en-US Mon, 12 May 2025 15:14:11 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 231258524
Meanwhile, in the Underground hideout, Yahshi clashes with political leaders, Vell struggles to prove herself trustworthy, and Saunti faces a moral to commit murder or prevent one. Even in supposed safety, danger lurks in every tunnel.

As clocks tick down, tensions rise. The Underground can’t hide forever, but with the Force crumbling from within, they might have time to strike back. One bold move could turn the tide.]]> 478 Mel Torrefranca E.C. 4
From a writer perspective, I'm obsessed with how Torrefranca pulled this off. My little reader heart, on the other hand, is absolutely crushed.

The shining point of this series is its characters. Don't get me wrong, the worldbuilding is unique enough without the usage of magic, and this book in particular highlights the Underground rebel group in a way that serves to build on the overarching stakes. But even more so, this new perspective this book offers—both in new POVs & settings—builds tension between the characters themselves. In a time of war, where violence is rampant, their relationships, loyalties, and values are put to the test in so many ways. The friendships & relationships they’ve forged in both the first book and the start of this one make the matter so much more complicated, especially when Yahshi & Vell find themselves on opposite sides of the war from their fellow Academy graduates.

This book also brought romance into the series—and some pretty tough situations to go with it. To what extent do you go to protect the person you love when your very livelihood, and all you’ve ever known, is on the line? Mel doesn’t just touch on this, but delves into the mixed emotions of a couple facing the costs of their romance. It added a layer of depth to a trope that’s somewhat overdone, and I appreciated that. The characters were never one-dimensional, but fully fleshed out beings with values and traumas of their own, and seeing yourself in every single one of them makes every scene hit all the more harder emotionally.

Overall, I went into this book with high expectations, and I was not disappointed. It’s one of those books that’s insanely complex and completely takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, diverting from anything you’d ever expect, but still manages to be deep and thought-provoking. Would recommend!

(Special thanks to Lost Island Press for a digital advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own)]]> 4.50
author: Mel Torrefranca
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/10
date added: 2025/05/12
shelves: yes-i-read-fantasy, young-adult, ya-fiction, friend-recommendations, arcs, someday-bookshelf
review:
It's not every day that I read a book that destroys me so much that I go from laughing at the insanely dark humor to gasping to tearing up and then promptly calling up a friend to rant about the entire thing because I'm in such dire emotional distress, all within the span of 2 hours. But this book did all those things and more.

From a writer perspective, I'm obsessed with how Torrefranca pulled this off. My little reader heart, on the other hand, is absolutely crushed.

The shining point of this series is its characters. Don't get me wrong, the worldbuilding is unique enough without the usage of magic, and this book in particular highlights the Underground rebel group in a way that serves to build on the overarching stakes. But even more so, this new perspective this book offers—both in new POVs & settings—builds tension between the characters themselves. In a time of war, where violence is rampant, their relationships, loyalties, and values are put to the test in so many ways. The friendships & relationships they’ve forged in both the first book and the start of this one make the matter so much more complicated, especially when Yahshi & Vell find themselves on opposite sides of the war from their fellow Academy graduates.

This book also brought romance into the series—and some pretty tough situations to go with it. To what extent do you go to protect the person you love when your very livelihood, and all you’ve ever known, is on the line? Mel doesn’t just touch on this, but delves into the mixed emotions of a couple facing the costs of their romance. It added a layer of depth to a trope that’s somewhat overdone, and I appreciated that. The characters were never one-dimensional, but fully fleshed out beings with values and traumas of their own, and seeing yourself in every single one of them makes every scene hit all the more harder emotionally.

Overall, I went into this book with high expectations, and I was not disappointed. It’s one of those books that’s insanely complex and completely takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, diverting from anything you’d ever expect, but still manages to be deep and thought-provoking. Would recommend!

(Special thanks to Lost Island Press for a digital advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own)
]]> 27833542
It’s every novelist’s greatest pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite.

The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think).

In Story Genius Cron takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete multilayered blueprint—including fully realized scenes—that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft.]]> 288 Lisa Cron 1607748908 E.C. 0 to-read 4.16 2016
author: Lisa Cron
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214151418 From the author of the Good Morning America Book Club Pick The Fortunes of Jaded Women, a stunning family dramedy about estranged siblings competing to inherit their father’s Vietnamese sandwich franchise and unravel family mysteries.

Duc Tran, the eccentric founder of the Vietnamese sandwich chain Duc’s Sandwiches, has decided to retire. No one has heard from his wife, Evelyn, in two decades. She abandoned the family without a trace, and clearly doesn’t want anything to do with Duc, the business, or their kids. But the money has to go to someone. With the help of the shady family lawyer, Duc informs his five estranged adult children that to receive their inheritance, his four daughters must revitalize run-down shops in old-school Little Saigon locations across America: Houston, San Jose, New Orleans, and Philadelphia—within a year. But if the first-born (and only) son, Jude, gets married first, everything will go to him.

Each daughter is stuck in a new city, battling gentrification, declining ethnic enclaves, and messy love lives, while struggling to modernize their father’s American dream. Jude wonders if he wants to marry for love or for money—or neither. As Duc’s children scramble to win their inheritance, they begin to learn the real intention behind the inheritance scheme—and the secret their mother kept tucked away in the old fishing tackle box, all along.

The Family Recipe is about rediscovering one’s roots, different types of fatherly love, legacy, and finding a place in a divided country where the only commonality among your neighbors is the universal love of sandwiches.]]> 320 Carolyn Huynh 1668033046 E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 3.69 2025
author: Carolyn Huynh
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/11
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

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

Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.

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

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.]]> 448 Fredrik Backman 1982112824 E.C. 4
I know that they will make my heart swell with the immensity of empathy and authenticity contained within their pages, the way he so accurately solidifies feelings into words.

I know that they will make me laugh out loud, both because of the way he pokes fun at the sheer idiocy of human beings, and also the way dry humor comes across sharply and unexpectedly.

My Friends did all that and more. And because of that, I could forgive it for its long, rambling lack of plot and excessive usage of tragic backstories.

This book is, at its core, almost a character study. It's about an orphaned, socially anxious artist grieving the loss of her best friend, who by sheer coincidence ends up with an art piece that's always resonated with her more than she can describe. She ends up on a train with one of the figures in the painting—a man grieving a loss of his own—and through their prolonged train ride (and resulting inevitable shenanigans) ends up hearing the story behind the painting. A tale of four friends who fought for each others' happy endings, even amidst troubled home lives. Friends who saw the good in each other before they saw the good in themselves.

And as expected, there are so many insights sprinkled in about the value of art, artistic struggles, and the intersections between art and community. There's almost this subtle sense that this book takes the perspective of an older, experienced artist passing the baton to younger talents who doubt themselves and their craft.

I stepped away from this book wanting to create something. And it takes a lot to do that, to write stories that impact readers beyond the final page.

So if you're an artist: this book is for you.

I received an advance readers copy from Netgalley and Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.

Pre-review | January 2025

So guess who spent most of her paycheck on an exclusive B&N edition preorder ]]> 4.60 2025
author: Fredrik Backman
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/09
date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: arcs, most-memorable-reads-of-2025, adult, contemporary, someday-bookshelf, soulful-stories, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf, currently-reading
review:
If there's anything I know about Fredrik Backman books, I know that by the end, the emotions of fictional characters will become my own.

I know that they will make my heart swell with the immensity of empathy and authenticity contained within their pages, the way he so accurately solidifies feelings into words.

I know that they will make me laugh out loud, both because of the way he pokes fun at the sheer idiocy of human beings, and also the way dry humor comes across sharply and unexpectedly.

My Friends did all that and more. And because of that, I could forgive it for its long, rambling lack of plot and excessive usage of tragic backstories.

This book is, at its core, almost a character study. It's about an orphaned, socially anxious artist grieving the loss of her best friend, who by sheer coincidence ends up with an art piece that's always resonated with her more than she can describe. She ends up on a train with one of the figures in the painting—a man grieving a loss of his own—and through their prolonged train ride (and resulting inevitable shenanigans) ends up hearing the story behind the painting. A tale of four friends who fought for each others' happy endings, even amidst troubled home lives. Friends who saw the good in each other before they saw the good in themselves.

And as expected, there are so many insights sprinkled in about the value of art, artistic struggles, and the intersections between art and community. There's almost this subtle sense that this book takes the perspective of an older, experienced artist passing the baton to younger talents who doubt themselves and their craft.

I stepped away from this book wanting to create something. And it takes a lot to do that, to write stories that impact readers beyond the final page.

So if you're an artist: this book is for you.

I received an advance readers copy from Netgalley and Atria Books in exchange for an honest review.

Pre-review | January 2025

So guess who spent most of her paycheck on an exclusive B&N edition preorder
]]> 220161224 The acclaimed author of the �lyrical coming-of-age novel� (Good Morning America) The People We Keep returns with a luminous new story of redemption, breaking generational curses, and the power of family in its truest form.

After an emergency leaves her short on rent, thirty-year-old Freya Arnalds bails on her lackluster life as bartender in Maine and returns to her suburban hometown of Somers, New York, to live in the house she inherited from her estranged parents. Despite attempts to lay low, Freya encounters childhood friends, familial enemies, and old flames—as well as her fifteen-year-old niece, Aubrey, who is secretly living in the derelict home. As they reconnect, Freya and Aubrey lean on each other, working to restore the house and come to terms with the devastating events that pulled them apart years ago.

Set in the birthplace of the American circus, this deeply moving novel is an exploration of broken families, the weight of the past, and the complicated journey of finding home.]]> 432 Allison Larkin 1668008416 E.C. 0 4.30 2025
author: Allison Larkin
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: to-read, book-of-the-month, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf
review:

]]> 45289222 Euphoria, Lily King returns with an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman.

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

Writers & Lovers follows Casey--a smart and achingly vulnerable protagonist--in the last days of a long youth, a time when every element of her life comes to a crisis. Written with King's trademark humor, heart, and intelligence, Writers & Lovers is a transfixing novel that explores the terrifying and exhilarating leap between the end of one phase of life and the beginning of another.]]> 320 Lily King E.C. 0 3.98 2020
author: Lily King
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/06
shelves: for-writing, currently-reading
review:

]]> 31373633 A little book with a big heart!

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Ove, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry, and Britt-Marie Was Here comes an exquisitely moving portrait of an elderly man’s struggle to hold on to his most precious memories, and his family’s efforts to care for him even as they must find a way to let go.

With all the same charm of his bestselling full-length novels, here Fredrik Backman once again reveals his unrivaled understanding of human nature and deep compassion for people in difficult circumstances. This is a tiny gem with a message you’ll treasure for a lifetime.]]> 97 Fredrik Backman 1501160575 E.C. 5 life that's slipped through the cracks.

Backman presents these fears with so much heart and depth, demonstrating the beauty and miracle of human lives even as they come to a slow end. It's a celebration of the way people young and especially old have shaped us, and how they lead us home when we can't find our way.

And yes, I cried at the end.]]> 4.34 2015
author: Fredrik Backman
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2025/05/05
date added: 2025/05/05
shelves: adult, contemporary, friend-recommendations, someday-bookshelf, re-read-sometime, clean-reads, gorgeous-covers, made-me-cry, most-memorable-reads-of-2024, favorite-books-everrr, from-the-library, read-in-2024
review:
This little story so accurately depicts a myriad of fears that both the elderly and their loved ones face as a life approaches its end. What do we do when their brains fail before their bodies do? How will they live on? Will their stories and their journeys be preserved? And then there's that fear too, the fear that we will always fall short of even absorbing all of their life stories, that there will always be more life that's slipped through the cracks.

Backman presents these fears with so much heart and depth, demonstrating the beauty and miracle of human lives even as they come to a slow end. It's a celebration of the way people young and especially old have shaped us, and how they lead us home when we can't find our way.

And yes, I cried at the end.
]]> 62210574 Twenty teenagers enter. Only five become guardians.

Yahshi Konya shouldn’t be one of them. With low test scores, his selection for the Empire’s boarding school raises red flags. The guardians are offering him the opportunity of a lifetime, but at what cost?

Taking a chance, he joins the aggressive military program and strikes an alliance with two trainees. Vell, the only girl, and Pinto, the overachiever. United, they tackle relentless challenges, watching their competitors dwindle.

But the Academy is not what it seems. When dangerous truths emerge, Yahshi finds himself killing his friendships—and possibly his humanity.

A gripping tale of power, betrayal, and redemption, Nightshade Academy will leave you walking the tightrope between good and evil.]]> 410 Mel Torrefranca E.C. 4 4.36
author: Mel Torrefranca
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.36
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/05/02
shelves: friend-recommendations, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf, reading-at-work, 2025-tbr
review:

]]> 211025407 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593712993.

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

A single choice can define an entire life.

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

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

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

At once epic and intimate, Homeseeking is a story of family, sacrifice, and loyalty, and of the power of love to endure beyond distance, beyond time.]]> 512 Karissa Chen E.C. 0 4.23 2025
author: Karissa Chen
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read, with-mika, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf
review:

]]> 124932739 I Hope This Doesn't Find You is Never Have I Ever meets To All the Boys if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters.

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course -- she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings -- but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work.

All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. "You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft..."

Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them... that is, until they're accidentally sent out.

Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare -- now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate...]]> 320 Ann Liang 1338827154 E.C. 0 to-read, with-mika 4.17 2024
author: Ann Liang
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read, with-mika
review:

]]> 176443045
Paris, 1885: Aubry Tourvel, a spoiled and stubborn nine-year-old girl, comes across a wooden puzzle ball on her walk home from school. She tosses it over the fence, only to find it in her backpack that evening. Days later, at the family dinner table, she starts to bleed to death.

When medical treatment only makes her worse, she flees to the outskirts of the city, where she realizes that it is this very act of movement that keeps her alive. So begins her lifelong journey on the run from her condition, which won’t allow her to stay anywhere for longer than a few days nor return to a place where she’s already been.

From the scorched dunes of the Calashino Sand Sea to the snow-packed peaks of the Himalayas; from a bottomless well in a Parisian courtyard, to the shelves of an infinite underground library, we follow Aubry as she learns what it takes to survive and ultimately, to truly live. But the longer Aubry wanders and the more desperate she is to share her life with others, the clearer it becomes that the world she travels through may not be quite the same as everyone else’s...

Fiercely independent and hopeful, yet full of longing, Aubry Tourvel is an unforgettable character fighting her way through a world of wonders to find a place she can call home. A spellbinding and inspiring story about discovering meaning in a life that seems otherwise impossible, A Short Walk Through a Wide World reminds us that it’s not the destination, but rather the journey—no matter how long it lasts—that makes us who we are.]]> 400 Douglas Westerbeke 1668026066 E.C. 0
For context, I am not a reader of long fiction. Anything in the 350�400-page range, and you better bet I'm expecting some sort of emotional payoff for all that time and energy. Especially when, in the case of this novel, I have to wade through so many magical elements that not only are unexplained, but also serve no obvious thematic purpose.

There were good moments in the story, moments where I genuinely thought there was some semblance of a meaningful theme, a purpose for all the loss of stability Aubrey went through because of her curse. The scene with her returning home to her family emotionally hit hard. But the story would skim over those scenes and continue onward, following Aubrey and her travels in a way that would be nonsensical if the situation wasn't just sad.

And in the end, nothing was explained. This story pulls you in with a compelling concept, lovely prose, and all the travel vibes, but by the end, the wonder and appeal of traveling the world is stripped away and you're left with nothing but confusion and exhaustion. Confusion because the curse wasn't meant to be symbolic or hint at some larger theme, and exhaustion because all the details and magical elements and odd interactions between characters make the story feel so much more longer than it really is.

But hey, this book made me feel things, even if they weren't necessarily good. So I guess if the author was intentionally trying to leave readers as exhausted and frustrated as Aubrey, he did succeed at that. It's just at some point it becomes too much.]]> 3.48 2024
author: Douglas Westerbeke
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/08
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: book-of-the-month, adult, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf, gorgeous-covers, historical-fiction, lovely-aesthetic, magical-realism, most-memorable-reads-of-2024, reading-at-work, soulful-stories, read-in-2024, i-don-t-know-honestly, i-have-issues-with
review:
This book still sticks with me months after reading, but in a bad way.

For context, I am not a reader of long fiction. Anything in the 350�400-page range, and you better bet I'm expecting some sort of emotional payoff for all that time and energy. Especially when, in the case of this novel, I have to wade through so many magical elements that not only are unexplained, but also serve no obvious thematic purpose.

There were good moments in the story, moments where I genuinely thought there was some semblance of a meaningful theme, a purpose for all the loss of stability Aubrey went through because of her curse. The scene with her returning home to her family emotionally hit hard. But the story would skim over those scenes and continue onward, following Aubrey and her travels in a way that would be nonsensical if the situation wasn't just sad.

And in the end, nothing was explained. This story pulls you in with a compelling concept, lovely prose, and all the travel vibes, but by the end, the wonder and appeal of traveling the world is stripped away and you're left with nothing but confusion and exhaustion. Confusion because the curse wasn't meant to be symbolic or hint at some larger theme, and exhaustion because all the details and magical elements and odd interactions between characters make the story feel so much more longer than it really is.

But hey, this book made me feel things, even if they weren't necessarily good. So I guess if the author was intentionally trying to leave readers as exhausted and frustrated as Aubrey, he did succeed at that. It's just at some point it becomes too much.
]]> 217044874 A moving portrait of loss and the restorative power of art from Lauren Wolk, the Newbery Honor-winning author of Beyond the Bright Sea.

Lucretia Sanderson has a secret.

Lucretia and her mother have come to tiny Candle Island, Maine ( Summer, 986; Winter, 315) to escape—escape memories of the car accident that killed her father and escape the journalists that hound her mother, a famous and reclusive artist. The rocky coast and ocean breeze are a welcome respite for Lucretia, who dedicates her summer days to painting, exploring the island, and caring for an orphaned osprey chick.

But Candle Island has secrets of its own—a hidden room in her new house, a mysterious boy with a beautiful voice—and just like the strong tides that surround the shores, they will catch Lucretia in their wake.

With an unforgettable New England setting and a complex web of relationships old and new, Candle Island is a powerful story about art, loss, and the power of being true to your own voice.]]> 352 Lauren Wolk 0593698541 E.C. 0 to-read 4.32
author: Lauren Wolk
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.32
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216522745 Four strangers are brought together to participate in an experimental treatment designed to heal broken hearts in this surprising and heartfelt debut novel from author Amelia Ireland.

In a perfectly ordinary building, four strangers who couldn't be more different meet for the first time. Their skepticism of this new kind of grief therapy—and the unnervingly perceptive group leader—means they're all wary, but as the weeks go by, they find themselves returning again and again, pulled to work toward healing, even if it means first facing the pain head-on.

A sharp-tongued lawyer who has no intention of letting down her walls, a fragile young woman looking for a place to belong, a musician at the top of his game who's one drink away from losing it all, and an interior designer facing the crumbling of her picture-perfect life—this unlikely group slowly opens up, not only to the possibility of a happier future but to friendship, change, and even romance.

When a shocking revelation reveals the real reason they were chosen for this group, it shakes the very foundation of what they thought they knew. What began as a journey designed to heal turns out to be a much greater test of friendship, strength, and love as they realize happiness is just outside the door...if they're brave enough to seek it.]]> 368 Amelia Ireland 0593952634 E.C. 0 to-read 3.95 2025
author: Amelia Ireland
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 44107480
Aubrey Edwards is also headed toward the trenches. A gifted musician who's played Carnegie Hall, he's a member of the 15th New York Infantry, an all-African-American regiment being sent to Europe to help end the Great War. Love is the last thing on his mind. But that's before he meets Colette Fournier, a Belgian chanteuse who's already survived unspeakable tragedy at the hands of the Germans.

Thirty years after these four lovers' fates collide, the Greek goddess Aphrodite tells their stories to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another? But her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music and reveals that War is no match for the power of Love.

A sweeping, multi-layered romance with a divine twist, by the Printz Honor-winning author of The Passion of Dolssa, set in the perilous days of World Wars I and II.]]> 471 Julie Berry E.C. 0 4.23 2019
author: Julie Berry
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: adult, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf, resume-reading-later
review:

]]> 228164553 267 Alayna Niblack E.C. 0
Another favorite is Shannae Grace's The Department of Lost Things. It possesses a similar tone to Mark Haig's The Midnight Library, but hones in on the raw grief of losing a close friendship and the main character's attempts to recover an item of significance from the loss. The main character walks a delicate balance between slightly cynical, sarcastic, and relatable, but overall maintained a sense of depth that made it easy to connect with her. And the buildup to the end was immaculate. Those final few lines in particular really did hit hard.]]> 4.71
author: Alayna Niblack
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.71
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/19
date added: 2025/04/19
shelves: books-on-my-irl-bookshelf, gorgeous-covers, i-know-the-author
review:
The Second Lives of Withered Dreams by R. L. Nguyen stands out as my personal favorite from this collection. Wrapped up in beautiful prose & riddled with botanical vocabulary, the leisurely plot lends itself for plenty of symbolism as we follow the main character's healing journey. I appreciated Camilla's maturity and quiet strength as a character, and the tiny glimpses infused into the characters that gave the sense that there is much more to the small cast of characters than just this singular story.

Another favorite is Shannae Grace's The Department of Lost Things. It possesses a similar tone to Mark Haig's The Midnight Library, but hones in on the raw grief of losing a close friendship and the main character's attempts to recover an item of significance from the loss. The main character walks a delicate balance between slightly cynical, sarcastic, and relatable, but overall maintained a sense of depth that made it easy to connect with her. And the buildup to the end was immaculate. Those final few lines in particular really did hit hard.
]]> 217204419 “Razor-sharp, darkly comedic, and emotionally piercing. With the satirical bite of Richard Russo’s Straight Man, the introspection of Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove, and the reinvention of Andrew Sean Greer's Less, Kenney’s vivid prose transforms the mundane into unexpected hilarity.�
�Booklist (starred review)

An Indie Next & LibraryReads Pick for April

The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming-of-middle-age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.

Bud Stanley is an obituary writer who is afraid to live. Yes, his wife recently left him for a “far more interesting� man. Yes, he goes on a particularly awful blind date with a woman who brings her ex. And yes, he has too many glasses of Scotch one night and proceeds to pen and publish his own obituary. The newspaper wants to fire him. But now the company’s system has him listed as dead. And the company can’t fire a dead person. The ensuing fallout forces him to realize that life may be actually worth living.

As Bud awaits his fate at work, his life hangs in the balance. Given another shot by his boss and encouraged by his best friend, Tim, a worldly and wise former art dealer, Bud starts to attend the wakes and funerals of strangers to learn how to live.

Thurber Prize-winner and New York Times bestselling author John Kenney tells a funny, touching story about life and death, about the search for meaning, about finding and never letting go of the preciousness of life.]]> 304 John Kenney E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 4.15 2025
author: John Kenney
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

]]> 231182725 Discover the next generation of storytellers �

The sixth edition of Voices of the Future weaves together short stories of whimsy and warriors in a memorable and heartwarming collection. Experience the next generation’s creativity and vision through these brief tales from rising young creatives.The Author Conservatory is a college-alternative program for gifted writers focused on raising up the next C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. 100% of your purchase goes to help students attend writing conferences where they can pitch their work to agents and publishers. AuthorConservatory.com ]]> 312 The Author Conservatory E.C. 0 to-read 5.00
author: The Author Conservatory
name: E.C.
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211004089
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together.]]> 303 Charlotte McConaghy 1250827957 E.C. 0 to-read 4.25 2025
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 44084665 One of the most twisty, surprising, engaging page-turner YAs you’ll read this year�We Were Liars meets Black Mirror, with a dash of Studio Ghibli.

Cee has been trapped on an abandoned island for three years without any recollection of how she arrived, or memories from her life prior. All she knows is that somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, she has a sister named Kay, and it’s up to Cee to cross the ocean and find her.

In a world apart, 16-year-old STEM prodigy Kasey Mizuhara lives in an eco-city built for people who protected the planet―and now need protecting from it. With natural disasters on the rise due to climate change, eco-cities provide clean air, water, and shelter. Their residents, in exchange, must spend at least a third of their time in stasis pods, conducting business virtually whenever possible to reduce their environmental footprint. While Kasey, an introvert and loner, doesn’t mind the lifestyle, her sister Celia hated it. Popular and lovable, Celia much preferred the outside world. But no one could have predicted that Celia would take a boat out to sea, never to return.

Now it’s been three months since Celia’s disappearance, and Kasey has given up hope. Logic says that her sister must be dead. But nevertheless, she decides to retrace Celia’s last steps. Where they’ll lead her, she does not know. Her sister was full of secrets. But Kasey has a secret of her own.]]> 384 Joan He 125025857X E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 3.55 2021
author: Joan He
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

]]> 216879705 From the author of the instant New York Times bestseller I Hope This Doesn't Find You, Never Thought I'd End Up Here is another hilarious and romantic romcom from Ann Liang, this time following a former model determined to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA - it's all she's ever known. But after accidentally wishing her cousin ill health and a very depressing marriage at her wedding, her parents stage an intervention. She's forgotten most of her Mandarin, has zero regard for etiquette, and can't hold a conversation with her own grandparents for longer than a minute. Their solution? Send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China's most beautiful cities. To them, it's the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it's simply a much-needed escape.

But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is her former classmate and least favorite person cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who's somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since they last saw each other.

While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody's looking, she can't get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Yet the deeper they wander into China's provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love - with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she'd call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.]]> 320 Ann Liang 1546110674 E.C. 0 to-read 4.44 2025
author: Ann Liang
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 56806042 A young artist forges a path of self-discovery in an enriching novel about forgiving the past and embracing second chances, from the bestselling author of An Unfinished Story.

Maine, 1969. After losing her parents in a car accident, aspiring artist Annalisa Mancuso lives with her grandmother and their large Italian family in the stifling factory town of Payton Mills. Inspired by her mother, whose own artistic dreams disappeared in a damaged marriage, Annalisa is dedicated only to painting. Closed off to love, and driven as much by her innate talent as she is the disillusionment of her past, Annalisa just wants to come into her own.

The first step is leaving Payton Mills and everything it represents. The next, the inspiring opportunities in the city of Portland and a thriving New England art scene where Annalisa hopes to find her voice. But she meets Thomas, an Ivy League student whose attentions—and troubled family—upend her pursuits in ways she never imagined possible. As their relationship deepens, Annalisa must balance her dreams against an unexpected love. Until the unraveling of an unforgivable lie.

For Annalisa, opening herself up to life and to love is a risk. It might also be the chance she needs to finally become the person and the artist she’s meant to be.]]> 429 Boo Walker 1542019117 E.C. 0 to-read, for-writing 4.23 2021
author: Boo Walker
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: to-read, for-writing
review:

]]> 220160186 A heartbreaking American epic about three sisters who unearth lifetimes of family tensions as they are forced to rescue one of their own from peril, testing the limits of sacrifice, sisterhood, and forgiveness from the author of the “profound work of great wisdom� (Alice Elliott Dark) The Great Transition .

Josie may be the youngest sister, but she takes care of everyone. She is the left-brained scientist to her twin sisters� right-brained artistic chaos. She makes sure their rent gets paid on time, they make their therapy appointments, and has also been their de-facto band manager since she was a teenager. When Ara, her middle sister (by a few minutes), calls from jail, it isn’t exactly a surprise, and Josie knows exactly how to snap into action.

Emma is the quintessential frontwoman, complete with looks and attitude. But the success of The Twins� first (and only) album—gold records, Grammy nominations, and diehard fans—is two decades behind her. Hiding under the surface of her swagger is a long-held guilt that has turned her into her sister’s enabler. Emma knows she needs Ara’s creative genius and thinks a jailhouse record could be just the thing to get Ara her freedom and their band back on the main stage.

Ara is detoxing, not only from her opioid habit but also from her family. The truth is, as crazy as it sounds, she’s not in a hurry to get out of lock-up. In the most unlikely and dangerous of places, this could be her chance to face the demons of her past and disentangle herself from her family.

Bertie, who raised her three daughters as a single mother, has always taught them that family won’t always be around to take care of you. A former defense attorney and perennial do-gooder, she’s committed to taking care of everyone less fortunate even if that means putting her girls� needs second. But now Bertie must decide if she should reenter her daughters� lives in their greatest time of need—or watch to see if the resilience she’s taught them will help carry them through.

A story both intimate and sweeping, The Frequency of Living Things explores the timeless question of how our individual destinies are intertwined with our family, our siblings, and our history no matter how we try to untangle ourselves from them.]]> 336 Nick Fuller Googins 1668056062 E.C. 4
Following three sisters who've once ridden the waves of the music industry, but now find themselves scrambling for a sophomore album to stay afloat, this story explores so many different familial dynamics in the face of one sister's incarceration. There's Josie, the responsible one, who won't hesitate to drop everything—even a supposed vacation—to try and make everything okay. There's Emma, the irresponsible one with the artistic vision. And then there's Araminta, the drummer, trying and failing and trying again to recover from drug addiction.

The entire story is very character-focused, with just enough plot to pull you in, but not enough to completely overtake it. Their complex family dynamics and visceral responses to the incarceration, as well as the aftermath, hit me hard. I particularly found Josie the most resonant, especially how blind she was to her self-sabotaging actions in the name of bearing all the responsibility.

This is an honest book. It doesn't shy away from difficult relationships or emotions. But it does, ultimately, show the value of familial and community support. It's a sad book, but a good one, and I'd recommend it.

(Special thanks to Atria Books for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own) ]]> 3.96 2025
author: Nick Fuller Googins
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/12
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: arcs, physical-arcs, adult, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf, contemporary, reading-at-work, most-memorable-reads-of-2025
review:
This book absolutely gutted me.

Following three sisters who've once ridden the waves of the music industry, but now find themselves scrambling for a sophomore album to stay afloat, this story explores so many different familial dynamics in the face of one sister's incarceration. There's Josie, the responsible one, who won't hesitate to drop everything—even a supposed vacation—to try and make everything okay. There's Emma, the irresponsible one with the artistic vision. And then there's Araminta, the drummer, trying and failing and trying again to recover from drug addiction.

The entire story is very character-focused, with just enough plot to pull you in, but not enough to completely overtake it. Their complex family dynamics and visceral responses to the incarceration, as well as the aftermath, hit me hard. I particularly found Josie the most resonant, especially how blind she was to her self-sabotaging actions in the name of bearing all the responsibility.

This is an honest book. It doesn't shy away from difficult relationships or emotions. But it does, ultimately, show the value of familial and community support. It's a sad book, but a good one, and I'd recommend it.

(Special thanks to Atria Books for an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own)
]]> 196693307 Who is he, and why is he here?
He arrives early one spring and by chance - or is it? - he visits a coffee shop where 92 framed pencil portraits are on display. Inspired, Theo sets out on a mission of purchasing all the portraits one at a time and quietly bestowing them on their 'rightful owners.'
Stories are told; friendships are born; and lives are changed.
Theo of Golden is a beautifully crafted story about the power of creative generosity, the importance of wonder to a purposeful life, and the far-reaching possibilities of anonymous kindness.]]> 399 Allen Levi E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 4.65
author: Allen Levi
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.65
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/29
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

]]> 45454254 Anonymous E.C. 0 read-in-2024 - "The Strings Between" by Kyra Hinton: a stunning magical realism that explores grief and healing

2024 beta reads:
- CWM
- ROOG by RS (alpha)
- WOSE by AS (CP)
- TGM by LB (alpha)

2025 beta reads:
- JLatCQ by SJR
- TMP by LB]]> 4.56
author: Anonymous
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.56
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/25
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves: read-in-2024
review:
2023 beta reads:
- "The Strings Between" by Kyra Hinton: a stunning magical realism that explores grief and healing

2024 beta reads:
- CWM
- ROOG by RS (alpha)
- WOSE by AS (CP)
- TGM by LB (alpha)

2025 beta reads:
- JLatCQ by SJR
- TMP by LB
]]> 25776192 A moving, bittersweet tale reminiscent of Sharon Creech’s Walk Two Moons set in a West Virginia coal-mining town

When her brother dies in a fire, Sasha Harless has no one left, and nowhere to turn. After her father died in the mines and her mother ran off, he was her last caretaker. They’d always dreamed of leaving Caboose, West Virginia together someday, but instead she’s in foster care, feeling more stuck and broken than ever.

But then Sasha discovers family she didn’t know she had, and she finally has something to hold onto, especially sweet little Mikey, who’s just as broken as she is. Sasha even makes her first friend at school, and is slowly learning to cope with her brother’s death through writing poetry, finding a new way to express herself when spoken words just won’t do. But when tragedy strikes the mine her cousin works in, Sasha fears the worst and takes Mikey and runs, with no plans to return. In this sensitive and poignant portrayal, Sarah Dooley shows us that life, like poetry, doesn’t always take the form you intend. 
Ěý±Ő±Ő> 352 Sarah Dooley 0399165037 E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 4.12 2016
author: Sarah Dooley
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

]]> 220160351 A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley.

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats� from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge�: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as �1847� or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,� “Spotify,� and “the collapse of the British Empire.� But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley’s answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.]]> 368 Kaliane Bradley 166804515X E.C. 0 to-read 3.54 2024
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 226747071 This gorgeous edition of We Fell Apart will feature stunning sprayed edges, unique printed endpapers, and an exclusive foil-stamped case!

#1 New York Times bestselling author E. Lockhart returns to the world of her TikTok sensation We Were Liars with all her signature beachy gothic atmosphere, family intrigue, and high-stakes romance.

The invitation arrives out of the blue.

In it, Matilda discovers a father she’s never met. Kingsley Cello is a visionary, a reclusive artist. And when he asks her to spend the summer at his seaside home, Hidden Beach, Matilda expects to find a part of herself she’s never fully understood.

Instead, she finds Meer, her long-lost, openhearted brother; Brock, a former child star battling demons; and brooding, wild Tatum, who just wants her to leave their crumbling sanctuary.

With Kingsley nowhere to be seen, Matilda must delve into the twisted heart of Hidden Beach to uncover the answers she’s desperately craving. But secrets run thicker than blood, and blood runs like seawater.

And everyone here is lying.]]> 320 E. Lockhart 0593899164 E.C. 0 to-read 3.94 2025
author: E. Lockhart
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]> 490 Liz Moore E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 4.15 2024
author: Liz Moore
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

]]> 58132544
As Jack and Adaira reluctantly work together, they find they make better allies than rivals as their partnership turns into something more. But with each passing song, it becomes apparent the trouble with the spirits is far more sinister than they first expected, and an older, darker secret about Cadence lurks beneath the surface, threatening to undo them all.]]> 480 Rebecca Ross 0063055988 E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 4.06 2022
author: Rebecca Ross
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/12
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

]]> 8852
This shocking tragedy - a violent caution to those seeking power for its own sake - is, to this day, one of Shakespeare’s most popular and influential masterpieces.]]> 249 William Shakespeare 0743477103 E.C. 0 3.90 1623
author: William Shakespeare
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1623
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/01
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves:
review:

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

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

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

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

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

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

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.]]> 259 Emily St. John Mandel 0593321448 E.C. 0 4.04 2022
author: Emily St. John Mandel
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: 2025-tbr, resume-reading-later
review:

]]> 34273236
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned � from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren � an enigmatic artist and single mother � who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother–daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town � and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost . . .]]> 338 Celeste Ng 0735224293 E.C. 0 maybe-tbr, for-writing 4.05 2017
author: Celeste Ng
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: maybe-tbr, for-writing
review:

]]> 199793398 352 Mitch Albom 0062406663 E.C. 0 to-read 4.51 2023
author: Mitch Albom
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 202167720
It is 1486 and Venice is a wealthy, opulent center for trade. Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers in Murano, the island revered for the craft. As a woman, she is not meant to work with glass—but she has the hands for it, the heart, and a vision. When her father dies, she teaches herself to make beads in secret, and her work supports the Rosso family fortunes.

Skipping like a stone through the centuries, in a Venice where time moves as slowly as molten glass, we follow Orsola and her family as they live through creative triumph and heartbreaking loss, from a plague devastating Venice to Continental soldiers stripping its palazzos bare, from the domination of Murano and its maestros to the transformation of the city of trade into a city of tourists. In every era, the Rosso women ensure that their work, and their bonds, endure.

Chevalier is a master of her own craft, and The Glassmaker is as inventive as it is a mesmerizing portrait of a woman, a family, and a city that are as everlasting as their glass.]]> 416 Tracy Chevalier 0525558276 E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 3.86 2024
author: Tracy Chevalier
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

]]> 207974241
In the early 1920s, the accelerating destruction of the California redwoods is more than nature-loving Marion Baker can bear. Throwing herself headlong into the work of the Save the Redwoods League, she is shocked to learn that Frank Duncan, a man she's grown to love, is the son of one of the area's worst timber barons. Though devastated by the betrayal, she realizes this could also be an opportunity--if only she can convince him to help preserve her favorite grove from his father's greedy grasp. Is her love strong enough to persuade him to save these precious trees? Or will Marion choose to sacrifice her beliefs to keep Frank by her side?

Nearly fifty years later, in 1972, polio survivor June Turner is deeply proud of the legacy her great aunt Marion has left as a redwood warrior. And despite her disability, June is determined to prove herself capable as a ranger at the recently established Redwood National Park, even if it means taking to the trails with her crutch in hand. What better way to carry on the family tradition of preserving God’s magnificent creation?

When aspiring film student Adam Garner approaches June to help make a documentary about Marion's life, she swiftly grabs the opportunity to spread her aunt's worthy reputation. That is, until they unearth a secret that might shatter the family legacy. In the scramble for answers, June may lose not only her family pride but also her own dreams.

Karen Barnett's beautifully crafted split-time novel, set against the majestic backdrop of a beloved national park, immerses the reader in history that feels as fresh as if it happened yesterday.]]> 352 Karen Barnett 0825448522 E.C. 0 4.45 2024
author: Karen Barnett
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: maybe-tbr, set-in-silicon-valley
review:

]]> 199541083 In this colorful and humorous tale, a hopeful young painter finds herself embroiled in the world of art heists…and possibly responsible for the counterfeits needed to cover them up.

Freshly graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, Veridian Sterling is ready to hang her work in any of the countless New York galleries that are sure to give her a show. The problem is only one will, and they’re not interested in her art so much as her personal assistant skills.

No glitz, no glam, and definitely none of the money she needs to help her struggling mother finally realize her dream of starting her own business after having sacrificed everything for Veri to go to art school. So when she overhears her new boss discussing the impressive finder’s fee for a lost Van Gogh, Veri takes matters into her own hands. Maybe her own artwork isn’t celebrated, but she knows how to copy what is, and maybe those skills can help lead to a discovery.

But when a famous art dealer takes her under his wing (and his charming driver takes her interest), Veri realizes she’s in deeper than she expected, and quite possibly with the wrong people. With her mother’s dreams and her own future at stake, Veri will have to pull out every trick she can think of to wipe her canvas clean and erase the mess she’s created before she goes down for someone else’s crimes.]]> 252 Jennifer Gooch Hummer 1662518986 E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 3.74 2024
author: Jennifer Gooch Hummer
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

]]> 15815333
The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge.

The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age fifteen is not always enough to propel someone through life at age thirty; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence. Jules Jacobson, an aspiring comic actress, eventually resigns herself to a more practical occupation and lifestyle. Her friend Jonah, a gifted musician, stops playing the guitar and becomes an engineer. But Ethan and Ash, Jules's now-married best friends, become shockingly successful—true to their initial artistic dreams, with the wealth and access that allow those dreams to keep expanding. The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what their talents have become and the shapes their lives have taken.

Wide in scope, ambitious, and populated by complex characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life.]]> 468 Meg Wolitzer 1594488398 E.C. 0 maybe-tbr, for-writing 3.58 2013
author: Meg Wolitzer
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: maybe-tbr, for-writing
review:

]]> 228601464 An Appalachian farmer’s daughter and a wealthy businessman find a surprising love but must reckon with what divides them in this retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice by the award-winning author of The Lady and the Lionheart .

New River, Virginia. 1904. Lizbeth Bennet longs to preserve her family’s farm, securing a future for her and her sisters, a difficult task in their Appalachian coal mining town. Money is scarce, and Lizbeth is determined to find a way without giving up treasured pieces of her family’s legacy. But when the mine is put up for sale, it’s clear change is approaching. A contingent of coal barons descends on the town to investigate whether the mine is worth their investment, among them a young man rumored to be a very rich, eligible bachelor.

William Drake arrives focused on business and keeping his distance from the townspeople, especially those living on land entangled with the mine, including a farmer by the name of Bennet. As William digs through legal issues, his struggle to weigh the potential financial gain against what is right for the community grows more complicated when he meets one of the Bennet daughters.

Despite an awkward first meeting, Lizbeth and William continue to cross paths, and soon Lizbeth questions her first impression of the man she believed to be proud and indifferent. But just as their friendship begins to evolve, a revelation shakes Lizbeth’s tenuous trust, and she learns all may not be as it seems. To determine what is true, and step toward a love she’s barely dared dream of, Lizbeth must confront her own prejudices . . . and decide whether the future she’s always imagined is the one her heart truly wants most after all.

An inspirational historical romance retelling of Pride and Prejudice for fans of Julie Klassen, Sally Britton, and Sarah E. LaddA clever, clean love storySouthern historical fiction in the vein of Michelle Shocklee and Pepper BashamIncludes discussion questions for book clubs]]> 368 Joanne Bischof DeWitt E.C. 0 to-read 4.33
author: Joanne Bischof DeWitt
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

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

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

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s third book, stands as the supreme achievement of his career. First published by Scribner in 1925, this quintessential novel of the Jazz Age has been acclaimed by generations of readers. The story of the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s.]]> 180 F. Scott Fitzgerald 0743273567 E.C. 0 to-read 3.93 1925
author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1925
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 297842
It is the tale of Cat Royal, an orphan, four foot four with long red hair and not a penny to call her own. She lives in the Theater Royal on Drury Lane, a place filled with dramatic characters, theatrical spectacles, and now, a secret treasure--which Cat has been asked to protect. Her new friend Pedro, a former slave and gifted violinist, is eager to help, and so is the theater prompter, Jonathan, who is hiding secrets of his own. But when the ruthless gang leader Billy Shepherd learns about the treasure, Cat thinks she's going to lose it for sure. She still doesn't know what the treasure is, so how can she keep it safe from Billy and his gang? Follow Cat into the streets of London, as she faces danger and adventure, racing to be the first to discover the diamond of Drury Lane!]]> 421 Julia Golding 1405221496 E.C. 0 4.05 2006
author: Julia Golding
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: middle-grade, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf
review:

]]> 22504499
Timothy Grey, ninth child of the Baron of Greyham, longs to perform some feat so legendary that he will rise from obscurity and earn a title of his own. When the Ghosts of Farthingale Forest are spotted in Wyndeshire, where he serves as assistant to the local earl, he might have found his chance. But when he comes face-to-face with the leader of the thieves, will he choose fame or love?]]> 368 Dina L. Sleiman 0764213121 E.C. 3 3.73 2015
author: Dina L. Sleiman
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2021/01/21
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 35999274
The Final Battle is on the Horizon . . .

Still heartbroken over the loss of her best friend, Sky, Lennox must face her own demons as she continues to fight against Ahab and the Regime. She now serves as a combat medic on the field, searching desperately for survivors in war-torn America. But as the Regime grows stronger and begins to genetically enhance both humans and animals, she questions whether she and her fellow Sparrows are doing enough. After an encounter with a Prowler changes everything, she must choose between vengeance and faith in God because the next mission she goes on could be her last.

When all hope seems lost, will she still stand?]]> 244 Mandy Fender 0998565733 E.C. 4 3.90
author: Mandy Fender
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.90
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2021/02/04
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: christian-dystopian, must-read-dystopians
review:

]]> 29864865

The fight has only just begun...



As the new Regime continues to rise, so does one girl's faith. Lennox Winters defied the odds and stood when everyone else bowed. Now, she must train to become a Sparrow and learn how to fight against the very men who destroyed her world. When the attacks against Defiers continue to strike close to home, she must defend her best friend and love of her life, which means she might have to go against the authority she respects.With the enemy approaching and her faith hanging in the balance, Lennox must make the hard choices that only a soldier can make.


Lines will be crossed.
Hearts will be broken.
Freedom will be taken.


Will the girl who stood still stand in the fire?]]> 270 Mandy Fender 0692745912 E.C. 4 4.44
author: Mandy Fender
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.44
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2021/02/03
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: christian-dystopian, must-read-dystopians
review:

]]> 25987793

One girl's faith makes her a soldier...


Seventeen-year-old Lennox Winters lives an average life in a small Texas town where nothing ever seems to happen, but that all changes in a blink of an eye. After her parents are murdered on the street, she questions everything she knows and soon finds out there was much more to their deaths. Now, there's a war in her own backyard and she has only two options...go on the run and fight to survive or submit to the new Regime taking over America and imprisoning Defiers--the ones who refuse to bow. In her search for answers, she will discover her own limits and the price of standing.


Faith will be tested.
Lives will be lost.
Truth will be found.


Are you brave enough to defy?]]> 270 Mandy Fender 0692475001 E.C. 3 3.45 2015
author: Mandy Fender
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2021/02/02
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: christian-dystopian, i-don-t-know-honestly
review:

]]> 706241


Oceans and circumstances have forced families apart. For the banished French Acadians drifting in exile, the shore means safety--though it is a safety at a terrible price. For the lonely British nobleman, the shore holds a single chance to secure his legacy. For Andrew and Catherine Harrow, the shore marks a tragic separation.



An extraordinary set of journeys awaits them all, each as intricate and perilous as the coastline itself. New beginnings are connected to all that has come before. And the past penetrates into what is yet to come. The common thread is a yearning to discover their identities in their families, in their communities, and in their God.]]> 272 Janette Oke 0764222473 E.C. 3 4.12 2000
author: Janette Oke
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at: 2021/01/03
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 50396193 The truth about Neverland is far more dangerous than a fairy tale.

Claire Kenton believes the world is too dark for magic to be real—since her twin brother was stolen away as a child. Now Claire's desperate search points to London... and a boy who shouldn't exist.

Peter Pan is having a beastly time getting back to Neverland. Grounded in London and hunted by his own Lost Boys, Peter searches for the last hope of restoring his crumbling island: a lass with magic in her veins.

The girl who fears her own destiny is on a collision course with the boy who never wanted to grow up. The truth behind this fairy tale is about to unravel everything Claire thought she knew about Peter Pan—and herself.]]> 348 Kara Swanson 162184126X E.C. 4 4.05 2020
author: Kara Swanson
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/26
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: rtc, re-read-sometime, ya-fiction, young-adult, i-know-the-author, lovely-aesthetic, yes-i-read-fantasy, christian
review:

]]> 32886379 A FEAR-CONDITIONED SLAVE WAKES TO HER WORLD UNDONE AS THE ENEMY CLEARS A PATH FOR HER FREEDOM

Workers silently shuffle to their assigned posts.Outcasts watch from the alley walls.On every corner, a Watcher stands stone-faced, rifle in hand. Nineteen-year-old Hannah exists in a gray, smog-covered world of labor and fear, where sunlight and stars are stories whispered in secret. She survives on the memories left by her parents, reliving the moment they were dragged from their family unit and shot.Everything changes the night the valley erupts in explosions and gunfire. Edan, a young soldier in disguise, pulls Hannah from her unit and rushes her down to the streets. Surrounded by dozens of terrified slaves, she's told to run.Run as hard and as fast as you can and don't stop!Hannah's world turns upside down. Now the enemy fights for her freedom, and she must struggle to shake loose from fear-conditioning and to forgive men who inflicted terror on her people.]]> 323 Laura Frances E.C. 0 4.34 2016
author: Laura Frances
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2021/04/21
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: christian-dystopian, most-memorable-reads-of-2021, must-read-dystopians
review:

]]> 123068463 The Six Transformational Character Arcs of the Human LifeReady to take your story’s character arcs and themes to the next level? This latest book from veteran writing teacher and story theorist K.M. Weiland ventures far beyond the popular and pervasive Hero’s Journey to explore six important archetypal character arcs, representing key moments of initiation in the human



The MaidenThe HeroThe QueenThe KingThe CroneThe Mage
Found in every genre from fantasy to drama to romance to adventure, these transformational stories are the secret of powerhouse fiction—as shown through a wide variety of real-story examples throughout the book.

Writing Archetypal Character Arcs will teach archetypal beats for each of the six journeysWhich archetypes are right for your particular storyThe best way to use archetypes in a seriesHow to choose the right archetypes for supporting charactersHow to use archetypes to identify your story’s themeYou will also learn how to deepen your stories by implementing shadow archetypes (the negative sides of each positive archetype), resting or “flat� archetypes (the fixed stage between each of the main arcs), and archetypal antagonists (the epic antagonistic forces that oppose each of the positive archetypes in their journeys). The Hero’s Journey is just the beginning.

Learning about archetypal character arcs will change the way you view stories—and life—forever.
Find the Tools to Write Stories Readers Will Never Forget]]> 286 K.M. Weiland 1944936122 E.C. 0 to-read 4.47
author: K.M. Weiland
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.47
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 198902277 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250899576.

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

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

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]> 384 Alison Espach E.C. 4 4.10 2024
author: Alison Espach
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: adult, from-the-library, gorgeous-covers, humor, contemporary, not-clean, reading-at-work
review:

]]> 213243955 An unforgettable dark fairy tale that asks, Can love save us from ourselves?

Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature.

Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie he represents everything she’s ever longed for. She finds herself falling for Arthur and the land he knows so well. Against the warnings of those who care about them, Birdie and Emaleen move to his isolated cabin in the mountains on the far side of the Wolverine River.

It’s just the three of them in the vast black woods, far from roads, telephones, electricity, and outside contact, but Birdie believes she has come prepared. At first, it’s idyllic, but soon Birdie discovers that Arthur is something much more mysterious and dangerous than she could have imagined, and that like the Alaska wilderness, a fairy tale can be as dark as it is beautiful.]]> 306 Eowyn Ivey 0593231023 E.C. 4
There's something so haunting about this book. In part a Beauty and the Beast retelling, in other parts hinting at Frankenstein or of Mice and Men, in a fairytale style it depicts the contrast between the capacity for humans to be wild and destructive, but also protective and loving.

At its core, it's a simple story. It follows two characters: Birdie, nicknamed after her constant search for freedom and peace from her rough childhood, and Emaleen, her five-year-old daughter who has a relatively isolated childhood and bears the brunt of her mother's bad decisions.

And then there's Arthur. A recluse who, despite his mysterious past, is simultaneously capable of great love and great cruelty.

In a similar style to The Snow Child, it's set in the Alaskan wilderness, where isolation poses a threat to all three central characters. And while it's not classified as horror, some scenes will stick in your head because of just how vivid and real they feel. I could feel everything—from Emaleen's desperation and fears of her mom leaving her, to Birdie's warring desires for a new life but also loyalty to her daughter, to Emaleen's fears that her younger self tried to cover dark truths about her childhood with imagination. With every step these characters took, and the impossible choices they faced, I hurt with them and hoped they would get their happy endings. Somehow.

Speaking of the ending, it was close to perfect. Ivey excels at these endings—the ones that walk the thin line between being tragic and hopeless and being hopeful and resonant. Despite how dark this story turned out to be, the ending was more uplifting than I expected.

This is a beautiful story. Read it in winter, in the dead of night, with the light of a candle, preferably with hot chocolate with little marshmallows. Or chamomile tea with honey. Iykyk.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing. I was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

Merged review:

I'll say it off the bat: I may harbor a slight bias, because I love Eowyn Ivey's books. The Snow Child—an impromptu read based off of the pretty cover—turned into one of my all-time favorite books years ago, and so when I heard she was at long last releasing another one returning to the familiar backdrop of the Alaskan wilderness, I instantly tried to get my hands on a copy. You can imagine my excitement when the e-ARC arrived in my inbox.

There's something so haunting about this book. In part a Beauty and the Beast retelling, in other parts hinting at Frankenstein or of Mice and Men, in a fairytale style it depicts the contrast between the capacity for humans to be wild and destructive, but also protective and loving.

At its core, it's a simple story. It follows two characters: Birdie, nicknamed after her constant search for freedom and peace from her rough childhood, and Emaleen, her five-year-old daughter who has a relatively isolated childhood and bears the brunt of her mother's bad decisions.

And then there's Arthur. A recluse who, despite his mysterious past, is simultaneously capable of great love and great cruelty.

In a similar style to The Snow Child, it's set in the Alaskan wilderness, where isolation poses a threat to all three central characters. And while it's not classified as horror, some scenes will stick in your head because of just how vivid and real they feel. I could feel everything—from Emaleen's desperation and fears of her mom leaving her, to Birdie's warring desires for a new life but also loyalty to her daughter, to Emaleen's fears that her younger self tried to cover dark truths about her childhood with imagination. With every step these characters took, and the impossible choices they faced, I hurt with them and hoped they would get their happy endings. Somehow.

Speaking of the ending, it was close to perfect. Ivey excels at these endings—the ones that walk the thin line between being tragic and hopeless and being hopeful and resonant. Despite how dark this story turned out to be, the ending was more uplifting than I expected.

This is a beautiful story. Read it in winter, in the dead of night, with the light of a candle, preferably with hot chocolate with little marshmallows. Or chamomile tea with honey. Iykyk.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing. I was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone. ]]> 3.68 2025
author: Eowyn Ivey
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: adult, magical-realism, soulful-stories, arcs, contemporary, kinda-creepy, lovely-aesthetic, most-memorable-reads-of-2024, not-clean, re-read-sometime, someday-bookshelf, read-in-2024, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf
review:
I'll say it off the bat: I may harbor a slight bias, because I love Eowyn Ivey's books. The Snow Child—an impromptu read based off of the pretty cover—turned into one of my all-time favorite books years ago, and so when I heard she was at long last releasing another one returning to the familiar backdrop of the Alaskan wilderness, I instantly tried to get my hands on a copy. You can imagine my excitement when the e-ARC arrived in my inbox.

There's something so haunting about this book. In part a Beauty and the Beast retelling, in other parts hinting at Frankenstein or of Mice and Men, in a fairytale style it depicts the contrast between the capacity for humans to be wild and destructive, but also protective and loving.

At its core, it's a simple story. It follows two characters: Birdie, nicknamed after her constant search for freedom and peace from her rough childhood, and Emaleen, her five-year-old daughter who has a relatively isolated childhood and bears the brunt of her mother's bad decisions.

And then there's Arthur. A recluse who, despite his mysterious past, is simultaneously capable of great love and great cruelty.

In a similar style to The Snow Child, it's set in the Alaskan wilderness, where isolation poses a threat to all three central characters. And while it's not classified as horror, some scenes will stick in your head because of just how vivid and real they feel. I could feel everything—from Emaleen's desperation and fears of her mom leaving her, to Birdie's warring desires for a new life but also loyalty to her daughter, to Emaleen's fears that her younger self tried to cover dark truths about her childhood with imagination. With every step these characters took, and the impossible choices they faced, I hurt with them and hoped they would get their happy endings. Somehow.

Speaking of the ending, it was close to perfect. Ivey excels at these endings—the ones that walk the thin line between being tragic and hopeless and being hopeful and resonant. Despite how dark this story turned out to be, the ending was more uplifting than I expected.

This is a beautiful story. Read it in winter, in the dead of night, with the light of a candle, preferably with hot chocolate with little marshmallows. Or chamomile tea with honey. Iykyk.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing. I was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.

Merged review:

I'll say it off the bat: I may harbor a slight bias, because I love Eowyn Ivey's books. The Snow Child—an impromptu read based off of the pretty cover—turned into one of my all-time favorite books years ago, and so when I heard she was at long last releasing another one returning to the familiar backdrop of the Alaskan wilderness, I instantly tried to get my hands on a copy. You can imagine my excitement when the e-ARC arrived in my inbox.

There's something so haunting about this book. In part a Beauty and the Beast retelling, in other parts hinting at Frankenstein or of Mice and Men, in a fairytale style it depicts the contrast between the capacity for humans to be wild and destructive, but also protective and loving.

At its core, it's a simple story. It follows two characters: Birdie, nicknamed after her constant search for freedom and peace from her rough childhood, and Emaleen, her five-year-old daughter who has a relatively isolated childhood and bears the brunt of her mother's bad decisions.

And then there's Arthur. A recluse who, despite his mysterious past, is simultaneously capable of great love and great cruelty.

In a similar style to The Snow Child, it's set in the Alaskan wilderness, where isolation poses a threat to all three central characters. And while it's not classified as horror, some scenes will stick in your head because of just how vivid and real they feel. I could feel everything—from Emaleen's desperation and fears of her mom leaving her, to Birdie's warring desires for a new life but also loyalty to her daughter, to Emaleen's fears that her younger self tried to cover dark truths about her childhood with imagination. With every step these characters took, and the impossible choices they faced, I hurt with them and hoped they would get their happy endings. Somehow.

Speaking of the ending, it was close to perfect. Ivey excels at these endings—the ones that walk the thin line between being tragic and hopeless and being hopeful and resonant. Despite how dark this story turned out to be, the ending was more uplifting than I expected.

This is a beautiful story. Read it in winter, in the dead of night, with the light of a candle, preferably with hot chocolate with little marshmallows. Or chamomile tea with honey. Iykyk.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing. I was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
]]> 39863464 A tale of a single night. The story of a lifetime.

If you had to pick five people to sum up your life, who would they be? If you were to raise a glass to each of them, what would you say? And what would you learn about yourself, when all is said and done?

This is the story of Maurice Hannigan, who, over the course of a Saturday night in June, orders five different drinks at the Rainford House Hotel. With each he toasts a person vital to him: his doomed older brother, his troubled sister-in-law, his daughter of fifteen minutes, his son far off in America, and his late, lamented wife. And through these people, the ones who left him behind, he tells the story of his own life, with all its regrets and feuds, loves and triumphs.

Beautifully written, powerfully felt, When All Is Said promises to be the next great Irish novel.]]> 326 Anne Griffin 125020058X E.C. 0 to-read, with-mika 3.94 2019
author: Anne Griffin
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: to-read, with-mika
review:

]]> 122974483
In the spring of 1776, thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons. It’s the Siege of Boston, the Patriots� massive drive to push the Loyalists out that turns the city into a chaotic war zone. Elsbeth’s father—her only living relative—has gone missing, leaving her alone and adrift in a broken town while desperately seeking employment to avoid the orphanage.

Just when things couldn’t feel worse, the smallpox epidemic sweeps across Boston. Now, Bostonians must fight for their lives against an invisible enemy in addition to the visible one. While a treatment is being frantically fine-tuned, thousands of people rush in from the countryside begging for inoculation. At the same time, others refuse protection, for the treatment is crude at best and at times more dangerous than the disease itself.

Elsbeth, who had smallpox as a small child and is now immune, finds work taking care of a large, wealthy family with discord of their own as they await a turn at inoculation, but as the epidemic and the revolution rage on, will she find her father?]]> 405 Laurie Halse Anderson E.C. 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: Laurie Halse Anderson
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 207677131 A woman investigates her brother's mysterious death while coming to terms with her own haunting past in this atmospheric novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unmaking of June Farrow

The only thing James and Johnny Golden have ever had is each other. For as long as she can remember, James’s deep connection with her twin brother, Johnny, has gone beyond intuition—she can feel what he feels. So, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life. 

When James arrives in the rural town of Hawthorne, California to settle her brother’s affairs, she’s forced to rehash the ominous past she and Johnny shared and finally face Micah, the only person who knows about it. He’s also the only man she’s ever loved. 

But James soon discovers that the strange connection she had with Johnny isn’t quite gone, and the more she immerses herself into his world, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew. Johnny was keeping secrets, and he’s not the only one. What she uncovers will push her to unravel what happened in the days before Johnny’s death, but in the end, she’ll have to decide which truths should come to light, and which should stay buried forever.]]> 288 Adrienne Young 0593598709 E.C. 4 3.69 2025
author: Adrienne Young
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: adult, contemporary, magical-realism, soulful-stories, set-in-silicon-valley, kinda-creepy, lovely-aesthetic
review:

]]> 211003854 Der Weltbestseller � die Nr. 1 aus den USA.
Zwei Schwestern im von den Deutschen besetzten Während Vianne ums Überleben ihrer Familie kämpft, schließt sich die jüngere Isabelle der Résistance an und sucht die Freiheit auf dem Pfad der Nachtigall, einem geheimen Fluchtweg über die Pyrenäen. Doch wie weit darf man gehen, um zu überleben? Und wie kann man die schützen, die man liebt?
In diesem epischen, kraftvollen und zutiefst berührenden Roman erzählt Kristin Hannah die Geschichte zweier Frauen, die ihr Schicksal auf ganz eigene Weise meistern.]]> 448 Kristin Hannah 1250370116 E.C. 0 to-read 4.75 2015
author: Kristin Hannah
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.75
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 455678 253 Nora Lam 0840731876 E.C. 0 4.15 1980
author: Nora Lam
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read, friend-recommendations
review:

]]> 211003837 For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive page-turner filled with literary insight that compels readers to consider whether each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.

When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.

Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of post-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.]]> 320 Kristin Koval 1250342996 E.C. 0 to-read 3.68 2025
author: Kristin Koval
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 224044105 65 Christopher Simpson E.C. 0 to-read 0.0
author: Christopher Simpson
name: E.C.
average rating: 0.0
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36381037
She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.]]> 400 Marissa Meyer E.C. 0 for-writing 4.11 2012
author: Marissa Meyer
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: for-writing
review:

]]> 223688893 What if you got to do everything in your life —twice? The heart of Mitch Albom’s newest novel is a stunning love story that dares to explore how our unchecked desires might mean losing what we’ve had all along.

When he is eight years old, Alfie Logan discovers the magical ability to get a second chance at everything. He can undo any moment and live it again. The one he must accept the consequences of his second try—for better or worse.

He grows up correcting his mistakes and saving himself from adolescent embarrassments. He even takes foolishly dangerous risks, just to see what it’s like to come close to death, before tapping back to safety.

Eventually, Alfie turns his gift to his love life, studying his crushes and going back to make himself more appealing. In time, he falls deeply in love with Gianna, the woman he believes is the one. He seems to find contentment.

But as the years pass, Alfie’s eye begins to wander. Which is when he learns a lone caveat to his once he undoes a love, that person can never fall in love with him again. Knowing if he gives into to temptation, he will risk losing what he has with Gianna, Alfie makes a choice that changes his life forever.

The book begins many years later, after an ailing Alfie is arrested for allegedly cheating and winning millions at a casino roulette wheel. As a curious detective interrogates him, he slowly uncovers Alfie’s incredible story, and its most unlikely conclusion.

In Twice, America’s favorite storyteller, Mitch Albom, is at the top of his powers. A love story that is enchanting, probing, and clairvoyant in matters of the heart, Twice will make you think, weep, and overflow with love from beginning to end.


]]> 496 Mitch Albom 0063453126 E.C. 0 to-read 5.00
author: Mitch Albom
name: E.C.
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 826383 Alternate cover edition of ISBN-13: 9780140187373, ISBN-10/ASIN: 0140187375

Published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is: both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. Drawing on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, including longtime friend Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck interweaves the stories of Doc, Dora, Mack and his boys, Lee Chong, and the other characters in this world where only the fittest survive, to create a novel that is at once one of his most humorous and poignant works. In her introduction, Susan Shillinglaw shows how the novel expresses, both in style and theme, much that is essentially Steinbeck: “scientific detachment, empathy toward the lonely and depressed� and, at the darkest level� the terror of isolation and nothingness.�


]]> 185 John Steinbeck E.C. 0 to-read 4.07 1943
author: John Steinbeck
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1943
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 18293427
A. J. Fikry’s life is not at all what he expected it to be. His wife has died, his bookstore is experiencing the worst sales in its history, and now his prized possession, a rare collection of Poe poems, has been stolen. Slowly but surely, he is isolating himself from all the people of Alice Island—from Lambiase, the well-intentioned police officer who’s always felt kindly toward Fikry; from Ismay, his sister-in-law who is hell-bent on saving him from his dreary self; from Amelia, the lovely and idealistic (if eccentric) Knightley Press sales rep who keeps on taking the ferry over to Alice Island, refusing to be deterred by A.J.’s bad attitude. Even the books in his store have stopped holding pleasure for him. These days, A.J. can only see them as a sign of a world that is changing too rapidly.

And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It’s a small package, but large in weight. It’s that unexpected arrival that gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over, the ability to see everything anew. It doesn’t take long for the locals to notice the change overcoming A.J.; or for that determined sales rep, Amelia, to see her curmudgeonly client in a new light; or for the wisdom of all those books to become again the lifeblood of A.J.’s world; or for everything to twist again into a version of his life that he didn’t see coming. As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.]]> 260 Gabrielle Zevin 1616203218 E.C. 0 4.01 2014
author: Gabrielle Zevin
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/22
shelves: to-read, books-on-my-irl-bookshelf
review:

]]> 213870117 Seven struggling customers are given the unique opportunity to take home a “blanket cat� . . . but only for three days, the time it’ll take to change their lives.

A peculiar pet shop in Tokyo has been known to offer customers the unique opportunity to take home one of seven special cats, whose “magic� is never promised, but always received. But there are rules: these cats must be returned after three days. They must eat only the food supplied by the owner, and they must travel to their new homes with a distinctive blanket.

In The Blanket Cats, we meet seven customers, each of whom is hoping a temporary feline companion will help them escape a certain reality, including a couple struggling with infertility, a middle-aged woman on the run from the police, and two families in very different circumstances simply seeking joy.

But like all their kind, the “blanket cats� are mysterious creatures with unknowable agendas, who delight in confounding expectations. And perhaps what their hosts are looking for isn’t really what they need. Three days may not be enough to change a life. But it might just change how you see it.]]> 272 Kiyoshi Shigematsu 0593852699 E.C. 0 to-read 3.45 2008
author: Kiyoshi Shigematsu
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211401589 Working her way up at a storied Stockholm publisher, a young woman develops an ambiguous, shifting relationship with her boss, in this shrewd novel about the tension between tradition and modernity, and expectations and reality.

The publishing house is anchored like a ship along Stockholm’s main street, a large, bright building with an impressive rooftop terrace. The facade is a grid of wood and granite; flags with a cursive R sway in the wind. R as in Rydéns.

A young woman starts as an intern at this venerated institution, and over many years gains more and more responsibility for its authors and books. All under the supervision of Gunnar, publishing director of the most prestigious imprint behind the finest literature, Andromeda.

Over time their work relationship transforms into something neither of them can truly define. Perhaps built on mutual trust? Or is it something else?]]> 192 Therese Bohman 1635424186 E.C. 0 book-of-the-month, adult 3.46 2022
author: Therese Bohman
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/17
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: book-of-the-month, adult
review:

]]> 61418411
Twelve-year-old Indian-American Pandita Paul doesn't like change. She's not ready to start middle school and leave the comforts of childhood behind. Most of all, Pandita doesn't want to feel like she's leaving her mother, who died a few years ago, behind. After a falling out with her best friend, Pandita is planning to spend most of her summer break reading and writing in her favorite secret the abandoned but majestic mansion across the street.

But then the unthinkable happens. The town announces that the old home will be bulldozed in favor of new―maybe affordable―housing. With her family on opposing sides of the issue, Pandita must find her voice―and the strength to move on―in order to give her community hope.]]> 304 Mitali Perkins 0374388512 E.C. 0 4.25
author: Mitali Perkins
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read, set-in-silicon-valley
review:

]]> 134116821 The Fraud Squad.

On paper, Zoe Zeng has made it in New York’s fashion world. After a string of unpaid internships, she’s now a fashion columnist at Chic, lives in a quaint apartment in Manhattan, and gets invited to exclusive industry events.

But life in New York City isn’t as chic as Zoe imagined. Her editor wants her to censor her opinions to please the big brands; she shares her “quaint� ( small) apartment with two roommates who never let her store kimchi in the fridge; and how is she supposed to afford the designer clothes expected for those parties on her meager salary?

Then one day, Zoe receives a job offer at FitPick, an app startup based in Silicon Valley. The tech salary and office perks are sweet, but moving across the country and switching to a totally new industry? Not so much. However, with her current career at a dead end, Zoe accepts the offer and swaps high fashion for high tech, haute couture for HTML. But she soon realizes that in an industry claiming to change the world for the better, not everyone’s intentions are pure. With an eight-figure investment on the line, Zoe must find a way to revamp FitPick's image despite Silicon Valley’s elitism and her icy colleagues. Or the company’s future will go up in smoke—and hers with it.]]> 384 Kyla Zhao 0593546156 E.C. 0 3.51 2024
author: Kyla Zhao
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: maybe-tbr, set-in-silicon-valley
review:

]]> 52973514
The plan is to leave. As for how, when, to where, and even why—she doesn’t know yet. So begins a journey for the twenty-four-year-old narrator of Days of Distraction. As a staff writer at a prestigious tech publication, she reports on the achievements of smug Silicon Valley billionaires and start-up bros while her own request for a raise gets bumped from manager to manager. And when her longtime boyfriend, J, decides to move to a quiet upstate New York town for grad school, she sees an excuse to cut and run.

Moving is supposed to be a grand gesture of her commitment to J and a way to reshape her sense of self. But in the process, she finds herself facing misgivings about her role in an interracial relationship. Captivated by the stories of her ancestors and other Asian Americans in history, she must confront a question at the core of her identity: What does it mean to exist in a society that does not notice or understand you?

Equal parts tender and humorous, and told in spare but powerful prose, Days of Distraction is an offbeat coming-of-adulthood tale, a touching family story, and a razor-sharp appraisal of our times.]]> 312 Alexandra Chang 0062951807 E.C. 0 3.56 2020
author: Alexandra Chang
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read, set-in-silicon-valley, gorgeous-covers
review:

]]> 213562784
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.]]> 322 R.F. Kuang 0063250853 E.C. 0 to-read 3.79 2023
author: R.F. Kuang
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 38324273 Hotel Silence is a delightful and heartwarming new novel from Auour Ava Olafsdottir, a writer who "upends expectations" (New York Times). Told with grace, insight, and humor, this is the story of one man's surprising mid-life adventure of self-discovery that leads him to find a new reason for being.

Jonas Ebeneser is a handy DIY kind of man with a compulsion to fix things, but he can't seem to fix his own life. On the cusp of turning fifty, divorced, adrift, he's recently discovered he is not the biological father of his daughter, Gudrun Waterlily, and he has sunk into an existential crisis, losing all will to live. As he visits his senile mother in a nursing home, he secretly muses on how, when, and where to put himself out of his misery.

To prevent his only daughter from discovering his body, Jonas decides it's best to die abroad. Armed with little more than his toolbox and a change of clothes, he flies to an unnamed country where the fumes of war still hover in the air. He books a room at the sparsely occupied Hotel Silence, and there he comes to understands the depths of other people's scars while beginning to see his wounds in a new light.

A celebration of life's infinite possibilities, of transformations and second chances, Hotel Silence is a rousing story of a man, a community, and a path toward regeneration from the depths of despair.]]> 174 AuĂ°ur Ava Ă“lafsdĂłttir 1782274200 E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 3.76 2016
author: AuĂ°ur Ava Ă“lafsdĂłttir
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

]]> 213570810
Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched.

On the island: it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they're told by the scientists.

Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And then they learn that the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island—and everyone on it.

But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer—and they don't even know it.

And the clock is ticking.

From the bestselling author of The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water comes an inventive, high-concept murder mystery: an ingenious puzzle, an extraordinary backdrop, and an audacious solution.]]> 432 Stuart Turton 1464221847 E.C. 0 to-read, gorgeous-covers 3.59 2024
author: Stuart Turton
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: to-read, gorgeous-covers
review:

]]> 54668320 352 Charles Martin 0785230947 E.C. 0 to-read 4.32 2020
author: Charles Martin
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 184584595
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.]]> 352 Heather Fawcett 0593500156 E.C. 0 to-read 3.99 2023
author: Heather Fawcett
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 197773418 Do fewer things. Work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload.

Our current definition of “productivity� is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?

Long before the arrival of pinging inboxes and clogged schedules, history’s most creative and impactful philosophers, scientists, artists, and writers mastered the art of producing valuable work with staying power. In this timely and provocative book, Cal Newport harnesses the wisdom of these traditional knowledge workers to radically transform our modern jobs. Drawing from deep research on the habits and mindsets of a varied cast of storied thinkers—from Galileo and Isaac Newton, to Jane Austen and Georgia O’Keefe—Newport lays out the key principles of “slow productivity,� a more sustainable alternative to the aimless overwhelm that defines our current moment. Combining cultural criticism with systematic pragmatism, Newport deconstructs the absurdities inherent in standard notions of productivity, and then provides step-by-step advice for workers to replace them with a slower, more humane alternative.

From the aggressive rethinking of workload management, to introducing seasonal variation, to shifting your performance toward long-term quality, Slow Productivity provides a roadmap for escaping overload and arriving instead at a more timeless approach to pursuing meaningful accomplishment. The world of work is due for a new revolution. Slow productivity is exactly what we need.]]> 244 Cal Newport 0593544854 E.C. 0 to-read, nonfiction 3.65 2024
author: Cal Newport
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read, nonfiction
review:

]]> 18869970 349 Daphne du Maurier 0316252964 E.C. 0 to-read, gothic 4.02 1951
author: Daphne du Maurier
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1951
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read, gothic
review:

]]> 45540798 The Thirteenth Tale is a spellbinding mystery, a love letter to storytelling, and a modern classic.

Everybody has a story...

Angelfield House stands abandoned and forgotten. It was once home to the March family: fascinating, manipulative Isabelle; brutal, dangerous Charlie; and the wild, untamed twins, Emmeline and Adeline. But the house hides a chilling secret which strikes at the very heart of each of them, tearing their lives apart...

Now Margaret Lea is investigating Angelfield's past, and its mysterious connection to the enigmatic writer Vida Winter. Vida's history is mesmering - a tale of ghosts, governesses, and gothic strangeness. But as Margaret succumbs to the power of her storytelling, two parallel stories begin to unfold ...

What has Angelfield been hiding? What is the secret that strikes at the heart of Margaret's own, troubled life? And can both women ever confront the ghosts that haunt them?]]> 456 Diane Setterfield 1409192954 E.C. 0 to-read, gothic 4.12 2006
author: Diane Setterfield
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read, gothic
review:

]]> 32929156 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Emily Brontë's only novel, a work of tremendous and far-reaching influence, the Penguin Classics edition of Wuthering Heights is the definitive edition of the text, edited with an introduction by Pauline Nestor. Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, situated on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before; of the intense relationship between the gypsy foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw; and how Catherine, forced to choose between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar Linton, surrendered to the expectations of her class. As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance at his betrayal is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.]]> 359 Emily Brontë 0141439556 E.C. 0 to-read, gothic 4.04 1847
author: Emily Brontë
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1847
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/08
shelves: to-read, gothic
review:

]]> 4473 637 John Irving 0552135399 E.C. 0 4.24 1989
author: John Irving
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: books-on-my-irl-bookshelf, adult, 2025-tbr, resume-reading-later
review:

]]> 49127544
Yet, despite everything, the vast wilderness has a way of making Helen's own little life seem bigger, too. And, somehow the people who annoy her the most start teaching her the very things she needs to learn. Like how to stand up for herself. And how being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes you just have to get really, really lost before you can even have a hope of being found.]]> 352 Katherine Center 1250765250 E.C. 3 4.05 2015
author: Katherine Center
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/03
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: booktube-recs, contemporary, from-the-library
review:

]]> 60657589
Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.]]> 336 Heather Fawcett 059350013X E.C. 0 to-read 3.98 2023
author: Heather Fawcett
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

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

But June cannot escape Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens her stolen success. As she races to protect her secret she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.]]> 319 R.F. Kuang 000853277X E.C. 0 to-read, with-mika 3.69 2023
author: R.F. Kuang
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read, with-mika
review:

]]> 9361589
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.]]> 506 Erin Morgenstern E.C. 0 to-read, 2025-tbr 4.00 2011
author: Erin Morgenstern
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read, 2025-tbr
review:

]]> 10569 (back cover)]]> 320 Stephen King 0743455967 E.C. 0 to-read, 2025-tbr 4.33 2000
author: Stephen King
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read, 2025-tbr
review:

]]> 216766396 What if the people love the land and the land loves them back?

For eons Margie has tended the land in her quiet glen, deep in the Scottish Highlands. Margie, whose incorporeal self is made of equal parts mist and wonder, has always reveled in the rhythms of nature’s growth and decay. But one day she must watch with wide-eyed fascination (yes, imagine with me that the mist has eyes) as her glen changes with the arrival of a small family of humans. As the centuries stretch on and historical events roll across the Isle of Mist, Margie learns what it is for people and place to belong to each other. But what happens when the land is taken away from the people who loved it? Does the land miss its displaced people?

A Mist Sprite's Study of Being Human is an experimental literary novella as ethereal as a mist sprite. Equal parts history and fairy tale, it offers an achingly beautiful insight into the Highland Clearances from the perspective of the place and its poets. While Margie’s story is tied to a particular glen, it echoes the pangs of displacement throughout time. Margie invites readers to see the world as she does, and leaves those who encounter this story as she is -- forever changed.]]> 165 Kyra Hinton E.C. 0 to-read, 2025-tbr 4.78
author: Kyra Hinton
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.78
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read, 2025-tbr
review:

]]> 218461955 When English thirteen-year-old Rosemary is sent to stay with her American grandmother at the start of World War II, she uncovers the family secret: they are Anishinaabe.

The year is 1940. England is all Rosemary has ever known . . . but as World War II changes the world, her life is altered as well. With France conquered, she, her parents, and her little brothers flee to America to escape the coming Blitz. Her grandmother’s house in Northern Wisconsin is safe, but unfamiliar—and she soon discovers that her parents have kept a tremendous secret.

Rosemary and her family are Anishinaabe . . . and her father is not proud of it.

Grandmother, however, is. A fashionable, independent, and fiery-minded old lady, she begins to teach Rosemary Anishinaabemowin. Far from home, but newly connected to a once-hidden part of her identity, Rosemary develops a warm, close relationship with Grandmother Charlotte—and with a local boy whose love of gardening helps her to see the beauty in her unexpected circumstances. As Rosemary grows into her new life like a flower in bloom, she realizes that maybe she’s not as far from home as she thought.]]> 288 Anna Rose Johnson 0823458539 E.C. 0 to-read, 2025-tbr 4.11
author: Anna Rose Johnson
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read, 2025-tbr
review:

]]> 56988057
January 1942. The Avallon Hotel & Spa has always offered elegant luxury in the wilds of West Virginia, its mountain sweetwater washing away all of high society’s troubles.

Local girl-turned-general manager June Porter Hudson has guided the Avallon skillfully through the first pangs of war. The Gilfoyles, the hotel’s aristocratic owners, have trained her well. But when the family heir makes a secret deal with the State Department to fill the hotel with captured Axis diplomats, June must persuade her staff—many of whom have sons and husbands heading to the front lines—to offer luxury to Nazis. With a smile.

Meanwhile FBI Agent Tucker Minnick, whose coal tattoo hints at an Appalachian past, presses his ears to the hotel’s walls, listening for the diplomats� secrets. He has one of his own, which is how he knows that June’s balancing act can have dangerous consequences: the sweetwater beneath the hotel can threaten as well as heal.

June has never met a guest she couldn’t delight, but the diplomats are different. Without firing a single shot, they have brought the war directly to her. As clashing loyalties crack the Avallon’s polished veneer, June must calculate the true cost of luxury.]]> 400 Maggie Stiefvater 0593655508 E.C. 0 to-read, 2025-tbr 4.00 2025
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read, 2025-tbr
review:

]]> 6514 294 Sylvia Plath 0571268862 E.C. 0 to-read, 2025-tbr 4.05 1963
author: Sylvia Plath
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1963
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read, 2025-tbr
review:

]]> 10644930
In 2011, Jake Epping, an English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, sets out on an insane � and insanely possible � mission to prevent the Kennedy assassination.

Leaving behind a world of computers and mobile phones, he goes back to a time of big American cars and diners, of Lindy Hopping, the sound of Elvis, and the taste of root beer.

In this haunting world, Jake falls in love with Sadie, a beautiful high school librarian. And, as the ominous date of 11/22/63 approaches, he encounters a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald...]]> 849 Stephen King 1451627289 E.C. 0 4.33 2011
author: Stephen King
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read, booktube-recs, with-mika
review:

]]> 199026522 In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.]]> 367 Riley Sager 0593472373 E.C. 0 to-read 3.65 2024
author: Riley Sager
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199531839 208 Gary D. Schmidt 0358659647 E.C. 4 4.49
author: Gary D. Schmidt
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.49
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: contemporary, middle-grade, from-the-library
review:

]]> 220886521 Discover the next generation of storytellers �

The fourth edition of Voices of the Future weaves together short stories of adventure and imagination in a memorable and heartwarming collection. Experience the next generation’s creativity and vision through these brief tales from rising young creatives.

Marielle “The Teddy Handbook�

Hannah “The Sisters of Starford Pointe�

Victoria “The Hungry Woods�

Lexi Jo “The First Adventure�

Joseph “What Lives Beneath the Skin�

A.A. “Sapling of the Sea�

Caleb E. “The Sword Rose�

Julia “Ghost in the Garden�

Marybeth “The River’s Lullaby�

Esther “Willow, Zillow, and Smith�

J.A. “Lost in the Library�

Kira “The Journal in the Attic�

Savanna “Every Second With You�

Sarina “The Poet Who Lived on Pickpocket Lane�

The Author Conservatory is a college-alternative program for gifted writers focused on raising up the next C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. 100% of your purchase goes to help students attend writing conferences where they can pitch their work to agents and publishers. AuthorConservatory dot com ]]> 381 Marielle Henning E.C. 3
That said, as usual, this is a solid set of stories! Very proud of these authors and all the hard work they’ve put into refining their craft.

My personal favorites were What Lives Beneath the Skin by Joseph Brink, The Sword Rose by Caleb E. King, The Journal in the Attic by Kira Rosengren, and The Poet Who Lived on Pickpocket Lane by Sarina Louise.

Middle-grade horror—or horror in general—isn't really my thing, but What Lives Beneath the Skin is just the perfect balance of realism and subtle spookiness (with a killer twist, and no, that's not a pun). From the very first page, we're pulled into the setting, with thick walls, excessive latches to keep the night away, and the overwhelming, sickeningly sweet smell of peaches. The story utilizes fears I think most readers can understand or relate to at one point, from the unfamiliarity of spending the first few nights in a new house to the way holes in walls can be so uncanny in a very specific way. Overall, it's very brilliantly done, and the adorable sibling dynamics don't hurt.

I’m not a huge reader of medieval fantasy, but whenever I see one of Caleb E. King’s stories, they make me want to start reading more of the genre. The Sword Rose is no exception. Right off the bat, the setting and central conflict feel grounded and familiar, making it easy to connect with Pierce’s internal conflict as he’s torn between competing for the betterment of his family’s future and spending moments with them in the now. At its core, it’s a simple story, but the simplicity of it is ultimately what makes it all the more impactful. I also appreciated the insight we got into some of the side characters, such as Pierce’s father, in a way that didn’t feel overwhelming but still served to aid the overall theme. The ending only served to enhance the realism, how it concluded Pierce’s arc while still maintaining the bittersweet nature surrounding this story.

I have a soft spot for grief stories, and Kira Rosengren’s The Journal in the Attic fits that category perfectly. But with that also comes the concern that the healing journey will feel rushed and inauthentic due to the length of a short story. This wasn’t the case with The Journal in the Attic. It’s written from a gently encouraging perspective, one that empathizes with your grief but doesn’t allow it to hold you down. I also loved the writing, the way Rosengren pulls out little details that enhance the realism of the story—from our main character’s love of mashed potatoes, to the Redwoods trip (as a Cali resident this makes me so happy), to the way apple cider has to cool to reach a drinkable temperature. All of it was just perfection.

And of course I wasn’t surprised by Sarina Louise’s short story in the best possible way. She’s a highly skilled writer, and The Poet Who Lived on Pickpocket Lane wraps the theme of love and loss in gorgeous gorgeous prose, an atmospheric setting, and a cast of vivid characters. There were also so many small insights on being a creative and being able to craft beauty from pain and grief that were so timely. If you’re the kind of person to highlight beautiful lines, you will absolutely need to get your pens out for this one, because let me tell you: there will be plenty.

Those were just my personal favorites, indicative of my own personal reading tastes, but the fun thing about anthologies is that in reading them, you’ll find a set of your own to love. So if you generally enjoy middle-grade, fantasy, and plot-central stories (as a majority but not all of these stories are), I’d recommend giving this one a try!]]> 4.66
author: Marielle Henning
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.66
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/19
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: books-on-my-irl-bookshelf, i-know-the-author, reading-at-work
review:
I struggle to read anthologies, being one of those readers who takes forever to get invested in characters. This collection in particular is generally made up of stories that are very plot-central, with conflicts grounded in the worldbuilding, so I could see this anthology being a good fit for those who are looking for a low-intensity read and want to flip through a variety of stories over time.

That said, as usual, this is a solid set of stories! Very proud of these authors and all the hard work they’ve put into refining their craft.

My personal favorites were What Lives Beneath the Skin by Joseph Brink, The Sword Rose by Caleb E. King, The Journal in the Attic by Kira Rosengren, and The Poet Who Lived on Pickpocket Lane by Sarina Louise.

Middle-grade horror—or horror in general—isn't really my thing, but What Lives Beneath the Skin is just the perfect balance of realism and subtle spookiness (with a killer twist, and no, that's not a pun). From the very first page, we're pulled into the setting, with thick walls, excessive latches to keep the night away, and the overwhelming, sickeningly sweet smell of peaches. The story utilizes fears I think most readers can understand or relate to at one point, from the unfamiliarity of spending the first few nights in a new house to the way holes in walls can be so uncanny in a very specific way. Overall, it's very brilliantly done, and the adorable sibling dynamics don't hurt.

I’m not a huge reader of medieval fantasy, but whenever I see one of Caleb E. King’s stories, they make me want to start reading more of the genre. The Sword Rose is no exception. Right off the bat, the setting and central conflict feel grounded and familiar, making it easy to connect with Pierce’s internal conflict as he’s torn between competing for the betterment of his family’s future and spending moments with them in the now. At its core, it’s a simple story, but the simplicity of it is ultimately what makes it all the more impactful. I also appreciated the insight we got into some of the side characters, such as Pierce’s father, in a way that didn’t feel overwhelming but still served to aid the overall theme. The ending only served to enhance the realism, how it concluded Pierce’s arc while still maintaining the bittersweet nature surrounding this story.

I have a soft spot for grief stories, and Kira Rosengren’s The Journal in the Attic fits that category perfectly. But with that also comes the concern that the healing journey will feel rushed and inauthentic due to the length of a short story. This wasn’t the case with The Journal in the Attic. It’s written from a gently encouraging perspective, one that empathizes with your grief but doesn’t allow it to hold you down. I also loved the writing, the way Rosengren pulls out little details that enhance the realism of the story—from our main character’s love of mashed potatoes, to the Redwoods trip (as a Cali resident this makes me so happy), to the way apple cider has to cool to reach a drinkable temperature. All of it was just perfection.

And of course I wasn’t surprised by Sarina Louise’s short story in the best possible way. She’s a highly skilled writer, and The Poet Who Lived on Pickpocket Lane wraps the theme of love and loss in gorgeous gorgeous prose, an atmospheric setting, and a cast of vivid characters. There were also so many small insights on being a creative and being able to craft beauty from pain and grief that were so timely. If you’re the kind of person to highlight beautiful lines, you will absolutely need to get your pens out for this one, because let me tell you: there will be plenty.

Those were just my personal favorites, indicative of my own personal reading tastes, but the fun thing about anthologies is that in reading them, you’ll find a set of your own to love. So if you generally enjoy middle-grade, fantasy, and plot-central stories (as a majority but not all of these stories are), I’d recommend giving this one a try!
]]> 203357152
Can Rig find the thief, resolve the issues, and get back in time to add a little joy to FM's birthday?]]> 18 Brandon Sanderson E.C. 0 to-read 3.73 2023
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57004637 A brilliantly inventive new novel about loss, growing up, and our relationship with things, by the Booker Prize-finalist author of A Tale for the Time Being

After the tragic death of his beloved musician father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear voices. The voices belong to the things in his house--a sneaker, a broken Christmas ornament, a piece of wilted lettuce. Although Benny doesn't understand what these things are saying, he can sense their emotional tone; some are pleasant, a gentle hum or coo, but others are snide, angry and full of pain. When his mother, Annabelle, develops a hoarding problem, the voices grow more clamorous.

At first, Benny tries to ignore them, but soon the voices follow him outside the house, onto the street and at school, driving him at last to seek refuge in the silence of a large public library, where objects are well-behaved and know to speak in whispers. There, Benny discovers a strange new world, where "things happen." He falls in love with a mesmerizing street artist with a smug pet ferret, who uses the library as her performance space. He meets a homeless philosopher-poet, who encourages him to ask important questions and find his own voice amongst the many.

And he meets his very own Book--a talking thing--who narrates Benny's life and teaches him to listen to the things that truly matter.

With its blend of sympathetic characters, riveting plot, and vibrant engagement with everything from jazz, to climate change, to our attachment to material possessions, The Book of Form and Emptiness is classic Ruth Ozeki--bold, wise, poignant, playful, humane and heartbreaking.]]> 548 Ruth Ozeki 0399563644 E.C. 0 to-read 4.01 2021
author: Ruth Ozeki
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

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

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

Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favor to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil―can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written―is there still time to find a happy ending?]]> 645 Paul Murray 0374600309 E.C. 0 maybe-tbr 3.92 2023
author: Paul Murray
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: maybe-tbr
review:

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

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

Some years into their marriage, the couple invites their families on vacation. At a Cape Cod beach house, and later at a luxury Catskills bungalow, Keru, Nate, and their giant sheepdog navigate visits from in-laws and unexpected guests, all while wondering if they have what it takes to answer the big questions: How do you cope when your spouse and your family of origin clash? How many people (and dogs) make a family? And when the pack starts to disintegrate, what can you do to shepherd everyone back together?]]> 224 Weike Wang 0593545540 E.C. 0 to-read 3.30 2024
author: Weike Wang
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211004123 The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

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

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

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

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.]]> 306 Alice Feeney 125033778X E.C. 0 to-read 3.63 2025
author: Alice Feeney
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2213661
There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard: the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer; a gravestone entrance to a desert that leads to the city of ghouls; friendship with a witch, and so much more.

But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks, for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod's family.

A deliciously dark masterwork by bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with illustrations by award-winning Dave McKean.]]> 312 Neil Gaiman 0060530928 E.C. 0 4.15 2008
author: Neil Gaiman
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/11
date added: 2024/12/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 62120709 From award-winning author Gary D. Schmidt, a warm and witty novel in the tradition of The Wednesday Wars, in which a seventh grader has to figure out how to fulfill an assignment to perform the Twelve Labors of Hercules in real life--and makes discoveries about friendship, community, and himself along the way.

Herc Beal knows who he's named after--a mythical hero--but he's no superhero. He's the smallest kid in his class. So when his homeroom teacher at his new middle school gives him the assignment of duplicating the mythical Hercules's amazing feats in real life, he's skeptical. After all, there are no Nemean Lions on Cape Cod--and not a single Hydra in sight.

Missing his parents terribly and wishing his older brother wasn't working all the time, Herc figures out how to take his first steps along the road that the great Hercules himself once walked. Soon, new friends, human and animal, are helping him. And though his mythical role model performed his twelve labors by himself, Herc begins to see that he may not have to go it alone.]]> 352 Gary D. Schmidt 0358659639 E.C. 4
It's a beautiful story of community, a tribute to the people you will find in unexpected places. The people who will come to love you far more than you know. The people who surround you and hold you together when you can't do it yourself. And while it's a tribute, it simultaneously serves as a challenge: to endure. To love. To accomplish big things, hard things.

Only you don't have to do it alone.

I wonder if what Hercules was most afraid of when he was holding up the sky wasn't that he was going to have to hold it up forever. It was that he was going to have to hold it up forever while he was by himself. That's a kind of scary thing to think about.
Maybe, the stuff we hold up, we don't have to hold up by ourselves all the time. Maybe sometimes we can let someone else hold it up too. Maybe that's how we can get by. Maybe that's how we can do a whole lot better than just get by. ]]> 4.50 2023
author: Gary D. Schmidt
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/06
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: clean-reads, contemporary, friend-recommendations, gorgeous-covers, middle-grade, most-memorable-reads-of-2024, someday-bookshelf, re-read-sometime, from-the-library, read-in-2024
review:
This story was unexpectedly profound in all its simplicity and depiction of the messiness of life. Schmidt has a way of drawing meaningful, relevant themes out of works of literature such as Shakespeare (The Wednesday Wars) and this book is no exception, with all the insightful connections he makes between reality and mythology. The result is something with both a compelling plot and an undercurrent of enduring wisdom to support it.

It's a beautiful story of community, a tribute to the people you will find in unexpected places. The people who will come to love you far more than you know. The people who surround you and hold you together when you can't do it yourself. And while it's a tribute, it simultaneously serves as a challenge: to endure. To love. To accomplish big things, hard things.

Only you don't have to do it alone.

I wonder if what Hercules was most afraid of when he was holding up the sky wasn't that he was going to have to hold it up forever. It was that he was going to have to hold it up forever while he was by himself. That's a kind of scary thing to think about.
Maybe, the stuff we hold up, we don't have to hold up by ourselves all the time. Maybe sometimes we can let someone else hold it up too. Maybe that's how we can get by. Maybe that's how we can do a whole lot better than just get by.
]]> 53799686
Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another and reveal long-hidden truths.

First is Zara, a wealthy bank director who has been too busy to care about anyone else until tragedy changed her life. Now, she’s obsessed with visiting open houses to see how ordinary people live—and, perhaps, to set an old wrong to right. Then there’s Roger and Anna-Lena, an Ikea-addicted retired couple who are on a never-ending hunt for fixer-uppers to hide the fact that they don’t know how to fix their own failing marriage. Julia and Ro are a young lesbian couple and soon-to-be parents who are nervous about their chances for a successful life together since they can’t agree on anything. And there’s Estelle, an eighty-year-old woman who has lived long enough to be unimpressed by a masked bank robber waving a gun in her face. And despite the story she tells them all, Estelle hasn’t really come to the apartment to view it for her daughter, and her husband really isn’t outside parking the car.

As police surround the premises and television channels broadcast the hostage situation live, the tension mounts and even deeper secrets are slowly revealed. Before long, the robber must decide which is the more terrifying prospect: going out to face the police, or staying in the apartment with this group of impossible people.

Rich with Fredrik Backman’s “pitch-perfect dialogue and an unparalleled understanding of human nature� (Shelf Awareness), Anxious People’s whimsical plot serves up unforgettable insights into the human condition and a gentle reminder to be compassionate to all the anxious people we encounter every day.]]> 336 Fredrik Backman 1982121602 E.C. 4
Perhaps we hurried by each other in a crowd today, and neither of us noticed, and the fibers of your coat brushed against mine for a single moment and then we were gone. I don't know who you are.
But when you get home this evening, when this day is over and the night takes us, allow yourself a deep breath. Because we made it through this day as well.
There'll be another one along tomorrow. ]]> 4.12 2019
author: Fredrik Backman
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/20
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: books-on-my-irl-bookshelf, adult, contemporary, most-memorable-reads-of-2024, not-clean, soulful-stories, read-in-2024
review:
Beautiful, witty and humorous, featuring unreliable narration and a story that unfolds, bit by bit, told with immense empathy for those who struggle alone.

Perhaps we hurried by each other in a crowd today, and neither of us noticed, and the fibers of your coat brushed against mine for a single moment and then we were gone. I don't know who you are.
But when you get home this evening, when this day is over and the night takes us, allow yourself a deep breath. Because we made it through this day as well.
There'll be another one along tomorrow.
]]> 150086759 384 Caroline George 0785236244 E.C. 4
This is one of those stories that you can tell is a personal "heart story" for the author—and not just because she basically says that in the author's note. ]]> 3.75 2023
author: Caroline George
name: E.C.
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/30
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: christian, christian-ya-fiction, clean-reads, contemporary, historical-fiction, i-don-t-know-honestly, kinda-creepy, lovely-aesthetic, most-memorable-reads-of-2024, ya-fiction, from-the-library, read-in-2024
review:
A meaningful story hidden beneath the usual clichés of YA: two love triangles, a perpetually confused female MC, and teenage partying to "cope." While I'm not sure all of the angst was necessary, I appreciated the thought and honesty that went into tackling the painful and often overlooked topic of generational trauma. The deeper meaning lent a sort of balance to the more lighter, fast-paced plot while also allowing room for thought.

This is one of those stories that you can tell is a personal "heart story" for the author—and not just because she basically says that in the author's note.
]]> 15783514
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.]]> 181 Neil Gaiman 0062255657 E.C. 0
Maybe I'll try again in the future.]]> 4.00 2013
author: Neil Gaiman
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at: 2024/04/02
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: adult, magical-realism, re-read-sometime, not-recommended, kinda-creepy, i-don-t-know-honestly, from-the-library, read-in-2024
review:
I believe this book was supposed to be nostalgic and thought-provoking in its symbolism and commentary on childhood, but I personally found it disorienting, and the ending—while poignant—wasn't enough to redeem it for me. Which was unfortunate, considering this was one of my most anticipated magical realism reads this year.

Maybe I'll try again in the future.
]]> 52891090 224 Dane C. Ortlund 1433566133 E.C. 4 4.50 2020
author: Dane C. Ortlund
name: E.C.
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/06
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: adult, christian, from-the-library, re-read-sometime, nonfiction, read-in-2024
review:

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