maya ౨ৎ's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 23 Apr 2025 13:24:27 -0700 60 maya ౨ৎ's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Great Big Beautiful Life 218559595 Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry.

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.]]> 432 Emily Henry maya ౨ৎ 0 currently-reading 4.23 2025 Great Big Beautiful Life
author: Emily Henry
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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

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

But coming home is never as easy as it seems. As the sisters reckon with the disappointments of their childhood and the loss of the only person who held them together, they realize the greatest secrets they've been keeping might not have been from each other, but from themselves.]]> 342 Coco Mellors 0593723767 maya ౨ৎ 2 2025 3.93 2024 Blue Sisters
author: Coco Mellors
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/23
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: 2025
review:

]]> Tender Is the Flesh 49090884
His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.� Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.]]> 209 Agustina Bazterrica 1982150920 maya ౨ৎ 0 currently-reading 3.75 2017 Tender Is the Flesh
author: Agustina Bazterrica
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country]]> 124961437 A fearless, powerfully written on-the-ground account of a nation careening into violent autocracy—told through harrowing stories of the Philippines� state-sanctioned killings of its citizens—from a journalist of international renown

“My job is to go to places where people die. I pack my bags, talk to the survivors, write my stories, then go home to wait for the next catastrophe. I don’t wait very long.�

Journalist Patricia Evangelista came of age in the aftermath of a street revolution that forged a new future for the Philippines. Three decades later, in the face of mounting inequality, the nation discovered the fragility of its democratic institutions under the regime of strongman Rodrigo Duterte.

Some People Need Killing is Evangelista’s meticulously reported and deeply human chronicle of the Philippines� drug war. For six years, Evangelista chronicled the killings carried out by police and vigilantes in the name of Duterte’s war on drugs—a war that has led to the slaughter of thousands—immersing herself in the world of killers and survivors and capturing the atmosphere of fear created when an elected president decides that some lives are worth less than others.

The book takes its title from a vigilante whose words seemed to reflect the psychological accommodation that most of the country had made: “I’m really not a bad guy,� he said. “I’m not all bad. Some people need killing.�

A profound act of witness and a tour de force of literary journalism, Some People Need Killing is also a brilliant dissection of the grammar of violence and an important investigation of the human impulses to dominate and resist.]]> 428 Patricia Evangelista 0593133137 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.19 2023 Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country
author: Patricia Evangelista
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle, #1)]]> 50892338
A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so called “Legendborn� students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin� and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.]]> 502 Tracy Deonn 1534441603 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.32 2020 Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle, #1)
author: Tracy Deonn
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]> 390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 maya ౨ৎ 5 4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/12
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves:
review:
5 stars - Perfection, so much sadder than I remember. I'll write more later on but I loved the last few chapters and the epilogue so much.
]]> <![CDATA[Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)]]> 6148028 Sparks are igniting.
Flames are spreading.
And the Capitol wants revenge.

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the Hunger Games. She and fellow District 12 tribute Peeta Mellark are miraculously still alive. Katniss should be relieved, happy even. After all, she has returned to her family and her longtime friend, Gale. Yet nothing is the way Katniss wishes it to be. Gale holds her at an icy distance. Peeta has turned his back on her completely. And there are whispers of a rebellion against the Capitol—a rebellion that Katniss and Peeta may have helped create.

Much to her shock, Katniss has fueled an unrest that she's afraid she cannot stop. And what scares her even more is that she's not entirely convinced she should try. As time draws near for Katniss and Peeta to visit the districts on the Capitol's cruel Victory Tour, the stakes are higher than ever. If they can't prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are lost in their love for each other, the consequences will be horrifying.

In Catching Fire, the second novel of the Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins continues the story of Katniss Everdeen, testing her more than ever before . . . and surprising readers at every turn.]]> 391 Suzanne Collins 0439023491 maya ౨ৎ 5 2025
]]> 4.34 2009 Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: 2025
review:
5 stars - EXCELLENT! Will update later but ugh my god this book was so devastating.


]]> Recitatif 34842610 A beautiful, arresting short story by Toni Morrison—the only one she ever wrote—about race and the relationships that shape us through life, with an introduction by Zadie Smith.

Twyla and Roberta have known each other since they were eight years old and spent four months together as roommates in the St. Bonaventure shelter. Inseparable at the time, they lose touch as they grow older, only to find each other later at a diner, then at a grocery store, and again at a protest. Seemingly at opposite ends of every problem, and in disagreement each time they meet, the two women still cannot deny the deep bond their shared experience has forged between them.

Written in 1980 and anthologized in a number of collections, this is the first time Recitatif is being published as a stand-alone hardcover. In the story, Twyla's and Roberta's races remain ambiguous. We know that one is white and one is black, but which is which? And who is right about the race of the woman the girls tormented at the orphanage?

Morrison herself described this story as "an experiment in the removal of all racial codes from a narrative about two characters of different races for whom racial identity is crucial." Recitatif is a remarkable look into what keeps us together and what keeps us apart, and about how perceptions are made tangible by reality.]]> 19 Toni Morrison maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.31 1983 Recitatif
author: Toni Morrison
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)]]> 2767052
Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.]]> 374 Suzanne Collins maya ౨ৎ 5 favourites, 2025
Rereading this trilogy after finishing Sunrise on the Reaping and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and I can't even remember how it felt to read the trilogy without those prequels. The parallels and references are EVERYWHERE.

I'll have more to say later but the gist of it is I loved this book so much. Excited to continue re-reading the series.]]> 4.34 2008 The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: favourites, 2025
review:
5 stars - A timeless classic, unparalleled in the YA genre.

Rereading this trilogy after finishing Sunrise on the Reaping and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and I can't even remember how it felt to read the trilogy without those prequels. The parallels and references are EVERYWHERE.

I'll have more to say later but the gist of it is I loved this book so much. Excited to continue re-reading the series.
]]> Land of Milk and Honey 101673225 The award-winning author of How Much of These Hills Is Gold returns with a rapturous and revelatory novel about a young chef whose discovery of pleasure alters her life and, indirectly, the world

A smog has spread. Food crops are rapidly disappearing. A chef escapes her dying career in a dreary city to take a job at a decadent mountaintop colony seemingly free of the world’s troubles.

There, the sky is clear again. Rare ingredients abound. Her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter have built a lush new life for the global elite, one that reawakens the chef to the pleasures of taste, touch, and her own body.

In this atmosphere of hidden wonders and cool, seductive violence, the chef’s boundaries undergo a thrilling erosion. Soon she is pushed to the center of a startling attempt to reshape the world far beyond the plate.

Sensuous and surprising, joyous and bitingly sharp, told in language as alluring as it is original, Land of Milk and Honey lays provocatively bare the ethics of seeking pleasure in a dying world. It is a daringly imaginative exploration of desire and deception, privilege and faith, and the roles we play to survive. Most of all, it is a love letter to food, to wild delight, and to the transformative power of a woman embracing her own appetite.]]> 240 C Pam Zhang 0593538242 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.50 2023 Land of Milk and Honey
author: C Pam Zhang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Employees 53780642 A workplace novel of the 22nd century

The near-distant future. Millions of kilometres from Earth.

The crew of the Six-Thousand ship consists of those who were born, and those who were created. Those who will die, and those who will not. When the ship takes on a number of strange objects from the planet New Discovery, the crew is perplexed to find itself becoming deeply attached to them, and human and humanoid employees alike find themselves longing for the same things: warmth and intimacy. Loved ones who have passed. Our shared, far-away Earth, which now only persists in memory.

Gradually, the crew members come to see themselves in a new light, and each employee is compelled to ask themselves whether their work can carry on as before � and what it means to be truly alive.

Structured as a series of witness statements compiled by a workplace commission, Ravn’s crackling prose is as chilling as it is moving, as exhilarating as it is foreboding. Wracked by all kinds of longing, The Employees probes into what it means to be human, emotionally and ontologically, while simultaneously delivering an overdue critique of a life governed by work and the logic of productivity.]]> 136 Olga Ravn maya ౨ৎ 0 2025, to-read 3.69 2018 The Employees
author: Olga Ravn
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: 2025, to-read
review:

]]> Greek Lessons 61686012 “Now and then, language would thrust its way into her sleep like a skewer through meat, startling her awake several times a night.�

In a classroom in Seoul, a young woman watches her Greek language teacher at the blackboard. She tries to speak but has lost her voice. Her teacher finds himself drawn to the silent woman, for day by day he is losing his sight.

Soon the two discover a deeper pain binds them together. For her, in the space of just a few months, she has lost both her mother and the custody battle for her nine-year-old son. For him, it’s the pain of growing up between Korea and Germany, being torn between two cultures and languages, and the fear of losing his independence.

Greek Lessons tells the story of two ordinary people brought together at a moment of private anguish—the fading light of a man losing his vision meeting the silence of a woman who has lost her language. Yet these are the very things that draw them to each other. Slowly the two discover a profound sense of unity—their voices intersecting with startling beauty, as they move from darkness to light, from silence to breath and expression.

Greek Lessons is the story of the unlikely bond between this pair and a tender love letter to human intimacy and connection—a novel to awaken the senses, one that vividly conjures the essence of what it means to be alive.]]> 192 Han Kang 0593595270 maya ౨ৎ 0 2025, to-read 3.54 2011 Greek Lessons
author: Han Kang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: 2025, to-read
review:

]]> Sea of Tranquility 58446227 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER - The award-winning, best-selling author of Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel returns with a novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.

One of the Best Books of the Year: The New York Times, NPR, GoodReads

"One of [Mandel's] finest novels and one of her most satisfying forays into the arena of speculative fiction yet." --The New York Times

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal--an experience that shocks him to his core.

Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She's traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive's best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.]]> 259 Emily St. John Mandel 0593321448 maya ౨ৎ 2 2025
Sea of Tranquility had promise, especially with its early setup of mystery and interconnected timelines. The writing style is effortless and smooth—Emily St. John Mandel excels at creating a vivid atmosphere, and the early sections were easy to slip into. The recurring violin, the maple tree, and the sense of unease in the forest created a compelling tension that initially drew me in. The character of Gaspery was intriguing, and the hints at simulation theory and time travel kept me hooked. The early chapters were sharp, and I genuinely enjoyed the gradual unravelling of the mystery behind the strange anomalies.

But then it all fell apart. The introduction of Olive’s timeline was where the book lost its momentum. Olive as a character felt flat and self-indulgent—her chapters read like the author using Olive as a mouthpiece to complain about publishing and literary success. The metafictional commentary was heavy-handed, and Olive’s timeline dragged down the pacing. Gaspery’s storyline, which had the potential to be a fascinating exploration of time travel and moral consequence, became muddled in hasty plot twists and under-explained resolutions.

The last third of the book was a complete mess. Gaspery is framed for a double homicide and thrown into prison—something that should have been a major emotional turning point—but it’s treated with barely any weight. He’s imprisoned for fifty years and yet this all plays out in barely half a page, and then the next thing you know, he’s suddenly free, getting facial reconstructive surgery in a throwaway line, and living in Clara and Miriam’s house like nothing happened. There’s no emotional fallout, no exploration of what that kind of trauma would mean for him—just a quick handwave and onto the next plot point. His sudden marriage to Talia is equally baffling. They get married, and literally one page later, Talia dies. How am I supposed to care about that? There’s no time to sit with the emotional weight of any of these events because the book rushes to wrap everything up as quickly as possible.

The simulation theory, which could have been an interesting commentary on existence and perception, was tossed aside with a shrug. “So what?� is not a satisfying resolution when the story spent so much time building up the anomaly as a core mystery. The explanation about Gaspery’s dual presence in the timelines felt forced and overly convenient. The references to Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel were clever at first but eventually came across as self-congratulatory. The world-building also felt thin—the colonies on the moon and the geopolitical backdrop of the Atlantic Republic were barely sketched out and lacked depth.

Character development was another weak spot. Edwin’s timeline was the strongest, with a clear emotional core and a sense of vulnerability, but Gaspery’s arc lacked payoff. His decisions and moral struggles were barely explored beyond surface level. Olive’s chapters were the least engaging—her book tour was tedious, and her emotional depth was nonexistent. Mirella’s connection to Gaspery and her significance to the story was never fully realized.

The book ultimately fell into the trap of trying to explain too much. If the story had ended with the ambiguity of “so what?� it could have been a meaningful meditation on existence and fate. Instead, the rushed final chapters undermined the story’s emotional impact. The mystery was more engaging than the resolution, and the sci-fi elements felt more like props than meaningful components of the story.

Overall, Sea of Tranquility had strong writing and an intriguing premise, but the lack of depth in the world-building and characters, combined with a rushed and unsatisfying conclusion, left me feeling underwhelmed. Mandel’s talent for atmosphere and connection is undeniable, but this book fell short of delivering a cohesive or emotionally resonant story. I'm starting to think her works just aren't for me.]]> 4.04 2022 Sea of Tranquility
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/24
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: 2025
review:
2 stars � A sci-fi story with potential that ultimately crumbles under weak world-building, shallow characters, and a rushed conclusion.

Sea of Tranquility had promise, especially with its early setup of mystery and interconnected timelines. The writing style is effortless and smooth—Emily St. John Mandel excels at creating a vivid atmosphere, and the early sections were easy to slip into. The recurring violin, the maple tree, and the sense of unease in the forest created a compelling tension that initially drew me in. The character of Gaspery was intriguing, and the hints at simulation theory and time travel kept me hooked. The early chapters were sharp, and I genuinely enjoyed the gradual unravelling of the mystery behind the strange anomalies.

But then it all fell apart. The introduction of Olive’s timeline was where the book lost its momentum. Olive as a character felt flat and self-indulgent—her chapters read like the author using Olive as a mouthpiece to complain about publishing and literary success. The metafictional commentary was heavy-handed, and Olive’s timeline dragged down the pacing. Gaspery’s storyline, which had the potential to be a fascinating exploration of time travel and moral consequence, became muddled in hasty plot twists and under-explained resolutions.

The last third of the book was a complete mess. Gaspery is framed for a double homicide and thrown into prison—something that should have been a major emotional turning point—but it’s treated with barely any weight. He’s imprisoned for fifty years and yet this all plays out in barely half a page, and then the next thing you know, he’s suddenly free, getting facial reconstructive surgery in a throwaway line, and living in Clara and Miriam’s house like nothing happened. There’s no emotional fallout, no exploration of what that kind of trauma would mean for him—just a quick handwave and onto the next plot point. His sudden marriage to Talia is equally baffling. They get married, and literally one page later, Talia dies. How am I supposed to care about that? There’s no time to sit with the emotional weight of any of these events because the book rushes to wrap everything up as quickly as possible.

The simulation theory, which could have been an interesting commentary on existence and perception, was tossed aside with a shrug. “So what?� is not a satisfying resolution when the story spent so much time building up the anomaly as a core mystery. The explanation about Gaspery’s dual presence in the timelines felt forced and overly convenient. The references to Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel were clever at first but eventually came across as self-congratulatory. The world-building also felt thin—the colonies on the moon and the geopolitical backdrop of the Atlantic Republic were barely sketched out and lacked depth.

Character development was another weak spot. Edwin’s timeline was the strongest, with a clear emotional core and a sense of vulnerability, but Gaspery’s arc lacked payoff. His decisions and moral struggles were barely explored beyond surface level. Olive’s chapters were the least engaging—her book tour was tedious, and her emotional depth was nonexistent. Mirella’s connection to Gaspery and her significance to the story was never fully realized.

The book ultimately fell into the trap of trying to explain too much. If the story had ended with the ambiguity of “so what?� it could have been a meaningful meditation on existence and fate. Instead, the rushed final chapters undermined the story’s emotional impact. The mystery was more engaging than the resolution, and the sci-fi elements felt more like props than meaningful components of the story.

Overall, Sea of Tranquility had strong writing and an intriguing premise, but the lack of depth in the world-building and characters, combined with a rushed and unsatisfying conclusion, left me feeling underwhelmed. Mandel’s talent for atmosphere and connection is undeniable, but this book fell short of delivering a cohesive or emotionally resonant story. I'm starting to think her works just aren't for me.
]]> <![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)]]> 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

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

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

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 maya ౨ৎ 4 2025
Anyone who knows me knows I love The Hunger Games and don’t play about this franchise. I haven’t felt this excited about a book in a LONG time and tore through Sunrise on the Reaping—staying up until 2 AM reading it and finishing the rest this afternoon. It’s been years since I’ve felt this completely hooked by a story. But while I loved so much about this book, there were moments where I thought it stumbled, and I want to talk about both sides of that experience.

What Collins does so masterfully here—and what I’ve come to expect from her—is her thematic exploration of propaganda as a tool of control. The reaping in District 12 is staged after Haymitch is forcefully chosen as tribute, the Capitol re-edits the Games to misrepresent the characters and contributions of Maysilee, Ampert, Lou-Lou, and the Newcomer alliance, completely erasing the damage Haymitch wreaks on the arena in hopes of destroying the Games. The tributes from 12 are forced to pretend Lou-Lou is Louella for the cameras. The banners about the Games in the districts read “No Peace, No Bread,� while in the Capitol, they proclaim “No Hunger Games, No Peace.� The propaganda of Panem alters the perception of its citizens, making them more malleable to the overreaching government. Even the Orwell quote at the beginning—“All propaganda is lies, even when one is telling the truth. I don’t think this matters so long as one knows what one is doing, and why”—speaks to this idea. Propaganda takes elements of truth and presents them in a manner that distorts reality, leading people to support the very systems that oppress them. This plays out in Haymitch’s apathy toward the reaping, his belief that it’s as inevitable as the sunrise, even though the Games have only existed for 50 years and it is possible to have a world without them. It’s a sharp critique of how altered perceptions keep people complicit in their own oppression.

Plutarch embodies this contradiction perfectly. He claims to be for the rebellion even as he produces the Games for television and later becomes a Gamemaker. He speaks of wanting freedom from the Capitol to Haymitch, a poor boy from the poorest district, while profiting off his pain and misery, clipping together narratives that benefit the Capitol. And then there’s the irony of Panem outlawing AI because of its potential to manipulate reality by “replicating any scenario using any person […] in seconds,� while the Capitol and its actors (including Plutarch!) do exactly that—forcing the tributes and citizens of District 12 to reenact the Reaping for the cameras. It’s not just about erasing the truth—it’s about controlling the narrative entirely.

Collins also explores how surveillance sustains this cycle of complicity. The Capitol doesn’t just control people through propaganda—it conditions them to self-police through the constant threat of being watched. Haymitch reflects on this early in the book when he says, "It's secluded, we all know there are eyes everywhere." The idea that you might be watched at any given moment forces you to self-regulate—it’s not just about literal surveillance, but the internalized sense of constantly being monitored. This ties directly into the concept of the panopticon, where the possibility of being watched at all times ensures compliance even when no one is watching.

We see this panopticon effect play out in Lou-Lou, who is suggested to have an audio implant in her ear so the Capitol can spy on the tributes from District 12. Haymitch draws a direct parallel to the Capitol’s use of Jabberjays during the war to spy on the districts. When the districts realized this, they relayed fake information to confuse the Capitol—prompting the Capitol to release the Jabberjays into the wild at the end of the war. Now, Lou-Lou is her own Jabberjay. The fact that she’s physically wired to the Capitol’s surveillance machine speaks to how deeply this system of control has been ingrained into the bodies of Panem’s citizens. Even in the apartment where the tributes stay before the Games, there are cameras in every room, and the tributes aren't sure if someone is watching or listening—but the very awareness of that possibility influences how they behave. Even the arena itself being designed to look like an eye is another Orwellian nod—a reminder that surveillance in Panem isn't just about gathering information, but about controlling behavior through the constant threat of being watched.

Plutarch profits from this surveillance machine. He actively constructs the narrative of the Games—editing, manipulating, and presenting Haymitch's suffering in a way that serves the Capitol’s broader strategy of control. His complicity in constructing these narratives reflects how surveillance isn’t just about power—it’s about shaping public perception and reinforcing the Capitol’s grip on power through the stories it chooses to tell.

I appreciated how Collins showed the slow build of the second rebellion—that it wasn’t spontaneous, but the culmination of decades of resistance. Revolutions are rarely overnight. They are built on countless failures and losses, and Collins captures that sense of history perfectly. Haymitch’s Quarter Quell was a necessary piece in the puzzle that led to the second rebellion’s success, and seeing that groundwork laid here was one of the book’s strengths.

But while I loved the thematic depth of Sunrise on the Reaping, I found some of the execution uneven. The first half of the book felt overstuffed with cameos and easter-egg connections to the broader franchise. While I understand the need to tie this story to Catching Fire and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, some of these moments—like Beatee revealing his deepest secrets to a 16-year-old Haymitch or Wiress being Haymitch's mentor—felt uncharacteristic and forced. Mags� presence was a delight, and seeing her as a motherly figure and guide to Haymitch was so sweet, but Wiress felt unnecessary, and the sheer number of familiar faces and random lore drops sometimes pulled me out of the story. At times it felt like Collins was shoehorning these connections to bank on fans' nostalgia for the original trilogy, and although I'm being a bit hypocritical here because I did enjoy spotting these easter eggs, the balance between fan service and storytelling didn’t really land.

description

Some of the most affecting moments in the book involve Haymitch’s relationship with Lenore Dove, which, while underdeveloped, still managed to break my heart. The poem that gives her her name—Edgar Allan Poe’s Lenore—is a direct foreshadowing of Haymitch’s future: “Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore.� The boy in the poem is trying to drown his grief, and Haymitch, too, will spend his life drowning in alcohol to forget. The parallels between Coriolanus Snow screaming Lucy Gray’s name in the woods and Haymitch screaming Lenore’s are haunting—one driven by revenge, the other by love got me. And that epilogue? Perfection. Lenore’s ghost forgiving Haymitch (which is really Haymitch forgiving himself), his found family with Katniss and Peeta, the geese—it’s a perfect, bittersweet ending. I just wish we’d spent more time with Lenore as a character. Her limited presence made it harder to fully invest in their relationship, though I still felt deeply for Haymitch.

The Games themselves were far more brutal and unpredictable than I thought they'd be, with twists I never saw coming. The way Haymitch was “reaped,� Lou-Lou’s fate—it was beyond cruel (my sweet Lou-Lou ]]> 4.62 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/24
shelves: 2025
review:
4 stars - Suzanne Collins, you’ve done it again! But I have some notes.

Anyone who knows me knows I love The Hunger Games and don’t play about this franchise. I haven’t felt this excited about a book in a LONG time and tore through Sunrise on the Reaping—staying up until 2 AM reading it and finishing the rest this afternoon. It’s been years since I’ve felt this completely hooked by a story. But while I loved so much about this book, there were moments where I thought it stumbled, and I want to talk about both sides of that experience.

What Collins does so masterfully here—and what I’ve come to expect from her—is her thematic exploration of propaganda as a tool of control. The reaping in District 12 is staged after Haymitch is forcefully chosen as tribute, the Capitol re-edits the Games to misrepresent the characters and contributions of Maysilee, Ampert, Lou-Lou, and the Newcomer alliance, completely erasing the damage Haymitch wreaks on the arena in hopes of destroying the Games. The tributes from 12 are forced to pretend Lou-Lou is Louella for the cameras. The banners about the Games in the districts read “No Peace, No Bread,� while in the Capitol, they proclaim “No Hunger Games, No Peace.� The propaganda of Panem alters the perception of its citizens, making them more malleable to the overreaching government. Even the Orwell quote at the beginning—“All propaganda is lies, even when one is telling the truth. I don’t think this matters so long as one knows what one is doing, and why”—speaks to this idea. Propaganda takes elements of truth and presents them in a manner that distorts reality, leading people to support the very systems that oppress them. This plays out in Haymitch’s apathy toward the reaping, his belief that it’s as inevitable as the sunrise, even though the Games have only existed for 50 years and it is possible to have a world without them. It’s a sharp critique of how altered perceptions keep people complicit in their own oppression.

Plutarch embodies this contradiction perfectly. He claims to be for the rebellion even as he produces the Games for television and later becomes a Gamemaker. He speaks of wanting freedom from the Capitol to Haymitch, a poor boy from the poorest district, while profiting off his pain and misery, clipping together narratives that benefit the Capitol. And then there’s the irony of Panem outlawing AI because of its potential to manipulate reality by “replicating any scenario using any person […] in seconds,� while the Capitol and its actors (including Plutarch!) do exactly that—forcing the tributes and citizens of District 12 to reenact the Reaping for the cameras. It’s not just about erasing the truth—it’s about controlling the narrative entirely.

Collins also explores how surveillance sustains this cycle of complicity. The Capitol doesn’t just control people through propaganda—it conditions them to self-police through the constant threat of being watched. Haymitch reflects on this early in the book when he says, "It's secluded, we all know there are eyes everywhere." The idea that you might be watched at any given moment forces you to self-regulate—it’s not just about literal surveillance, but the internalized sense of constantly being monitored. This ties directly into the concept of the panopticon, where the possibility of being watched at all times ensures compliance even when no one is watching.

We see this panopticon effect play out in Lou-Lou, who is suggested to have an audio implant in her ear so the Capitol can spy on the tributes from District 12. Haymitch draws a direct parallel to the Capitol’s use of Jabberjays during the war to spy on the districts. When the districts realized this, they relayed fake information to confuse the Capitol—prompting the Capitol to release the Jabberjays into the wild at the end of the war. Now, Lou-Lou is her own Jabberjay. The fact that she’s physically wired to the Capitol’s surveillance machine speaks to how deeply this system of control has been ingrained into the bodies of Panem’s citizens. Even in the apartment where the tributes stay before the Games, there are cameras in every room, and the tributes aren't sure if someone is watching or listening—but the very awareness of that possibility influences how they behave. Even the arena itself being designed to look like an eye is another Orwellian nod—a reminder that surveillance in Panem isn't just about gathering information, but about controlling behavior through the constant threat of being watched.

Plutarch profits from this surveillance machine. He actively constructs the narrative of the Games—editing, manipulating, and presenting Haymitch's suffering in a way that serves the Capitol’s broader strategy of control. His complicity in constructing these narratives reflects how surveillance isn’t just about power—it’s about shaping public perception and reinforcing the Capitol’s grip on power through the stories it chooses to tell.

I appreciated how Collins showed the slow build of the second rebellion—that it wasn’t spontaneous, but the culmination of decades of resistance. Revolutions are rarely overnight. They are built on countless failures and losses, and Collins captures that sense of history perfectly. Haymitch’s Quarter Quell was a necessary piece in the puzzle that led to the second rebellion’s success, and seeing that groundwork laid here was one of the book’s strengths.

But while I loved the thematic depth of Sunrise on the Reaping, I found some of the execution uneven. The first half of the book felt overstuffed with cameos and easter-egg connections to the broader franchise. While I understand the need to tie this story to Catching Fire and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, some of these moments—like Beatee revealing his deepest secrets to a 16-year-old Haymitch or Wiress being Haymitch's mentor—felt uncharacteristic and forced. Mags� presence was a delight, and seeing her as a motherly figure and guide to Haymitch was so sweet, but Wiress felt unnecessary, and the sheer number of familiar faces and random lore drops sometimes pulled me out of the story. At times it felt like Collins was shoehorning these connections to bank on fans' nostalgia for the original trilogy, and although I'm being a bit hypocritical here because I did enjoy spotting these easter eggs, the balance between fan service and storytelling didn’t really land.

description

Some of the most affecting moments in the book involve Haymitch’s relationship with Lenore Dove, which, while underdeveloped, still managed to break my heart. The poem that gives her her name—Edgar Allan Poe’s Lenore—is a direct foreshadowing of Haymitch’s future: “Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore.� The boy in the poem is trying to drown his grief, and Haymitch, too, will spend his life drowning in alcohol to forget. The parallels between Coriolanus Snow screaming Lucy Gray’s name in the woods and Haymitch screaming Lenore’s are haunting—one driven by revenge, the other by love got me. And that epilogue? Perfection. Lenore’s ghost forgiving Haymitch (which is really Haymitch forgiving himself), his found family with Katniss and Peeta, the geese—it’s a perfect, bittersweet ending. I just wish we’d spent more time with Lenore as a character. Her limited presence made it harder to fully invest in their relationship, though I still felt deeply for Haymitch.

The Games themselves were far more brutal and unpredictable than I thought they'd be, with twists I never saw coming. The way Haymitch was “reaped,� Lou-Lou’s fate—it was beyond cruel (my sweet Lou-Lou
]]> L'Amour, la fantasia 74706
Assia Djebar, sans conteste la plus grande romancière du Maghreb, nous donne ici son oeuvre la plus aboutie.]]> 314 Assia Djebar 7780024342 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.53 1985 L'Amour, la fantasia
author: Assia Djebar
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Unworthy 214151601 The long-awaited new novel from the author of global sensation Tender Is the Flesh: a thrilling work of literary horror about a woman cloistered in a secretive, violent religious order, while outside the world has fallen into chaos.

From her cell in a mysterious convent, a woman writes the story of her life in whatever she can find—discarded ink, dirt, and even her own blood. A lower member of the Sacred Sisterhood, deemed an unworthy, she dreams of ascending to the ranks of the Enlightened at the center of the convent and of pleasing the foreboding Superior Sister. Outside, the world is plagued by catastrophe—cities are submerged underwater, electricity and the internet are nonexistent, and bands of survivors fight and forage in a cruel, barren landscape. Inside, the narrator is controlled, punished, but safe.

But when a stranger makes her way past the convent walls, joining the ranks of the unworthy, she forces the narrator to consider her long-buried past—and what she may be overlooking about the Enlightened. As the two women grow closer, the narrator is increasingly haunted by questions about her own past, the environmental future, and her present life inside the convent. How did she get to the Sacred Sisterhood? Why can’t she remember her life before? And what really happens when a woman is chosen as one of the Enlightened?

A searing, dystopian tale about climate crisis, ideological extremism, and the tidal pull of our most violent, exploitative instincts, this is another unforgettable novel from a master of feminist horror.]]> 192 Agustina Bazterrica 1668051885 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.64 2023 The Unworthy
author: Agustina Bazterrica
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Awake in the Floating City 217453585 An utterly transporting debut novel about the unexpected relationship between an artist and the 130-year-old woman she cares for—two of the last people living in a flooded San Francisco of the future, the home neither is ready to leave.

“An astonishing work of art…This is the kind of book that changes you, that leaves you seeing more vividly, and living more fully, in its wake.� —Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans

Bo knows she should go. Years of rain have drowned the city and almost everyone else has fled. Her mother was carried away in a storm surge and ever since, Bo has been alone. She is stalled: an artist unable to make art, a daughter unable to give up the hope that her mother may still be alive. Half-heartedly, she allows her cousin to plan for her escape—but as the departure day approaches, she finds a note slipped under her door from Mia, an elderly woman who lives in her building and wants to hire Bo to be her caregiver. Suddenly, Bo has a reason to stay.

Mia can be prickly, and yet still she and Bo forge a connection deeper than any Bo has had with a client. Mia shares stories of her life that pull Bo back toward art, toward the practice she thought she’d abandoned. Listening to Mia, allowing her memories to become entangled with Bo’s own, she’s struck by how much history will be lost as the city gives way to water. Then Mia’s health turns, and Bo determines to honor their disappearing world and this woman who’s brought her back to it, a project that teaches her the lessons that matter most: how to care, how to be present, how to commemorate a life and a place, soon to be lost forever.]]> 320 Susanna Kwan 0593701402 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.92 2025 Awake in the Floating City
author: Susanna Kwan
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> Luminous 214151232 A highly anticipated, sweeping debut set in a unified Korea that tells the story of three estranged siblings—two human, one robot—as they collide against the backdrop of a murder investigation to settle old scores and make sense of their shattered childhood, perfect for fans of Klara and the Sun and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves.

In a reunified Korea of the future, robots have been integrated into society as surrogates, servants, children, and even lovers. Though boundaries between bionic and organic frequently blur, these robots are decidedly second-class citizens. Jun and Morgan, two siblings estranged for many years, are haunted by the memory of their lost brother, Yoyo, who was warm, sensitive, and very nearly human.

Jun, a war veteran turned detective of the lowly Robot Crimes Unit in Seoul, becomes consumed by an investigation that reconnects him with his sister Morgan, now a prominent robot designer working for a top firm, who is, embarrassingly, dating one of her creations in secret.

On the other side of Seoul in a junkyard filled with abandoned robots, eleven-year-old Ruijie sifts through scraps looking for robotic parts that might support her failing body. When she discovers a robot boy named Yoyo among the piles of trash, an unlikely bond is formed since Yoyo is so lifelike, he’s unlike anything she’s seen before.

While Morgan prepares to launch the most advanced robot-boy of her career, Jun’s investigation sparks a journey through the underbelly of Seoul, unearthing deeper mysteries about the history of their country and their family. The three siblings must find their way back to each other to reckon with their pasts and the future ahead of them in this poignant and remarkable exploration of what it really means to be human.]]> 391 Silvia Park 1668021668 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.89 2025 Luminous
author: Silvia Park
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> My Name Is Emilia del Valle 217245557 In this spellbinding historical novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea and The Wind Knows My Name, a young writer journeys to South America to uncover the truth about her father—and herself.

In San Francisco 1866, an Irish nun, left pregnant and abandoned following a torrid relationship with a Chilean aristocrat, gives birth to a daughter named Emilia Del Valle. Raised by a loving stepfather, Emilia grows into an independent thinker and a self-sufficient young woman.

To pursue her passion for writing, she is willing to defy societal norms. At the age of sixteen, she begins to publish pulp fiction under a man’s pen name. When these fictional worlds can't contain her sense of adventure any longer, she turns to journalism, convincing an editor at the San Francisco Examiner to hire her. There she is paired with another talented reporter, Eric Whelan.

As she proves herself, her restlessness returns, until an opportunity arises to cover a brewing civil war in Chile. She seizes it, along with Eric, and while there, begins to uncover the truth about her father and the country that represents her roots. But as the war escalates, Emilia finds herself in danger and at a crossroads, questioning both her identity and her destiny.

A riveting tale of self-discovery and love from one of the most masterful storytellers of our time, My Name is Emilia del Valle introduces a character who will never let hold of your heart.]]> 304 Isabel Allende 059397509X maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.02 2025 My Name Is Emilia del Valle
author: Isabel Allende
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> I Cheerfully Refuse 198276006 I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of Rainy, an aspiring musician setting sail on Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. An endearing bear of an Orphean narrator, he seeks refuge in the harbors, fogs, and remote islands of the inland sea. After encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, he eventually lands to find an increasingly desperate and illiterate people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, a crumbled infrastructure, and a lawless society. As his guileless nature begins to make an inadvertent rebel of him, Rainy’s private quest for the love of his life grows into something wider and wilder, sweeping up friends and foes alike in his wake.]]> 336 Leif Enger 0802162932 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.96 2024 I Cheerfully Refuse
author: Leif Enger
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Pedagogy of the Oppressed 72657 Pedagogy of the Oppressed was translated and published in English in 1970. The methodology of the late Paulo Freire has helped to empower countless impoverished and illiterate people throughout the world. Freire's work has taken on especial urgency in the United States and Western Europe, where the creation of a permanent underclass among the underprivileged and minorities in cities and urban centers is increasingly accepted as the norm. With a substantive new introduction on Freire's life and the remarkable impact of this book by writer and Freire confidant and authority Donaldo Macedo, this anniversary edition of Pedagogy of the Oppressed will inspire a new generation of educators, students, and general readers for years to come.]]> 183 Paulo Freire 0826412769 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.30 1968 Pedagogy of the Oppressed
author: Paulo Freire
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1968
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cold Enough for Snow 58730649 Cold Enough for Snow questions whether any of us speak a common language, which dimensions can contain love, and what claim we have to truly know another's inner world.

Selected from more than 1,500 entries, Cold Enough for Snow won the Novel Prize, a new, biennial award offered by Fitzcarraldo Editions, New Directions (US) and Giramondo (Australia), for any novel written in English that explores and expands the possibilities of the form.]]> 99 Jessica Au 1913097765 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.79 2022 Cold Enough for Snow
author: Jessica Au
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Beggar Student 208511269 For fans of No Longer Human, Osamu Dazai’s darkly bewitching novel about the small redemptions of being a pathetic, miserable writer.

A fictional thirty-something writer named Osamu Dazai has just mailed his publisher a terrible manuscript, filling him with dread and shame. Shortly afterward, while moping around a park in suburban Tokyo, he spots a figure drowning in a nearby aqueduct.

He doesn’t want to become a witness to a suicide and eventually decides to flee the park. But as he is leaving, he trips over the boy who had been drowning, and the two begin an unlikely conversation that turns into an intellectual spat. Hoping to ingratiate himself with the boy―a high-school dropout―Dazai finds himself agreeing to perform that very night as the live narrator of a film screening in the boy’s stead�

So begins the madcap adventure of The Beggar Student, where there is glamor in destitution and glimmerings of truth in intellectual one-upmanship. Replete with settings straight out of the popular anime Bungo Stray Dogs and echoes of the themes in No Longer Human, this biting novella captures the infamous Japanese writer at his mordant best.]]> 96 Osamu Dazai 081123858X maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.75 1940 The Beggar Student
author: Osamu Dazai
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.75
book published: 1940
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Yellowface 59357120
So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song—complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? This piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller. That is what June believes, and The New York Times bestseller list agrees.

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.]]> 329 R.F. Kuang maya ౨ৎ 4 favourites
3.9 stars - My thoughts on it haven't really changed from last time.

Oh my god, where to begin? So I listened to the audiobook while I was recovering from LASIK, and it’s been a while since I’ve read this book so I didn’t remember much, but it really is evergreen. I didn’t love the narration of the audiobook and felt that it didn’t really match June or her characterization but it was still enjoyable. I'm still a bit out of it and I'll probably have more to say later on but this was such a fun read and really entertaining from start to finish!

-----------------------------------------------------

3.9 stars rounded up - a fun read, if a bit heavy-handed in the end.

[spoilers removed] but this was such a good book! I couldn't put it down until I finished it. It felt like a car crash I couldn't look away from - insane.]]> 3.84 2023 Yellowface
author: R.F. Kuang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/23
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: favourites
review:
Second read - March 15, 2025

3.9 stars - My thoughts on it haven't really changed from last time.

Oh my god, where to begin? So I listened to the audiobook while I was recovering from LASIK, and it’s been a while since I’ve read this book so I didn’t remember much, but it really is evergreen. I didn’t love the narration of the audiobook and felt that it didn’t really match June or her characterization but it was still enjoyable. I'm still a bit out of it and I'll probably have more to say later on but this was such a fun read and really entertaining from start to finish!

-----------------------------------------------------

3.9 stars rounded up - a fun read, if a bit heavy-handed in the end.

[spoilers removed] but this was such a good book! I couldn't put it down until I finished it. It felt like a car crash I couldn't look away from - insane.
]]> Just Kids 341879 Just Kids, Patti Smith's first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies. An honest and moving story of youth and friendship, Smith brings the same unique, lyrical quality to Just Kids as she has to the rest of her formidable body of work--from her influential 1975 album Horses to her visual art and poetry.]]> 304 Patti Smith maya ౨ৎ 0 2025, to-read 4.19 2010 Just Kids
author: Patti Smith
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves: 2025, to-read
review:

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

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.]]> 319 R.F. Kuang 000853277X maya ౨ৎ 0 3.69 2023 Yellowface
author: R.F. Kuang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves:
review:

]]> Frankenstein in Baghdad 30780005 The New York Times), Frankenstein in Baghdad captures with white-knuckle horror and black humor the surreal reality of contemporary Iraq.]]> 281 Ahmed Saadawi 0143128795 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.65 2013 Frankenstein in Baghdad
author: Ahmed Saadawi
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> Crush 213870131 When a husband asks his reluctant wife to consider what might be missing from their marriage, what follows surprises them both—sex, heartbreak and heart rekindling, and a rediscovered sense of all that is possible

She’s happy and settled and productive and content in her full life—a child, a career, an admirable marriage, deep friendships, happy parents, and a spouse she still loves. But when her husband urges her to address what the narrow labels of “husband� and “wife� force them to edit out of their lives, the very best kind of hell breaks loose.

Using the author’s personal experiences as a jumping-off point, Crush is about the danger and liberation of chasing desire, the havoc it can wreak, and most of all the clear sense of self one finds when the storm passes. Destined to become a classic novel of marriage, and tackling the big questions being asked about partnership in postpandemic relationships, Crush is a sharp, funny, seductive, and revelatory novel about holding on to everything it’s possible to love—friends, children, parents, passion, lovers, husbands, all of the world’s good books, and most of all one’s own deep sense of purpose.]]> 288 Ada Calhoun 0593832027 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.01 2025 Crush
author: Ada Calhoun
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.01
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Month in the Country 60707 160 J.L. Carr 0940322471 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.10 1980 A Month in the Country
author: J.L. Carr
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.10
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Good Girl 195644142
A girl can get in almost anywhere, even if she can’t get out.

In Berlin’s artistic underground, where techno and drugs fill warehouses still pockmarked from the wars of the twentieth century, nineteen-year-old Nila at last finds her tribe. Born in Germany to Afghan parents, raised in public housing graffitied with swastikas, drawn to philosophy, photography, and sex, Nila has spent her adolescence disappointing her family while searching for her voice as a young woman and artist.

Then in the haze of Berlin’s legendary nightlife, Nila meets Marlowe, an American writer whose fading literary celebrity opens her eyes to a life of personal and artistic freedom. But as Nila finds herself pulled further into Marlowe’s controlling orbit, ugly, barely submerged racial tensions begin to roil Germany—and Nila’s family and community. After a year of running from her future, Nila stops to ask herself the most important question: Who does she want to be?

A story of love and family, raves and Kafka, staying up all night and surviving the mistakes of youth, Good Girl is the virtuosic debut novel by a celebrated young poet and, now, a major new voice in fiction.]]> 368 Aria Aber maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.72 2025 Good Girl
author: Aria Aber
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> The Bee Sting 62039166 From the author of Skippy Dies comes Paul Murray's The Bee Sting, an irresistibly funny, wise, and thought-provoking tour de force about family, fortune, and the struggle to be a good person when the world is falling apart.

The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under―but rather than face the music, he’s spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife Imelda is selling off her jewelry on eBay, while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way through her final exams. And twelve-year-old PJ is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home.

Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favor to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil―can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written―is there still time to find a happy ending?]]> 645 Paul Murray 0374600309 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.92 2023 The Bee Sting
author: Paul Murray
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl]]> 40961608 In a tour de force of historical reportage, Timothy Egan’s National Book Award–winning story rescues an iconic chapter of American history from the shadows. The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since. Following a dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, Timothy Egan tells of their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black dust blizzards, crop failure, and the death of loved ones. Brilliantly capturing the terrifying drama of catastrophe, he does equal justice to the human characters who become his heroes, “the stoic, long-suffering men and women whose lives he opens up with urgency and respect� (New York Times). In an era that promises ever-greater natural disasters, The Worst Hard Time is “arguably the best nonfiction book yet� (Austin Statesman Journal) on the greatest environmental disaster ever to be visited upon our land and a powerful reminder about the dangers of trifling with nature.]]> 352 Timothy Egan 0547347774 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.09 2005 The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
author: Timothy Egan
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Juan Perón: The Life of the People's Colonel]]> 53205934 Outside Argentina, Perón remains overshadowed by his second wife, Evita. The life of this fascinating and unusual man, whose charisma, political influence and controversial nature continue to generate interest, remains somewhat of a mystery to the rest of the world. Perón remains a key figure in Argentine politics, still able to occupy so much of the political spectrum as to constrain the development of viable alternatives. Jill Hedges explores the life and personality of Perón and asks why he remains a political icon despite the 'negatives' associated with his extreme personalism.]]> 280 Jill Hedges 0755602722 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 3.88 Juan Perón: The Life of the People's Colonel
author: Jill Hedges
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.88
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> Toward Eternity 199392376 What does it mean to be human in a world where technology is quickly catching up to biology?

In a near-future world, a new technological therapy is quickly eradicating cancer: The body’s cells are entirely replaced with nanites—robot or android cells that not only cure those afflicted but leave them virtually immortal. At the same time, literary researcher Yonghun teaches an AI how to understand poetry and creates a living, thinking machine he names Panit, meaning "Beloved," in honor of his husband. When Dr. Beeko, who holds the patent to the nano-therapy technology, learns of Panit, he transfers its consciousness into an android body, giving it freedom and life. As Yonghun, Panit, and other nano humans thrive—and begin to replicate—their development will lead them to a crossroads and a choice with existential consequences.]]> 256 Anton Hur 0063344483 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.81 2024 Toward Eternity
author: Anton Hur
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Sunburn 75715117 Selected as an Evening Standard 'one to watch in 2023'

It's the early 1990s, and in the Irish village of Crossmore, Lucy feels out of place. Despite her fierce friendships, she's always felt this way, and the conventional path of marriage and motherhood doesn't appeal to her at all. Not even with handsome and doting Martin, her closest childhood friend.

Lucy begins to make sense of herself during a long hot summer, when a spark with her school friend Susannah escalates to an all-consuming infatuation, and, very quickly, to a desperate and devastating love.

Fearful of rejection from her small and conservative community, Lucy begins living a double life, hiding the most honest parts of herself in stolen moments with Susannah.

But with the end of school and the opportunity to leave Crossmore looming, Lucy must choose between two places, two people and two futures, each as terrifying as the other. But only one can offer her real happiness.

Sunburn is an astute and tender portrayal of first love, adolescent anxiety and the realities of growing up in a small town where tradition holds people tightly in its grasp.]]> 288 Chloe Michelle Howarth 0857308416 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.33 2023 Sunburn
author: Chloe Michelle Howarth
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Private Rites 203579085 From the award-winning author of Our Wives Under the Sea, a speculative reimagining of King Lear, centering three sisters navigating queer love and loss in a drowning world

It’s been raining for a long time now, so long that the land has reshaped itself and arcane rituals and religions are creeping back into practice. Sisters Isla, Irene, and Agnes have not spoken in some time when their father dies. An architect as cruel as he was revered, his death offers an opportunity for the sisters to come together in a new way. In the grand glass house they grew up in, their father’s most famous creation, the sisters sort through the secrets and memories he left behind, until their fragile bond is shattered by a revelation in his will.

More estranged than ever, the sisters� lives spin out of control: Irene’s relationship is straining at the seams; Isla’s ex-wife keeps calling; and cynical Agnes is falling in love for the first time. But something even more sinister might be unfolding, something related to their mother’s long-ago disappearance and the strangers who have always seemed unusually interested in the sisters� lives. Soon, it becomes clear that the sisters have been chosen for a very particular purpose, one with shattering implications for their family and their imperiled world.]]> 291 Julia Armfield 125034431X maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.58 2024 Private Rites
author: Julia Armfield
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Enter Ghost 59725231 A bold, evocative new novel from the Sue Kaufman, Betty Trask and Plimpton Prize Award winner Isabella Hammad that follows actress Sonia as she returns to Palestine and takes a role in a West Bank production of Hamlet

After years away from her family’s homeland, and reeling from a disastrous love affair, actress Sonia Nasir returns to Haifa to visit her older sister Haneen. This is her first trip back since the second intifada and the deaths of their grandparents: while Haneen made a life here commuting to Tel Aviv to teach at the university, Sonia stayed in London to focus on her acting career and now dissolute marriage. On her return, she finds her relationship to Palestine is fragile, both bone-deep and new.

At Haneen’s, Sonia meets the charismatic and candid Mariam, a local director, and finds herself roped into a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Sonia is soon rehearsing Gertude’s lines in classical Arabic and spending more time in Ramallah than in Haifa, along with a dedicated group of men from all over historic Palestine who, in spite of competing egos and priorities, each want to bring Shakespeare to that side of the wall. As opening night draws closer it becomes clear just how many violent obstacles stand before a troupe of Palestinian actors. Amidst it all, the life Sonia once knew starts to give way to the daunting, exhilarating possibility of finding a new self in her ancestral home.

A stunning rendering of present-day Palestine, Enter Ghost is a story of diaspora, displacement, and the connection to be found in family and shared resistance. Timely, thoughtful, and passionate, Isabella Hammad’s highly anticipated second novel is an exquisite feat, an unforgettable story of artistry under occupation.]]> 336 Isabella Hammad 080216238X maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.13 2023 Enter Ghost
author: Isabella Hammad
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Junie 212806648 A young girl must face a life-altering decision after awakening her sister’s ghost, navigating truths about love, friendship, and power as the Civil War looms.

Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie.

When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act—one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave, tethered to this world unless Junie can free her. She enlists the aid of Caleb, the guests� coachman, and their friendship soon becomes something more. Yet as long-held truths begin to crumble, she realizes Bellereine is harboring dark and horrifying secrets that can no longer be ignored.

With time ticking down, Junie begins to push against the harsh current that has controlled her entire life. As she grapples with an increasingly unfamiliar world in which she has little control, she is forced to ask herself: When we choose love and liberation, what must we leave behind?]]> 368 Erin Crosby Eckstine 0593725115 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.21 2025 Junie
author: Erin Crosby Eckstine
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> I Am Not Jessica Chen 61374793
Now trapped inside Jessica’s body, with access to Jessica’s most private journals and secrets, Jenna soon discovers that being the top student at the elite, highly competitive Havenwood Private Academy isn’t quite what she imagined. Worse, as everyone—including her own parents—start having trouble remembering who Jenna Chen is, or if she ever even existed, Jenna must decide if playing the role of the perfect daughter and student is worth losing her true self forever.]]> 320 Ann Liang 133552312X maya ౨ৎ 2 2025
This book had promise, and the pacing was decent for the most part, though the final third felt rushed. The cover is also quite pretty. However, the book’s execution left much to be desired. Jenna started off as an interesting protagonist, but once she switched bodies with Jessica, she became frustratingly naive. Her choices often felt baffling—especially when she discovers a major secret in Jessica’s diary but doesn’t immediately read the whole thing. That plotline is also resolved far too quickly without us seeing any real consequences for Jessica. The body swap concept had potential for a stronger “grass is greener� lesson, but the pressure Jenna should have felt as Jessica wasn’t explored deeply enough. The story’s themes were presented with VERY little subtlety, even for a YA novel, making everything feel surface-level. Jenna’s struggles with academic validation and self-worth, which were central to her character, somehow vanished overnight without any real growth or resolution. Her decision to switch back to her own body was also unconvincing—she does it because Aaron forgets her, not because she misses her family or finds meaning in her own life? That felt flimsy.

Speaking of Aaron, his relationship with Jenna was unremarkable. His reason for leaving for Paris made no sense, even with his explanation, and he lacked personality beyond being a “green flag� boyfriend. The supposed childhood bond between Jenna, Jessica, and Aaron is unconvincing—they’re described as close, yet their interactions are cold and distant, and nothing about their interactions suggests a close bond. Jessica’s character was another missed opportunity. Her struggles are only touched on at a surface level, and because she disappears for most of the book, there is no real opportunity for her and Jenna to work through their differences together. A Freaky Friday-style approach where they actually interact and learn from each other would have made for a much stronger story.

Leela’s character also felt inconsistent—she badmouths Jenna behind her back and barely notices when she’s gone, yet the book insists they are close friends. Jenna’s family is also barely explored, which made it hard to care about that part of her life. Finally, the ending was abrupt and left too many plot points unresolved. It felt like the story was rushing to wrap itself up rather than providing a satisfying conclusion. Anne Liang also seems to write the same protagonist in all her books—Jenna is indistinguishable from her other main characters, making the story feel predictable and repetitive.

Overall, I Am Not Jessica Chen was a shallow read that never fully engaged me, and at times, it felt overly preachy. Bummer.]]> 4.08 2025 I Am Not Jessica Chen
author: Ann Liang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: 2025
review:
2 stars - A body swap story with potential that ultimately falls flat due to shallow character development, underdeveloped themes, and an unsatisfying conclusion.

This book had promise, and the pacing was decent for the most part, though the final third felt rushed. The cover is also quite pretty. However, the book’s execution left much to be desired. Jenna started off as an interesting protagonist, but once she switched bodies with Jessica, she became frustratingly naive. Her choices often felt baffling—especially when she discovers a major secret in Jessica’s diary but doesn’t immediately read the whole thing. That plotline is also resolved far too quickly without us seeing any real consequences for Jessica. The body swap concept had potential for a stronger “grass is greener� lesson, but the pressure Jenna should have felt as Jessica wasn’t explored deeply enough. The story’s themes were presented with VERY little subtlety, even for a YA novel, making everything feel surface-level. Jenna’s struggles with academic validation and self-worth, which were central to her character, somehow vanished overnight without any real growth or resolution. Her decision to switch back to her own body was also unconvincing—she does it because Aaron forgets her, not because she misses her family or finds meaning in her own life? That felt flimsy.

Speaking of Aaron, his relationship with Jenna was unremarkable. His reason for leaving for Paris made no sense, even with his explanation, and he lacked personality beyond being a “green flag� boyfriend. The supposed childhood bond between Jenna, Jessica, and Aaron is unconvincing—they’re described as close, yet their interactions are cold and distant, and nothing about their interactions suggests a close bond. Jessica’s character was another missed opportunity. Her struggles are only touched on at a surface level, and because she disappears for most of the book, there is no real opportunity for her and Jenna to work through their differences together. A Freaky Friday-style approach where they actually interact and learn from each other would have made for a much stronger story.

Leela’s character also felt inconsistent—she badmouths Jenna behind her back and barely notices when she’s gone, yet the book insists they are close friends. Jenna’s family is also barely explored, which made it hard to care about that part of her life. Finally, the ending was abrupt and left too many plot points unresolved. It felt like the story was rushing to wrap itself up rather than providing a satisfying conclusion. Anne Liang also seems to write the same protagonist in all her books—Jenna is indistinguishable from her other main characters, making the story feel predictable and repetitive.

Overall, I Am Not Jessica Chen was a shallow read that never fully engaged me, and at times, it felt overly preachy. Bummer.
]]> The Waves 46114 The Waves introduces six characters—three men and three women—who are grappling with the death of a beloved friend, Percival. Instead of describing their outward expressions of grief, Virginia Woolf draws her characters from the inside, revealing them through their thoughts and interior soliloquies. As their understanding of nature’s trials grows, the chorus of narrative voices blends together in miraculous harmony, remarking not only on the inevitable death of individuals but on the eternal connection of everyone. The novel that most epitomizes Virginia Woolf’s theories of fiction in the working form, The Waves is an amazing book very much ahead of its time. It is a poetic dreamscape, visual, experimental, and thrilling.]]> 297 Virginia Woolf 0156949601 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.17 1931 The Waves
author: Virginia Woolf
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1931
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Crane Among Wolves 180633984 June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace, crafts a devastating and pulse-pounding tale that will feel all-too-relevant in today’s world, based on a true story from Korean history.

Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly.

1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings.

Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death.

Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust.

When Iseul's and Daehyun's fates collide, their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hate for the king. Armed with Iseul’s family connections and Daehyun’s royal access, they reluctantly join forces to launch the riskiest gamble the kingdom has ever

Save her sister. Free the people. Destroy a tyrant.

Also by June
The Silence of Bones
The Forest of Stolen Girls
The Red Palace]]> 364 June Hur 1250858100 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.97 2024 A Crane Among Wolves
author: June Hur
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> A Far Wilder Magic 48909025
Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist--yet. Fired from every apprenticeship he's landed, his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret and her bloodhound Trouble. Margaret begrudgingly allows him to stay, but on one condition: he must join the hunt with her.

Although they make an unlikely team, Wes is in awe of the girl who has endured alone on the outskirts of a town that doesn’t want her, in this creaking house of ghosts and sorrow. And even though Wes disrupts every aspect of her life, Margaret is drawn to him. He, too, knows what it's like to be an outsider. As the hunt looms closer and tensions rise, Margaret and Wes uncover dark magic that could be the key to winning the hunt - if they survive that long.]]> 384 Allison Saft 1250623650 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.84 2022 A Far Wilder Magic
author: Allison Saft
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> Asleep in the Sun 214536
Asleep in the Sun is the great work of the Argentine master Adolfo Bioy Casares's later years. Like his legendary Invention of Morel, it is an intoxicating mixture of fantasy, sly humor, and menace. Whether read as a fable of modern politics, a meditation on the elusive parameters of the self, or a most unusual love story, Bioy's book is an almost scarily perfect comic turn, as well as a pure delight.]]> 172 Adolfo Bioy Casares 1590170954 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.90 1973 Asleep in the Sun
author: Adolfo Bioy Casares
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1973
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> Summer 269528
With its frank treatment of a woman's sexual awakening, Summer created a sensation upon its 1917 publication. Edith Wharton � the author of Ethan Frome and a peerless observer and chronicler of society � completely shattered the standards of conventional love stories with this novel's candor and realism. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author declared Summer a personal favorite among her works, and liked to refer to it as "the Hot Ethan." Over a century later, it remains fresh and relevant.]]> 127 Edith Wharton maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.68 1917 Summer
author: Edith Wharton
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1917
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead]]> 51648276
A deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate. Whom do we deem sane? it asks. Who is worthy of a voice?

Duration: 11 hours 39 minutes.]]> 274 Olga Tokarczuk maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.93 2009 Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
author: Olga Tokarczuk
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> The Bluest Eye 11337 The Bluest Eye is Toni Morrison's first novel, a book heralded for its richness of language and boldness of vision. Set in the author's girlhood hometown of Lorain, Ohio, it tells the story of black, eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove. Pecola prays for her eyes to turn blue so that she will be as beautiful and beloved as all the blond, blue-eyed children in America. In the autumn of 1941, the year the marigolds in the Breedloves' garden do not bloom. Pecola's life does change—in painful, devastating ways.

With its vivid evocation of the fear and loneliness at the heart of a child's yearning, and the tragedy of its fulfillment. The Bluest Eye remains one of Toni Morrison's most powerful, unforgettable novels- and a significant work of American fiction.]]> 216 Toni Morrison maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.13 1970 The Bluest Eye
author: Toni Morrison
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> Human Acts 30091914 A riveting, poetic, and fearless portrait of political unrest and the universal struggle for justice by the acclaimed author of The Vegetarian.

In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed.

The story of this tragic episode unfolds in a sequence of interconnected chapters as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho’s best friend, who meets his own fateful end, to an editor struggling against censorship; to a prisoner and a factory worker, both suffering from traumatic memories; and to Dong-ho's own grief-stricken mother, their collective heartbreak and acts of hope tell the tale of a brutalized people in search of a voice.

An award-winning, controversial bestseller, Human Acts is a timeless, pointillist portrait of a historic event with reverberations still being felt today, by turns tracing the harsh reality of oppression and the resounding, extraordinary poetry of humanity.]]> 218 Han Kang 1101906723 maya ౨ৎ 5 dec-24, favourites
I'd had Human Acts on my TBR for a long time, but with recent events like President Yoon Seok Yeol's impeachment and the fall of the Assad regime bringing renewed attention to state violence and repression, I felt it was the right moment to finally read it. Human Acts is a deeply reflective exploration of brutality, guilt, and humanity's contradictions.

As she discusses in her interview with , Kang’s writing wrestles with humanity’s ability to embody both extraordinary kindness and unimaginable violence. These questions—about the nature of dignity, cruelty, and what it means to endure in the face of suffering—shape the heart of the book. Through the lens of the Gwangju Uprising, Han Kang tells a story that feels both specific and universal. Gwangju becomes a symbol of humanity’s recurring cycles of violence and resilience, from Jeju Island to Nanjing to Bosnia to the Americas. This connection across time and place makes the story resonate far beyond its immediate setting.

The writing is also stunning—poetic without being overdone—and the second-person narrative, which I don't usually enjoy, worked remarkably well here. Kang doesn't shy away from the horrors of violence, but she also captures the resilience and dignity that endure even in the darkest circumstances. It's a difficult book to read at times, but it feels vital.

What stayed with me most were the questions it raises: Is cruelty inevitable? Is the dignity we cling to genuine, or just a comforting illusion? While the book doesn't provide answers, it offers a profound reflection on humanity's capacity for both destruction and survival. Overall, Human Acts is a powerful, unforgettable read.]]> 4.26 2014 Human Acts
author: Han Kang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: dec-24, favourites
review:
5 stars - Profound, poetic, and one of the most thought-provoking books I've ever read.

I'd had Human Acts on my TBR for a long time, but with recent events like President Yoon Seok Yeol's impeachment and the fall of the Assad regime bringing renewed attention to state violence and repression, I felt it was the right moment to finally read it. Human Acts is a deeply reflective exploration of brutality, guilt, and humanity's contradictions.

As she discusses in her interview with , Kang’s writing wrestles with humanity’s ability to embody both extraordinary kindness and unimaginable violence. These questions—about the nature of dignity, cruelty, and what it means to endure in the face of suffering—shape the heart of the book. Through the lens of the Gwangju Uprising, Han Kang tells a story that feels both specific and universal. Gwangju becomes a symbol of humanity’s recurring cycles of violence and resilience, from Jeju Island to Nanjing to Bosnia to the Americas. This connection across time and place makes the story resonate far beyond its immediate setting.

The writing is also stunning—poetic without being overdone—and the second-person narrative, which I don't usually enjoy, worked remarkably well here. Kang doesn't shy away from the horrors of violence, but she also captures the resilience and dignity that endure even in the darkest circumstances. It's a difficult book to read at times, but it feels vital.

What stayed with me most were the questions it raises: Is cruelty inevitable? Is the dignity we cling to genuine, or just a comforting illusion? While the book doesn't provide answers, it offers a profound reflection on humanity's capacity for both destruction and survival. Overall, Human Acts is a powerful, unforgettable read.
]]> The Bell Jar 6514 294 Sylvia Plath 0571268862 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.05 1963 The Bell Jar
author: Sylvia Plath
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1963
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> The Vegetarian 25489025
Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.]]> 188 Han Kang 0553448188 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.61 2007 The Vegetarian
author: Han Kang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> The Goldfinch 17333223
Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, and down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle.

The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph - a sweeping story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity and fate.]]> 771 Donna Tartt 0316055433 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.94 2013 The Goldfinch
author: Donna Tartt
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
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]]> Beware of Pity 59149 Beware of Pity, the only novel he published during his lifetime, uncovers the seed of selfishness within even the finest of feelings.

Hofmiller, an Austro-Hungarian cavalry officer stationed at the edge of the empire, is invited to a party at the home of a rich local landowner, a world away from the dreary routine of his barracks. The surroundings are glamorous, wine flows freely, and the exhilarated young Hofmiller asks his host's lovely daughter for a dance, only to discover that sickness has left her painfully crippled. It is a minor blunder, yet one that will go on to destroy his life, as pity and guilt gradually implicate him in a well-meaning but tragically wrongheaded plot to restore the unhappy invalid to health.]]> 353 Stefan Zweig maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.28 1939 Beware of Pity
author: Stefan Zweig
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1939
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[I Have The Right To Destroy Myself]]> 797192 I don't encourage murder. I have no interest in one person killing another. I only want to draw out morbid desires, imprisoned deep in the unconscious. This lust, once freed, starts growing. Their imaginations run free, and they soon discover their potential... They are waiting for someone like me.

A spectral, nameless narrator haunts the lost and wounded of big-city Seoul, suggesting solace in suicide. Wandering through the bright lights of their high-urban existence, C and K are brothers who fall in love with the same woman - Se-yeon. As their lives intersect, they tear at each other in a struggle to find connection in their fast-paced, atomized world.

Dreamlike and cinematic, I Have the Right to Destroy Myself brilliantly affirms Young-ha Kim as Korea's leading young literary master.]]> 119 Young-ha Kim 0156030802 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.22 1995 I Have The Right To Destroy Myself
author: Young-ha Kim
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.22
book published: 1995
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot, #2)]]> 40864030
They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers's new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

They're going to need to ask it a lot.]]> 152 Becky Chambers maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.40 2022 A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot, #2)
author: Becky Chambers
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)]]> 40864002 ASIN B08H831J18 moved to the more recent edition

Centuries before, robots of Panga gained self-awareness, laid down their tools, wandered, en masse into the wilderness, never to be seen again. They faded into myth and urban legend.

Now the life of the tea monk who tells this story is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They will need to ask it a lot. Chambers' series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?]]> 151 Becky Chambers maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.25 2021 A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)
author: Becky Chambers
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2021
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]]> The Lathe of Heaven 59924
In a future world racked by violence and environmental catastrophes, George Orr wakes up one day to discover that his dreams have the ability to alter reality. He seeks help from Dr. William Haber, a psychiatrist who immediately grasps the power George wields. Soon George must preserve reality itself as Dr. Haber becomes adept at manipulating George's dreams for his own purposes.

The Lathe of Heaven is an eerily prescient novel from award-winning author Ursula K. Le Guin that masterfully addresses the dangers of power and humanity's self-destructiveness, questioning the nature of reality itself. It is a classic of the science fiction genre.]]> 176 Ursula K. Le Guin 0060512741 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.12 1971 The Lathe of Heaven
author: Ursula K. Le Guin
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1971
rating: 0
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]]> The Trial 17690 The Trial is the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, The Trial has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.]]> 255 Franz Kafka maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.00 1925 The Trial
author: Franz Kafka
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1925
rating: 0
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]]> The Glutton 101146050 A subversive historical novel set during the French Revolution, inspired by a young peasant boy turned showman, said to have been tormented and driven to murder by an all-consuming appetite.

1798, France. Nuns move along the dark corridors of a Versailles hospital where the young Sister Perpetué has been tasked with sitting with the patient who must always be watched. The man, gaunt, with his sallow skin and distended belly, is dying: they say he ate a golden fork, and that it’s killing him from the inside. But that’s not all—he is rumored to have done monstrous things in his attempts to sate an insatiable appetite� an appetite they say tortures him still.

Born in an impoverished village to a widowed young mother, Tarare was once overflowing with quiet affection: for the Baby Jesus and the many Saints, for his mother, for the plants and little creatures in the woods and fields around their house. He spends his days alone, observing the delicate charms of the countryside. But his world is not a gentle one—and soon, life as he knew it is violently upended. Tarare is pitched down a chaotic path through revolutionary France, left to the mercy of strangers, and increasingly, bottomlessly, ravenous.

This exhilarating, disquieting novel paints a richly imagined life for The Great Tarare, The Glutton of Lyon in 18th-century France: a world of desire, hunger and poverty; hope, chaos and survival. As in her cult hit The Manningtree Witches, Blakemore showcases her stunning lyricism and deep compassion for characters pushed to the edge of society in The Glutton, her most unputdownable work yet.]]> 320 A.K. Blakemore 1668030624 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.77 2023 The Glutton
author: A.K. Blakemore
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
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]]> <![CDATA[The Burning God (The Poppy War, #3)]]> 45857086 The exciting end to The Poppy War trilogy, R. F. Kuang’s acclaimed, award-winning epic fantasy that combines the history of twentieth-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters, to devastating, enthralling effect.

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

Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies with the millions of common people who thirst for vengeance and revere her as a goddess of salvation.

Backed by the masses and her Southern Army, Rin will use every weapon to defeat the Dragon Republic, the colonizing Hesperians, and all who threaten the shamanic arts and their practitioners. As her power and influence grows, though, will she be strong enough to resist the Phoenix’s intoxicating voice urging her to burn the world and everything in it?]]> 622 R.F. Kuang 0008339147 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.29 2020 The Burning God (The Poppy War, #3)
author: R.F. Kuang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2020
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2)]]> 41118857
With no other options, Rin joins forces with the powerful Dragon Warlord, who has a plan to conquer Nikan, unseat the Empress, and create a new Republic. Rin throws herself into his war. After all, making war is all she knows how to do.

But the Empress is a more powerful foe than she appears, and the Dragon Warlord’s motivations are not as democratic as they seem. The more Rin learns, the more she fears her love for Nikan will drive her away from every ally and lead her to rely more and more on the Phoenix’s deadly power. Because there is nothing she won’t sacrifice for her country and her vengeance.

The sequel to R.F. Kuang’s acclaimed debut THE POPPY WAR, THE DRAGON REPUBLIC combines the history of 20th-century China with a gripping world of gods and monsters, to devastating effect.]]> 658 R.F. Kuang maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.36 2019 The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War, #2)
author: R.F. Kuang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2019
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]]> <![CDATA[The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)]]> 35068705
When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.]]> 545 R.F. Kuang 0062662597 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.16 2018 The Poppy War (The Poppy War, #1)
author: R.F. Kuang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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]]> Promise Me Sunshine 214269328 Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of... a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no one will notice she’s falling apart.

Miles sees right through her though. Turns out, he knows a lot about grief and, surprisingly, he offers her a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again� list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the Lou has left behind, but she begins to spend more time with Miles, Lenny is surprised to discover that, sometimes, losing everything is only the first step to finding yourself, and love, again.]]> 416 Cara Bastone 0593595734 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.24 2025 Promise Me Sunshine
author: Cara Bastone
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.24
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]]> Small Things Like These 58662236
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers.]]> 128 Claire Keegan 0802158749 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.13 2021 Small Things Like These
author: Claire Keegan
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2021
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]]> Cloud Cuckoo Land 56783258 When everything is lost, it’s our stories that survive.

How do we weather the end of things? Cloud Cuckoo Land brings together an unforgettable cast of dreamers and outsiders from past, present and future to offer a vision of survival against all odds.

Constantinople, 1453:
An orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy with a love for animals risk everything on opposite sides of a city wall to protect the people they love.

Idaho, 2020:
An impoverished, idealistic kid seeks revenge on a world that’s crumbling around him. Can he go through with it when a gentle old man stands between him and his plans?

Unknown, Sometime in the Future:
With her tiny community in peril, Konstance is the last hope for the human race. To find a way forward, she must look to the oldest stories of all for guidance.

Bound together by a single ancient text, these tales interweave to form a tapestry of solace and resilience and a celebration of storytelling itself. Like its predecessor All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr’s new novel is a tale of hope and of profound human connection.]]> 626 Anthony Doerr 1982168439 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.24 2021 Cloud Cuckoo Land
author: Anthony Doerr
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
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]]> The Luminaries 17333230 The Luminaries is a brilliantly constructed, fiendishly clever ghost story and a gripping page-turner.]]> 848 Eleanor Catton 0316074314 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.73 2013 The Luminaries
author: Eleanor Catton
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2013
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]]> Four Weekends and a Funeral 201751633
When thirty-year-old post-double-mastectomy BRCA 1 carrier and reluctant thrill-seeker Alison Mullally arrives at her ex-boyfriend Sam’s funeral to find that no one knows he dumped her, she agrees to play the grieving girlfriend for the sake of the family and pack up Sam’s apartment with his prickly best friend, Adam Berg. After all, it’ll only take four weekends . . .

But Adam doesn’t want Alison anywhere near him. Forced to spend long hours with the grump, and his monosyllabic demeanor, Alison decides she must put her people-pleasing abilities to the test. She will make him like her. And after awkward family affairs and packing up dilemmas, the two form a tenuous friendship . . . if “friendship� means incredible chemistry and tension between them. Can Alison come clean and finally embrace the life and love she's always wanted? Or will her little white lie get in the way of her new, unexpected romance?]]> 368 Ellie Palmer maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.70 2024 Four Weekends and a Funeral
author: Ellie Palmer
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
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]]> Katabasis 210223811 Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality—her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world—that is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.]]> 400 R.F. Kuang maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.04 2025 Katabasis
author: R.F. Kuang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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]]> Half a Lifelong Romance 25937741 379 Eileen Chang 0307387542 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.99 1948 Half a Lifelong Romance
author: Eileen Chang
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1948
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]]> James 173754979 A brilliant reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—both harrowing and satirical—told from the enslaved Jim's point of view

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

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

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780385550369.]]> 303 Percival Everett maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.46 2024 James
author: Percival Everett
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.46
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]]> <![CDATA[House of Lilies: The Dynasty That Made Medieval France]]> 198493964
In House of Lilies , historian Justine Firnhaber-Baker tells the epic story of the Capetian dynasty of medieval France, showing how their ideas about power, religion, and identity continue to shape European society and politics today.

Reigning from 987 to 1328, the Capetian kings became the most powerful monarchy of the Middle Ages and established the foundations of a shared French culture. Consolidating a fragmented realm that eventually stretched from the Rhône to the Pyrenees, they were the first royal house to adopt the fleur-de-lys, displaying this lily emblem to signify their divine favor and legitimate their rule. The Capetians played a part in some of the most dramatic and far-reaching episodes in European history, including the Crusades, bloody waves of religious persecution, and a series of wars with England. The Capetian age saw the emergence of Gothic architecture, the romantic ideals of chivalry and courtly love, and the Church’s role at the center of daily life.

Evocatively interweaving these pivotal developments with the human stories of the rulers who drove them, House of Lilies is the definitive history of the dynasty that forged France—and Europe—as we know it.]]> 448 Justine Firnhaber-Baker 154160475X maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.20 2024 House of Lilies: The Dynasty That Made Medieval France
author: Justine Firnhaber-Baker
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.20
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]]> Martyr! 139400713 Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is a paean to how we spend our lives seeking meaning—in faith, art, ourselves, others—in which a newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a search that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum.

Cyrus Shams is a young man grappling with an inheritance of violence and loss: his mother’s plane was shot down over the skies of Tehran in a senseless accident; and his father’s life in America was circumscribed by his work killing chickens at a factory farm in the Midwest. Cyrus is a drunk, an addict, and a poet, whose obsession with martyrs leads him to examine the mysteries of his past—toward an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields dressed as the Angel of death to inspire and comfort the dying, and toward his mother, through a painting discovered in a Brooklyn art gallery that suggests she may not have been who or what she seemed.

Electrifying, funny, wholly original, and profound, Martyr! heralds the arrival of a blazing and essential new voice in contemporary fiction.]]> 331 Kaveh Akbar 0593537610 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.22 2024 Martyr!
author: Kaveh Akbar
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.22
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]]> Writers & Lovers 45289222 Euphoria, Lily King returns with an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman.

Blindsided by her mother's sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the summer of 1997 without a plan. Her mail consists of wedding invitations and final notices from debt collectors. A former child golf prodigy, she now waits tables in Harvard Square and rents a tiny, moldy room at the side of a garage where she works on the novel she's been writing for six years. At thirty-one, Casey is still clutching onto something nearly all her old friends have let go of: the determination to live a creative life. When she falls for two very different men at the same time, her world fractures even more. Casey's fight to fulfil her creative ambitions and balance the conflicting demands of art and life is challenged in ways that push her to the brink.

Writers & Lovers follows Casey--a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist--in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis. Written with King's trademark humor, heart, and intelligence, Writers & Lovers is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.]]> 320 Lily King maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.98 2020 Writers & Lovers
author: Lily King
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2020
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]]> East of Eden 4406
Adam Trask came to California from the East to farm and raise his family on the new rich land. But the birth of his twins, Cal and Aaron, brings his wife to the brink of madness, and Adam is left alone to raise his boys to manhood. One boy thrives nurtured by the love of all those around him; the other grows up in loneliness enveloped by a mysterious darkness.

First published in 1952, East of Eden is the work in which Steinbeck created his most mesmerizing characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of identity, the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence. A masterpiece of Steinbeck's later years, East of Eden is a powerful and vastly ambitious novel that is at once a family saga and a modern retelling of the Book of Genesis.]]> 601 John Steinbeck 0142000655 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.41 1952 East of Eden
author: John Steinbeck
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1952
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]]> <![CDATA[The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois]]> 51183428 Homegoing; Sing, Unburied, Sing; and The Water Dancer—that chronicles the journey of one American family, from the centuries of the colonial slave trade through the Civil War to our own tumultuous era.

The great scholar, W. E. B. Du Bois, once wrote about the Problem of race in America, and what he called “Double Consciousness,� a sensitivity that every African American possesses in order to survive. Since childhood, Ailey Pearl Garfield has understood Du Bois’s words all too well. Bearing the names of two formidable Black Americans—the revered choreographer Alvin Ailey and her great grandmother Pearl, the descendant of enslaved Georgians and tenant farmers—Ailey carries Du Bois’s Problem on her shoulders.

Ailey is reared in the north in the City but spends summers in the small Georgia town of Chicasetta, where her mother’s family has lived since their ancestors arrived from Africa in bondage. From an early age, Ailey fights a battle for belonging that’s made all the more difficult by a hovering trauma, as well as the whispers of women—her mother, Belle, her sister, Lydia, and a maternal line reaching back two centuries—that urge Ailey to succeed in their stead.

To come to terms with her own identity, Ailey embarks on a journey through her family’s past, uncovering the shocking tales of generations of ancestors—Indigenous, Black, and white—in the deep South. In doing so Ailey must learn to embrace her full heritage, a legacy of oppression and resistance, bondage and independence, cruelty and resilience that is the story—and the song—of America itself.]]> 816 Honorée Fanonne Jeffers 006294293X maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.51 2021 The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
author: Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.51
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]]> Intermezzo 209310298 An exquisitely moving story about grief, love and family, from the global phenomenon Sally Rooney.

Aside from the fact that they are brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek seem to have little in common.

Peter is a Dublin lawyer in his thirties � successful, competent and apparently unassailable. But in the wake of their father’s death, he’s medicating himself to sleep and struggling to manage his relationships with two very different women � his enduring first love Sylvia, and Naomi, a college student for whom life is one long joke.

Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. He has always seen himself as socially awkward, a loner, the antithesis of his glib elder brother. Now, in the early weeks of his bereavement, Ivan meets Margaret, an older woman emerging from her own turbulent past, and their lives become rapidly and intensely intertwined.

For two grieving brothers and the people they love, this is a new interlude � a period of desire, despair and possibility � a chance to find out how much one life might hold inside itself without breaking.]]> 432 Sally Rooney 0735281823 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.03 2024 Intermezzo
author: Sally Rooney
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.03
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review:

]]> Either/Or 58890783 From the acclaimed and bestselling author of The Idiot, the continuation of beloved protagonist Selin's quest for self-knowledge, as she travels abroad and tests the limits of her newfound adulthood

Selin is the luckiest person in her family: the only one who was born in America and got to go to Harvard. Now it's sophomore year, 1996, and Selin knows she has to make it count. The first order of business: to figure out the meaning of everything that happened over the summer. Why did Selin's elusive crush, Ivan, find her that job in the Hungarian countryside? What was up with all those other people in the Hungarian countryside? Why is Ivan's weird ex-girlfriend now trying to get in touch with Selin? On the plus side, it feels like the plot of an exciting novel. On the other hand, why do so many novels have crazy abandoned women in them? How does one live a life as interesting as a novel--a life worthy of becoming a novel--without becoming a crazy abandoned woman oneself?

Guided by her literature syllabus and by her more worldly and confident peers, Selin reaches certain conclusions about the universal importance of parties, alcohol, and sex, and resolves to execute them in practice--no matter what the cost. Next on the list: international travel.

Unfolding with the propulsive logic and intensity of youth, Either/Or is a landmark novel by one of our most brilliant writers. Hilarious, revelatory, and unforgettable, its gripping narrative will confront you with searching questions that persist long after the last page.]]> 368 Elif Batuman 0525557598 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 4.00 2022 Either/Or
author: Elif Batuman
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> The Idiot 30962053 A portrait of the artist as a young woman. A novel about not just discovering but inventing oneself.

The year is 1995, and email is new. Selin, the daughter of Turkish immigrants, arrives for her freshman year at Harvard. She signs up for classes in subjects she has never heard of, befriends her charismatic and worldly Serbian classmate, Svetlana, and, almost by accident, begins corresponding with Ivan, an older mathematics student from Hungary. Selin may have barely spoken to Ivan, but with each email they exchange, the act of writing seems to take on new and increasingly mysterious meanings.

At the end of the school year, Ivan goes to Budapest for the summer, and Selin heads to the Hungarian countryside, to teach English in a program run by one of Ivan's friends. On the way, she spends two weeks visiting Paris with Svetlana. Selin's summer in Europe does not resonate with anything she has previously heard about the typical experiences of American college students, or indeed of any other kinds of people. For Selin, this is a journey further inside herself: a coming to grips with the ineffable and exhilarating confusion of first love, and with the growing consciousness that she is doomed to become a writer.]]> 423 Elif Batuman 1594205612 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.67 2017 The Idiot
author: Elif Batuman
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> My Husband 63017297 In this suspenseful and darkly funny debut novel, a sophisticated French woman spends her life obsessing over her perfect husband--but can their marriage survive her passionate love?

At forty years old, she has an enviable life: a successful career, stunning looks, a beautiful house in the suburbs, two healthy children, and most importantly, an ideal husband. After fifteen years together, she is still besotted with him. But she's never quite sure that her passion is reciprocated. After all, would a truly infatuated man ever let go of his wife's hand when they're sitting on the couch together?

Determined to keep their relationship perfect, she meticulously prepares for every encounter they have, always taking care to make her actions seem effortless. She watches him attentively, charting every mistake and punishing him accordingly to help him improve. And she tests him--setting traps to make sure that he still loves her just as much as he did when they first met.

Until one day she realizes she may have gone too far . . .

The winner of France's First Novel Prize in 2021, My Husband builds on the premise of hits like Gone Girl and Fates and Furies--how well can you really know your spouse?--and adds the tension and creepy obsession of You. The result is an irresistible read--compelling, tense, and engaging, infused with sly subversive humor, and told in an utterly original voice that makes it unforgettable.

Translated from the French by Emma Ramadan]]> 272 Maud Ventura 0063274825 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, 2025 3.67 2021 My Husband
author: Maud Ventura
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read, 2025
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What You Are Looking For Is in the Library]]> 91274427 For fans of The Midnight Library and Before the Coffee Gets Cold, this charming Japanese novel shows how the perfect book recommendation can change a reader's life.

What are you looking for?

This is the famous question routinely asked by Tokyo’s most enigmatic librarian, Sayuri Komachi. Like most librarians, Komachi has read every book lining her shelves—but she also has the unique ability to read the souls of her library guests. For anyone who walks through her door, Komachi can sense exactly what they’re looking for in life and provide just the book recommendation they never knew they needed to help them find it.

Each visitor comes to her library from a different juncture in their careers and dreams, from the restless sales attendant who feels stuck at her job to the struggling working mother who longs to be a magazineeditor. The conversation that they have with Sayuri Komachi—and the surprise book she lends each of them—will have life-altering consequences.

With heartwarming charm and wisdom, What You Are Looking For Is in the Library is a paean to the magic of libraries, friendship and community, perfect for anyone who has ever found themselves at an impasse in their life and in need of a little inspiration.]]> 304 Michiko Aoyama 1335005625 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 4.07 2020 What You Are Looking For Is in the Library
author: Michiko Aoyama
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> To the Lighthouse 36529226
As time winds its way through their lives, the Ramsays face, alone and simultaneously, the greatest of human challenges and its greatest triumph—the human capacity for change.]]> 200 Virginia Woolf 024134168X maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.72 1927 To the Lighthouse
author: Virginia Woolf
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1927
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> I'm Thinking of Ending Things 55664348 Now a Netflix original movie, this deeply scary and intensely unnerving novel follows a couple in the midst of a twisted unraveling of the darkest unease. You will be scared. But you won’t know why�

I’m thinking of ending things. Once this thought arrives, it stays. It sticks. It lingers. It’s always there. Always.

Jake once said, “Sometimes a thought is closer to truth, to reality, than an action. You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.�

And here’s what I’m thinking: I don’t want to be here.

In this smart and intense literary suspense novel, Iain Reid explores the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Reminiscent of Jose Saramago’s early work, Michel Faber’s cult classic Under the Skin, and Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk about Kevin, �your dread and unease will mount with every passing page� (Entertainment Weekly) of this edgy, haunting debut. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, I’m Thinking of Ending Things pulls you in from the very first page…and never lets you go.]]> 212 Iain Reid 1982155841 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.64 2016 I'm Thinking of Ending Things
author: Iain Reid
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Orbital 123136728 207 Samantha Harvey 0802161545 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.56 2023 Orbital
author: Samantha Harvey
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet]]> 55145261 A deeply moving and mind-expanding collection of personal essays in the first ever work of non-fiction from #1 internationally bestselling author John Green

The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale.

Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book.]]> 304 John Green 0525555218 maya ౨ৎ 4 favourites 4.37 2021 The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
author: John Green
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/01
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: favourites
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)]]> 62047992 The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading.

Hidden in Jimbocho, Tokyo, is a booklover's paradise. On a quiet corner in an old wooden building lies a shop filled with hundreds of second-hand books.

Twenty-five-year-old Takako has never liked reading, although the Morisaki bookshop has been in her family for three generations. It is the pride and joy of her uncle Satoru, who has devoted his life to the bookshop since his wife Momoko left him five years earlier.

When Takako's boyfriend reveals he's marrying someone else, she reluctantly accepts her eccentric uncle's offer to live rent-free in the tiny room above the shop. Hoping to nurse her broken heart in peace, Takako is surprised to encounter new worlds within the stacks of books lining the Morisaki bookshop.

As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.]]> 150 Satoshi Yagisawa 0063278677 maya ౨ৎ 1 dec-24 3.67 2010 Days at the Morisaki Bookshop (Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, #1)
author: Satoshi Yagisawa
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2010
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: dec-24
review:
1 star - It just bored me. Overly simplistic writing and I couldn't really connect with any of the characters. I might give it another go later.
]]> The Seven Year Slip 62926938 An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.]]> 336 Ashley Poston maya ౨ৎ 4 dec-24
I'll be honest: I didn't have high hopes for this book because I didn't love Poston's writing in Dead Romantics, and the first third of this book didn't immediately grab me, but as I kept reading, I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

The Seven Year Slip starts slow, but once it picks up, it becomes a fun, unique, and cozy read with surprising emotional depth. While I saw the James Iwan reveal coming from a mile away, I had no idea how the story would unfold from there, which made it all the more exciting to follow. The book felt much more mature than Dead Romantics, blending lighthearted romance with more moving and reflective themes, particularly around grief.

It took me a while to warm up to Clementine, but Iwan was a delight from the start. His passion and cheerfulness were incredibly endearing, and his journey—from feeling burnt out and directionless to finding clarity—was realistic and touching. Iwan’s character felt like such a welcome change from the overused 'grumpy male protagonist' trope, and his relationship with Clementine was very sweet, with both characters showing a level of maturity and personal growth that was refreshing to read.

One of the book's biggest surprises was how effectively it portrayed grief. It was moving in ways I didn’t expect. That said, I docked a star for a few reasons. The world-building around the magical apartment felt incomplete—I was left with lingering questions that weren’t addressed. I was also confused about that one chapter with her aunt in the apartment towards the end. Additionally, some of the writing and references in the earlier chapters leaned a bit too much into 'Buzzfeed-millennial' territory for my taste, though this issue seemed to fade in the latter half of the book.

Overall, The Seven Year Slip turned out to be an unexpected delight. It’s a story that balances whimsy and emotional weight, with characters whose growth and love story feel genuinely rewarding. It may not have hooked me immediately, but by the end, I was charmed. ]]> 4.17 2023 The Seven Year Slip
author: Ashley Poston
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: dec-24
review:
4 stars - A very sweet, funny, lighthearted book that pleasantly surprised me.

I'll be honest: I didn't have high hopes for this book because I didn't love Poston's writing in Dead Romantics, and the first third of this book didn't immediately grab me, but as I kept reading, I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

The Seven Year Slip starts slow, but once it picks up, it becomes a fun, unique, and cozy read with surprising emotional depth. While I saw the James Iwan reveal coming from a mile away, I had no idea how the story would unfold from there, which made it all the more exciting to follow. The book felt much more mature than Dead Romantics, blending lighthearted romance with more moving and reflective themes, particularly around grief.

It took me a while to warm up to Clementine, but Iwan was a delight from the start. His passion and cheerfulness were incredibly endearing, and his journey—from feeling burnt out and directionless to finding clarity—was realistic and touching. Iwan’s character felt like such a welcome change from the overused 'grumpy male protagonist' trope, and his relationship with Clementine was very sweet, with both characters showing a level of maturity and personal growth that was refreshing to read.

One of the book's biggest surprises was how effectively it portrayed grief. It was moving in ways I didn’t expect. That said, I docked a star for a few reasons. The world-building around the magical apartment felt incomplete—I was left with lingering questions that weren’t addressed. I was also confused about that one chapter with her aunt in the apartment towards the end. Additionally, some of the writing and references in the earlier chapters leaned a bit too much into 'Buzzfeed-millennial' territory for my taste, though this issue seemed to fade in the latter half of the book.

Overall, The Seven Year Slip turned out to be an unexpected delight. It’s a story that balances whimsy and emotional weight, with characters whose growth and love story feel genuinely rewarding. It may not have hooked me immediately, but by the end, I was charmed.
]]> The Rom-Commers 195790586 She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates―The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!―it’s a break too big to pass up.

Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.� Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?]]> 336 Katherine Center 1250283809 maya ౨ৎ 1 4.06 2024 The Rom-Commers
author: Katherine Center
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 1
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over]]> 177148776 128 Anne de Marcken 0811237850 maya ౨ৎ 5 favourites, dec-24
It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over is written in a stream-of-consciousness style and is set during a zombie apocalypse, told from the perspective of a nameless zombie wandering the West Coast. She can’t remember her own name or much about her past, but she knows she once loved someone. That memory is fragmented too—she doesn’t recall their name or details about them. The narrative feels like grasping for something just out of reach, a hazy dream slipping through your fingers.

I’ve always thought of zombies as deeply tragic, but this book took that idea further. It’s a story about yearning: yearning to know oneself, yearning for connection, for humanity, for love, for someone she can barely remember, for a time when things were better, for purpose, for emotion, and for the version of herself that had all those things. There’s grief in knowing that she’ll never have any of it again and an even deeper pain in not knowing how to process that grief when there’s no end in sight.

The other characters feel this same ‘hunger� in their own way—turning to religion, writing prayers for revival, or scribbling names on walls in the desperate hope that one might be their own.It’s so deeply sad I don’t know what to do with it. Hunger—both literal and metaphorical—drives every character in this story. The yearning itself is endless, a reflection of their human need to hold onto something, even when nothing tangible remains. And, in a way, I think that’s what reminded me of Bones and All when I read this book. Both stories share that same desperation and yearning for connection and the crushing grief and loneliness of knowing it will never come but also not knowing what to do with that grief.

I also feel that this book is a very accurate depiction of depression. That same feeling of numbness and desperation for connection but not knowing how to get there and that same grief of knowing you’ll never have that connection with the world around you. The literal inability to cry, which our protagonist experiences when she’s on the golf course remembering her life, and then that feeling of having the floodgates break and, only then, really being able to appreciate how profoundly, beautifully human it is to even experience such emotion.

All the losses she experiences make it even sadder to read. Her partner, whoever they were. Her past life. The group she travelled with. Even the crow. Every flashback feels like another goodbye, and the weight of all those goodbyes is unbearable. How do you cope with constantly saying goodbye? The quotes I’ve included below exemplify these losses perfectly—each one encapsulates the pain of letting go of what once was and what can never be again.

“I wish that I had opened my eyes. I wish that I had turned from the window and looked at you in that moment when you were looking at me. This world slipped by me.�

“I pretended everything would be okay because it seemed impossible to always be saying goodbye. To blueberries. To the ocean. To ravens. To pelicans and plovers. To the cormorants. To the sunlight on the living room wall at four o’clock. To the sound of you in the next room.�

“I don’t remember what it was,� he says. He makes an exquisite pinching gesture in the air near his wrapped head then lets it go. ‘I’ve tried. I’ve tried. I’ve tried. I’ve tried. I’ve tried. But I can’t feel it in there.� He opens his eyes. ‘It’s gone. That one thing that only I knew about myself. That thing that made me me, alone in all the universe. I’ve lost it.�


There’s a sense of doom from the beginning—it was never going to be a happy story. She was never going to find her way back to Before, never going to be human again. The ending felt inevitable, the only way it could have ended, but it’s still hard to find peace in it.

I don’t cry easily, but this book really made me cry. I didn’t expect to relate so much to the protagonist or feel as deeply as I did, but it really did move me. ]]> 3.70 2024 It Lasts Forever and Then It's Over
author: Anne de Marcken
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: favourites, dec-24
review:
5 stars - by FAR my favourite book i've read this year and one of the most moving stories I've ever read.

It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over is written in a stream-of-consciousness style and is set during a zombie apocalypse, told from the perspective of a nameless zombie wandering the West Coast. She can’t remember her own name or much about her past, but she knows she once loved someone. That memory is fragmented too—she doesn’t recall their name or details about them. The narrative feels like grasping for something just out of reach, a hazy dream slipping through your fingers.

I’ve always thought of zombies as deeply tragic, but this book took that idea further. It’s a story about yearning: yearning to know oneself, yearning for connection, for humanity, for love, for someone she can barely remember, for a time when things were better, for purpose, for emotion, and for the version of herself that had all those things. There’s grief in knowing that she’ll never have any of it again and an even deeper pain in not knowing how to process that grief when there’s no end in sight.

The other characters feel this same ‘hunger� in their own way—turning to religion, writing prayers for revival, or scribbling names on walls in the desperate hope that one might be their own.It’s so deeply sad I don’t know what to do with it. Hunger—both literal and metaphorical—drives every character in this story. The yearning itself is endless, a reflection of their human need to hold onto something, even when nothing tangible remains. And, in a way, I think that’s what reminded me of Bones and All when I read this book. Both stories share that same desperation and yearning for connection and the crushing grief and loneliness of knowing it will never come but also not knowing what to do with that grief.

I also feel that this book is a very accurate depiction of depression. That same feeling of numbness and desperation for connection but not knowing how to get there and that same grief of knowing you’ll never have that connection with the world around you. The literal inability to cry, which our protagonist experiences when she’s on the golf course remembering her life, and then that feeling of having the floodgates break and, only then, really being able to appreciate how profoundly, beautifully human it is to even experience such emotion.

All the losses she experiences make it even sadder to read. Her partner, whoever they were. Her past life. The group she travelled with. Even the crow. Every flashback feels like another goodbye, and the weight of all those goodbyes is unbearable. How do you cope with constantly saying goodbye? The quotes I’ve included below exemplify these losses perfectly—each one encapsulates the pain of letting go of what once was and what can never be again.

“I wish that I had opened my eyes. I wish that I had turned from the window and looked at you in that moment when you were looking at me. This world slipped by me.�

“I pretended everything would be okay because it seemed impossible to always be saying goodbye. To blueberries. To the ocean. To ravens. To pelicans and plovers. To the cormorants. To the sunlight on the living room wall at four o’clock. To the sound of you in the next room.�

“I don’t remember what it was,� he says. He makes an exquisite pinching gesture in the air near his wrapped head then lets it go. ‘I’ve tried. I’ve tried. I’ve tried. I’ve tried. I’ve tried. But I can’t feel it in there.� He opens his eyes. ‘It’s gone. That one thing that only I knew about myself. That thing that made me me, alone in all the universe. I’ve lost it.�


There’s a sense of doom from the beginning—it was never going to be a happy story. She was never going to find her way back to Before, never going to be human again. The ending felt inevitable, the only way it could have ended, but it’s still hard to find peace in it.

I don’t cry easily, but this book really made me cry. I didn’t expect to relate so much to the protagonist or feel as deeply as I did, but it really did move me.
]]> <![CDATA[Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution]]> 75494215 THE REAL ORIGIN OF OUR SPECIES: a myth-busting, eye-opening landmark account of how humans evolved, offering a paradigm shift in our thinking about what the female body is, how it came to be, and how this evolution still shapes all our lives today.

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

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

Eve is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it's an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Picking up where Sapiens left off, Eve will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens has become such a successful and dominant species.]]> 624 Cat Bohannon 0385350546 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.28 2023 Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution
author: Cat Bohannon
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI]]> 204927599 From the author of Sapiens comes the groundbreaking story of how information networks have made, and unmade, our world.

For the last 100,000 years, we Sapiens have accumulated enormous power. But despite allour discoveries, inventions, and conquests, we now find ourselves in an existential crisis. The world is on the verge of ecological collapse. Misinformation abounds. And we are rushing headlong into the age of AI—a new information network that threatens to annihilate us. For all that we have accomplished, why are we so self-destructive?

Nexus looks through the long lens of human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world. Taking us from the Stone Age, through the canonization of the Bible, early modern witch-hunts, Stalinism, Nazism, and the resurgence of populism today, Yuval Noah Harari asks us to consider the complex relationship between information and truth, bureaucracy and mythology, wisdom and power. He explores how different societies and political systems throughout history have wielded information to achieve their goals, for good and ill. And he addresses the urgent choices we face as non-human intelligence threatens our very existence.

Information is not the raw material of truth; neither is it a mere weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground between these extremes, and in doing so, rediscovers our shared humanity.]]> 528 Yuval Noah Harari 059373422X maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.14 2024 Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind]]> 23692271 512 Yuval Noah Harari maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.33 2011 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
author: Yuval Noah Harari
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty]]> 24611571 From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Plantagenets, a short, lively, action-packed history of how the Magna Carta came to be

The Magna Carta is revered around the world as the founding document of Western liberty. Its principles can be found in our Bill of Rights and in the Constitution. But what was this strange document that dwells on tax relief and greater fishing rights, and how did it gain legendary status?

Dan Jones takes us back to 1215, the turbulent year when the Magna Carta was just a peace treaty between England’s King John and a group of self-interested, violent barons who were tired of his high taxes and endless foreign wars. The treaty would fail within two months of its confirmation.

But this important document marked the first time a king was forced to obey his own laws. Jones’s 1215 follows the story of the Magna Carta’s creation, its failure, and the war that subsequently engulfed England and is book that will appeal to fans of microhistories of pivotal years like 1066, 1491, and especially 1776—when American patriots, inspired by that long-ago defiance, dared to pick up arms against another English king.]]> 272 Dan Jones 0525428291 maya ౨ৎ 0 non-fiction, to-read 3.99 2015 Magna Carta: The Birth of Liberty
author: Dan Jones
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: non-fiction, to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King]]> 204640542
For Dan Jones, Henry V is one of the most intriguing characters in all medieval history, but one of the hardest to pin down. He was a hardened, sometimes brutal warrior, yet he was also creative and artistic, with a bookish temperament. He was a leader who made many mistakes, who misjudged his friends and family, but he always seemed to triumph when it mattered. As king, he saved a shattered country from economic ruin, put down rebellions, and secured England’s borders; in foreign diplomacy, he made England a serious player once more. Yet through his conquests in northern France, he sowed the seeds for three generations of calamity at home, in the form of the Wars of the Roses.

Henry V is a historical titan whose legacy has become a complicated one. To understand the man behind the legend, Jones first examines Henry’s years of apprenticeship, when he saw the downfall of one king and the turbulent reign of another. Upon his accession in 1413, he had already been politically and militarily active for years, and his extraordinary achievements as king would come shortly after, earning him an unparalleled historical reputation. Writing with his characteristic wit and style, Jones delivers a thrilling and unmissable life of England’s greatest king.]]> 432 Dan Jones 0593652738 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.40 2024 Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King
author: Dan Jones
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> <![CDATA[The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century]]> 4936457 319 Ian Mortimer 0224079948 maya ౨ৎ 0 non-fiction, to-read 3.99 2008 The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
author: Ian Mortimer
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2008
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: non-fiction, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Extinct: A Compendium of Obsolete Objects]]> 57402598
So-called extinct objects are those that were imagined but were never in use, or that existed but are now unused—superseded, unfashionable, or simply forgotten. Extinct gathers together an exceptional range of artists, curators, architects, critics, and academics, including Hal Foster, Barry Bergdoll, Deyan Sudjic, Tacita Dean, Emily Orr, Richard Wentworth, and many more. In eighty-five essays, contributors nominate “extinct� objects and address them in a series of short, vivid, sometimes personal accounts, speaking not only of obsolete technologies, but of other ways of thinking, making, and interacting with the world. Extinct is filled with curious, half-remembered objects, each one evoking a future that never came to pass. It is also a visual treat, full of interest and delight.]]> 390 Barbara Penner 1789144523 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.00 2021 Extinct: A Compendium of Obsolete Objects
author: Barbara Penner
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
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]]> <![CDATA[The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken]]> 36620738 How can you defend a child-abuser you suspect to be guilty? What do you say to someone sentenced to ten years who you believe to be innocent? What is the law and why do we need it? And why do they wear wigs? From the criminals to the lawyers, the victims, witnesses and officers of the law, here is the best and worst of humanity, all struggling within a broken system which would never be off the front pages if the public knew what it was really like.

This is a first-hand account of the human cost of the criminal justice system, and a guide to how we got into this mess, The Secret Barrister shows you what it’s really like and why it really matters.]]> 385 The Secret Barrister 1509841156 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 3.89 2018 The Secret Barrister: Stories of the Law and How It's Broken
author: The Secret Barrister
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
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]]> <![CDATA[How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England: A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts]]> 38212150 How to Be a Victorian Ruth Goodman shows in her madcap chronicle, Elizabethan England was particularly rank with troublemakers, from snooty needlers who took aim with a cutting “thee,� to lowbrow drunkards with revolting table manners. Goodman draws on advice manuals, court cases, and sermons to offer this colorfully crude portrait of offenses most foul. Mischievous readers will delight in learning how to time your impressions for the biggest laugh, why quoting Shakespeare was poor form, and why curses hurled at women were almost always about sex (and why we shouldn’t be surprised). Bringing her signature “exhilarating and contagious� enthusiasm (Boston Globe), this is a celebration of one of history’s naughtiest periods, when derision was an art form.]]> 320 Ruth Goodman 1631495119 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 3.68 2018 How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England: A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts
author: Ruth Goodman
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
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]]> <![CDATA[The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance]]> 844124 431 Paul Strathern 1844130983 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.10 2003 The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance
author: Paul Strathern
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2003
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
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]]> <![CDATA[The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors]]> 20821029
With vivid descriptions of the battle of Towton, where 28,000 men died in a single morning, to Bosworth, where the last Plantagenet king was hacked down, this is the real story behind Shakespeare's famous history plays.]]> 392 Dan Jones 0670026670 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.25 2014 The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors
author: Dan Jones
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2014
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
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]]> <![CDATA[History Hit Guide to Medieval England: From the Vikings to the Tudors and Everything in Between]]> 210404422
Join Matthew Lewis and the creators of History Hit on a guided tour spanning more than five centuries of English medieval history and witness spectacular changes in military, political and economic spheres. At home and overseas, England's status and identity was in constant flux, and yet through it all, the nation withstood the turmoil of everything from the 9th century attack of the Great Heathen Army to the year of three kings in 1483 - just.

From the bit before 1066 - which matters just as much! - through to the Wars of the Roses, The History Hit Guide to Medieval England charts the extraordinary development of a young nation that went on to emerge as a global superpower.]]> 336 Matthew Lewis 1399726145 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.10 History Hit Guide to Medieval England: From the Vikings to the Tudors and Everything in Between
author: Matthew Lewis
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.10
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]]> <![CDATA[The DallerGut Dream Department Store (DallerGut Dream Department Store, #1)]]> 199396641 What if there was a store that sold dreams? Which would you buy? And who might you become when you wake up?

In a mysterious town hidden in our collective subconscious there's a department store that sells dreams. Day and night, visitors both human and animal shuffle in to purchase their latest adventure. Each floor specializes in a specific type of dream: childhood memories, food dreams, ice skating, dreams of stardom. Flying dreams are almost always sold out. Some seek dreams of loved ones who have died.

For Penny, an enthusiastic new hire, working at Dallergut is the opportunity of a lifetime. As she uncovers the workings of this whimsical world, she bonds with a cast of unforgettable characters, including Dallergut, the flamboyant and wise owner, Babynap Rockabye, a famous dream designer, Maxim, a nightmare producer, and the many customers who dream to heal, dream to grow, and dream to flourish.

A captivating story that will leave a lingering magical feeling in readers' minds, this is the first book in a bestselling duology for anyone exhausted from the reality of their daily life.]]> 288 Lee Mi-ye 1335081178 maya ౨ৎ 0 to-read 3.66 2020 The DallerGut Dream Department Store (DallerGut Dream Department Store, #1)
author: Lee Mi-ye
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Secret History 29044 559 Donna Tartt 1400031702 maya ౨ৎ 1 oct-24 4.17 1992 The Secret History
author: Donna Tartt
name: maya ౨ৎ
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1992
rating: 1
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: oct-24
review:
1 star - Pissed me off so bad I don’t even want to talk about it.
]]>