Jess's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 11:21:31 -0700 60 Jess's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)]]> 28477453
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, the mesmerising High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates his dark web of political games and tantalising promises, a greater evil looms � and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can step into her growing power, heal her fractured soul and have the courage to shape her own future � and the future of a world cloven in two.

Sarah J. Maas is a global #1 bestselling author. Her books have sold more than nine million copies and been translated into 37 languages. Discover the sweeping romantic fantasy for yourself.]]> 643 Sarah J. Maas 1408857898 Jess 0 currently-reading 4.67 2016 A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jess
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story: A Non-Memoir]]> 195274819 This book is inspired by true events but is not a biography.

The truth is My Truth is not The Truth, and that's as honest as I can be. It's partially true, rather than painfully true, and I have possibly been economical with the truth, Your Honour.

Basically, I made this sh*t up . . .

While James Blunt's crimes against music are well-documented, he also has some stories that are not. In Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story, James reveals his most riotous anecdotes to date for your amusement - and his parents' horror - in this highly anticipated non-memoir.

From his questionable Norfolk roots, eccentric family, boarding school antics, misjudged military service, rise to music stardom and tour escapades, James delves into his (surprisingly) fascinating life to date. What do you do when your mother writes irate emails to the future prime minister defending your honour? What does it take to run a male escort agency? And why exactly should you refrain from crowd-surfing? Find out here, folks . . .

Were the stories in this book grossly exaggerated in an attempt to impress? Maybe. But one thing is for you won't want to miss it.]]> 303 James Blunt 1408715619 Jess 4 4.15 Loosely Based On A Made-Up Story: A Non-Memoir
author: James Blunt
name: Jess
average rating: 4.15
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/04/28
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]]> Good Material 96177628
Now he is. . .

Without a home

Waiting for his stand-up career to take off

Wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn't looking

Set adrift on the sea of heartbreak, Andy clings to the idea of solving the puzzle of his ruined relationship. Because if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him. But Andy still has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend's side of the story�

In this sharply funny and exquisitely relatable story of romantic disaster and friendship, Dolly Alderton offers up a love story with two endings, demonstrating once again why she is one of the most exciting writers today, and the true voice of a generation.]]> 342 Dolly Alderton 0241523664 Jess 4 4.09 2023 Good Material
author: Dolly Alderton
name: Jess
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
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review:

]]> In A New York Minute 59604928
Franny Doyle is having the worst day. She’s been laid off from her (admittedly mediocre) job, the subway doors ripped her favorite silk dress to ruins, and now she’s flashed her unmentionables to half of lower Manhattan. On the plus side, a dashing stranger came to her rescue with his (Gucci!) suit jacket. On the not-so-plus side, he can’t get away from her fast enough.

Worse yet? Someone posted their (entirely not) meet-cute online. Suddenly Franny and her knight-in-couture, Hayes Montgomery III, are the newest social media sensation, and all of New York is shipping #SubwayQTs.

Only Franny and Hayes couldn’t be a more disastrous match. She’s fanciful, talkative, and creative. He’s serious, shy, and all about numbers. Luckily, in a city of eight million people, they never have to meet again. Yet somehow, Hayes and Franny keep running into each other—and much to their surprise, they enjoy each other’s company. A lot. But when Franny’s whole world is turned upside down (again!), can she find the courage to trust in herself and finally have the life—and love—she’s always wanted?]]> 320 Kate Spencer 1529063817 Jess 4 3.69 2022 In A New York Minute
author: Kate Spencer
name: Jess
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/03/02
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[New York, Actually (From Manhattan with Love, #4)]]> 32336130 Meet Molly

New York’s most famous agony aunt, she considers herself an expert at relationships…as long as they’re other people’s. The only love of her life is her Dalmatian, Valentine.

Meet Daniel

A cynical divorce lawyer, he’s hardwired to think relationships are a bad idea. If you don’t get involved, no-one can get hurt. But then he finds himself borrowing a dog to meet the gorgeous woman he sees running in Central Park every morning�

Molly and Daniel think they know everything there is to know about relationships…until they meet each other that is�

]]> 376 Sarah Morgan 0373804105 Jess 0 to-read 3.94 2017 New York, Actually (From Manhattan with Love, #4)
author: Sarah Morgan
name: Jess
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns & Roses, #1)]]> 24480684
Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.]]> 394 Sarah J. Maas Jess 4 4.29 2015 A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns & Roses, #1)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Jess
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
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review:

]]> The Running Club 61654308
The wealthy community of Esperance is picture-perfect. Big houses, stunning views, beautiful people. A brand new running track for the local club to jog around in the evenings. From the outside, it looks like paradise.

But the women of the town know the truth: you can hide anything - from wrinkles to secrets from your past - if you have enough money.

You could even hide a murder.

THE RUNNING CLUB is the gripping, twisty page-turner from the author of THE TRIVIA NIGHT, full of secrets, lies and reveals you won't see coming.]]> 361 Ali Lowe Jess 4 3.88 2023 The Running Club
author: Ali Lowe
name: Jess
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/20
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]]> Malibu Rising 55404546 Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them... and what they will leave behind.]]> 369 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1524798657 Jess 0 to-read 4.02 2021 Malibu Rising
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Jess
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[That Bonesetter Woman: the new feelgood novel from the author of The Smallest Man]]> 64631584
Endurance Proudfoot only wants one thing in life � to follow her father and grandfather into the family business of bonesetting. It’s a physically demanding job, requiring strength, nerves of steel and discretion � and not the job for a woman.

But Durie isn’t like other women. She’s strong and stubborn and determined to get her own way. And she finds that she has a talent at bonesetting � her big hands and lack of grace have finally found their natural calling.]]> 384 Frances Quinn 1471193454 Jess 0 to-read 4.30 2022 That Bonesetter Woman: the new feelgood novel from the author of The Smallest Man
author: Frances Quinn
name: Jess
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> The End of Summer 202475726 CHRIS WHITAKER

'Sultry and seductive� utterly compelling' LUCY CLARKE

Your mother is not who you think she is�

When the phone rings in Judy McVee’s Languedoc farmhouse, she knows her past has finally caught up with her. It’s her daughter, frantically asking why there are journalists on her London doorstep making terrible accusations.

Decades earlier, Judy was a girl with big plans � to ensnare a rich husband, to make something of herself, to rise above her upbringing and leave behind past tragedies. Wealthy young widower Rory Harrington seemed the perfect target � but Judy hadn’t reckoned on actually falling in love with him.

Now her daughter Francesca, who has secrets of her own, must come to terms with the realisation that the mother she thought she knew wasn’t real. Where has Judy gone � and was anything she told her family true?

Moving from Cape Cod to London, New York to the South of France, THE END OF SUMMER is a gripping, nuanced literary thriller from a writer at the top of her game.]]> 363 Charlotte Philby 0008466440 Jess 4 3.92 The End of Summer
author: Charlotte Philby
name: Jess
average rating: 3.92
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/04
date added: 2025/01/04
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]]> <![CDATA[What I Talk About When I Talk About Running]]> 2195464
Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in running.]]> 188 Haruki Murakami Jess 0 to-read 3.87 2007 What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
author: Haruki Murakami
name: Jess
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2007
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures]]> 210594739 Enter the dark side of discover the monsters, witches, and nightmarish traditions behind one of the most celebrated holidays in the world When we imagine the origins of Christmas, we picture halcyon images of mangers, glowing fireplaces, and snow-blanketed winter hills. But the holiday is celebrated during the darkest time of year in the Northern Hemisphere—a season so dark it has given rise to the most outlandish traditions imaginable. In The Dead of Winter, Oxford-trained historian Sarah Clegg delves deep into the folkloric roots of Christmas in Europe, comparing their often-horrific past to the way they continue to haunt and entertain us now in the 21st century. Detailing the hideous masks and curling horns of "Krampus runs" in Austria, the fearsome horseheads of "hoodenings"in Southeast England, and the candle-crowned young witches of Finland's St. Lucy Festival, the author captures the wild revelry at heart of the winter madness. In Clegg’s fascinating investigation, these strange, wonderful traditions are cast in their illuminating historical context. And the closer we get to the dark magic and bright enchantment described inThe Dead of Winter, the more we start to see how fun it might be to let just a bit of the ancient darkness in.]]> 208 Sarah Clegg 1643757083 Jess 0 to-read 3.72 2024 The Dead of Winter: Beware the Krampus and Other Wicked Christmas Creatures
author: Sarah Clegg
name: Jess
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> <![CDATA[Taylor Jenkins Reid 2 Books Collection Set (Forever Interrupted & Carrie Soto Is Back)]]> 197446330
Taylor Jenkins Reid 2 Books Collection

Forever,
Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year's Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn't expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they've eloped. Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact.

Carrie Soto Is
Carrie Soto is the greatest player the world has ever seen. But six years after her last match, she watches a young British tennis player steal her world record - and Carrie knows she has to go back and reclaim her rightful place at the top. Even if the world doesn't believe in her. Even if it almost breaks her. This is a story about the cost of greatness and the burden of fame.The fight for a place in history is about to begin.]]> 736 Taylor Jenkins Reid 9124245046 Jess 0 to-read 3.71 Taylor Jenkins Reid 2 Books Collection Set (Forever Interrupted & Carrie Soto Is Back)
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Jess
average rating: 3.71
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
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]]> Carrie Soto Is Back 60435878 Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the 'Battle-Axe' anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.]]> 384 Taylor Jenkins Reid 0593158687 Jess 0 to-read 4.19 2022 Carrie Soto Is Back
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Jess
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Hike 61424779 Wish you were here?
Think again . . .

Maggie, Liz, Helena & Joni. Old friends bound by history, adventures, old secrets.

And now, bound by murder.

They lace up their hiking boots for the adventure of a lifetime in the Norwegian wilderness: a place of towering mountains, glass-like lakes, log cabins and forests stolen from a fairytale.

It’s the perfect place to lose yourself � until a broken body is found at the bottom of a ravine.

Somewhere out there, someone knows exactly why a woman has died. And in this deep, dark wilderness, there’s a killer on the trail . . .]]> 384 Lucy Clarke 0008462429 Jess 0 to-read 3.66 2023 The Hike
author: Lucy Clarke
name: Jess
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Women Who Run With the Wolves 241823
In "Women Who Run With the Wolves," Dr Estes unfolds rich intercultural myths, fairytales and stories, many from her own family, in order to help women reconnect with the fierce, healthy, visionary attributes of this instinctual nature. Through the stories and commentaries in this remarkable book, we retrieve, examine, love, and understand the Wild Woman, and hold her against our deep psyches as one who is both magic and medicine. Dr Estes has created a new lexicon for describing the female psyche. Fertile and life-giving, it is a psychology of women in the truest sense, a knowing of the soul.]]> 537 Clarissa Pinkola Estés 0345409876 Jess 0 to-read 4.12 1992 Women Who Run With the Wolves
author: Clarissa Pinkola Estés
name: Jess
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1992
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/27
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]]> After I Do 61197704
When Lauren and Ryan's marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes.

Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren's ideas about monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for?

This is a love story about what happens when the love fades. It's about staying in love, seizing love, forsaking love, and committing to love with everything you've got. And above all, After I Do is the story of a couple caught up in an old game-and searching for a new road to happily ever after.]]> 352 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1398516724 Jess 4 3.89 2014 After I Do
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Jess
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/27
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review:

]]> Anatomy: A Love Story 60103870 Dana Schwartz is one of the brightest of the next generation of young writers' NEIL GAIMAN

Edinburgh, 1817.

Hazel Sinnett is a lady who wants to be a surgeon more than she wants to marry.

Jack Currer is a resurrection man who's just trying to survive in a city where it's too easy to die.

When the two of them have a chance encounter outside the Edinburgh Anatomist's Society, Hazel thinks nothing of it at first. But after she gets kicked out of renowned surgeon Dr. Beecham's lectures for being the wrong gender, she realizes that her new acquaintance might be more helpful than she first thought. Because Hazel has made a deal with Dr. if she can pass the medical examination on her own, Beecham will allow her to continue her medical career. Without official lessons, though, Hazel will need more than just her books - she'll need corpses to study.
Lucky that she's made the acquaintance of someone who digs them up for a living.

But Jack has his own strange men have been seen skulking around cemeteries, his friends are disappearing off the streets, and the dreaded Roman Fever, which wiped out thousands a few years ago, is back with a vengeance. Nobody important cares - until Hazel.

Now, Hazel and Jack must work together to uncover the secrets buried not just in unmarked graves, but in the very heart of Edinburgh society.

Praise for Anatomy:

'Lionhearted heroine you'll root for from page one? Check. Dark academia vibes? Check. Cheeky romantic banter that will make you blush? Check, check and CHECK. Read this gripping, ridiculously clever tale only if you're fully prepared to be haunted by its revelations about life and death while also swooning at the idea of flirting with someone in an open grave' Emma Lord, New York Times bestselling author of You Have a Match and Tweet Cute

'A fast-paced, utterly engrossing tale of mystery, romance, and cadavers...I grinned, I gasped, I cried and ended this book breathless and craving more' Alwyn Hamilton, New York Times bestselling author of the Rebel of the Sands series

'Diabolically delightful. A love story, a murder mystery, and a horror novel bound up together in ghoulish stitches' Maureen Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of the Truly Devious trilogy

'Schwartz's magical novel is at once gripping and tender, and the intricate plot is engrossing as the reader tries to solve the mystery' Booklist (starred review)]]> 348 Dana Schwartz 0349433348 Jess 3 3.91 2022 Anatomy: A Love Story
author: Dana Schwartz
name: Jess
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves:
review:

]]> The Other Woman 36212848 A deliciously disturbing, compulsively readable debut domestic suspense—prepare to meet The Other Woman: there’s nothing she won’t do to keep you away from her son...

Emily thinks Adam's perfect; the man she thought she'd never meet. But lurking in the shadows is a rival; a woman who shares a deep bond with the man she loves.

Emily chose Adam, but she didn’t choose his mother Pammie. There’s nothing a mother wouldn’t do for her son, and now Emily is about to find out just how far Pammie will go to get what she wants: Emily gone forever.

The Other Woman is an addictive, fast-paced psychological thriller about the destructive relationship between Emily, her boyfriend Adam, and his manipulative mother Pammie.]]> 304 Sandie Jones Jess 0 to-read 3.71 2018 The Other Woman
author: Sandie Jones
name: Jess
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Teacher 198218463 A mind-bending, psychological thriller from Freida McFadden, the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Housemaid!

Lesson #1: trust no one

Eve has a good life. She gets up each day, gets a kiss from her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school. All is as it should be. Except�

Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal involving a student-teacher affair, with one student, Addie, at its center. But Eve knows there is far more to these ugly rumors than meets the eye.

Addie can't be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that's what everyone says.

But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet.

From the New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden comes a story of twisting secrets and long-awaited revenge.]]> 362 Freida McFadden Jess 4 4.15 2024 The Teacher
author: Freida McFadden
name: Jess
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/10/29
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]]> Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 51496 139 Robert Louis Stevenson 0451528956 Jess 0 to-read 3.84 1886 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
author: Robert Louis Stevenson
name: Jess
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1886
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/10/20
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]]> A Good Place to Hide a Body 186513068 'Of course. Are you OK? Is it Mum?'
'No!' He almost shouts it. 'Just come quickly. The garden...the...body... we need you, Penny.'
For women of Penny's generation, being on hand for elderly parents is just part of life. But for Penny, things have become a little more serious...

When she receives a frantic phone call from her parents one night, with express instructions NOT to call the police, Penny rushes over at once. But they haven't had a fall. They haven't forgotten their computer passwords. They've killed someone. And his body is lying in the garden, right next to the rose bushes.
Everyone is capable of murder. They just need to meet the right person.]]> 320 Laura Marshall 1399729659 Jess 5 3.69 2024 A Good Place to Hide a Body
author: Laura Marshall
name: Jess
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/31
date added: 2024/08/31
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]]> The Wrong Sister 188025684
When Alice realises that Tasha is struggling - with money, the kids, losing her identity - she suggests they do a lifeswap for a week. Alice and Kyle will come to stay at Tasha's terraced house to look after the twins, while Tasha and Harry spend the week in Alice and Kyle's Venice apartment.

But a few days in, it all goes terribly wrong. Tasha receives a phone call to say Alice is in hospital and Kyle is dead after an intruder broke into their house. They think it must have been a burglary gone wrong.

Until a note arrives through the letterbox saying It was supposed to be you.

Who was there that night, and why?
Is it really Tasha they are targeting?
And can these two sisters find the answers they need, or are they about to stumble upon something more sinister?]]> 400 Claire Douglas 140595762X Jess 0 to-read 4.00 2024 The Wrong Sister
author: Claire Douglas
name: Jess
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/22
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]]> The Coworker 123423832 Two women. An office filled with secrets. One terrible crime that can't be taken back.

Dawn Schiff is strange. At least, everyone thinks so at Vixed, the nutritional supplement company where Dawn works as an accountant. She never says the right thing. She has no friends. And she is always at her desk at precisely 8:45 a.m.

So when Dawn doesn't show up to the office one morning, her coworker Natalie Farrell—beautiful, popular, top sales rep five years running—is surprised. Then she receives an unsettling, anonymous phone call that changes everything�

It turns out Dawn wasn't just an awkward outsider—she was being targeted by someone close. And now Natalie is irrevocably tied to Dawn as she finds herself caught in a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves her wondering: who's the real victim?

But one thing is incredibly clear: somebody hated Dawn Schiff. Enough to kill.

The Coworker is a tense, unputdownable thriller from New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden that explores the dark ways the past can echo through the present―with deadly consequences.]]> 362 Freida McFadden 172829620X Jess 0 to-read 3.68 2023 The Coworker
author: Freida McFadden
name: Jess
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Funny Story 194802722 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry Jess 0 to-read 4.21 2024 Funny Story
author: Emily Henry
name: Jess
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/22
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review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (And More Life to Live)]]> 44071899
It started with the Sh*t I Do List. Tired of being the "shefault" parent responsible for all aspects of her busy household, Eve Rodsky counted up all the unpaid, invisible work she was doing for her family -- and then sent that list to her husband, asking for things to change. His response was... underwhelming. Rodsky realized that simply identifying the issue of unequal labor on the home front wasn't enough: She needed a solution to this universal problem. Her sanity, identity, career, and marriage depended on it.

The result is Fair Play: a time- and anxiety-saving system that offers couples a completely new way to divvy up domestic responsibilities. Rodsky interviewed more than five hundred men and women from all walks of life to figure out what the invisible work in a family actually entails and how to get it all done efficiently. With four easy-to-follow rules, 100 household tasks, and a figurative card game you play with your partner, Fair Play helps you prioritize what's important to your family and who should take the lead on every chore from laundry to homework to dinner.

"Winning" this game means rebalancing your home life, reigniting your relationship with your significant other, and reclaiming your Unicorn Space -- as in, the time to develop the skills and passions that keep you interested and interesting. Are you ready to try Fair Play? Let's deal you in.]]> 352 Eve Rodsky Jess 0 to-read 3.56 2019 Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (And More Life to Live)
author: Eve Rodsky
name: Jess
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Versions of a Girl 203747745 Do we become who we are because of our parents, or in spite of them?

Fern's mother is a social climber and a former ballet dancer who lives a plush life in a London townhouse.

Fern's father only climbs if there's a bottle at the top, has an IQ of 133 and lives hand-to-mouth in Californian motels.

Aged fourteen, Fern has spent equal time with each of her parents. That is, until an unexpected visitor triggers a life-changing whether she should get on a plane to London to be with her mother, or stay in California with her father. Here, Fern's narrative splices in two.

Two possible lives, one person. Each Fern will grow in wildly different, but eerily similar directions. Both must determine who they want to be - and how they deal with a thorny problem which threatens to undo them a murder.

Warm and brilliantly wise, this is the irresistible fiction debut from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober.]]> 332 Catherine Gray 1802795170 Jess 0 to-read 3.77 Versions of a Girl
author: Catherine Gray
name: Jess
average rating: 3.77
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Too Late: Definitive Edition 143383171
Sloan will go through hell and back for those she loves. And she does so, every single day. Caught up with the alluring Asa Jackson, a notorious drug trafficker, Sloan has finally found a lifeline to cling to, even if it's meant compromising her morals. She was in dire straits trying to pay for her brother's care until she met Asa. But as Sloan became emotionally and economically reliant on him, he in turn developed a disturbing obsession with her - one that becomes increasingly dangerous every day.

When undercover DEA agent Carter enters the picture, Sloan's surprised to feel an immediate attraction between them, despite knowing that if Asa finds out, he will kill him. And Asa has always been a step ahead of everyone in his life, including Sloan. No one has ever gotten in his way.

No one except Carter.

Together, Sloan and Carter must find a way out before it's too late . . .]]> 370 Colleen Hoover 1408729458 Jess 5 4.13 2016 Too Late: Definitive Edition
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Jess
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/22
date added: 2024/08/22
shelves:
review:

]]> The Nightingale 43167012 The New York Times number one bestselling title.

Bravery, courage, fear and love in a time of war.

Despite their differences, sisters Vianne and Isabelle have always been close. Younger, bolder Isabelle lives in Paris while Vianne is content with life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. But when the Second World War strikes, Antoine is sent off to fight and Vianne finds herself isolated so Isabelle is sent by their father to help her.

As the war progresses, the sisters' relationship and strength is tested. With life changing in unbelievably horrific ways, Vianne and Isabelle will find themselves facing frightening situations and responding in ways they never thought possible as bravery and resistance take different forms in each of their actions.

Vivid and exquisite in its illumination of a time and place that was filled with atrocities, but also humanity and strength, Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale will provoke thought and discussion that will have readers talking long after they finish reading.]]> 468 Kristin Hannah Jess 0 to-read 4.72 2015 The Nightingale
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Jess
average rating: 4.72
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> First Lie Wins 164444179 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593492918.

Evie Porter has everything a nice Southern girl could want: a doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence, a tight group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job isn’t like the others. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge. . . .]]> 340 Ashley Elston Jess 0 to-read 3.97 2024 First Lie Wins
author: Ashley Elston
name: Jess
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> What a Way to Go 208552783 'I was immensely grateful that despite the gruesome way my husband died, he'd done it with his clothes on.'

Anthony Wistern is wealthy beyond imagination. Fragrant wife, gaggle of photogenic children, French chateau, Cotswold manor, plethora of mistresses, penchant for cutting moral corners, tick tick tick tick tick tick.

Unfortunately for him, he's also dead. Suddenly poised to inherit his fortune, each member of the family falls under suspicion.

And that's when everything comes crashing down…]]> 400 Bella Mackie 0008365962 Jess 0 to-read 3.46 2024 What a Way to Go
author: Bella Mackie
name: Jess
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[NEW-Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel (Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series, 1)]]> 146575865 What would you change if you could go back in time?In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique the chance to travel back in time.In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.But the journey into the past does not come without customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story � translated from Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot � explores the age-old what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 272 Toshikazu Kawaguchi Jess 0 3.75 2015 NEW-Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel (Before the Coffee Gets Cold Series, 1)
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: Jess
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Yellowface 62966998
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.]]> 326 R.F. Kuang 0008532796 Jess 4 3.70 2023 Yellowface
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Jess
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/06
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves:
review:

]]> The Lost Bookshop 65137920 The Keeper of Stories meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets.

‘The thing about books,� she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.�

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found�

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder� where nothing is as it seems.]]> 432 Evie Woods 0008609209 Jess 0 abandoned 4.03 2023 The Lost Bookshop
author: Evie Woods
name: Jess
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/23
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic, #0.2)]]> 34037113 Find your magic

For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.

Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.

From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.

The Owens children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy.]]> 369 Alice Hoffman Jess 0 to-read 3.98 2017 The Rules of Magic (Practical Magic, #0.2)
author: Alice Hoffman
name: Jess
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Last Mrs. Parrish 34066623
To everyone in the exclusive town of Bishops Harbor, Connecticut,Daphne—a socialite and philanthropist—and her real-estate mogul husband, Jackson,are a couple straight out of a fairy tale.

Amber’s envy could eat her alive... if she didn't have a plan. Amber uses Daphne’s compassion and caring to insinuate herself into the family’s life—the first step in a meticulous scheme to undermine her. Before long, Amber is Daphne’s closest confidante, traveling to Europe with the Parrishes and their lovely young daughters, and growing closer to Jackson. But a skeleton from her past may undermine everything that Amber has worked towards, and if it is discovered, her well-laid plan may fall to pieces.

With shocking turns and dark secrets that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a fresh, juicy, and utterly addictive thriller from a diabolically imaginative talent.]]> 390 Liv Constantine 0062667572 Jess 0 to-read 3.85 2017 The Last Mrs. Parrish
author: Liv Constantine
name: Jess
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)]]> 44421460 What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 213 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529029589 Jess 4 3.66 2015 Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Before the Coffee Gets Cold, #1)
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: Jess
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/15
date added: 2024/06/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen]]> 6289283 Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.

Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strife that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.

With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.]]> 287 Christopher McDougall Jess 4 4.29 2009 Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
author: Christopher McDougall
name: Jess
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/15
date added: 2024/06/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up]]> 78296963 A funny and heartfelt novel for any woman who wonders how the hell she got here and why life isn't quite how she imagined it was going to be...

Meet Nell. Her life is a mess.

When her business goes bust and her fiancé with it, Nell's happy ever after in California falls apart and she moves back to London to start over. But a lot has changed since she’s been gone. All her single friends are now married with children, a sky-high real estate market forces her to rent a room in a stranger’s house, and everyone has seemingly perfect Instagram-ready lives. Starting from scratch she feels like a f**k up . . . a forty-something f**k up.

Landing a job writing obituaries, Nell meets the fabulous Cricket, an 80-something widow with challenges of her own. Together they begin to help each other heal their aching hearts, cope with the loss of the lives they had planned, and push each other into new adventures and joy. With Cricket’s help, Nell is determined to turn her life around. First, though, she has a confession . . .

Laugh-out-loud funny and painfully relatable, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up is a celebration of friendship and a reminder that while life doesn’t always go according to plan, it doesn’t mean you can’t find happiness.]]> 400 Alexandra Potter 0063340895 Jess 0 to-read 4.00 2020 Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up
author: Alexandra Potter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

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

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.]]> 393 Madeline Miller 0316556343 Jess 3 4.22 2018 Circe
author: Madeline Miller
name: Jess
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/02
date added: 2024/04/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness]]> 13202092
In Eat and Run, Jurek opens up about his life and career as a champion athlete with a plant-based diet and inspires runners at every level. From his Midwestern childhood hunting, fishing, and cooking for his meat-and-potatoes family to his slow transition to ultrarunning and veganism, Scott’s story shows the power of an iron will and blows apart the stereotypes of what athletes should eat to fuel optimal performance. Full of stories of competition as well as science and practical advice—including his own recipes—Eat and Run will motivate readers and expand their food horizons.]]> 272 Scott Jurek 0547569653 Jess 0 to-read 3.99 2012 Eat & Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness
author: Scott Jurek
name: Jess
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Spilt Milk 61740381 What if you said the worst thing a mother could say?
What if your husband found out about it in the national press?
And what if after all that, you didn’t regret it�?

‘My life is a tight knot I would like to undo. And, yes, there’s no use crying over spilt milk but, the truth is, I’d rather die than spill any more…�

Bea has a husband and daughter. Bea also has an appointment for a termination. Her first child changed everything � her life, her relationship, her identity. Now she has a pregnancy test and a decision to face.

This is a story about the women we (think we) know, the choices we make, the friends who stand by us and how the secrets we keep and the words left unsaid can be more dangerous than any lie we tell…]]> 320 Amy Beashel 0008526435 Jess 4 3.64 2023 Spilt Milk
author: Amy Beashel
name: Jess
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/17
date added: 2024/03/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Beyond the Wand: The Magic & Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard]]> 61062194 From the magical moments on set as Draco Malfoy to the challenges of growing up in the spotlight, get a backstage pass into Tom Felton’s life on and off the big screen in this #1 New York Times bestseller.

Tom Felton’s adolescence was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame in beloved films like The Borrowers catapulted him into the limelight, but nothing could prepare him for what was to come after he landed the iconic role of the Draco Malfoy, the bleached blonde villain of the Harry Potter movies. For the next ten years, he was at the center of a huge pop culture phenomenon and yet, in between filming, he would go back to being a normal teenager trying to fit into a normal school.

Speaking with great candor and his signature humor, Tom shares his experience growing up as part of the wizarding world while also trying to navigate the muggle world. He tells stories from his early days in the business like his first acting gig where he was mistaken for fellow blonde child actor Macaulay Culkin and his Harry Potter audition where, in a very Draco-like move, he fudged how well he knew the books the series was based on (not at all). He reflects on his experiences working with cinematic greats such as Alan Rickman, Sir Michael Gambon, Dame Maggie Smith, and Ralph Fiennes (including that awkward Voldemort hug). And, perhaps most poignantly, he discusses the lasting relationships he made over that decade of filming, including with Emma Watson, who started out as a pesky nine-year-old whom he mocked for not knowing what a boom mic was but who soon grew into one of his dearest friends. Then, of course, there are the highs and lows of fame and navigating life after such a momentous and life-changing experience.

Tom Felton’s Beyond the Wand is an entertaining, funny, and poignant must-read for any Harry Potter fan. Prepare to meet a real-life wizard.]]> 288 Tom Felton 1538741369 Jess 0 to-read 4.28 2022 Beyond the Wand: The Magic & Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard
author: Tom Felton
name: Jess
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/02/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How the Pill Changes Everything: Your Brain on Birth Control]]> 52665079 THE PILL

Changes your brain
Alters your stress response
Can increase your risk of depression
Affects your choice of mate selection

Hormonal birth control is taken by millions of women around the world every day. Yet until recently we knew very little about how the Pill affects the non-reproductive systems of the female body, because research on these other systems was conducted almost exclusively on men. In her trailblazing book, Dr Sarah Hill uses the latest science to reveal how the Pill is changing women and the world, for better and worse. She puts the power back in your hands to make smarter, more informed choices about your health and your hormones.


IT'S EVERYTHING YOUR DOCTOR NEVER TOLD YOU

]]> 320 Sarah E. Hill Jess 4 4.01 2019 How the Pill Changes Everything: Your Brain on Birth Control
author: Sarah E. Hill
name: Jess
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/02/10
date added: 2024/02/10
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club, #4)]]> 62226126
An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.

As the gang springs into action they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.

With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out? And who will be the last devil to die?]]> 421 Richard Osman 0241512441 Jess 4 4.44 2023 The Last Devil to Die (Thursday Murder Club, #4)
author: Richard Osman
name: Jess
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/21
date added: 2024/01/21
shelves:
review:

]]> The Order of Time 36442813
With his extraordinary charm and sense of wonder, bringing together science, philosophy and art, Carlo Rovelli unravels this mystery, inviting us to imagine a world where time is in us and we are not in time.]]> 224 Carlo Rovelli 073521610X Jess 0 to-read 4.14 2017 The Order of Time
author: Carlo Rovelli
name: Jess
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World]]> 43706466 An intensely powerful new novel from the best-selling author of The Bastard of Istanbul and Honour

'In the first minute following her death, Tequila Leila's consciousness began to ebb, slowly and steadily, like a tide receding from the shore. Her brain cells, having run out of blood, were now completely deprived of oxygen. But they did not shut down. Not right away...'

For Leila, each minute after her death brings a sensuous memory: the taste of spiced goat stew, sacrificed by her father to celebrate the long-awaited birth of a son; the sight of bubbling vats of lemon and sugar which the women use to wax their legs while the men attend mosque; the scent of cardamom coffee that Leila shares with a handsome student in the brothel where she works. Each memory, too, recalls the friends she made at each key moment in her life - friends who are now desperately trying to find her. . .]]> 312 Elif Shafak 0241293863 Jess 0 to-read 4.09 2019 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
author: Elif Shafak
name: Jess
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Push 52476830 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

A tense, page-turning psychological drama about the making and breaking of a family–and a woman whose experience of motherhood is nothing at all what she hoped for–and everything she feared.

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.

But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter–she doesn’t behave like most children do.

Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she’s imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.

Then their son Sam is born–and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she’d always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.

The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed.]]> 307 Ashley Audrain 1984881663 Jess 0 to-read 4.03 2021 The Push
author: Ashley Audrain
name: Jess
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Wild Silence 52185541 The Salt Path.

Nature holds the answers for Raynor and her husband Moth. After walking 630 homeless miles along The Salt Path, living on the windswept and wild English coastline; the cliffs, the sky and the chalky earth now feel like their home.

Moth has a terminal diagnosis, but against all medical odds, he seems revitalized in nature. Together on the wild coastal path, with their feet firmly rooted outdoors, they discover that anything is possible.

Now, life beyond The Salt Path awaits and they come back to four walls, but the sense of home is illusive and returning to normality is proving difficult - until an incredible gesture by someone who reads their story changes everything.

A chance to breathe life back into a beautiful farmhouse nestled deep in the Cornish hills; rewilding the land and returning nature to its hedgerows becomes their saving grace and their new path to follow.

The Wild Silence is a story of hope triumphing over despair, of lifelong love prevailing over everything. It is a luminous account of the human spirit's instinctive connection to nature, and how vital it is for us all.]]> 280 Raynor Winn 0241401461 Jess 3 3.90 2020 The Wild Silence
author: Raynor Winn
name: Jess
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2024/01/06
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Babel 57945316 From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a historical fantasy epic that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British Empire

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver-working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as the arcane craft serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide . . .

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?]]> 544 R.F. Kuang 0063021420 Jess 0 to-read 4.17 2022 Babel
author: R.F. Kuang
name: Jess
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> Countdown to Christmas 58363050
But then an heir hunter gets in touch, telling her there's a plot of land in Canada she may be entitled to. Surely, it's a scam. Or could it be just the escape she needs right now? They're offering to pay for her flights . . . and Ruben's latest note in the advent calendar tells her to 'say yes!'

Suddenly, Chloe's new countdown to Christmas involves a log cabin in the middle of a snowy forest, a community that's worried for its future, a gruff lumberjack who gives her butterflies and a lot of pancakes with maple syrup . . .

This Christmas is full of surprises!]]> 368 Jo Thomas 0552178691 Jess 4 3.96 Countdown to Christmas
author: Jo Thomas
name: Jess
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2023/12/26
date added: 2023/12/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[James Acaster's Classic Scrapes]]> 33538599 THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and 2017 Humour Book of the Year pick

'Laugh-out-loud hilarious' - Chortle

'I don't think I've ever read a book that has made me cry with laughter as much as this one. It was very difficult reading it in public as I looked like a madman' - Richard Herring

'James Acaster has a brilliant comic mind, crackling with energy every bit as much as his corduroy slacks' - Milton Jones

James Acaster has been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award five times and has appeared on prime-time TV shows like MOCK THE WEEK, LIVE AT THE APOLLO and RUSSELL HOWARD'S STAND UP CENTRAL.

But behind the fame and critical acclaim is a man perpetually getting into trouble. Whether it's disappointing a skydiving instructor mid-flight, hiding from thugs in a bush wearing a bright red dress, or annoying the Kettering Board Games club, a didgeridoo-playing conspiracy theorist and some bemused Christians, James is always finding new ways to embarrass himself.

Appearing on Josh Widdicombe's radio show to recount these stories, the feature was christened 'James Acaster's classic scrapes'. Here, in his first book, James recounts these tales (including never-before-heard stories) along with self-penned drawings, in all their glorious stupidity.]]> 320 James Acaster 1472247183 Jess 5 4.21 2017 James Acaster's Classic Scrapes
author: James Acaster
name: Jess
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2023/12/07
date added: 2023/12/07
shelves:
review:

]]> The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1) 55196813
Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life's complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly's orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what's happening, Molly's unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it's too late?

A Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.]]> 304 Nita Prose 0593356152 Jess 0 to-read 3.71 2022 The Maid (Molly the Maid, #1)
author: Nita Prose
name: Jess
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/12/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Girl Before 28016509
Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life.

The request seems odd, even intrusive - and for the two women who answer, the consequences are devastating.

Emma

Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant - and it does.

Jane

After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street, she is instantly drawn to the space - and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home's previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror as the girl before.]]> 341 J.P. Delaney 0425285049 Jess 0 to-read 3.67 2017 The Girl Before
author: J.P. Delaney
name: Jess
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Never Never (Never Never, #1) 24378015
Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be, the more they question why they were ever together to begin with.

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Hopeless joins forces with the New York Times bestselling author of Mud Vein. Together, they have created a gripping, romantic tale unlike any other.]]> 158 Colleen Hoover Jess 4 3.78 2015 Never Never (Never Never, #1)
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Jess
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/26
date added: 2023/11/26
shelves:
review:

]]> What Lies Between Us 53142315
Every other night, Maggie and Nina have dinner together. When they are finished, Nina helps Maggie back to her room in the attic, and into the heavy chain that keeps her there. Because Maggie has done things to Nina that can’t ever be forgiven, and now she is paying the price.

But there are many things about the past that Nina doesn’t know, and Maggie is going to keep it that way—even if it kills her.

Because in this house, the truth is more dangerous than lies.]]> 363 John Marrs 1542017025 Jess 0 to-read 3.97 2020 What Lies Between Us
author: John Marrs
name: Jess
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner, #1)]]> 56935099 You won't want to leave...until you can't.

Half hidden by forest and overshadowed by threatening peaks, Le Sommet has always been a sinister place. Long plagued by troubling rumors, the former abandoned sanatorium has since been renovated into a five-star minimalist hotel.

An imposing, isolated getaway spot high up in the Swiss Alps is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin's taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin really has no reason not to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge--there's something about the hotel that makes her nervous. And when they wake the following morning to discover Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

Elin is under pressure to find Laure, but no one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she's the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in...]]> 390 Sarah Pearse 0593296672 Jess 4 3.33 2020 The Sanatorium (Detective Elin Warner, #1)
author: Sarah Pearse
name: Jess
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/11/18
date added: 2023/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words]]> 908053 432 Andrew Morton 0671024124 Jess 3 3.80 1993 Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words
author: Andrew Morton
name: Jess
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/29
date added: 2023/10/29
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[King of Greed (Kings of Sin, #3)]]> 124943221 He had her, he lost her…and he’ll do anything to win her back.

Powerful, brilliant, and ambitious, Dominic Davenport clawed his way up from nothing to become the King of Wall Street.

He has everything—a beautiful home, a beautiful wife, and more money than he could spend in a lifetime. But no matter how much he accumulates, he’s never satisfied.

In his endless quest for more, he drives away the only person who saw him as enough.

It isn’t until she’s gone that he realizes there may be more to life than riches and glory…but by then, it may be too late.

***

Kind, intelligent, and thoughtful, Alessandra Davenport has played the role of trophy wife for years.

She stood by her husband while he built an empire, but now that they’ve reached the top, she realizes he’s no longer the man she fell for.

When it becomes clear that she’ll always come second to his work, she finally takes charge of her life and puts herself first—even if it means leaving the only man she’s ever loved.

But what she didn’t count on was his refusal to let her go…or for him to fight for their marriage, no matter what it takes.

King of Greed is a steamy marriage in trouble/second chance romance. It's book three in the Kings of Sin series but can be read as a standalone.]]> 352 Ana Huang Jess 0 to-read 3.92 2023 King of Greed (Kings of Sin, #3)
author: Ana Huang
name: Jess
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[King of Pride (Kings of Sin, #2)]]> 62994279 She's his opposite in every way...and the greatest temptation he's ever known.

Reserved, controlled, and proper to a fault, Kai Young has neither the time nor inclination for chaos—and Isabella, with her purple hair and inappropriate jokes, is chaos personified.

With a crucial CEO vote looming and a media empire at stake, the billionaire heir can’t afford the distraction she brings.

Isabella is everything he shouldn’t want, but with every look and every touch, he’s tempted to break all his rules…and claim her as his own.

***

Bold, impulsive, and full of life, Isabella Valencia has never met a party she doesn’t like or a man she couldn’t charm...except for Kai Young.

It shouldn’t matter. He’s not her type—the man translates classics into Latin for fun, and his membership at the exclusive club where she bartends means he’s strictly off limits.

But she can’t deny that, beneath his cool exterior, is a man who could make her melt with just a touch.

No matter how hard they try, they can’t resist giving into their forbidden desires.

Even if it costs them everything.

King of Pride is a steamy opposite attract, forbidden billionaire romance. It's book two in the Kings of Sin series but can be read as a standalone.

Contains explicit content and profanity. Recommended for mature readers only. ]]> 358 Ana Huang Jess 0 to-read 3.92 2023 King of Pride (Kings of Sin, #2)
author: Ana Huang
name: Jess
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/10/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights]]> 56075256
Now eight bestselling, award-winning authors - master storytellers of the sinister and the macabre - bring this time-honoured tradition to vivid life in a spellbinding collection of new and original haunted tales.

From a bustling Covent Garden Christmas market to the frosty moors of Yorkshire, from a country estate with a dreadful secret, to a London mansion where a beautiful girl lies frozen in death, these are stories to make your hair stand on end, send shivers down your spine and to serve as your indispensable companion to the long nights of winter.

So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the spell of The Haunting Season . . .

Featuring new and original tales from:

Bridget Collins
Sunday Times bestselling author of The Binding

Imogen Hermes Gowar
Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock

Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mercies

Andrew Michael Hurley
Sunday Times bestselling author of The Loney

Jess Kidd
International award-winning author of Things in Jars

Elizabeth Macneal
Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doll Factory

Natasha Pulley
Sunday Times bestselling author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

Laura Purcell
Award-winning author of The Silent Companions]]> 304 Bridget Collins 0751581976 Jess 4 3.61 2021 The Haunting Season: Ghostly Tales for Long Winter Nights
author: Bridget Collins
name: Jess
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/10/15
date added: 2023/10/15
shelves:
review:

]]> The Lost Ones 45166671 Some houses are never at peace.

England, 1917

Reeling from the death of her fiancé, Stella Marcham welcomes the opportunity to stay with her pregnant sister, Madeleine, at her imposing country mansion, Greyswick � but she arrives to discover a house of unease and her sister gripped by fear and suspicion.

Before long, strange incidents begin to trouble Stella � sobbing in the night, little footsteps on the stairs � and as events escalate, she finds herself drawn to the tragic history of the house.

Aided by a wounded war veteran, Stella sets about uncovering Greyswick’s dark and terrible secrets � secrets the dead whisper from the other side…]]> 400 Anita Frank 0008341222 Jess 5 3.94 2019 The Lost Ones
author: Anita Frank
name: Jess
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/10/07
date added: 2023/10/07
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review:

]]> The Silent Companions 35458733 When newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge, what greets her is far from the life of wealth and privilege she was expecting . . .

When Elsie married handsome young heir Rupert Bainbridge, she believed she was destined for a life of luxury. But with her husband dead just weeks after their marriage, her new servants resentful, and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie has only her husband's awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks. Inside her new home lies a locked door, beyond which is a painted wooden figure —a silent companion �-that bears a striking resemblance to Elsie herself. The residents of The Bridge are terrified of the figure, but Elsie tries to shrug this off as simple superstition--that is, until she notices the figure's eyes following her.

A Victorian ghost story that evokes a most unsettling kind of fear, this is a tale that creeps its way through the consciousness in ways you least expect--much like the silent companions themselves.]]> 305 Laura Purcell 014313163X Jess 0 to-read 3.86 2017 The Silent Companions
author: Laura Purcell
name: Jess
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> She's Mine 58176063
Twenty years ago, Christine Donovan took a call she should have ignored while shopping. In those few seconds while her back was turned, her toddler, Heidi, was kidnapped. She’s never been seen again.

Despite having two other children with husband Greg, Christine remains guilt-stricken that her neglect caused her child to be stolen, while haunted by a secret that consumes her.

Just as she takes measures to finally heal, a note is posted through her door, with the words she has always longed to hear: Heidi isn’t dead.

Christine might finally get the answers she craves - but what she doesn’t know is that finding her daughter will uncover dark secrets close to home.

In seeking the truth, Christine might destroy everything that she loves � so how far is she willing to go to find Heidi?]]> 294 A.A. Chaudhuri 1912973731 Jess 0 to-read 4.11 2021 She's Mine
author: A.A. Chaudhuri
name: Jess
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[How to Kill Men and Get Away With It (Kitty Collins, #1)]]> 61833058 Meet Kitty Collins.

FRIEND. LOVER. KILLER.

He was following me. That guy from the nightclub who wouldn’t leave me alone.

I hadn’t intended to kill him of course. But I wasn’t displeased when I did and, despite the mess I made, I appeared to get away with it.

That’s where my addiction started�

I’ve got a taste for revenge and quite frankly, I’m killing it.

A deliciously dark, hilariously twisted story about friendship, love, and murder. Fans of My Sister the Serial Killer, How to Kill Your Family and Killing Eve will love this wickedly clever novel!]]> 384 Katy Brent 0008600481 Jess 4 3.65 2023 How to Kill Men and Get Away With It (Kitty Collins, #1)
author: Katy Brent
name: Jess
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/09/29
date added: 2023/09/29
shelves:
review:

]]> Demon Copperhead 60194162 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780063251922.

"Anyone will tell you the born of this world are marked from the get-out, win or lose."

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

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.]]> 560 Barbara Kingsolver Jess 3 4.46 2022 Demon Copperhead
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Jess
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/09/17
date added: 2023/09/17
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Pumpkin Spice Café (Dream Harbor, #1)]]> 139391940 A spicy small-town romance and TikTok phenomenon, perfect for fans of Hannah Grace and Stephanie Archer.

When Jeanie's aunt gifts her the beloved Pumpkin Spice Café in the small town of Dream Harbor, Jeanie jumps at the chance for a fresh start away from her very dull desk job.

Logan is a local farmer who avoids Dream Harbor's gossip at all costs. But Jeanie's arrival disrupts Logan's routine and he wants nothing to do with the irritatingly upbeat new girl, except that he finds himself inexplicably drawn to her.

Will Jeanie's happy-go-lucky attitude win over the grumpy-but-gorgeous Logan, or has this city girl found the one person in town who won't fall for her charm, or her pumpkin spice lattes�

The Pumpkin Spice Café is a cozy romantic mystery for fans of Gilmore Girls, with a grumpy x sunshine dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed!

Tropes:

� grumpy x sunshine
� small town
� found family
� spicy]]> 373 Laurie Gilmore 0008610665 Jess 0 to-read 3.36 2023 The Pumpkin Spice Café (Dream Harbor, #1)
author: Laurie Gilmore
name: Jess
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/09/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Stranding 55369872
As a new relationship becomes increasingly claustrophobic, and the discussions of impending political crisis are harder to avoid, she starts to dream of water; of escaping entwining tentacles through deep blue seas. She sets out to the other side of the globe to find that vision of freedom, and to decide who she wants to be when she returns.

But when she arrives at her destination, she finds instead that the world, and life, she left behind no longer exists.

Starting at the end and eventually returning there, with alternate chapters set Before and After, THE STRANDING is a story of how to make a life, what it is to be a woman, and what remains when everything we know is stripped away.]]> 352 Kate Sawyer 1529340667 Jess 4 4.15 2021 The Stranding
author: Kate Sawyer
name: Jess
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/08/30
date added: 2023/08/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Tom Lake 63241104 In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.

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

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.]]> 309 Ann Patchett 006332752X Jess 0 to-read 3.92 2023 Tom Lake
author: Ann Patchett
name: Jess
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/30
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Reading List 55276648 An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London suburb.

Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in the London Borough of Ealing after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.

Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she’s facing at home.

When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list� hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.]]> 368 Sara Nisha Adams 0063025280 Jess 0 to-read 4.02 2021 The Reading List
author: Sara Nisha Adams
name: Jess
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Four Streets 21278001 1950s Liverpool. In the tight-knit Irish Catholic community of the Four Streets, two girls are growing up. One is motherless � and hated by the cold woman who is determined to take her dead mother's place. The other is hiding a dreadful secret which she dare not let slip to anyone, lest it rips the heart out of the community. What can the people of the Four Streets do when a betrayal at the very heart of their world comes to light? Can't wait for the next one? HIDE HER NAME is out now! What people are saying about THE FOUR 'An addictive novel to be devoured in one sitting' 'It has been a long time since I have read a story that has affected me so deeply and still has me thinking about it days after finishing it' 'I couldn't wait to read this book each night, a well written, intriuging story, a real page turner' 'Enjoyed every minute of this book which was difficult to put down and only took me a day to read']]> 321 Nadine Dorries Jess 3 4.22 2014 The Four Streets
author: Nadine Dorries
name: Jess
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2023/08/20
date added: 2023/08/20
shelves:
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]]> The Flatshare 36478784 Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met�

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…]]> 394 Beth O'Leary 1787474402 Jess 4 3.97 2019 The Flatshare
author: Beth O'Leary
name: Jess
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/23
date added: 2023/07/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3)]]> 58957615
Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot.

While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman's bestselling series.]]> 413 Richard Osman 0241512425 Jess 3 4.32 2022 The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, #3)
author: Richard Osman
name: Jess
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/07/12
date added: 2023/07/12
shelves:
review:

]]> Briefly, A Delicious Life 59366260
In 1473, fourteen-year-old Blanca dies in a hilltop monastery in Mallorca. Nearly four hundred years later, when George Sand, her two children, and her lover Frederic Chopin arrive in the village, Blanca is still there: a spirited, funny, righteous ghost, she’s been hanging around the monastery since her accidental death, spying on the monks and the townspeople and keeping track of her descendants.

Blanca is enchanted the moment she sees George, and the magical novel unfolds as a story of deeply felt, unrequited longing—a teenage ghost pining for a woman who can’t see her and doesn’t know she exists. As George and Chopin, who wear their unconventionality, in George’s case, literally on their sleeves, find themselves in deepening trouble with the provincial, 19th-century villagers, Blanca watches helplessly and reflects on the circumstances of her own death (which involved an ill-advised love affair with a monk-in-training).

Charming, original, and emotionally moving -- gorgeous and surprising exploration of artistry, desire, and life after death.]]> 304 Nell Stevens 1982190949 Jess 0 to-read 3.75 2022 Briefly, A Delicious Life
author: Nell Stevens
name: Jess
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Seven Days in June 55648820
When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York's Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can't deny their chemistry - or the fact that they've been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since.

Over the next seven days in the middle of a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect, but Eva's not sure how she can trust the man who broke her heart, and she needs to get him out of New York so that her life can return to normal. But before Shane disappears again, there are a few questions she needs answered...

With its keen observations of Black life and the condition of modern motherhood, as well as the consequences of motherless-ness, Seven Days in June is by turns humorous, warm and deeply sensual.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781538719107.]]> 336 Tia Williams Jess 0 to-read 3.98 2021 Seven Days in June
author: Tia Williams
name: Jess
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Cassandra in Reverse 61987507 A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK
“A Time-Twisting Delight� —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club June �23 Pick)

If you had the power to change the past…where would you start?
Cassandra Penelope Dankworth is a creature of habit. She likes what she likes (museums, jumpsuits, her boyfriend, Will) and strongly dislikes what she doesn't (mess, change, her boss drinking out of her mug). Her life runs in a pleasing, predictable order…until now.
� She's just been dumped.
� She's just been fired.
� Her local café has run out of banana muffins.

Then, something truly unexpected happens: Cassie discovers she can go back and change the past. One small rewind at a time, Cassie attempts to fix the life she accidentally obliterated, but soon she'll discover she's trying to fix all the wrong things.

“A great read-alike for The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore, and The Boys by Katie Hafner.� �Booklist (STARRED)]]> 362 Holly Smale Jess 0 to-read 3.51 2023 Cassandra in Reverse
author: Holly Smale
name: Jess
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> Verity 59344312
Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.]]> 336 Colleen Hoover 153872474X Jess 5 4.29 2018 Verity
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Jess
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/03
date added: 2023/07/03
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]]> Honor 56271394
IndianAmerican journalistSmita has returned to India to cover a story, but reluctantly: long ago she and her family left the country with no intention of ever coming back. As she follows the case of Meena—a Hindu woman attacked by members of her own village and her own family for marrying a Muslim man—Smita comes face to face with a society where tradition carries more weight than one’s own heart, and a story that threatens to unearth the painful secrets of Smita’s own past. While Meena’s fate hangs in the balance, Smita tries in every way she can to right the scales. She also finds herself increasingly drawn to Mohan, an Indian man she meets while on assignment. But the dual love stories of Honor are as different as the cultures of Meena and Smita themselves: Smita realizes she has the freedom to enter into a casual affair, knowing she can decide later how much it means to her.

In this tender and evocative novel about love, hope, familial devotion, betrayal, and sacrifice, Thrity Umrigar shows us two courageous women trying to navigate how to be true to their homelands and themselves at the same time.]]> 326 Thrity Umrigar 161620995X Jess 0 to-read 4.32 2022 Honor
author: Thrity Umrigar
name: Jess
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Romantic Comedy 62628727 A comedy writer thinks she’s sworn off love, until a dreamily handsome pop star flips the script on all her assumptions. Romantic Comedy is a hilarious, observant and deeply tender novel from New York Times–bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld.

Sally Milz is a sketch writer for "The Night Owls," the late-night live comedy show that airs each Saturday. With a couple of heartbreaks under her belt, she’s long abandoned the search for love, settling instead for the occasional hook-up, career success, and a close relationship with her stepfather to round out a satisfying life.

But when Sally’s friend and fellow writer Danny Horst begins dating Annabel, a glamorous actor who guest-hosted the show, he joins the not-so-exclusive group of talented but average-looking and even dorky men at the show—and in society at large—who’ve gotten romantically involved with incredibly beautiful and accomplished women. Sally channels her annoyance into a sketch called the "Danny Horst Rule," poking fun at this phenomenon while underscoring how unlikely it is that the reverse would ever happen for a woman.

Enter Noah Brewster, a pop music sensation with a reputation for dating models, who signed on as both host and musical guest for this week’s show. Dazzled by his charms, Sally hits it off with Noah instantly, and as they collaborate on one sketch after another, she begins to wonder whether there might actually be sparks flying. But this isn’t a romantic comedy; it’s real life. And in real life, someone like him would never date someone like her...right?

With her keen observations and trademark ability to bring complex women to life on the page, Sittenfeld explores the neurosis-inducing and heart-fluttering wonder of love, while slyly dissecting the social rituals of romance and gender relations in the modern age.]]> 309 Curtis Sittenfeld 0399590943 Jess 0 to-read 3.60 2023 Romantic Comedy
author: Curtis Sittenfeld
name: Jess
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> L.A. Weather 56269069
L.A. is parched, dry as a bone, and all Oscar, the weather-obsessed patriarch of the Alvarado family, desperately wants is a little rain. He’s harboring a costly secret that distracts him from everything else. His wife, Keila, desperate for a life with a little more intimacy and a little less Weather Channel, feels she has no choice but to end their marriage. Their three daughters—Claudia, a television chef with a hard-hearted attitude; Olivia, a successful architect who suffers from gentrification guilt; and Patricia, a social media wizard who has an uncanny knack for connecting with audiences but not with her lovers—are blindsided and left questioning everything they know. Each will have to take a critical look at her own relationships and make some tough decisions along the way.

With quick wit and humor, Maria Amparo Escandón follows the Alvarado family as they wrestle with impending evacuations, secrets, deception, and betrayal, and their toughest decision yet: whether to stick together or burn it all down.]]> 319 María Amparo Escandón Jess 0 to-read 3.13 2021 L.A. Weather
author: María Amparo Escandón
name: Jess
average rating: 3.13
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tokyo Ever After (Tokyo Ever After, #1)]]> 54860605 literally a princess.

In a whirlwind, Izzy travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of. But being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight.

Izzy soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself—back home, she was never “American� enough, and in Japan, she must prove she’s “Japanese� enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairytale, happily ever after?

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250766601.]]> 336 Emiko Jean Jess 0 to-read 3.87 2021 Tokyo Ever After (Tokyo Ever After, #1)
author: Emiko Jean
name: Jess
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Last House Guest 42190273
Littleport, Maine, has always felt like two separate towns: an ideal vacation enclave for the wealthy, whose summer homes line the coastline; and a simple harbor community for the year-round residents whose livelihoods rely on service to the visitors.

Typically, fierce friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl—but that’s just what happens with visitor Sadie Loman and Littleport resident Avery Greer. Each summer for almost a decade, the girls are inseparable—until Sadie is found dead. While the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother, Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name, before the facts get twisted against her.
The Last House Guest is a smart, twisty read that brilliantly explores the elusive nature of memory and the complexities of female friendships.]]> 368 Megan Miranda 1786492911 Jess 0 to-read 3.58 2019 The Last House Guest
author: Megan Miranda
name: Jess
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/03
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]]> Heart Bones 51007311
With only two short months separating her from the future she's built and the past she desperately wants to leave behind, an unexpected death leaves Beyah with no place to go during the interim. Forced to reach out to her last resort, Beyah has to spend the remainder of her summer on a peninsula in Texas with a father she barely knows. Beyah's plan is to keep her head down and let the summer slip by seamlessly, but her new neighbor Samson throws a wrench in that plan.

Samson and Beyah have nothing in common on the surface.

She comes from a life of poverty and neglect; he comes from a family of wealth and privilege. But one thing they do have in common is that they're both drawn to sad things. Which means they're drawn to each other. With an almost immediate connection too intense for them to continue denying, Beyah and Samson agree to stay in the shallow end of a summer fling. What Beyah doesn't realize is that a rip current is coming, and it's about to drag her heart out to sea.]]> 338 Colleen Hoover Jess 0 to-read 4.20 2020 Heart Bones
author: Colleen Hoover
name: Jess
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Satsuma Complex 61401116 'My name is Gary. I’m a thirty-year-old legal assistant with a firm of solicitors in London. To describe me as anonymous would be unfair but to notice me other than in passing would be a rarity. I did make a good connection with a girl, but that blew up in my face and smacked my arse with a fish slice.'

Gary Thorn goes for a pint with a work acquaintance called Brendan. When Brendan leaves early, Gary meets a girl in the pub. He doesn’t catch her name, but falls for her anyway. When she suddenly disappears without saying goodbye, all Gary has to remember her by is the book she was The Satsuma Complex. But when Brendan goes missing, Gary needs to track down the girl he now calls Satsuma to get some answers.

And so begins Gary’s quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life�

A page-turning story with a cast of unforgettable characters, The Satsuma Complex is the brilliantly funny first novel by bestselling author and comedian Bob Mortimer.]]> 301 Bob Mortimer 1398521213 Jess 4 3.70 2022 The Satsuma Complex
author: Bob Mortimer
name: Jess
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/07/01
date added: 2023/07/01
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]]> One Good Thing 59910983
In life, nothing is certain. Just when you think you have it all figured out, something can happen to change the course of everything . . .

Liv Brooks is still in shock. Newly-divorced and facing an uncertain future, she impulsively swaps her London Life for the sweeping hills of the Yorkshire Dales, determined to make a fresh start. But fresh starts are harder than they look and feeling lost and lonely she decides to adopt Harry, an old dog from the local shelter, to keep her company.

But Liv soon discovers she isn’t the only one in need of a new beginning. On their daily walks around the village, they meet Valentine, an old man who suffers from loneliness who sits by the window and Stanley, a little boy who is scared of everyone, hides behind the garden gate and Maya, a teenager who is angry at everyone and everything. But slowly things start to change�

Utterly relatable, hilarious and heart-breakingly honest, this is a novel about friendship, finding happiness and living the life unexpected. And how when everything falls apart, all you need is one good thing to turn your life around and make it worth living again.]]> 464 Alexandra Potter Jess 4 4.23 One Good Thing
author: Alexandra Potter
name: Jess
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/06/30
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]]> Wrong Place Wrong Time 59947696
It is midnight on the morning of Halloween, and Jen anxiously waits up for her 18-year-old son, Todd, to return home. But worries about his broken curfew transform into something much more dangerous when Todd finally emerges from the darkness. As Jen watches through the window, she sees her funny, seemingly happy teenage son stab a total stranger.

She doesn’t know who the victim is, or why Todd has committed such a devastating act of violence. All she knows is that her life, and Todd’s, have been shattered.

After her son is taken into custody, Jen falls asleep in despair. But when she wakes up� it is yesterday. The murder has not happened yet—and there may be a chance to stop it. Each morning, when Jen wakes, she is further back in the past, first weeks, then years, before the murder. And Jen realizes that somewhere in the past lies the trigger for Todd’s terrible crime…and it is her mission to find it, and prevent it from taking place.]]> 416 Gillian McAllister 0063252341 Jess 3 3.95 2022 Wrong Place Wrong Time
author: Gillian McAllister
name: Jess
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/25
date added: 2023/06/25
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]]> <![CDATA[The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober]]> 37754223
Catherine Gray was stuck in a hellish whirligig of Drink, Make horrible decisions, Hangover, Repeat. She had her fair share of 'drunk tank' jail cells and topless-in-a-hot-tub misadventures. But this book goes beyond the binges and blackouts to deep-dive into uncharted territory: What happens after you quit drinking? This gripping, heart-breaking and witty book takes us down the rabbit-hole of an alternative reality. A life with zero hangovers, through sober weddings, sex, Christmases and breakups.

In The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, Catherine Gray shines a light on society's drink-pushing and talks to top neuroscientists and psychologists about why we drink, delving into the science behind what it does to our brains and bodies. Much more than a tale from the netherworld of addicted drinking, this book is about the escape, and why a sober life can be more intoxicating than you ever imagined. Whether you're a hopelessly devoted drinker, merely sober-curious, or you've already ditched the drink, you will love this book.]]> 274 Catherine Gray 1912023415 Jess 0 to-read 4.31 2017 The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober
author: Catherine Gray
name: Jess
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Herd 58696120 You should never judge how someone chooses to raise their child.

Elizabeth and Bryony are polar opposites but their unexpected friendship has always worked. They're the best of friends, and godmothers to each other's daughters - because they trust that the safety of their children is both of their top priority.

But what if their choice could harm your own child?

Little do they know that they differ radically over one very important issue. And when Bryony, afraid of being judged, tells what is supposed to be a harmless white lie before a child's birthday party, the consequences are more catastrophic than either of them could ever have imagined . . .]]> 352 Emily Edwards 1787634876 Jess 4 3.86 2021 The Herd
author: Emily Edwards
name: Jess
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/04
date added: 2023/06/04
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]]> All the Lonely People 51642969 He just needs to realise it.

In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun, friendship and fulfilment.

But Hubert Bird is lying.

The truth is day after day drags by without him seeing a single soul.

Until, that is, he receives some good news - good news that in one way turns out to be the worst news ever, news that will force him out again, into a world he has long since turned his back on.

Now Hubert faces a seemingly impossible task: to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out.
Along the way Hubert stumbles across a second chance at love, renews a cherished friendship and finds himself roped into an audacious community scheme that seeks to end loneliness once and for all . . .

Life is certainly beginning to happen to Hubert Bird. But with the origin of his earlier isolation always lurking in the shadows will he ever get to live the life he's pretended to have for so long?]]> 430 Mike Gayle 1473687403 Jess 4 4.17 2020 All the Lonely People
author: Mike Gayle
name: Jess
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/24
date added: 2023/05/24
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]]> <![CDATA[The Accused: How Far Would You Go for Justice?]]> 12381284 She was found at the crime scene, covered in blood with the murder weapon in her hand and no memory of how she got there....

No wonder that the police believe Elizabeth Johnson is guilty of stabbing a young woman to death.

Only Elizabeth's best-friend, Sam Bailey, doesn't believe the evidence against her. But both girls are ex-cons and former prostitutes and she will have to go to extra-ordinary lengths to prove Elizabeth innocent....]]> 485 Constance Briscoe 0091940923 Jess 3 3.73 2011 The Accused: How Far Would You Go for Justice?
author: Constance Briscoe
name: Jess
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2023/05/14
date added: 2023/05/14
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]]> The Christie Affair 57693165 Why would the world's most famous mystery writer disappear for eleven days? What makes a woman desperate enough to destroy another woman's marriage? How deeply can a person crave revenge?

In 1925, Miss Nan O’Dea infiltrated the wealthy, rarefied world of author Agatha Christie and her husband, Archie. In every way, she became a part of their life––first, both Christies. Then, just Archie. Soon, Nan became Archie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted wife, desperate to marry him. Nan’s plot didn’t begin the day she met Archie and Agatha.

It began decades before, in Ireland, when Nan was a young girl. She and the man she loved were a star-crossed couple who were destined to be together––until the Great War, a pandemic, and shameful secrets tore them apart. Then acts of unspeakable cruelty kept them separated.

What drives someone to murder? What will someone do in the name of love? What kind of crime can someone never forgive? Nina de Gramont’s brilliant, unforgettable novel explores these questions and more.]]> 320 Nina de Gramont 1250274613 Jess 3 3.65 2022 The Christie Affair
author: Nina de Gramont
name: Jess
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/04/30
date added: 2023/04/30
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]]> A Little Life 22822858
Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride.Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he’ll not only be unable to overcome—but that will define his life forever.]]> 720 Hanya Yanagihara 0385539258 Jess 0 abandoned 4.28 2015 A Little Life
author: Hanya Yanagihara
name: Jess
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/04/16
shelves: abandoned
review:

]]> The Dictionary of Lost Words 49354511 Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium�, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid� flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.

Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.

Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.]]> 384 Pip Williams 1925972593 Jess 4 3.97 2020 The Dictionary of Lost Words
author: Pip Williams
name: Jess
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/16
date added: 2023/04/16
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]]> Women Don't Owe You Pretty 52252715 WOMEN DON'T OWE YOU PRETTY will tell you to...
love sex, hate sexism,
protect your goddamn energy,
life is short, dump them,
And that you owe men nothing, least of all pretty.

Florence's debut book will explore all progressive corners of the feminist conversation; from insecurity projection and refusing to find comfort in other women's flaws, to deciding whether to date or dump them, all the way through to unpacking the male gaze and how it shapes our identity.

WOMEN DON'T OWE YOU PRETTY is an accessible leap into feminism, for people at all stages of their journey who are seeking to reshape and transform the way they view themselves. In a world that tells women we're either not enough or too much, it's time we stop directing our anger and insecurities onto ourselves, and start fighting back to re-shape the toxic structures of our patriarchal society.

Florence's book will help you to tackle and challenge the limiting narrative you have been bombarded with your whole life, and determine feminism on your own terms. After all, you are the love of your own life.

]]> 193 Florence Given 1788402278 Jess 4 3.71 2020 Women Don't Owe You Pretty
author: Florence Given
name: Jess
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/04/10
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]]> Lady MacBethad 63070795
Daughter of an ousted king, descendant of ancient druids, as a child it is prophesied that one day Gruoch will be queen of Alba.

When she is betrothed to Duncan, heir elect, this appears to confirm the prophecy. She leaves behind her home, her family and her close friend MacBethad, and travels to the royal seat at Scone to embrace her new position.

But nothing is as Gruoch anticipates. Duncan's court is filled with sly words and unfriendly faces, women desperate to usurp her position, and others whose motives are shrouded in mystery. As her coronation approaches, a deadly turn of events forces Gruoch to flee Duncan and the capital, finding herself alone, vulnerable and at the mercy of an old enemy. Her hope of becoming Queen all but lost, Gruoch does what she must to survive, vowing that one day she will fulfill her destiny and take up the future owed to her. Whatever it may take.

A suspenseful, sweeping historical epic, Lady MacBethad is the origin story of the woman who inspired one of Shakespeare's most iconic characters.]]> 363 Isabelle Schuler 1526647257 Jess 0 to-read 4.04 2023 Lady MacBethad
author: Isabelle Schuler
name: Jess
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/04/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing]]> 59641216
So begins the riveting story of acclaimed actor Matthew Perry, taking us along on his journey from childhood ambition to fame to addiction and recovery in the aftermath of a life-threatening health scare. Before the frequent hospital visits and stints in rehab, there was five-year-old Matthew, who traveled from Montreal to Los Angeles, shuffling between his separated parents; fourteen-year-old Matthew, who was a nationally ranked tennis star in Canada; twenty-four-year-old Matthew, who nabbed a coveted role as a lead cast member on the talked-about pilot then called Friends Like Us. . . and so much more.

In an extraordinary story that only he could tell—and in the heartfelt, hilarious, and warmly familiar way only he could tell it—Matthew Perry lays bare the fractured family that raised him (and also left him to his own devices), the desire for recognition that drove him to fame, and the void inside him that could not be filled even by his greatest dreams coming true. But he also details the peace he’s found in sobriety and how he feels about the ubiquity of Friends, sharing stories about his castmates and other stars he met along the way. Frank, self-aware, and with his trademark humor, Perry vividly depicts his lifelong battle with addiction and what fueled it despite seemingly having it all.

Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing is an unforgettable memoir that is both intimate and eye-opening—as well as a hand extended to anyone struggling with sobriety. Unflinchingly honest, moving, and uproariously funny, this is the book fans have been waiting for.]]> 250 Matthew Perry 1250866448 Jess 4 3.89 2022 Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
author: Matthew Perry
name: Jess
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/03/28
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]]> The Binding 39964740
After having suffered some sort of mental collapse and no longer able to keep up with his farm chores, Emmett Farmer is sent to the workshop of one such binder to live and work as her apprentice. Leaving behind home and family, Emmett slowly regains his health while learning the binding trade. He is forbidden to enter the locked room where books are stored, so he spends many months marbling end pages, tooling leather book covers, and gilding edges. But his curiosity is piqued by the people who come and go from the inner sanctum, and the arrival of the lordly Lucian Darnay, with whom he senses a connection, changes everything.]]> 437 Bridget Collins 0008272115 Jess 3 3.86 2019 The Binding
author: Bridget Collins
name: Jess
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2023/03/21
date added: 2023/03/21
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]]> The Toymakers 34846987
The Emporium opens with the first frost of winter. It is the same every year. Across the city, when children wake to see ferns of white stretched across their windows, or walk to school to hear ice crackling underfoot, the whispers begin: the Emporium is open!

It is 1917, and London has spent years in the shadow of the First World War. In the heart of Mayfair, though, there is a place of hope. A place where children’s dreams can come true, where the impossible becomes possible � that place is Papa Jack’s Toy Emporium.

For years Papa Jack has created and sold his famous magical toys: hobby horses, patchwork dogs and bears that seem alive, toy boxes bigger on the inside than out, ‘instant trees� that sprout from boxes, tin soldiers that can fight battles on their own. Now his sons, Kaspar and Emil, are just old enough to join the family trade. Into this family comes a young Cathy Wray � homeless and vulnerable. The Emporium takes her in, makes her one of its own. But Cathy is about to discover that while all toy shops are places of wonder, only one is truly magical...]]> 469 Robert Dinsdale 1473551609 Jess 4 3.92 2018 The Toymakers
author: Robert Dinsdale
name: Jess
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/01/17
date added: 2023/01/17
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]]> A Christmas Carol 5326
Introduction and Afterword by Joe Wheeler
To bitter, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, Christmas is just another day. But all that changes when the ghost of his long-dead business partner appears, warning Scrooge to change his ways before it's too late.

Part of the Focus on the Family Great Stories collection, this abridged edition features an in-depth introduction and discussion questions by Joe Wheeler to provide greater understanding for today's reader. "A Christmas Carol" captures the heart of the holidays like no other novel.]]> 184 Charles Dickens 1561797464 Jess 3 4.06 1843 A Christmas Carol
author: Charles Dickens
name: Jess
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1843
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/27
date added: 2022/12/27
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]]> Becoming 38746485
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it—in her own words and on her own terms. Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.]]> 426 Michelle Obama 1524763136 Jess 4 4.42 2018 Becoming
author: Michelle Obama
name: Jess
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2022/12/18
date added: 2022/12/18
shelves:
review:

]]>