en-US Thu, 12 Jun 2025 22:56:54 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 215020997
This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily〞her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But Mar赤a knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, Mar赤a makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family＊s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte＊s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow〞but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That＊s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

This is a story about life〞
how it ends, and how it starts. ]]> 560 V.E. Schwab 1035064642 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.33 2025
author: V.E. Schwab
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/12
shelves: to-read
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]]> 22396591
Re-opened police records, psychiatric reports, transcripts of video footage and fragments of diary reveal a web of deceit and intrigue, violence and murder, raising a whole lot more questions than it answers.

Who was Kaitlyn and why did she only appear at night? Did she really exist or was she a figment of a disturbed mind? What were the illicit rituals taking place at the school? And just what did happen at Elmbridge in the events leading up to ＆the Johnson Incident＊?]]> 440 Dawn Kurtagich 1780622341 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.68 2015
author: Dawn Kurtagich
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 2716251 232 Bebe Faas Rice 0061067318 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.72 1993
author: Bebe Faas Rice
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> 210273657
Annie anticipated a life-altering journey, aiding trauma survivors at her grandfather＊s camp as a counselor, but her expectations shattered against a macabre reality. Unveiling the tragic pasts of her fellow counselors and the campers under her care, she stumbles upon a world more chilling than her darkest fears. As the summer descends into a terrifying spiral and the camp＊s serenity crumbles, they discover that a killer driven by a sinister secret is lurking among them. While those around her are forced to relive the worst experience of their lives and the camp is turned into a hunting ground, Annie faces a haunting uncertainty〞will she fall victim to this deranged killer, or will she defy the odds, emerging with her very own survival story, worthy of a proper inhabitant of Camp Safe Woods.]]> 313 Matthew Mercer leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.62
author: Matthew Mercer
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.62
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> 217245557 In this spellbinding historical novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea and The Wind Knows My Name, a young writer journeys to South America to uncover the truth about her father〞and herself.

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

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

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

A riveting tale of self-discovery and love from one of the most masterful storytellers of our time, My Name is Emilia del Valle introduces a character who will never let hold of your heart.]]> 287 Isabel Allende 059397509X leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.77 2025
author: Isabel Allende
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> 216971219 A group of friends investigates the mystery of a strange staircase in the woods.

While on a camping trip, five high-schoolers bound by an oath to always protect one another discover something in the middle of the forest: a mysterious staircase to nowhere. One friend climbs up but does not come back down. Then the staircase disappears. Twenty years later it reappears, and the friends return to find the lost boy〞and what lies beyond the staircase.]]> 388 Chuck Wendig 0593156560 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.65 2025
author: Chuck Wendig
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/13
shelves: to-read
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]]> 52454832
Now forty-five years old, she＊s spent her life trying to stay away from other people. But a random encounter with a couple on the street leaves her believing that she may have done something horrible. Something unforgivable.

Killer-for-hire Daxton and his girlfriend Maggie know the truth. Instead of easing Allison＊s anguish, they come up with a cruel plan to take advantage of it. But with Allison＊s abilities exposed, there may be a bloodbath very soon＃]]> 250 Jeff Strand leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.12 2020
author: Jeff Strand
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/09
shelves: to-read
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]]> 56905125
Maxwell Oliver is supposed to be enjoying the summer before his senior year, spending his days thinking about parties and friends. Instead he's taking care of his little sister while his mom slowly becomes someone he doesn't recognize. Soon he suspects that what he thought was grief over his father's death might be something more...sinister.

When Maxwell and Vera join forces, they come face to face with deeply disturbing true stories of cults, death worship, and the very nature that drives people to evil.]]> 336 Diana Rodriguez Wallach 0593427513 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.71 2021
author: Diana Rodriguez Wallach
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 191275 124 William Congreve 1406946303 leny's reading nook 3 3.34 1700
author: William Congreve
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.34
book published: 1700
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/05
date added: 2025/05/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 250278 48 Alexander Pope 1419106406 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.76 1711
author: Alexander Pope
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1711
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 35031085 This is a previously-published edition of ISBN 9780143131847.

Mary Shelley's seminal novel of the scientist whose creation becomes a monster.

This edition is the original 1818 text, which preserves the hard-hitting and politically charged aspects of Shelley's original writing, as well as her unflinching wit and strong female voice. This edition also includes a new introduction and suggestions for further reading by author and Shelley expert Charlotte Gordon, literary excerpts and reviews selected by Gordon and a chronology and essay by preeminent Shelley scholar Charles E. Robinson.]]> 260 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 0143131842 leny's reading nook 3 4.02 1818
author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1818
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/04/27
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]]> 2932 320 Daniel Defoe leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.69 1719
author: Daniel Defoe
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1719
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: to-read
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]]> 38262 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781853260735.

The Fortunes & Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders (aka Moll Flanders) is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1722. It purports to be the true account of the life of the eponymous Moll, detailing her exploits from birth until old age.

By 1721, Defoe had become a recognised novelist, with the success of Robinson Crusoe in 1719. His political work was tapering off at this point, due to the fall of both Whig and Tory party leaders with whom he had been associated (Robert Walpole was beginning his rise). Defoe was never fully at home with the Walpole group. Defoe's Whig views are nevertheless evident in the story of Moll. The novel's full title gives some insight into this and the outline of the plot: "The Fortunes & Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was Born in Newgate, & during a Life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother), Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, & died a Penitent. Written from her own Memorandums."]]> 339 Daniel Defoe leny's reading nook 3 3.53 1722
author: Daniel Defoe
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.53
book published: 1722
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves:
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]]> 57750293
Continuarea fascinantei povesti despre pirati, serpi, dragoste si magie!

Vivacia, corabia vie a familiei Vestrit, a fost cucerita de Kennit, regele piratilor. Prizonier la bordul ei, Wintrow Vestrit se afla in ipostaza stranie de a concura cu piratul Kennit pentru afectiunea Vivaciei, caci nava insufletita incepe sa aiba propriile dorinte.

Cei doi rivali vor fi pusi la incercare in repetate randuri si siliti sa se infrunte. Caile intortocheate ale sortii le scot in cale o insula plina de capcane si de spirite, o profetie care le poate schimba vietile pentru totdeauna si un sarpe misterios.

?O saga cu adevarat extraordinara. Caracterizari superbe, animate de dragostea evidenta a lui Robin Hobb pentru mare.※ (Booklist)


?〞 In oras se vorbeste ca s-a instalat in corabia vie a familiei Ludluck. Sarmana corabie n-a fost niciodata zdravana la minte, iar ea a innebunit-o si mai tare, cat a stat acolo. Cand familia Ludluck a trimis oameni s-o alunge de pe proprietatea sa pe femeia nepoftita, corabia a facut o criza de furie. A spus ca le smulge bratele daca indraznesc sa urce la bord. Iti poti imagina cat de dureroasa a fost intamplarea asta pentru Negustoreasa Ludluck! Amis se straduieste de ani buni sa tina numele familiei ei departe de scandal. Si acum, iata ca lumea incepe iar sa barfeasca si ies din nou la lumina vechile povesti despre nebunia lui Paragon, care i-a ucis pe toti oamenii de la bordul lui. Si totul, numai din vina acelei femei. N-ar trebui sa se amestece in treburile negustorilor.※]]> 488 Robin Hobb 6064306947 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.71 1999
author: Robin Hobb
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.71
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36538793
In Taisho-era Japan, Tanjiro Kamado is a kindhearted boy who makes a living selling charcoal. But his peaceful life is shattered when a demon slaughters his entire family. His little sister Nezuko is the only survivor, but she has been transformed into a demon herself! Tanjiro sets out on a dangerous journey to find a way to return his sister to normal and destroy the demon who ruined his life.

Learning to slay?demons won＊t be easy, and Tanjiro barely knows where to start. The surprise appearance of another boy named Giyu, who seems to know what＊s going on, might provide some answers＃but only if Tanjiro can stop Giyu from killing his sister first!]]> 192 Koyoharu Gotouge 1974700526 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.39 2016
author: Koyoharu Gotouge
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves: to-read
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]]> 214331246 When you＊ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

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

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

When Haymitch＊s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He＊s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who＊s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he＊s been set up to fail. But there＊s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 leny's reading nook 4 4.56 2025
author: Suzanne Collins
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/03
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]]> 34842550 0 Jean Dufornet 0828874352 leny's reading nook 2 3.13
author: Jean Dufornet
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.13
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2025/03/18
date added: 2025/03/26
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]]> 7733 A wickedly clever satire uses comic inversions to offer telling insights into the nature of man and society. Nominated as one of America＊s best-loved novels by PBS＊s The Great American Read.

Gulliver's Travels describes the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon. In Lilliput he discovers a world in miniature; towering over the people and their city, he is able to view their society from the viewpoint of a god. However, in Brobdingnag, a land of giants, tiny Gulliver himself comes under observation, exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs. In Laputa, a flying island, he encounters a society of speculators and projectors who have lost all grip on everyday reality; while they plan and calculate, their country lies in ruins. Gulliver's final voyage takes him to the land of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses whom he quickly comes to admire - in contrast to the Yahoos, filthy bestial creatures who bear a disturbing resemblance to humans. This text, based on the first edition of 1726, reproduces all the original illustrations and includes an introduction by Robert Demaria, Jr, which discusses the ways Gulliver's Travels has been interpreted since its first publication. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Dublin.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.]]> 306 Jonathan Swift 0141439491 leny's reading nook 4 3.59 1726
author: Jonathan Swift
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1726
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/26
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]]> 173284 80 Alexander Pope 0023134607 leny's reading nook 3 3.63 1734
author: Alexander Pope
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1734
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves:
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]]> 207611566 There＊s power in a book＃

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they＊re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There＊s Rose, a hippie who insists she＊s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she＊s going to go home and marry her baby＊s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they＊re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what＊s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it＊s never given freely. There＊s always a price to be paid＃and it＊s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a ※horror master§ (NPR).]]> 482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.98 2025
author: Grady Hendrix
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 208841368 Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project studying the inner workings of a faerie realm-as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival-now fianc谷-the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell's long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare, filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world-how could an unassuming scholar like herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in-Wendell's murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell's magic-and Emily's knowledge of stories-to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
]]> 368 Heather Fawcett 0356519198 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.12 2025
author: Heather Fawcett
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 73906
Taliesin is the remarkable adventure of Charis, the Atlantean princess who escaped the terrible devastation of her homeland, and of the fabled seer and druid prince Taliesin, singer at the dawn of the age. It is the story of an incomparable love that joined two worlds amid the fires of chaos, and spawned the miracles of Merlin...and Arthur the king.]]> 496 Stephen R. Lawhead leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.01 1987
author: Stephen R. Lawhead
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
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]]> 38819868
My Sister, the Serial Killer is a blackly comic novel about how blood is thicker - and more difficult to get out of the carpet - than water...]]> 226 Oyinkan Braithwaite 0385544235 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.64 2018
author: Oyinkan Braithwaite
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62080187
But when they visit the remote manor that once belonged to Dr. Adrienne Hale, a renowned psychiatrist who vanished without a trace four years earlier, a violent winter storm traps them at the estate＃ with no chance of escape until the blizzard comes to an end.

In search of a book to keep her entertained until the snow abates, Tricia happens upon a secret room. One that contains audio transcripts from every single patient Dr. Hale has ever interviewed. As Tricia listens to the cassette tapes, she learns about the terrifying chain of events leading up to Dr. Hale＊s mysterious disappearance.

Tricia plays the tapes one by one, late into the night. With each one, another shocking piece of the puzzle falls into place, and Dr. Adrienne Hale＊s web of lies slowly unravels.

And then Tricia reaches the final cassette.

The one that reveals the entire horrifying truth.]]> 286 Freida McFadden leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.09 2022
author: Freida McFadden
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> 211096516 EVERY ACT OF TRANSLATION REQUIRES SACRIFICE

Welcome to Bletchley Park＃ with dragons.

London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivian Featherswallow isn＊t worried. She＊s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war.

With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ＆job＊, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort 每 if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn＊t, they＊ll all die.

At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realises that the bubble she＊s grown up in isn＊t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must What war is she really fighting?

An epic, sweeping fantasy with an incredible Dark Academia setting, a clandestine, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, and an unputdownable story, filled with twists and turns, betrayals and secret identities, A Language of Dragons is the unmissable debut of 2025, from an extraordinary new voice.]]> 432 S.F. Williamson 0063353849 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.85 2025
author: S.F. Williamson
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> 59808050 The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists returns＃with a family reunion that leads to murder.

After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker＊s entire family is assembling for Nana＊s 80th birthday party in Nana＊s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows＃

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed.

With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie＊s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker＊s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.]]> 352 Alice Feeney 1250843936 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.75 2022
author: Alice Feeney
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> 3175995 This VIZBIG edition of Vagabond contains Volumes 1-3 and bonus color content.

Invincible Under the Sun

Real-life figure Miyamoto Musashi was the most celebrated samurai of all time. The quintessential warrior-philosopher, Musashi authored A Book of Five Rings, a theoretical guide to military strategy still used today. But the path to enlightenment in feudal era Japan was fraught with peril. At seventeen years of age, Musashi〞still known by his childhood name, Shinmen Takez身〞was a wild young brute just setting out along the way of the sword.

In the aftermath of the epic Battle of Sekigahara, Takez身 finds himself a fugitive survivor on the losing side of the war. Takez身's vicious nature has made him an outcast even in his own village, and he is hunted down like an animal. At this crucial crossroads in Takez身's life, an eccentric monk and a childhood friend are the only ones who can help him find his way.]]> 728 Takehiko Inoue 1421520540 leny's reading nook 4 4.56 1999
author: Takehiko Inoue
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.56
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/16
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
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]]> 251912
Chapter Titles

Chapter 001. "Shinmen Takezo" (陔轎挕佡��)
Chapter 002. "Akemi" (紾�g)
Chapter 003. "Oko" (云樅)
Chapter 004. "The Brigand Tsujikaze" (珧挕尪煃餫)
Chapter 005. "Blood Game" (悛絿太)
Chapter 006. "The Troubles of Honi'den Matahachi at Seventeen" (掛弇泬衱匐17�r及冕��)
Chapter 007. "Farewell Takezo" (今日壬挕佡)
Chapter 008. "Miyamoto Village" (�m掛游)
Chapter 009. "Fiancee" (偝毆)
Chapter 010. "Left Behind" (紹今木凶氪凶切)]]> 248 Takehiko Inoue 1591160340 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.48 1999
author: Takehiko Inoue
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.48
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213243274 Explores the architecture of haunted houses, uncanny domestic spaces, and how the horror genre subverts and corrupts the sanctity of home.

The history of horror begins with a house. From Otranto to Amityville, the haunted house story endures because it perverts what is equally the most universal and the most personal of the home. Our home is an extension of our self, a manifestation of our identity, and a repository of our memories. It is a micro-universe of our own creation that we control. It is also where we are the most vulnerable because we are supposed to be the most safe.

Whether it is a decrepit Victorian mansion, a modernist luxury high-rise, a little cottage in the woods, or a starter house in the suburbs, Sick Houses explores how the horror genre in film, television, and literature uses architecture and the ideology of the home against us. It looks at the mythology of the American Dream and how the lure of homeownership becomes a trap. It celebrates the witch house, the power of the crone, and the fear of aging women who live alone. It explores how concrete utopias became ready-made mise en scene for urban terror.

From the betrayal of sentient shape-shifting houses to shadow-self dollhouse doppelgangers, Sick Houses examines how the horror genre subverts and corrupts that which is the most sacrosanct.]]> 232 Leila Taylor 1915672643 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.93 2025
author: Leila Taylor
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: to-read
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]]> 216867498
But Mama＊s want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires, and make her own bid for freedom.

With this gothic coming-of-age tale, novelist Lucy Rose explores how women swallow their anger, desire, and animal instincts〞and wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.]]> 336 Lucy Rose 1399619713 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.87 2025
author: Lucy Rose
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/03
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]]> 205673392 In this atmospheric Appalachian gothic, the Haddesley siblings of West Virginia must unearth long-buried secrets to carve out a future when the supernatural bargain entwining their fate with their ancestral land is suddenly ruptured

Since time immemorial, the Haddesley family has tended the cranberry bog. In exchange, the bog sustains them. The staunch seasons of their lives are governed by a strict covenant that is renewed each generation with the ritual sacrifice of their patriarch, and in return, the bog produces a ※bog-wife.§ Brought to life from vegetation, this woman is meant to carry on the family line. But when the bog fails〞or refuses〞to honor the bargain, the Haddesleys, a group of discordant siblings still grieving the mother who mysteriously disappeared years earlier, face an unknown future.

Middle child Wenna, summoned back to the dilapidated family manor just as her marriage is collapsing, believes the Haddesleys must abandon their patrimony. Her siblings are not so easily persuaded. Eldest daughter Eda, de facto head of the household, seeks to salvage the compact by desecrating it. Younger son Percy retreats into the wilderness in a dangerous bid to summon his own bog-wife. And as youngest daughter Nora takes desperate measures to keep her warring siblings together, fledgling patriarch Charlie uncovers a disturbing secret that casts doubt over everything the family has ever believed about itself.

Brimming with aching loss and the universal struggle between honoring family commitments and the drive to strike out on one＊s own, The Bog Wife is a haunting invocation of the arcane power of the habits and habitats that bound us.]]> 336 Kay Chronister 1640096620 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.57 2024
author: Kay Chronister
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/03
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]]> 50892288 A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle＊s house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping new novel.

Pray they are hungry.

Kara finds these words in the mysterious bunker that she＊s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle＊s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring the peculiar bunker〞only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts＃and the more you fear them, the stronger they become.]]> 341 T. Kingfisher 1534451129 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.76 2020
author: T. Kingfisher
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 210223811 Two graduate students must set aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor＊s soul, perhaps at the cost of their own.

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

Grimes is now in Hell, and she＊s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands, and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams. Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the same conclusion.]]> 400 R.F. Kuang leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.95 2025
author: R.F. Kuang
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 204593914 Welcome to Phantasma. There are only two rules to the game: Stay alive. And don＊t fall in love.

When Ophelia＊s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion, and claim its prize〞a single wish.

Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face nine challenges, each more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and the other contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

Every day the house creates new monsters. But just as Ophelia＊s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger offers her a bargain.

Charming, arrogant and infuriatingly attractive, Blackwell claims he can guide her through the lethal trials ahead. All he asks in return is ten years of her life.

Ophelia knows she shouldn＊t trust him. Blackwell doesn＊t seem dangerous, but appearances can be deceptive. Worse still, she feels a dark and irresistible attraction drawing them closer and closer.

Her life is on the line. But in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart . . .]]> 497 Kaylie Smith 1538769255 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.05 2024
author: Kaylie Smith
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 62031346
" Simmering with magic, peril, romance, and heartbreak ." 〞Leigh Bardugo, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shadow and Bone

Born without a trace of magic, Tamsin Lark is no match for the sorceresses and Hollowers who populate the magical underground of Boston. But when the only parent she＊s ever known disappears without so much as a goodbye, she has no choice but to join in their cutthroat pursuit of enchanted relics to keep herself〞and her brother, Cabell〞alive.

Ten years later, rumors are swirling that her guardian found a powerful ring from Arthurian legend just before he vanished. A run-in with her rival Emrys ignites Tamsin＊s hope that the ring could free Cabell from a curse that threatens both of them. But they aren＊t the only ones who covet the ring.

As word spreads, greedy Hollowers start circling, and many would kill to have it for themselves. While Emrys is the last person Tamsin would choose to partner with, she needs all the help she can get to edge out her competitors?in the race for the ring. Together, they dive headfirst into a vipers＊ nest of dark magic, exposing a deadly secret with the power to awaken ghosts of the past and shatter her last hope of saving her brother. . . .]]> 467 Alexandra Bracken 0593481658 leny's reading nook 0 currently-reading 3.88 2023
author: Alexandra Bracken
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 11588 497 Stephen King 0450040186 leny's reading nook 4 4.28 1977
author: Stephen King
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1977
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
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]]> 29981 Librarian note: An alternative cover for this ISBN can be found here.

Ranked among the classic novels of the English language and the inspiration for several unforgettable movies, this early work of H. G. Wells was greeted in 1896 by howls of protest from reviewers, who found it horrifying and blasphemous. They wanted to know more about the wondrous possibilities of science shown in his first book, The Time Machine, not its potential for misuse and terror. In The Island of Dr. Moreau, a shipwrecked gentleman named Edward Prendick, stranded on a Pacific island lorded over by the notorious Dr. Moreau, confronts dark secrets, strange creatures, and a reason to run for his life.

While this riveting tale was intended to be a commentary on evolution, divine creation, and the tension between human nature and culture, modern readers familiar with genetic engineering will marvel at Wells＊s prediction of the ethical issues raised by producing ※smarter§ human beings or bringing back extinct species. These levels of interpretation add a richness to Prendick＊s adventures on Dr. Moreau＊s island of lost souls without distracting from what is still a rip-roaring good read.]]> 160 H.G. Wells 0553214322 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.73 1896
author: H.G. Wells
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.73
book published: 1896
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/28
shelves: to-read
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]]> 216595852 Sparta jest podzielona.
Wojna jest nieunikniona.
A w jej ?y?ach p?ynie krew, kt車rej wszyscy si? boj?＃

Alexis Hert nigdy nie mia?a powodu, by wierzy? w mity＃ a? do dnia, gdy sta?y si? one jej rzeczywisto?ci?. Nigdy te? nie podejrzewa?a, ?e jej los spleciony jest z mrocznymi pot?gami, kt車re rz?dz? ?wiatem, a? do dnia, gdy staje si? pionkiem w boskiej grze, kt車rej zasad nie zna. Zmuszona do podj?cia walki, otoczona wrogami i ?cigana przez tajemnicze moce Alexis szybko pojmuje, ?e niekt車re wi?zy s? silniejsze ni? strach. Niekt車re nami?tno?ci za? bardziej niebezpieczne ni? ?mier?.

Boska rozgrywka trwa. Tylko czy na pewno mo?na j? wygra??

Nie ma wygranej bez walki.
Nie ma mi?o?ci bez b車lu.

Wejd? do ?wiata bohater車w balansuj?cych na granicy moralno?ci, niebezpiecznych uczu? i rozgrywek o w?adz?, w kt車rych mi?o?? jest r車wnie zab車jcza co zdrada.]]> 496 Jasmine Mas leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.82 2024
author: Jasmine Mas
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/26
shelves: to-read
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]]> 56988057 #1 New York Times bestselling novelist Maggie Stiefvater dazzles in this mesmerizing portrait of an irresistible heroine, an unlikely romance, and a hotel〞and a world〞in peril.

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 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.93 2025
author: Maggie Stiefvater
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 59147720 448 Shveta Thakrar 0062894668 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.35 2022
author: Shveta Thakrar
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.35
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 36313942 206 James A. Moore leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.50 2016
author: James A. Moore
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 17837762
Kurouzu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral 〞 the hypnotic secret shape of the world. This bizarre masterpiece of horror manga is now available in a single volume. Fall into a whirlpool of terror!]]> 653 Junji Ito 1421561328 leny's reading nook 4 4.45 2000
author: Junji Ito
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/18
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]]> 202795132
Una saga matriarcal. Mujeres poderosas que luchan por el dominio durante generaciones. Una atm車sfera 迆nica para una lectura adictiva. Un retrato realista con toques sobrenaturales. Escritura magistral y visual en un ambicioso proyecto entre el pulp y HBO.

?Michael Mcdowell: mi amigo, mi maestro. Fascinante, aterrador, simplemente genial. El mejor de todos nosotros.? STEPHEN KING

?Una sabia combinaci車n entre Dumas y Lovecraft. Un cruce entre Stephen King y Gabriel Garc赤a M芍rquez. Despiadadamente adictivo.? ROBERT SHAPLEN, THE NEW YORK TIMES

Las g谷lidas y oscuras aguas del r赤o Blackwater inundan Perdido, un peque?o pueblo al sur de Alabama. All赤, los Caskey, un gran clan de ricos terratenientes, intentan hacer frente a los da?os causados por la riada. Liderados por Mary-Love, la incontestable matriarca, y ?scar, su obediente hijo, los Caskey trabajan por recomponerse y salvaguardar su fortuna. Pero no cuentan con la aparici車n de la misteriosa Elinor Dammert. Una joven hermosa pero parca en palabras con un 迆nico lente: acercarse a los Caskey cueste lo que cueste.]]> 250 Michael McDowell 8419654892 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.68 1983
author: Michael McDowell
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves: to-read
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]]> 1420 289 William Shakespeare 0521618746 leny's reading nook 4 4.02 1601
author: William Shakespeare
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1601
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves:
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]]> 77197
Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals - the old art known as the Wit - gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.]]> 435 Robin Hobb 055357339X leny's reading nook 5 4.21 1995
author: Robin Hobb
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1995
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
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]]> 35074096 Mythos is a modern collection of Greek myths, stylishly retold by legendary writer, actor, and comedian Stephen Fry. Fry transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant and deeply funny stories, without losing any of their original wonder.

This stunning book features classical artwork inspired by the myths, as well as learned notes from the author. Each adventure is infused with Fry's distinctive wit, voice, and writing style. Connoisseurs of the Greek myths will appreciate this fresh-yet-reverential interpretation, while newcomers will feel welcome. Retellings brim with humor and emotion and offer rich cultural context.

Celebrating the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths, Mythos breathes life into ancient tales〞from Pandora's box to Prometheus's fire.

This gorgeous volume invites you to explore a captivating world with the brilliant storyteller Stephen Fry as your guide.]]> 416 Stephen Fry 0718188721 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.27 2017
author: Stephen Fry
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/03
shelves: to-read
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]]> 656729
But it's no fun at all when Della gets lost in the woods, and the dangerous stranger appears, whispering threats, driving her to a violent act.

Suddenly all of her friends are involved, prisoners in a conspiracy of silence, trying to conceal the terrible truth. But someone saw what Della did. And he's threatening them all, forcing them back to Fear Island to find the evidence they forgot to bury...]]> 160 R.L. Stine 0671746502 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.55 1989
author: R.L. Stine
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves: to-read
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]]> 53290204
As Andrew searches for the truth of Eddie＊s death, he uncovers the lies and secrets left behind by the person he trusted most, discovering a family history soaked in blood and death. Whirling between the backstabbing academic world where Eddie spent his days and the circle of hot boys, fast cars, and hard drugs that ruled Eddie＊s nights, the walls Andrew has built against the world begin to crumble, letting in the phantom that hungers for him.]]> 372 Lee Mandelo 125079028X leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.80 2021
author: Lee Mandelo
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 1622 298 William Shakespeare 0743477545 leny's reading nook 3 3.95 1595
author: William Shakespeare
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1595
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
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]]> 77661 206 Josephine Tey leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.89 1951
author: Josephine Tey
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1951
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/14
shelves: to-read
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]]> 176637
That's when the terror began...the phone calls...the threats...the bizarre acts of violence. "Cancel the party〞or else," the whispered voice on the phone told her. Meg was scared, and with good reason. Whoever wanted the party stopped woud try anything〞even murder! But why? The dark Fear Street woods held the answer...if Meg dared to discover the truth!]]> 167 R.L. Stine 0671735616 leny's reading nook 3 3.52 1989
author: R.L. Stine
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.52
book published: 1989
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2024/11/09
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]]> 52219386 This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster.?

One of the monsters is me.

Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends〞the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that〞but his devoted mother and grandmother aren＊t fazed by his condition. Their little home above his mother＊s used bookstore is decorated with colorful post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say "thank you," and when to laugh. Yunjae grows up content, even happy, with his small family in this quiet, peaceful space.

Then on Christmas Eve〞Yunjae＊s sixteenth birthday〞everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school and begins to bully Yunjae.?

Against all odds, tormentor and victim learn they have more in common than they realized. Gon is stumped by Yunjae＊s impassive calm, while Yunjae thinks if he gets to know the hotheaded Gon, he might learn how to experience true feelings. Drawn by curiosity, the two strike up a surprising friendship. As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people〞including a girl at school〞something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life in danger, it is Yunjae who will step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become a most unlikely hero.?

The Emissary meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in this poignant and triumphant story about how love, friendship, and persistence can change a life forever.]]> 272 Sohn Won-Pyung 0062961373 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.16 2017
author: Sohn Won-Pyung
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 93261 108 Washington Irving 0809594080 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.71 1820
author: Washington Irving
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.71
book published: 1820
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 816085
For Ned and his family, Cornwall Coombe was to become a place of ultimate horror.]]> 401 Thomas Tryon 0394485289 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.82 1973
author: Thomas Tryon
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1973
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 51934838 A story about a dangerously curious young undergraduate whose rebelliousness leads her to discover a shocking secret involving an exclusive circle of students . . . and the dark truth beneath her school＊s promise of prestige.

You are in the house and the house is in the woods.
You are in the house and the house is in you . . .

Catherine House is a school of higher learning like no other. Hidden deep in the woods of rural Pennsylvania, this crucible of reformist liberal arts study with its experimental curriculum, wildly selective admissions policy, and formidable endowment, has produced some of the world＊s best minds: prize-winning authors, artists, inventors, Supreme Court justices, presidents. For those lucky few selected, tuition, room, and board are free. But acceptance comes with a price. Students are required to give the House three years〞summers included〞completely removed from the outside world. Family, friends, television, music, even their clothing must be left behind. In return, the school promises its graduates a future of sublime power and prestige, and that they can become anything or anyone they desire.

Among this year＊s incoming class is Ines, who expects to trade blurry nights of parties, pills, cruel friends, and dangerous men for rigorous intellectual discipline〞only to discover an environment of sanctioned revelry. The school＊s enigmatic director, Vikt車ria, encourages the students to explore, to expand their minds, to find themselves and their place within the formidable black iron gates of Catherine.

For Ines, Catherine is the closest thing to a home she＊s ever had, and her serious, timid roommate, Baby, soon becomes an unlikely friend. Yet the House＊s strange protocols make this refuge, with its worn velvet and weathered leather, feel increasingly like a gilded prison. And when Baby＊s obsessive desire for acceptance ends in tragedy, Ines begins to suspect that the school〞in all its shabby splendor, hallowed history, advanced theories, and controlled decadence〞might be hiding a dangerous agenda that is connected to a secretive, tightly knit group of students selected to study its most promising and mysterious curriculum.]]> 311 Elisabeth Thomas 0062905651 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.10 2020
author: Elisabeth Thomas
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.10
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 38633526
Our life is brief . . .

While vacationing at the beach with her mother, Sasha Samokhina meets the mysterious Farit Kozhennikov under the most peculiar circumstances. The teenage girl is powerless to refuse when this strange and unusual man with an air of the sinister directs her to perform a task with potentially scandalous consequences. He rewards her effort with a strange golden coin.

As the days progress, Sasha carries out other acts for which she receives more coins from Kozhennikov. As summer ends, her domineering mentor directs her to move to a remote village and use her gold to enter the Institute of Special Technologies. Though she does not want to go to this unknown town or school, she also feels it＊s the only place she should be. Against her mother＊s wishes, Sasha leaves behind all that is familiar and begins her education.

As she quickly discovers, the institute＊s "special technologies" are unlike anything she has ever encountered. The books are impossible to read, the lessons obscure to the point of maddening, and the work refuses memorization. Using terror and coercion to keep the students in line, the school does not punish them for their transgressions and failures; instead, their families pay a terrible price. Yet despite her fear, Sasha undergoes changes that defy the dictates of matter and time; experiences which are nothing she has ever dreamed of . . . and suddenly all she could ever want.

A complex blend of adventure, magic, science, and philosophy that probes the mysteries of existence, filtered through a distinct Russian sensibility, this astonishing work of speculative fiction〞brilliantly translated by Julia Meitov Hersey〞is reminiscent of modern classics such as Lev Grossman＊s The Magicians, Max Barry＊s Lexicon, and Katherine Arden＊s The Bear and the Nightingale, but will transport them to a place far beyond those fantastical worlds.]]> 408 Marina Dyachenko 0062694596 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.99 2007
author: Marina Dyachenko
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: to-read
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]]> 50723775
The Old Man of the Moon is Shen Fu's intimate and moving account of his marriage - from early passion to the trials of poverty and separation - and his great, enduring love for his wife in eighteenth-century China.

Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions.

Shen Fu (born c. 1763)

Shen Fu's work is available in Penguin Classics in Six Records of a Floating Life.]]> Sh豆n F迄 leny's reading nook 3 4.00 1809
author: Sh豆n F迄
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1809
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/19
date added: 2024/09/19
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]]> 40381392 A love worth fighting for. A dream worth dying for. An ending worth waiting for.

It＊s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn＊t really exist.

With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she＊s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time〞only those who will win, and those who will lose everything.

Welcome, welcome to Finale . . . all games must come to an end.]]> 478 Stephanie Garber 1250157668 leny's reading nook 3 4.14 2019
author: Stephanie Garber
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves:
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]]> 60784461 Sister, Maiden, Monster is a visceral story set in the aftermath of our planet＊s disastrous transformation and told through the eyes of three women trying to survive the nightmare, from Bram Stoker Award-winning author Lucy A. Snyder.

To survive they must evolve.

A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together.

Erin, once quiet and closeted, acquires an appetite for a woman and her brain. Why does forbidden fruit taste so good?

Savannah, a professional BDSM switch, discovers a new turn-on: committing brutal murders for her eldritch masters.

Mareva, plagued with chronic tumors, is too horrified to acknowledge her divine role in the coming apocalypse, and as her growths multiply, so too does her desperation.

Inspired by her Bram Stoker Award-winning story ※Magdala Amygdala,§ Lucy A. Snyder delivers a cosmic tale about the planet＊s disastrous transformation ... and what we become after.]]> 265 Lucy A. Snyder 1250825652 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.55 2023
author: Lucy A. Snyder
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58416952 At the elite Catenan Academy, a young fugitive uncovers layered mysteries and world-changing secrets in this new fantasy series by internationally bestselling author of The Licanius Trilogy, James Islington.

AUDI. VIDE. TACE.

The Catenan Republic 每 the Hierarchy 每 may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.

I tell them my name is Vis Telimus. I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus 每 what they call Will 每 to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do.

I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.

But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.

And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.

To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy＊s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.

And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me.]]> 639 James Islington 1982141190 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.60 2023
author: James Islington
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60652997 Wealth. Power. Murder. Magic. Alex Stern is back and the Ivy League is going straight to hell.

Find a gateway to the underworld. Steal a soul out of hell. A simple plan, except people who make this particular journey rarely come back. But Galaxy ※Alex§ Stern is determined to break Darlington out of purgatory求even if it costs her a future at Lethe and at Yale.

Forbidden from attempting a rescue, Alex and Dawes can＊t call on the Ninth House for help, so they assemble a team of dubious allies to save the gentleman of Lethe. Together, they will have to navigate a maze of arcane texts and bizarre artifacts to uncover the societies＊ most closely guarded secrets, and break every rule doing it. But when faculty members begin to die off, Alex knows these aren＊t just accidents. Something deadly is at work in New Haven, and if she is going to survive, she＊ll have to reckon with the monsters of her past and a darkness built into the university＊s very walls.

Thick with history and packed with Bardugo＊s signature twists, Hell Bent brings to life an intricate world full of magic, violence, and all too real monsters.]]> 481 Leigh Bardugo 1250313104 leny's reading nook 4 4.09 2023
author: Leigh Bardugo
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 198853583
During last year＊s Frozen Four, the Waterfell University hockey captain, and NHL legacy, took a brutal hit that left him with a concussion and a new discomfort on the ice. Plagued by nightmares and panic attacks every time he attempt to skate, Rhys wonders if he＊ll ever play again 〞 if he＊ll ever want to.

Sadie Brown is staying focused this semester 〞 no matter what.

Currently drowning in debt, custody hearings for her younger brothers and skating practices, she's just trying to make it to the next day. A spitfire figure skater known for her bad attitude and frequent disappearing acts, she has a reputation on campus. And it＊s not a pretty one.

When she accidentally witnesses one of the golden boy hockey captain＊s panic attacks and attempts to help him, a strange sort of understanding strikes up between them.

No questions asked. Just comfort.

But Rhys finds himself drawn to Sadie. Where he feels empty, a shell of the man and player he was before, Sadie is so full of everything it bursts from her; every emotion she feels seems like it＊s blasted at max. Rhys is desperate to feel anything, Sadie wants to stop feeling so much.

But healing doesn＊t mix with secrets, and they＊re both skating a thin line, unsteady .]]> 384 Peyton Corinne leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.81 2023
author: Peyton Corinne
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55868456 Two warriors shepherd an ancient god across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family in this new epic fantasy from the author of The Vanished Birds.

The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family〞the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors〞hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace.

But that god cannot be contained forever.

With the aid of Jun, a guard broken by his guilt-stricken past, and Keema, an outcast fighting for his future, the god escapes from her royal captivity and flees from her own children, the triplet Terrors who would drag her back to her unholy prison. And so it is that she embarks with her young companions on a five-day pilgrimage in search of freedom〞and a way to end the Moon Throne forever. The journey ahead will be more dangerous than any of them could have imagined.

Both a sweeping adventure story and an intimate exploration of identity, legacy, and belonging, The Spear Cuts Through Water is an ambitious and profound saga that will transport and transform you〞and is like nothing you＊ve ever read before.
]]> 525 Simon Jimenez 0593156595 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.16 2022
author: Simon Jimenez
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57638752
In glittering Shanghai, a monster awakens . . .

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city in chaos.

Juliette Cai is the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang - a network of criminals far above the law.

Roma Montagov is the prodigal son of her greatest rivals, the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. He is also Juliette's first love . . . and first betrayal.

When a deadly madness strikes gangsters on both sides, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, and a monster in the shadows. And as the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns - and grudges - aside and work together.

For if they can't stop this mayhem, there will be no city left to rule.

Filled with romance, intrigue and betrayal, this heart-stopping fantasty retelling of Romeo and Juliet is perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Descendant of the Crane .

Praise for Chloe Gong

'Heady, smart, and vicious' Tessa Gratton, author of The Queens of Innis Lear

'Deliciously dark' Natasha Ngan, New York Times bestselling author of Girls of Paper and Fire

'Dark and beautiful' Emiko Jean, author of Empress of all Seasons

'A terrific, deliciously unputdownable read' June Hur, author of The Silence of Bones]]> 452 Chloe Gong 1529344530 leny's reading nook 4 3.71 2020
author: Chloe Gong
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/09/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 62649010 A modern masterpiece, this is a classic Gothic thriller-fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig, about doomed love, menacing ambition, and the ghosts that haunt us forever.

In a manor by the sea, one sister is still cursed.

Despite dreams of adventures far beyond the Salann shores, seventeen-year-old Verity Thaumas has remained at her family＊s estate, Highmoor, with her older sister Camille, while their sisters have scattered across Arcannia.

When their sister Mercy sends word that the Duchess of Bloem〞wife of a celebrated botanist〞is interested in having Verity paint a portrait of her son, Alexander, Verity jumps at the chance, but Camille won＊t allow it. Forced to reveal the secret she＊s kept for years, Camille tells Verity the truth one day: Verity is still seeing ghosts, she just doesn＊t know it.

Stunned, Verity flees Highmoor that night and〞with nowhere else to turn〞makes her way to Bloem. At first, she is captivated by the lush, luxurious landscape and is quickly drawn to charming, witty, and impossibly handsome Alexander Laurent. And soon, to her surprise, a romance . . . blossoms.

But it＊s not long before Verity is plagued with nightmares, and the darker side of Bloem begins to show through its sickly-sweet fa?ade. . . .]]> 544 Erin A. Craig 0593482557 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.10 2023
author: Erin A. Craig
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 20958632
Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries＊ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does＃

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?]]> 328 Holly Black 0316213071 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.87 2015
author: Holly Black
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 124932778 A seductively twisted romance about loyalty, fate, the lengths we go to hide the darkest parts of ourselves . . . and the people who love those parts most of all.

Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she's just inherited -- to burn it to the ground. But during her final walkthrough of her childhood home, she makes a shocking discovery in the basement -- Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead.

Unbeknownst to Wyatt, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on her family's property. Semi-immortal, Peter never remains dead for long, but he can't really live, either. Not while he's bound to the farm, locked in a cycle of grisly deaths and painful rebirths. There's only one way for him to break free. He needs to end the Westlock line.

He needs to kill Wyatt.

With Wyatt's parents gone, the spells protecting the property have begun to unravel, and dark, ancient forces gather in the nearby forest. The only way for Wyatt to repair the wards is to work with Peter -- the one person who knows how to harness her volatile magic. But how can she trust a boy who's sworn an oath to destroy her? When the past turns up to haunt them in the most unexpected way, they are forced to rely on one another to survive, or else tear each other apart.]]> 368 Kelly Andrew 1338885073 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.68 2024
author: Kelly Andrew
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61386936
Growing up in the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania feels like drowning. Leah goes to church every Sunday, works when she isn＊t at school, and takes care of her baby brother, Owen. Like every girl in Winston, she tries to be right and good and holy. If she isn＊t the Lord of the Wood will take her, and she＊ll disappear like so many other girls before her.

But living up to the rigorous standards of the town takes its toll. One night, when Owen won＊t stop screaming, Leah wishes him away, and the Lord listens. The screaming stops, and all that＊s left in the crib is a small bundle of sticks tied with a ribbon.

Filled with shame and the weight of the town＊s judgment, Leah is forced to cross the river into the Lord of the Wood＊s domain to bring Owen back. But the devilish figure who has haunted Winston for generations isn＊t what she expects. He tells her she can have her brother back求for the price of a song. A song that Leah will have one month to write.

It＊s a bargain that will uncover secrets her hometown has tried to keep buried for decades. And what she unearths will have her questioning everything she＊s been taught to fear.]]> 320 Tori Bovalino 1645679306 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.75 2024
author: Tori Bovalino
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 200982373 Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him.

Kill for him.

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality求Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won't say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork求whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew's wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what's wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster求Thomas's drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator...]]> 336 C.G. Drews 1250895669 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.10 2024
author: C.G. Drews
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> 195703882 Crying in H-Mart meets My Sister, the Serial Killer in this feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.

Ji-won＊s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her appa＊s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying＃ yet enticing.

In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Salivatingly blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George＊s, who is Umma＊s obnoxious new boyfriend. George has already overstayed his welcome in her family＊s claustrophobic apartment. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescending toward Ji-won and her sister as if he deserves all of Umma＊s fawning adoration. No, George doesn＊t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.

For no matter how many victims accumulate around her campus or how many people she must deceive and manipulate, Ji-won＊s hunger and her rage deserve to be sated.

A brilliantly inventive, subversive novel about a young woman unraveling, Monika Kim＊s The Eyes Are the Best Part is a story of a family falling apart and trying to find their way back to each other, marking a bold new voice in horror that will leave readers mesmerized and craving more.]]> 278 Monika Kim 1645661237 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.80 2024
author: Monika Kim
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 202102084 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ava Reid comes a reimagining of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare＊s most famous villainess, giving her a voice, a past, and a power that transforms the story men have written for her.

The Lady knows the stories: how her eyes induce madness in men.?

The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed.??

The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of strategy, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive.?

But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armor. She does not know that her magic is greater and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world.?

She does not know this yet. But she will.]]> 295 Ava Reid 0593722566 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.46 2024
author: Ava Reid
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199912897
But when her mother announces they＊re relocating to St. Mary, Virginia to live with him, Rachel＊s cut off from her friends and life as she knows it. St. Mary is a remote, lonely place, and the best thing about it is Nick, a guy she knows is worth keeping when he takes her to a cemetery on their first date.

Rachel struggles to get along with Geoff and his mile-long list of annoying house rules〞in particular, his bizarre insistence that she stay out of the basement. But something in Morgan House plays by its own rules. At night, an unknown force pulls Rachel down to that forbidden cellar, showing her harrowing visions of a strangely familiar man lurking in the shadows. When a sudden tragedy strikes her family, those visions become more frequent〞and more violent.

The dead issue urgent warnings, and if Rachel doesn＊t heed them, she＊ll become part of Morgan House forever.

From the author of the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Tidepool comes a chilling new gothic horror novel that will sink into your bones.]]> Nicole Willson leny's reading nook 4
Rachel's world gets turned upside down when her mother and Geoff, her mother's boyfriend, announce a sudden move to Geoff's house. He and the main character do not get along, and the sinister house does not help. Especially when it seems like the house itself wants Rachel gone.

The premise of this book got me hooked. I love family drama and haunted houses, and the combination was right up my alley. The book was fast-paced, really easy to read and digest, perfect for teens who want a light, slightly creepy read. The horror aspects were very light, and the mystery was very well maintained throughout the story. It kept me invested throughout the whole book.

I feel the need, however, to criticise two things: the repetiveness of Rachel's "night problems" in the first half of the book and the pace of the relationship. I do understand the need for both of them, as they were part of the plot construction, but, personally, I was slightly bothered.

Overall, the book was very fun and enjoyable! 4 stars from me!]]> 3.76
author: Nicole Willson
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.76
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/26
date added: 2024/08/26
shelves:
review:
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Parliament House Press, for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Rachel's world gets turned upside down when her mother and Geoff, her mother's boyfriend, announce a sudden move to Geoff's house. He and the main character do not get along, and the sinister house does not help. Especially when it seems like the house itself wants Rachel gone.

The premise of this book got me hooked. I love family drama and haunted houses, and the combination was right up my alley. The book was fast-paced, really easy to read and digest, perfect for teens who want a light, slightly creepy read. The horror aspects were very light, and the mystery was very well maintained throughout the story. It kept me invested throughout the whole book.

I feel the need, however, to criticise two things: the repetiveness of Rachel's "night problems" in the first half of the book and the pace of the relationship. I do understand the need for both of them, as they were part of the plot construction, but, personally, I was slightly bothered.

Overall, the book was very fun and enjoyable! 4 stars from me!
]]> 50022883
King Harristan was thrust into power after his parents' shocking assassination, leaving the younger Prince Corrick to take on the brutal role of the King's Justice. The brothers have learned to react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion--it's the only way to maintain order when the sickness can strike anywhere, and the only known cure, an elixir made from delicate Moonflower petals, is severely limited.

Out in the Wilds, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade is tired of seeing her neighbors die, their suffering ignored by the unyielding royals. Every night, she and her best friend Wes risk their lives to steal Moonflower petals and distribute the elixir to those who need it most--but it's still not enough.

As rumors spread that the cure no longer works and sparks of rebellion begin to flare, a particularly cruel act from the King's Justice makes Tessa desperate enough to try the impossible: sneaking into the palace. But what she finds upon her arrival makes her wonder if it's even possible to fix Kandala without destroying it first.]]> 448 Brigid Kemmerer 1547604670 leny's reading nook 4 4.10 2021
author: Brigid Kemmerer
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/25
date added: 2024/08/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 60309130
But the rest of Faerie does.

On Prince Hawthorn＊s eighteenth birthday, at the first drop of his blood spilled, the kingdom will be plunged into a century-long slumber＃

And the Unseelie King will reign.

As his personal guard, Juliana is sworn to serve the vain, arrogant prince only until the fateful day, but when the curse is unleashed, Juliana alone is the one that can save him.

Connected to Hawthorn through their dreams, Juliana soon finds her feelings shifting for the boy she once swore to hate＃

And soon swears to sacrifice anything to save him.]]> 417 Katherine Macdonald leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.80
author: Katherine Macdonald
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.80
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/19
shelves: to-read
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]]> 56905097 The finale to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. By the end of this mystery series, you'll never think of good girls the same way again...

Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She＊s used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true-crime podcast, but she can＊t help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you＊re the one who disappears?

Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars.

Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself〞or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle... and if she doesn＊t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears...]]> 500 Holly Jackson 0593379853 leny's reading nook 4 4.20 2021
author: Holly Jackson
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 61398915 Everyone knows the story of Rapunzel in her tower, but do you know the story of the witch who put her there? Mary McMyne＊s spellbinding debut reveals the truth behind the fairy tale〞the truth they never wanted you to know, as only a witch might tell it.

"Smart, swift, sure-footed and fleet-winged, The Book of Gothel launches its magic from a most reliable source: the troubled heart. Mary McMyne is a magician."〞Gregory Maguire, NYT bestselling author of Wicked

Germany, 1156. Shunned by her village for her unusual fainting spells and black eyes, young Haelewise's only solace lies in her mother's stories of witches, magic wolf-skins, and ancient mist-cloaked towers. When her mother dies, she sets off through the woods for the mysterious tower of fable: Gothel. There, Haelewise discovers a haven, a safe refuge for women like her and for those who have lost their way in the harsh world of men. A place where magic lives and where the fairy tales of her mother's stories have more truth than she'd ever imagined.

Praise for The Book of Gothel:

"A sprawling epic, full of magic, love, and heartbreak." 〞Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A luscious origin story."〞Booklist (starred review)]]> 400 Mary McMyne 0316393215 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.82 2022
author: Mary McMyne
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 72355 Poor Things is a postmodern revision of Frankenstein that replaces the traditional monster with Bella Baxter - a beautiful young erotomaniac brought back to life with the brain of an infant. Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of Bella, but his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless's jealous love for Baxter's creation.

The hilarious tale of love and scandal that ensues would be "the whole story" in the hands of a lesser author (which in fact it is, for this account is actually written by Dr. McCandless). For Gray, though, this is only half the story, after which Bella (a.k.a. Victoria McCandless) has her own say in the matter. Satirizing the classic Victorian novel, Poor Things is a hilarious political allegory and a thought-provoking duel between the desires of men and the independence of women, from one of Scotland's most accomplished authors.]]> 318 Alasdair Gray 0747562288 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.92 1992
author: Alasdair Gray
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59002814
She was merely A CHILD NAMED KORE.



KORE, THE GODDESS OF SPRING and youngest daughter to Demeter, had kept few secrets from her mother.

One was the true extent of her divinity.

The other, was her number of encounters with the King of the Dead since she was but a child.



It was upon one of these secret meetings after her 17th year that the God of the underworld gifted Kore a simple crystal that pulled her closer to him.



Upon saving what she hoped would be enough to pay the ferrymen, Kore overhears her mother speak of an arrangement she had made between herself and Zeus. One that involved Kore＊s future and would rip away her freedom. One she could not stay to be a part of.



Kore finds herself fleeing to the underworld in hopes of finding sanctuary with the King. What seemed like a simple journey at first, quickly turns into a fight for her immortal life. Facing cyclopes, monstrous shades, and vengeful Gods of the realm, Kore soon realizes the journey through the Underworld is not the safest for one such as the Goddess of spring.



OR IS IT?]]> 423 Ambrosia R. Harris 0578992590 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.76 2022
author: Ambrosia R. Harris
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 32187419 A sharply intelligent novel about two college students and the strange, unexpected connection they forge with a married couple.

Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed, and darkly observant. A college student and aspiring writer, she devotes herself to a life of the mind--and to the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi, her best friend and comrade-in-arms. Lovers at school, the two young women now perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin, where a journalist named Melissa spots their potential. Drawn into Melissa's orbit, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman's sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband. Private property, Frances believes, is a cultural evil--and Nick, a bored actor who never quite lived up to his potential, looks like patriarchy made flesh. But however amusing their flirtation seems at first, it gives way to a strange intimacy neither of them expect. As Frances tries to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally even with Bobbi. Desperate to reconcile herself to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances's intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new: a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment.

Written with gem-like precision and probing intelligence, Conversations With Friends is wonderfully alive to the pleasures and dangers of youth."]]> 304 Sally Rooney 0451499077 leny's reading nook 4 3.74 2017
author: Sally Rooney
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/01
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 98411 200 Ai Yazawa 1421503786 leny's reading nook 4 4.48 2000
author: Ai Yazawa
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/28
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 202286306
You've heard of Frankenstein's monster, you've heard of Dracula, but have you heard of the Villa Diodati? Eve, Griffin, Hal and Ren embark on a summer they'll never forget at the birthplace of all things Gothic.

The summer is beset by mysterious happenings, as the monsters they create begin to clamber out of their minds. Events rise to a horrible climax when, on a dark and stormy night, one of the villa's guests is found dead and each of our foursome becomes a suspect in a gruesome murder.

It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. But when the stuff of nightmares becomes their reality, will they make it out alive?]]> 438 M.A. Bennett 180130131X leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.06
author: M.A. Bennett
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/01
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]]> 62047992 The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading.

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

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

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

As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.]]> 150 Satoshi Yagisawa 0063278677 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.66 2010
author: Satoshi Yagisawa
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/30
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]]> 98413 An all-time best-selling shojo title, Nana offers an exhilarating glimpse into Japan's underground punk scene

Nana revolves around two 20-year-old women, both named Nana. Nana Komatsu flees to Tokyo after an emotionally devastating affair with an older, married man, hoping for a fresh start. Nana Osaki, on the other hand, a high school dropout, arrives in the city at the same time, chasing her dreams of becoming a punk rock star. Despite their contrasting backgrounds, the two Nanas quickly bond together, navigating a whirlwind life of sex, music, fashion, and nightlife.]]> 192 Ai Yazawa 1421501082 leny's reading nook 4 4.38 2000
author: Ai Yazawa
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/07/26
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]]> 60784549
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled ※HAP,§ he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio每a past spent hunting humans.

When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio＊s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic＊s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?

Inspired by Carlo Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio, and like Swiss Family Robinson meets Wall-E, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful stand-alone fantasy adventure from the beloved author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.]]> 432 T.J. Klune 125021744X leny's reading nook 4 3.89 2023
author: T.J. Klune
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/25
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the cami annotations made it even better
]]> 40740914
Because how do you decide what makes life worth living? How do you separate out what you can do without from what you hold dear? In dealing with the Devil our narrator will take himself 每 and his beloved cat 每 to the brink. Genki Kawamura's If Cats Disappeared from the World is a story of loss and reconciliation, of one man＊s journey to discover what really matters in modern life.

This beautiful tale is translated from the Japanese by Eric Selland, who also translated The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide. Fans of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles will also surely love If Cats Disappeared from the World.]]> 202 Genki Kawamura 1509889175 leny's reading nook 4 3.77 2012
author: Genki Kawamura
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/07/18
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]]> 15864191
?mpreun? cu Sophie, specialist? ?n decriptare, Langdon ?ncepe o curs? frenetic? pentru descifrarea numeroaselor indicii ascunse ?n picturile lui Leonardo... ?i nu numai. Pa?ii ?i poart? de la Paris la Londra ?i apoi ?n Sco?ia, pentru a dezv?lui un mister p?zit cu str??nicie de secole, capabil s? zguduie din temelii dogmele cre?tinit??ii.]]> 479 Dan Brown 9735769905 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.38 2003
author: Dan Brown
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves: to-read
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]]> 60784489 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, the first book in the wildly successful Mistborn trilogy, now in trade paperback.
For a thousand years, ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years, the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years, the Lord Ruler reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when all hope was lost, the scarred, heartbroken half-Skaa Kelsier found in himself the powers of a Mistborn.
A brilliant thief and natural leader, Kelsier recruits the underworld's smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, who each share one of his many powers and relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream: not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers that she＊s never dreamed of.


Other Tor books by Brandon Sanderson

The Cosmere

The Stormlight Archive
The Way of Kings
Words of Radiance
Edgedancer (Novella)
Oathbringer
Dawnshard (Novella)
Rhythm of War

The Mistborn trilogy
Mistborn: The Final Empire
The Well of Ascension
The Hero of Ages

Mistborn: The Wax and Wayne series
Alloy of Law
Shadows of Self
Bands of Mourning
The Lost Metal

Collection
Arcanum Unbounded

Other Cosmere novels
Elantris
Warbreaker

The Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians
The Scrivener's Bones
The Knights of Crystallia
The Shattered Lens
The Dark Talent
Bastille vs. the Evil Librarians

The Rithmatist series
The Rithmatist

Other books by Brandon Sanderson

The Reckoners
Steelheart
Firefight
Calamity]]> 534 Brandon Sanderson 1250868289 leny's reading nook 0 4.54 2006
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/07
date added: 2024/07/06
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]]> 68428 What if the whole world were a dead, blasted wasteland?

Mistborn
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Then Kelsier reveals his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn trust if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy's newest master tale-spinner and author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the prophesied hero failed to defeat the Dark Lord? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises that begins with the book in your hands. Fantasy will never be the same again.]]> 541 Brandon Sanderson leny's reading nook 4 4.48 2006
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2006
rating: 4
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]]> 57164200 Featuring over 60 illustrations, Earthflown?is a love story that tries 每?and fails?每?to leave the water crisis behind. Set in post-flood London, futuristic medicine meets a bit of magic in Frances Wren's bittersweet debut.

When Ethan saves the life of a firestarter, it's nothing unusual. He's the only healer on call at the hospital 每?and that gunshot wound isn't going to regenerate itself. But his patient turns out to be Corinna Arden, heiress to a pharmaceutical empire controlling Britain's water supply. Her twin, Javier, is a man who (a) starts sending Ethan flowers at work, (b) seems terrified of a secret, and (c) has the cheekbones and earnestness to make up for both.

Ethan indulges in (what he thinks will be) a brief, harmless romance 每 but is swept up in a deadly collusion over Project Earthflown: the largest reconstruction tender since London clawed its way out of the rising sea.

Determined to follow the money, Ollie is a journalist who finds a corpse at the end of a too-convenient tip. The fate of water 每?and who profits 每?might depend on the perennial question: has?Ethan lost his mind, or is he just an idiot?

Please see author's comment below for content-warnings!]]> 455 Frances Wren leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.98 2024
author: Frances Wren
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/06
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]]> 127280459
It＊s 1999 in Southeast Texas and the Evans women, owners of the only funeral parlor in town, are keeping steady with＃normal business. The dead die, you bury them. End of story. That＊s how Ducey Evans has done it for the last eighty years, and her progeny求Lenore the experimenter and Grace, Lenore＊s soft-hearted daughter, have run Evans Funeral Parlor for the last fifteen years without drama. Ever since That Godawful Mess that left two bodies in the ground and Grace raising her infant daughter Luna, alone.

But when town gossip Mina Jean Murphy＊s body is brought in for a regular burial and she rises from the dead instead, it＊s clear that the Strigoi求the original vampire求are back. And the Evans women are the ones who need to fight back to protect their town.

As more folks in town turn up dead and Deputy Roger Taylor begins asking way too many questions, Ducey, Lenore, Grace, and now Luna, must take up their blades and figure out who is behind the Strigoi＊s return. As the saying goes, what rises up, must go back down. But as unspoken secrets and revelations spill from the past into the present, the Evans family must face that sometimes, the dead aren＊t the only things you want to keep buried.

A crackling mystery-horror novel with big-hearted characters and Southern charm with a bite, Bless Your Heart is a gasp-worthy delight from start to finish.]]> 304 Lindy Ryan 1250888883 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.58 2024
author: Lindy Ryan
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> 61884780
Having a mom like Izzy meant Mia had to grow up fast. No extracurriculars, no inviting friends over, and definitely no dating. The most important Tell no one of Izzy＊s hunger 每 the kind only blood can satisfy.

But Mia is in her twenties now and longs for a life of her own. One where she doesn＊t have to worry about anyone discovering their terrible secret, or breathing down her neck. When Mia meets rebellious musician Jade she dares to hope she＊s found a way to leave her home 每 and her mom 每 behind.

It just might be Mia＊s only chance of getting out alive.]]> 278 Liz Kerin 1250835674 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.88 2023
author: Liz Kerin
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> 176443112 The author of Good Neighbors, ※one of the creepiest, most unnerving deconstructions of American suburbia I＊ve ever read,§ (NPR), returns with a cunning, out-of-the-box satirical thriller about a family＊s odyssey into an exclusive enclave for the wealthy that might not be as ideal as it seems.

You＊ll be safe here. That＊s what the greasy tour guide tells the Farmer-Bowens when they visit Plymouth Valley, a walled-off company town with clean air, pantries that never go empty, and blue-ribbon schools. On a very trial basis, the company offers to hire Linda Farmer＊s husband, a numbers genius, and relocate her whole family to this bucolic paradise for the .0001%. Though Linda will have to sacrifice her medical career back home, the family jumps at the opportunity. They＊d be crazy not to take it. With the outside world literally falling apart, this might be the Farmer-Bowens last chance.

But fitting in takes work. The pampered locals distrust outsiders, cruelly snubbing Linda, Russell, and their teen twins. And the residents fervently adhere to a group of customs and beliefs called Hollow . . . but what exactly is Hollow?

It＊s Linda who brokers acceptance by volunteering her medical skills to the most powerful people in town with their pet charity, ActHollow. In the months afterward, everything seems fine. Sure, Russell starts hyperventilating through a paper bag in the middle of the night, and the kids have drifted like bridgeless islands, but living here＊s worth sacrificing their family＊s closeness, isn＊t it? At least they＊ll survive. The trouble is, the locals never say what they think. They seem scared. And Hollow＊s ominous culminating event, the Plymouth Valley Winter Festival, is coming.

Linda＊s warned by her husband and her powerful new friends to stop asking questions. But the more she learns, the more frightened she becomes. Should the Farmer-Bowens be fighting to stay, or fighting to get out?

Sarah Langan＊s latest novel A Better World is gleefully ruthless in its dissection of wealth, power, and privilege, timely in its depiction of a self-destructing world〞and it is a prescient warning to us all.

Sarah Langan, a Columbia MFA graduate and three-time recipient of the Bram Stoker Award, is the author of several novels including A Better World and Good Neighbors. She grew up on Long Island and she currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughters.]]> 368 Sarah Langan 1982191066 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.57 2024
author: Sarah Langan
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> 126918202 Jennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.

Anna has two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive.

It isn＊t easy when she＊s the only one in the family who doesn＊t quite fit in. Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow so much he＊s practically dissolved, and her older sister, Nicole, is so used to everyone〞including her blandly docile husband and two kids〞falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question. Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet.

The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails〞the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself.

(Warning: May invoke feelings of irritation, dread, and despair that come with large family gatherings.)]]> 296 Jennifer Marie Thorne leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.84 2024
author: Jennifer Marie Thorne
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> 55711617
That＊s not the only thing that＊s getting carved up, though 每 this, Jade knows, is the start of a slasher. But what kind? Who＊s wearing the mask? Jade＊s got an encyclopedic recall of every horror movie on the shelf, but＃ will that help her survive? Can she get a final girl trained enough to stop all this from happening? Does she even want to?

Isn＊t a slasher exactly what her hometown deserves?

This new novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones, called ※one of our most talented living writers§ by Tommy Orange, explores the changing landscape of the West through his distinct voice of sharp humor and prophetic violence.

Go up the mountain to Proofrock. See if you＊ve got what it takes 每 see if your heart, too, might be a chainsaw.]]> 405 Stephen Graham Jones 1982137630 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.52 2021
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> 126917878 The Woods All Black is equal parts historical horror, trans romance, and blood-soaked revenge, all set in 1920s Appalachia

Leslie Bruin is assigned to the backwoods township of Spar Creek by the Frontier Nursing Service, under its usual mandate: vaccinate the flock, birth babies, and weather the judgements of churchy locals who look at him and see a failed woman. Forged in the fires of the Western Front and reborn in the cafes of Paris, Leslie believes he can handle whatever is thrown at him〞but Spar Creek holds a darkness beyond his nightmares.

Something ugly festers within the local congregation, and its malice has focused on a young person they insist is an unruly tomboy who must be brought to heel. Violence is bubbling when Leslie arrives, ready to spill over, and he'll have to act fast if he intends to be of use. But the hills enfolding Spar Creek have a mind of their own, and the woods are haunted in ways Leslie does not understand.

The Woods All Black is a story of passion, prejudice, and power 〞 an Appalachian period piece that explores reproductive justice and bodily autonomy, the terrors of small-town religiosity, and the necessity of fighting tooth and claw to live as who you truly are.]]> 153 Lee Mandelo 1250790328 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.63 2024
author: Lee Mandelo
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> 196614815 A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel.

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They＊re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to be a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchhiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.]]> 341 Simone St. James 0593200381 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.66 2024
author: Simone St. James
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> 162505604 The bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain and Parting the Veil mines the subtle horrors of 1950s America in a gripping novel about a woman under pressure〞from the living and the dead.

The first day of autumn brought the fever, and with the fever came the voices.

Missouri, 1955. Loretta Davenport has led an isolated life as a young mother and a wife to Pete, an ambitious assistant professor at a Bible college. They＊re the picture of domestic tranquillity〞until a local girl is murdered and Loretta begins receiving messages from beyond. Pete dismisses them as delusions of a fevered female imagination. Loretta knows they＊re real〞and frightening. Defying Pete＊s demands, Loretta finds an encouraging supporter in parapsychologist Dr. Curtis Hansen. He sees a woman with a rare gift, more blessing than curse.

With Dr. Hansen＊s help, Loretta＊s life opens up to an empowering new purpose. But for Pete, the God-fearing image he＊s worked so hard to cultivate is under threat. No longer in control of his dutiful wife, he sees the Devil at work. As Loretta＊s powers grow stronger and the pleading spirits beckon, Pete is determined to deliver his wife from evil. To solve the mysteries of the dead, Loretta must first save herself.]]> 347 Paulette Kennedy 1662514875 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.21 2024
author: Paulette Kennedy
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> 176443819 From Bram Stoker Award?每winning author Gwendolyn Kiste comes a chilling novel about three childhood friends who miraculously survive the night everyone in their suburban neighborhood turned into ghosts〞perfect for fans of Yellowjackets.

The Velkwood Vicinity was the topic of occult theorists, tabloid one-hour documentaries, and even some pseudo-scientific investigations as the block of homes disappeared behind a near-impenetrable veil that only three survivors could enter〞and only one has in the past twenty years, until now.

Talitha Velkwood has avoided anything to do with the tragedy that took her mother and eight-year-old sister, drifting from one job to another, never settling anywhere or with anyone, feeling as trapped by her past as if she was still there in the small town she so desperately wanted to escape from. When a new researcher tracks her down and offers to pay her to come back to enter the vicinity, Talitha claims she＊s just doing it for the money. Of all the crackpot theories over the years, no one has discovered what happened the night Talitha, her estranged, former best friend Brett, and Grace, escaped their homes twenty years ago. Will she finally get the answers she＊s been looking for all these years, or is this just another dead end?

Award-winning author Gwendolyn Kiste has created a suburban ghost story about a small town that trapped three young women who must confront the past if they＊re going to have a future.]]> 246 Gwendolyn Kiste 1982172371 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.59 2024
author: Gwendolyn Kiste
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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]]> 181840762 A city＊s haunted history and fairy-tale horrors converge for two women in an addictive novel of psychological suspense by a multiple Bram Stoker Award每nominated author.

Sisters Anna and Jennie live in a historic bungalow on the Chicago River. They＊re tethered to a disquieting past, and with nowhere else to go, nothing can part them from their family home. Not the maddening creaks and disembodied voices that rattle the old walls. Not the inexplicable drownings in the area, or the increasing number of bodies that float by Anna＊s window.

To stave off loneliness, Anna has a podcast, spinning ghostly tales of Chicago＊s tragic history. But when Anna captures the attention of an ardent male listener, she awakens to the possibilities of a world outside.

As their relationship grows, so do Jennie＊s fears. More and more people are going missing in the river. And then two detectives come calling.

They＊re looking for a link between the mysteries of the river and what＊s housed on the bank. Even Anna and Jennie don＊t understand how dreadful it is〞and still can be〞when the truth about their unsettled lives begins to surface.]]> 298 Cynthia Pelayo 1662513909 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 3.36 2024
author: Cynthia Pelayo
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/27
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]]> 202142414
When a stranger comes ashore to rent an abandoned cottage, Agnes and the other islanders are abuzz with curiosity. Who is this wealthy foreigner and why on earth would he come to Eynhallow? Her curiosity is soon replaced with vexation when her husband hires her out as cook and washerwoman, leaving Agnes with no say in the matter. Agnes begrudgingly befriends this aristocrat-in-exile; a mercurial scientist who toils night and day on some secret pursuit. Despite herself, she＊s drawn to his dark, brooding charm. And who is this Byronic stranger sweeping Agnes off her feet? His name is Frankenstein and he's come to this remote isle to fulfill a monstrous obligation.]]> 178 Tim McGregor 1947879669 leny's reading nook 0 to-read 4.10 2024
author: Tim McGregor
name: leny's reading nook
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/27
shelves: to-read
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]]>