Danae's bookshelf: all en-US Tue, 01 Apr 2025 11:23:07 -0700 60 Danae's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering]]> 216857785
Why is Miami…Miami? What does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do Ivy League schools care so much about sports? What is the Magic Third, and what does it mean for racial harmony? In this provocative new work, Malcolm Gladwell returns for the first time in twenty-five years to the subject of social epidemics and tipping points, this time with the aim of explaining the dark side of contagious phenomena.

Through a series of riveting stories, Gladwell traces the rise of a new and troubling form of social engineering. He takes us to the streets of Los Angeles to meet the world’s most successful bank robbers, rediscovers a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world, visits the site of a historic experiment on a tiny cul-de-sac in northern California, and offers an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell’s most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of modern world. It’s time we took tipping points seriously.]]> 352 Malcolm Gladwell 0316575801 Danae 0 to-read 4.03 2024 Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Danae
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis]]> 181892997
During those dark pre-antibiotic days, when tuberculosis killed one in seven people, white nurses at Sea View, New York’s largest municipal hospital, began quitting. Desperate to avert a public health crisis, city officials summoned Black southern nurses, luring them with promises of good pay, a career, and an escape from the strictures of Jim Crow. But after arriving, they found themselves on an isolated hilltop in the remote borough of Staten Island, yet again confronting racism and consigned to a woefully understaffed facility, dubbed “the pest house� where “no one left alive.”�

Spanning the Great Depression and moving through World War II and beyond, this story follows the intrepid young women, the “Black Angels,� who, for twenty years, risked their lives working under dreadful conditions while caring for the city’s poorest�1,800 souls languishing in wards, waiting to die or become “guinea pigs� for experimental (often deadly) drugs. Yet despite their major role in desegregating the NYC hospital system—and regardless of their vital work in helping to find the cure for tuberculosis at Sea View—these nurses were completely erased from history. The Black Angels recovers the voices of these extraordinary women and puts them at the center of this riveting story celebrating their legacy and spirit of survival.]]> 448 Maria Smilios 0593544927 Danae 0 currently-reading 4.22 2023 The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis
author: Maria Smilios
name: Danae
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Fearless Mind 7654793 176 Craig L. Manning 1599553961 Danae 4 4.06 2010 The Fearless Mind
author: Craig L. Manning
name: Danae
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents]]> 23129659 If you grew up with an emotionally immature, unavailable, or selfish parent, you may have lingering feelings of anger, loneliness, betrayal, or abandonment. You may recall your childhood as a time when your emotional needs were not met, when your feelings were dismissed, or when you took on adult levels of responsibility in an effort to compensate for your parent’s behavior. These wounds can be healed, and you can move forward in your life.

In this breakthrough book, clinical psychologist Lindsay Gibson exposes the destructive nature of parents who are emotionally immature or unavailable. You will see how these parents create a sense of neglect, and discover ways to heal from the pain and confusion caused by your childhood. By freeing yourself from your parents� emotional immaturity, you can recover your true nature, control how you react to them, and avoid disappointment. Finally, you’ll learn how to create positive, new relationships so you can build a better life.

Discover the four types of difficult parents:



The emotional parent instills feelings of instability and anxiety

The driven parent stays busy trying to perfect everything and everyone

The passive parent avoids dealing with anything upsetting

The rejecting parent is withdrawn, dismissive, and derogatory
Ěý±Ő±Ő> 201 Lindsay C. Gibson 1626251703 Danae 3 4.36 2015 Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents
author: Lindsay C. Gibson
name: Danae
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves:
review:
Really mixed feelings. My biggest complaint is that the audience for this book is self-selecting. If you are reading this book, you already know most of the information in the first 7 chapters, and as much as I hate the word, it is triggering as heck. Chapters 8 and 9 have some good insights about how to DEAL with the situation you already understood, and I might like to go back and process some of that again.
]]> <![CDATA[Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice: A Revolutionary Program to Counter Negative Thoughts and Live Free from Imagined Limitations]]> 48386 232 Robert W. Firestone 1572242876 Danae 0 to-read 3.71 2002 Conquer Your Critical Inner Voice: A Revolutionary Program to Counter Negative Thoughts and Live Free from Imagined Limitations
author: Robert W. Firestone
name: Danae
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> Christmas Forevermore 123283448
“A Family Christmas� by Sally Britton: After years abroad, Cyril Grant worries about relating to his highborn relatives at the family’s holiday celebration. But an unexpected connection with a member of the household staff opens his heart―in more ways than one.

“Christmas Forevermore� by Sarah M. Eden: In this reimagining of the beloved Charles Dickens tale A Christmas Carol, spinster Minna Schofield is inadvertently ensnared by a local matchmaker whose meddling launches Minna on a journey of self-reflection that could lead her to unexpected love.

“Christmas at Cranfield� by Ashtyn Newbold: Though childhood friends Hannah and Samuel secretly adore one another, fate conspires to keep them apart. But after years of shared holidays and missed opportunities, this Christmas brings the hope that their stars will align.

“A Thrill of Hope� by Karen Thornell: After a devastating loss, Christmas holds little appeal for Isabel Reid. But when a snowstorm traps her in the company of a surprising traveling companion, the perpetual winter of Isabel’s heart may just begin to thaw.]]> 400 Sally Britton 1524424455 Danae 4 4.13 2023 Christmas Forevermore
author: Sally Britton
name: Danae
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
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]]> <![CDATA[The Lightmaker's Manifesto: How to Work for Change without Losing Your Joy]]> 56822980 234 Karen Walrond 1506469949 Danae 0 to-read 4.20 The Lightmaker's Manifesto: How to Work for Change without Losing Your Joy
author: Karen Walrond
name: Danae
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> A Christmas Courting 41943094 Love and Joy Come to You by Jennifer Moore
Lord Covington has planned a quiet holiday with his grieving mother but finds his plans rudely disrupted when lovely Cassie Weatherby and her young siblings are invited for Christmas. Despite his reservations, however, he begins to recognize in Cassie a kindred spirit.
A Christmas Courting by Chalon Linton
When obligations keep her in London, Keturah Hensley sadly anticipates missing the festivity of Christmas at her family's country home and the company of her best friend, Christopher Shepherd. When she learns that Christopher will be joining her family in London for Christmas, she is delighted--but her elation is short-lived. Christopher is coming to Town to court the woman of his dreams, and Keturah fears she may have lost the chance to win his love.
Mistletoe Memories by Jen Geigle Johnson
From childhood, Patrick, Duke of Montrose, knew he'd found his perfect match in Lady Alice Tarrington. When he's sent on a grand tour, Patrick is confident he'll marry his sweetheart upon his return. But when he receives word that Alice is to marry another, will he be too late to claim her heart?
Second-Chance Christmas by Heidi Kimball
Francie and Gerard have been friends since childhood, but their friendship ended when she declined his heartfelt proposal of marriage. However, when her interactions with Gerard's holiday houseguests provoke in Francie unexpected jealousy, she realizes she must fight for Gerard's affections or risk losing him forever.]]> 240 Jennifer Moore 1524407941 Danae 4 3.90 2018 A Christmas Courting
author: Jennifer Moore
name: Danae
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/14
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
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Fun and fluffy, just how I like a nice Christmas Victorian romance.
]]> Christmas at Falstone Castle 60345733 64 Sarah M. Eden 1524420581 Danae 4 4.14 Christmas at Falstone Castle
author: Sarah M. Eden
name: Danae
average rating: 4.14
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs]]> 201319612 The bestselling author of Lost Connections and Stolen Focus offers a revelatory look at the drugs upending weight loss as we knew it—from his personal experience on Ozempic to what these drugs mean for our society’s deeply dysfunctional relationship with food, weight, and our bodiesIn January 2023, bestselling author Johann Hari started to inject himself once a week with Ozempic, the diabetes drug that produces significant weight loss. HeĚýwasn’t alone—credible predictions suggest that in two years, a quarter of the U.S. population will be taking this class of drug. Proponents say that this is a biological solution to a biological problem. While 95 percent of diets fail, the average person taking one of the new drugs will lose a quarter of their body weight in six months, and keep it off for as long as they take it. Here is a moment of liberation from an illness that massively increases your chances of diabetes, dementia, and cancer, and causes 10 percent of all deaths.ĚýStill, Hari was wildly conflicted. The massive rise in obesity rates around the world in the last half century didn’t happen because something went wrong with human biology. It happened because something went disastrously wrong with our We began to eat food designed to be maximally addictive. We built cities that are impossible to walk or bike around. We became much more stressed, making us seek out more comfort snacks. From this perspective, the new weight loss drugs arrive at a moment of madness. We built a food system that poisons us, then decided en masse to inject ourselves with a different potential poison that puts us off all food.A personal journey through weight loss combined with scientific evidence from experts, Magic Pill explores, as only Hari can, questions How did we get to this point? What does it reveal about our society that we couldn’t solve this problem socially, and instead turned to potentially risky pharmaceutical solutions? And will this free us from social pressure to conform to an ideal body type—or make that pressure even more dangerously intense?]]> 320 Johann Hari 0593728637 Danae 4 4.26 2024 Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs
author: Johann Hari
name: Danae
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
review:
Some really good insights into the obesity epidemic and some ways (including medication and surgery) that it is being addressed, and the implications of these things. Personally I think the only option available to us is eating raw carrots and apples exclusively, but that’s the problem. Every solution comes with its own set of problems. I did appreciate the balanced and informative approach this book took and I may go find some other books by this author.
]]> Blackbird House 821964
With "incantatory prose" that "sweeps over the reader like a dream," (Philadelphia Inquirer), Hoffman follows her celebrated bestseller The Probable Future, with an evocative work that traces the lives of the various occupants of an old Massachusetts house over a span of two hundred years.

In a rare and gorgeous departure, beloved novelist Alice Hoffman weaves a web of tales, all set in Blackbird House. This small farm on the outer reaches of Cape Cod is a place that is as bewitching and alive as the characters we meet: Violet, a brilliant girl who is in love with books and with a man destined to betray her; Lysander Wynn, attacked by a halibut as big as a horse, certain that his life is ruined until a boarder wearing red boots arrives to change everything; Maya Cooper, who does not understand the true meaning of the love between her mother and father until it is nearly too late. From the time of the British occupation of Massachusetts to our own modern world, family after family’s lives are inexorably changed, not only by the people they love but by the lives they lead inside Blackbird House.

These interconnected narratives are as intelligent as they are haunting, as luminous as they are unusual. Inside Blackbird House more than a dozen men and women learn how love transforms us and how it is the one lasting element in our lives. The past both dissipates and remains contained inside the rooms of Blackbird House, where there are terrible secrets, inspired beauty, and, above all else, a spirit of coming home.

From the writer Time has said tells "truths powerful enough to break a reader’s heart" comes a glorious travelogue through time and fate, through loss and love and survival. Welcome to Blackbird House.]]> 225 Alice Hoffman 0345455932 Danae 4 3.79 2004 Blackbird House
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Danae
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
review:
I didn't really know a lot about this book going in, which sometimes leaves you open to a story in a better way, and sometimes leaves you unsure about where you're headed so you have trouble following along. I'm not sure if that was good or bad in this case. I enjoyed this book quite a lot. The writing is certainly excellent. It was mostly sad, which I think might have kept me from reading it if I had known that ahead of time; but also quite sweet. It reminded me a bit of Girl in Hyacinth Blue, or even Cloud Atlas, although the stories tie together less. It did feel like the story jumped just as you were really becoming interested in what was going to happen to any given character, but maybe that was part of the charm. I kind of like imagining for myself what might have happened after that part of the story ended. But, my endings would be happier... ;-)
]]> <![CDATA[Scarcity Brain: Fix Your Craving Mindset and Rewire Your Habits to Thrive with Enough]]> 75494984 Ěý
“Michael Easter’s genius is that he puts data around the edges of what we intuitively believe. His work has inspired many to change their lives for the better.”—Dr. Peter Attia, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Outlive

AreĚýweĚýhardwired to craveĚýmore? From food and stuff to information and influence,Ěýwhy can’t we ever get enough?

Michael Easter, author of The Comfort Crisis and one of the world’s leading experts on behavior change, shows that the problem isn’t you. The problem is yourĚýscarcityĚýmindset, left over from our ancient ancestors. They had to constantly seek and consume to survive because vital survival tools like food, material goods, information, and power were scarce and hard to find. But with our modern ability to easily fulfill our ancient desire for more, our hardwired “scarcityĚýbrainâ€� is now backfiring. And new technology and institutions—from dating and entertainment apps to our food and economic systems—are exploiting ourĚýscarcitybrain. They’re bombarding us with subversive “scarcitycues,â€� subtle triggers that lead us into low-reward cravings that hurt us in the long run.ĚýScarcityĚýcues can be direct and all-encompassing, like a sagging economy. Or they can be subtle and slight, like our neighbor buying a shiny new car.

Easter traveled the world to consult with remarkable innovators and leading scientists who are finding surprising solutions for ourĚýscarcityĚýbrain. He discovered simple tactics that can move us towards an abundance mindset, cement healthy habits, and allow us to live our lives to the fullest and appreciate what we have, including how

â€� Detect hiddenĚýscarcityĚýcues to stop cravings before they start, from a brilliant slot machine designer in a Las Vegas casino laboratory
� Turn alone time into the ultimate happiness hack, from artisanal coffee-making Benedictine monks
� Reignite your exploration gene for a more exciting and fulfilling life, from an astronaut onboard the International Space Station
� Reframe how we think about and fix addiction and bad habits, from Iraq’s chief psychiatrist
� Recognize when you have enough, from a woman who left a million-dollar career path to adventure the world

Our world is overloaded with everything we’re built to crave. The fix forĚýscarcityĚýbrainĚýisn’t to blindly aim for less. It’s to understand why we crave more in the first place, shake our worst habits, and use what we already have better. Then we can experience life in a new way—a more satisfying way.]]> 304 Michael Easter 0593236629 Danae 3 3.87 Scarcity Brain: Fix Your Craving Mindset and Rewire Your Habits to Thrive with Enough
author: Michael Easter
name: Danae
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves:
review:
Some interesting insights into how we view things. Well constructed, makes you want to give up your phone for sure!
]]> <![CDATA[Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle]]> 42397849
Burnout. Many women in America have experienced it. What’s expected of women and what it’s really like to be a woman in today’s world are two very different things—and women exhaust themselves trying to close the gap between them. How can you “love your body� when every magazine cover has ten diet tips for becoming “your best self�? How do you “lean in� at work when you’re already operating at 110 percent and aren’t recognized for it? How can you live happily and healthily in a sexist world that is constantly telling you you’re too fat, too needy, too noisy, and too selfish?

Sisters Emily Nagoski, PhD, and Amelia Nagoski, DMA, are here to help end the cycle of feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Instead of asking us to ignore the very real obstacles and societal pressures that stand between women and well-being, they explain with compassion and optimism what we’re up against—and show us how to fight back. In these pages you’ll learn

� what you can do to complete the biological stress cycle—and return your body to a state of relaxation
� how to manage the “monitor� in your brain that regulates the emotion of frustration
� how the Bikini Industrial Complex makes it difficult for women to love their bodies—and how to defend yourself against it
� why rest, human connection, and befriending your inner critic are keys to recovering and preventing burnout

With the help of eye-opening science, prescriptive advice, and helpful worksheets and exercises, all women will find something transformative in these pages—and will be empowered to create positive change. Emily and Amelia aren’t here to preach the broad platitudes of expensive self-care or insist that we strive for the impossible goal of “having it all.� Instead, they tell us that we are enough, just as we are—and that wellness, true wellness, is within our reach.]]> 277 Emily Nagoski 198481706X Danae 0 to-read 3.93 2019 Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
author: Emily Nagoski
name: Danae
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> Anxious People 49127718 A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined

Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix up their own marriage. There's a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.

Includes short story - The Last Round of Golf]]> 336 Fredrik Backman 198216963X Danae 5 4.17 2019 Anxious People
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Danae
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/10/30
shelves:
review:
Absorbing, by turns interesting, surprising, funny, and unexpectedly profound. Would recommend. I look forward to re-reading it a second time. Probably not terribly realistic, but it is the world as we wish it was.
]]> <![CDATA[Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI]]> 193388249
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And this was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.

As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.]]> 338 David Grann 0593470834 Danae 4 4.12 2017 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
author: David Grann
name: Danae
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/04
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Red Wolf 55558336 A high stakes reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood.

For as long as sixteen-year-old Adele can remember, the village of Oakvale has been surrounded by the dark wood—a forest filled with terrible monsters. A forest that light itself cannot penetrate.

Unlike her fellow villagers, Adele cannot avoid the dark wood.

Adele is one of a long line of guardians: women who secretly take on the form of a wolf, in order to protect their village.

But when accepting her fate means giving up the boy she loves, abandoning the future she imagined for herself, and breaking her own moral code, she must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her neighbors safe.]]> 368 Rachel Vincent 0062411624 Danae 2 3.59 2021 Red Wolf
author: Rachel Vincent
name: Danae
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2021
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/30
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Be the Love You Seek: Break Cycles, Find Peace, and Heal Your Relationships]]> 123279496 304 Nicole LePera 0063267748 Danae 3 3.88 2023 How to Be the Love You Seek: Break Cycles, Find Peace, and Heal Your Relationships
author: Nicole LePera
name: Danae
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/22
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
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]]> Tom Lake 63241104 In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.]]> 309 Ann Patchett 006332752X Danae 4 3.92 2023 Tom Lake
author: Ann Patchett
name: Danae
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/14
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture]]> 58537332 In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, a groundbreaking investigation into the causes of illness, a bracing critique of how our society breeds disease, and a pathway to health and healing.

In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal� when it comes to health?

Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal� as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Co-written with his son Daniel, The Myth of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.]]> 576 Gabor Maté 0593083881 Danae 3 4.30 2022 The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture
author: Gabor Maté
name: Danae
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/04
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—and Why]]> 2706211
Today, nine out of ten Americans live in places at significant risk of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, terrorism, or other disasters. Tomorrow, some of us will have to make split-second choices to save ourselves and our families. How will we react? What will it feel like? Will we be heroes or victims? Will our upbringing, our gender, our personality–anything we’ve ever learned, thought, or dreamed of–ultimately matter?
ĚýĚýĚýĚý
Amanda Ripley, an award-winning journalist for Time magazine who has covered some of the most devastating disasters of our age, set out to discover what lies beyond fear and speculation. In this magnificent work of investigative journalism, Ripley retraces the human response to some of history’s epic disasters, from the explosion of the Mont Blanc munitions ship in 1917–one of the biggest explosions before the invention of the atomic bomb–to a plane crash in England in 1985 that mystified investigators for years, to the journeys of the 15,000 people who found their way out of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Then, to understand the science behind the stories, Ripley turns to leading brain scientists, trauma psychologists, and other disaster experts, formal and informal, from a Holocaust survivor who studies heroism to a master gunfighter who learned to overcome the effects of extreme fear.

Finally, Ripley steps into the dark corners of her own imagination, having her brain examined by military researchers and experiencing through realistic simulations what it might be like to survive a plane crash into the ocean or to escape a raging fire.
ĚýĚýĚýĚý
Ripley comes back with precious wisdom about the surprising humanity of crowds, the elegance of the brain’s fear circuits, and the stunning inadequacy of many of our evolutionary responses. Most unexpectedly, she discovers the brain’s ability to do much, much better, with just a little help.

The Unthinkable escorts us into the bleakest regions of our nightmares, flicks on a flashlight, and takes a steady look around. Then it leads us home, smarter and stronger than we were before.]]> 266 Amanda Ripley 0307352897 Danae 0 4.16 2008 The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—and Why
author: Amanda Ripley
name: Danae
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/19
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life]]> 944267 314 Henry Cloud Danae 0 to-read 4.20 1992 Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life
author: Henry Cloud
name: Danae
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World]]> 61685989 The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project discovers a surprising path to a life of more energy, creativity, and love: by tuning in to the five senses.

For more than a decade, Gretchen Rubin had been studying happiness and human nature. Then, one day, a visit to her eye doctor made her realize that she’d been overlooking a key element of happiness: her five senses. She’d spent so much time stuck in her head that she’d allowed the vital sensations of life to slip away, unnoticed. This epiphany lifted her from a state of foggy preoccupation into a world rediscovered by seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.

In this journey of self-experimentation, Rubin explores the mysteries and joys of the five senses as a path to a happier, more mindful life. Drawing on cutting-edge science, philosophy, literature, and her own efforts to practice what she learns, she investigates the profound power of tuning in to the physical world.

From the simple pleasures of appreciating the magic of ketchup and adding favorite songs to a playlist, to more adventurous efforts like creating a daily ritual of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art and attending Flavor University, Rubin show us how to experience each day with depth, delight, and connection. In the rush of daily life, she finds, our five senses offer us an immediate, sustainable way to cheer up, calm down, and engage the world around us—as well as a way to glimpse the soul and touch the transcendent.

Life in Five Senses is an absorbing, layered story of discovery filled with profound insights and practical suggestions about how to heighten our senses and use our powers of perception to live fuller, richer lives—and, ultimately, how to move through the world with more vitality and love.]]> 272 Gretchen Rubin 0593442741 Danae 2 3.70 2023 Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World
author: Gretchen Rubin
name: Danae
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2023
rating: 2
read at: 2024/03/05
date added: 2024/09/23
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]]> My Mrs. Brown 25814234
Sometimes a dress isn’t just a dress.

Emilia Brown is a woman of a certain age. She has spent a frugal, useful, and wholly restrained life in Ashville, a small town in Rhode Island. Overlooked especially by the industries of fashion and media, Mrs. Brown is one of today’s silent generations of women whose quiet no-frills existences would make them seem invisible. She is a genteel woman who has known her share of personal sorrows and quietly carried on, who makes a modest living cleaning and running errands at the local beauty parlor, who delights in evening chats with her much younger neighbor, twenty-three-year-old Alice Danvers.

When the grand dame of Ashville passes away, Mrs. Brown is called upon to inventory her estate and comes across a dress that changes everything. The dress isn’t a Cinderella confection; it’s a simple yet exquisitely tailored Oscar de la Renta sheath and jacket—a suit that Mrs. Brown realizes, with startling clarity, will say everything she has ever wished to convey. She must have it. And so, like the inspired heroine of Paul Gallico’s 1958 classic Mrs. â€Arris Goes to Paris , Mrs. Brown begins her odyssey to purchase the dress. For not only is the owning of the Oscar de la Renta a must, the intimidating trip to purchase it on Madison Avenue is essential as well. If the dress is to give Mrs. Brown a voice, then she must prepare by making the daunting journey—both to the emerald city and within herself.

Timeless, poignant, and appealing, My Mrs. Brown is a novel for every mother in the world, every woman who ever wanted the perfect dress, and every child who wanted to give it to her.]]> 288 William Norwich 144238607X Danae 0 to-read 3.80 2016 My Mrs. Brown
author: William Norwich
name: Danae
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/08
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]]> <![CDATA[Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants]]> 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 Danae 0 to-read 4.52 2013 Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
author: Robin Wall Kimmerer
name: Danae
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/16
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]]> <![CDATA[The Good and the Green (The Wilderise Tales, #1)]]> 205003392 Fans of Travis Baldree's Legends and Lattes will love this heartwarming tale of finding love and coping with loss in the beautiful (and magical) kingdom of Wilderise.

"Like a Hallmark movie set in Middle Earth." --Justin Reed

With the help of her late father, Alison Lennox has carved out a promising career path in a kingdom dominated by land-hoarding elves and industrial tycoon dwarves. But her salary barely covers the rising rent, let alone the luxury lifestyle she dreams of. So when she unexpectedly inherits a neglected property in a distant land, it seems like the solution she's been seeking.

All she needs to do to keep her life on track is get in, flip the cottage, and get out, hopefully with a pocket full of coin for the effort.

Upon her arrival, Alison quickly discovers she isn’t immune to the village’s charms. But maybe she could look past the quaint shops, the sweet little old ladies, and the adorable talking cat and stick to the plan if it weren’t for Keir Ainsley. At first, she finds the former doctor and town recluse good and irritating, and he’s definitely wrong about where his property ends and Alison’s begins. But then he has to go and save her life from a DIY disaster. And then he shows her that under his bristly exterior, there’s a tenderness that feels familiar and right.

Not good.

But the town does have a problem. A mysterious vine is spreading through the land, choking out everything in its path. “Cute cottage; minor overgrowth issue—probably not poisonous� isn’t going to work as a real estate listing, but that’s not all that’s wrong. The deeper her connection to Keir and the town grows, the further she strays from the life her father wanted for her.

And she’ll have to dig deep into the town’s thorny past to have any hope of stopping the vine.

The Good and the Green is the first novel in the planned four-novel series The Wilderise Tales. Visit amyyorke dot com to sign up for free giveaways and be the first to hear about new releases.

]]> 330 Amy Yorke Danae 0 to-read 3.69 2024 The Good and the Green (The Wilderise Tales, #1)
author: Amy Yorke
name: Danae
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/23
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]]> <![CDATA[The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher]]> 61175640 You're never too old for adventure.

When you’re a geriatric armed with nothing but gumption and knitting needles, stopping a sorcerer from wiping out an entire dragon-fighting organization is a tall order. No one understands why 83-year-old Edna Fisher is the Chosen One, destined to save the Knights from a dragon-riding sorcerer bent on their destruction. After all, Edna has never handled a magical weapon, faced down a dragon, or cast a spell. And everyone knows the Council of Wizards always chooses a teenager—like the vengeful girl ready to snatch Edna’s destiny from under her nose.

Still, Edna leaps at the chance to leave the nursing home. With her son long dead in the Knights� service, she’s determined to save dragon-fighters like him and to ensure other mothers don’t suffer the same loss she did. But as Edna learns about the abuse in the ranks and the sorcerer’s history as a Knight, she questions if it’s really the sorcerer that needs stopping—or the Knights she’s trying to save.]]> 370 E.M. Anderson 1956037225 Danae 0 to-read 3.64 2023 The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher
author: E.M. Anderson
name: Danae
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/23
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]]> <![CDATA[Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know]]> 55539565 Think Again is a book about the benefit of doubt, and about how we can get better at embracing the unknown and the joy of being wrong. Evidence has shown that creative geniuses are not attached to one identity, but constantly willing to rethink their stances and that leaders who admit they don't know something and seek critical feedback lead more productive and innovative teams.

New evidence shows us that as a mindset and a skilllset, rethinking can be taught and Grant explains how to develop the necessary qualities to do it. Section 1 explores why we struggle to think again and how we can learn to do it as individuals, arguing that 'grit' alone can actually be counterproductive. Section 2 discusses how we can help others think again through learning about 'argument literacy'. And the final section 3 looks at how schools, businesses and governments fall short in building cultures that encourage rethinking.

In the end, learning to rethink may be the secret skill to give you the edge in a world changing faster than ever.]]> 307 Adam M. Grant 1984878107 Danae 0 to-read 4.12 2021 Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know
author: Adam M. Grant
name: Danae
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/01
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]]> <![CDATA[Dirty Laundry: Why Adults with ADHD Are So Ashamed and What We Can Do to Help]]> 85807303 146 Richard Pink 1739276310 Danae 0 to-read 4.11 2023 Dirty Laundry: Why Adults with ADHD Are So Ashamed and What We Can Do to Help
author: Richard Pink
name: Danae
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/09
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]]> <![CDATA[Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity]]> 13547504 Far from the Tree is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. He writes about families coping with deafness, dwarfism, Down's syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, or multiple severe disabilities; with children who are prodigies, who are conceived in rape, who become criminals, who are transgender. While each of these characteristics is potentially isolating, the experience of difference within families is universal, and Solomon documents triumphs of love over prejudice in every chapter.

All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent they should help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges.

Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other—a theme in every family’s life.]]> 962 Andrew Solomon Danae 0 to-read 4.25 2012 Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
author: Andrew Solomon
name: Danae
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/06
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]]> <![CDATA[The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War]]> 195608683 The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War—a slow-burning crisis that finally tore a deeply divided nation in two.

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston: Fort Sumter.
Ěý
Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter—a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these five months were “so great that, could I have anticipated them, I would not have believed it possible to survive them.�
Ěý
At the heart of this suspense-filled narrative are Major Robert Anderson, Sumter’s commander and a former slave owner sympathetic to the South but loyal to the Union; Edmund Ruffin, a vain and bloodthirsty radical who stirs secessionist ardor at every opportunity; and Mary Boykin Chesnut, wife of a prominent planter, conflicted over both marriage and slavery and seeing parallels between both. In the middle of it all is the overwhelmed Lincoln, battling with his duplicitous Secretary of State, William Seward, as he tries desperately to avert a war that he fears is inevitable—one that will eventually kill 750,000 Americans.
Ěý
Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, Larson gives us a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink—a dark reminder that we often don’t see a cataclysm coming until it’s too late.]]> 565 Erik Larson 0385348746 Danae 0 to-read 4.13 2024 The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
author: Erik Larson
name: Danae
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/18
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]]> Redeeming Love 11422
Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.

Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything, Michael Hosea obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance her frozen heart begins to thaw.

But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she can no longer deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does…the One who will never let her go.

A life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.
--back cover]]> 479 Francine Rivers Danae 0 to-read 4.51 1991 Redeeming Love
author: Francine Rivers
name: Danae
average rating: 4.51
book published: 1991
rating: 0
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]]> Willowkeep 30163982
Henry has worked hard his entire life, but all the money he’s saved won’t be enough to get his father out of debtor’s prison. Henry’s fondness for Charlotte and her sister is only another reminder of his low status and lack of money. Though he is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Charlotte happy and looked after, as the county’s wealthiest lady, she can never be his.

Courted by a charming man of the ton, threatened by those desperate to get their hands on her money, and determined to keep her sister safe from the same fate that cost her the rest of her family, Charlotte turns to the ghost of the beheaded queen, Anne Boleyn, for help. But no matter the size of the fortune, life—and love—are never smooth sailing.]]> 280 Julie Daines 1524400408 Danae 0 to-read 3.91 2016 Willowkeep
author: Julie Daines
name: Danae
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/08
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]]> <![CDATA[The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness]]> 6792458
As the United States celebrates the nation's "triumph over race" with the election of Barack Obama, the majority of young black men in major American cities are locked behind bars or have been labeled felons for life. Although Jim Crow laws have been wiped off the books, an astounding percentage of the African American community remains trapped in a subordinate status--much like their grandparents before them.

In this incisive critique, former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander provocatively argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community--and all of us--to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.]]> 290 Michelle Alexander Danae 0 to-read 4.52 2010 The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
author: Michelle Alexander
name: Danae
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/21
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]]> Still the Sun 202257483 An ancient machine holds the secrets of a distant world’s past for two intimate strangers in the latest romantic fantasy adventure by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Charlie N. Holmberg.

Pell is an engineer and digger by trade—unearthing and repairing the fascinating artifacts left behind by the mysterious Ancients who once inhabited the sunbaked planet of Tampere. She’ll do anything to help the people of her village survive and to better understand the secrets of what came before.

Heartwood and Moseus are keepers of a forbidding tower near the village of Emgarden. Inside are the remnants of complex machines the likes of which Pell has never seen. Considering her affinity for Ancient tech, the keepers know Pell is their only hope of putting the pieces of these metal puzzles together and getting them running. The tower’s other riddle is Heartwood himself. He is an enigma, distant yet protective, to whom Pell is inexplicably drawn.

Pell’s restoration of this broken behemoth soon brings disturbing visions—and the discovery that her relationship to it could finally reveal the origins of the towers� strange keepers and the unfathomable reason the truth has been hidden from her.]]> 303 Charlie N. Holmberg 1662516800 Danae 0 to-read 3.74 2024 Still the Sun
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Danae
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/03/13
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]]> Dark Matter 27833670 A mindbending, relentlessly surprising thriller from the author of the bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy.

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

"Are you happy with your life?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human--a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we'll go to claim the lives we dream of.]]> 342 Blake Crouch 1101904224 Danae 3 4.13 2016 Dark Matter
author: Blake Crouch
name: Danae
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/02/26
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]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)]]> 50659467
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

From bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.]]> 419 Sarah J. Maas 1635575567 Danae 0 4.16 2015 A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Danae
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2024/02/26
date added: 2024/02/26
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]]> The River We Remember 101160844 In 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by the murder of its most powerful citizen, pouring fresh fuel on old grievances in this dazzling standalone novel.

On Memorial Day, as the people of Jewel, Minnesota gather to remember and honor the sacrifice of so many sons in the wars of the past, the half-clothed body of wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn is found floating in the Alabaster River, dead from a shotgun blast. Investigation of the murder falls to Sheriff Brody Dern, a highly decorated war hero who still carries the physical and emotional scars from his military service. Even before Dern has the results of the autopsy, vicious rumors begin to circulate that the killer must be Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran who has recently returned to Jewel with a Japanese wife. As suspicions and accusations mount and the town teeters on the edge of more violence, Dern struggles not only to find the truth of Quinn’s murder but also put to rest the demons from his own past.

Caught up in the torrent of anger that sweeps through Jewel are a war widow and her adolescent son, the intrepid publisher of the local newspaper, an aging deputy, and a crusading female lawyer, all of whom struggle with their own tragic histories and harbor secrets that Quinn’s death threatens to expose.

Both a complex, spellbinding mystery and a masterful portrait of midcentury American life, The River We Remember is an unflinching look at the wounds left by the wars we fight abroad and at home, a moving exploration of the ways in which we seek to heal, and a testament to the enduring power of the stories we tell about the places we call home.]]> 432 William Kent Krueger 198217921X Danae 0 to-read 4.19 2023 The River We Remember
author: William Kent Krueger
name: Danae
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/02/23
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]]> Lessons in Chemistry 58065033 390 Bonnie Garmus Danae 4 4.23 2022 Lessons in Chemistry
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: Danae
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/05
date added: 2024/01/05
shelves:
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Going into reading a book with no real expectations often serves me well, so I actually didn’t know what the book was about when I started it, just that it was popping up on a lot of lists. I have to say it was a pleasant surprise. I think I was expecting more of a silly romance, but it was surprisingly thoughtful and unpredictable. Very sweet, and I’m glad I did read it.
]]> The Dutch House 44318414
The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives, they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.]]> 337 Ann Patchett 0062963678 Danae 4 4.08 2019 The Dutch House
author: Ann Patchett
name: Danae
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/27
date added: 2023/12/27
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It reminded me of Rebecca, and House of Sand and Fog, the way the house itself is almost a character in the story; and also the Poisonwood Bible, the way an early event shapes the characters� lives and the story is about how they come to terms with it. I liked the way the story discussed the concept of not being able to see the past as it was, because we are too aware of the events that came after, because I feel like the book did a good job of exploring the way we all try to understand the past even though we know we can’t change it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder]]> 61714633 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on the Wager, showing that it was not only the captain and crew who ended up on trial, but the very idea of empire.

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty's Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as "the prize of all the oceans," it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing nearly 3,000 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes.

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

The Wager is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann's recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O'Brian, his portrayal of the castaways' desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as The Endurance, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann's work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.]]> 331 David Grann 0385534264 Danae 0 to-read 4.14 2023 The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
author: David Grann
name: Danae
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> Poverty, by America 61358638 Reimagining the debate on poverty, making a new and bracing argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it.

The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?

In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.

Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.]]> 304 Matthew Desmond 0593239911 Danae 0 to-read 4.27 2023 Poverty, by America
author: Matthew Desmond
name: Danae
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[BrainStorm: From Broken to Blessed on the Bipolar Spectrum]]> 60433066 is the founder of a consulting business and has worked with hundreds of renowned companies worldwide. She's a proud mother, grandmother, community leader and has been married for twenty-six years.

She also has a bipolar II brain. Fearing the stigma, she kept this secret for decades. Until now.

In her acclaimed memoir From Broken to Blessed on the Bipolar Spectrum, Sara tells her life-changing story to help end the bipolar stigma, optimize brain health, and save lives.

At twenty-one, as a senior in college, Sara was a scholar-athlete who seemed to have it all. Then, like the flip of a switch, she had her first brain A tailspin into a living hell. It was terrifying.

It took her twenty-five years and five psychiatrists to get the diagnosis that saved her Sara is on the bipolar spectrum with a bipolar II brain. If you've never heard of the bipolar spectrum, you're not Most healthcare professionals still don't know it exists. Misdiagnosis results and the wrong medications make broken brains worse. However, bipolar exists on a broad spectrum. Understanding this changes With the correct diagnosis, medication, support, and self-care, people who have experienced severe, persistent depression-which is actually a form of bipolar-can live rich, full lives.

Sara's life is proof.

The self-care disciplines Sara has honed over forty years of living with her bipolar II brain can help anyone who experiences anxiety, stress, or depression heal. Read this book to transform your life or that of someone you love.]]> 270 Sara Schley Danae 0 to-read 4.27 BrainStorm: From Broken to Blessed on the Bipolar Spectrum
author: Sara Schley
name: Danae
average rating: 4.27
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/11/06
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]]> <![CDATA[Boy of Chaotic Making (Whimbrel House, #3)]]> 124985527 317 Charlie N. Holmberg 1662508735 Danae 0 to-read 4.09 2024 Boy of Chaotic Making (Whimbrel House, #3)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Danae
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heir of Uncertain Magic (Whimbrel House, #2)]]> 61252380
Thanks to house tamer Hulda Larkin, the mischief infesting Whimbrel House has calmed. But if Hulda’s job is done, what does that mean for Merritt Fernsby, inheritor of the remote Narragansett Bay estate, who’s only now coming to terms with his enchanted place in the world?]]> 300 Charlie N. Holmberg 1662508689 Danae 4 4.17 2023 Heir of Uncertain Magic (Whimbrel House, #2)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Danae
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/04
date added: 2023/08/06
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]]> Ashes on the Moor 35909696
Though she has no training as a teacher, she must prove herself successful before her grandfather will release her substantial inheritance to her and allow her to be reunited with her younger sister, the last remaining member of her family after a fever claimed the lives of her parents and brothers.

Evangeline's sudden change in circumstances is complicated when her aunt—a woman who values class distinctions more than her family relationships—forbids her from acknowledging any connection to her or to her grandfather, Mr. Farr—the man who owns nearly the entire town. For the first time in her life, Evangeline is truly alone.

Heartbroken, she turns to the one person in town who has shown her kindness—an Irish brick mason, Dermot, and his son, Ronan. Despite the difference in their classes and backgrounds, Evangeline and Dermot become friends, due in part to her ability to connect with Ronan, whose behavior requires special attention. The boy is uncomfortable around strangers and rarely even speaks to the other children in town. He often fixates on details other people ignore, and he adheres to specific, self-made rules that give his life order and structure; for example, Dermot's coat must be hung on a specific peg next to the door.

Evangeline attempts to prove herself a worthy teacher and earn the respect of her hard-to-understand students. Determined to find a way to introduce them to "proper English" while still honoring their unique language and culture, she enlists the help of a local family to write down familiar stories in the Yorkshire vernacular. Because of her efforts, the students and their families warm to Evangeline and she continues to look for ways to give the children a chance to become more than factory workers in the local cotton mill.

When the town learns of her upper-class status, Evangeline must work twice as hard to win back their trust--especially Dermot's. In the end, Evangeline and Dermot discover that, even though they come from different social spheres, together they can overcome social prejudices, make a positive difference in the lives of even the humblest people, and enjoy the strength that comes when two hearts find each other.

Ashes on the MoorĚýis the inspiring love story of one Victorian woman's courage to fight against all odds, and the man whose quiet strength gives her the confidence to keep trying.]]> 384 Sarah M. Eden 1629724025 Danae 4 3.99 2018 Ashes on the Moor
author: Sarah M. Eden
name: Danae
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/06
date added: 2023/08/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House, #1)]]> 59785735
Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She understands the dangers of bespelled homes given to tantrums. She advises that it’s in Merritt’s best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she’ll need to move in, too.

Prepared as she is with augury, a set of magic tools, and a new staff trained in the uncanny, Hulda’s work still proves unexpectedly difficult. She and Merritt grow closer as the investigation progresses, but the house’s secrets run deeper than they anticipated. And the sentient walls aren’t their only concern—something outside is coming for the enchantments of Whimbrel House, and it could be more dangerous than what rattles within.]]> 330 Charlie N. Holmberg 1662500343 Danae 4 3.93 2022 Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (Whimbrel House, #1)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Danae
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/12
date added: 2023/07/12
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life]]> 25073935 The latest edition of the communication guide that has sold more than 1,000,000 copies
Ěý
An enlightening look at how peaceful communication can create compassionate connections with family, friends, and other acquaintances, this international bestseller uses stories, examples, and sample dialogues to provide solutions to communication problems both at home and in the workplace. Guidance is provided on identifying and articulating feelings and needs, expressing anger fully, and exploring the power of empathy in order to speak honestly without creating hostility, break patterns of thinking that lead to anger and depression, and communicate compassionately. Included in the new edition is a chapter on conflict resolution and mediation.]]> 244 Marshall B. Rosenberg 189200528X Danae 0 to-read 4.35 1999 Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life
author: Marshall B. Rosenberg
name: Danae
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Secret Book of Flora Lea 61964751
In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone—a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own.

But the unthinkable happens when young Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves.

Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby’s. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat, Hazel’s future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars . Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?

As Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past, her career and future hang in the balance. An astonishing twist ultimately reveals the truth in this transporting and refreshingly original novel about the bond between sisters, the complications of conflicted love, and the enduring magic of storytelling.]]> 355 Patti Callahan Henry 1668011832 Danae 5 4.03 2023 The Secret Book of Flora Lea
author: Patti Callahan Henry
name: Danae
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/05
date added: 2023/07/06
shelves:
review:
Reminds me a bit of the Poisonwood Bible. An effective and not unpleasant use of the dual timeline narrative. Likable characters, and I honestly enjoyed that there was no one clear Bad Guy that you instantly knew you were meant to not like. Magical, mysterious, well told.
]]> The Intuitionist 16271 Librarian note: Click here for alternate cover edition
Two warring factions in the Department of Elevator Inspectors in a bustling metropolis vie for dominance: the Empiricists, who go by the book and rigorously check every structural and mechanical detail, and the Intuitionists, whose observational methods involve meditation and instinct.

Lila Mae Watson, the city’s first black female inspector and a devout Intuitionist with the highest accuracy rate in the department, is at the center of the turmoil. An elevator in a new municipal building has crashed on Lila Mae’s watch, fanning the flames of the Empiticist-Intuitionist feud and compelling Lila Mae to go underground to investigate. As she endeavors to clear her name, she becomes entangled in a web of intrigue that leads her to a secret that will change her life forever.

A dead-serious and seriously funny feat of the imagination, The Intuitionist conjures a parallel universe in which latent ironies in matters of morality, politics, and race come to light, and stands as the celebrated debut of an important American writer.]]> 255 Colson Whitehead Danae 0 to-read 3.64 1999 The Intuitionist
author: Colson Whitehead
name: Danae
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe]]> 60784591
It is a moment shrouded in horror and mystery. Edgar Allan Poe died on October 7, 1849, at just forty, in a painful, utterly bizarre manner that would not have been out of place in one of his own tales of terror. What was the cause of his untimely death, and what happened to him during the three missing days before he was found, delirious and “in great distress� on the streets of Baltimore, wearing ill-fitting clothes that were not his own?

Mystery and horror. Poe, who remains one of the most iconic of American writers, died under haunting circumstances that reflect the two literary genres he took to new heights. Over the years, there has been a staggering amount of speculation about the cause of death, from rabies and syphilis to suicide, alcoholism, and even murder. But many of these theories are formed on the basis of the caricature we have come to associate with the gloomy-eyed grandfather of Goth, hunched over a writing desk with a raven perched on one shoulder, drunkenly scribbling his chilling masterpieces. By debunking the myths of how he lived, we come closer to understanding the real Poe―and uncovering the truth behind his mysterious death, as a new theory emerges that could prove the cause of Poe’s death was haunting him all his life.

In a compelling dual-timeline narrative alternating between Poe’s increasingly desperate last months and his brief but impactful life, Mark Dawidziak sheds new light on the enigmatic master of macabre.]]> 288 Mark Dawidziak 1250792495 Danae 3 3.60 2023 A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe
author: Mark Dawidziak
name: Danae
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/13
date added: 2023/04/13
shelves:
review:
Two stars seems more fitting, but the author was at least clearly passionate about the subject. What this book has going for it: a cool title, and a cool cover. What’s the problem? Everything else. The back-and-forth timeline is one of my least favorite devices, and is employed particularly poorly here. The quantity of quotes from other Poe biographers and “experts� absolutely begs the question of what unique information or value this book has to offer, and sadly the answer seems to be nothing. Not particularly well told, with the old and worn speculations being trotted out again, it was unfortunately not a joy to read. I may just go find something actually by Poe to read, but I would not recommend this biography to anyone.
]]> <![CDATA[This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something--Anything--Like Your Life Depends On It]]> 58936417 Why We Can't Sleep meets Furiously Happy in this hilarious, heartfelt memoir about one woman's midlife obsession with Benedict Cumberbatch, and the liberating power of reclaiming our passions as we age, whatever they may be.

Tabitha Carvan was a new mother, at home with two young children, when she fell for the actor Benedict Cumberbatch. You know the guy: strange name, alien face, made Sherlock so sexy that it became one of the most streamed shows in the world? The force of her fixation took everyone--especially Carvan herself--by surprise. But what she slowly realized was that her preoccupation was not about Benedict Cumberbatch at all, as dashing as he might be. It was about finally feeling passionate about something, anything, again at a point in her life when she had lost touch with her own identity and sense of self.

In This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch, Carvan explores what happens to women's desires after we leave adolescence...and why the space in our lives for pure, unadulterated joy is squeezed ever smaller as we age. She shines a light onto the hidden corners of fandom, from the passion of the online communities to the profound real-world connections forged between Cumberbatch devotees. But more importantly, she asks: what happens if we simply decide to follow our interests like we used to--unabashedly, audaciously, shamelessly? After all, Carvan realizes, there's true, untapped power in finding your "thing" (even if that thing happens to be a British-born Marvel superhero) and loving it like your life depends on it.
]]> 256 Tabitha Carvan 0593421914 Danae 3 3.80 2022 This Is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something--Anything--Like Your Life Depends On It
author: Tabitha Carvan
name: Danae
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/04
date added: 2023/04/05
shelves:
review:
A lot of fan girling about Benedict Cumberbatch, which was mostly fine because I, like most human women,like him, but there were points at which it got a bit much. The more applicable part was where she discussed the ways as adults, and especially women, we are expected to give up the things we really *loved* as children or teens. And how a lot of that expression of joy and loving is what makes us who we are as individuals. I have some quibbles with some of her specific arguments, particularly about why it’s ok for her to be a little obsessive about her chosen celebrity, but the broader points are very applicable, and gave me some things to think about. It was short, and interesting, so maybe I should bump it up to 4 stars, but I’m not sure it was all that memorable.
]]> <![CDATA[Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues]]> 61327450 An account of how the major transformations in history—from the rise of Homo sapiens to the birth of capitalism—have been shaped not by humans but by germs

According to the accepted narrative of progress, humans have thrived thanks to their brains and brawn, collectively bending the arc of history. But in this revelatory book, Professor Jonathan Kennedy argues that the myth of human exceptionalism overstates the role that we play in social and political change. Instead, it is the humble microbe that wins wars and topples empires.

Drawing on the latest research in fields ranging from genetics and anthropology to archaeology and economics, Pathogenesis takes us through sixty thousand years of history, exploring eight major outbreaks of infectious disease that have made the modern world. Bacteria and viruses were protagonists in the demise of the Neanderthals, the growth of Islam, the transition from feudalism to capitalism, the devastation wrought by European colonialism, and the evolution of the United States from an imperial backwater to a global superpower. Even Christianity rose to prominence in the wake of a series of deadly pandemics that swept through the Roman Empire in the second and third centuries: Caring for the sick turned what was a tiny sect into one of the world’s major religions.

By placing disease at the center of his wide-ranging history of humankind, Kennedy challenges some of the most fundamental assumptions about our collective past—and urges us to view this moment as another disease-driven inflection point that will change the course of history. Provocative and brimming with insight, Pathogenesis transforms our understanding of the human story.]]> 304 Jonathan Kennedy 0593240472 Danae 0 to-read 3.92 2023 Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues
author: Jonathan Kennedy
name: Danae
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Merchant and the Rogue (The Dread Penny Society, #3)]]> 54655851 London, 1865

Vera Sorokina loves reading the Penny Dreadfuls and immersing herself in tales of adventure, mystery, and romance. Her own days are filled with the often mundane work of running the book and print shop she owns with her father. The shop offers her freedom and an income, and while she is grateful for the stability it brings to her life, she often feels lonely.

Brogan Donnelly was born and raised in Ireland, but has lived in London for several years, where he’s built a career as a penny dreadful writer. He has dedicated himself to the plight of the poor with the help of his sister. But with no one to share his life with, he fears London will never truly feel like home.

Brogan and Vera’s paths cross, and the attraction is both immediate and ill-advised. Vera knows from past experience that writers are never to be trusted, and Brogan has reason to suspect not everything at Vera’s print shop is aboveboard. When a growing criminal enterprise begins targeting their area of London, Brogan and Vera must work together to protect the community they’ve both grown to love. But that means they’ll need to learn to trust each other with dangerous secrets that have followed both of them from their home countries.]]> 368 Sarah M. Eden 1629728519 Danae 4 3.97 2021 The Merchant and the Rogue (The Dread Penny Society, #3)
author: Sarah M. Eden
name: Danae
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/14
date added: 2023/03/14
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sheriffs of Savage Wells (Savage Wells, #1)]]> 29457615
So is she... May the best sheriff win.

Paisley Bell knows the eccentric people of Savage Wells. From the absentminded shopkeeper who always thinks she's been robbed to the young man who has returned shell-shocked from the war, Paisley has compassion for them all. When the sheriff up and leaves town, Paisley steps up and assumes the responsibility, partly because she loves the work, but also because she needs the income to take care of her sick father. So when the town council decides that the position of sheriff should really go to a man, Paisley finds herself fighting to prove that she's the perfect candidate for the job, even though she wears a skirt.

Cade O'Brien is heartily sick of shooting people. In his many years as a lawman, Cade has seen his share of blood and violence. So when he answers an advertisement for a sheriff job in the sleepy town of Savage Wells, he believes he's found the peace and quiet he's always desired. But when he discovers that his biggest competition for the job is a woman, he begins to question his decisions.

Tension between the two begins to sizzle when both Cade and Paisley realize the attraction they have for each other, but when Paisley's former beau shows up in town, along with a band of bank robbers, the blossoming relationship between the two sheriffs is tested. They will have to work together to thwart the bank robbers and keep the town safe.]]> 336 Sarah M. Eden 1629722197 Danae 3 3.87 2016 The Sheriffs of Savage Wells (Savage Wells, #1)
author: Sarah M. Eden
name: Danae
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/10
date added: 2023/03/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Unwinding Anxiety 55628986 A step-by-step plan clinically proven to break the cycle of worry and fear that drives anxiety and addictive habits

We are living through one of the most anxious periods any of us can remember. Whether facing issues as public as a pandemic or as personal as having kids at home and fighting the urge to reach for the wine bottle every night, we are feeling overwhelmed and out of control. But in this timely book, Judson Brewer explains how to uproot anxiety at its source using brain-based techniques and small hacks accessible to anyone.

We think of anxiety as everything from mild unease to full-blown panic. But it's also what drives the addictive behaviors and bad habits we use to cope (e.g. stress eating, procrastination, doom scrolling and social media). Plus, anxiety lives in a part of the brain that resists rational thought. So we get stuck in anxiety habit loops that we can't think our way out of or use willpower to overcome. Dr. Brewer teaches us map our brains to discover our triggers, defuse them with the simple but powerful practice of curiosity, and to train our brains using mindfulness and other practices that his lab has proven can work.

Distilling more than 20 years of research and hands-on work with thousands of patients, including Olympic athletes and coaches, and leaders in government and business, Dr. Brewer has created a clear, solution-oriented program that anyone can use to feel better - no matter how anxious they feel.]]> 287 Judson Brewer 0593330447 Danae 3 3.88 2020 Unwinding Anxiety
author: Judson Brewer
name: Danae
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/01/14
date added: 2023/03/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It]]> 26156469 A former FBI hostage negotiator offers a new, field-tested approach to negotiating � effective in any situation.

After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a kidnapping negotiator brought him face-to-face with bank robbers, gang leaders and terrorists. Never Split the Difference takes you inside his world of high-stakes negotiations, revealing the nine key principles that helped Voss and his colleagues succeed when it mattered the most � when people’s lives were at stake.

Rooted in the real-life experiences of an intelligence professional at the top of his game, Never Split the Difference will give you the competitive edge in any discussion.]]> 274 Chris Voss 0062407805 Danae 4 4.35 2016 Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
author: Chris Voss
name: Danae
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2023/02/11
date added: 2023/02/11
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Gran Tour: Travels with my Elders]]> 48943971 306 Ben Aitken 1785786482 Danae 0 to-read 3.72 2020 The Gran Tour: Travels with my Elders
author: Ben Aitken
name: Danae
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/02/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[House of Salt and Sorrows (Sisters of the Salt, #1)]]> 39679076 In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls' lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn't sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh's involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it's a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.]]> 403 Erin A. Craig 1984831925 Danae 0 to-read 3.89 2019 House of Salt and Sorrows (Sisters of the Salt, #1)
author: Erin A. Craig
name: Danae
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times]]> 56268863
Looking at the headlines--a global pandemic, the worsening climate crisis, political upheaval--it can be hard to feel optimistic. And yet hope has never been more desperately needed.

In this urgent book, Jane Goodall, the world's most famous living naturalist and Doug Abrams, internationally-bestselling author, explore--through intimate and thought-provoking dialogue--one of the most sought after and least understood elements of human nature: hope. In The Book of Hope, Jane focuses on her “Four Reasons for Hope�: The Amazing Human Intellect, The Resilience of Nature, The Power of Young People, and The Indomitable Human Spirit.

Told through stories from a remarkable career and fascinating research, The Book of Hope touches on vital questions including: How do we stay hopeful when everything seems hopeless? How do we cultivate hope in our children? Filled with engaging dialogue and pictures from Jane’s storied career, The Book of Hope is a deeply personal conversation with one of the most beloved figures in today’s world.

And for the first time, Jane tells the story of how she became a messenger of hope: from living through World War II, to her years in Gombe, to realizing she had to leave the forest to travel the world in her role as an advocate for environmental justice. She details the forces that shaped her hopeful worldview, her thoughts on her past, and her revelations about her next--and perhaps final--adventure.

There is still hope, and this book will help guide us to it.]]> 272 Jane Goodall 1250784093 Danae 4 4.19 2021 The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times
author: Jane Goodall
name: Danae
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/09/01
date added: 2022/12/17
shelves:
review:
I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Book of Joy, but it did give me some things to think about. It is easy to be pessimistic about the future of our planet, but if Jane Goodall, of all people, can find things to be optimistic about, maybe it’s not all bad.
]]> Daughters of Sparta 57423631 For millennia, men have told the legend of the woman whose face launched a thousand ships--but now it's time to hear her side of the story. Daughters of Sparta is a tale of secrets, love, and tragedy from the women behind mythology's most devastating war, the infamous Helen and her sister Klytemnestra.

As princesses of Sparta, Helen and Klytemnestra have known nothing but luxury and plenty. With their high birth and unrivaled beauty, they are the envy of all of Greece. But such privilege comes at a cost. While still only girls, the sisters are separated and married to foreign kings of their father's choosing--the powerful Agamemnon, and his brother Menelaos. Yet even as Queens, each is only expected to do two things: birth an heir and embody the meek, demure nature that is expected of women.

But when the weight of their husbands' neglect, cruelty, and ambition becomes too heavy to bear, Helen and Klytemnestra must push against the constraints of their society to carve new lives for themselves, and in doing so, make waves that will ripple throughout the next three thousand years.

Daughters of Sparta is a vivid and illuminating reimagining of the Siege of Troy, told through the perspectives of two women whose voices have been ignored for far too long.

Required reading for fans of Circe, and a remarkable, thrilling debut.
--Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue

"[A] gorgeous retelling of the classic Greek myth... Absolutely riveting!"
--Alka Joshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Henna Artist]]> 370 Claire Heywood 0593184378 Danae 4 3.86 2021 Daughters of Sparta
author: Claire Heywood
name: Danae
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/10
date added: 2022/12/17
shelves:
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]]> Where the Crawdads Sing 36809135
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.

In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.

The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.]]> 384 Delia Owens 0735219117 Danae 4 4.35 2018 Where the Crawdads Sing
author: Delia Owens
name: Danae
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/15
date added: 2022/12/15
shelves:
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]]> Poisoned 50271319
It shouldn't have come as a surprise. Sophie had heard the rumors, the whispers. They said she was too kind and foolish to rule -- a waste of a princess. A disaster of a future queen. And Sophie believed them. She believed everything she'd heard about herself, the poisonous words people use to keep girls like Sophie from becoming too powerful, too strong . . . With the help of seven mysterious strangers, Sophie manages to survive. But when she realizes that the jealous queen might not be to blame, Sophie must find the courage to face an even more terrifying enemy, proving that even the darkest magic can't extinguish the fire burning inside every girl, and that kindness is the ultimate form of strength.]]> 320 Jennifer Donnelly 133826849X Danae 0 to-read 3.83 2020 Poisoned
author: Jennifer Donnelly
name: Danae
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cursed (Gilded, #2) 59251223
Romance, danger, and Serilda's journey to find her power as a woman, a mother, and a storyteller make this reimagining of Rumpelstiltskin one that Meyer fans—old and new—will treasure.]]> 485 Marissa Meyer Danae 0 to-read 3.98 2022 Cursed (Gilded, #2)
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Danae
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Self-Compassion For Dummies 58947359 Become your own best friend and reap the life-changing benefits!

Being kind to yourself might sound simple, but self-compassion can change your life dramatically (and most of us are WAY kinder to others than to ourselves) Self-Compassion For Dummies will help you discover self-critical thoughts and self-defeating behaviors that are holding you back from fulfilling your potential and explore how you can learn to work around these things to find your way to more joy and satisfaction. We often think being hard on ourselves will help motivate us to be better people, but Dr. Steven Hickman's review of the research finds that just the opposite is true. When you learn to love and appreciate yourself completely (as an imperfect human with messy feelings and uncomfortable thoughts), you free yourself up to achieve great things. This book will show you how!

Befriending yourself and coping mindfully with the challenges of everyday life is easy with this practical guide. You'll learn how to give yourself a taste of your own medicine by turning understanding, acceptance, and love--stuff you already do for others all the time--inward.

Discover the research behind self-compassion and learn how it can help you face your insecurities and life a fuller life as a result Cultivate feelings of self-worth, acceptance, and love for someone who really deserves it--you! Explore the potential of self-compassion to address self-criticism, perfectionism, shame, self-doubt, anxiety, and anger Work through evidence-based exercises and practices to easily master the art of self-compassion as a daily way of being and not just an esoteric exercise Now more than ever, we need to offer support and love to ourselves. Thankfully, this is a skill we can all develop with a little help from Self-Compassion For Dummies. ]]> 359 Steven Hickman 1119796709 Danae 0 to-read 3.91 Self-Compassion For Dummies
author: Steven Hickman
name: Danae
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/09/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Nature of Fragile Things 54067528 April 18, 1906: A massive earthquake rocks San Francisco just before daybreak, igniting a devouring inferno. Lives are lost, lives are shattered, but some rise from the ashes forever changed.

Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin's silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin's odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn't right.

Then one early-spring evening, a stranger at the door sets in motion a transforming chain of events. Sophie discovers hidden ties to two other women. The first, pretty and pregnant, is standing on her doorstep. The second is hundreds of miles away in the American Southwest, grieving the loss of everything she once loved.

The fates of these three women intertwine on the eve of the devastating earthquake, thrusting them onto a perilous journey that will test their resiliency and resolve and, ultimately, their belief that love can overcome fear.

From the acclaimed author of The Last Year of the War and As Bright as Heaven comes a gripping novel about the bonds of friendship and mother love, and the power of female solidarity.]]> 377 Susan Meissner 045149220X Danae 0 to-read 4.40 2021 The Nature of Fragile Things
author: Susan Meissner
name: Danae
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/09/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Man Called Ove 18774964
Meet Ove. He's a curmudgeon, the kind of man who points at people he dislikes as if they were burglars caught outside his bedroom window. He has staunch principles, strict routines, and a short fuse. People call him the bitter neighbor from hell, but must Ove be bitter just because he doesn't walk around with a smile plastered to his face all the time?

Behind the cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. So when one November morning a chatty young couple with two chatty young daughters move in next door and accidentally flatten Ove's mailbox, it is the lead-in to a comical and heartwarming tale of unkempt cats, unexpected friendship, and the ancient art of backing up a U-Haul. All of which will change one cranky old man and a local residents' association to their very foundations.]]> 337 Fredrik Backman 1476738017 Danae 5 4.35 2012 A Man Called Ove
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Danae
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2022/08/22
date added: 2022/08/22
shelves:
review:
A book that defies you to be indifferent to it. I honestly *hate* forced sentimentality, but this doesn’t feel like that, for all that it is roughly predictable. I don’t give out many 5 stars, but I couldn’t rate this anything less.
]]> The Martian 18007564
Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error� are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills � and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit � he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

]]> 384 Andy Weir 0804139024 Danae 4 4.41 2011 The Martian
author: Andy Weir
name: Danae
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/01
date added: 2022/08/14
shelves:
review:
Interesting, well thought through, very logical for something that seems impossible. Worth reading.
]]> <![CDATA[The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce, #10)]]> 38763327
Flavia is not your normal twelve-year-old girl. An expert in the chemical nature of poisons, she has solved many mysteries, sharpening her considerable detection skills to the point where she had little choice but to turn professional. So Flavia and dependable Dogger, estate gardener and sounding board extraordinaire, set up shop at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, eager to serve—not so simple an endeavor with her odious little moon-faced cousin, Undine, constantly underfoot. But Flavia and Dogger persevere. Little does she know that their first case will be extremely close to home, beginning with an unwelcome discovery in Ophelia’s wedding cake: a human finger.]]> 352 Alan Bradley 0345540042 Danae 3 3.91 2019 The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce, #10)
author: Alan Bradley
name: Danae
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2022/08/14
date added: 2022/08/14
shelves:
review:
Weird tie up for the series, but fine in its own right.
]]> <![CDATA[The Grave's a Fine and Private Place (Flavia de Luce, #9)]]> 33596091
Brought to shore, the dead man is found to be dressed in blue silk with ribbons at the knee, and wearing a single red ballet slipper.

Flavia needs to put her super-sleuthing skills to the test to investigate the murder of three gossips in the local church, and to keep her sisters out of danger. But what could possibly connect the son of an executed killer, a far too canny police constable, a travelling circus, and the publican's mysteriously talented wife?]]> 365 Alan Bradley 1409172880 Danae 4 3.95 2018 The Grave's a Fine and Private Place (Flavia de Luce, #9)
author: Alan Bradley
name: Danae
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/14
date added: 2022/08/14
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd (Flavia de Luce, #8)]]> 26194013 307 Alan Bradley 1409149501 Danae 4 3.97 2016 Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd (Flavia de Luce, #8)
author: Alan Bradley
name: Danae
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/19
date added: 2022/07/19
shelves:
review:
Good job keeping it from being the same as all the rest. Interested in seeing where this will go
]]> Demon Copperhead 60194162 "Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose."

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.]]> 560 Barbara Kingsolver 0063251922 Danae 0 to-read 4.46 2022 Demon Copperhead
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Danae
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Circe 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 Danae 4 4.22 2018 Circe
author: Madeline Miller
name: Danae
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/20
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves:
review:
Unexpected characters, good use of Greek mythology. Well written.
]]> <![CDATA[Speaking from Among the Bones (Flavia de Luce, #5)]]> 13642963 From award-winning author Alan Bradley comes the next cozy British mystery starring intrepid young sleuth Flavia de Luce, hailed by USA Today as “one of the most remarkable creations in recent literature.�

Eleven-year-old amateur detective and ardent chemist Flavia de Luce is used to digging up clues, whether they’re found among the potions in her laboratory or between the pages of her insufferable sisters� diaries. What she is not accustomed to is digging up bodies. Upon the five-hundredth anniversary of St. Tancred’s death, the English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey is busily preparing to open its patron saint’s tomb. Nobody is more excited to peek inside the crypt than Flavia, yet what she finds will halt the proceedings dead in their tracks: the body of Mr. Collicutt, the church organist, his face grotesquely and inexplicably masked. Who held a vendetta against Mr. Collicutt, and why would they hide him in such a sacred resting place? The irrepressible Flavia decides to find out. And what she unearths will prove there’s never such thing as an open-and-shut case.]]> 378 Alan Bradley 0385344031 Danae 3 4.15 2013 Speaking from Among the Bones (Flavia de Luce, #5)
author: Alan Bradley
name: Danae
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Flavia de Luce, #7)]]> 21874813 392 Alan Bradley 0345539931 Danae 4 3.95 2015 As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust (Flavia de Luce, #7)
author: Alan Bradley
name: Danae
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/07
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves:
review:
I think a change of location did Flavia some good. Nice to have some different problems and more for her to do herself.
]]> <![CDATA[I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce, #4)]]> 33215762
For Flavia and her sisters, it's as if all their beloved Christmases have come at once - but filming is soon slowed down by a series of nasty accidents and then brought to a halt as a heavy snowstorm cuts Buckshaw off from the outside world. As they are prepared to wait out the weather, they are stunned by a gruesomely dramatic murder - and suddenly Flavia, in the midst of designing an experiment to prove the existence of Father Christmas - has another, far deadlier mystery to solve.]]> 305 Alan Bradley Danae 3 4.11 2011 I Am Half-Sick of Shadows (Flavia de Luce, #4)
author: Alan Bradley
name: Danae
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches (Flavia de Luce, #6)]]> 41017660 Blithe Spirit—Flavia will do anything, even take to the skies, to land a killer.
Ěý
Acclaim for Alan Bradley’s beloved Flavia de Luce novels, winners of the Crime Writers� Association Debut Dagger Award, Barry Award, Agatha Award, Macavity Award, Dilys Winn Award, and Arthur Ellis Award
Ěý
“If ever there were a sleuth who’s bold, brilliant, and, yes, adorable, it’s Flavia de Luce.��USA Today
Ěý
“Irresistibly appealing.� —The New York Times Book Review , on A Red Herring Without Mustard
Ěý
“Original, charming, devilishly creative.â€�—B´Ç´Ç°ě°ů±đ±č´Ç°ůłŮ±đ°ů, on I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
Ěý
“Delightful and entertaining.��San Jose Mercury News, on Speaking from Among the Bones]]> 338 Alan Bradley 0345539699 Danae 3 4.23 2014 The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches (Flavia de Luce, #6)
author: Alan Bradley
name: Danae
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce #3)]]> 8517008 416 Alan Bradley 0385342322 Danae 3 4.05 2011 A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce #3)
author: Alan Bradley
name: Danae
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/13
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves:
review:

]]> The Bletchley Women 60434549 From debutante to farmer’s daughter all roads lead to Bletchley�

In a different world, Evie Milton would have accepted her fate, married an aristocrat, and become the doyenne of one of England’s finest estates, just like her mother.

In a different world, Rose Wiley would have married her fiancé, David, established a modest homestead, and brought up a brood of babies, just like her mother.

But this isn’t a different world and these women are not their mothers. Rose dreams of a life filled with more than family and duty to her husband � a life of purpose � and Evie dreams of a life far away from her rarefied existence. Now, as they perform vital work at Bletchley Park decoding intercepted Luftwaffe messages, their role in turning the tide of war in the Allies favour shows Evie and Rose they don’t have to settle for the life once laid out before them.]]> 384 Patricia Adrian 000852601X Danae 0 to-read 3.77 2022 The Bletchley Women
author: Patricia Adrian
name: Danae
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Half a Soul (Regency Faerie Tales, #1)]]> 59522062 It's difficult to find a husband in Regency England when you're a young lady with only half a soul.

Ever since she was cursed by a faerie, Theodora Ettings has had no sense of fear or embarrassment - a condition which makes her prone to accidental scandal. Dora hopes to be a quiet, sensible wallflower during the London Season - but when the strange, handsome and utterly uncouth Lord Sorcier discovers her condition, she is instead drawn into dangerous and peculiar faerie affairs.

If Dora's reputation can survive both her curse and her sudden connection with the least-liked man in all of high society, then she may yet reclaim her normal place in the world. . . but the longer Dora spends with Elias Wilder, the more she begins to suspect that one may indeed fall in love, even with only half a soul.

Bridgerton meets Howl's Moving Castle in this enchanting historical fantasy, where the only thing more meddlesome than faeries is a marriage-minded mother.

Pick up HALF A SOUL, and be stolen away into Olivia Atwater's charming, magical version of Regency England!]]> 239 Olivia Atwater 0316462705 Danae 0 to-read 4.10 2020 Half a Soul (Regency Faerie Tales, #1)
author: Olivia Atwater
name: Danae
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Followed by Frost 24524971 256 Charlie N. Holmberg 150391321X Danae 0 to-read 4.29 2015 Followed by Frost
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Danae
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Forging Silver into Stars (Forging Silver into Stars, #1)]]> 58484077 Forbidden magic. Secret romance. Dangerous alliances. Enter the world of New York Times bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer's electrifying series.

When nineteen-year-old Tycho, the King's Courier, arrives in the remote village of Briarlock, he hopes to escape the demands of his new life in the royal court, where magic reigns for the first time in ages. He doesn't expect to fall for a handsome blacksmith with a bruised heart.

After years of cruelty in his father's forge, Jax never dared to dream of a better life -- until a magic-wielding young lord shows him an enticing alternative. But when rumors of a rebellion reach Briarlock, Jax wonders who he can trust -- and if he'll even survive.

Jax's best friend, Callyn, doesn't trust anyone -- especially not a handsome stranger with magic, which killed her parents years ago. When another royal emissary arrives, seeing a co-conspirator, Callyn finds herself embroiled in a plot that could lead them all to ruin. . .

As tensions flare throughout the kingdom, it won't be long before everyone must choose a side.

War is brewing. Passions are building. And magic may doom -- or save -- them all . . .]]> 560 Brigid Kemmerer 1547609125 Danae 0 to-read 4.12 2022 Forging Silver into Stars (Forging Silver into Stars, #1)
author: Brigid Kemmerer
name: Danae
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book Woman's Daughter (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, #2)]]> 58803339 New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Mary Angeline Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.

Picking up her mother’s old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn’t need anyone telling her how to survive, but the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren’t as keen to let a woman pave her own way. If Honey wants to bring the freedom that books provide to the families who need it most, she’s going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world.]]> 336 Kim Michele Richardson 1728242592 Danae 0 to-read 4.16 2022 The Book Woman's Daughter (The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, #2)
author: Kim Michele Richardson
name: Danae
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Book of Night (Book of Night, #1)]]> 58293924 Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies.

In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.

Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.]]> 304 Holly Black 1250812194 Danae 0 to-read 3.51 2022 Book of Night (Book of Night, #1)
author: Holly Black
name: Danae
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Love's Fortune (The Ballantyne Legacy, #3)]]> 20665227
With her signature attention to historical detail, Laura Frantz brings 1850s Pennsylvania alive with a tender story of loss, love, and loyalty. Fans will cheer for this final installment of the Ballatyne saga.]]> 398 Laura Frantz 0800720431 Danae 0 to-read 4.29 2014 Love's Fortune (The Ballantyne Legacy, #3)
author: Laura Frantz
name: Danae
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Love's Awakening (The Ballantyne Legacy, #2)]]> 16109328 The path to true love lies somewhere between two feuding families

In the spring of 1822, Ellie Ballantyne leaves finishing school and returns to the family home in Pittsburg only to find that her parents are away on a long journey and her siblings don't seem to want her to stay. Determined to stand her ground and find her place in the world, Ellie fills her time by opening a day school for young ladies.

But when one of her students turns out to be an incorrigible young member of the Turlock family, Ellie knows she must walk a fine line. Slaveholders and whiskey magnates, the Turlocks are envious of the powerful Ballantynes and suspicious of their abolitionist leanings. As Ellie becomes increasingly entangled with the rival clan--particularly the handsome Jack Turlock--she finds herself falling in love with an impossible future. Will she betray her family and side with the enemy?

Masterful storyteller Laura Frantz continues to unfold the stirring saga of the Ballantyne family in this majestic tale of love and loyalty. This is the Ballantyne Legacy.]]> 410 Laura Frantz 0800720423 Danae 0 to-read 4.31 2013 Love's Awakening (The Ballantyne Legacy, #2)
author: Laura Frantz
name: Danae
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Love's Reckoning (The Ballantyne Legacy, #1)]]> 13115556
In this sweeping family saga set in western Pennsylvania, one man's choices in love and work, in friends and enemies, set the stage for generations to come. "Love's Reckoning" is the first entry in The Ballantyne Legacy, a rich, multi-layered historical quartet from talented writer Laura Frantz, beginning in the late 1700s and following the Ballantyne family through the end of the Civil War.]]> 432 Laura Frantz 0800720415 Danae 0 to-read 4.20 2012 Love's Reckoning (The Ballantyne Legacy, #1)
author: Laura Frantz
name: Danae
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Guardian (Artemis Fowl, #8)]]> 9307674
Opal Koboi, power-crazed pixie, is plotting to exterminate mankind and become fairy queen.

If she succeeds, the spirits of long-dead fairy warriors will rise from the earth, inhabit the nearest available bodies and wreak mass destruction. But what happens if those nearest bodies include crows, or deer, or badgers - or two curious little boys by the names of Myles and Beckett Fowl?

Yes, it's true. Criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl's four-year-old brothers could be involved in destroying the human race. Can Artemis and Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police stop Opal and prevent the end of the world?]]> 328 Eoin Colfer 1423161610 Danae 4 4.15 2012 The Last Guardian (Artemis Fowl, #8)
author: Eoin Colfer
name: Danae
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/09
date added: 2022/04/09
shelves:
review:
A nice conclusion to the series with appropriately high stakes. Got a little goofy with naming some of the characters, but you know what, he earned it.
]]> And Then There Were None 16299
"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.]]> 264 Agatha Christie 0312330871 Danae 4 4.28 1939 And Then There Were None
author: Agatha Christie
name: Danae
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1939
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/04/09
shelves:
review:
Very spooky, and deserving of its revered place of honor in the mystery genre. I have some feelings on the post script solution as I like a mystery that I *could* have solved, at least having all the necessary information, but you can’t argue that it wasn’t well done.
]]> <![CDATA[The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7)]]> 7005865 Young Artemis has frequently used high-tech fairy magic to mastermind the most devious criminal activity of the new century. Now, at a conference in Iceland, Artemis has gathered the fairies to present his latest idea to save the world from global warming. But Artemis is behaving strangely - he seems different. Something terrible has happened to him . . . Artemis Fowl has become nice. The fairies diagnose Atlantis Complex (that's obsessive compulsive disorder to you and I) - it seems dabbling in magic has damaged Artemis' main his mind. Fairy ally Captain Holly Short doesn't know what to do. The subterranean volcanoes are under attack from vicious robots and Artemis cannot fight them. Can Holly get the real Artemis back ---before the robot probes destroy every human and life form? This eagerly-awaited adventure is now out in paperback with a fabulous new cover-look to celebrate ten years of Artemis action.]]> 357 Eoin Colfer 1423128192 Danae 4 3.98 2010 The Atlantis Complex (Artemis Fowl #7)
author: Eoin Colfer
name: Danae
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/29
date added: 2022/04/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2)]]> 6777616
Flavia thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey are over—and then Rupert Porson has an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. The beloved puppeteer has had his own strings sizzled, but who’d do such a thing, and why? For Flavia, the questions are intriguing enough to make her put aside her chemistry experiments and schemes of vengeance against her insufferable big sisters. Astride Gladys, her trusty bicycle, Flavia sets out from the de Luces' crumbling family mansion in search of Bishop's Lacey's deadliest secrets.

Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What of the vicar's odd ministrations to the catatonic woman in the dovecote? Then there's a German pilot obsessed with the Brontë sisters, a reporachful spinster aunt, and even a box of poisoned chocolates. Most troubling of all is Porson’s assistant, the charming but erratic Nialla. All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?]]> 364 Alan Bradley 0385342314 Danae 4 3.99 2010 The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag (Flavia de Luce, #2)
author: Alan Bradley
name: Danae
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/20
date added: 2022/04/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Everybody Fights: So Why Not Get Better at It?]]> 54287720 A USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller

Learn how to fight better and end arguments feeling closer, more loved, and better understood by your partner.Ěý

We take our cars in for oil changes. We mow our lawns and pull weeds. Why don’t we do maintenance on our marriages? This relationship is the most important one we will ever have, so why not get better at it?

For the last several years, Penn and Kim Holderness of The Holderness Family have done the hard maintenance and the research to learn how to fight better. With the help of their marriage coach Dr. Christopher Edmonston, they break down their biggest (and in some cases, funniest) fights. How did a question about chicken wings turn into a bra fight (no, not a bar fight; a bra fight)? How did a roll of toilet paper lead to tears, resentment, and a stint in the guest bedroom?

With their trademark sense of humor and complete vulnerability, Penn and Kim share their ten most common Fight Fails and how to combat them. Throughout the book, they offer scripts for how to start, continue, and wrap up hard conversations. Couples will emerge equipped to engage and understand, not do battle—and maybe laugh a little more along the way.Ěý

In Everybody Fights, couples will learn how to


use “magic words� to navigate conflict
break free of secret contracts
banish the three Ds—distraction, denial, and delay
carry their own individual baggage while helping each other deal with theirsĚý
Penn and Kim want you to know you’re not alone. Everybody fights. Marriage is messy. Marriage is work. But marriage is worth it. Fight for it.]]> 230 Kim Holderness 0785235728 Danae 5 4.31 2021 Everybody Fights: So Why Not Get Better at It?
author: Kim Holderness
name: Danae
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/03/09
date added: 2022/04/09
shelves:
review:
Some solid relationship advice given in an amusing and relatable way. No real complaints. Regardless of how new or old your relationship is, it’s good to take a look at what’s working and what could improve.
]]> <![CDATA[The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion]]> 11324722 An alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780307377906 can be found here.

Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding.
Ěý
His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim—that we are fundamentally groupish. It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation.]]> 419 Jonathan Haidt Danae 4 4.18 2012 The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
author: Jonathan Haidt
name: Danae
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2022/03/05
date added: 2022/04/09
shelves:
review:
A little on the dry side, but some good insights and interesting things to think about. Fair minded and balanced. The world would probably be a better place if more people asked themselves why the opposite side of an argument came to that conclusion instead of just slapping labels around.
]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Colony (Artemis Fowl, #5)]]> 37586 Alternate Cover Edition for ISBN: 9780786849567

Ten thousand years ago, humans and fairies fought a great battle for the magical island of Ireland. When it became clear to the fairy families that they could never win, they decided to move their civilisation underground and keep themselves hidden from the humans. All the fairy families agreed on this, except the eighth family, the demons.

The demons planned to lift their small island out of time until they had regrouped and were ready to wage war on the humans once more. However, the time spell went wrong, and the island of Hybras was catapulted into Limbo, where it has remained for ten thousand years.

Now, the tainted time spell is deteriorating and demons are being sucked back into the present space and time. The fairy Council are naturally concerned about this and are monitoring any materialisations. When the spell’s deterioration accelerates, the materialisations become unpredictable. Even the fairy scientists cannot figure out where the next demon will pop up.

But someone can. Artemis Fowl, the teenage criminal mastermind, has solved temporal equations that no normal human should be intelligent enough to understand. But Artemis Fowl is no normal human.

So when a confused and frightened demon pops up in a Sicilian theatre, Artemis Fowl is there to meet him. Unfortunately, he is not the only one. A second, mysterious party has also solved the temporal equations, and manages to abduct the demon before Artemis can secure him.

This is a disaster for the fairy People, because this demon was no ordinary fairy. He was the last demon warlock, and as such held the key to the survival of the entire demon race.

It is up to Artemis and his old comrade, Captain Holly Short to track down the missing demon and rescue him before the time spell dissolves completely and the lost demon colony returns violently to Earth.]]> 385 Eoin Colfer Danae 0 4.01 2006 The Lost Colony (Artemis Fowl, #5)
author: Eoin Colfer
name: Danae
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl, #6)]]> 2179276 Alternate Cover Edition for ISBN: 9781423108368

After disappearing for three years, Artemis Fowl has returned to a life different from the one he left. Now he's a big brother, and spends his days teaching his twin siblings the important things in life, such as how to properly summon a waiter at a French restaurant.

But when Artemis Fowl's mother contracts a life-threatening illness, his world is turned upside down. The only hope for a cure lies in the brain fluid of the silky sifaka lemur. Unfortunately, the animal is extinct due to a heartless bargain Artemis himself made as a younger boy.

Though the odds are stacked against him, Artemis is not willing to give up. With the help of his fairy friends, the young genius travels back in time to save the lemur and bring it back to the present. But to do so, Artemis will have to defeat a maniacal poacher, who has set his sights on new prey: Holly Short.

The rules of time travel are far from simple, but to save his mother, Artemis will have to break them all.and outsmart his most cunning adversary yet: Artemis Fowl, age ten.]]> 391 Eoin Colfer Danae 0 4.08 2008 The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl, #6)
author: Eoin Colfer
name: Danae
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting]]> 54895704
Have you ever felt a crushing wave of panic when you can't for the life of you remember the name of that actor in the movie you saw last week, or you walk into a room only to forget why you went there in the first place? If you're over forty, you're probably not laughing. You might even be worried that these lapses in memory could be an early sign of Alzheimer's or dementia. In reality, for the vast majority of us, these examples of forgetting are completely normal. Why? Because while memory is amazing, it is far from perfect. Our brains aren't designed to remember every name we hear, plan we make, or day we experience. Just because your memory sometimes fails doesn't mean it's broken or succumbing to disease. Forgetting is actually part of being human.

In Remember, neuroscientist and acclaimed novelist Lisa Genova delves into how memories are made and how we retrieve them. You'll learn whether forgotten memories are temporarily inaccessible or erased forever and why some memories are built to exist for only a few seconds (like a passcode) while others can last a lifetime (your wedding day). You'll come to appreciate the clear distinction between normal forgetting (where you parked your car) and forgetting due to Alzheimer's (that you own a car). And you'll see how memory is profoundly impacted by meaning, emotion, sleep, stress, and context. Once you understand the language of memory and how it functions, its incredible strengths and maddening weaknesses, its natural vulnerabilities and potential superpowers, you can both vastly improve your ability to remember and feel less rattled when you inevitably forget. You can set educated expectations for your memory, and in doing so, create a better relationship with it. You don't have to fear it anymore. And that can be life-changing.]]> 256 Lisa Genova 0593137957 Danae 0 to-read 4.15 2021 Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting
author: Lisa Genova
name: Danae
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Goliath (Leviathan, #3) 9918083
While on their top-secret mission, Alek finally discovers Deryn's deeply kept secret. Two, actually. Not only is Deryn a girl disguised as a guy...she has feelings for Alek.

The crown, true love with a commoner, and the destruction of a great city all hang on Alek's next--and final--move.

The thunderous conclusion to Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan series, which was called "sure to become a classic" (SLJ).]]> 543 Scott Westerfeld 1416971777 Danae 4 4.23 2011 Goliath (Leviathan, #3)
author: Scott Westerfeld
name: Danae
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/10
date added: 2022/01/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl, #4)]]> 114954
After his last run-in with the fairies, Artemis had his mind wiped of his memories of the world belowground. But they have not forgotten about him. Once again, he must stop the human and fairy worlds from colliding—only this time, Artemis faces an enemy who may have finally outsmarted him.]]> 528 Eoin Colfer 1423103998 Danae 4 4.06 2005 The Opal Deception (Artemis Fowl, #4)
author: Eoin Colfer
name: Danae
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2022/01/10
date added: 2022/01/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Serendipity: Ten Romantic Tropes, Transformed]]> 58097968 Love is in the air in this is a collection of stories inspired by romantic tropes and edited by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer.

The secret admirer.
The fake relationship.
The matchmaker.

From stories of first love, unrequited love, love that surprises, love that’s been there all along, ten of the brightest and award-winning authors writing YA have taken on some of your favorite romantic tropes, embracing them and turning them on their heads. Readers will swoon for this collection of stories that celebrate love at its most humorous, inclusive, heart-expanding, and serendipitous.

Contributors include Elise Bryant, Elizabeth Eulberg, Leah Johnson, Anna-Marie McLemore, Marissa Meyer, Sandhya Menon, Julie Murphy, Caleb Roehrig, Sarah Winifred Searle, and Abigail Hing Wen.]]> 302 Marissa Meyer 1250780845 Danae 0 to-read 3.22 2022 Serendipity: Ten Romantic Tropes, Transformed
author: Marissa Meyer
name: Danae
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World]]> 40718726 352 Jack Weatherford Danae 0 to-read 4.08 2004 Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
author: Jack Weatherford
name: Danae
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl, #3)]]> 227865 329 Eoin Colfer 0141321318 Danae 0 4.05 2003 The Eternity Code (Artemis Fowl, #3)
author: Eoin Colfer
name: Danae
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/02
shelves:
review:

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