en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 17:47:15 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 129915654 400 Jane Austen Julie 0 to-read 4.38 1813
author: Jane Austen
name: Julie
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1813
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/30
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]]> 14942 194 Virginia Woolf 0151009988 Julie 0 to-read 3.80 1925
author: Virginia Woolf
name: Julie
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1925
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> 40163119
Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders.

Patrick Radden Keefe writes an intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.]]> 441 Patrick Radden Keefe 0385521316 Julie 0 currently-reading 4.47 2018
author: Patrick Radden Keefe
name: Julie
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

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

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

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach Julie 0 currently-reading 4.11 2024
author: Alison Espach
name: Julie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 23751461 The riveting narrative of an honorable Irish priest who finds the church collapsing around him at a pivotal moment in its history

Propelled into the priesthood by a family tragedy, Odran Yates is full of hope and ambition. When he arrives at Clonliffe Seminary in the 1970s, it is a time in Ireland when priests are highly respected, and Odran believes that he is pledging his life to “the good.�
ĚýĚýĚýĚý Forty years later, Odran’s devotion is caught in revelations that shatter the Irish people’s faith in the Catholic Church. He sees his friends stand trial, colleagues jailed, the lives of young parishioners destroyed, and grows nervous of venturing out in public for fear of disapproving stares and insults. At one point, he is even arrested when he takes the hand of a young boy and leads him out of a department store looking for the boy’s mother.
ĚýĚýĚýĚý But when a family event opens wounds from his past, he is forced to confront the demons that have raged within the church, and to recognize his own complicity in their propagation, within both the institution and his own family.
ĚýĚýĚýĚý A novel as intimate as it is universal, A History of Loneliness is about the stories we tell ourselves to make peace with our lives. It confirms Boyne as one of the most searching storytellers of his generation.


]]> 352 John Boyne 0374713022 Julie 5 4.31 2014
author: John Boyne
name: Julie
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/26
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves:
review:
Another great read by John Boyne!
]]> 211004089
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.]]> 303 Charlotte McConaghy 1250827957 Julie 0 to-read 4.27 2025
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: Julie
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 62337113 From New York Times bestselling author Alice Hoffman comes a heartfelt short story about family, independence, and finding your place in the world.

Isabel Gibson has all but perfected the art of forgetting. She’s a New Yorker now, with nothing left to tie her to Brinkley’s Island, Maine. Her parents are gone, the family bookstore is all but bankrupt, and her sister, Sophie, will probably never speak to her again.

But when a mysterious letter arrives in her mailbox, Isabel feels herself drawn to the past. After years of fighting for her independence, she dreads the thought of going back to the island. What she finds there may forever alter her path—and change everything she thought she knew about her family, her home, and herself.]]> 36 Alice Hoffman 1662510500 Julie 0 to-read 4.00 2022
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Julie
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 149242 190 Kelsang Gyatso 0948006714 Julie 0 to-read 3.82 1992
author: Kelsang Gyatso
name: Julie
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 216497043
Behind the scenes, Laurie’s life is frequently chaotic, an often pleasurable buffet of bad decisions at which she frequently overstays her welcome. Acerbic and wryly self-deprecating, Laurie attempts to carve her own space as a woman in this world that is by turns toxic and intoxicating. Laurie seeks to try it all—from a seedy Atlantic City strip club to the Park Hyatt Tokyo, from a hippie vegetarian co-op to the legendary El Bulli—while balancing her consuming work with her sometimes ambivalent relationship to marriage and motherhood.

As the food world careens toward an overdue reckoning and Laurie’s mentors face their own high-profile descents, she is confronted with the questions of where she belongs and how to hold on to the parts of her life’s work that she truly values: care and feeding.]]> 352 Laurie Woolever 0063327600 Julie 3 I’m a big fan of Anthony Bourdain- would like to have known him t& call him Tony! Laurie Woolever was fortunate to work for him, and I’m sure she earned it. Lucky to travel with him & his crew to so many cool places!]]> 3.56
author: Laurie Woolever
name: Julie
average rating: 3.56
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/16
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves:
review:
I give her a lot of commendations for being so honest in this book! That takes courage! I had some sympathy for her ex, I would feel she wasted some of my life, but goodness he had to have been a little clueless!
I’m a big fan of Anthony Bourdain- would like to have known him t& call him Tony! Laurie Woolever was fortunate to work for him, and I’m sure she earned it. Lucky to travel with him & his crew to so many cool places!
]]> 58912892 GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

"The Change is like a guttural rage scream (and somehow a soft, tearful hug) of a book, and I couldn't have loved it any more." --Emily Henry

Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick--a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers--putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town.

"A roar of rage, a pacy page-turner, I loved it with all my broken heart. Read it. You'll love it."--New York Times bestselling author Marian Keyes

"Miller triumphs...THE CHANGE is that rare a suspenseful story with great pacing, memorable characters, and an engaging voice. Fantastic in every way, this fierce anthem against misogyny is a smash."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A pointed, punchy, and potent thriller...wry and clever, serious and exacting, and masterfully suspenseful."--Booklist (starred review)

In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment...

After Nessa James's husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she's left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn't take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead--a gift she's inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities.

On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn't left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriett's life is far from over--in fact, she's undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis.

Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw--until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.

Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative. Their investigation into the girl's murder leads to more bodies, and to the town's most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don't apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriett will take matters into their own hands...]]> 352 Kirsten Miller 0063144069 Julie 0 to-read 4.20 2022
author: Kirsten Miller
name: Julie
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> 195660519
Born into the Waorani tribe of Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest—one of the last to be contacted by missionaries in the 1950s—Nemonte Nenquimo had a singular upbringing. She was taught about plant medicines, foraging, oral storytelling, and shamanism by her elders. She played barefoot in the forest and didn’t walk on pavement, or see a car, until she was a teenager and left to study with an evangelical missionary group in the city. But after Nemonte’s ancestors began appearing in her dreams, pleading with her to return and embrace her own culture, she listened.

Nemonte returned to the forest and traditional ways of life and became one of the most forceful voices in climate change activism. She spearheaded an alliance of Indigenous nations across the Upper Amazon and led her people to a landmark victory against Big Oil, protecting over a half million acres of primary rainforest.

We Will Be Jaguars is an astonishing memoir by an equally astonishing woman. Nemonte digs into generations of oral history, uprooting centuries of conquest, and hacking away at racist notions of Indigenous peoples. Ultimately, she reveals a life story as rich, harsh, and vital as the Amazon rainforest herself.]]> 368 Nemonte Nenquimo 1419763776 Julie 5
I loved how her community interpreted dreams.,where their ancestors are (spirit of jaguars), plants for medicinal help. Etc..There’s one plant in the rainforest that if you touch the leaf it closes- this works for putting babies to sleep! I love that!

I will support Amazon Frontlines, a respected group, mentioned in the book, to see in my small way, besides limiting my driving/flying and see how I can help!
]]> 4.46 2024
author: Nemonte Nenquimo
name: Julie
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:
This is the third book that I’ve read this year that will stay with me forever! Tough read . I despise the missionaries! The author is a remarkable Indigenous woman from the Ecuadorian rainforest. Activists like the author Nemonte play such a crucial role in protecting our planet.

I loved how her community interpreted dreams.,where their ancestors are (spirit of jaguars), plants for medicinal help. Etc..There’s one plant in the rainforest that if you touch the leaf it closes- this works for putting babies to sleep! I love that!

I will support Amazon Frontlines, a respected group, mentioned in the book, to see in my small way, besides limiting my driving/flying and see how I can help!

]]> 214151202 “The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.�

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.]]> 320 Clare Leslie Hall 166807818X Julie 2 4.41 2025
author: Clare Leslie Hall
name: Julie
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
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review:
My rating is in the minority I’m sure. My biggest grievance is the book is classified as historical fiction! I do not agree with that! I usually like that genre. This was a silly story in my opinion!
]]> 46000520
But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

Alternate cover edition can be found here .]]> 382 Richard Osman Julie 0 to-read 3.87 2020
author: Richard Osman
name: Julie
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222532830
Anya is enjoying a relaxing bath when she hears a noise in the roof. Through the open bathroom door, she sees the attic hatch swing open, and a masked figure drops to the floor. Thirty seconds later, Anya is dead.

You're not afraid of being alone in the dark. You're afraid you're not alone.

Across town, Anya's old school friend, Julia, sees an online video of a masked figure climbing out of an attic. She suddenly realises why the footage is eerily it was filmed inside her house in a luxury gated community, designed to keep intruders out.

And now your worst fears are coming true.

Why would a stranger target Julia? Unless of course, it's not a stranger at all.]]> 368 Andrea Mara 1804990795 Julie 4 3.82 2024
author: Andrea Mara
name: Julie
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/03/30
shelves:
review:
Pretty good mystery! Thoughts of who dun its, with many twists & turns!
]]> 214363953
After more than seventy years of fighting to live her life on her own terms, Cher finally reveals her true story in intimate detail, in a two-part memoir.

Her remarkable career is unique and unparalleled. The only woman to top Billboard charts in seven consecutive decades, she is the winner of an Academy Award, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, and an inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who has been lauded by the Kennedy Center.

She is a lifelong activist and philanthropist.

As a dyslexic child who dreamed of becoming famous, Cher was raised in often-chaotic circumstances, surrounded by singers, actors, and a mother who inspired her in spite of their difficult relationship.

With her trademark honesty and humor, Cher: The Memoir traces how this diamond in the rough succeeded with no plan and little confidence to become the trailblazing superstar the world has been unable to ignore for more than half a century.

Cher: The Memoir, Part One follows her extraordinary beginnings through childhood to meeting and marrying Sonny Bono—and reveals the highly complicated relationship that made them world-famous, but eventually drove them apart.

Cher: The Memoir reveals the daughter, the sister, the wife, the lover, the mother, and the superstar.

It is a life too immense for only one book.]]> 432 Cher 0008355371 Julie 4 I’ll have to ask my granddaughter, age 15 if she’s heard of her. Probably not!
Good memoir. I look forward to Part Two!]]> 4.23 2024
author: Cher
name: Julie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/29
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves:
review:
Who doesn’t like Cher? I know I watched the Sonny and Cher show. Yes, there wasn’t many choices, but I do remember it being very entertaining!
I’ll have to ask my granddaughter, age 15 if she’s heard of her. Probably not!
Good memoir. I look forward to Part Two!
]]> 43834909 Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn't be more different. Then, one of them goes missing.

In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don't speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.

Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey's district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit--and her sister--before it's too late.

Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters' childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.]]> 482 Liz Moore 0525540679 Julie 4 4.03 2020
author: Liz Moore
name: Julie
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/22
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves:
review:
I enjoyed it! It had a believable plot, I think. It addressed police corruption which does occur with some, of course not all officers! The babies born from addicted moms happens too often, unfortunately! I could not go to the hospital and hold & try to soothe them- it would break my heart!
]]> 214537759 “Where are you, Mom?� So began Amy’s quest to solve a mystery trapped in the deep recesses of her own memory—a journey that would take her into the burgeoning field of psychedelic therapy, to the limits of the judicial system, and ultimately, home to the Texas panhandle, where her story began.

In her search for the truth, to understand and begin to recover from buried childhood trauma, Griffin interrogates the pursuit of perfectionism, control, and maintaining appearances that drives so many women, asking, when, in our path from girlhood to womanhood, did we learn to look outside ourselves for validation? What kind of freedom is possible if we accept the whole story and embrace who we really are? With hope, heart, and relentless honesty, she points a way forward for all of us, revealing the power of radical truth-telling to deepen our connections—with others and ourselves.]]> 288 Amy Griffin 0593731204 Julie 0 to-read 4.19 2025
author: Amy Griffin
name: Julie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> 59947698
Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, bound by a shared secret.

Early 1900s: Taken from his homeland, twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of the time locked away in the attic of a large house by the sea. The only time Celestine isn’t bound by confines of the small space is when he is acting as an unpaid servant to English explorer Sir Richard Babbington, As the years pass, he desperately clings on to memories of his family in Africa, even as he struggles to remember his mother’s face, and sometimes his real name . . .

1974: Lowra, a young orphan girl born into wealth and privilege whose fortunes have now changed, finds herself trapped in the same attic. Searching for a ray of light in the darkness of the attic, Lowra finds under the floorboards an old-fashioned pen, a porcelain doll, a beaded necklace, and a message carved on the wall, written in an unidentifiable language. Providing comfort for her when all hope is lost, these clues will lead her to uncover the secrets of the attic.Ěý]]> 480 Lola Jaye 0063260379 Julie 5 4.35 2022
author: Lola Jaye
name: Julie
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves:
review:
A really good story! I like historical fiction, and had to look up King Leopold II of Belgium. His regime wrecked the Congo- now Nigeria., 10 - 15 million African people were slaughtered. This period of history wasn’t touched on in my high school history classes! Imagine that!
]]> 59808316 In the vein of Educated and The Glass Castle, Daniella Mestyanek Young's Uncultured is more than a memoir about an exceptional upbringing, but about a woman who, no matter the lack of tools given to her, is determined to overcome.

Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult The Children of God, also known as The Family, as the daughter of high-ranking members. Her great-grandmother donated land for one of The Family’s first communes in Texas. Her mother, at thirteen, was forced to marry the leader and served as his secretary for many years. Beholden to The Family’s strict rules, Daniella suffers physical, emotional, and sexual abuse�masked as godly discipline and divine love�and is forbidden from getting a traditional education.

At fifteen years old, fed up with The Family and determined to build a better and freer life for herself, Daniella escapes to Texas. There, she bravely enrolls herself in high school and excels, later graduating as valedictorian of her college class, then electing to join the military to begin a career as an intelligence officer, where she believes she will finally belong.

But she soon learns that her new world�surrounded by men on the sands of Afghanistan�looks remarkably similar to the one she desperately tried to leave behind.

Told in a beautiful, propulsive voice and with clear-eyed honesty, Uncultured explores the dangers unleashed when harmful group mentality goes unrecognized, and is emblematic of the many ways women have to contort themselves to survive.]]> 339 Daniella Mestyanek Young 1250280117 Julie 0 to-read 4.11 2022
author: Daniella Mestyanek Young
name: Julie
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> 92365
During the following years he slowly recalls details from that night, but these fragments are not enough to explain what happened to him, and he begins to believe that he may have been the victim of an alien encounter. Neil McCormick is fully aware of the events from that summer of 1981. Wise beyond his years, curious about his developing sexuality, Neil found what he perceived to be love and guidance from his baseball coach. Now, ten years later, he is a teenage hustler, a terrorist of sorts, unaware of the dangerous path his life is taking. His recklessness is governed by idealized memories of his coach, memories that unexpectedly change when Brian comes to Neil for help and, ultimately, the truth.]]> 292 Scott Heim 0060841699 Julie 0 to-read 4.15 1995
author: Scott Heim
name: Julie
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213618132 The daughter of an affluent Black family pieces together the connection between a childhood tragedy and a beloved heirloom in this moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Black Cake, a Read with Jenna Book Club Pick

When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well.

The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart without any explanation, that's exactly what they get.

So Ebby flees to France, only for her past to follow her there. And as she tries to process what's happened, she begins to think about the other loss her family suffered on that day eighteen years ago—the stoneware jar that had been in their family for generations, brought North by an enslaved ancestor. But little does she know that the handcrafted piece of pottery held more than just her family's history—it might also hold the key to unlocking her own future.

In this sweeping, evocative novel, Charmaine Wilkerson brings to life a multi-generational epic that examines how the past informs our present.]]> 368 Charmaine Wilkerson 0593358368 Julie 5 I really enjoyed this story! 4.04 2025
author: Charmaine Wilkerson
name: Julie
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves:
review:
I really enjoyed this story!
]]> 36529
An astonishing orator and a skillful writer, Douglass became a newspaper editor, a political activist, and an eloquent spokesperson for the civil rights of African Americans. He lived through the Civil War, the end of slavery, and the beginning of segregation. He was celebrated internationally as the leading black intellectual of his day, and his story still resonates in ours.]]> 158 Frederick Douglass 1580495761 Julie 0 to-read 4.08 1845
author: Frederick Douglass
name: Julie
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1845
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: to-read
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]]> 30555488
In Whitehead's ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor--engineers and conductors operate a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora and Caesar's first stop is South Carolina, in a city that initially seems like a haven. But the city's placid surface masks an insidious scheme designed for its black denizens. And even worse: Ridgeway, the relentless slave catcher, is close on their heels. Forced to flee again, Cora embarks on a harrowing flight, state by state, seeking true freedom.

Like the protagonist of Gulliver's Travels, Cora encounters different worlds at each stage of her journey--hers is an odyssey through time as well as space. As Whitehead brilliantly re-creates the unique terrors for black people in the pre-Civil War era, his narrative seamlessly weaves the saga of America from the brutal importation of Africans to the unfulfilled promises of the present day. The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman's ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.]]> 320 Colson Whitehead 0385542364 Julie 0 to-read 4.04 2016
author: Colson Whitehead
name: Julie
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

When Jim overhears that he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans, separated from his wife and daughter forever, he runs away until he can formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Huck has faked his own death to escape his violent father. As all readers of American literature know, thus begins the dangerous and transcendent journey by raft down the Mississippi River toward the elusive and unreliable promise of the Free States and beyond.

Brimming with nuanced humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a literary icon, this brilliant and tender novel radically illuminates Jim's agency, intelligence, and compassion as never before. James is destined to be a major publishing event and a cornerstone of twenty-first-century American literature.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett Julie 0 to-read 4.46 2024
author: Percival Everett
name: Julie
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58724923 A wildly inventive spin on the supernatural thriller, about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets.

Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.

Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.]]> 372 Jason Rekulak 1250819342 Julie 0 to-read 4.12 2022
author: Jason Rekulak
name: Julie
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 40216324 The story of two college friends on a wilderness canoe trip—of a friendship tested by fire, white water, and violence

Wynn and Jack have been best friends since freshman orientation, bonded by their shared love of mountains, books, and fishing. Wynn is a gentle giant, a Vermont kid never happier than when his feet are in the water. Jack is more rugged, raised on a ranch in Colorado where sleeping under the stars and cooking on a fire came as naturally to him as breathing.

When they decide to canoe the Maskwa River in northern Canada, they anticipate long days of leisurely paddling and picking blueberries, and nights of stargazing and reading paperback Westerns. But a wildfire making its way across the forest adds unexpected urgency to the journey.

When they hear a man and woman arguing on the fog-shrouded riverbank and decide to warn them about the fire, their search for the pair turns up nothing and no one. But: The next day a man appears on the river, paddling alone. Is this the man they heard? And, if he is, where is the woman?]]> 253 Peter Heller 0525521879 Julie 0 to-read 3.78 2019
author: Peter Heller
name: Julie
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 17465709 Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return.]]> 408 Robin Wall Kimmerer 1571313354 Julie 5 I needed to take frequent breaks to reflect on what she said! I know I can do better starting with my closet, & not being extremely cognizant of any purchases!
Im going to copy their Thanksgiving prayer- loved it!
I totally understand why our “white people� Pledge of Allegiance does not apply to our indigenous people & being told to recite in schools. ]]> 4.52 2013
author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
name: Julie
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/02
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:
I don’t have words for this book! The author is from the Potawatomi tribe & is such a remarkable mother, professor, more importantly a great spokesperson/ steward of our Mother Earth!I
I needed to take frequent breaks to reflect on what she said! I know I can do better starting with my closet, & not being extremely cognizant of any purchases!
Im going to copy their Thanksgiving prayer- loved it!
I totally understand why our “white people� Pledge of Allegiance does not apply to our indigenous people & being told to recite in schools.
]]> 211004123 The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible � a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.]]> 306 Alice Feeney 125033778X Julie 0 to-read 3.63 2025
author: Alice Feeney
name: Julie
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 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 Julie 5 3.91 2025
author: Pagan Kennedy
name: Julie
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves:
review:
Once again a remarkable woman I had never heard of! Amazing fighter for women’s rights, and so maddening that her rape kit design was stolen by a freaking MAN!
]]> 146362697 "No Visible Bruises on the The Hidden Danger of Domestic Violence" is a book that delves into the often-overlooked and misunderstood nature of domestic violence, specifically focusing on the ways in which it can manifest without visible physical bruises or injuries on the face. It explores the psychological and emotional abuse that often goes undetected, and the reasons why victims often stay in abusive relationships.Ěý The book brings to light the stories of survivors and victims of domestic violence, and the struggles they face in trying to escape their abuser. It examines the ways in which domestic violence can manifest in seemingly normal relationships and the societal and cultural factors that contribute to the problem. The author highlights the importance of recognizing the signs of abuse, even when there are no visible bruises on the face.

It also delves into the shortcomings in the criminal justice system and the healthcare system in addressing domestic violence and the lack of resources available for victims. Through extensive research and interviews with experts in the field, the author shines a light on the hidden nature of domestic violence, specifically the emotional and psychological abuse, and the importance of providing victims with the support and resources they need to heal and rebuild their lives.

The book calls for a shift in societal attitudes and cultural norms that contribute to the problem of domestic violence and the importance of providing victims with the necessary support and resources they need to heal and recover. It also highlights the need for society to shift its understanding of domestic violence and recognize that it is not just a physical problem but also a psychological one.

In conclusion, "No Visible Bruises on the The Hidden Danger of Domestic Violence" is a powerful and important book that sheds light on the often-overlooked and misunderstood nature of domestic violence, specifically focusing on the ways in which it can manifest without visible physical bruises or injuries on the face. It highlights the psychological and emotional abuse that often goes undetected and the reasons why victims often stay in abusive relationships. The book brings to light the stories of survivors and victims of domestic violence, and the struggles they face in trying to escape their abuser. It examines the ways in which domestic violence can manifest in seemingly normal relationships and the societal and cultural factors that contribute to the problem. The author calls for a shift in societal attitudes and cultural norms that contribute to the problem of domestic violence and the importance of providing victims with the necessary support and resources they need to heal and recover. It is an important read for anyone looking to better understand the complexities of domestic violence and the ways in which it can manifest, as well as the importance of recognizing and addressing it, even when there are no visible bruises on the face.




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]]> 50 HANNA WILL Julie 0 to-read 0.0
author: HANNA WILL
name: Julie
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58784475 In this exhilarating novel, two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come 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 Julie 0 to-read 4.12 2022
author: Gabrielle Zevin
name: Julie
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214152244 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781668076217.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins in this electric, voice-driven debut novel about an elusive bestselling author who decides to finally confess her true identity after years of hiding from her past.

Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.

As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she’ll be a whole person again.]]> 304 Kate Fagan Julie 3 3.75 2025
author: Kate Fagan
name: Julie
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/24
shelves:
review:
I don’t have much to say other than it was mediocre!
]]> 218986
In discrete disclosures joined with the intricacy of a spider's web, James Galvin depicts the hundred-year history of a meadow in the arid mountains of the Colorado/Wyoming border. Galvin describes the seasons, the weather, the wildlife, and the few people who do not possess but are themselves possessed by this terrain. In so doing he reveals an experience that is part of our heritage and mythology. For Lyle, Ray, Clara, and App, the struggle to survive on an independent family ranch is a series of blameless failures and unacclaimed successes that illuminate the Western character. The Meadow evokes a sense of place that can be achieved only by someone who knows it intimately.]]> 240 James Galvin 0805027033 Julie 4 I would have given this book 5 stars,but the shifting time periods and narrators were a bit confusing to me!]]> 4.19 1992
author: James Galvin
name: Julie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/21
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves:
review:
A perfect novel to read while in Wyoming and driving back to CO. I was drawn to the landscape and the characters, especially Lyle! The old time ranchers were so gritty, independent, and tough.
I would have given this book 5 stars,but the shifting time periods and narrators were a bit confusing to me!
]]> 202468422 From the Booker Prize finalist author of The Island of Missing Trees, an enchanting new tale about three characters living along two rivers, all under the shadow of one of the greatest epic poems of all time.

In the ancient city of Nineveh, on the bank of the River Tigris, King Ashurbanipal of Mesopotamia, erudite but ruthless, built a great library that would crumble with the end of his reign. From its ruins, however, emerged a poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, that would infuse the existence of two rivers and bind together three lives.

In 1840 London, Arthur is born beside the stinking, sewage-filled River Thames. With an abusive, alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother, Arthur’s only chance of escaping destitution is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a leading publisher, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, and one book in particular catches his interest: Nineveh and Its Remains.

In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a ten-year-old Yazidi girl, is diagnosed with a rare disorder that will soon cause her to go deaf. Before that happens, her grandmother is determined to baptize her in a sacred Iraqi temple. But with the rising presence of ISIS and the destruction of the family’s ancestral lands along the Tigris, Narin is running out of time.

In 2018 London, the newly divorced Zaleekah, a hydrologist, moves into a houseboat on the Thames to escape her husband. Orphaned and raised by her wealthy uncle, Zaleekah had made the decision to take her own life in one month, until a curious book about her homeland changes everything.

A dazzling feat of storytelling, There Are Rivers in the Sky entwines these outsiders with a single drop of water, a drop which remanifests across the centuries. Both a source of life and harbinger of death, rivers—the Tigris and the Thames—transcend history, transcend fate: “Water remembers. It is humans who forget.�]]> 464 Elif Shafak 0593801717 Julie 0 to-read 4.38 2024
author: Elif Shafak
name: Julie
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 58662236
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.]]> 128 Claire Keegan 0802158749 Julie 0 to-read 4.13 2021
author: Claire Keegan
name: Julie
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 35959740
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.]]> 393 Madeline Miller 0316556343 Julie 0 to-read 4.22 2018
author: Madeline Miller
name: Julie
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 204906164 A touching and deeply funny debut about starting over sober only to discover life’s biggest messes are still waiting right where you left them.

The very last person anyone should worry about is Emma. Yes, hi, she’s an alcoholic. But she’s officially been sober for one entire year. That’s twelve months of better health. Fifty-two whole weeks of focusing on nothing but her nine-to-five office job, group meetings, and avoiding the kind of bad decisions that previously left her awash in shame and regret. It’s also been 365 days of not dating. And with her new dating profile, Emma, 26, of New York is ready to put herself back out there.

Except—was dating always this complicated? And did Emma’s mother really have to choose now to move in with her new boyfriend? Being assigned to plan her office’s holiday party feels like icing on the suddenly very overwhelming cake until her estranged father reappears with devastating news. Icing, meet cherry on top. But then there’s Ben, the charming IT guy who, despite Emma’s awkwardness and shortcomings, seems to maybe actually get her? Sobriety is turning out to be far from the flawless future Emma had once envisioned for herself, but as she allows herself to open up to Ben and confront difficult past relationships, she’s beginning to realize that taking things one day at a time might just be the perfectly imperfect path she’s meant to be on.

Bittersweet and darkly hilarious, Ava Robinson’s debut novel about navigating sobriety and complicated family dynamics is witty, heartbreaking, and profoundly relatable.]]> 352 Ava Robinson 0778310590 Julie 4 Books with a realistic cancer death are poignant, with many flashbacks and memories of your experiences with this awful thing “Cancer!”]]> 3.83 2024
author: Ava Robinson
name: Julie
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves:
review:
Easy, fun quirky read! Reading a debut novel that you enjoy is a plus! I agree with Elena that the get to know you games, you have to endure in most careers, are awful! No one in my inner circle likes them.
Books with a realistic cancer death are poignant, with many flashbacks and memories of your experiences with this awful thing “Cancer!�
]]> 59089872
“Never again� became Queen Elizabeth II’s mantra shortly after Princess Diana’s tragic death. More specif­ically, there could never be “another Diana”—a mem­ber of the family whose global popularity upstaged, outshone, and posed an existential threat to the Brit­ish monarchy.

Picking up where Tina Brown’s masterful The Diana Chronicles left off, The Palace Papers reveals how the royal family reinvented itself after the trau­matic years when Diana’s blazing celebrity ripped through the House of Windsor like a comet.

Brown takes readers on a tour de force journey through the scandals, love affairs, power plays, and betrayals that have buffeted the monarchy over the last twenty-five years. We see the Queen’s stoic re­solve after the passing of Princess Margaret, the Queen Mother, and Prince Philip, her partner for seven decades, and how she triumphs in her Jubilee years even as family troubles rage around her. Brown explores Prince Charles’s determination to make Camilla Parker Bowles his wife, the tension between William and Harry on “different paths,� the ascend­ance of Kate Middleton, the downfall of Prince An­drew, and Harry and Meghan’s stunning decision to step back as senior royals. Despite the fragile monar­chy’s best efforts, “never again� seems fast approaching.

Tina Brown has been observing and chronicling the British monarchy for three decades, and her sweeping account is full of powerful revelations, newly reported details, and searing insight gleaned from remarkable access to royal insiders. Stylish, witty, and erudite, The Palace Papers will irrevoca­bly change how the world perceives and under­stands the royal family.]]> 571 Tina Brown 0593138090 Julie 0 to-read 3.91 2022
author: Tina Brown
name: Julie
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 3964083 352 Jose E. Fernandez 0826328806 Julie 0 to-read 0.0 2003
author: Jose E. Fernandez
name: Julie
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 8466181 199 Rebecca Stead 0375850864 Julie 3 ]]> 4.19 2009
author: Rebecca Stead
name: Julie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2019/12/30
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:
I try to read at least 4 YA books a year, especially the Newberry medal ones. I’m not really into time travel themes....

]]> 51152447 The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.

“As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.�

In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.

Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.]]> 544 Isabel Wilkerson 0593230256 Julie 5 4.52 2020
author: Isabel Wilkerson
name: Julie
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/12
shelves:
review:
I’m telling anyone who cares to listen to me, read or listen to this book. Very powerful!
]]> 35137915
I Am, I Am, I Am is Maggie O'Farrell's astonishing memoir of the near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her life. The childhood illness that left her bedridden for a year, which she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. An encounter with a disturbed man on a remote path. And, most terrifying of all, an ongoing, daily struggle to protect her daughter--for whom this book was written--from a condition that leaves her unimaginably vulnerable to life's myriad dangers.

Seventeen discrete encounters with Maggie at different ages, in different locations, reveal a whole life in a series of tense, visceral snapshots. In taut prose that vibrates with electricity and restrained emotion, O'Farrell captures the perils running just beneath the surface, and illuminates the preciousness, beauty, and mysteries of life itself.]]> 304 Maggie O'Farrell 0525520228 Julie 0 to-read 3.96 2017
author: Maggie O'Farrell
name: Julie
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 8171378
Wilkerson tells this interwoven story through the lives of three unforgettable protagonists: Ida Mae Gladney, a sharecropper’s wife, who in 1937 fled Mississippi for Chicago; sharp and quick-tempered George Starling, who in 1945 fled Florida for Harlem, and Robert Foster, a surgeon who left Louisiana in 1953 in hopes of making it in California.

Wilkerson brilliantly captures their first treacherous cross-country journeys by car and train and their new lives in colonies in the New World. The Warmth of Other Suns is a bold, remarkable, and riveting work, a superb account of an “unrecognized immigration� within our own land. Through the breadth of its narrative, the beauty of the writing, the depth of its research, and the fullness of the people and lives portrayed herein, this book is a modern classic.]]> 622 Isabel Wilkerson 0679444327 Julie 0 to-read 4.45 2010
author: Isabel Wilkerson
name: Julie
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 3121162 Librarian's note: An alternate cover edition can be found here

At a New England boarding school, a sex scandal is about to break. Even more shocking than the sexual acts themselves is the fact that they were caught on videotape. A Pandora's box of revelations, the tape triggers a chorus of voices--those of the men, women, teenagers, and parents involved in the scandal--that details the ways in which lives can be derailed or destroyed in one foolish moment.

Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her own greatest work, Anita Shreve delivers in Testimony a gripping emotional drama with the impact of a thriller. No one more compellingly explores the dark impulses that sway the lives of seeming innocents, the needs and fears that drive ordinary men and women into intolerable dilemmas, and the ways in which our best intentions can lead to our worst transgressions.]]> 320 Anita Shreve 0316059862 Julie 0 to-read 3.57 2008
author: Anita Shreve
name: Julie
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36121086 We forgive murderers, not pedophiles.

Not since Lionel Shriver brought us We Need to Talk About Kevin has a writer delved into the complexities of a disturbed mother/son relationship. Until now.

Meet Noah—an A-honor roll student, award-winning swimmer, and small-town star destined for greatness. There weren’t any signs that something was wrong until the day he confesses to molesting little girls during swim team practice. He’s sentenced to eighteen months in a juvenile sexual rehabilitation center.

His mother, Adrianne, refuses to turn her back on him despite his horrific crimes, but her husband won’t allow Noah back into their home. In a series of shocking and shattering revelations, Adrianne is forced to make the hardest decision of her life. Just how far will she go to protect her son?

Saving Noah challenges everything you think you know about teenage sexual offenders. It will keep you up at night long after you've read the last page, questioning beliefs you once thought were true.]]> 259 Lucinda Berry Julie 0 to-read 3.89 2017
author: Lucinda Berry
name: Julie
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214151420 From eldest daughter Shari Franke, the shocking true story behind the viral 8 Passengers family vlog and the hidden abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother, and how, in the face of unimaginable pain, she found freedom and healing.

Shari Franke’s childhood was a constant battle for survival. Her mother, Ruby Franke, enforced a severe moral code while maintaining a façade of a picture-perfect family for their wildly popular YouTube channel 8 Passengers, which documented the day-to-day life of raising six children for a staggering 2.5 million subscribers. But a darker truth lurked beneath the surface—Ruby’s wholesome online persona masked a more tyrannical parenting style than anyone could have imagined.

As the family’s YouTube notoriety grew, so too did Ruby’s delusions of righteousness. Fueled by the sadistic influence of relationship coach Jodi Hildebrandt, together they implemented an inhumane and merciless disciplinary regime.

Ruby and Jodi were arrested in Utah in 2023 on multiple charges of aggravated child abuse. On that fateful day, Shari shared a photo online of a police car outside their home. Her caption had one word: “Finally.�

For the first time, Shari will reveal the disturbing truth behind 8 Passengers and her family’s devastating involvement with Jodi Hildebrandt’s cultish life coaching program, “ConneXions.� No stone is left unturned as Shari exposes the perils of influencer culture and shares for the first time her battle for truth and survival in the face of her mother’s cruelty.]]> 320 Shari Franke 1668065398 Julie 2 4.42 2025
author: Shari Franke
name: Julie
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 157591205
'What on earth are you on about?' she said. 'How are we going to catch the Yorkshire Ripper, when the police haven't even managed to?'

I sighed. Her questioning my ideas was a recent and unwelcome element to our friendship. But it was a valid point. How would we catch him? We needed some sort of plan, a way of gathering clues and putting them into order.

I thought about what the policeman had said about structure, and then about Aunty Jean and her notebook, and the idea I had hardened like toffee. I knew exactly what we needed to do.

'We'll make a list,' I said. 'A list of the people and things we see that are suspicious.

And then . . . And then we'll investigate them.'

The List of Suspicious Things is a tender and moving coming of age story about family, friendship and community. Sometimes the strongest connections are found in the most unlikely of places.]]> 464 Jennie Godfrey 1529153298 Julie 0 to-read 4.19 2024
author: Jennie Godfrey
name: Julie
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 200028726 From the beloved author of We All Want Impossible Things, a moving, hilarious story of a family summer vacation full of secrets, lunch, and learning to let go.

For the past two decades, Rocky has looked forward to her family’s yearly escape to Cape Cod. Their humble beach-town rental has been the site of sweet memories, sunny days, great meals, and messes of all kinds: emotional, marital, and—thanks to the cottage’s ancient plumbing—septic too.

This year’s vacation, with Rocky sandwiched between her half-grown kids and fully aging parents, promises to be just as delightful as summers past—except, perhaps, for Rocky’s hormonal bouts of rage and melancholy. (Hello, menopause!) Her body is changing—her life is, too. And then a chain of events sends Rocky into the past, reliving both the tenderness and sorrow of a handful of long-ago summers.

It's one precious week: everything is in balance; everything is in flux. And when Rocky comes face to face with her family’s history and future, she is forced to accept that she can no longer hide her secrets from the people she loves.]]> 240 Catherine Newman 0063345161 Julie 0 to-read 3.55 2024
author: Catherine Newman
name: Julie
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 50279680
Duchess Day Radley is a thirteen-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids.

Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he's in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother.

Now, thirty years later, Vincent is being released. And Duchess and Walk must face the trouble that comes with his return. We Begin at the End is an extraordinary novel about two kinds of families—the ones we are born into and the ones we create.]]> 384 Chris Whitaker 1250759668 Julie 0 to-read 4.10 2020
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Julie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 62627512 A special hardcover collector’s edition of It Ends with Us, featuring an exclusive Q&A between Colleen Hoover and her mother, a beautiful foil cover, an embossed case with the author’s signature, and newly designed endpapers—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Starts with Us.

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating� rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.]]> 373 Colleen Hoover Julie 3 I wish Coleen had started with the epilogue- that was so powerful! ]]> 3.86 2016
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Julie
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves:
review:
I listened to this book because of the hoopla when the movie released!!
I wish Coleen had started with the epilogue- that was so powerful!
]]> 203019740 From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades.

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.]]> 608 Chris Whitaker 0593798872 Julie 0 to-read 4.23 2024
author: Chris Whitaker
name: Julie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 45047384
Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 394 T.J. Klune Julie 0 to-read 4.37 2020
author: T.J. Klune
name: Julie
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> 198563734
There aren’t enough labeled glass containers to contain the mess that is Ali Morris’s life. Her mom died two years ago, then her husband left, and she hasn’t worn pants with a zipper in longer than she cares to remember. She’s a professional organizer whose pantry is a disgrace.

No one is more surprised than Ali when the first time she takes off her wedding ring and puts on pants with hardware—overalls count, right?—she meets someone. Or rather, her dog claims a man for her in the same way he claimed his favorite of her three children: by peeing on him. Ethan smiles at Ali like her pants are just right—like he likes what he sees. The last thing Ali needs is to make her life messier, but there’s no harm in a little Summer Romance. Is there?]]> 321 Annabel Monaghan 0593714083 Julie 0 to-read 4.01 2024
author: Annabel Monaghan
name: Julie
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 200987258
Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she’s actually read. To replace the “pornographic� books she’s challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she’s sure the town’s readers need.

But Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneaks in by night and secretly fills Lula Dean’s little free library with banned books wrapped in “wholesome� dust jackets. The Girl’s Guide to the Revolution is wrapped in the cover of The Southern Belle’s Guide to Etiquette. A jacket that belongs to Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean’s enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town’s disgraced mayor.

That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. It’s a diverse and surprising bunch—including the local postman, the prom queen, housewives, a farmer, and the former DA—all of whom have been changed by what they’ve read. When Lindsay is forced to own up to what she’s done, the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town...and change it forever.]]> 298 Kirsten Miller 0063348691 Julie 0 to-read 4.06 2024
author: Kirsten Miller
name: Julie
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63374984 896 Raynor Winn 9123488840 Julie 0 to-read 4.53
author: Raynor Winn
name: Julie
average rating: 4.53
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 38085814
They have almost no money for food or shelter and must carry only the essentials for survival on their backs as they live wild in the ancient, weathered landscape of cliffs, sea and sky. Yet through every step, every encounter, and every test along the way, their walk becomes a remarkable journey.

The Salt Path is an honest and life-affirming true story of coming to terms with grief and the healing power of the natural world. Ultimately, it is a portrayal of home, and how it can be lost, rebuilt, and rediscovered in the most unexpected ways.]]> 288 Raynor Winn 0241349648 Julie 0 to-read 3.97 2018
author: Raynor Winn
name: Julie
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 101124639
The survivors, including key witness Pamela Schumacher, will be forever changed by this night. They have all become victims. But they tell their perspectives here, they remain masters of their stories. And they hunt the perpetrator on their own - against resistance from the justice system and the police; against public opinion, which idolizes the serial killer.]]> 384 Jessica Knoll 1501153226 Julie 3 how smart he was. I do remember the judge at his sentencing, which the author wrote about,saying he would have liked to have had Bundy practicing law in his court room! I don’t know how his victims and friends could stand it.
The author did not mention that Bundy had removed the passenger seat from his Volkswagen. He pretended to be injured, and asked for help. That’s how at least 1 of his victims met her death!]]> 3.99 2023
author: Jessica Knoll
name: Julie
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:
I liked how the author described Bundy. She wrote that he wasn’t great looking, or very intelligent! He wasn’t accepted into law school until he falsified his records. The press in the 70’s focused on his looks and
how smart he was. I do remember the judge at his sentencing, which the author wrote about,saying he would have liked to have had Bundy practicing law in his court room! I don’t know how his victims and friends could stand it.
The author did not mention that Bundy had removed the passenger seat from his Volkswagen. He pretended to be injured, and asked for help. That’s how at least 1 of his victims met her death!
]]> 50607466 Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman’s struggle for fulfillment in a society pivoting between the traditional and the modern, The Henna Artist opens a door into a world that is at once lush and fascinating, stark and cruel.

Escaping from an abusive marriage, seventeen-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There she becomes the most highly requested henna artist—and confidante—to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own�

Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband, who has tracked her down these many years later with a high-spirited young girl in tow—a sister Lakshmi never knew she had. Suddenly the caution that she has carefully cultivated as protection is threatened. Still she perseveres, applying her talents and lifting up those that surround her as she does.]]> 384 Alka Joshi 0778310205 Julie 4 It was good to follow up with a fiction book from India after reading that nonfiction terribly depressing book from India!
]]> 4.14 2020
author: Alka Joshi
name: Julie
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves:
review:
This was my first audiobook since e I’ve been on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ. There’s a debate whether or not audiobooks should count toward your goal?
It was good to follow up with a fiction book from India after reading that nonfiction terribly depressing book from India!

]]> 208584952 From the award-winning author of Chemistry, a sharp-witted, insightful novel about a marriage as seen through the lens of two family vacations

Keru and Nate are college sweethearts who marry despite their family differences: Keru’s strict, Chinese, immigrant parents demand perfection (“To use a dishwasher is to admit defeat,� says her father), while Nate’s rural, white, working-class family distrusts his intellectual ambitions and his “foreign� wife.

Some years into their marriage, the couple invites their families on vacation. At a Cape Cod beach house, and later at a luxury Catskills bungalow, Keru, Nate, and their giant sheepdog navigate visits from in-laws and unexpected guests, all while wondering if they have what it takes to answer the big questions: How do you cope when your spouse and your family of origin clash? How many people (and dogs) make a family? And when the pack starts to disintegrate, what can you do to shepherd everyone back together?

With her “wry, wise, and simply spectacular� style (People) and “hilarious deadpan that recalls Gish Jen and Nora Ephron� (O, The Oprah Magazine), Weike Wang offers a portrait of family that is equally witty, incisive, and tender.]]> 224 Weike Wang 0593545540 Julie 3 It was an easy fast book to read.There were some interesting dynamics with the main characters parents joining the couple on a vacation- first her parents then his. The story also gave an insight into being a childless couple by choice. I was disappointed in how it ended.]]> 3.30 2024
author: Weike Wang
name: Julie
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves:
review:
I
It was an easy fast book to read.There were some interesting dynamics with the main characters parents joining the couple on a vacation- first her parents then his. The story also gave an insight into being a childless couple by choice. I was disappointed in how it ended.
]]> 212262006
A victim of her mother’s Munchausen by proxy and child abuse survivor, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard’s unique and controversial case made headlines across the world.

Now, she’s finally free to start living her life on her terms—and to tell her own story as only she can.

Forced to use a wheelchair in public and endure a lifetime of faux illness, fraud, and exploitation, Gypsy was subjected not only to her mother’s medical, physical, and emotional abuse, but deprived of childhood milestones. Prevented from attending school or socializing, Gypsy’s formative years were defined by pain and isolation.

After serving 8 years in prison for the role she played in her mother Dee Dee’s murder, Gypsy is embracing her fresh start—and reminding all of us that it’s never too late.

In this revelatory, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful memoir, Gypsy shares the painful realities she grew up with and the details of her life that only she knows, including:
The abusive cycle that began with Dee Dee’s abuse by her father
Gypsy’s fear that continued unnecessary surgery would leave her truly disabled
How she coped with guilt and accepted responsibility for her mother’s death
Memories of her final days in prison
What she learned upon reviewing her own medical records for the first time
How it felt to finally see her family again as her authentic self

Featuring Blanchard family photos and new facts about Gypsy’s life that she previously kept private, My Time to Stand offers an unprecedented look at the real Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, proudly embarking on her ongoing journey to recovery and self-discovery.]]> 264 Gypsy-Rose Blanchard 1637745907 Julie 3 I liked the influence of one of the author’s Melissa Moore. I’m interested in reading her book � The Untold Story of a Serial Killer’s Daughter!”]]> 3.40 2024
author: Gypsy-Rose Blanchard
name: Julie
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves:
review:
I’m over familiar with Gypsy Rose’s story, but glad I read it.She had a tough life with her mentally ill mom. I hope hospitals & doctors have a pulse on recognizing Muchausen by Proxy. She can do some good with her story. As an afterthought I think she has a great dad.and an amazing stepmother!
I liked the influence of one of the author’s Melissa Moore. I’m interested in reading her book � The Untold Story of a Serial Killer’s Daughter!�
]]> 199793680
Weaving a latticework of different strands, moving back and forth through time, Josh Brolin captures a life marked by curiosity, pain, devotion, kindness, humor.ĚýHe recounts an unconventional childhood far from Hollywood.ĚýRaised on a ranch in Paso Robles, California, he was surrounded as a child by the wolves, cougars, and other wild animals gathered by his fearless and explosive mother, Jane Agee Brolin. Her tragic, early death haunts this book, and the force of her unforgettable personality is felt throughout. Brolin also brings to life his career in the film industry—from his breakout role inĚýThe GooniesĚýto the set ofĚýNo Country for Old Men—and the professional and personal ups and downs in between and since.ĚýWith unflinching honesty but also great humor, he shares insights into relationships, addiction, love, and fatherhood, while letting the white space in between words speak for itself.ĚýGrappling with the mysteries of life and death in a way that will catch readers by surprise, From Under the Truck is an audacious and riveting memoir from a born writer.]]> 240 Josh Brolin 0063382180 Julie 2 Listening to him talk to Howard Stern about his life was more interesting than his written word.]]> 3.20 2024
author: Josh Brolin
name: Julie
average rating: 3.20
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/01/15
date added: 2025/01/15
shelves:
review:
I thought it was a personal narrative, but there were chapters that were confusing to me- I didn’t know who Josh Brolin was referring to..
Listening to him talk to Howard Stern about his life was more interesting than his written word.
]]> 4364
As each individual story unfolds, Mehta also recounts his own efforts to make a home in Bombay after more than twenty years abroad. Candid, impassioned, funny, and heartrending, Maximum City is a revelation of an ancient and ever-changing world.]]> 542 Suketu Mehta 0375703403 Julie 3 It’s my perspective though because I don’t live there! I’m privileged. I turn on the faucet, and out comes drinkable water. I don’t live above a sewer! They grow spinach out of the sewer The region has a very high rate of illiteracy so many poor people!
The author interviewed Indians that got out of the slums, yet missed their people/community. A beautiful dancer whom the author spent time with said she would never leave.
Anyway I learned so much about this complex region of India. The author went on to long!]]> 3.94 2004
author: Suketu Mehta
name: Julie
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/14
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves:
review:
This book- Wowza! The setting was Bombay now Mumbai, and takes place after the riots in 1993! it’s a place I would not care to visit unless there’s been some drastic changes! It’s on the sea, but people that live there seldom if ever go to the ocean because it’s so filthy. Their living conditions, transportation, really corrupt police officers,the gangs and lack of water - I could go on and on. You have to bribe everyone to get anything done.
It’s my perspective though because I don’t live there! I’m privileged. I turn on the faucet, and out comes drinkable water. I don’t live above a sewer! They grow spinach out of the sewer The region has a very high rate of illiteracy so many poor people!
The author interviewed Indians that got out of the slums, yet missed their people/community. A beautiful dancer whom the author spent time with said she would never leave.
Anyway I learned so much about this complex region of India. The author went on to long!
]]> 11650 Pulitzer Prize Winner (1998)

In American Pastoral, Philip Roth gives us a novel of unqualified greatness that is an elegy for all the twentieth century's promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss. Roth's protagonist is Seymour 'Swede' Levov—a legendary high school athlete, a devoted family man, a hard worker, the prosperous inheritor of his father's Newark glove factory—comes of age in thriving, triumphant post-war America. And then one day in 1968, Swede's beautiful American luck deserts him.

For Swede's adored daughter, Merry, has grown from a loving, quick-witted girl into a sullen, fanatical teenager—a teenager capable of an outlandishly savage act of political terrorism. And overnight Swede is wrenched out of the longed-for American pastoral and into the indigenous American berserk. Compulsively readable, propelled by sorrow, rage, and a deep compassion for its characters, this is Roth's masterpiece.]]> 432 Philip Roth Julie 0 to-read 3.93 1997
author: Philip Roth
name: Julie
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> 8718 "There isn't a page of CREATION that doesn't inform and very few pages that do not delight."
-- John Leonard, The New York Times]]> 574 Gore Vidal 0385507623 Julie 0 to-read 4.23 1981
author: Gore Vidal
name: Julie
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 572131 179 Bob Wilbanks 0786418222 Julie 0 to-read 4.39 2004
author: Bob Wilbanks
name: Julie
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 218184046
Set in 1990s Los Angeles, during a golden age of American independent film, Too A Hollywood Memoir follows Dale as he emigrates from Canada to California in search of Hollywood glory. Within months, Dale is accepted into a close group of friends that includes some of Hollywood's hottest up-and-coming actors, and they quickly begin collaborating on a low-budget improvisational film.

Their experiment succeeds and the film garners interest from major film distributors, but one of the film's stars decides the performances were too real for his aspirations, and he begins a clandestine campaign that will eventually destroy life-long friendships and careers and ban an American film forever.

Blacklisted and broken, Dale finds himself on a new path in life, to end the suppression of his work and reclaim his stolen dreams.]]> 631 Dale Wheatley Julie 0 to-read 4.23
author: Dale Wheatley
name: Julie
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> 195100472
But scandals follow like hunting dogs. And she has some questions of her own to answer. If her ex-husband is really the monster everyone says he is, then how complicit was she in his crimes?

Escaping her old life might seem like a good idea but the choices she has made throughout her marriage have consequences. Here, on the island, Vanessa must reflect on what she did - and did not do. Only then can she discover whether she is worthy of finding peace at all.]]> 176 John Boyne 0857529811 Julie 0 to-read 4.29 2023
author: John Boyne
name: Julie
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220817728 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s Space Shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits.

Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.

Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.

As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.

Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.

Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love, this time among the stars.]]> 352 Taylor Jenkins Reid 0593158717 Julie 0 to-read 4.45 2025
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Julie
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 127279000 What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter?

Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all and, if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. But after Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer.

It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast Listen for the Lie and its too-good looking host, Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one who did it.

The truth is out there, if we just listen.]]> 352 Amy Tintera 1250880319 Julie 0 to-read 4.07 2024
author: Amy Tintera
name: Julie
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
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]]> 50623864
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.]]> 448 Victoria E. Schwab 0765387565 Julie 0 to-read 4.16 2020
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Julie
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211025407 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593712993.

An epic and intimate tale of one couple across sixty years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and exploring what it means to find home far from your homeland.

A single choice can define an entire life.

Haiwen is buying bananas at a 99 Ranch Market in Los Angeles when he looks up and sees Suchi, his Suchi, for the first time in sixty years. To recently widowed Haiwen it feels like a second chance, but Suchi has only survived by refusing to look back.

Suchi was seven when she first met Haiwen in their Shanghai neighborhood, drawn by the sound of his violin. Their childhood friendship blossomed into soul-deep love, but when Haiwen secretly enlisted in the Nationalist army in 1947 to save his brother from the draft, she was left with just his violin and a note: Forgive me.

Homeseeking follows the separated lovers through six decades of tumultuous Chinese history as war, famine, and opportunity take them separately to the song halls of Hong Kong, the military encampments of Taiwan, the bustling streets of New York, and sunny California, telling Haiwen’s story from the present to the past while tracing Suchi’s from her childhood to the present, meeting in the crucible of their lives. Throughout, Haiwen holds his memories close while Suchi forces herself to look only forward, neither losing sight of the home they hold in their hearts.

At once epic and intimate, Homeseeking is a story of family, sacrifice, and loyalty, and of the power of love to endure beyond distance, beyond time.]]> 512 Karissa Chen Julie 4 4.24 2025
author: Karissa Chen
name: Julie
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:
Liked it! I don’t know much about Chinese history. I learned a lot. Three key places, key to the novel were: Hong Kong,Taiwan and Shanghai, found that part of the world and learning a little about their history interesting!
]]> 61404597
In this memoir, the author takes the reader on a journey through the 1960s and �70s, with love-ins in Hollywood and on Sunset Blvd., hippie communal living, and survival in wilderness environments. It’s also a coming-of-age story about discerning universal wisdom and personal truth.]]> 224 Wendy Baker 0996055282 Julie 0 to-read 3.98
author: Wendy Baker
name: Julie
average rating: 3.98
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 29044 559 Donna Tartt 1400031702 Julie 0 to-read 4.17 1992
author: Donna Tartt
name: Julie
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62047984
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? This piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller. That is what June believes, and The New York Times bestseller list agrees.

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.]]> 319 R.F. Kuang 000853277X Julie 0 to-read 3.69 2023
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Julie
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 208840265 A deliciously witty and inspiring memoir by One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her decade in a cult and her quest to break free.

In the early 2000s, after years of hard work and determination to breakthrough as an actor, Bethany Joy Lenz was finally cast as one of the leads on the hit drama One Tree Hill. Her career was about to take off, but her personal life was slowly beginning to unravel. What none of the show’s millions of fans knew, hidden even from her costars, was her secret double life in a cult.

An only child who often had to fend for herself and always wanted a place to belong, Lenz found the safe haven she’d been searching for in a Bible study group with other Hollywood creatives. However, the group soon morphed into something more sinister—a slowly woven web of manipulation, abuse, and fear under the guise of a church covenant called The Big House Family. Piece by piece, Lenz began to give away her autonomy, ultimately relocating to the Family’s Pacific Northwest compound, overseen by a domineering minister who would convince Lenz to marry one of his sons and steadily drained millions of her TV income without her knowledge. Family “minders� assigned to her on set, “Maoist struggle session”–inspired meetings in the basement of a filthy house, and regular counseling with “Leadership� were just part of the tactics used to keep her loyal.

Only when she became a mother did Lenz find the courage to leave and spare her child from a similar fate. After nearly a decade (and with the unlikely help of a One Tree Hill superfan), she finally managed to escape the family’s grip and begin to heal from the deep trauma that forever altered her relationship with God and her understanding of faith. Written with powerful honesty and dark humor, Dinner for Vampires is an inspiring story about the importance of identity and understanding what you believe.]]> 303 Bethany Joy Lenz 1668067307 Julie 3 I’m going to watch One Tree Hill, and see what I’ve been missing!]]> 4.27 2024
author: Bethany Joy Lenz
name: Julie
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/14
shelves:
review:
The author lost a lot of money to this so called cult leader. It would be hard not to be bitter.
I’m going to watch One Tree Hill, and see what I’ve been missing!
]]> 61266714
A daring and magnificent account of Iceland's most famous female sea captain who constantly fought for women's rights and equality—and who also solved one of the country's most notorious robberies.

Many people may have heard the old sailing superstition that having women onboard a ship was bad luck. Thus, the sea remains in popular knowledge a male realm. When we think of examples of daring sea captains, swashbuckling pirates, or wise fishermen, many men come to mind. Cultural anthropologist Margaret Willson would like to introduce a fearless woman into our imagination of the sea: ThurĂ­dur EinarsdĂłttir.

Captain ThurĂ­dur was a controversial woman constantly contesting social norms while simultaneously becoming a respected captain fighting for dignity and equality for underrepresented Icelanders. Both horrifying and magnificent, this story will captivate readers from the first page and keep them thinking long after they turn the last page.]]> 416 Margaret Willson Julie 5 3.89 2023
author: Margaret Willson
name: Julie
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/11
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves:
review:
Captain Thuridor was a bad ass! What a remarkable life. I found it ironic that the measles epidemic of 1846 decimated Iceland, and there are clear parallels between it and COVID. I don’t think we’ve learned much since then!
]]> 75494215 THE REAL ORIGIN OF OUR SPECIES: a myth-busting, eye-opening landmark account of how humans evolved, offering a paradigm shift in our thinking about what the female body is, how it came to be, and how this evolution still shapes all our lives today.

How did the female body drive 200 million years of human evolution?
� Why do women live longer than men?
� Why are women more likely to get Alzheimer’s?
� Why do girls score better at every academic subject than boys until puberty, when suddenly their scores plummet?
� Is sexism useful for evolution?
� And why, seriously why, do women have to sweat through our sheets every night when we hit menopause?

These questions are producing some truly exciting science—and in Eve, with boundless curiosity and sharp wit, Cat Bohannon covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex: "We need a kind of user's manual for the female mammal. A no-nonsense, hard-hitting, seriously researched (but readable) account of what we are. How female bodies evolved, how they work, what it really means to biologically be a woman. Something that would rewrite the story of womanhood. This book is that story. We have to put the female body in the picture. If we don't, it's not just feminism that's compromised. Modern medicine, neurobiology, paleoanthropology, even evolutionary biology all take a hit when we ignore the fact that half of us have breasts. So it's time we talk about breasts. Breasts, and blood, and fat, and vaginas, and wombs—all of it. How they came to be and how we live with them now, no matter how weird or hilarious the truth is."

Eve is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it's an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Picking up where Sapiens left off, Eve will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens has become such a successful and dominant species.]]> 624 Cat Bohannon 0385350546 Julie 0 to-read 4.28 2023
author: Cat Bohannon
name: Julie
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> 54493401
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]> 476 Andy Weir 0593135202 Julie 0 to-read 4.49 2021
author: Andy Weir
name: Julie
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> 217927684
There’s a woman I want to become, Chelsea Handler thought as a child. She’ll be strong and confident. She’ll light up a room and spread that light to make others feel better. She’ll make a living being herself. She’ll be a survivor.

At ten years old, Chelsea opened a lemonade stand and realized she’d make more money if the drinks were spiked. So she added vodka to her recipe and used her earnings to upgrade herself to first-class on a family vacation—leaving her parents and siblings in coach. She moved to Los Angeles and got fired from her temp job when she admitted she didn’t know how to transfer calls. She’s played pickleball with the scions of an American dynasty. She’s sexted a governor. She shared psychedelics with strangers in Spain. When she accidentally ended up at dinner with Woody Allen, she was not going to leave the table without asking him a very personal pointed question. She went on national television and talked about having threesomes. She's never been one to hold back.

But this life of adventure and absurdity is only part of her story. Chelsea knows what it is to truly show up for her family—canine and human, biological and chosen. She’s discovered how to spend time with herself, how to meditate, how to be open to love, and how to end a relationship with dignity. She is a sister to the many women who rely on her.

Surprisingly vulnerable and always outrageous, Chelsea Handler captures the antic-filled, exhilarating, and joyful life she’s built—a life that makes the rest of us think, I’ll have what she’s having.]]> 320 Chelsea Handler 0593596579 Julie 0 to-read 4.23
author: Chelsea Handler
name: Julie
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> 114766319
From the very first page, "Stray Love" draws you into Stacey’s world, where she navigates the profound impact of drug addiction on her life and relationships. This heartfelt memoir recounts her tumultuous relationship with Ray, her childhood love and ex-husband, whose struggle with addiction profoundly affected their lives.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ STRAY LOVE:
"Stray Love" offers an unflinching look at the emotional turmoil of loving someone with an addiction, providing perspective on the destructive nature of addiction and the strength required to overcome it. Stacey’s reflections on forgiveness and moving forward are powerful and inspiring, making this memoir a beacon of hope for anyone who has faced similar struggles.

Emotional Impact and Cultural Context:
Stacey’s experiences are interwoven with references to music, fashion, and social dynamics, providing a vivid context for her story. This makes "Stray Love" not only a personal memoir but also a portrayal of an era, adding depth and engagement.

Inspirational Journey:
“Stray Love" is a testament to the enduring strength of the human spirit and the power of love and forgiveness. Stacey Caputi Liakos’s memoir will resonate with anyone who has faced loss, struggled with addiction, or sought redemption.

����� EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Author Vida Sik rated 5 stars:

"Opposites do attract. But for Stacey, the glow of finding the �love of your life� corroded under the harsh reality of marriage. Instead of living happily ever after, she experienced a roller-coaster ride of obsessive love, drug addiction, and possible mdetermination to make a success of her marriage to Ray is admirable, but she discovers love does not conquer all. Even so, she did her best to help him through the good, better, and worse. Stacey writes about this period of her life with raw honesty, drawing you into the drama and pain-filled journey with no expectation of sympathy. Her story proves some decisions are difficult to make when you’re caught up in the vortex of a disintegrating relationship. Her growth in character and resilience is heartwarming."

CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

����� "Real, raw, and relatable. This easy read captivated me right from the beginning! A heartfelt description of the inner thoughts and struggles Stacey faced as she transitioned into adulthood. Worth the read!" - JDam

����� "A page-turner! I’m a busy full-time working mom and somehow managed to read this in 24 hours. Stacey’s vivid memories and raw storytelling make her easy to connect to." - Jessica

����� "Super fascinating to read! Stacey highlights the dangers of trying to fix a person and the importance of not blaming yourself. An amazing read!" - Luigi

FROM MEMOIR TO MOVIE:
“Stray Love� is set for a big-screen transformation. The movie, titled “STRAY,� will be filmed in Rhode Island.

KEY THEMES:
Memoir of Addiction: A deeply personal recounting of how drug addiction can shape and transform lives.
Love and Loss: Explore the complexities of a relationship tested by the trials of addiction and loss.
Personal Transformation: Witness Stacey’s journey of self-discovery and growth amidst adversity.
Resilience and Redemption: Learn how Stacey overcomes challenges and finds healing & redemption.
Forgiveness and Healing: Discover the power of forgiveness in the path to emotional healing.

Don’t miss out on this compelling memoir that will resonate with your heart and soul. "Stray Love" is a journey through life’s most challenging moments, showing that even in the darkest times, there is always hope for a brighter future.]]> 235 Stacey Caputi Liakos Julie 0 to-read 4.30
author: Stacey Caputi Liakos
name: Julie
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: to-read
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]]> 58503739 As comforting and familiar as a favorite sweater, Viola Shipman's first holiday novel is a promise of heartfelt family traditions, humorously real experience, and the enduringĚýpower of love and friendship.

Sonny Dunes, aĚýSoCal meteorologist who knows only sunshine and seventy-two-degree days, is being replaced by an AI meteorologist, which the youthful station manager reasons "will never age, gain weight or renegotiate its contract." The only station willing to give the fifty-year-oldĚýanother shot is one in a famously nontropical place—her northern Michigan hometown.

Unearthing her carefully laid California roots, Sonny returns home and reacclimates to the painfullyĚýlong, dark winters dominated by a Michigan phenomenon known as lake-effect snow. But beyond the complete physical shock to her system, she's also forced to confront her past: her new boss, a former journalism classmate and mortalĚýfrenemy; more keenly,Ěýthe death of a younger sister who loved the snow; and the mother who caused Sonny to leave.

To distract herself from the unwelcome memories, Sonny decides to throw herself headfirst into all things winter to woo viewers and reclaim her success. From sledding and ice fishing to skiing and winter festivals, the merrymaking culminates with the town’s famed Winter Ice Sculpture Contest. Running the events is a widowed father and chamber of commerce director, whose genuine love of Michigan, winter and Sonny just might thaw her heart and restart her life in a way she never could have predicted.

]]> 320 Viola Shipman 1525899813 Julie 4 I’m more than ever inspired to visit Northern Michigan. Seems so beautiful.I’m fascinated by the Great Lakes, and need to experience one at least!
Most of us, in my home state of CO, do not complain about the snow, at least the smart ones!
One more thing- Viola Shipman is the pen name of the author Wade Russo to honor his grandmother- loved that!]]> 3.77 2021
author: Viola Shipman
name: Julie
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves:
review:
Ordinarily this is a book I would not have chosen, yet am glad I found it. I was looking in the catalog for a winter themed book of fiction for a Dec. book club.
I’m more than ever inspired to visit Northern Michigan. Seems so beautiful.I’m fascinated by the Great Lakes, and need to experience one at least!
Most of us, in my home state of CO, do not complain about the snow, at least the smart ones!
One more thing- Viola Shipman is the pen name of the author Wade Russo to honor his grandmother- loved that!
]]> 220300842 No one believed it could happen in their town.

Valarie Clark Miller seemed to have it all. Smart, beautiful, and athletic, with a wealthy, successful husband and growing family, Valarie appeared to be the picture-perfect Mormon wife. But it was all a façade. Inside, she was crumbling from the pressures of long-repressed memories of a childhood plagued with sexual and physical abuse.

In Hometown Betrayal, author Emily Benedek brings you behind the closed doors of the remote Mormon community of Clarkston, Utah. With the help of hundreds of individual stories, she pieces together not only what happened to Valarie, but also the conditions and culture that allowed it. Hometown Betrayal culminates in an account of the Miller family’s fight to hold accountable the men—including the local cop-- who abused Valarie and controlled the systems designed to look the other way.]]> Emily Benedek Julie 0 to-read 3.97
author: Emily Benedek
name: Julie
average rating: 3.97
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> 9581417
Kim Barker is not your typical, impassive foreign correspondent—she is candid, self-deprecating, laugh-out-loud funny. At first an awkward newbie in Afghanistan, she grows into a wisecracking, seasoned reporter with grave concerns about our ability to win hearts and minds in the region. In The Taliban Shuffle, Barker offers an insider’s account of the “forgotten war� in Afghanistan and Pakistan, chronicling the years after America’s initial routing of the Taliban, when we failed to finish the job.

When Barker arrives in Kabul, foreign aid is at a record low, electricity is a pipe dream, and of the few remaining foreign troops, some aren’t allowed out after dark. Meanwhile, in the vacuum left by the U.S. and NATO, the Taliban is regrouping as the Afghan and Pakistani governments floun­der. Barker watches Afghan police recruits make a travesty of practice drills and observes the disorienting turnover of diplomatic staff. She is pursued romantically by the former prime minister of Pakistan and sees adrenaline-fueled col­leagues disappear into the clutches of the Taliban. And as her love for these hapless countries grows, her hopes for their stability and security fade.

Swift, funny, and wholly original, The Taliban Shuffle unforgettably captures the absurdities and tragedies of life in a war zone.]]> 320 Kim Barker 0385533314 Julie 0 to-read 3.45 2011
author: Kim Barker
name: Julie
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 167770288
Jill and Derick knew a normal life wasn’t possible for them. As a star on the popular TLC reality show 19 Kids and Counting, Jill grew up in front of viewers who were fascinated by her family’s way of life. She was the responsible, second daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle’s nineteen kids; always with a baby on her hip and happy to wear the modest ankle-length dresses with throat-high necklines. She didn’t protest the strict model of patriarchy that her family followed, which declares that men are superior, that women are expected to be wives and mothers and are discouraged from attaining a higher education, and that parental authority over their children continues well into adulthood, even once they are married.

But as Jill got older, married Derick, and they embarked on their own lives, the red flags became too obvious to ignore. For as long as they could, Jill and Derick tried to be obedient family members � they weren’t willing to rock the boat. But now they’re raising a family of their own, and they’re done with the secrets. Thanks to time, tears, therapy, and blessings from God, they have the strength to share their journey. Theirs is a remarkable story of the power of the truth and is a moving example of how to find healing through honesty.]]> 287 Jill Duggar Julie 0 to-read 4.01 2023
author: Jill Duggar
name: Julie
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> 17899948 Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...

The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.

First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling read that it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.]]> 449 Daphne du Maurier 0316323705 Julie 5 Can’t wait to watch the movie!]]> 4.28 1938
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: Julie
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1938
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/27
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
review:
What a great suspenseful writer! Her descriptive writing was so good! I did not have Deja Vu while reading. I don’t think I have read it.
Can’t wait to watch the movie!
]]> 40651649 New York Times µţ±đ˛őłŮ˛ő±đ±ô±ô±đ°ůĚý

The beloved actress and star of One Tree Hill, White Collar, and Lethal Weapon, Hilarie Burton Morgan, tells the story of leaving Hollywood for a radically different kind of life in upstate New York with her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan—a celebration of community, family, and the value of hard work in small town America.

While Hilarie Burton Morgan's hectic lifestyle as an actress in New York and Los Angeles gave her a comfortable life, it did not fulfill her spiritually or emotionally. After the birth of their first son, she and her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan, the star of The Walking Dead, decided to make a major change: they bought a working farm in Rhinebeck, New York, and began a new chapter in their lives.

The Rural Diaries chronicles her inspiring story of farm life: chopping wood, making dandelion wine, building chicken coops. Burton looks back at her transition from urban to country living—discovering how to manage a farm while raising her son and making friends with her new neighbors. She mixes charming stories of learning to raise alpacas and buying and revitalizing the town’s beloved candy store, Samuel’s Sweet Shop, with raw observations on the ups and downs of marriage and her struggles with secondary infertility. Burton also includes delicious recipes that can be made with fresh ingredients at home, as well as home renovation and gardening tips.

Burton’s charisma, wide eyed attitude, and fortitude—both internal and physical—propels this moving story of transformation and self-discovery. The Rural Diaries honors the values and lifestyle of small-town America and offers inspiration for anyone longing to embark on their own unconventional journey.]]> 272 Hilarie Burton Morgan 0062862723 Julie 3 4.40 2020
author: Hilarie Burton Morgan
name: Julie
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/27
date added: 2024/11/27
shelves:
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]]> 57458
The story is a powerful portrait of a fading way of life. The story culminates with the historic Marias Massacre of 1870, in which the U.S. Cavalry mistakenly killed a friendly band of Blackfeet, consisting mostly of non-combatants.

"A major contribution to Native American literature." -- Wallace Stegner.]]> 400 James Welch 0140089373 Julie 0 to-read 4.01 1986
author: James Welch
name: Julie
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves: to-read
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]]> 13513092
In a shocking reversal of events, all three were suddenly released in August 2011. This is Damien Echols' story in full: from abuses by prison guards and wardens, to descriptions of inmates and deplorable living conditions, to the incredible reserves of patience, spirituality, and perseverance that kept him alive and sane for nearly two decades. Echols also writes about his complicated and painful childhood. Like Dead Man Walking, Life After Death is destined to be a classic.]]> 399 Damien Echols 0399160205 Julie 0 to-read 3.97 2012
author: Damien Echols
name: Julie
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> 218537468
Alors que l’affaire menace la réputation du Regency Grand, et que tous les employés sont des suspects, Molly se rend compte qu’elle a un lien important avec la victime. La clé de cette énigme se trouve nichée dans son passé, à l’époque où, enfant, elle accompagnait sa grand-mère dans le mystérieux manoir des Grimthorpe�

Afin d’aider ses amis, de sauver l’hôtel et d’empêcher un nouveau drame, Molly va se lancer corps et âme dans cette nouvelle enquête haute en couleur !]]> 336 Nita Prose 0593356209 Julie 0 to-read 3.82 2023
author: Nita Prose
name: Julie
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 201626940 FromĚýNew York TimesĚýbestseller Maureen Callahan, a fierce, character-driven exposĂ© of the real Kennedy Curse—the family’s generations-long legacy of misogyny, murder, and mayhem—and the women who have paid the price for our obsession with Camelot

The Kennedy name has long been synonymous with wealth, power, glamor, and—above all else—integrity. But this carefully constructed veneer hides a dark truth: the pattern of Kennedy men physically and psychologically abusing women and girls, leaving a trail of ruin and death in each generation’s wake. Through decades of scandal after scandal—from sexual assaults to reputational slander, suicides to manslaughter—the family and their defenders have kept the Kennedy brand intact.

Now, in Ask Not, bestselling author and journalist Maureen Callahan reveals the Kennedys� hidden history of violence and exploitation, laying bare their unrepentant sexism and rampant depravity while also restoring these women and girls to their rightful place at the center of the dynasty’s story: from Jacqueline Onassis and Marilyn Monroe to Carolyn Bessette, Martha Moxley, Mary Jo Kopechne, Rosemary Kennedy, and many others whose names aren’t nearly as well known but should be.

Drawing on years of explosive reportage and written in electric prose, Ask Not is a long-overdue reckoning with this fabled family and a consequential part of American history that is still very much with us. At long last Callahan redirects the spotlight to the women in the Kennedys� orbit, paying homage to those who freed themselves and giving voice to those who, through no fault of their own, could not.]]> 400 Maureen Callahan 0316276170 Julie 0 to-read 4.04 2024
author: Maureen Callahan
name: Julie
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 208580732
The adventure leads to flight, emigration and a new land, a new language and the pursuit of idealism or happiness - in Liverpool. But what of the stories from the old country; how do they shape and form the next generations who have heard the well-worn tales?

From the flour mills of Latvia to Liverpool suburbia to post-war Soho, The Story of the Forest is about myths and memory and about how families adapt in order to survive. It is a story full of the humour and wisdom we have come to relish from this wonderful writer.

From the Orange Prize-winning and Man Booker-shortlisted Linda Grant.]]> 288 Linda Grant 1638931682 Julie 0 to-read 3.38 2023
author: Linda Grant
name: Julie
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 204905217
A month later, Lisa Marie was dead, and the world would never know her story in her own words, never know the passionate, joyful, caring, and complicated woman that Riley loved and grieved.

Riley got the tapes that her mother had recorded for the book, laid in her bed, and listened as Lisa Marie told story after story about smashing golf carts together in the yards of Graceland, about the unconditional love she felt from her father, about being upstairs, just the two of them. About getting dragged screaming out of the bathroom as she ran towards his body on the floor. About living in Los Angeles with her mother, getting sent to school after school, always kicked out, always in trouble. About her singular, lifelong relationship with Danny Keough, about being married to Michael Jackson, what they shared in common. About motherhood. About deep addiction. About ever-present grief. Riley knew she had to fulfill her mother’s wish to reveal these memories, incandescent and painful, to the world.

To make her mother known.

This extraordinary book is written in both Lisa Marie’s and Riley’s voices, a mother and daughter communicating—from this world to the one beyond—as they try to heal each other. Profoundly moving and deeply revealing, From Here to the Great Unknown is a book like no other—the last words of the only child of an American icon.]]> 304 Lisa Marie Presley 0593733878 Julie 3 Her life was so so sad- she thought all she had going for her was to be a good mom. It seems like she was!
I wanted to judge her for how she grieved the death of her son, but I know it’s a process that’s different for each of us]]> 4.26 2024
author: Lisa Marie Presley
name: Julie
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/19
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves:
review:

Her life was so so sad- she thought all she had going for her was to be a good mom. It seems like she was!
I wanted to judge her for how she grieved the death of her son, but I know it’s a process that’s different for each of us
]]> 23944 332 William S. Burroughs 0312278462 Julie 0 to-read 3.77 1981
author: William S. Burroughs
name: Julie
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 7437 Naked Lunch is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century, a book that redefined not just literature but American culture. An unnerving tale of a narcotics addict unmoored in New York, Tangier, and ultimately a nightmarish wasteland known as Interzone, its formal innovation, taboo subject matter, and tour de force execution have exerted a significant influence on authors like Thomas Pynchon, J. G. Ballard, and William Gibson; on the relationship of art and obscenity; and on the shape of music, film, and media generally. Naked Lunch: The Restored Text includes many editorial corrections to errors present in previous editions, and incorporates Burroughs’s notes on the text, several essays he wrote over the years about the book, and an appendix of 20 percent new material and alternate drafts from the original manuscript, which predates the first published version. For the Burroughs enthusiast and the neophyte, this volume is a valuable and fresh experience of this classic of our culture.]]> 289 William S. Burroughs 0802140181 Julie 0 to-read 3.48 1959
author: William S. Burroughs
name: Julie
average rating: 3.48
book published: 1959
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 52652923 Two women. Two Flights. One last chance to disappear.

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move, making sure she's living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.

A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets � Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

The Last Flight is the story of two women â€� both alone, both scared â€� and one agonizing decision that will change theĚýtrajectory of both of their lives.]]> 320 Julie Clark 1728215722 Julie 3 4.02 2020
author: Julie Clark
name: Julie
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
shelves:
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]]> 61273712
In the summer of 2017, twenty-two-year-old Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind vanished. A week after she disappeared, police arrested the white couple who lived upstairs from Savanna and emerged from their apartment carrying an infant girl. The baby was Savanna’s, but Savanna’s body would not be found for days.

The horrifying crime sent shock waves far beyond Fargo, North Dakota, where it occurred, and helped expose the sexual and physical violence Native American women and girls have endured since the country’s colonization.

With pathos and compassion, Searching for Savanna confronts this history of dehumanization toward Indigenous women and the government’s complicity in the crisis. Featuring in-depth interviews, personal accounts, and trial analysis, Searching for Savanna investigates these injustices and the decades-long struggle by Native American advocates for meaningful change.]]> 320 Mona Gable 1982153687 Julie 3 3.45 2023
author: Mona Gable
name: Julie
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/05
date added: 2024/11/05
shelves:
review:
When talking to my son who read the book, and what we both thought about it. He expressed it so well, any book that brings attention about the issue of missing and murdered Native Americans is good!
]]> 46730 289 Daniel Defoe 0140437851 Julie 0 to-read 3.52 1722
author: Daniel Defoe
name: Julie
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1722
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/02
shelves: to-read
review:

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Dark and twisting at every turn, fans of Catriona Ward will love this chilling new tale from the deviously inventive horror author that Peter Farris calls the “clear heir to Stephen King.�

Beware the one who got away . . .

Father Silence once terrorized the rural town of Twisted Tree, disguising himself as a priest to prey on the most vulnerable members of society. When the police finally found his “House of Horrors,� they uncovered nineteen bodies and one survivor–a boy now locked away in a hospital for the criminally insane.

Nearly two decades later, Father Silence is finally put to death, but by the next morning, the detective who made the original arrest is found dead. A new serial killer is taking credit for the murder and calling himself the Outcast.

The detective’s daughter, Tess Claibourne, is a detective herself, haunted by childhood trauma and horrified by the death of her father and the resurgence of Father Silence’s legacy.

When Tess’s daughter is kidnapped by the Outcast, Tess is forced to face her worst fears and long-buried memories. With no leads to follow, she travels back to Twisted Tree to visit the boy who survived and see what secrets might be buried in the tangled web of his broken mind.

With captivating prose and an old-school horror flair, Sleep Tight is a must-read, haunting tale from a true master of the genre.]]> 336 J.H. Markert 1639108734 Julie 2 3.64 2024
author: J.H. Markert
name: Julie
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2024/11/01
date added: 2024/11/01
shelves:
review:
I’d rate it a 2.5 - horror is not a favorite genre for me, unless it’s true crime. I did like that the author, as a child had a real fear of being kidnapped. It’s cool that he tackled his fear in fictional form.
]]> 4981 Slaughterhouse-Five, an American classic, is one of the world’s great antiwar books. Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber’s son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming “unstuck in time.�

An instant bestseller, Slaughterhouse-Five made Kurt Vonnegut a cult hero in American literature, a reputation that only strengthened over time, despite his being banned and censored by some libraries and schools for content and language. But it was precisely those elements of Vonnegut’s writing—the political edginess, the genre-bending inventiveness, the frank violence, the transgressive wit—that have inspired generations of readers not just to look differently at the world around them but to find the confidence to say something about it.

Fifty years after its initial publication at the height of the Vietnam War, Vonnegut's portrayal of political disillusionment, PTSD, and postwar anxiety feels as relevant, darkly humorous, and profoundly affecting as ever, an enduring beacon through our own era’s uncertainties.]]> 275 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Julie 0 to-read 4.10 1969
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Julie
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1969
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 195430687 Three estranged siblings return to their family home in New York after their beloved sister's death in this unforgettable story of grief, identity, and the complexities of family.

The three Blue sisters are exceptional—and exceptionally different. Avery, the eldest and a recovering heroin addict turned strait-laced lawyer, lives with her wife in London; Bonnie, a former boxer, works as a bouncer in Los Angeles following a devastating defeat; and Lucky, the youngest, models in Paris while trying to outrun her hard-partying ways. They also had a fourth sister, Nicky, whose unexpected death left Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky reeling. A year later, as they each navigate grief, addiction, and ambition, they find they must return to New York to stop the sale of the apartment they were raised in.

But coming home is never as easy as it seems. As the sisters reckon with the disappointments of their childhood and the loss of the only person who held them together, they realize the greatest secrets they've been keeping might not have been from each other, but from themselves.]]> 342 Coco Mellors 0593723767 Julie 4 3.93 2024
author: Coco Mellors
name: Julie
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/22
shelves:
review:
It was an easy read, with good character development!
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