MJ's bookshelf: all en-US Sat, 05 Apr 2025 23:37:04 -0700 60 MJ's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them]]> 61423989
The Roaring Twenties--the Jazz Age--has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.

Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he¡¯d become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows ¨C their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman ¨C Madge Oberholtzer ¨C who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees.

A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND marries a propulsive drama to a powerful and page-turning reckoning with one of the darkest threads in American history.]]> 432 Timothy Egan 0735225265 MJ 0 to-read 4.33 2023 A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
author: Timothy Egan
name: MJ
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening]]> 55883882
Collects MONSTRESS #1-6

About the Creators:

New York Times bestselling and award-winning writer Marjorie Liu is best known for her fiction and comic books. She teaches comic book writing at MIT, and leads a class on Popular Fiction at the Voices of Our Nation (VONA) workshop. Ms. Liu's extensive work includes the bestselling "Astonishing X-Men" for Marvel Comics, which featured the gay wedding of X-Man Northstar and was subsequently nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for outstanding media images of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Prior to writing full-time, Liu was a lawyer. She currently resides in Boston.

Sana Takeda is an illustrator and comic book artist who was born in Niigata, and now resides in Tokyo, Japan. At age 20 she started out as a 3D CGI designer for SEGA, a Japanese video game company, and became a freelance artist when she was 25. She is still an artist, and has worked on titles such as "X-23" and "Ms. Marvel" for Marvel Comics, and is an illustrator for trading card games in Japan.]]> 192 Marjorie M. Liu 1632157098 MJ 0 to-read 3.96 2016 Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening
author: Marjorie M. Liu
name: MJ
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hearts That Cut (Threads That Bind, #2)]]> 198563745
It¡¯s been five weeks since Io left Alante to follow the golden thread, and she¡¯s no closer to finding the god on the other end. She spends her days in constant, grueling travel and her nights worrying over the fate-thread she shares with Edei¡ªwhich seems to be fraying. Making matters worse, she and Bianca soon realize that their only lead has shaken them off, snapped the golden thread, and disappeared.

But not before Io gathers some crucial clues. Her investigation leads her to a new mystery, a rash of sibling disappearances across the Wastelands that seems to be connected to the murders in Alante. And all signs point to Nanzy, the golden city, as the center of the whole conspiracy.

As Io and Bianca make their way to Nanzy, they make powerful enemies, find allies new and old, and uncover a horrifying plot that traces back centuries. The more Io learns, the more she begins to suspect that the future of the world may truly rest on her shoulders. But she will have to determine how much of the future is her choice¡ªand how much is simply her fate.]]> 336 Kika Hatzopoulou 0593528743 MJ 0 to-read 3.96 2024 Hearts That Cut (Threads That Bind, #2)
author: Kika Hatzopoulou
name: MJ
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Automatic Noodle 217388015 From sci-fi visionary and acclaimed author Annalee Newitz comes Automatic Noodle, a cozy near-future novella about a crew of abandoned food service bots opening their very own restaurant.

While San Francisco rebuilds from the chaos of war, a group of food service bots in an abandoned ghost kitchen take over their own delivery app account. They rebrand as a neighborhood lunch spot and start producing some of the tastiest hand-pulled noodles in the city. But there¡¯s just one problem. Someone¨Dor something¨Dis review bombing the restaurant¡¯s feedback page with fake ¡°bad service¡± reports. Can the bots find the culprit before their ratings plummet and destroy everything they created?]]> 176 Annalee Newitz 1250357462 MJ 0 to-read 4.14 2025 Automatic Noodle
author: Annalee Newitz
name: MJ
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Splendor 51035701
After a weeklong stay, Juliette¡¯s sister, Clare, returns from the hotel changed. Her connection to Juliette¨Dthe special bond they once shared¨Dhas vanished. In a moment of hurt and frustration, Juliette steals their meager savings and visits The Splendor herself.

When she arrives, she¡¯s taken in by the lush and sumptuous hotel. But as she delves more deeply into the mystery of the place, and how they make their illusions work, she grows more and more uneasy. The Splendor has a seedy underbelly, but every time she gets close to discovering something real, she seems to hit a wall.

Meanwhile, Juliette meets Henri, an illusionist who lives and works at the hotel. Henri¡¯s job is to provide Juliette with the same Signature Experience he gives all the guests¨Done tailored fantasy that will make her stay unforgettable. As he gets to know her, he realizes that not only is he ill-equipped to make her dreams come true, he¡¯s the cause of her heartache.]]> 330 Breeana Shields 1645673227 MJ 0 to-read 3.76 2021 The Splendor
author: Breeana Shields
name: MJ
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Stars and Smoke (Stars and Smoke, #1)]]> 123185412
Meet Winter Young¨DGlobal pop sensation, with a voice like velvet and looks that could kill. His star power has smashed records, selling out stadiums from LA to London. His rabid fans would move heaven and earth for even a glimpse of him¨Djust imagine what they¡¯d do to become his latest fling.

Meet Sydney Cossette¨DPart of an elite covert ops group, Sydney joined their ranks as their youngest spy with plans to become the best agent they¡¯ve ever had. An ice queen with moves as dangerous as her comebacks, Sydney picks up languages just as quickly as she breaks hearts. She's fiery, no-nonsense, and has zero time for romance¨Despecially with a shameless flirt more used to serving sass than taking orders.

When a major crime boss gifts his daughter a private concert with Winter for her birthday, Sydney and Winter's lives suddenly collide. Tasked with infiltrating the crime organization¡¯s inner circle, Sydney is assigned as Winter's bodyguard with Winter tapped to join her on the mission of a lifetime as a new spy recruit. Sydney may be the only person alive impervious to Winter's charms, but as their mission brings them closer, she¡¯s forced to admit that there's more to Winter Young than just a handsome face . . .]]> 368 Marie Lu 1250293057 MJ 0 to-read 3.75 2023 Stars and Smoke (Stars and Smoke, #1)
author: Marie Lu
name: MJ
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Upon a Frosted Star 214126990
The invitations always arrive the same way ¨C without warning, appearing around the city on the first snowfall of the year, simply inscribed with ¡®Tonight.¡¯

When struggling artist, Forster, finds an invitation, he¡¯s bewitched by the magic of the evening, swept up in the glamour of this notorious annual party and intrigued as to who is behind them.

Determined to find out more about the mysterious host, Forster discovers an abandoned manor house silent with secrets and a cursed woman who is desparate to be free¡­]]> 384 M.A. Kuzniar 0008450714 MJ 0 to-read 3.47 2023 Upon a Frosted Star
author: M.A. Kuzniar
name: MJ
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Howling Dark (Sun Eater, #2) 41564599
Hadrian Marlowe is lost.

For half a century, he has searched the farther suns for the lost planet of Vorgossos, hoping to find a way to contact the elusive alien Cielcin. He has not succeeded, and for years has wandered among the barbarian Normans as captain of a band of mercenaries.

Determined to make peace and bring an end to nearly four hundred years of war, Hadrian must venture beyond the security of the Sollan Empire and among the Extrasolarians who dwell between the stars. There, he will face not only the aliens he has come to offer peace, but contend with creatures that once were human, with traitors in his midst, and with a meeting that will bring him face to face with no less than the oldest enemy of mankind.

If he succeeds, he will usher in a peace unlike any in recorded history. If he fails...the galaxy will burn.]]> 688 Christopher Ruocchio MJ 0 4.35 2019 Howling Dark (Sun Eater, #2)
author: Christopher Ruocchio
name: MJ
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: currently-reading, audio-books, sci-fi
review:

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

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn¡¯t just any thirteen-year-old: she¡¯s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region¡¯s residents. And this isn¡¯t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara¡¯s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore¡¯s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore¡¯s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]> 490 Liz Moore MJ 0 4.16 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: MJ
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: fiction-and-literature, tbr-2025, currently-reading
review:

]]> Cloistered: My Years as a Nun 218152538
Cloistered takes us beyond the grille of an enclosed monastic world with its tight-knit community of dedicated women. We see Catherine, praying in the spareness of her simple cell, tilling the land or singing at Lauds, a novice who has found peace in an ancient way of life. But as she surrenders to her final vows, all is not as it seems behind the Priory¡¯s closed doors. Power struggles erupt, and the hothouse atmosphere turns to conflict ¨C with far-reaching consequences for those within.

Catherine comes to realise that divine authority is mediated through flawed and all-too-human channels. She is faced with a should she protect the serenity she has found, or speak out?

A love song to a lost community and an honest account of her twelve years in the Order, Cloistered explores what is most nourishing, and yet most potentially destructive, when human beings, even with the best intentions, cut themselves off from the wider world.]]> 11 Catherine Coldstream MJ 0 non-fiction, audio-books Even nuns can be huge cunts. 3.63 2024 Cloistered: My Years as a Nun
author: Catherine Coldstream
name: MJ
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: non-fiction, audio-books
review:
Even nuns can be huge cunts.
]]> The Anthropocene Reviewed 57062743 A deeply moving and insightful collection of personal essays from #1 bestselling author John Green, adapted from his critically acclaimed podcast.


The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet--from the QWERTY keyboard and Staphylococcus aureus to the Taco Bell breakfast menu--on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as "observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy." John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection that includes both beloved essays and all-new pieces exclusive to the book.

Narrated by the author.]]> 10 John Green 0593408535 MJ 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.42 2021 The Anthropocene Reviewed
author: John Green
name: MJ
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read, physical-tbr
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story]]> 112974865
When journalist Pagan Kennedy went looking for this forgotten pioneer, she discovered that even Marty Goddard's closest friends had lost track of her. As Pagan followed a trail of clues to solve the mystery of Marty, she also delved into the problematic history of forensics in America. The Secret History of the Rape Kit chronicles one journalist's mission to understand a crucial innovation in forensics and the woman who championed it. As Pagan Kennedy hunts for answers, she reflects on her own experiences with sexual assault and her own desire for justice.]]> 237 Pagan Kennedy 0593314727 MJ 0 to-read 3.92 2025 The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story
author: Pagan Kennedy
name: MJ
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Recursion 42046112 Memory makes reality.

That's what NYC cop Barry Sutton is learning, as he investigates the devastating phenomenon the media has dubbed False Memory Syndrome¡ªa mysterious affliction that drives its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.

That's what neuroscientist Helena Smith believes. It's why she's dedicated her life to creating a technology that will let us preserve our most precious memories. If she succeeds, anyone will be able to re-experience a first kiss, the birth of a child, the final moment with a dying parent.

As Barry searches for the truth, he comes face to face with an opponent more terrifying than any disease¡ªa force that attacks not just our minds, but the very fabric of the past. And as its effects begin to unmake the world as we know it, only he and Helena, working together, will stand a chance at defeating it.

But how can they make a stand when reality itself is shifting and crumbling all around them?

At once a relentless pageturner and an intricate science-fiction puzzlebox about time, identity, and memory, Recursion is a thriller as only Blake Crouch could imagine it¡ªand his most ambitious, mind-boggling, irresistible work to date.]]> 326 Blake Crouch 1524759783 MJ 0 to-read 4.15 2019 Recursion
author: Blake Crouch
name: MJ
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Burning God (The Poppy War, #3)]]> 52066765 The exciting end to The Poppy War trilogy, R. F. Kuang¡¯s acclaimed, award-winning epic fantasy that combines the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters, to devastating, enthralling effect.

After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead.?

Despite her losses, Rin hasn¡¯t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much¡ªthe people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges¡ªand unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation.?

Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix¡¯s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it??


]]> 656 R.F. Kuang 0062662651 MJ 2 fantasy 4.24 2020 The Burning God (The Poppy War, #3)
author: R.F. Kuang
name: MJ
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: fantasy
review:
It took me so long. So long to finish.
]]> Motheater 211960914 In this nuanced queer fantasy set amid the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, the last witch of the Ridge must choose sides in a clash between industry and nature.

After her best friend dies in a coal mine, Benethea ¡°Bennie¡± Mattox sacrifices her job, her relationship, and her reputation to uncover what¡¯s killing miners on Kire Mountain. When she finds a half-drowned white woman in a dirty mine slough, Bennie takes her in because it¡¯s right¡ªbut also because she hopes this odd, magnetic stranger can lead her to the proof she needs. Instead, she brings more questions. The woman called Motheater can¡¯t remember her true name, or how she ended up inside the mountain. She knows only that she¡¯s a witch of Appalachia, bound to tor and holler, possum and snake, with power in her hands and Scripture on her tongue. But the mystery of her fate, her doomed quest to keep industry off Kire Mountain, and the promises she bent and broke have followed her a century and half into the future. And now, the choices Motheater and Bennie make together could change the face of the town itself.]]> 416 Linda H. Codega 1645661792 MJ 0 3.45 2025 Motheater
author: Linda H. Codega
name: MJ
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read, kindle-unlimited, lesbian, lgbtq, horror-fiction, fantasy
review:

]]> The Carnivale of Curiosities 59441651 A dazzling gothic tale of Faustian bargains, jealousy, and murder set in a spectacular circus, where star-crossed lovers' destinies are forged at an unexpected price, for readers of?V. E. Schwab?'s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.?

In Victorian London, where traveling sideshows are the very pinnacle of entertainment, there is no more coveted ticket than Ashe and Pretorius'?Carnivale of Curiosities. Each performance is a limited engagement, and London's elite boldly dare the dangerous streets of Southwark to witness the Carnivale's astounding assemblage of marvels. For a select few, however, the real show begins behind the curtain. Rumors abound that the show¡¯s proprietor, Aurelius Ashe, is more than an average magician. It's said that for the right price, he can make any wish come true. No one knows the truth of this claim better than Lucien the Lucifer, the Carnivale's star attraction. Born with the ability to create fire, he's dazzled spectators since he was a boy.

When Odilon Rose, one of the most notorious men in London, comes calling with a proposition regarding his young and beautiful charge, Charlotte, Ashe is tempted to refuse. After revealing, however, that Rose holds a secret that threatens the security of the troupe's most vulnerable members, Ashe has no choice but to sign an insidious contract.
?
The stakes grow higher as Lucien finds himself drawn to Charlotte and her to him, an attraction that spurs a perilous course of events. Grave secrets, recovered horrors, and what it means to be family come to a head in this vividly imagined spectacle¡ªwith the lives of all those involved suspended in the balance.]]> 448 Amiee Gibbs 153872393X MJ 0 currently-reading 3.55 2023 The Carnivale of Curiosities
author: Amiee Gibbs
name: MJ
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shady Hollow (Shady Hollow, #1)]]> 58735031 The first book in the Shady Hollow series, in which we are introduced to the village of Shady Hollow, a place where woodland creatures live together in harmony--until a curmudgeonly toad turns up dead and the local reporter has to solve the case.

Reporter Vera Vixen is a relative newcomer to Shady Hollow. The fox has a nose for news, so when she catches wind that the death might be a murder, she resolves to get to the bottom of the case, no matter where it leads. As she stirs up still waters, the fox exposes more than one mystery, and discovers that additional lives are in jeopardy.

Vera finds more to this town than she ever suspected. It seems someone in the Hollow will do anything to keep her from solving the murder, and soon it will take all of Vera's cunning and quickness to crack the case.

A VINTAGE CRIME/BLACK LIZARD ORIGINAL.
]]> 222 Juneau Black 0593315715 MJ 3 3.77 2015 Shady Hollow (Shady Hollow, #1)
author: Juneau Black
name: MJ
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/18
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: 2023-owned-read, cozy-mystery, fantasy
review:
Cute and fast cozy mystery. When the local grump of toad is found murdered in his pond, local journalist Vera Vixen is determined to crack the case. With lots of possibilities in a small town, clues and possible motives are around every corner. This was a cozy time and I enjoyed the descriptions of the small town life of woodland creatures.
]]> Mexican Gothic 57800389
Noem¨ª is also an unlikely rescuer: She¡¯s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she¡¯s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin¡¯s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noem¨ª; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi¡¯s dreams with visions of blood and doom.

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

And Noem¨ª, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.]]> 301 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 052562080X MJ 3 3.71 2020 Mexican Gothic
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: MJ
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/03/09
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: magical-realism, historical-fantasy, 2024-realmathon
review:
Really weird book. Didn't feel particularly connected to the story or the characters. A woman tries to saver her cousin from a strange family she has married into, only to become a victim herself. Spoilers: its the shrooms folks
]]> <![CDATA[Threads That Bind (Threads That Bind, #1)]]> 62695377 In a world where the children of the gods inherit their powers, a descendant of the Greek Fates must solve a series of impossible murders to save her sisters, her soulmate, and her city.

Descendants of the Fates are always born in threes: one to weave, one to draw, and one to cut the threads that connect people to the things they love and to life itself. The Ora sisters are no exception. Io, the youngest, uses her Fate-born abilities as a private investigator in the half-sunken city of Alante.

But her latest job leads her to a horrific discovery: somebody is abducting women, maiming their life-threads, and setting the resulting wraiths loose in the city to kill. To find the culprit, she must work alongside Edei Rhuna, the right hand of the infamous Mob Queen¡ªand the boy with whom she shares a rare fate-thread linking them as soul mates before they¡¯ve even met.

But the investigation turns personal when Io's estranged oldest sister turns up on the arm of her best suspect. Amid unveiled secrets from her past and her growing feelings for Edei, Io must follow clues through the city¡¯s darkest corners and unearth a conspiracy that involves some of the city¡¯s most powerful players¡ªbefore destruction comes to her own doorstep.]]> 352 Kika Hatzopoulou 0593528719 MJ 0 3.75<br /> 3.91 2023 Threads That Bind (Threads That Bind, #1)
author: Kika Hatzopoulou
name: MJ
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves: fantasy, mythology, 2025-fantasy-fables-fellowship
review:
3.75

]]> Beautyland 127282939 From the acclaimed author of Parakeet, Marie-Helene Bertino¡¯s Beautyland is a wise, tender novel about a woman who doesn't feel at home on Earth.

At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but she reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she is different: She possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of Earthlings.

For years, as she moves through the world and makes a life for herself among humans, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and surprising joys of their existence. Then, at a precarious moment, a beloved friend urges Adina to share her messages with the world. Is there a chance she is not alone?

Marie-Helene Bertino¡¯s Beautyland is a novel of startling originality about the fragility and resilience of life on our Earth and in our universe. It is a remarkable evocation of the feeling of being in exile at home, and it introduces a gentle, unforgettable alien for our times.]]> 327 Marie-Helene Bertino 0374109281 MJ 0 4.09 2024 Beautyland
author: Marie-Helene Bertino
name: MJ
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: currently-reading, audio-books, sci-fi
review:

]]> The Tommyknockers 34927998 The Tommyknockers is a 1987 horror novel by Stephen King. While maintaining a horror style, the novel is more of an excursion into the realm of science fiction, as the residents of the Maine town of Haven gradually fall under the influence of a mysterious object buried in the woods.

In his autobiography, On Writing, King attributes the basic premise to the short story "The Colour Out of Space" by H.P. Lovecraft. It also draws fairly obvious parallels with the classic 1956 movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers & the 1959 novelette The Big Front Yard by Clifford Simak. King wrote the book during a period of acknowledged substance abuse & has written that he realized later on that the novel was a metaphor for that addiction.

The writer & critic Kim Newman has cited another influence on the novel, saying that in it King had "more or less rewritten Quatermass & the Pit," a 1950s BBC television science-fiction serial. This influence was also picked up on in The Times newspaper's review of the book on its release.]]> 28 Stephen King MJ 4 audio-books, horror-fiction 3.49 1987 The Tommyknockers
author: Stephen King
name: MJ
average rating: 3.49
book published: 1987
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/28
date added: 2025/03/28
shelves: audio-books, horror-fiction
review:
When read as a dark comedy, this is pretty good. Try to take it too seriously? You'll be disappointed. Overall, yes, way too long, as is the common refrain. Maybe his editors were in Utah that day? He gives KU romantasy authors a run for their money with this faffy word count. HOWMEVER, there is a plot to be had if you stick with it. Though the shining star for this audio book is the narration by Edward Hermann. 10/10 I actually loved how this ended.
]]> The Vanished Birds 45422268
"This is when your life begins."

Nia Imani is a woman out of place and outside of time. Decades of travel through the stars are condensed into mere months for her, though the years continue to march steadily onward for everyone she has ever known. Her friends and lovers have aged past her; all she has left is work. Alone and adrift, she lives only for the next paycheck, until the day she meets a mysterious boy, fallen from the sky.

A boy, broken by his past.

The scarred child does not speak, his only form of communication the beautiful and haunting music he plays on an old wooden flute. Captured by his songs and their strange, immediate connection, Nia decides to take the boy in. And over years of starlit travel, these two outsiders discover in each other the things they lack. For him, a home, a place of love and safety. For her, an anchor to the world outside of herself.

For both of them, a family.

But Nia is not the only one who wants the boy. The past hungers for him, and when it catches up, it threatens to tear this makeshift family apart.]]> 391 Simon Jimenez 0593128982 MJ 0 to-read 4.05 2020 The Vanished Birds
author: Simon Jimenez
name: MJ
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)]]> 228474500 When you¡¯ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

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

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

When Haymitch¡¯s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He¡¯s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who¡¯s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he¡¯s been set up to fail. But there¡¯s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 13 Suzanne Collins MJ 0 4.53 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: MJ
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: young-adult, dystopian, to-read
review:

]]> Dear Laura 52102795
So begins Laura¡¯s sordid relationship with her new penpal, built on a foundation of quid pro quo. Her quest for closure will push her to bizarre acts of humiliation and harm, yet no matter how hard she tries, she cannot escape her correspondent¡¯s demands. The letters keep coming, and as time passes, they have a profound effect on Laura.

From the author of Cruel Works of Nature comes a dark and twisted tale about obsession, guilt, and how far a person will go to put her ghosts to bed.]]> 111 Gemma Amor MJ 4 3.58 2019 Dear Laura
author: Gemma Amor
name: MJ
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: novellas, horror-fiction, kindle-unlimited, psychological-thriller
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Among the Burning Flowers (The Roots of Chaos, #0.5)]]> 222376983 With the awakening of fire-breathing dragons, Among the Burning Flowers sees the first sparks of danger that threaten to consume the world in The Priory of the Orange Tree.

Take your first steps into the epic.
Yscalin, land of sunshine and lavender, will soon be ablaze.

It has been centuries since the Draconic Army took wing, almost extinguishing humankind.

Marosa Vetalda is a prisoner in her own home, controlled by her cold father, King Sigoso. Over the mountains, her betrothed, Aubrecht Lievelyn, rules Mentendon in all but name. Together, they intend to usher in a better world.

A better world seems impossibly distant to Estina Melaugo, who hunts the Draconic beasts that have slept across the world for centuries.

And now the great wyrm F?redel is stirring, and Yscalin will be the first to fall . . .

A story of human resilience in the face of dire circumstances, Among the Burning Flowers leads readers through the gripping and tragic circumstances that pave the way for the opening of the million-copy bestseller The Priory of The Orange Tree.

Richly illustrated with magical artwork by Rovina Cai (@rovinacai).]]> 288 Samantha Shannon 1639736018 MJ 0 to-read 4.33 2025 Among the Burning Flowers (The Roots of Chaos, #0.5)
author: Samantha Shannon
name: MJ
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Blood on Her Tongue 213570812 "I'm in your blood, and you are in mine¡­"

The Netherlands, 1887. Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell. She refuses to eat, mumbles nonsensically, and is increasingly obsessed with a centuries-old corpse recently discovered on her husband's grand estate. The doctor has diagnosed her with temporary insanity caused by a fever of the brain. To protect her twin from a terrible fate in a lunatic asylum, Lucy must unravel the mystery surrounding her sister's condition, but it's clear her twin is hiding something. Then again, Lucy is harboring secrets of her own, too.

Then, the worst happens. Sarah's behavior takes a turn for the strange. She becomes angry¡­ and hungry.?

Lucy soon comes to suspect that something is trying to possess her beloved sister. Or is it madness? As Sarah changes before her very eyes, Lucy must reckon with the dark, monstrous truth, or risk losing her forever.]]> 368 Johanna van Veen 1728281571 MJ 0 to-read 4.04 2025 Blood on Her Tongue
author: Johanna van Veen
name: MJ
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry After Stonewall]]> 217446830 A major poet and literary critic leads an aesthetic adventure through poems about queer experience, by writers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, trans, nonbinary, gender fluid, and more.

A groundbreaking anthology edited by acclaimed poet, critic, and scholar Stephanie Burt, Super Gay Poems brings together fifty-one works encompassing the evolutions of queer and trans verse after the Stonewall uprising of 1969. Since that galvanizing moment, poetry has served as both a vehicle for queer liberation and a witness to its sometimes fragile, sometimes ebullient flourishing, across the world.

The poems in this anthology represent the great variety of queer and trans life itself. They include near-sonnets, iambic couplets, and rhymed quatrains; skinny dimeters and shaped poems; chatty free verse and intentionally inaccurate translations; the demotic and the rococo. Arranged in chronological order, the selections trace queer culture¡¯s recent evolutions. Frank O¡¯Hara, Audre Lorde, Judy Grahn, James Merrill, Thom Gunn, Jackie Kay, Adrienne Rich, Chen Chen, essa ranapiri, and The Cyborg Jillian Weise¡ªpoets widely known and poets who deserve to be¡ªshare their alienation, their euphoria, and their encounters with a protean community as it discovers new solidarities and new selves.

Each piece is paired with a concise, eye-opening essay in Burt¡¯s trademark style, with verve and an inimitable literary ear. A treasury of aesthetic experience and insight, Super Gay Poems points protestors, political organizers, poetry lovers, and LGBTQIA+ readers toward many beautiful tomorrows.]]> 368 Stephanie Burt 0674273117 MJ 0 to-read 4.67 Super Gay Poems: LGBTQIA+ Poetry After Stonewall
author: Stephanie Burt
name: MJ
average rating: 4.67
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Keeping You a Secret 272315
At least, it seems to be.

But when Cece Goddard comes to school, everything changes. Cece and Holland have undeniable feelings for each other, but how will others react to their developing relationship?]]> 250 Julie Anne Peters 0316009857 MJ 0 3.94 2003 Keeping You a Secret
author: Julie Anne Peters
name: MJ
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: lesbian, lgbtq, lgbtq-romance, lgbtq-ya-romance, ya-romance, 2025-owned-read
review:

]]> Annie on My Mind 595375 ?
Of the author and the book, the Margaret A. Edwards Award committee said, ¡°Using a fluid, readable style, Garden opens a window through which readers can find courage to be true to themselves.¡±]]> 234 Nancy Garden 0374404143 MJ 0 4.02 1982 Annie on My Mind
author: Nancy Garden
name: MJ
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection]]> 220341389 John Green, the #1 bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and a passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world¡¯s deadliest disease.

Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.

In 2019, John Green met Henry, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone while traveling with Partners in Health. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal and dynamic advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, treatable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing 1.5 million people every year.

In Everything is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry¡¯s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.]]> 208 John Green 0525556575 MJ 0 to-read 4.57 2025 Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
author: John Green
name: MJ
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> When the Wolf Comes Home 211004893
As they attempt to evade the boy's increasingly desperate father, horrifying incidents of butchery follow them. At first, Jess thinks she understands what they're up against, but she's about to learn there's more to these surreal and grisly events than she could've ever imagined.

And that when the wolf finally comes home, none will be spared.]]> 304 Nat Cassidy 125035434X MJ 0 to-read 4.59 2025 When the Wolf Comes Home
author: Nat Cassidy
name: MJ
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Heartwood 220259184 Heartwood takes you on a gripping journey as a search and rescue team race against time when an experienced hiker mysteriously disappears on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.

In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping.

At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground. Meanwhile, Lena, a seventy-six-year-old birdwatcher in a Connecticut retirement community, becomes an unexpected armchair detective. Roving between these compelling narratives, a puzzle emerges, intensifying the frantic search, as Valerie¡¯s disappearance may not be accidental.

Heartwood is a ¡°gem of a thousand facets¡ªsuspenseful, transporting, tender, and ultimately soul-mending,¡± (Megan Majumdar, New York Times bestselling author of A Burning) that tells the story of a lost hiker¡¯s odyssey and is a moving rendering of each character¡¯s interior journey. The mystery inspires larger questions about the many ways in which we get lost, and how we are found. At its core, Heartwood is a redemptive novel, written with both enormous literary ambition and love.]]> 320 Amity Gaige 1668063603 MJ 0 to-read 4.10 2025 Heartwood
author: Amity Gaige
name: MJ
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> My Friends 217163697 #1?New York Times?bestselling author Fredrik Backman returns with an unforgettably funny, deeply moving tale of four teenagers whose friendship creates a bond so powerful that it changes a stranger¡¯s life twenty-five years later.

Most people don¡¯t even notice them¡ªthree tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it¡¯s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. There¡¯s Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long; and finally, there¡¯s the artist, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and shuns attention, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream.

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa¡¯s care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting¡¯s birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don¡¯t always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.]]> 448 Fredrik Backman 1982112824 MJ 0 to-read 4.59 2025 My Friends
author: Fredrik Backman
name: MJ
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
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¡ªPhysics 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¡ªfrom France¡¯s Marguerite Perey, who discovered the element francium, and Norway¡¯s Ellen Gleditsch, to Mme. Curie¡¯s elder daughter, Ir¨¨ne, 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 ?ve¡¯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 MJ 0 currently-reading 3.93 2024 The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
author: Dava Sobel
name: MJ
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson]]> 112204 THE ONLY ONE-VOLUME EDITION CONTAINING ALL 1,775 OF EMILY DICKINSON¡¯S POEMS

Only eleven of Emily Dickinson¡¯s poems were published prior to her death in 1886; the startling originality of her work doomed it to obscurity in her lifetime. Early posthumously published collections-some of them featuring liberally ¡°edited¡± versions of the poems-did not fully and accurately represent Dickinson¡¯s bold experiments in prosody, her tragic vision, and the range of her intellectual and emotional explorations. Not until the 1955 publication of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, a three-volume critical edition compiled by Thomas H. Johnson, were readers able for the first time to assess, understand, and appreciate the whole of Dickinson¡¯s extraordinary poetic genius.

This book, a distillation of the three-volume Complete Poems, brings together the original texts of all 1,775 poems that Emily Dickinson wrote.]]> 716 Emily Dickinson MJ 0 to-read, poetry 4.28 1890 The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
author: Emily Dickinson
name: MJ
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1890
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read, poetry
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Let Us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season]]> 58470825 This thoughtfully curated, deftly translated selection of Farrokhzad¡¯s poems includes work from her whole writing life, early to late. Readers will thoroughly treasure this expansive poet of the quotidian; of longing, loss, and desire; of classical reinvention; of lexical variation and sonic beauty; of terrifying wisdom, hope, and grief.]]> 128 Forugh Farrokhzad 0811231658 MJ 0 to-read, poetry, translations 4.25 1963 Let Us Believe in the Beginning of the Cold Season
author: Forugh Farrokhzad
name: MJ
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1963
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read, poetry, translations
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1)]]> 57662466 From New York Times bestselling author Jay Kristoff comes Empire of the Vampire , the first illustrated volume of an astonishing new dark fantasy saga.

From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hand sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs¡¯ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.

Gabriel de Le¨®n is a a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order could not stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.

Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity¡¯s last remaining

The Holy Grail.]]> 27 Jay Kristoff MJ 0 4.32 2021 Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire, #1)
author: Jay Kristoff
name: MJ
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/18
shelves: currently-reading, audio-books, fantasy
review:

]]> Heart of Aztlan: A Novel 25647606 Politics, religion, and a vanishing heritage collide in Rudolfo Anaya¡¯s incendiary novel of post-war New Mexico?

Today is the day Benjie Ch¨¢vez and his family will leave the town of Guadalupe behind. Far from the land of the eagle and the nopal, they travel west to find a new home of opportunity. But adapting to the big, impersonal city of Albuquerque is no easy task. As both life and death come to the barrio, a blind seer named Crispin arrives in the Ch¨¢vezes¡¯ world. At first everyone dismisses his stories about an elusive place called Aztl¨¢n as the ramblings of an old man. But gradually, they come to realize that he can see what they cannot.
?
With his potent blend of earthy prose and magic realism, bestselling author Rudolfo Anaya excavates his country¡¯s legends to tell a spellbinding story of myth and migration, love and loss.?Heart of Atzl¨¢n?is a hopeful and heartbreaking novel about people in search of the shimmering mirage of a better life¡ªand the land that keeps calling them back.]]> 275 Rudolfo Anaya 1504011775 MJ 0 to-read 4.15 1976 Heart of Aztlan: A Novel
author: Rudolfo Anaya
name: MJ
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1976
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mapping the Interior 33835759 Mapping the Interior is a horrifying, inward-looking novella from Stephen Graham Jones that Paul Tremblay calls "emotionally raw, disturbing, creepy, and brilliant."

Walking through his own house at night, a fifteen-year-old thinks he sees another person stepping through a doorway. Instead of the people who could be there, his mother or his brother, the figure reminds him of his long-gone father, who died mysteriously before his family left the reservation. When he follows it he discovers his house is bigger and deeper than he knew.

The house is the kind of wrong place where you can lose yourself and find things you'd rather not have. Over the course of a few nights, the boy tries to map out his house in an effort that puts his little brother in the worst danger, and puts him in the position to save them . . . at terrible cost.]]> 112 Stephen Graham Jones MJ 5 3.95 2017 Mapping the Interior
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: MJ
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
Ouch. Ouchouchouch. This is so good. My god what some writers can do with 100 pages.
]]> Eileen 23453099 So here we are. My name was Eileen Dunlop. Now you know me. I was twenty-four years old then, and had a job that paid fifty-seven dollars a week as a kind of secretary at a private juvenile correctional facility for teenage boys. I think of it now as what it really was for all intents and purposes¡ªa prison for boys. I will call it Moorehead. Delvin Moorehead was a terrible landlord I had years later, and so to use his name for such a place feels appropriate. In a week, I would run away from home and never go back.

This is the story of how I disappeared.

The Christmas season offers little cheer for Eileen Dunlop, an unassuming yet disturbed young woman trapped between her role as her alcoholic father¡¯s caretaker in a home whose squalor is the talk of the neighborhood and a day job as a secretary at the boys¡¯ prison, filled with its own quotidian horrors. Consumed by resentment and self-loathing, Eileen tempers her dreary days with perverse fantasies and dreams of escaping to the big city. In the meantime, she fills her nights and weekends with shoplifting, stalking a buff prison guard named Randy, and cleaning up her increasingly deranged father¡¯s messes. When the bright, beautiful, and cheery Rebecca Saint John arrives on the scene as the new counselor at Moorehead, Eileen is enchanted and proves unable to resist what appears at first to be a miraculously budding friendship. In a Hitchcockian twist, her affection for Rebecca ultimately pulls her into complicity in a crime that surpasses her wildest imaginings.

Played out against the snowy landscape of coastal New England in the days leading up to Christmas, young Eileen¡¯s story is told from the gimlet-eyed perspective of the now much older narrator. Creepy, mesmerizing, and sublimely funny, in the tradition of Shirley Jackson and early Vladimir Nabokov, this powerful debut novel enthralls and shocks, and introduces one of the most original new voices in contemporary literature. Ottessa Moshfegh is also the author of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Homesick for Another World: Stories, and McGlue.]]> 260 Ottessa Moshfegh 1594206627 MJ 0 to-read 3.57 2015 Eileen
author: Ottessa Moshfegh
name: MJ
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Dark Matter 27833670 A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy.

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie¡ªwhen his reality shatters.

"Are you happy with your life?"

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason's never met smiles down at him and says, "Welcome back, my friend."

In this world he's woken up to, Jason's life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that's the dream?

And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could've imagined¡ªone that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human--a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of.]]> 342 Blake Crouch 1101904224 MJ 0 to-read 4.13 2016 Dark Matter
author: Blake Crouch
name: MJ
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Upgrade 59838811 You are the next step in human evolution.

At first, Logan Ramsay isn¡¯t sure if anything¡¯s different. He just feels a little . . . sharper. Better able to concentrate. Better at multitasking. Reading a bit faster, memorizing better, needing less sleep.

But before long, he can¡¯t deny it: Something¡¯s happening to his brain. To his body. He¡¯s starting to see the world, and those around him¡ªeven those he loves most¡ªin whole new ways.

The truth is, Logan¡¯s genome has been hacked. And there¡¯s a reason he¡¯s been targeted for this upgrade. A reason that goes back decades to the darkest part of his past, and a horrific family legacy.

Worse still, what¡¯s happening to him is just the first step in a much larger plan, one that will inflict the same changes on humanity at large¡ªat a terrifying cost.

Because of his new abilities, Logan¡¯s the one person in the world capable of stopping what¡¯s been set in motion. But to have a chance at winning this war, he¡¯ll have to become something other than himself. Maybe even something other than human.

And even as he¡¯s fighting, he can¡¯t help wondering: what if humanity¡¯s only hope for a future really does lie in engineering our own evolution?

Intimate in scale yet epic in scope, Upgrade is an intricately plotted, lightning-fast tale that charts one man¡¯s thrilling transformation, even as it asks us to ponder the limits of our humanity¡ªand our boundless potential.]]> 352 Blake Crouch 0593157532 MJ 0 to-read 3.77 2022 Upgrade
author: Blake Crouch
name: MJ
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Breakout (Dred Chronicles, #3)]]> 13421246
The prison ship Perdition has become a post-battle charnel house with only a handful of Dred¡¯s soldiers still standing and now being hunted by Silence¡¯s trained tongueless assassins. Forging an uneasy alliance with mercenary commander Vost¡ªwho is their only chance at escape¡ªthe Dread Queen will do whatever it takes to end her life sentence on Perdition and keep the survivors alive long enough to cobble together a transport capable of getting them off station.

If Dred and her crew can win the deadly game of cat and mouse, the payoff is not only life but freedom¡ªa prize sweeter than their wildest dreams. Yet the sadistic Silence would rather destroy Perdition than let a single soul slip from her grasp¡­]]> 336 Ann Aguirre 0698187032 MJ 0 to-read 4.16 2015 Breakout (Dred Chronicles, #3)
author: Ann Aguirre
name: MJ
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Havoc (Dred Chronicles, #2) 21418016 The Conglomerate¡¯s most dangerous convicts have made the prison ship Perdition their home. And they will defend it¡­

Perdition is under siege. Mercenaries have boarded the station with orders to take control of the facility¡ªand execute the prisoners. Their commander is offering full pardons to the first five inmates willing to help the mercs complete their mission.

Dresdemona ¡°Dred¡± Devos hasn¡¯t survived hard time just to surrender to the Conglomerate¡¯s armored thugs. Leading a ragtag army of inmates, Dred and her champion, Jael, wage a bloody guerilla war of chaos and carnage against impossible odds. But no matter how dire the outlook, the Dread Queen never backs down¡­]]> 320 Ann Aguirre 0698139712 MJ 0 to-read 4.11 2014 Havoc (Dred Chronicles, #2)
author: Ann Aguirre
name: MJ
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Witchwood Knot (Victorian Faerie Tales, #1)]]> 199271100 Olivia Atwater returns to the world of Half a Soul. Dive into The Witchwood Knot, and enjoy a dark faerie tale set in a magical version of Victorian England.

The faeries of Witchwood Manor have stolen its young lord. His governess intends to steal him back.

Victorian governess Winifred Hall knows a con when she sees one. When her bratty young charge transforms overnight into a perfectly behaved block of wood, she soon realises that the real boy has been abducted by the Fair Folk. Unfortunately, the lord of Witchwood Manor is the only man in England who doesn¡¯t believe in faeries¡ªwhich leaves Winnie in the unenviable position of rescuing the young lord-to-be all by herself.

Witchwood Manor is bigger than its inhabitants realise, however, and full of otherworldly dangers. As Winnie delves deeper into the other side of the house, she enlists the aid of its dark and dubious faerie butler, Mr Quincy, who hides several awful secrets behind his charming smile. Winnie hopes to make her way to the centre of the Witchwood Knot through wit and cleverness¡­ but when all of her usual tricks fail, who will she dare to trust?]]> 330 Olivia Atwater 1778271391 MJ 0 to-read 4.14 2023 The Witchwood Knot (Victorian Faerie Tales, #1)
author: Olivia Atwater
name: MJ
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[My Heart Is a Chainsaw (The Indian Lake Trilogy, #1)]]> 55711617
That¡¯s not the only thing that¡¯s getting carved up, though ¨C this, Jade knows, is the start of a slasher. But what kind? Who¡¯s wearing the mask? Jade¡¯s got an encyclopedic recall of every horror movie on the shelf, but¡­ will that help her survive? Can she get a final girl trained enough to stop all this from happening? Does she even want to?

Isn¡¯t a slasher exactly what her hometown deserves?

This new novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones, called ¡°one of our most talented living writers¡± by Tommy Orange, explores the changing landscape of the West through his distinct voice of sharp humor and prophetic violence.

Go up the mountain to Proofrock. See if you¡¯ve got what it takes ¨C see if your heart, too, might be a chainsaw.]]> 405 Stephen Graham Jones 1982137630 MJ 0 to-read 3.52 2021 My Heart Is a Chainsaw (The Indian Lake Trilogy, #1)
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: MJ
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Fire Concerto 221737106
Clara Bishop hasn¡¯t touched a piano since a concert hall fire nearly took her life a decade ago, ending her career as a rising star in the world of classical music. Significantly scarred and unable to play, she has turned away from everything and everyone associated with music, especially her ruthless mentor Madame, whom Clara blames for her injuries.
?Her life is upended when Madame dies, leaving Clara an unexpected inheritance: an ornate nineteenth-century metronome with a cryptic message hidden inside. Convinced this is not a gift but a puzzle Madame wants her to solve, Clara comes to suspect that the unusual bequest is the long-lost metronome of the composer Aleksander Starza¡ªa priceless object missing since 1885, when Starza was murdered by the brilliant female pianist Constantia Pleyel.
? ?As Clara works to uncover the metronome¡¯s haunted past and protect it¡ªand herself¡ªfrom those who wish to obtain it, she discovers that nothing about Starza and his murder are what they seem. History has remembered Constantia Pleyel as an unstable artist who killed Starza in a fit of madness. The truth could rewrite the history of music¡ªand give Clara the second chance she has been longing for.]]> 352 Sarah Landenwich 1454956828 MJ 0 4.80 2025 The Fire Concerto
author: Sarah Landenwich
name: MJ
average rating: 4.80
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, music
review:

]]> Thornhedge 122761787 From New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher, Thornhedge is the tale of a kind-hearted, toad-shaped heroine, a gentle knight, and a mission gone completely sideways.

There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold¡­]]> 4 T. Kingfisher 1250900948 MJ 3 3.5 3.82 2023 Thornhedge
author: T. Kingfisher
name: MJ
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: novellas, fairy-tales, re-tellings
review:
3.5
]]> <![CDATA[Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)]]> 32669692
Since time immemorial, humans have worshipped the gods they call Fhrey, truly a race apart: invincible in battle, masters of magic, and seemingly immortal. But when a god falls to a human blade, the balance of power between humans and those they thought were gods changes forever.

Now only a few stand between humankind and annihilation: Raithe, reluctant to embrace his destiny as the God Killer; Suri, a young seer burdened by signs of impending doom; and Persephone, who must overcome personal tragedy to lead her people. The Age of Myth is over. The time of rebellion has begun.]]> 432 Michael J. Sullivan 1101965355 MJ 0 to-read 4.17 2016 Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1)
author: Michael J. Sullivan
name: MJ
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[City of Vengeance (Cesare Aldo #1)]]> 55918872 City of Vengeance is an explosive debut historical thriller by D. V. Bishop, set in Renaissance Florence.

Florence. Winter, 1536. A prominent Jewish moneylender is murdered in his home, a death with wide implications in a city powered by immense wealth.

Cesare Aldo, a former soldier and now an officer of the Renaissance city¡¯s most feared criminal court, is given four days to solve the murder: catch the killer before the feast of Epiphany ¨C or suffer the consequences.

During his investigations Aldo uncovers a plot to overthrow the volatile ruler of Florence, Alessandro de¡¯ Medici. If the Duke falls, it will endanger the whole city. But a rival officer of the court is determined to expose details about Aldo¡¯s private life that could lead to his ruin. Can Aldo stop the conspiracy before anyone else dies, or will his own secrets destroy him first?]]> 416 D.V. Bishop 1529038774 MJ 4 3.91 2021 City of Vengeance (Cesare Aldo #1)
author: D.V. Bishop
name: MJ
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: historical-fiction, mystery-thriller
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Darkest Sin (Cesare Aldo #2)]]> 59700616
Florence. Spring, 1537.

When Cesare Aldo investigates a report of intruders at a convent in the Renaissance city¡¯s northern quarter, he enters a community divided by bitter rivalries and harbouring dark secrets.

His case becomes far more complicated when a naked man¡¯s body is found deep inside the convent, stabbed more than two dozen times. Unthinkable as it seems, all the evidence suggests one of the nuns must be the killer.

Meanwhile, Constable Carlo Strocchi finds human remains pulled from the Arno that belong to an officer of the law missing since winter. The dead man had many enemies, but who would dare kill an official of the city¡¯s most feared criminal court?

As Aldo and Strocchi close in on the truth, identifying the killers will prove more treacherous than either of them could ever have imagined . . .]]> 432 D.V. Bishop 1529038820 MJ 0 to-read 4.18 2022 The Darkest Sin (Cesare Aldo #2)
author: D.V. Bishop
name: MJ
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Wrath (The Faithful and the Fallen, #4)]]> 27411345
Meanwhile Corban has been taken prisoner by the Jotun, warrior giants who ride their enormous bears into battle. His warband scattered, Corban must make new allies if he hopes to survive. But can he bond with competing factions of warlike giants? Somehow he must, if he's to counter the threat Nathair represents.

His life hangs in the balance - and with it, the fate of the Banished Lands.]]> 720 John Gwynne 1447259688 MJ 0 4.51 2016 Wrath (The Faithful and the Fallen, #4)
author: John Gwynne
name: MJ
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: 2023-10october, tbr-2024, high-fantasy, tbr-2025, to-read
review:

]]> All the Sinners Bleed 79488490
Titus Crowne is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County. A former FBI agent and security expert, Titus came home to take care of his father and look out for his troubled younger brother. He ran for Sheriff to make a difference, especially in the Black community, which has so often been treated unfairly by the police.

But a year to the day after his election, a school shooting rocks the town. A beloved teacher is killed by a former student, and as Titus attempts to deescalate and get the boy to surrender, his deputies fire a fatal shot.

In the investigation, it becomes clear that the student they shot had been abused by the dead teacher, as well as by unidentified perpetrators. The trail leads to buried bodies¡ªand secrets. While Titus tries to track down a killer hiding in plain sight, while balancing daily duties like protecting Confederate pride marchers, he must face what it means to be a Black man wearing a police uniform in the American South.]]> 13 S.A. Cosby 1250897629 MJ 4 4.25 2023 All the Sinners Bleed
author: S.A. Cosby
name: MJ
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:

]]> Blacktop Wasteland 51182571
After a series of financial calamities (worsened by the racial prejudices of the small town he lives in) Bug reluctantly takes part in a daring diamond heist to solve his money troubles - and to go straight once and for all. However, when it goes horrifically wrong, he's sucked into a grimy underworld which threatens everything, and everyone, he holds dear . . .]]> 285 S.A. Cosby MJ 0 to-read 4.06 2020 Blacktop Wasteland
author: S.A. Cosby
name: MJ
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Silent Bride 62921149
Alice and Seth are a perfect love story: the handsome doctor and his beautiful fianc¨¦e. They¡¯re wealthy, well liked and made for each other¡ªthe envy of all their friends. Alice can¡¯t wait for the day of their dream wedding. But when she arrives at the altar, she doesn¡¯t recognise the man waiting to marry her.

When this stranger insists he¡¯s Seth, her husband-to-be, the entire congregation seems to agree. Even her parents try to persuade Alice to go through with the wedding.

As panic sets in, Alice¡¯s world comes apart. Where is the real Seth, and why have all traces of him disappeared from her life? Fearing she¡¯s losing her mind, she sets out to uncover the truth and escape the nightmare she¡¯s living in. But with everyone around her convinced by the fake Seth, how can she ever hope to find the man she loves?]]> 267 Shalini Boland 1662507070 MJ 3 3.80 2023 The Silent Bride
author: Shalini Boland
name: MJ
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/06
shelves: kindle-unlimited, mystery-thriller, psychological-thriller
review:
2.75 Great concept and I enjoyed it for the most part. A little anti-climactic as these go, but overall not terrible. Alice is an accountant flourishing in her field and about to marry wonderful man, Seth, her life is going according to plan. But as she walks down the aisle towards her groom, she suddenly realizes she doesn't recognize the man standing at the altar. Everyone seems to be in on the joke, doesn't anyone see this is an imposter Seth? As she reels from the devastating affects of her wedding day, everyone around her seems to have ulterior motive. My biggest issue is that we KNOW someone is screwing with Alice, as we get intermittent chapters of secret-evil-genius-thoughts but can't really know who it is til the end, when the culprit just villain monologues the whole thing for us.
]]> <![CDATA[Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 7]]> 60044950 LIFETIMES OF CRUELTY, CENTURIES OF DEVOTION

The Kiln is open, and White No-Face is back to his full power. The past eight hundred years have not blunted his hatred nor his obsession with Xie Lian¡ªhe aims to break Xie Lian down to nothing, even if all of humanity and the heavens themselves are collateral damage.

This time, however, Xie Lian will not face him alone. Together with Hua Cheng¡ªpowerful ghost king, stalwart protector, and devoted love¡ªcan Xie Lian finally reveal the face behind the mask and put an end to the nightmare forever?]]> 404 M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´ 1685791115 MJ 0 to-read 4.74 2017 Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 7
author: M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´
name: MJ
average rating: 4.74
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 6]]> 60044941 BODY IN ABYSS, HEART IN PARADISE

White No-Face, Xie Lian¡¯s greatest fear and most hated enemy, has arrived¡­or so it seems. While the ghost with the half-crying, half-smiling mask is somewhere nearby, the creature is elusive as always, taunting Xie Lian from just out of reach and promising the total destruction of everything he holds dear.

As Xie Lian confronts the trauma of his last encounter with the terrifying ghost, Hua Cheng will do anything in his power to protect him. But White No-Face¡¯s identity and purpose are not the only mysteries to unravel, as Hua Cheng also has a history in the labyrinthine tunnels beneath Mount Tonglu. Will Xie Lian finally discover the full connection they share¡ªand learn the true depths of Hua Cheng¡¯s devotion?]]> 412 M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´ 1638585512 MJ 0 to-read 4.80 2017 Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 6
author: M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´
name: MJ
average rating: 4.80
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 5]]> 60044932 LAST GHOST STANDING, FIRST LOVE BLOSSOMS

Ghosts are converging on the cursed Mount Tonglu for a massive battle royale, the sole survivor of which may become a Ghost King, a being of unimaginable power. Xie Lian is sent to secretly infiltrate and try to prevent this¨Cby destroying any ghosts strong enough to stand a chance.

His heavenly powers are weakened near the cursed mountain, but he has one trump card on his side¨CHua Cheng, who has survived Mount Tonglu before. As they struggle against murderous ghosts and the mountain¡¯s strange defenses, Hua Cheng¡¯s knowledge of the area may prove invaluable. But can they even begin to unravel the cursed peak¡¯s secrets?]]> 465 M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´ 1638585504 MJ 0 to-read 4.63 2017 Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 5
author: M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´
name: MJ
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 4]]> 59742204 FATES ALIGNED, BODIES INTERTWINED The Venerable of Empty Words, a monster that feeds off the fears of the fortunate, is hunting Xie Lian¡¯s friend, the Wind Master Shi Qingxuan. Knowing that his abysmal luck inoculates him from the creature¡¯s power, Xie Lian doesn¡¯t hesitate to throw himself into harm¡¯s way¡ªto Hua Cheng¡¯s horror and panic. But another one of the Four Calamities may be closer than anyone knows, and even a ghost as powerful as Hua Cheng can lose control under the right circumstances. With his inhibitions gone, will desire overtake him?]]> 419 M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´ 1638583528 MJ 0 to-read 4.77 2017 Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 4
author: M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´
name: MJ
average rating: 4.77
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 3]]> 58825608 Gods should never meddle in the affairs of mortals, but Xie Lian is not one to follow the rules when lives are at risk. He spits in the face of heaven and its laws and descends in a fury to save his country from drought and civil war. Yet this golden child gets a harsh dose of reality when he discovers just how little one individual¡ªeven a god¡ªcan do to save a crumbling nation. As the people reject and betray him, one young soldier stands by Xie Lian¡ªa boy with a face wrapped in bandages and a fierce loyalty in his heart. In this chaotic past, can an unshakable bond grow from the ashes of unimaginable destruction?]]> 466 M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´ 1638582106 MJ 0 to-read 4.68 2017 Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 3
author: M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´
name: MJ
average rating: 4.68
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2]]> 58705562 THE TOUCH OF A HAND, A ROLL OF THE DICE

Xie Lian has confirmed that the bewitching youth San Lang is actually Hua Cheng, one of the Four Calamities and a supreme ghost despised by all heavenly officials. Still, he has trouble matching the terror of his companion's reputation with the charming, clever, and protective young man he's come to know.

When a distress signal leads Xie Lian into Ghost City, a bustling metropolis containing all the horrors and delights of the dead, he sees Hua Cheng in his element--and his true form--for the first time. But despite their chemistry and care for one another, there are missions to fulfill and secrets to uncover, and Xie Lian's centuries of troubled history are never far behind.]]> 438 M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´ 164827918X MJ 0 to-read 4.65 2017 Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2
author: M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´
name: MJ
average rating: 4.65
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 1]]> 58701949
Eight hundred years after his mortal life, Xie Lian has ascended to godhood for the third time, angering most of the gods in the process. To repay his debts, he is sent to the Mortal Realm to hunt down violent ghosts and troublemaking spirits who prey on the living. Along his travels, he meets the fascinating and brilliant San Lang, a young man with whom he feels an instant connection. Yet San Lang is clearly more than he appears... What mysteries lie behind that carefree smile?

This Chinese xianxia fantasy novel series built around the romanticized love between two men (danmei) is the newest work from author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, and has spawned an ongoing multimedia franchise that's beloved across the world--including the animated series (donghua) that amassed 100+ million views in just its first month. The Seven Seas English-language edition will include covers from ÈÕ³öµÄÐ¡Ì«ê– (tai3_3), and exclusive, all-new interior illustrations from ZeldaCW.]]> 416 M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´ 1648279171 MJ 0 4.61 2020 Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 1
author: M¨° Xi¨¡ng T¨®ng Xi¨´
name: MJ
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: fantasy, fantasy-romance, gay, translations, to-read, tbr-2025
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Raven King (All for the Game, #2)]]> 18743272
Except Andrew doesn't give up anything for free and Neil is terrible at trusting anyone but himself. The two don't have much time to come to terms with their situation before outside forces start tearing them apart. Riko is intent on destroying Neil's fragile new life, and the Foxes have just become collateral damage.

Neil's days are numbered, but he's learning the hard way to go down fighting for what he believes in, and Neil believes in Andrew even if Andrew won't believe in himself.]]> 338 Nora Sakavic MJ 5 4.38 2013 The Raven King (All for the Game, #2)
author: Nora Sakavic
name: MJ
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2020/10/16
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: young-adult, hey-now-youre-an-all-star, lgbtq-sports
review:

]]> The Buffalo Hunter Hunter 214565614 A chilling historical horror novel set in the American west in 1912 following a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice.

A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new masters of horror, Stephen Graham Jones.]]> 448 Stephen Graham Jones 1668075083 MJ 0 to-read 4.30 2025 The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: MJ
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)]]> 218014044 An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!
The global phenomenon by Callie Hart--a highly addicting enemies-to-lovers Romantasy with razor-sharp banter, heart-stopping action, and blistering hot romance.?

Do?not?touch the sword. Do?not?turn the key. Do?not?open the gate.

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.?In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn¡¯t much a girl wouldn¡¯t do for a glass of water. 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 reopens 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 right 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.

Be careful of the deals you make, dear child. The devil is in the details...

N.B. Quicksilver contains depictions of graphic violence/adult situations and is therefore recommended for readers 17+. For a full list of tropes and TWs, please visit the author's website.]]> 615 Callie Hart MJ 2 4.50 2024 Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy, #1)
author: Callie Hart
name: MJ
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: fantasy-romance, 2025-fantasy-fables-fellowship, fantasy, kindle-unlimited
review:
Thicker than trope soup, this book is a thick trope stew, with everything from fated mates to vampires to portals, AND a Chosen One?. PLUS MANY MORE! You will certainly not regret reading trope stew.
]]> <![CDATA[Give Her Credit: The Untold Account of a Women's Bank That Empowered a Generation]]> 210669936 The galvanizing true story of a group of remarkable women in the 1970s male-run world of business, banking, and finance. They didn¡¯t play by the rules. They changed them and made history.

In the 1970s, a new wave of feminism was sweeping America. But in the boys¡¯ club of banking and finance, women were still infantilized¡ªno credit without a male cosigner, and their income was dismissed as unreliable. If bankers weren¡¯t going to accommodate women, then women had to take control of their own futures. In 1978 in Denver, Colorado, the opening of the Women¡¯s Bank changed everything.

It was helmed by bank officer B. LaRae Orullian and the brainchild of whip-smart entrepreneur Carol Green, who forged a groundbreaking path with their headstrong colleagues, among Judi Foster, investment research whiz; Edna Mosley, unyielding civil rights advocate with the NAACP; Mary Roebling, renowned financial executive; Betty Freedman, a socialite and fundraiser; and Gail Schoettler, a formidable Denver mover and shaker for social justice. Coming together and facing their own unique road to revolution, they built the most successful female-run bank in the nation. It wasn¡¯t easy.

Give Her Credit follows the challenges, uphill battles, and achievements of some of the enterprising women of Denver who broke boundaries, inspired millions, and afforded opportunities for every marginalized citizen in the country. It¡¯s about time their untold story was told.]]> 220 Grace L. Williams 1542025508 MJ 0 to-read 3.35 2025 Give Her Credit: The Untold Account of a Women's Bank That Empowered a Generation
author: Grace L. Williams
name: MJ
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Moth Dark 224082680 From the bestselling author of Threads that Bind and Hearts that Cut comes a brand-new compulsive romantasy about a girl obsessed with the dark and the shadowy magical prince she falls in love with, perfect for fans of Holly Black and Laini Taylor.

The dark has come alive . . .

Six years ago, vicious creatures began to crawl out of the dark crevices of the world, and with it Sascia¡¯s fascination with the darkness was born. Now eighteen, that fascination has become an obsession, and while exploring an area known for its connection to the Darkworld, Sascia sees a person climb out of the darkness. But Nugau is no ordinary person, they¡¯re a genderfluid elf prince with one mission . . . to kill Sascia.

Except, the second time they meet, Nugau is younger and doesn¡¯t recognise Sascia. And the third time, Nugau stumbles out of the darkness with poison running through their veins, expressing their undying love for her.

Piecing together the puzzle, Sascia makes two shocking the timelines of her world and Nugau¡¯s are not linear, and she is inexplicably enmeshed in a war between humanity and elves. But with their worlds at battle, is it worth fighting for each other . . . ?

Praise for Threads that Bind:
'A fantastical ¨C and utterly original ¨C world. A must-read for all fantasy fans.¡¯ Sarah Underwood, author of Lies We Sing to the Sea

'A gorgeous dark tapestry of mystery, fated romance and modern myth.¡¯ Alexandra Bracken, author of Lore

'Kika Hatzopoulou delivers a high-stakes, page-turning mystery with an utterly gasp-worthy twist.¡¯ Leslie Vedder, author of the Bone Spindle trilogy
]]> 384 Kika Hatzopoulou 0593859375 MJ 0 to-read 4.67 2025 Moth Dark
author: Kika Hatzopoulou
name: MJ
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Whispers in the Dark (Black Oasis, #1)]]> 184858132 You never know what¡¯s hiding under your bed¡­

At twenty-four, Cody has already lost hope of having a life of his own. All his time is spent playing nurse to a dying, spiteful step-father and maid to his bully half-brother. His only escapes are playing his favorite online fantasy game, Black Oasis, and talking to the strange, unearthly presence under his bed that may or may not actually exist.

But everything changes when his nightly visitor, who introduces himself as Nor, starts talking back.

As their connection deepens, Nor invites Cody into the surreal world existing just beyond his nightmares, filled with haughty demons, passion-killing pet bugs named Gef, and a dark landscape that is oddly familiar. With his sweet but monstrous companion by his side, Cody might finally gain the life of freedom and adventure that he¡¯s always wanted.

Join Nor and Cody as they unearth the true meaning of hope, passion, and a love of endless depths that spans between worlds in Whispers in the Dark, the first book in Knight and Mayne¡¯s co-authored queer, monster romance series, Black Oasis.

Whispers in the Dark is an M/M monster romance full of hurt/comfort, angst, humor, and a sweet, spicy love between a redheaded Texan and his precious, six-fingered Deepdweller. This love story contains explicit content and is not suitable for young readers. Be sure to check the Trigger Warnings at the beginning of the book for more details. ]]> 339 Nik Knight MJ 0 to-read 4.02 2023 Whispers in the Dark (Black Oasis, #1)
author: Nik Knight
name: MJ
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Mortal Skin (Folk, #1) 59916433
While they were here, I thought nothing of them. It wasn¡¯t until they were gone that I realise it wasn¡¯t¡­ normal.

But it isn¡¯t until I¡¯m twenty-one, when my life is in ruins, that they come back to take me away.

They say I¡¯m not fully mortal. They say I should be among them. The Unseelie Ruler wants me on her land for reasons no one will explain to me, but it¡¯s her aloof, painfully beautiful son who captures my attention and refuses to let go.

The cold, black-eyed assassin prince who strikes fear into the hearts of all Folk. Who I¡¯ve been warned about, repeatedly.

Who watches me always.

I don¡¯t trust the Folk, so I ignore their fearful advice to stay away from him. I ignore all of them except him, despite everything telling me that he can¡¯t be trusted¡ªthat he¡¯s just as bad as the rest of them, that he¡¯s playing games with me, the clueless mortal held here against his will.

But I want him.

Mortal Skin is the first in a mm fae romance trilogy about a dark fae assassin prince and a mortal who is thrown into the cruel world of the Folk.

Warning: This m/m love story contains explicit sexual content and is not suitable for young readers. It also contains depictions of violence and deals with the death of a close family member. This trilogy will follow the same couple who get their HEA eventually, but book one ends on a cliffhanger.]]> 359 Lily Mayne MJ 0 to-read 4.36 2022 Mortal Skin (Folk, #1)
author: Lily Mayne
name: MJ
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Name of All Things (A Chorus of Dragons, #2)]]> 55854834
Kihrin D'Mon is a wanted man.

Since he destroyed the Stone of Shackles and set demons free across Quur, he has been on the run from the wrath of an entire empire. His attempt to escape brings him into the path of Janel Theranon, a mysterious Joratese woman who claims to know Kihrin.

Janel's plea for help pits Kihrin against all manner of dangers: a secret rebellion, a dragon capable of destroying an entire city, and Kihrin's old enemy, the wizard Relos Var.

Janel believes that Relos Var possesses one of the most powerful artifacts in the world¨Dthe Cornerstone called the Name of All Things. And if Janel is right, then there may be nothing in the world that can stop Relos Var from getting what he wants.

And what he wants is Kihrin D'Mon.

Jenn Lyons continues the Chorus of Dragons series with The Name of All Things, the epic sequel to The Ruin of Kings.]]> 2534 Jenn Lyons 1509879579 MJ 0 3.80 2019 The Name of All Things (A Chorus of Dragons, #2)
author: Jenn Lyons
name: MJ
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: fantasy, high-fantasy, tbr-2025, audio-books, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)]]> 40275288
The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction ¨C but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tan¨¦ has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.]]> 845 Samantha Shannon 1408883457 MJ 0 4.18 2019 The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)
author: Samantha Shannon
name: MJ
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: physical-tbr, fantasy, high-fantasy, lesbian, lgbtq-fantasy, tbr-2024, to-read
review:

]]> Between Two Fires 54408033 436 Christopher Buehlman MJ 0 4.24 2012 Between Two Fires
author: Christopher Buehlman
name: MJ
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: horror-fiction, audio-books, historical-fiction, fantasy, to-read
review:

]]> Scarlet Angel (Mindf*ck, #3) 33304878
Logan Bennett makes me want to have a future not tainted by the constant hunger for revenge. Doesn't mean I can stop. Doesn't mean I want to stop. It just means I want more...one day.

But how do you make a good man love the monster inside you without stripping his soul away as well? He is all the best parts of me right now, resurrecting bits of my heart I forgot could even exist.

He makes me feel something other than cold.

He also thinks I'm weak and fragile. Something I laugh about to myself, while secretly soaking in all his protectiveness and concern.

If anyone touches him, harms him, or even threatens him, then they should probably run. Because his girlfriend is a little bit crazy. They just don't know it yet.]]> 139 S.T. Abby MJ 4 bad-romance, kindle-unlimited 4.40 2016 Scarlet Angel (Mindf*ck, #3)
author: S.T. Abby
name: MJ
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/02
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: bad-romance, kindle-unlimited
review:
Things are getting sticky for Lana as her secret is discovered and she grows closer to FBI agent Logan Bennett. This one amped up the stakes in a big way. Can't wait to watch Lana continue her revenge plot.
]]> Bright Young Women 100700774
From the author of the New York Times bestseller and #1 Netflix movie Luckiest Girl Alive comes an extraordinary novel inspired by the real-life sorority targeted by America's first celebrity serial killer in his final murderous spree.

January 1978. A serial killer has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest, but his existence couldn¡¯t be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University¡¯s campus in Tallahassee. Tonight is a night of promise, excitement, and desire, but Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home¡ªa decision that unwittingly saves her life. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate. What she finds behind the door is a scene of implausible violence¡ªtwo of her sisters dead; two others, maimed. Over the next few days, Pamela is thrust into a terrifying mystery inspired by the crime that¡¯s captivated public interest for more than four decades.

On the other side of the country, Tina Cannon has found peace in Seattle after years of hardship. A chance encounter brings twenty-five-year-old Ruth Wachowsky into her life, a young woman with painful secrets of her own, and the two form an instant connection. When Ruth goes missing from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers on a beautiful summer day, Tina devotes herself to finding out what happened to her. When she hears about the tragedy in Tallahassee, she knows it¡¯s the man the papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer. Determined to make him answer for what he did to Ruth, she travels to Florida on a collision course with Pamela¡ªand one last impending tragedy.

Bright Young Women is the story about two women from opposite sides of the country who become sisters in their fervent pursuit of the truth. It proposes a new narrative inspired by evidence that¡¯s been glossed over for decades in favor of more salable headlines¡ªthat the so-called brilliant and charismatic serial killer from Seattle was far more average than the countless books, movies, and primetime specials have led us to believe, and that it was the women whose lives he cut short who were the exceptional ones.]]> 13 Jessica Knoll 1797154788 MJ 0 3.99 2023 Bright Young Women
author: Jessica Knoll
name: MJ
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/20
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: historical-fiction, tbr-2025, audio-books, true-crime, dnfing-me-softly, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Golden Raven (All for the Game, #5)]]> 228271766 I do not care what they think of me. I can¡¯t. It only matters that I play.

Jeremy Knox is no stranger to damage control, but his last season on an Exy court is off to a disastrous start. The relentless crusade against his newest teammate threatens the haven he and his friends have worked so hard to build. He promised Jean a fun senior year, but tragedy and ugly truths make every step forward an uphill fight.

Jean Moreau promised the USC Trojans a championship trophy, and he intends to deliver. Granted, it would be significantly easier if they¡¯d slide off their high horses and throw a few elbows on the court. Their steadfast refusal to do things his way is nearly as aggravating as their unwanted affection, but maybe they¡¯re not the ones that need to change.

With so many ready to drag him down, how can he learn to fly?]]> 484 Nora Sakavic MJ 0 4.75 2025 The Golden Raven (All for the Game, #5)
author: Nora Sakavic
name: MJ
average rating: 4.75
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read, hey-now-youre-an-all-star, gay, sports-romance, sports-fiction, tbr-2025
review:

]]> Water Moon 212476837 A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets, and then embarks on a magical journey when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop, in this dreamlike and enchanting fantasy novel.

On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see a cozy ramen restaurant. And only the chosen ones¡ªthose who are lost¡ªwill find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.

Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop¡¯s new owner to find it ransacked, the shop¡¯s most precious acquisition stolen, and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike its other customers, for he offers help instead of seeking it.

Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana¡¯s father and the stolen choice¡ªby way of rain puddles, rides on paper cranes, the bridge between midnight and morning, and a night market in the clouds.

But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own¡ªand risk making a choice that she will never be able to take back.]]> 15 Samantha Sotto Yambao MJ 0 audio-books, to-read 3.76 2025 Water Moon
author: Samantha Sotto Yambao
name: MJ
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: audio-books, to-read
review:

]]> The Great Gatsby 4671 The only edition of the beloved classic that is authorized by Fitzgerald¡¯s family and from his lifelong publisher.

This edition is the enduring original text, updated with the author¡¯s own revisions, a foreword by his granddaughter, and with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward.

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald¡¯s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 MJ 0 to-read 3.93 1925 The Great Gatsby
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: MJ
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Annie Bot 215989058
She¡¯s learning, too.

Doug says he loves that Annie¡¯s artificial intelligence makes her seem more like a real woman, but the more human Annie becomes, the less perfectly she behaves. As Annie's relationship with Doug grows more intricate and difficult, she starts to wonder whether Doug truly desires what he says he does. In such an impossible paradox, what does Annie owe herself?]]> 240 Sierra Greer 0063312700 MJ 0 to-read 3.89 2024 Annie Bot
author: Sierra Greer
name: MJ
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Another 220652200 New York Times bestselling, acclaimed horror author Paul Tremblay delivers an unforgettable middle grade debut in this bone-chilling tale of an unsettling, unbreakable friendship.

When Casey Wilson¡¯s parents tell him that his friend is coming for a sleepover, he has no idea who that might be. Ever since the Zoom Incident, everyone treats him like a pariah, and his tics are worse than ever.

When Morel appears, he¡¯s not like any friend Casey has ever met. His skin is like clay, and he doesn¡¯t speak. But Casey¡¯s parents are charmed by the strange kid, and it¡¯s nice to have someone to talk to besides his sister, Ally, who is away at college. As his normally loving parents grow distant from Casey, they gush and fawn over Morel. Casey knows something is wrong¡ªbut with no end in sight to the sleepover, he¡¯s exhausted. And in the dark, out of the corner of his eye, Morel doesn¡¯t look like a kid at all. . . .]]> 256 Paul Tremblay 0063396351 MJ 0 to-read 4.22 2025 Another
author: Paul Tremblay
name: MJ
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Ceremony 52382

Tayo's quest leads him back to the Indian past and its traditions, to beliefs about witchcraft and evil, and to the ancient stories of his people. The search itself becomes a ritual, a curative ceremony that defeats the most virulent of afflictions -- despair.

]]> 244 Leslie Marmon Silko 0143104918 MJ 0 3.79 1977 Ceremony
author: Leslie Marmon Silko
name: MJ
average rating: 3.79
book published: 1977
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: to-read, tbr-2025, historical-fiction, own-voices, fiction-and-literature
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana]]> 61341763
When Rolling Stone journalist Kayla McCray is assigned a cover story on pop icon Lexi Mayhem, Kayla stumbles across a startling new angle to the expos¨¦. Years ago, another rising star from Lexi¡¯s past mysteriously leaped to her death. Some things are better off forgotten, Lexi says. Kayla disagrees.

It¡¯s 2005 and Ava Petrova moves to New York with a notebook full of songs and a dream. Then she meets Lexi, an up-and-coming singer who brands Ava with an enigmatic new stage name and introduces her to an intoxicating city alive with possibilities. From fast friends and kindred spirits to creative muses and inseparable soul mates, Ava and Lexi embark on a parallel journey to stardom, but there is room for only one at the top.

As past and present converge, Kayla chases the ghost of a young woman doomed by betrayal and erased by a secret, and unravels the truth that it takes more than ambition to become a star.]]> 297 Jennifer Banash 1662505426 MJ 2 audio-books, music 3.95 2023 The Rise and Fall of Ava Arcana
author: Jennifer Banash
name: MJ
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/02
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: audio-books, music
review:

]]> Devils Kill Devils 217538642 Devils Kill Devils is perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Certain Dark Things and Southern gothic horror. Johnny Compton brings his trademark terror and dread that readers fell in love with in The Spite House to a new roster of monsters¡ªangels, devils, vampires¡ªand a heart-pounding race to save the world.When all hell breaks loose, you need a devil on your sideSarita has been watched over by a guardian angel her entire life. She calls him Angelo, and keeps him a secret. But secrets can¡¯t stay buried forever¡­When Angelo murders someone she loves, Sarita begins to see what's really been lurking in the shadows surrounding her. And she will have to embrace the evil within if she hopes to make it out alive.Johnny Compton, critically acclaimed author of The Spite House and master of dread, takes you on a terrifying race of one woman against the hordes of hell.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> Johnny Compton 1250353386 MJ 1 ]]> 2.79 2024 Devils Kill Devils
author: Johnny Compton
name: MJ
average rating: 2.79
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2025/02/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: horror-fiction, dnf-hated-skimmed
review:
Hmmm not very good Dnfed at the 50% mark. Hate to put this in read folder. Started off interesting and goes downhill from there. A lot of telling and not showing. Mostly unlikeable characters on all sides of the conflict and going no where fast. Serita is saved by an "angel" she dubs Angelo who continues to appear throughout her life when she is in mortal danger. However, when her husband is brutally killed by Angelo on their wedding night, she soon discovers Angelo may have been the wrong name to give her savior. I was listening to the audiobook and started skipping through parts where the characters are just having never-ending Deep Thoughts, eventually giving it up. I might go back to it one day, or skim ahead to the end to get to the outcome.

]]> <![CDATA[Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1)]]> 1421990 Flirting With The Grave¡­

Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father ¨C the one responsible for ruining her mother¡¯s life. Then she¡¯s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unlikely partnership.

In exchange for help finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She¡¯s amazed she doesn¡¯t end up as his dinner ¨C are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn¡¯t have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side ¡­ and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.]]> 374 Jeaniene Frost 0061245089 MJ 2 4.13 2007 Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1)
author: Jeaniene Frost
name: MJ
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2007
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: paranormal-romance, urban-fantasy, 2025-fantasy-fables-fellowship, 2025-owned-read
review:
2.25. Neither the best nor worst book in the genre Ive ever read. But this misses the mark in a lot of the important ways. I liked the two mcs but not enough to swoon over their relationship. Id say its a product of its time but honestly, it reads like a lot of fantasy romance thats still getting published. Cat is a half-human/vampire who kills vamps indiscrimenantly until she meets Bones, a vampire and bounty hunter who show her that not all vampires are evil, and not all of humanity deserves mercy.
]]> This Fatal Kiss 203613906 Spirit away with a whimsical fantasy filled with dark magic and flirty, polyamorous romance.

Cursed to haunt the river running through the magical spa town where she drowned, Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of returning to the living world and the family she left behind. All it takes to regain her humanity is a kiss from a mortal...but everyone sees her as a monster.

And then there¡¯s Kazik, the brooding, interfering, spirit-hunting grandson of a local witch. He's determined to rid the world of unholy creatures like Gisela. After Kazik botches Gisela¡¯s exorcism, she strikes up a deal. She won¡¯t tell the other spirits that he¡¯s losing his magic, if he agrees to play matchmaker and helps her get a kiss. But Gisela¡¯s plan goes awry when Kazik also falls for the devilishly handsome young man that she sets her heart on¡ªsomeone who could be linked to Gisela¡¯s troubled past.

Finely crafted with a magical setting, this delectable quest through the spirit world is an enchanting read for fans of queer romantasy.]]> 416 Alicia Jasinska 1682637360 MJ 3 4.00 2024 This Fatal Kiss
author: Alicia Jasinska
name: MJ
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: fairy-tales, fantasy, fantasy-romance, lgbtq-fantasy, lgbtq-romance, 2025-owned-read
review:
3.5 - Gisella is a rulsalki, the spirit of a drowned girl who died tragically ahead of her time, doomed to haunt the lake where she drowned. However, Gisella is not content in this new watery life, beautiful and idyllic as it seems. She left behind a young brother whom she cannot stop worrying about. In a last ditch effort to return to humanity, she has been haranguing the local boys for a kiss, a kiss which legend says will return her to her human form. However, Kasik, the local exorcist, is determined to keep her from pestering the locals. But when an exorcism goes wrong, and Kasik is forced to admit that his powers may be waning, he agrees to help Gisella get her kiss. Both of them holds a secret crush for a local boy named Aleksey, and Aleksey is keeping a secret of his own. Despite how much I loved the lore, writing, and characters, there are a few things that keep this from being a 5 star read. The first are some anathematic phrases sprinkled throughout which pulled me out of the story, turns of phrase which didn't fit. Next, and this is the big one. Aleksey's secret all but ruins what could have been a fantastic example of a polyamorist romance. Additionally, the ending leaves me to think there is room for a sequel, but as I far as I can tell, this isn't meant to be a series or duology of any kind.
]]> <![CDATA[Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder]]> 156007966
Set in 2011, when dairy product shortages across Japan made butter a hot commodity, Butter depicts a vivid, panoramic view of contemporary Japan as seen through a diverse cast of Japanese women. An endlessly entertaining and sharply insightful look at the relationships between women and how they engage and challenge one another, revealing the many contradictions and complexities in the process, Asako Yuzuki¡¯s novel is filled with intoxicating descriptions of food and the body that also looks deeply at its connection to the sinister, criminal, and taboo, its enduring power and delight.]]> 464 Asako Yuzuki 0063236427 MJ 0 3.66 2017 Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder
author: Asako Yuzuki
name: MJ
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves: to-read, translations, true-crime, audio-books, mystery-thriller, reading-on-the-dl
review:

]]> Our Wives Under the Sea 58724816 Leah is changed. A marine biologist, she left for a routine expedition months earlier, only this time her submarine sank to the sea floor. When she finally surfaces and returns home, her wife, Miri, knows that something is wrong. Barely eating and lost in her thoughts, Leah rotates between rooms in their apartment, running the taps morning and night. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was the crew was supposed to be studying before they were stranded, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. As Miri searches for answers, desperate to understand what happened below the water, she must face the possibility that the woman she loves is slipping from her grasp.

By turns elegiac and furious, wry and heartbreaking, Our Wives Under the Sea is an exploration of the unknowable depths within each of us and the love that compels us, nevertheless, toward one another. Fathomlessly inventive and original, Julia Armfield¡¯s debut novel is a portrait of marriage as we¡¯ve never seen it before.]]> 228 Julia Armfield 1250229898 MJ 0 to-read 3.69 2022 Our Wives Under the Sea
author: Julia Armfield
name: MJ
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Lapvona 62818109
In a village in a medieval fiefdom buffeted by natural disasters, a motherless shepherd boy finds himself the unlikely pivot of a power struggle that puts all manner of faith to a savage test, in a spellbinding novel that represents Ottessa Moshfegh¡¯s most exciting leap yet

Little Marek, the abused and delusional son of the village shepherd, never knew his mother; his father told him she died in childbirth. One of life¡¯s few consolations for Marek is his enduring bond with the blind village midwife, Ina, who suckled him when he was a baby, as she did so many of the village¡¯s children. Ina¡¯s gifts extend beyond childcare: she possesses a unique ability to communicate with the natural world. Her gift often brings her the transmission of sacred knowledge on levels far beyond those available to other villagers, however religious they might be. For some people, Ina¡¯s home in the woods outside of the village is a place to fear and to avoid, a godless place.

Among their number is Father Barnabas, the town priest and lackey for the depraved lord and governor, Villiam, whose hilltop manor contains a secret embarrassment of riches. The people¡¯s desperate need to believe that there are powers that be who have their best interests at heart is put to a cruel test by Villiam and the priest, especially in this year of record drought and famine. But when fate brings Marek into violent proximity to the lord¡¯s family, new and occult forces upset the old order. By year¡¯s end, the veil between blindness and sight, life and death, the natural world and the spirit world, will prove to be very thin indeed.]]> 304 Ottessa Moshfegh MJ 5 horror-fiction, audio-books That was really weird. 3.31 2022 Lapvona
author: Ottessa Moshfegh
name: MJ
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: horror-fiction, audio-books
review:
That was really weird.
]]> A Love Song for Ricki Wilde 173404023
Leap years are a strange, enchanted time. And for some, even a single February can be life-changing.

Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn¡¯t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she¡¯s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they¡¯re long-stemmed roses, she¡¯s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that¡¯s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her.

When regal nonagenarian, Ms. Della, invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmers.

One evening in February as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.

Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.]]> 352 Tia Williams 153872670X MJ 0 to-read 3.98 2024 A Love Song for Ricki Wilde
author: Tia Williams
name: MJ
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Life of Herod the Great 212364050 Zora Neale Hurston's unpublished novel revealing the historical Herod the Great¡ªnot the demon the Bible makes him out to be but a religious and philosophical man who lived a life of adventure.

In the 1950s, after the publication of Moses, Man of the Mountain, Zora Neale Hurston set out to write a novel that would set the record straight about one of history's most maligned figures. If Hurston's Moses challenges the Old Testament version of the ancient Hebrew leader by suggesting that Moses was actually an Egyptian, Hurston's Herod challenges the New Testament version of the tyrant who supposedly ordered the deaths of many children in order to save the Christ-child, as recorded in the book of Matthew, by suggesting that he was actually a forerunner of Christ.

From the peaks of triumph to the depths of human misery, the historical Herod "seemed to have been singled out by some deity and especially endowed to attract the zigzag lightning of fate." The intimate friend of both Marc Antony and Julius Caesar, Herod lived in times of war and expansion, where political assassinations and bribery were commonplace as the old world gave way to the new. Breaking his legacy out of a single paragraph in the Bible and into the vivid, breathing world he lived in, Hurston's unfinished manuscript brings a full person with an adventurous life into view for the first time.

Scholar and literary critic Deborah Plant brings this bold, spirited novel to readers for the first time with a new introduction and editorial additions that demonstrate Hurston's point about how reimagining figures from the past addresses the troubles we experience today.]]> 368 Zora Neale Hurston 0063161001 MJ 0 to-read 3.34 2025 The Life of Herod the Great
author: Zora Neale Hurston
name: MJ
average rating: 3.34
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> Listen to Your Sister 211004179 For fans of Jordan Peele¡¯s films, Stranger Things, and The Other Black Girl, Listen To Your Sister is a laugh-out-loud, deeply terrifying, and big-hearted speculative horror novel from electrifying debut talent Neena Viel.

Twenty-five year old Calla Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes sacrifices to keep the family together. Jamie, full of good-natured sixteen-year-old recklessness, is usually off fighting for what matters to him or getting into mischief, often at the same time. Dre, their brother, promised he would help raise Jamie¨Cbut now the ink is dry on the paperwork and in classic middle-child fashion, he¡¯s off doing his own thing. And through it all, The Nightmare never stops haunting Calla: recurring images of her brothers dying that she is powerless to stop.

When Jamie¡¯s actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run. Taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on a slasher movie poster rather than an AirBNB, the siblings now face a new threat where their lives¨Cand reality¨Chang in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares. They really should have listened.]]> 352 Neena Viel 1250906326 MJ 0 to-read 3.28 2025 Listen to Your Sister
author: Neena Viel
name: MJ
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> The Reformatory 62919847 A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he¡¯s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.

Gracetown, Florida
June 1950

Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys, a reformatory, for kicking the son of the largest landowner in town in defense of his older sister, Gloria. So begins Robbie¡¯s journey further into the terrors of the Jim Crow South and the very real horror of the school they call The Reformatory.

Robbie has a talent for seeing ghosts, or haints. But what was once a comfort to him after the loss of his mother has become a window to the truth of what happens at the reformatory. Boys forced to work to remediate their so-called crimes have gone missing, but the haints Robbie sees hint at worse things. Through his friends Redbone and Blue, Robbie is learning not just the rules but how to survive. Meanwhile, Gloria is rallying every family member and connection in Florida to find a way to get Robbie out before it¡¯s too late.

The Reformatory is a haunting work of historical fiction written as only American Book Award¨Cwinning author Tananarive Due could, by piecing together the life of the relative her family never spoke of and bringing his tragedy and those of so many others at the infamous Dozier School for Boys to the light in this riveting novel.]]> 576 Tananarive Due 1982188340 MJ 0 to-read 4.44 2023 The Reformatory
author: Tananarive Due
name: MJ
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> The New Naturals 123204547
An abandoned restaurant on a hill off the highway in Western Massachusetts doesn't look like much. But to Rio, a young Black woman bereft after the loss of her newborn child, this hill becomes more than a safe haven¡ªit becomes a place to start over. She convinces her husband to help her construct a society underground, somewhere safe, somewhere everyone can feel loved, wanted, and accepted, where the children learn actual history, where everyone has an equal shot.

She locates a Benefactor and soon their utopia begins to take shape. Two unhoused men hear about it and immediately begin their journey by bus from Chicago to get there. A young and disillusioned journalist stumbles?upon it and wants in. And a former soccer player, having lost his footing in society, is persuaded to check it out too. But no matter how much these people all yearn for meaning and a sanctuary from the existential dread of life above the surface, what happens if this new society can't actually work? What then??

From one of the most exciting new literary voices out there, The New Naturals is fresh and deeply perceptive, capturing the absurdity of life in the 21st century. In this remarkable feat of imagination, Bump shows us that, ultimately, it is our love for and connection to each other that will save us.]]> 304 Gabriel Bump 1616208805 MJ 0 to-read 2.83 2023 The New Naturals
author: Gabriel Bump
name: MJ
average rating: 2.83
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> Family Meal 123414019 From the bestselling, award-winning author of Memorial and Lot, an irresistible, intimate novel about two young men, once best friends, whose lives collide again after a loss.

Cam is living in Los Angeles and falling apart after the love of his life has died. Kai's ghost won't leave Cam alone; his spectral visits wild, tender, and unexpected. When Cam returns to his hometown of Houston, he crashes back into the orbit of his former best friend, TJ, and TJ's family bakery. TJ's not sure how to navigate this changed Cam, impenetrably cool and self-destructing, or their charged estrangement. Can they find a way past all that has been said - and left unsaid - to save each other? Could they find a way back to being okay again, or maybe for the first time?

When secrets and wounds become so insurmountable that they devour us from within, hope and sustenance and friendship can come from the most unlikely source. Spanning Los Angeles, Houston, and Osaka, Family Meal is a story about how the people who know us the longest can hurt us the most, but how they also set the standard for love. With his signature generosity and eye for food, sex, love, and the moments that make us the most human, Bryan Washington returns with a brilliant new novel.]]> 320 Bryan Washington 0593421094 MJ 0 to-read 3.51 2023 Family Meal
author: Bryan Washington
name: MJ
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> Chain-Gang All-Stars 61190770
Loretta Thurwar and Hamara "Hurricane Staxxx" Stacker are the stars of Chain-Gang All-Stars, the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America's increasingly dominant private prison industry. It's the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom.

In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, she considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games, but CAPE's corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar's path have devastating consequences.

Moving from the Links in the field to the protestors to the CAPE employees and beyond, Chain-Gang All-Stars is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system's unholy alliance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means.]]> 367 Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 0593317335 MJ 0 to-read 4.13 2023 Chain-Gang All-Stars
author: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
name: MJ
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> The Dutch House 44318414
The story is told by Cyril¡¯s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they¡¯re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they¡¯ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they¡¯re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.]]> 337 Ann Patchett 0062963678 MJ 0 to-read 4.08 2019 The Dutch House
author: Ann Patchett
name: MJ
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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]]> Atalanta 61884838
Princess, Warrior, Lover, Hero

When Princess Atalanta is born, a daughter rather than the son her parents hoped for, she is left on a mountainside to die. But even then, she is a survivor. Raised by a mother bear under the protective eye of the goddess Artemis, Atalanta grows up wild and free, with just one condition: if she marries, Artemis warns, it will be her undoing.

Although she loves her beautiful forest home, Atalanta yearns for adventure. When Artemis offers her the chance to fight in her name alongside the Argonauts, the fiercest band of warriors the world has ever seen, Atalanta seizes it. The Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece is filled with impossible challenges, but Atalanta proves herself equal to the men she fights alongside. As she is swept into a passionate affair, in defiance of Artemis's warning, she begins to question the goddess's true intentions. Can Atalanta carve out her own legendary place in a world of men, while staying true to her heart?

Full of joy, passion, and adventure, Atalanta is the story of a woman who refuses to be contained. Jennifer Saint places Atalanta in the pantheon of the greatest heroes in Greek mythology, where she belongs.]]> 291 Jennifer Saint 1250855578 MJ 0 to-read 3.74 2023 Atalanta
author: Jennifer Saint
name: MJ
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> Elektra 58725016
Clytemnestra
The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon - her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them, and determines to win, whatever the cost.

Cassandra
Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall.

Elektra
The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But, can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence?]]> 291 Jennifer Saint 125077361X MJ 0 to-read 3.65 2022 Elektra
author: Jennifer Saint
name: MJ
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> Clytemnestra 61361681 For fans of Madeline Miller's Circe, a stunning debut following Clytemnestra, the most notorious villainess of the ancient world and the events that forged her into the legendary queen.

As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best...

You were born to a king, but you marry a tyrant. You stand by helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore, and you comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Because this was not the first offence against you. This was not the life you ever deserved. And this will not be your undoing. Slowly, you plot.

But when your husband returns in triumph, you become a woman with a choice.

Acceptance or vengeance, infamy follows both. So, you bide your time and force the gods' hands in the game of retribution. For you understood something long ago that the others never did.

If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself.

A blazing novel set in the world of Ancient Greece for fans of Jennifer Saint and Natalie Haynes, this is a thrilling tale of power and prophecies, of hatred, love, and of an unforgettable Queen who fiercely dealt out death to those who wronged her.]]> 435 Costanza Casati 1728268230 MJ 0 to-read 4.23 2023 Clytemnestra
author: Costanza Casati
name: MJ
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow]]> 58784475 In this exhilarating novel, two friends¡ªoften in love, but never lovers¡ªcome together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.]]> 401 Gabrielle Zevin 0735243344 MJ 0 to-read 4.12 2022 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
author: Gabrielle Zevin
name: MJ
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop]]> 133938826 should feel successful¡ªbut all she feels is drained. Haunted by an abandoned dream, she takes a leap of faith and leaves her old life behind. Quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeongju moves to a quiet residential neighborhood outside the city and opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.

The transition isn¡¯t easy. For months, all Yeongju can do is cry. But as the long hours in the shop stretch on, she begins to reflect on what makes a good bookseller and a meaningful store. She throws herself into reading voraciously, hosting author events, and crafting her own philosophy on bookselling. Gradually, Yeongju finds her footing in her new surroundings.

Surrounded by friends, writers, and the books that bind them, Yeongju begins to write a new chapter in her life. The Hyunam-dong Bookshop evolves into a warm, welcoming haven for lost souls¡ªa place to rest, heal, and remember that it¡¯s never too late to scrap the plot and start over.]]> 307 Hwang Bo-Reum MJ 0 to-read 3.94 2022 Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
author: Hwang Bo-Reum
name: MJ
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
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