rhys portrays Cosway amidst a society so driven by hatred, so skewed in its sexual relations, that it can literally drive a woman out of her mind.

A new introduction by the award-winning Edwidge Danticat, author most recently of Claire of the Sea Light, expresses the enduring importance of this work. Drawing on her own Caribbean background, she illuminates the setting’s impact on Rhys and her astonishing work.]]> 176 Jean Rhys 0393352560 Leila 0 3.63 1966
author: Jean Rhys
name: Leila
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1966
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/24
date added: 2025/01/24
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]]> 34728667 They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.]]> 544 Tomi Adeyemi 1250170974 Leila 0 to-read 4.10 2018
author: Tomi Adeyemi
name: Leila
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 41952489
Everyone else is fodder, destined to fight and die in the endless war. Young, gift-less Tau knows all this, but he has a plan of escape. He's going to get himself injured, get out early, and settle down to marriage, children, and land. Only, he doesn't get the chance. Those closest to him are brutally murdered, and his grief swiftly turns to anger. Fixated on revenge, Tau dedicates himself to an unthinkable path. He'll become the greatest swordsman to ever live, a man willing to die a hundred thousand times for the chance to kill the three who betrayed him.]]> 535 Evan Winter 031648976X Leila 0 to-read 4.30 2017
author: Evan Winter
name: Leila
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 2152871
To quell the unrest, Ysandre, the queen, sets her decree. She will not divide the lovers, yet neither will she acknowledge them. If they marry, Sidonie will be disinherited, losing her claim on the throne.

There's only one way they can truly be together. Imriel must perform an act of faith: search the world for his infamous mother and bring her back to Terre d'Ange to be executed for treason.

Facing a terrible choice, Imriel and Sidonie prepare ruefully for another long separation. But when a dark foreign force casts a shadow over Terre d'Ange and all the surrounding countries, their world is turned upside down, alliances of the unlikeliest kind are made, and Imriel and Sidonie learn that the god Elua always puts hearts together apurpose.]]> 653 Jacqueline Carey 0446500046 Leila 0 4.32 2008
author: Jacqueline Carey
name: Leila
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
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]]> 40217
When Dorelei and her unborn son are betrayed and he is badly wounded, Imriel finds himself torn between his vow to avenge his wife and child and his desire to seek solace in Sidonie’s arms. This is a battle Alba’s elders would see him loose, even if they must employ sinister forces to accomplish their ends. And treason and magic make murderous bedfellows.]]> 703 Jacqueline Carey 0446500038 Leila 0 4.27 2007
author: Jacqueline Carey
name: Leila
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/14
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]]> 5890 Librarian note: Alternate covers can be found here and here.

'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop... There, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth, stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white'

The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter becomes embroiled in the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons, and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism.

Matthew Sweet's introduction explores the phenomenon of Victorian 'sensation' fiction, and discusses Wilkie Collins's biographical and societal influences. Included in this edition are appendices on theatrical adaptations of the novel and its serialisation history.]]> 672 Wilkie Collins Leila 0 4.00 1859
author: Wilkie Collins
name: Leila
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1859
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/10
date added: 2024/12/10
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]]> 153007 It is whispered that Kushiel's lineage carries the ability to perceive the flaws in mortal souls, to administer an untender mercy. I sense its presence like a shadow on my soul...the memories of blood and branding and horror, and the legacy of cruelty that runs in my veins, shaping my own secret vow and wielding it like a brand against the darkness, whispering it to myself, over and over.
I will try to be good.

Imriel de la Courcel's blood parents are history's most reviled traitors, but his adoptive parents, the Comtesse Phedre and the warrior-priest Joscelin, are Terre d'Ange's greatest champions. Stolen, tortured, and enslaved as a young boy, Imriel is now a Prince of the Blood, third in line for the throne in a land that revels in art, beauty, and desire. It is a court steeped in deeply laid conspiracies...and there are many who would see the young prince dead. Some despise him out of hatred for his birth mother Melisande, who nearly destroyed the realm in her quest for power. Others because they fear he has inherited his mother's irresistible allure - and her dangerous gifts. And as he comes of age, plagued by dark yearnings, Imriel shares their fears.

At the royal court, where gossip is the chosen poison and assailants wield slander instead of swords, the young prince fights character assassins while struggling with his own innermost conflicts. But when Imriel departs to study at the fames University of Tiberium, the perils he faces turn infinitely more deadly.

Searching for wisdom, he finds instead a web of manipulation, where innocent words hide sinister meanings, and your lover of last night may become your hired killer before dawn. Now a simple act of friendship will leave Imriel trapped in a besieged city where the infamous Melisande is worshiped as a goddess; where a dead man leads an army; and where the prince must face his greatest test: to find his true self.]]> 944 Jacqueline Carey 044661002X Leila 0 4.20 2006
author: Jacqueline Carey
name: Leila
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
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]]> 8913370
One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways...But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.]]> 592 Sarah Waters 1101057025 Leila 0 4.05 2002
author: Sarah Waters
name: Leila
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at: 2022/03/01
date added: 2024/11/22
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]]> 18635622 368 George R.R. Martin 0345533488 Leila 0 4.24 2015
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Leila
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/18
date added: 2024/11/18
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]]> 50202953
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 272 Susanna Clarke 163557563X Leila 0 to-read 4.22 2020
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Leila
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/11/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 40223 Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay was sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman who recognized that she was pricked by Kushiel's dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. Phèdre's path has been strange and dangerous. She has lain with princes and pirate kings, battled a wicked temptress, and saved two nations. Through it all, the devoted swordsman Joscelin has been at her side, following the central precept of the angel Cassiel: Protect and serve.

But Phèdre's plans will put his pledge to the test, for she has never forgotten her childhood friend Hyacinthe. She has spent ten long years searching for the key to free him from his eternal indenture to the Master of Straights, a bargain with the gods to save Phèdre and a nation. The search will take Phèdre and Joscelin across the world and down a fabled river to a forgotten land ... and to a power so intense and mysterious, none dare speak its name.]]> 702 Jacqueline Carey 1405034149 Leila 0 4.37 2003
author: Jacqueline Carey
name: Leila
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/03
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]]> 395962 Mighty Kushiel, of Rod and Weal, Late of the Brazen Portals, with blood-tipp'd dart a wound unhealed, pricks the eye of the chosen mortals.

Following hard on the heels of Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey's spectacular debut novel, comes Kushiel's Chosen, a glittering and riveting historical fantasy.

The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. It is said that the angels found the land and saw it was good, and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission - and the first to recognize her for who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre has trained in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Having stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren't far off the mark.

The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phèdre's brow, and they are not yet done with their charge - for while the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe that other heads should wear the crown. And those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge. To protect and serve, Phèdre will once again leave her beloved homeland.

From the sun-drenched villas of La Serenissima to the wilds of old Hellas, from a prison designed to drive the very gods mad to an island of immutable joy, Phèdre will meet old friends and new enemies...and discover a plot so dreadful as to make the earth tremble, masterminded by the one person she cannot turn away from.]]> 678 Jacqueline Carey 0765345048 Leila 0 4.29 2002
author: Jacqueline Carey
name: Leila
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2002
rating: 0
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]]> 10799 A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse. Set against the looming horrors of the battlefield - the weary, demoralized men marching in the rain during the German attack on Caporetto; the profound struggle between loyalty and desertion—this gripping, semiautobiographical work captures the harsh realities of war and the pain of lovers caught in its inexorable sweep. Ernest Hemingway famously said that he rewrote his ending to A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times to get the words right.]]> 293 Ernest Hemingway 0099910101 Leila 0 3.83 1929
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Leila
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1929
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/10/05
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]]> 6400079 208 T.H. White Leila 0 3.87 1940
author: T.H. White
name: Leila
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1940
rating: 0
read at: 2021/12/01
date added: 2024/10/03
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]]> 688770 291 T.H. White 999740985X Leila 0 3.79 1940
author: T.H. White
name: Leila
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1940
rating: 0
read at: 2021/11/01
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]]> 316845
Before there was a famous king named Arthur, there was a curious boy named Wart and a kind old wizard named Merlyn. Transformed by Merlyn into the forms of his fantasy, Wart learns the value of history from a snake, of education from a badger, and of courage from a hawk--the lessons that help turn a boy into a man. Together, Wart and Merlyn take the reader through this timeless story of childhood and adventure--The Sword in the Stone.

T.H. White's classic tale of the young Arthur's questioning and discovery of his life is unparalleled for its wit and wisdom, and for its colorful characters, from the wise Merlyn to the heroic Robin Wood to the warmhearted King Pellinore.

Golden Kite Honor artist Dennis Nolan has loved The Sword in the Stone since childhood, and he imbues White's tale with magic and mystery in his glowing illustrations. Readers who know Arthur or are meeting him for the first time will delight in this beautiful rendering of one of the greatest stories of all time.]]> 352 T.H. White 000675399X Leila 0 3.90 1938
author: T.H. White
name: Leila
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1938
rating: 0
read at: 2021/09/01
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]]> 55507038
When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger first came home with her puppy, Stella, it didn’t take long for her to start drawing connections between her job and her new pet. During the day, she worked with toddlers with significant delays in language development and used Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to help them communicate. At night, she wondered: If dogs can understand words we say to them, shouldn't they be able to say words to us? Can dogs use AAC to communicate with humans?

Christina decided to put her theory to the test with Stella and started using a paw-sized button programmed with her voice to say the word "outside" when clicked, whenever she took Stella out of the house. A few years later, Stella now has a bank of more than thirty word buttons, and uses them daily either individually or together to create near-complete sentences.

How Stella Learned to Talk is part memoir and part how-to guide. It chronicles the journey Christina and Stella have taken together, from the day they met, to the day Stella "spoke" her first word, and the other breakthroughs they've had since. It also reveals the techniques Christina used to teach Stella, broken down into simple stages and actionable steps any dog owner can use to start communicating with their pets.

Filled with conversations that Stella and Christina have had, as well as the attention to developmental detail that only a speech-language pathologist could know, How Stella Learned to Talk will be the indispensable dog book for the new decade.]]> 272 Christina Hunger 0063046830 Leila 0 4.37 2021
author: Christina Hunger
name: Leila
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2022/01/01
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]]> 3094951 365 Frances Ann Degnan 0966965000 Leila 0 3.00 1999
author: Frances Ann Degnan
name: Leila
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1999
rating: 0
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]]> 92003 Hundreds of two-color maps and diagrams survey the journeys of the principal characters day by day -- including all the battles and key locations of the First, Second, and Third Ages. Plans and descriptions of castles, buildings, and distinctive landforms are given, along with thematic maps describing the climate, vegetation, languages, and population distribution of Middle-earth throughout its history. An extensive appendix and an index help readers correlate the maps with Tolkien's novels.]]> 210 Karen Wynn Fonstad 0618126996 Leila 0 4.22 1981
author: Karen Wynn Fonstad
name: Leila
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1981
rating: 0
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]]> 13496
Sweeping from a harsh land of cold to a summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, A Game of Thrones tells a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens. Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; a child is lost in the twilight between life and death; and a determined woman undertakes a treacherous journey to protect all she holds dear. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.]]> 835 George R.R. Martin 0553588486 Leila 0 4.44 1996
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Leila
average rating: 4.44
book published: 1996
rating: 0
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]]> 10572
It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles.

Here is the second volume in George R.R. Martin magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R.R. Martin stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.]]> 1009 George R.R. Martin 0553381695 Leila 0 4.42 1998
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Leila
average rating: 4.42
book published: 1998
rating: 0
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]]> 62291 An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

Here is the third volume in George R.R. Martin's magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. Together, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, victim of the sorceress who holds him in her thrall. Young Robb still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. And as opposing forces manoeuver for the final showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost limits of civilization, accompanied by a horde of mythical Others—a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords...]]> 1177 George R.R. Martin 055357342X Leila 0 4.54 2000
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Leila
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2000
rating: 0
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]]> 13497 Crows will fight over a dead man's flesh, and kill each other for his eyes.

Bloodthirsty, treacherous and cunning, the Lannisters are in power on the Iron Throne in the name of the boy-king Tommen. The war in the Seven Kingdoms has burned itself out, but in its bitter aftermath new conflicts spark to life.

The Martells of Dorne and the Starks of Winterfell seek vengeance for their dead. Euron Crow's Eye, as black a pirate as ever raised a sail, returns from the smoking ruins of Valyria to claim the Iron Isles. From the icy north, where Others threaten the Wall, apprentice Maester Samwell Tarly brings a mysterious babe in arms to the Citadel.

Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory will go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel and the coldest hearts.]]> 1060 George R.R. Martin 055358202X Leila 0 4.16 2005
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Leila
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at: 2021/06/01
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]]> 10664113 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B004XISI4A

In the aftermath of a colossal battle, the future of the Seven Kingdoms hangs in the balance—beset by newly emerging threats from every direction. In the east, Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen, rules with her three dragons as queen of a city built on dust and death. But Daenerys has thousands of enemies, and many have set out to find her. As they gather, one young man embarks upon his own quest for the queen, with an entirely different goal in mind.

Fleeing from Westeros with a price on his head, Tyrion Lannister, too, is making his way to Daenerys. But his newest allies in this quest are not the rag-tag band they seem, and at their heart lies one who could undo Daenerys’s claim to Westeros forever.

Meanwhile, to the north lies the mammoth Wall of ice and stone—a structure only as strong as those guarding it. There, Jon Snow, 998th Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, will face his greatest challenge. For he has powerful foes not only within the Watch but also beyond, in the land of the creatures of ice.

From all corners, bitter conflicts reignite, intimate betrayals are perpetrated, and a grand cast of outlaws and priests, soldiers and skinchangers, nobles and slaves, will face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Some will fail, others will grow in the strength of darkness. But in a time of rising restlessness, the tides of destiny and politics will lead inevitably to the greatest dance of all.]]> 1125 George R.R. Martin Leila 0 4.33 2011
author: George R.R. Martin
name: Leila
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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]]> 672875 512 Thomas Malory 0451528166 Leila 0 currently-reading 3.94 1485
author: Thomas Malory
name: Leila
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1485
rating: 0
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]]> 28475953 Villette, Charlotte Brontë reached the height of her artistic power. First published in 1853, Villette is Brontë's most accomplished and deeply felt work, eclipsing even Jane Eyre in critical acclaim. Her narrator, the autobiographical Lucy Snowe, flees England and a tragic past to become an instructor in a French boarding school in the town of Villette. There she unexpectedly confronts her feelings of love and longing as she witnesses the fitful romance between Dr. John, a handsome young Englishman, and Ginerva Fanshawe, a beautiful coquette. The first pain brings others, and with them comes the heartache Lucy has tried so long to escape. Yet in spite of adversity and disappointment, Lucy Snowe survives to recount the unstinting vision of a turbulent life's journey - a journey that is one of the most insightful fictional studies of a woman's consciousness in English literature.]]> 450 Charlotte Brontë 1519685653 Leila 0 3.72 1853
author: Charlotte Brontë
name: Leila
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1853
rating: 0
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]]> 18839 Orlando 'The longest and most charming love letter in literature', playfully constructs the figure of Orlando as the fictional embodiment of Woolf's close friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West. Spanning three centuries, the novel opens as Orlando, a young nobleman in Elizabeth's England, awaits a visit from the Queen and traces his experience with first love as England under James I lies locked in the embrace of the Great Frost. At the midpoint of the novel, Orlando, now an ambassador in Constantinople, awakes to find that he is now a woman, and the novel indulges in farce and irony to consider the roles of women in the 18th and 19th centuries. As the novel ends in 1928, a year consonant with full suffrage for women. Orlando, now a wife and mother, stands poised at the brink of a future that holds new hope and promise for women.]]> 336 Virginia Woolf 0141184272 Leila 0 3.88 1928
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Leila
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1928
rating: 0
read at: 2020/06/16
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]]> 25454056
This is a collection of short stories, following the adventures of the hit collection THE LAST WISH. Join Geralt as he battles monsters, demons and prejudices alike...]]> 405 Andrzej Sapkowski Leila 0 4.25 1992
author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Leila
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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]]> 40603587
But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good... and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

Librarian's Note: Alternate cover edition of ASIN B0010SIPT4]]> 400 Andrzej Sapkowski Leila 0 4.12 1993
author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Leila
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at: 2020/07/28
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]]> 44767458
When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.]]> 658 Frank Herbert 059309932X Leila 0 4.33 1965
author: Frank Herbert
name: Leila
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1965
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/03
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]]> 91981
Simon, a kitchen boy from the royal castle unknowingly apprenticed to a member of this League, will be sent on a quest that offers the only hope of salvation, a deadly riddle concerning long-lost swords of power. Compelled by fate and perilous magics, he must leave the only home he’s ever known and face enemies more terrifying than Osten Ard has ever seen, even as the land itself begins to die.

After the landmark Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, the epic saga of Osten Ard continues with the brand-new novel, The Heart of What Was Lost. Then don’t miss the upcoming trilogy, The Last King of Osten Ard, beginning with The Witchwood Crown!]]> 672 Tad Williams 0756402697 Leila 0 3.96 1988
author: Tad Williams
name: Leila
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1988
rating: 0
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]]> 28689
It is a time of darkness, dread, and ultimate testing for the realm of Osten Ard, for the wild magic and terrifying minions of the undead Sithi ruler, Ineluki the Storm King, are spreading their seemingly undefeatable evil across the kingdom.

With the very land blighted by the power of Ineluki’s wrath, the tattered remnants of a once-proud human army flee in search of a last sanctuary and rallying point—the Stone of Farewell, a place shrouded in mystery and ancient sorrow.

And even as Prince Josua seeks to rally his scattered forces, Simon and the surviving members of the League of the Scroll are desperately struggling to discover the truth behind an almost-forgotten legend, which will take them from the fallen citadels of humans to the secret heartland of the Sithi—where near-immortals must at last decide whether to ally with the race of men in a final war against those of their own blood.]]> 608 Tad Williams 0756402972 Leila 0 4.09 1990
author: Tad Williams
name: Leila
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1990
rating: 0
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]]> 28691
But whether or not they are successful, the call of battle will lead the valiant followers of Josua Lackhand on a memorable trek to the haunted halls of Asu'a itself - the Sithi's greatest stronghold.]]> 1083 Tad Williams 0756402980 Leila 0 4.19 1993
author: Tad Williams
name: Leila
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at: 2023/06/10
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]]> 18885
In the tradition of T.H. Whites The Once and Future King, the author makes use of the prerequisites of the Arthurian legend: Excalibur, the Holy Grail, Lancelets illicit love for Gwenhwyfar, the destruction of Camelot, but with a twist--she presents the entire panoramic story from the female point of view. No passive by-standers, these earthy priestesses from Avalon literally breathe life into a musty, oft-told tale. In Book One: Mistress of Magic, the Lady of the Lake--Viviane--brings about the marriage of her younger sister Igraine to Uther Pendragon. Their only child, Arthur, is believed to be the last hope in the long standing war between Saxons and Romans. Meanwhile, Morgaine, Igraines daughter by her first marriage to Gorlois, has come under the apprenticeship of Viviane at Avalon. In spite of her great love and hope for Morgaine, Viviane is driven by an unrelenting vision. Miserable, but duty-bound, she tricks Morgaine and Arthur into becoming lovers during the night of the ritual fires. Enraged and shamed by what her aunt has done, Morgaine plans to rid herself of the child that has resulted from their union. Book one ends with Arthurs coronation and Morgaines decision to leave Avalon.]]> 14 Marion Zimmer Bradley 141932506X Leila 0 3.85 1982
author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
name: Leila
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at: 2023/08/27
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]]> 18886 13 Marion Zimmer Bradley 1419324705 Leila 0 4.12 1982
author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
name: Leila
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/03
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]]> 13642
Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.]]> 183 Ursula K. Le Guin Leila 0 4.02 1968
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: Leila
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1968
rating: 0
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]]> 18890
Book Three of the Mists of Avalon series inolves the imaginative retelling of the Arthurian legend, centering around the pagan priestesses of Avalon, who compete for the soul of Great Britain against the rising tide of Christianity.
"The King Stag" takes the listener deeper into the political/religious rivalry in the years following Arthurs coronation. Gwenhwyfar, in possession of a terrible secret, manipulates her husband to secure his loyalty to the Christian church, while Vivians decision to confront Arthur over his betrayal of Avalon results in tragedy.
Behind the scenes, Morgaine arranges the marriage of Lancelet, who has become desperate over the hopeless triangle at Camelot. When Gwenhwyfar hears of his marriage, she vows revenge. Through her own marriage to Uriens of North Wales, Morgaine works to strengthen the cause of Avalon. She returns briefly to the Isle of Mists, only to discover that the time is not yet ripe for her to reign. Book Three concludes with the arrival of young Gwydion (Mordred) on the scene.]]> 12 Marion Zimmer Bradley 1556909179 Leila 0 4.13 1982
author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
name: Leila
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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]]> 18887
Book Four finds Morgaine moving closer to the fate that will set her intractably against Arthur--her lover, brother, and now, enemy. Returning to Camelot during the Feast of Pentecost, Morgaine accuses Arthur of compromising the crown, and demands that he return Excalibur to her. When he refuses, Morgaine arranges a confrontation between her lover, Accolon, and Arthur in the kingdom of Fairy, resulting in Accolons death. Grieving and still without Excalibur, Morgaine makes a hasty retreat to Avalon. When she finally returns to Camelot, it is to retrieve Avalons Holy Regalia, now being used in a Christian mass. Enraged at this betrayal, Morgaine calls upon the Ladys magic, which results in the mysterious "disappearance" of the holy chalice, prompting the companions of the Round Table to embark on a 12-month quest to find it. Events spiral out of control when Lancelet returns, resumes his adulterous relationship with Gwenhwyfar, and is finally exposed. The novel closes with the King Stags death and Morgaines long-anticipated return to Avalon.]]> Marion Zimmer Bradley 1419324721 Leila 0 4.14 1982
author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
name: Leila
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1982
rating: 0
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]]> 18765
I, Claudius and its sequel, Claudius the God, are among the most celebrated, as well the most gripping historical novels ever written.

Cover illustration: Brian Pike]]> 469 Robert Graves 067972477X Leila 0 4.24 1934
author: Robert Graves
name: Leila
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1934
rating: 0
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]]> 52251 I, Claudius, Robert Graves continues the tumultuous life of the Roman who became emperor in spite of himself and his handicaps. Claudius the God reveals the splendor, vitality and decadence of the Roman Empire through the eyes of the wry and bemused Claudius who reigns as emperor for thirteen years. The crippled Claudius describes himself as the fool of the royal family, whom none of his ambitious and blood-thirsty relatives considered worth the trouble of killing. Once in the throne, however, he finds himself at last at the center of the political maelstrom.]]> 533 Robert Graves 0679725733 Leila 0 4.22 1934
author: Robert Graves
name: Leila
average rating: 4.22
book published: 1934
rating: 0
read at: 2023/12/17
date added: 2024/10/03
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]]>