Kandyce's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 08 May 2025 15:01:14 -0700 60 Kandyce's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Miracle Creek 40121959 Miracle Creek is a powerhouse debut about how far we'll go to protect our families, and our deepest secrets.

In rural Miracle Creek, Virginia, Young and Pak Yoo run an experimental medical treatment device known as the Miracle Submarine. A pressurized oxygen chamber that patients enter for therapeutic “dives,� it's also a repository of hopes and dreams: the dream of a mom that her child can be like other kids; the dream of a young doctor desperate to cure his infertility and save his marriage; the dream of the Yoos themselves, Korean immigrants who have come to the United States so their teenage daughter can have a better life.

When the oxygen chamber mysteriously explodes, killing two people, all these dreams shatter with it, and the ensuing murder trial uncovers imaginable secrets and lies. In Miracle Creek, Angie Kim takes a classic form—courtroom drama—and draws on her own experience as an immigrant, a lawyer, and the mother of a real-life "submarine" patient to turn it into something wholly original, unputdownable . . . real. This is a spellbinding novel by an exciting new voice.]]>
355 Angie Kim 0374156026 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.86 2019 Miracle Creek
author: Angie Kim
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
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Here One Moment 208516656 If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.

Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.

How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.�

Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.

A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.

If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?

Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.]]>
512 Liane Moriarty 0593798600 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.98 2024 Here One Moment
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
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The Story She Left Behind 214151359 Inspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.

In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington’s magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, disappears off the coast of South Carolina. Bronwyn stunned the world with a book written in an invented language that became a national sensation when she was just twelve years old. Her departure leaves behind not only a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter, but also the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. As the headlines focus on the missing author, Clara yearns for something far deeper and more her beautiful mother.

By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. When a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. Clara is skeptical. Compelled by the tragedy of her mother’s vanishing, she crosses the Atlantic with Wynnie only to arrive during one of London’s most deadly natural disasters—the Great Smog. With asthmatic Wynnie in peril, they escape the city with Charlie and find refuge in the Jameson’s family retreat nestled in the Lake District. It is there that Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.

Told in Patti Callahan Henry’s lyrical, enchanting prose, The Story She Left Behind is a captivating novel of mystery and family legacy that captures the profound longing for a mother and the evergreen allure of secrets.]]>
352 Patti Callahan Henry 1668011875 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.14 2025 The Story She Left Behind
author: Patti Callahan Henry
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
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Your House Will Pay 43615778
In the wake of the police shooting of a black teenager, Los Angeles is as tense as it’s been since the unrest of the early 1990s. Protests and vigils are being staged all over the city. It’s in this dangerous tinderbox that two families must finally confront their pasts.

Grace Park lives a sheltered existence: living at home with her Korean-immigrant parents, working at the family pharmacy, and trying her best to understand why her sister Miriam hasn’t spoken to their mother in years. The chasm in her family is growing wider by the day and Grace is desperate for reconciliation, and frustrated by the feeling that her sister and parents are shielding her from the true cause of the falling out.

Shawn Matthews is dealing with a fractured family of his own. His sister, Ava, was murdered as a teenager back in 1991, and this new shooting is bringing up painful memories. Plus, his cousin Ray is just released from prison and needs to reconnect with their family after so many years away. While Shawn is trying his best to keep his demons at bay, he’s not sure Ray can do the same.

When another shocking crime hits LA, the Parks and the Matthewses collide in ways they never could have expected. After decades of loss, violence, and injustice, tensions come to a head and force a reckoning that could clear the air or lead to more violence.]]>
304 Steph Cha 0062868853 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.08 2019 Your House Will Pay
author: Steph Cha
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen]]> 37638135 “Here’s the first thing you need to know about Miss Cathy Williams: I am the daughter of a daughter of queen and my mama never let me forget it.�

Though born into bondage on a “miserable tobacco farm� in Little Dixie, Missouri, Cathy Williams was never allowed to consider herself a slave. According to her mother, she was a captive, destined by her noble warrior blood to escape the enemy. Her chance at freedom presents itself with the arrival of Union general Phillip Henry “Smash ‘em Up� Sheridan, the outcast of West Point who takes the rawboned, prideful young woman into service. At war’s end, having tasted freedom, Cathy refuses to return to servitude and makes the monumental decision to disguise herself as a man and join the Army’s legendary Buffalo Soldiers.

Alone now in the ultimate man’s world, Cathy must fight not only for her survival and freedom, but she also vows to never give up on finding her mother, her little sister, and the love of the only man strong enough to win her heart. Inspired by the stunning, true story of Private Williams, this American heroine comes to vivid life in a sweeping and magnificent tale about one woman’s fight for freedom, respect and independence.

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17 Sarah Bird 1250299012 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.08 2018 Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen
author: Sarah Bird
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley]]> 58949796
Leadenhall Street, London, 1754.

Raised amongst the cogs and springs of his father's workshop, Zachary Cloudesley has grown up surrounded by strange and enchanting clockwork automata. He is a happy child, beloved by his father Abel and the workmen who help bring his father's creations to life.

He is also the bearer of an extraordinary gift; at the touch of a hand, Zachary can see into the hearts and minds of the people he meets.

But then a near-fatal accident will take Zachary away from the workshop and his family. His father will have to make a journey that he will never return from. And, years later, only Zachary can find out what happened.

A beautifully crafted historical mystery of love and hope, and the adventure of finding your place in the world.]]>
356 Sean Lusk 0857528068 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.73 2022 The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley
author: Sean Lusk
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Ragged Edge of Night 38096424
Germany, 1942. Franciscan friar Anton Starzmann is stripped of his place in the world when his school is seized by the Nazis. He relocates to a small German hamlet to wed Elisabeth Herter, a widow who seeks a marriage—in name only—to a man who can help raise her three children. Anton seeks something too—atonement for failing to protect his young students from the wrath of the Nazis. But neither he nor Elisabeth expects their lives to be shaken once again by the inescapable rumble of war.

As Anton struggles to adapt to the roles of husband and father, he learns of the Red Orchestra, an underground network of resisters plotting to assassinate Hitler. Despite Elisabeth’s reservations, Anton joins this army of shadows. But when the SS discovers his schemes, Anton will embark on a final act of defiance that may cost him his life—even if it means saying goodbye to the family he has come to love more than he ever believed possible.]]>
340 Olivia Hawker 1503957144 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.17 2018 The Ragged Edge of Night
author: Olivia Hawker
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)]]> 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

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

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

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]>
387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.60 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco (The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco #1)]]> 203579018 In Michelle Chouinard’s clever mystery The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco, the granddaughter of a serial killer shows readers another side of the beloved city.

Welcome to San Francisco, a city with killer charm.

The chill of a San Francisco summer can be deadly. No one knows this better than Capri Sanzio, who makes her living giving serial killer tours of the city. Capri has been interested in the topic since she was a kid, when she discovered she’s the granddaughter of serial killer William ‘Overkill Bill� Sanzio. She’s always believed in his innocence, though she's never taken the leap to fully dive into the case.

But now an Overkill Bill copycat has struck in San Francisco. And Capri’s former mother-in-law, Sylvia, just cut off Capri’s daughter’s tuition payments. Needing cash, Capri wonders if this is the time to exonerate her grandfather. The case is back in the news and the police will be looking to understand the past to catch a present-day killer. Capri could finally uncover the truth about Overkill Bill—documenting the process with a podcast and a book—and hopefully earn some money.

Before Capri can get very far, the cops discover the copycat’s latest Sylvia. Capri soon finds herself at the heart of the police’s investigation for an entirely different reason. She and her daughter are prime suspects.]]>
336 Michelle Chouinard 1250359309 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.69 2024 The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco (The Serial Killer Guide to San Francisco #1)
author: Michelle Chouinard
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2)]]> 55457493
Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?]]>
422 Richard Osman Kandyce 0 to-read 4.36 2021 The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, #2)
author: Richard Osman
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0)]]> 52822210 International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.

If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.

Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.

Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.

Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.

When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can't just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.]]>
368 Angie Thomas 006284671X Kandyce 0 to-read 4.38 2021 Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0)
author: Angie Thomas
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: to-read
review:

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Gamechanger 61251754 432 Neal Shusterman 9464291516 Kandyce 3 audio, high-school-librarian 3.57 2021 Gamechanger
author: Neal Shusterman
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/08
date added: 2025/05/08
shelves: audio, high-school-librarian
review:

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The Most Fun We Ever Had 41880044
When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. Above it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents'.

As the novel moves through the tumultuous year following the arrival of Jonah Bendt--given up by one of the daughters in a closed adoption fifteen years before--we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons' past: years marred by adolescence, infidelity, and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.]]>
532 Claire Lombardo 0385544251 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.88 2019 The Most Fun We Ever Had
author: Claire Lombardo
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/06
shelves: to-read
review:

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Passing 57640287 Nella Larsen's fascinating exploration of race and identity--the inspiration for the upcoming Netflix film directed by Rebecca Hall, starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga.

This Signet Classics edition of Passing includes an Introduction by Brit Bennett, the bestselling author of The Vanishing Half.

Irene Redfield is a Black woman living an affluent, comfortable life with her husband and children in the thriving neighborhood of Harlem in the 1920s. When she reconnects with her childhood friend Clare Kendry, who is similarly light-skinned, Irene discovers that Clare has been passing for a white woman after severing ties to her past--even hiding the truth from her racist husband.

Clare finds herself drawn to Irene's sense of ease and security with her Black identity and longs for the community (and, increasingly, the woman) she lost. Irene is both riveted and repulsed by Clare and her dangerous secret, as Clare begins to insert herself--and her deception--into every part of Irene's stable existence. First published in 1929, Larsen's brilliant examination of the various ways in which we all seek to "pass," is as timely as ever.]]>
141 Nella Larsen 0593437845 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.91 1929 Passing
author: Nella Larsen
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1929
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/05/06
shelves: to-read
review:

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Year on Fire 58529322
The Spark: Just days before the start of junior year for twins Arch and Immie and their best friend, Paige, a spontaneous kiss shakes the very foundation of their friendship. But some ties run too deep to be broken by accidental betrayal.

The Fuel: Enter Rohan, new to Wood Valley High by way of London, who walks into school on the first day completely overwhelmed by his sudden move halfway around the world. When Paige calls dibs on him—he’s too cute to ignore—Immie is in no position to argue, certainly not after taking the fall for the disloyal kiss. Too bad for Immie that Ro feels like the best kind of familiar.

The Kindling: Former lab partners Arch and Jackson, Paige’s ex-boyfriend, have never considered themselves more than friends. But sometimes feelings can grow like wildfire.

The Flames: When the girls� bathroom at Wood Valley is set ablaze, no one doubts it’s arson. But in this bastion of privilege, who’d be angry enough to want to burn down the school? Answer: pretty much everyone.

Year on Fire explores the blinding power of the lies we tell others and those we tell ourselves, the tight grip of family secrets, the magic of first love, and the grounding beauty of friendship.

What secrets will people keep—or reveal—to protect those they love? This novel, set against the frightening backdrop of an encroaching fire season, sparks reflection about friendship, the allure of romantic love, and loyalty to family.

Can a single kiss change everything?
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336 Julie Buxbaum 1984893661 Kandyce 4 audio, high-school-librarian 3.47 2022 Year on Fire
author: Julie Buxbaum
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: audio, high-school-librarian
review:
I enjoyed this. I think the characters were very relatable, and I loved the little "romance", without going over the top.
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<![CDATA[A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes, #1)]]> 23272028
From the moment they meet, there’s a tense energy between them, and they seem more destined to be rivals than anything else. But when a Sherringford student dies under suspicious circumstances, ripped straight from the most terrifying of the Sherlock Holmes stories, Jamie can no longer afford to keep his distance. Jamie and Charlotte are being framed for murder, and only Charlotte can clear their names. But danger is mounting and nowhere is safe—and the only people they can trust are each other.]]>
336 Brittany Cavallaro 0062398903 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.75 2016 A Study in Charlotte (Charlotte Holmes, #1)
author: Brittany Cavallaro
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2016
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/28
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Wedding People 222348800 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN 9781250899576 can be found here.

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

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

In turns absurdly funny and devastatingly tender, Alison Espach’s The Wedding People is ultimately an incredibly nuanced and resonant look at the winding paths we can take to places we never imagined—and the chance encounters it sometimes takes to reroute us.]]>
367 Alison Espach 1250899575 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.14 2024 The Wedding People
author: Alison Espach
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)]]> 57991307 Alternate cover edition can be found here

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?]]>
361 Richard Osman 1984880985 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.84 2020 The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)
author: Richard Osman
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read
review:

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Under the Whispering Door 53205888 Welcome to Charon's Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.]]>
376 T.J. Klune 1250217342 Kandyce 4 audio Beautiful. 4.11 2021 Under the Whispering Door
author: T.J. Klune
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/20
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: audio
review:
Beautiful.
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The Paper Girl of Paris 52462895 Now:
Sixteen-year-old Alice is spending the summer in Paris, but she isn’t there for pastries and walks along the Seine. When her grandmother passed away two months ago, she left Alice an apartment in France that no one knew existed. An apartment that has been locked for more than seventy years.

Alice is determined to find out why the apartment was abandoned and why her grandmother never once mentioned the family she left behind when she moved to America after World War II. With the help of Paul, a charming Parisian student, she sets out to uncover the truth. However, the more time she spends digging through the mysteries of the past, the more she realizes there are secrets in the present that her family is still refusing to talk about.

Then:
Sixteen-year-old Adalyn doesn’t recognize Paris anymore. Everywhere she looks, there are Nazis, and every day brings a new horror of life under the Occupation. When she meets Luc, the dashing and enigmatic leader of a resistance group, Adalyn feels she finally has a chance to fight back. But keeping up the appearance of being a much-admired socialite while working to undermine the Nazis is more complicated than she could have imagined. As the war goes on, Adalyn finds herself having to make more and more compromises—to her safety, to her reputation, and to her relationships with the people she loves the most.]]>
359 Jordyn Taylor 006293662X Kandyce 4 audio, high-school-librarian 4.03 2020 The Paper Girl of Paris
author: Jordyn Taylor
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/25
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: audio, high-school-librarian
review:
I really enjoyed the "mystery" of digging into the past and the back and forth between past and present.
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The Last Flight 54717147 Two women. Two flights. One last chance to disappear.

Claire Cook has a perfect life. Married to the scion of a political dynasty, with a Manhattan townhouse and a staff of ten, her surroundings are elegant, her days flawlessly choreographed, and her future auspicious. But behind closed doors, nothing is quite as it seems. That perfect husband has a temper that burns as bright as his promising political career, and he's not above using his staff to track Claire's every move, making sure she's living up to his impossible standards. But what he doesn't know is that Claire has worked for months on a plan to vanish.

A chance meeting in an airport bar brings her together with a woman whose circumstances seem equally dire. Together they make a last-minute decision to switch tickets--Claire taking Eva's flight to Oakland, and Eva traveling to Puerto Rico as Claire. They believe the swap will give each of them the head start they need to begin again somewhere far away. But when the flight to Puerto Rico goes down, Claire realizes it's no longer a head start but a new life. Cut off, out of options, with the news of her death about to explode in the media, Claire will assume Eva's identity, and along with it, the secrets Eva fought so hard to keep hidden.

For fans of Lisa Jewell and Liv Constantine, The Last Flight is the story of two women--both alone, both scared--and one agonizing decision that will change the trajectory of both of their lives.]]>
288 Julie Clark 1728234220 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.04 2020 The Last Flight
author: Julie Clark
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Women 127305853
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm's way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.]]>
471 Kristin Hannah 1250178630 Kandyce 4 high-school-librarian 4.58 2024 The Women
author: Kristin Hannah
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: high-school-librarian
review:

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Finding Margaret Fuller 221441038
Massachusetts, 1836. Young, brazen, beautiful, and unapologetically brilliant, Margaret Fuller accepts an invitation from Ralph Waldo Emerson, the celebrated “Sage of Concord,� to meet his coterie of enlightened friends shaping a nation in the throes of its own self-discovery. By the end of her stay, she will become “the radiant genius and fiery heart� of the Transcendentalists, a role model to young Louisa May Alcott, an inspiration to Nathaniel Hawthorne and his scandalous Scarlet Letter, a friend to Henry David Thoreau as he ventures into the woods of Walden Pond . . . and a muse to Emerson himself. But Margaret craves more than poetry and interpersonal drama, and she finds her restless soul in need of new challenges and adventure.

And so she charts a singular course against a backdrop of dizzying historical drama: From Boston, where she hosts a women-only literary salon for students like Elizabeth Cady Stanton; to the editorial meetings of The Dial magazine, where she hones her pen as its co-founder; to Harvard’s library, where she is the first woman to study within its walls; to the gritty New York streets where she spars with Edgar Allan Poe and reports on the writings of Frederick Douglass. Margaret defies conventions time and again as an activist for women and an advocate for humanity, earning admirers and scathing critics alike.

When the legendary Horace Greeley offers an assignment in Europe, Margaret again makes history as the first female foreign news correspondent, mingling with luminaries like Frederic Chopin, Walt Whitman, George Sand, and more. But it is in Rome where she finds a world of passion, romance, and revolution, taking a Roman count as a lover—and sparking an international scandal. Evolving yet again into the roles of mother and countess, Margaret enters a new fight for Italy’s unification.

With a star-studded cast and epic sweep of historical events, this is a story of an inspiring trailblazer, a woman who loved big and lived even bigger—a fierce adventurer who transcended the rigid roles ascribed to women, and changed history for millions, all on her own terms.]]>
432 Allison Pataki 0593600258 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.82 2024 Finding Margaret Fuller
author: Allison Pataki
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: to-read
review:

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Paper Things 22747802 When forced to choose between staying with her guardian and being with her big brother, Ari chose her big brother. There’s just one problem—Gage doesn’t actually have a place to live.

When Ari’s mother died four years ago, she had two final wishes: that Ari and her older brother, Gage, would stay together always, and that Ari would go to Carter, the middle school for gifted students. So when nineteen-year-old Gage decides he can no longer live with their bossy guardian, Janna, Ari knows she has to go with him. But it’s been two months, and Gage still hasn’t found them an apartment. He and Ari have been "couch surfing," staying with Gage’s friend in a tiny apartment, crashing with Gage’s girlfriend and two roommates, and if necessary, sneaking into a juvenile shelter to escape the cold Maine nights. But all of this jumping around makes it hard for Ari to keep up with her schoolwork, never mind her friendships, and getting into Carter starts to seem impossible. Will Ari be forced to break one of her promises to Mama?

Told in an open, authentic voice, this nuanced story of hiding in plain sight may have readers thinking about homelessness in a whole new way.]]>
384 Jennifer Richard Jacobson 0763663239 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.14 2015 Paper Things
author: Jennifer Richard Jacobson
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe]]> 58284109 The staggering story of an unlikely band of mothers in the 1970s who discovered Hooker Chemical's deadly secret of Love Canal--exposing one of America's most devastating toxic waste disasters and sparking the modern environmental movement as we know it today.

Lois Gibbs, Luella Kenny, and other mothers loved their neighborhood on the east side of Niagara Falls. It had an elementary school, a playground, and rows of affordable homes. But in the spring of 1977, pungent odors began to seep into these little houses, and it didn't take long for worried mothers to identify the curious scent. It was the sickly sweet smell of chemicals.

In this propulsive work of narrative storytelling, NYT journalist Keith O'Brien uncovers how Gibbs and Kenny exposed the poisonous secrets buried in their neighborhood. The school and playground had been built atop an old canal--Love Canal, it was called--that Hooker Chemical, the city's largest employer, had quietly filled with twenty thousand tons of toxic waste in the 1940s and 1950s. This waste was now leaching to the surface, causing a public health crisis the likes of which America had never seen before and sparking new and specific fears. Luella Kenny believed the chemicals were making her son sick.

O'Brien braids together previously unknown stories of Hooker Chemical's deeds; the local newspaperman, scientist, and congressional staffer who tried to help; the city and state officials who didn't; and the heroic women who stood up to corporate and governmental indifference to save their families and their children. They would take their fight all the way to the top, winning support from the EPA, the White House, and even President Jimmy Carter. By the time it was over, they would capture America's imagination.

Sweeping and electrifying, Paradise Falls brings to life a defining story from our past, laying bare the dauntless efforts of a few women who--years before Erin Brockovich took up the mantle-- fought to rescue their community and their lives from the effects of corporate pollution and laid foundation for the modern environmental movement as we know it today.]]>
455 Keith O'Brien 0593318439 Kandyce 5 audio, high-school-librarian 4.39 2022 Paradise Falls: The True Story of an Environmental Catastrophe
author: Keith O'Brien
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/13
date added: 2025/04/14
shelves: audio, high-school-librarian
review:
Fascinating, terrifying and tragic. And ultimately� have things changed?
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Murder in the Family 63241097 A shocking thriller about a cold case, a fictional true crime series, and the family caught in the middle.

SIX EPISODES. ONE KILLER.

It was a case that gripped the nation. In December 2003, Luke Ryder, the stepfather of acclaimed filmmaker Guy Howard (then aged 10), was found dead in the garden of their suburban family home.

Luke Ryder's murder has never been solved. Everyone present around the time of the murder swears they saw nothing. Despite a high-profile police investigation and endless media attention, no suspect was ever charged.

But some murder cases are simply too big to forget...

Now comes the sensational new Netflix series Infamous, dedicated to investigating--and perhaps cracking--this famous cold case. The production team will re-examine testimony, re-interview witnesses, and once again scour the evidence. The family will speak. The key players will be reunited--on camera. The truth will come out.

Are you ready to see it?]]>
466 Cara Hunter 0063272075 Kandyce 3 audio, high-school-librarian 3.70 2023 Murder in the Family
author: Cara Hunter
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/08
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: audio, high-school-librarian
review:
I wasn’t sure about the set-up, reading about the staging of a show, but I ended up enjoying it. I wish I had read instead of listened, there were multiple times I wanted to peek back to clarify.
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I Was a Teenage Slasher 199798522 Lamesa, Texas, July 1989

It’s the summer before senior year for best friends Tolly Driver and Amber Dennison. They’re not in the marching band, they’re not in the FFA � they don’t really count. Amber’s the only Native student in town, and Tolly’s only on the radar due to his father’s recent death.

This is all about to change.

Bodies are going to be dropping fast in this small West Texas town. For a few unbearably hot days that will resonate through the decades and even get made into a TV movie, Tolly and Amber will be famous. Notorious even. Finally, everyone will know their names.

This is Stephen Graham Jones x-raying the slasher genre, interrogating its motivations over the shoulder and in the voice of the killer itself � from a town he did some growing up in, in a year he was also seventeen.

The kills will be poignant, the jokes will hurt, and the violence will be endearing. Everything’s turned around for Tolly, for Amber � for all of Lamesa, Texas.

Be happy you weren’t there.

Be happy you’re only reading about it.]]>
373 Stephen Graham Jones 1668022249 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.54 2024 I Was a Teenage Slasher
author: Stephen Graham Jones
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Epic Story of Every Living Thing]]> 58916345 From the award-winning author of Honey, Baby, Sweetheart comes a gorgeous and fiercely feminist young adult novel. When a teen travels to Hawaii to track down her sperm donor father, she discovers the truth about him, about the sunken shipwreck that’s become his obsession, and most of all about herself.

Harper Proulx has lived her whole life with unanswered questions about her anonymous sperm donor father. She's convinced that without knowing him, she can't know herself. When a chance Instagram post connects Harper to a half sibling, that connection yields many more and ultimately leads Harper to uncover her father's identity.

So, fresh from a painful breakup and still reeling with anxiety that reached a lifetime high during the pandemic, Harper joins her newfound half siblings on a voyage to Hawaii to face their father. The events of that summer, and the man they discover—a charismatic deep-sea diver obsessed with solving the mystery of a fragile sunken shipwreck—will force Harper to face some even bigger questions: Who is she? Is she her DNA, her experiences, her successes, her failures? Is she the things she loves—or the things she hates? Who she is in dark times? Who she might become after them?]]>
416 Deb Caletti 0593485505 Kandyce 4 high-school-librarian, audio 3.81 2022 The Epic Story of Every Living Thing
author: Deb Caletti
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: high-school-librarian, audio
review:
At first, I wasn't sure about the premise for this one, but overall I liked it. A coming of age story with some unique modern twists.
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Winter's Tale 12967 New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One night in winter, Peter Lake, orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side.

Though he thinks the house is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the love between Peter Lake, a middle-aged Irish burglar, and Beverly Penn, a young girl, who is dying.

Peter Lake, a simple, uneducated man, because of a love that, at first he does not fully understand, is driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle, in a city ever alight with its own energy and besieged by unprecedented winters, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature.

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769 Mark Helprin 0156031191 Kandyce 2 audio 3.55 1983 Winter's Tale
author: Mark Helprin
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1983
rating: 2
read at: 2025/04/01
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: audio
review:
Beautiful language wrapped around a story I had a difficult time caring about.
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A Sea of Unspoken Things 207677131 A woman investigates her brother's mysterious death while coming to terms with her own haunting past in this atmospheric novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unmaking of June Farrow

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

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

But James soon discovers that the strange connection she had with Johnny isn’t quite gone, and the more she immerses herself into his world, the more questions she has about the brother she thought she knew. Johnny was keeping secrets, and he’s not the only one. What she uncovers will push her to unravel what happened in the days before Johnny’s death, but in the end, she’ll have to decide which truths should come to light, and which should stay buried forever.]]>
288 Adrienne Young 0593598709 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.69 2025 A Sea of Unspoken Things
author: Adrienne Young
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/27
shelves: to-read
review:

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Drown 26115647 Three ghostly sirens.
A beautiful, malicious witch haunted by memories.
A handsome, self-harming prince.

"...A refreshing mermaid novel...it completely rewrites the mythology found in so many other books." - Oprah Daily

Belonging to a race that is mostly animal with little humanity, a world obsessed with beauty where morality holds no sway, a little mermaid escapes to the ocean’s surface. Discovering music, a magnificent palace of glass and limestone, and a troubled human prince, she is driven by love to consult the elusive sea-witch who secretly dominates the entire species of merfolk. Upon paying an enormous price for her humanity, the little mermaid begins a new life, uncovering secrets of sexuality and the Immortal Soul. As a deadly virus threatens to contaminate the bloodstreams of the whole merfolk race, the little mermaid must choose between the lives of her people, the man she loves, or herself.

A complete reinvention of Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale, this is a magical-realist fable that captures the essence of sacrifice and the price of humanity.]]>
260 Esther Dalseno 3000505407 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.76 2015 Drown
author: Esther Dalseno
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/26
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession]]> 62873378 One of the most remarkable true-crime narratives of the twenty-first the story of the world’s most prolific art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser.

In this spellbinding portrait of obsession and flawed genius, the best-selling author of The Stranger in the Woods brings us into Breitwieser’s strange world—unlike most thieves, he never stole for money, keeping all his treasures in a single room where he could admire them.

For centuries, works of art have been stolen in countless ways from all over the world, but no one has been quite as successful at it as the master thief Stéphane Breitwieser. Carrying out more than two hundred heists over nearly eight years—in museums and cathedrals all over Europe—Breitwieser, along with his girlfriend who worked as his lookout, stole more than three hundred objects, until it all fell apart in spectacular fashion.

In The Art Thief, Michael Finkel brings us into Breitwieser’s strange and fascinating world. Unlike most thieves, Breitwieser never stole for money. Instead, he displayed all his treasures in a pair of secret rooms where he could admire them to his heart’s content. Possessed of a remarkable athleticism and an innate ability to circumvent practically any security system, Breitwieser managed to pull off a breathtaking number of audacious thefts. Yet these strange talents bred a growing disregard for risk and an addict’s need to score, leading Breitwieser to ignore his girlfriend’s pleas to stop—until one final act of hubris brought everything crashing down.

This is a riveting story of art, crime, love, and an insatiable hunger to possess beauty at any cost.]]>
224 Michael Finkel 0525657320 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.92 2023 The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession
author: Michael Finkel
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

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Keep It in the Family 60109530
Mia and Finn are busy turning a derelict house into their dream home when Mia unexpectedly falls pregnant. But just when they think the house is ready, Mia discovers a chilling message scored into a skirting board: I WILL SAVE THEM FROM THE ATTIC. Following the clue up into the eaves, the couple make a gruesome discovery: their dream home was once a house of horrors.

In the wake of their traumatic discovery, the baby arrives and Mia can’t shake her fixation with the monstrous crimes that happened right above them. Haunted by the terrible things she saw and desperate to find answers, her obsession pulls her ever further from her husband.

Secrecy shrouds the mystery of the attic, but when shards of a dark truth start to emerge, Mia realises the danger is terrifyingly present. She is prepared to do anything to protect her family—but is it already too late?]]>
380 John Marrs 1542017289 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.08 2022 Keep It in the Family
author: John Marrs
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Willie Nelson's Letters to America]]> 55918621 It’s a Long Story, Willie Nelson now delivers his most personal and intimate thoughts and stories in Willie Nelson's Letters to America. 

From his opening letter “Dear America� to his “Dear Willie� epilogue, Willie digs deep into his heart and soul--and his music catalog--to lift us up in difficult times, and to remind us of the endless promise and continuous obligations of all Americans--to themselves, to one another, and to their nation.

In a series of letters straight from the heart, Willie sends his thanks and his thoughts to

Americans past, present, and future,
his closest family members, and
his personal heroes, from our founding fathers to the leaders of future generations.
Willie’s letters are rounded out with the moving lyrics to some of his most famous and insightful songs, including “Let Me Be a Man,� “Family Bible,� “Summer of Roses,� “Me and Paul,� and “Yesterday's Wine.”]]>
272 Willie Nelson 078524154X Kandyce 4 audio 4.14 2021 Willie Nelson's Letters to America
author: Willie Nelson
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/19
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: audio
review:
Told through stories and songs, a fun listen.
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<![CDATA[The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway]]> 60784567
Meeting Arthur, the son of the new owners and an actual lute-playing bard, messes up Maddie’s plans even more. For some reason, he wants to be her friend - and ropes her into becoming Princess of the Faire. Now Maddie is overseeing a faire dramatically changed from what her mother loved and going on road trips vastly different from the routine she used to rely on. Worst of all, she’s kind of having fun.

Ashley Schumacher's The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway is filled with a wise old magician who sells potion bottles, gallant knights who are afraid of horses and ride camels instead, kings with a fondness for theatrics, a lazy river castle moat with inflatable crocodile floaties, and a plus-sized heroine with a wide-open heart... if only she just admits it.]]>
320 Ashley Schumacher 1250840244 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.86 2023 The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway
author: Ashley Schumacher
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Otherwhere Post 214268980 The New York Times bestselling author of Hotel Magnifique returns with another glittering dark fantasy about a deadly mystery that spans worlds and a teenage girl who must risk everything to uncover the truth.

Seven years ago, Maeve Abenthy lost her world, her father, even her name. Desperate to escape the stain of her father’s crimes, she lives under a fake name, never staying in one place long enough to put down roots.

Then she receives a mysterious letter with four impossible words Your father was innocent.

To uncover the truth, she poses as an apprentice for the Otherwhere Post, where she’ll be trained in the art of scriptomancy—the dangerous magic that allows couriers to enchant letters and deliver them to other worlds. But looking into her father’s past draws more attention than she’d planned.

Her secretive, infuriatingly handsome mentor knows she’s lying about her identity, and time is running out to convince him to trust her. Worse, she begins to receive threatening letters, warning her to drop her investigation�or else. For Maeve to unravel the mystery of what happened seven years ago, she may have to forfeit her life.]]>
400 Emily J. Taylor 0593404548 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.04 2025 The Otherwhere Post
author: Emily J. Taylor
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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When the Bones Sing 214268996 From New York Times bestselling author of Dark and Shallow Lies comes a new southern gothic supernatural thriller about a teen girl in a small Ozark town who can hear the bones of the dead.

The past three years have been tough for Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, a small town quietly tucked away in the Ozark mountains. More than two dozen people have disappeared on the local hiking trails; there one moment, gone the next, not a trace left behind, until their buried bodies are discovered.

17-year-old Dovie doesn’t believe in magic even though she comes from a long line of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing, and for the past few years the bones have been crooning nonstop, calling out to Dovie to dig them up.

Some of the old-timers believe that it’s the monstrous Ozarks howler snatching people off the Aux Arc Trail. Well Dovie doesn’t believe in the howler, and she doesn’t believe her best friend Lo when he tells her he is being haunted by dark shadows. All she believes in is her talent that guides the local sheriff to the bones when they begin their song, then reuniting the dead with their families to give them some peace.

Lo doesn’t know peace, though. The shadows follow him everywhere. He soon learns they’re the murdered hikers and they want answers. But the truth of their deaths isn’t buried with their bones; it’s hidden somewhere deep in the hills. And Lo and Dovie must unearth it before anyone else is killed.]]>
342 Ginny Myers Sain 059362548X Kandyce 0 to-read 4.02 2025 When the Bones Sing
author: Ginny Myers Sain
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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Old God's Time 61358640 From the two-time Booker Prize finalist author, a dazzlingly written novel exploring love, memory, grief, and long-buried secrets

Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, a lean-to annexed to a Victorian castle overlooking the Irish Sea. For months he has barely seen a soul, catching only glimpses of his eccentric landlord and a nervous young mother who has moved in next door. Occasionally, fond memories return, of his family, his beloved wife June and their two children, Winnie and Joe.

But when two former colleagues turn up at his door with questions about a decades-old case, one which Tom never quite came to terms with, he finds himself pulled into the darkest currents of his past.

A beautiful, haunting novel, in which nothing is quite as it seems, Old God's Time is about what we live through, what we live with, and what may survive of us.]]>
261 Sebastian Barry 0593296109 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.76 2023 Old God's Time
author: Sebastian Barry
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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That Old Country Music 52855542 A collection of short stories of rural Ireland in the classic Irish mode: full of love (and sex), melancholy and magic, bedecked in some of the most gorgeous prose being written today—from the author of the wildly acclaimed Night Boat to Tangier.

With three novels and two short story collections published, Kevin Barry has steadily established his stature as one of the finest writers not just in Ireland but in the English language. All of his prodigious gifts of language, character, and setting in these eleven exquisite stories transport the reader to an Ireland both timeless and recognizably modern. Shot through with dark humor and the uncanny power of the primal and unchanging Irish landscape, the stories in That Old Country Music represent some of the finest fiction being written today.]]>
191 Kevin Barry 0385540337 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.88 2020 That Old Country Music
author: Kevin Barry
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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Dirty Laundry 61327484 A twisty, domestic suspense debut about a clique of mothers that shatters when one of their own is murdered, bringing chaos to their curated lives.

She was the perfect wife, with the perfect life. You would kill to have it...

Ciara Dunphy has it all--a loving husband, well-behaved children, and a beautiful home. Her circle of friends in their small Irish village go to her for tips about mothering, style, and influencer success--a picture-perfect life is easy money on Instagram. But behind the filters, reality is less polished.

Enter Mishti Guha: Ciara's best friend. Ciara welcomed Mishti into her inner circle for being... unlike the other mothers in the group. But, discontent in a marriage arranged for her through her parents back in Calcutta, Mishti now raises her young daughter in a country that is too cold, among the children of her new friends who look nothing like her. She just wants what Ciara has--the ease with which she moves through the world--and in that sense, Mishti might be exactly like the other mothers.

And there's earth mother Lauren Doyle, born, bred, and the butt of jokes in their village. With her disheveled partner and children who run naked in the yard, they're mostly a happy lot, though unsurprisingly ostracized for being the singular dysfunction in Ciara's immaculate world. When Lauren finds an unlikely ally in Mishti, she decides that her days of ridicule are over.

Then Ciara is found murdered in her own pristine home, and the house of cards she'd worked so hard to build comes crumbling down. Everyone seems to have something to gain from Ciara's death, so if they don't want the blame, it may be the perfect time to air their enemies' dirty laundry.

In this dazzling debut novel, Disha Bose revolutionizes age-old ideas of love and deceit. What ensues is the delicious unspooling of a group of women desperate to preserve themselves.]]>
304 Disha Bose 0593497384 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.22 2023 Dirty Laundry
author: Disha Bose
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.22
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Alternatives 192761615
The Flattery sisters were plunged prematurely into adulthood when their parents died in tragic circumstances. Now in their thirties—all single, all with PhDs—they are each attempting to do meaningful work in a rapidly foundering world. The four lead disparate, distanced lives, from classrooms in Connecticut to ritzy catering gigs in London’s Notting Hill, until one day their oldest sister, a geologist haunted by a terrible awareness of the earth’s future, abruptly vanishes from her work and home. Together for the first time in years, the Flatterys descend on the Irish countryside in search of a sister who doesn’t want to be found. Sheltered in a derelict bungalow, they reach into their common past, confronting both old wounds and a desperately uncertain future. Warm, fiercely witty, and unexpectedly hopeful, The Alternatives is an unforgettable portrait of a family perched on our collective precipice, told by one of Ireland’s most gifted storytellers.]]>
352 Caoilinn Hughes 0593545001 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.40 2024 The Alternatives
author: Caoilinn Hughes
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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Broken Country 214151202 “The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.�

Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.

As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.

A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.]]>
320 Clare Leslie Hall 166807818X Kandyce 0 to-read 4.40 2025 Broken Country
author: Clare Leslie Hall
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

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What Lies in the Woods 60784373
For decades afterward, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods―no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.]]>
336 Kate Alice Marshall 1250859883 Kandyce 4 audio 3.93 2023 What Lies in the Woods
author: Kate Alice Marshall
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves: audio
review:
Twisty-Turny� some good plot twists.
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Nineteen Minutes 14866
Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens -- until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest of friendships and families.

Nineteen Minutes is New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and important novel yet. Told with the straightforward style for which she has become known, it asks simple questions that have no easy answers: Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who -- if anyone -- has the right to judge someone else?]]>
440 Jodi Picoult 0743496728 Kandyce 5

Reread March 2025� for library. This book has so many important issues, bullying, relationships. I’m reminded of how well Picoult gives different perspectives. ]]>
4.16 2007 Nineteen Minutes
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/13
date added: 2025/03/13
shelves:
review:
Made me pause and think about how/if I am really listening to my kids and also take a closer look at how kids get treated at school.


Reread March 2025� for library. This book has so many important issues, bullying, relationships. I’m reminded of how well Picoult gives different perspectives.
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The House of Eve 176443755
“A triumph of historical fiction� ( The Washington Post ), an instant New York Times bestseller, and a Reese’s Book Club pick, set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

1950s fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his parents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.]]>
384 Sadeqa Johnson 1982197374 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.24 2023 The House of Eve
author: Sadeqa Johnson
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Because of Mr. Terupt (Mr. Terupt, #1)]]> 7783920 Jessica, the new girl, smart and perceptive, who’s having a hard time fitting in; Alexia, a bully, your friend one second, your enemy the next; Peter, class prankster and troublemaker; Luke, the brain; Danielle, who never stands up for herself; shy Anna, whose home situation makes her an outcast; and Jeffrey, who hates school.

Only Mr. Terupt, their new and energetic teacher, seems to know how to deal with them all. He makes the classroom a fun place, even if he doesn’t let them get away with much . . . until the snowy winter day when an accident changes everything—and everyone.

--jacket description]]>
269 Rob Buyea 038573882X Kandyce 4 audio 4.34 2010 Because of Mr. Terupt (Mr. Terupt, #1)
author: Rob Buyea
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: audio
review:

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The House We Grew Up In 39095097
Then one Easter weekend, tragedy comes to call. The event is so devastating that, almost imperceptibly, it begins to tear the family apart. Years pass as the children become adults, find new relationships, and develop their own separate lives. Soon it seems as though they've never been a family at all. But then something happens that calls them back to the house they grew up in -- and to what really happened that Easter weekend so many years ago.

Told in gorgeous, insightful prose that delves deeply into the hearts and minds of its characters, The House We Grew Up In is the captivating story of one family's desire to restore long-forgotten peace and to unearth the many secrets hidden within the nooks and crannies of home.]]>
416 Lisa Jewell 1476776865 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.83 2013 The House We Grew Up In
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Absolution (Children's House, #3)]]> 45046762 The Absolution is the third installment in Queen of Icelandic crime fiction Yrsa Sigurdardóttir's series about the psychologist Freyja and the police officer Huldar.

The police find out about the crime the way everyone does: on Snapchat. The video shows a terrified young woman begging for forgiveness. When her body is found, it is marked with a number "2".

Detective Huldar joins the investigation, bringing child psychologist Freyja on board to help question the murdered teenager's friends. Soon, they uncover that Stella was far from the angel people claim, but who could have hated her enough to kill?

Then another teenager goes missing, more clips are sent to social media, and the body with a "3" is found. Freyja and Huldar can agree on two things at least: the truth is far from simple. The killer is not done yet. And is there an undiscovered body carrying the number "1" out there?]]>
368 Yrsa Sigurdardottir 125013630X Kandyce 4 audio 3.90 2016 The Absolution (Children's House, #3)
author: Yrsa Sigurdardottir
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2025/03/03
shelves: audio
review:

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The Paris Apartment 58468990 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide�

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up � to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? � he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite � The nice guy � The alcoholic � The girl on the verge � The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.]]>
360 Lucy Foley 0063003058 Kandyce 3 audio Ok. A lot of drawn out drama. 3.62 2022 The Paris Apartment
author: Lucy Foley
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/24
date added: 2025/02/25
shelves: audio
review:
Ok. A lot of drawn out drama.
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<![CDATA[Last Night at the Telegraph Club]]> 35224992 A story of love and duty set in San Francisco's Chinatown during the Red Scare.

“That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other.� And then Lily asked the question that had taken root in her, that was even now unfurling its leaves and demanding to be shown the sun: “Have you ever heard of such a thing?�

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.

America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.]]>
409 Malinda Lo 0525555250 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.21 2021 Last Night at the Telegraph Club
author: Malinda Lo
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Me vs Brain: An Overthinker’s Guide to Life]]> 60555269 Me: No don't say that, I've not got time for this!
Brain: The house is probably on fire!
Me: Stop it, I need to write this book description.
Brain: But the blazing fire.
Me: We didn't even use the oven today.
Brain: But what if -
Me: No. We're not doing this, I'm finishing this description.

Hello there! Hayley Morris here. Or you might know me as the Brain Girl, and don't be fooled...it's not because I'm outrageously smart. Just an avid overthinker. I'm on a mission to prove once and for all that You. Are. Normal. Running through imaginary arguments whilst showering, hiding your knickers in the nurse's office before they look directly into your vagina, or not knowing how to be a normal human when you have the plumber over. I've spent the majority of my life saying and doing embarrassing things that wake me up in a cold sweat at 3am as my Brain reminds me of every minor detail.

In this book, I've overthought absolutely everything so you don't have to. I'll be talking about everything from dating to discharge, mental health to menstrual cups. I might not be able to banish your anxiety or make you feel 100% comfortable in your skin, but I hope I can at least give you a break from the constant brain chatter and we can rejoice and laugh at how similar we actually all are.]]>
304 Hayley Morris Kandyce 0 to-read 3.86 Me vs Brain: An Overthinker’s Guide to Life
author: Hayley Morris
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.86
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/22
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Hometown Betrayal: A Tragic Story of Secrecy and Sexual Abuse in Mormon Country]]> 220300842 No one believed it could happen in their town.

Valarie Clark Miller seemed to have it all. Smart, beautiful, and athletic, with a wealthy, successful husband and growing family, Valarie appeared to be the picture-perfect Mormon wife. But it was all a façade. Inside, she was crumbling from the pressures of long-repressed memories of a childhood plagued with sexual and physical abuse.

In Hometown Betrayal, author Emily Benedek brings you behind the closed doors of the remote Mormon community of Clarkston, Utah. With the help of hundreds of individual stories, she pieces together not only what happened to Valarie, but also the conditions and culture that allowed it. Hometown Betrayal culminates in an account of the Miller family’s fight to hold accountable the men—including the local cop-- who abused Valarie and controlled the systems designed to look the other way.]]>
Emily Benedek Kandyce 0 to-read 3.96 Hometown Betrayal: A Tragic Story of Secrecy and Sexual Abuse in Mormon Country
author: Emily Benedek
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.96
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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Manacled 52122096
Fanfiction for Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling.
Words: 370,256]]>
925 SenLinYu Kandyce 0 to-read 4.64 2019 Manacled
author: SenLinYu
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.64
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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The House of Eve 61273858 From the award-winning author of Yellow Wife, a daring and redemptive novel set in 1950s Philadelphia and Washington, DC, that explores what it means to be a woman and a mother, and how much one is willing to sacrifice to achieve her greatest goal.

1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright.

Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his par­ents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done.

With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives.]]>
384 Sadeqa Johnson 1982197366 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.23 2023 The House of Eve
author: Sadeqa Johnson
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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A Flicker in the Dark 57693172
Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren't really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?

In a debut novel that has already been optioned for a limited series by actress Emma Stone and sold to a dozen countries around the world, Stacy Willingham has created an unforgettable character in a spellbinding thriller that will appeal equally to fans of Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.]]>
357 Stacy Willingham 1250803829 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.96 2022 A Flicker in the Dark
author: Stacy Willingham
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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Hidden Pictures 58724923 A wildly inventive spin on the supernatural thriller, about a woman working as a nanny for a young boy with strange and disturbing secrets.

Mallory Quinn is fresh out of rehab when she takes a job as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves it. She has her own living space, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

Then, Teddy’s artwork becomes increasingly sinister, and his stick figures quickly evolve into lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to wonder if these are glimpses of a long-unsolved murder, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force.

Knowing just how crazy it all sounds, Mallory nevertheless sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy before it’s too late.]]>
372 Jason Rekulak 1250819342 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.12 2022 Hidden Pictures
author: Jason Rekulak
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Part of Your World (Part of Your World, #1)]]> 58684524
While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere� ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

The New York Times bestselling author of Life's Too Short delivers a refreshingly modern fairy tale perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Emily Henry.]]>
389 Abby Jimenez 1538704374 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.26 2022 Part of Your World (Part of Your World, #1)
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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Like a Love Story 40190305
Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He's terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he's gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media's images of men dying of AIDS.

Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance...until she falls for Reza and they start dating.

Art is Judy's best friend, their school's only out and proud teen. He'll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs.

As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won't break Judy's heart--and destroy the most meaningful friendship he's ever known.]]>
432 Abdi Nazemian Kandyce 0 to-read 4.25 2019 Like a Love Story
author: Abdi Nazemian
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/21
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War]]> 37542581
Gordijevski käveli rauhallisesti lentokentän turvatarkastuksen läpi, mutta tyynen ulkokuoren alla kalvoi pelko. Kutsussa Moskovaan oli ollut jotain outoa, ja Gordijevskilla oli hyvä syy olla huolissaan: Neuvostoliiton uskollinen palvelija oli toiminut jo vuosia kaksoisagenttina Britannian hyväksi. Jos hän oli paljastunut, Moskovassa odotti varma kuolema.

Vakooja ja petturi on päätähuimaava tositarina petoksesta, rohkeudesta ja luopumisen tuskasta. Yksikään vakooja ei onnistunut tunkeutumaan yhtä syvälle KGB:n ytimeen ja välittämään yhtä tärkeitä tietoja lännelle kuin Oleg Gordijevski - nämä tiedot muuttivat koko kylmän sodan suunnan. Hinta oli kuitenkin kova.

Vakooja ja petturi voitti vuonna 2019 CWA:n Kultaisen tikarin parhaasta rikostietokirjasta.]]>
384 Ben Macintyre 0771060335 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.48 2018 The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War
author: Ben Macintyre
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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In the Likely Event 127152907
Then she spots her seatmate, who is anything but ordinary. Nate Phelan sports dark hair, blue eyes, and a deliciously rugged charm that Izzy can’t resist. Their connection is undeniable. Izzy never believed in destiny before, but she does now.

Just ninety seconds after takeoff, their plane goes down in the Missouri River.

Their lives change. They change. Nate goes on to a career in the military while Izzy finds her way into politics. Despite a few chance encounters over the years, the timing never feels right.

Then comes a high-stakes reunion in Afghanistan, where Nate is tasked with protecting Izzy’s life.

He’ll do anything to keep her safe. And everything to win her heart.]]>
348 Rebecca Yarros 1662511566 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.22 2023 In the Likely Event
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Last Letter 40045986
Beckett,

If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have.

I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride.

My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. It’s not fair.

And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart. She’s going to need help.

So if I’m gone, that means I can’t be there for Ella. I can’t help them through this. But you can. So I’m begging you, as my best friend, go take care of my sister, my family.

Please don’t make her go through it alone.

Ryan]]>
426 Rebecca Yarros 1640635335 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.43 2019 The Last Letter
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Things We Leave Unfinished]]> 53345408 Told in alternating timelines, The Things We Leave Unfinished examines the risks we take for love, the scars too deep to heal, and the endings we can’t bring ourselves to see coming.

Twenty-eight-year-old Georgia Stanton has to start over after she gave up almost everything in a brutal divorce—the New York house, the friends, and her pride. Now back home at her late great-grandmother’s estate in Colorado, she finds herself face-to-face with Noah Harrison, the bestselling author of a million books where the cover is always people nearly kissing. He’s just as arrogant in person as in interviews, and she’ll be damned if the good-looking writer of love stories thinks he’s the one to finish her grandmother’s final novel…even if the publisher swears he’s the perfect fit.

Noah is at the pinnacle of his career. With book and movie deals galore, there isn’t much the “golden boy� of modern fiction hasn’t accomplished. But he can’t walk away from what might be the best book of the century—the one his idol, Scarlett Stanton, left unfinished. Coming up with a fitting ending for the legendary author is one thing, but dealing with her beautiful, stubborn, cynical great-granddaughter, Georgia, is quite another.

But as they read Scarlett’s words in both the manuscript and her box of letters, they start to realize why Scarlett never finished the book—it’s based on her real-life romance with a World War II pilot, and the ending isn’t a happy one. Georgia knows all too well that love never works out, and while the chemistry and connection between her and Noah is undeniable, she’s as determined as ever to learn from her great-grandmother’s mistakes—even if it means destroying Noah’s career.]]>
473 Rebecca Yarros 1682815889 Kandyce 5 All the feels, loved it! 4.46 2021 The Things We Leave Unfinished
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/18
shelves:
review:
All the feels, loved it!
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The Book of Cold Cases 58371432
Oregon, 2017. Shea Collins is a receptionist, but by night, she runs a true crime website, the Book of Cold Cases--a passion fueled by the attempted abduction she escaped as a child. When she meets Beth by chance, Shea asks her for an interview. To Shea's surprise, Beth says yes.

They meet regularly at Beth's mansion, though Shea is never comfortable there. Items move when she's not looking, and she could swear she's seen a girl outside the window. The allure of learning the truth about the case from the smart, charming Beth is too much to resist, but even as they grow closer, Shea senses something isn't right. Is she making friends with a manipulative murderer, or are there other dangers lurking in the darkness of the Greer house?

A true crime blogger gets more than she bargained for while interviewing the woman acquitted of two cold case slayings in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel.]]>
344 Simone St. James 0440000211 Kandyce 3 audio 3.76 2022 The Book of Cold Cases
author: Simone St. James
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: audio
review:

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The Let Them Theory 216351768
If you've ever felt stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated with where you are, the problem isn't you. The problem is the power you give to other people. Two simple words�Let Them—will set you free. Free from the opinions, drama, and judgments of others. Free from the exhausting cycle of trying to manage everything and everyone around you. The Let Them Theory puts the power to create a life you love back in your hands—and this book will show you exactly how to do it.

In her latest groundbreaking book, The Let Them Theory, Mel Robbins�New York Times bestselling author and one of the world's most respected experts on motivation, confidence, and mindset—teaches you how to stop wasting energy on what you can't control and start focusing on what truly YOU. Your happiness. Your goals. Your life.

Using the same no-nonsense, science-backed approach that's made The Mel Robbins Podcast a global sensation, Robbins explains why The Let Them Theory is already loved by millions and how you can apply it in eight key areas of your life to make the biggest impact. Within a few pages, you'll realize how much energy and time you've been wasting trying to control the wrong things—at work, in relationships, and in pursuing your goals—and how this is keeping you from the happiness and success you deserve.

Written as an easy-to-understand guide, Robbins shares relatable stories from her own life, highlights key takeaways, relevant research and introduces you to world-renowned experts in psychology, neuroscience, relationships, happiness, and ancient wisdom who champion The Let Them Theory every step of the way.

Learn how

Stop wasting energy on things you can't control Stop comparing yourself to other peopleBreak free from fear and self-doubtRelease the grip of people's expectationsBuild the best friendships of your lifeCreate the love you deservePursue what truly matters to you with confidenceBuild resilience against everyday stressors and distractionsDefine your own path to success, joy, and fulfillment. . . and so much more.

The Let Them Theory will forever change the way you think about relationships, control, and personal power. Whether you want to advance your career, motivate others to change, take creative risks, find deeper connections, build better habits, start a new chapter, or simply create more happiness in your life and relationships, this book gives you the mindset and tools to unlock your full potential.

Order your copy of The Let Them Theory now and discover how much power you truly have. It all begins with two simple words.]]>
311 Mel Robbins 1401971377 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.16 2024 The Let Them Theory
author: Mel Robbins
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/14
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Tell Me Everything (Amgash, #5)]]> 204811915 People) of a novel about new friendships, old loves, and the very human desire to leave a mark on the world.

With her remarkable insight into the human condition and silences that contain multitudes, Elizabeth Strout returns to the town of Crosby, Maine, and to her beloved cast of characters—Lucy Barton, Olive Kitteridge, Bob Burgess, and more—as they deal with a shocking crime in their midst, fall in love and yet choose to be apart, and grapple with the question, as Lucy Barton puts it, “What does anyone’s life mean?�

It’s autumn in Maine, and the town lawyer Bob Burgess has become enmeshed in an unfolding murder investigation, defending a lonely, isolated man accused of killing his mother. He has also fallen into a deep and abiding friendship with the acclaimed writer Lucy Barton, who lives down the road in a house by the sea with her ex-husband, William. Together, Lucy and Bob go on walks and talk about their lives, their fears and regrets, and what might have been. Lucy, meanwhile, is finally introduced to the iconic Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement community on the edge of town. They spend afternoons together in Olive’s apartment, telling each other stories. Stories about people they have known—“unrecorded lives,� Olive calls them—reanimating them, and, in the process, imbuing their lives with meaning.

Brimming with empathy and pathos, Tell Me Everything is Elizabeth Strout operating at the height of her powers, illuminating the ways in which our relationships keep us afloat. As Lucy says, “Love comes in so many different forms, but it is always love.”]]>
326 Elizabeth Strout 0593446097 Kandyce 4
*Falslev rec.]]>
3.98 2024 Tell Me Everything (Amgash, #5)
author: Elizabeth Strout
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: audio, recommended, recommended-by
review:
At first I didn’t like it� It felt like an episode of Seinfeld, without the humor. A book about nothing and everything, but each story draws you in a little further. ‘Life is life�

*Falslev rec.
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The Seven Year Slip 62926938 An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.

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

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

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

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

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

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.]]>
336 Ashley Poston Kandyce 0 to-read 4.17 2023 The Seven Year Slip
author: Ashley Poston
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/07
shelves: to-read
review:

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The Kitchen House 6837103
Eventually, Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, where the master is absent and the mistress battles opium addiction. Lavinia finds herself perilously straddling two very different worlds. When she is forced to make a choice, loyalties are brought into question, dangerous truths are laid bare, and lives are put at risk.]]>
369 Kathleen Grissom 1439153663 Kandyce 3 4.21 2010 The Kitchen House
author: Kathleen Grissom
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves:
review:
I started out really enjoying the story, ultimately it fell a little flat, the central story was drawn out and then ending felt rushed and a bit over the top.
]]>
Sogið (Children's House, #2) 27830554
Hér stíga fram á sviðið sömu aðalpersónur og í síðustu bók Yrsu Sigurðardóttur, DNA, bestu íslensku glæpasögunni árið 2014.

Sogið er ellefta glæpasaga Yrsu en Þriðja táknið kom út fyrir nákvæmlega tíu árum. Á þessum tíma hefur hún í tvígang fengið Blóðdropann fyrir bestu íslensku glæpasöguna og í fyrra átti hún bestu norrænu glæpasöguna í Bretlandi.]]>
368 Yrsa Sigurdardottir 9935475182 Kandyce 5 audio 3.91 2015 Sogið (Children's House, #2)
author: Yrsa Sigurdardottir
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/02
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: audio
review:
Intriguing� she draws me in immediately. The narration is captivating and the plot is like a train wreck, you can’t look away.
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<![CDATA[Thieves' Gambit (Thieves' Gambit, #1)]]> 112974911 The Inheritance Games meets Ocean's Eleven in this cinematic heist thriller where a cutthroat competition brings together the world's best thieves and one thief is playing for the highest stakes of all: her mother's life.

At only seventeen years old, Ross Quest is already a master thief, especially adept at escape plans. Until her plan to run away from her legendary family of thieves takes an unexpected turn, leaving her mother's life hanging in the balance.

In a desperate bid, she enters the Thieves' Gambit, a series of dangerous, international heists where killing the competition isn't exactly off limits, but the grand prize is a wish for anything in the world--a wish that could save her mom. When she learns two of her competitors include her childhood nemesis and a handsome, smooth-talking guy who might also want to steal her heart, winning the Gambit becomes trickier than she imagined.

Ross tries her best to stick to the family creed: trust no one whose last name isn't Quest. But with the stakes this high, Ross will have to decide who to con and who to trust before time runs out. After all, only one of them can win.]]>
384 Kayvion Lewis 0593625366 Kandyce 0 to-read, beehive-nominee 3.86 2023 Thieves' Gambit (Thieves' Gambit, #1)
author: Kayvion Lewis
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read, beehive-nominee
review:

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Such Charming Liars 201055456 The newest mystery from the author One of Us Is Lying, the Queen of thrillers, Karen M. McManus! When mother-daughter grifters set out on their final job, the heist gets deadly and dangerously personal.

For all of Kat’s life, it’s just been her and her mother, Jamie—except for the forty-eight hours when Jamie was married and Kat had a stepbrother, Liam. That all ended in an epic divorce, and Kat and Liam haven’t spoken since.

Now Jamie is a jewel thief trying to go straight, but she has one last job—at billionaire Ross Sutherland’s birthday party. And Kat has figured out a way to tag along. What Kat doesn’t know, though, is that there are two surprise guests at the dazzling Sutherland compound that weekend. The last two people she wants to run into. Liam and his father—a serial scammer who has his sights set on Ross Sutherland’s youngest daughter.

Kat and Liam are on a collision course to disaster, and when a Sutherland dies, they realize they might actually be in the killer’s crosshairs themselves. Somehow Kat and Liam are the new targets, and they can’t trust anyone—except each other.

Or can they? Because if there’s one thing both Kat and Liam know, it’s how to lie. They learned from the best.]]>
320 Karen M. McManus 0241676983 Kandyce 0 to-read, beehive-nominee 3.71 2024 Such Charming Liars
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read, beehive-nominee
review:

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Never Lie 62080187 Không may thay, một cơn bão tuyết d� dội ập tới khiến h� không còn cơ hội đi khỏi cho đến khi gọi được xe cứu h�. Trong lúc tìm kiếm chút gì đó đ� giải trí trong căn nhà rộng lớn và lạnh lẽo, Tricia tình c� phát hiện một căn phòng bí mật. Một căn phòng chứa hàng giá các cuộn băng ghi âm của tất c� các bệnh nhân mà bác sĩ Hale từng chữa tr�. Tò mò m� chúng lên nghe, cô phát hiện ra chuỗi s� kiện kinh hoàng dẫn đến s� mất tích bí ẩn của Tiến sĩ Hale và nhận ra rằng trang viên này không h� đẹp đ� như cô nghĩ.
Với những cú ngoặt bất ng� khiến độc gi� sửng sốt tới tận trang cuối cùng, Freida McFadden một lần nữa khẳng định tài năng xây dựng cốt truyện bậc thầy cùng k� năng miêu t� tâm lý đỉnh cao của một trong những nhà văn trinh thám được yêu thích nhất hiện nay.]]>
286 Freida McFadden Kandyce 0 to-read, recommended 4.09 2022 Never Lie
author: Freida McFadden
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read, recommended
review:

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Kill Her Twice 194803808
The sisters suspect Lulu's death is the result of foul play, but the LAPD—known for being corrupt to the core—doesn't seem motivated to investigate. Even worse, there are signs that point to the possibility of a police cover-up, and powerful forces in the city want to frame the killing as evidence that Chinatown is a den of iniquity and crime, even more reason it should be demolished to make room for the construction of a new railway depot, Union Station.

Worried that neither the police nor the papers will treat a Chinese girl fairly—no matter how famous and wealthy—the sisters set out to solve their friend’s murder themselves, and maybe save their neighborhood in the bargain. But with Lulu’s killer still on the loose, the girls� investigation just might put them square in the crosshairs of a coldblooded murderer.]]>
390 Stacey Lee 059353204X Kandyce 0 to-read, beehive-nominee 3.74 2024 Kill Her Twice
author: Stacey Lee
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read, beehive-nominee
review:

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

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

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

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

Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare -- now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate...]]>
320 Ann Liang 1338827154 Kandyce 0 to-read, beehive-nominee 4.17 2024 I Hope This Doesn't Find You
author: Ann Liang
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/29
shelves: to-read, beehive-nominee
review:

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<![CDATA[Ghosts Of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad]]> 40796036 A history of the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, helping to forge modern America only to disappear into the shadows of history until now.

From across the sea, they came by the thousands, escaping war and poverty in southern China to seek their fortunes in America. Converging on the enormous western worksite of the Transcontinental Railroad, the migrants spent years dynamiting tunnels through the snow-packed cliffs of the Sierra Nevada and laying tracks across the burning Utah desert. Their sweat and blood fueled the ascent of an interlinked, industrial United States. But those of them who survived this perilous effort would suffer a different kind of death—a historical one, as they were pushed first to the margins of American life and then to the fringes of public memory. 

In this account, Gordon H. Chang draws on unprecedented research to recover the Chinese railroad workers� stories and celebrate their role in remaking America.]]>
320 Gordon H. Chang 1328618579 Kandyce 3 high-school-librarian
Teacher Book Club]]>
3.84 2019 Ghosts Of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad
author: Gordon H. Chang
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/22
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: high-school-librarian
review:
I had a little knowledge about the Chinese who worked on the railroad, but it was interesting to hear the story with the background of where they had come from.

Teacher Book Club
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Brúðan (Children's House, #5) 42857626
Í Brúðunni eru Huldar lögreglumaður og Freyja sálfræðingur í aðalhlutverki í magnaðri glæpasögu. Sagan talar beint inn í samtímann, rétt eins og fyrri bækur Yrsu Sigurðardóttur þar sem Huldar og Freyja eru aðalpersónur. Bækurnar um þau hafa fengið fádæma lof og hlotið ýmis verðlaun á alþjóðavettvangi.]]>
359 Yrsa Sigurdardottir 9935495264 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.62 2018 Brúðan (Children's House, #5)
author: Yrsa Sigurdardottir
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Gallows Rock (Children's House, #4)]]> 45784429 On a jagged, bleak lava field just outside Reykjavik stands the Gallows Rock. Once a place of execution, it is now a tourist attraction. Until this morning, when a man was found hanging from it...

The nail embedded in his chest proves it wasn't suicide. But when the police go to his flat, a further puzzle awaits: a four-year-old boy has been left there. He doesn't seem to have any link with the victim, his parents cannot be found, and his drawings show he witnessed something terrible.

As detective Huldar hunts the killer, and child psychologist Freyja looks for the boy's parents, the mystery unfolds: a story of violence, entitlement, and revenge.

]]>
416 Yrsa Sigurdardottir Kandyce 0 to-read 3.98 2017 Gallows Rock (Children's House, #4)
author: Yrsa Sigurdardottir
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Legacy (Children's House, #1)]]> 34953107 The first in a stunning new series from the author of The Silence of the Sea, winner of the 2015 Petrona Award for best Scandinavian Crime Novel.

The Legacy is the first installment in a fantastic new series featuring the psychologist Freyja and the police officer Huldar.

The only person who might have the answers to a baffling murder case is the victim’s seven-year-old daughter, found hiding in the room where her mother died. And she’s not talking.

Newly-promoted, out of his depth, detective Huldar turns to Freyja for her expertise with traumatized young people. Freyja, who distrusts the police in general and Huldar in particular, isn’t best pleased. But she’s determined to keep little Margret safe.

It may prove tricky. The killer is leaving them strange clues, but can they crack the code? And if they do, will they be next?]]>
464 Yrsa Sigurdardottir 1250136261 Kandyce 5 audio 3.91 2014 The Legacy (Children's House, #1)
author: Yrsa Sigurdardottir
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/16
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: audio
review:
Couldn’t put it down. Dark and twisty.
]]>
The Man in the High Castle 216363
This harrowing, Hugo Award-winning novel is the work that established Philip K. Dick as an innovator in science fiction while breaking the barrier between science fiction and the serious novel of ideas. In it Dick offers a haunting vision of history as a nightmare from which it may just be possible to wake.]]>
259 Philip K. Dick 0679740678 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.64 1962 The Man in the High Castle
author: Philip K. Dick
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1962
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read
review:

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None of This Is True 199797783 This edition contains a bonus chapter.

Celebrating her forty-fifth birthday at her local pub, popular podcaster Alix Summer crosses paths with an unassuming woman called Josie Fair. Josie, it turns out, is also celebrating her forty-fifth birthday. They are, in fact, birthday twins.

A few days later, Alix and Josie bump into each other again, this time outside Alix’s children’s school. Josie has been listening to Alix’s podcasts and thinks she might be an interesting subject for her series. She is, she tells Alix, on the cusp of great changes in her life.

Josie’s life appears to be strange and complicated, and although Alix finds her unsettling, she can’t quite resist the temptation to keep making the podcast. Slowly she starts to realize that Josie has been hiding some very dark secrets, and before she knows it, Josie has inveigled her way into Alix’s life—and into her home.

But, as quickly as she arrived, Josie disappears. Only then does Alix discover that Josie has left a terrible and terrifying legacy in her wake, and that Alix has become the subject of her own true crime podcast, with her life and her family’s lives under mortal threat.

Who is Josie Fair? And what has she done?]]>
400 Lisa Jewell 1982179015 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.06 2023 None of This Is True
author: Lisa Jewell
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

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Expiration Dates 214151562
From the New York Times bestselling author of In Five Years and One Italian Summer comes the romance that will define a generation.

Daphne Bell believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a new man, she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it—the exact amount of time they will be together. The papers told her she’d spend three days with Martin in Paris; five weeks with Noah in San Francisco; and three months with Hugo, her ex-boyfriend turned best friend. Daphne has been receiving the numbered papers for over twenty years, always wondering when there might be one without an expiration. Finally, the night of a blind date at her favorite Los Angeles restaurant, there’s only a name: Jake.

But as Jake and Daphne’s story unfolds, Daphne finds herself doubting the paper’s prediction, and wrestling with what it means to be both committed and truthful. Because Daphne knows things Jake doesn’t, information that—if he found out—would break his heart.

Told with her signature warmth and insight into matters of the heart, Rebecca Serle has finally set her sights on romantic love. The result is a gripping, emotional, passionate, and (yes) heartbreaking novel about what it means to be single, what it means to find love, and ultimately how we define each of them for ourselves. Expiration Dates is the one fans have been waiting for.]]>
288 Rebecca Serle 1982166835 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.52 2024 Expiration Dates
author: Rebecca Serle
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: to-read
review:

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The God of the Woods 199698485 When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

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

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.]]>
490 Liz Moore Kandyce 0 to-read 4.15 2024 The God of the Woods
author: Liz Moore
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: to-read
review:

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First Lie Wins 164444179 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593492918.

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

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

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

Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge. . . .]]>
340 Ashley Elston Kandyce 4 audio, high-school-librarian A fun read! 3.97 2024 First Lie Wins
author: Ashley Elston
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/01/11
shelves: audio, high-school-librarian
review:
A fun read!
]]>
<![CDATA[Sleep While I Sing: Murder in a Small Town (Alberg & Cassandra, 2)]]> 212400096
Much as they'd like to, nobody in the sleepy hamlet of Sechelt knows anything about the death. So Staff Sergeant Karl Alberg has to start from scratch. But he finds his mind being distracted by Cassandra Mitchell, the local librarian with whom he has an on-again, off-again relationship, and her infatuation with a flirtatious actor visiting from Los Angeles. As Alberg struggles to separate jealousy from suspicion, the killer stalks the sleepy town, and only another murder can lead Alberg to the horrifying truth.]]>
264 L.R. Wright 1631943170 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.78 1986 Sleep While I Sing: Murder in a Small Town (Alberg & Cassandra, 2)
author: L.R. Wright
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1986
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Suspect: Murder in a Small Town (Alberg & Cassandra, 1)]]> 212400063
At eighty, George Wilcox hardly expected to crown his life by committing a murder. It had happened so quickly, so easily, so unexpectedly in the sleepy town on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia:  a near-perfect crime that wraps Wilcox in a web of guilt, honor, and secrets of the past.  An unprovoked act that soon binds him to the warmhearted town librarian, Cassandra Mitchell, and her new romantic interest, zealous Staff Sergeant Alberg.  Together, this troubled trio find themselves caught up in a crime whose solution transcends the logic of pure justice.]]>
240 L.R. Wright 1631943162 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.66 1985 The Suspect: Murder in a Small Town (Alberg & Cassandra, 1)
author: L.R. Wright
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1985
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[A Chill Rain in January: Murder in a Small Town (Alberg & Cassandra, 3)]]> 212399985 272 L.R. Wright 1631943189 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.68 1990 A Chill Rain in January: Murder in a Small Town (Alberg & Cassandra, 3)
author: L.R. Wright
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.68
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: to-read
review:

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Wool - Holston (Wool, #1) 12287209
Or you'll get what you wish for.]]>
56 Hugh Howey Kandyce 3 book-club 4.14 2012 Wool - Holston (Wool, #1)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2016/04/03
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves: book-club
review:
I'm really intrigued by the idea of survival, but I felt like it took a long time to lay the ground work.
]]>
Daisy Darker 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 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.75 2022 Daisy Darker
author: Alice Feeney
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: to-read
review:

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Secrets of Stonebridge 58292748
Radcliffe is immediately taken with both the charming baby girl and the woman he believes to be her mother. As Regina and Radcliffe are drawn together, first as friends and then as something much deeper, the future is bright with unspoken promise. But when the truth of the baby’s parentage is revealed, Regina stands to lose all that she has come to cherish.]]>
204 Anita Stansfield Kandyce 3 audio 3.53 Secrets of Stonebridge
author: Anita Stansfield
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.53
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: audio
review:
So� the main character feels guilty about her deception?
]]>
Everything, Everything 18692431
But then one day, a moving truck arrives. New next door neighbors. I look out the window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black t-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly. I want to learn everything about him, and I do. I learn that he is funny and fierce. I learn that his eyes are Atlantic Ocean-blue and that his vice is stealing silverware. I learn that when I talk to him, my whole world opens up, and I feel myself starting to change—starting to want things. To want out of my bubble. To want everything, everything the world has to offer.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.]]>
312 Nicola Yoon 0553496646 Kandyce 4 audio, high-school-librarian 3.96 2015 Everything, Everything
author: Nicola Yoon
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves: audio, high-school-librarian
review:
A unique twist on a mainstream plot. In a ‘closed� setting I thought the author did a great job of expanding Maddy’s world.
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Funny Story 220999062 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

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

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

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

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]>
416 Emily Henry 0593441214 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.21 2024 Funny Story
author: Emily Henry
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: to-read
review:

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Murder Road 220458613 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 a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchiker 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.]]>
368 Simone St. James 059320039X Kandyce 0 to-read 3.68 2024 Murder Road
author: Simone St. James
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

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Memorial Days 212806569 A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey to peace, from the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of�Horse

Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz � just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy � collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.

After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine and Tony settled down to raise two boys on Martha’s Vineyard. The life they built was one of meaningful work, good humor, and tenderness, as they spent their days writing and their evenings cooking family dinners or watching the sun set with friends at Lambert’s Cove. But all of this came to an abrupt end when, on Memorial Day 2019, Geraldine received the phone call we all dread. The demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf.

Three years later, she booked a flight to a remote island off the coast of Australia with the intention of finally giving herself the time to mourn. In a shack on a pristine, rugged coast she often went days without seeing another person. There, she pondered the varied ways those of other cultures grieve, such as the people of Australia's First Nations, the Balinese, and the Iranian Shiites, and what rituals of her own might help to rebuild a life around the void of Tony's death.

A spare and profoundly moving memoir that joins the classics of the genre, Memorial Days is a portrait of a larger-than-life man and a timeless love between souls that exquisitely captures the joy, agony, and mystery of life.]]>
224 Geraldine Brooks 059365398X Kandyce 0 to-read 4.33 2025 Memorial Days
author: Geraldine Brooks
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[The Girl Who Owned a City: The Graphic Novel]]> 13022967 My parents are gone, so I'm responsible for my little brother Todd. I have to make sure we stay alive. Many kids are sick or starving, and fierce gangs are stealing and destroying everything they find. Lots of people have given up, but here on Grand Avenue, some of us are surviving, because of me.
I figured out how to give the kids on Grand Avenue food, homes, and protection against the gangs. But Tom Logan and his army are determined to take away what we've built and rule the streets themselves. How long can we keep fighting them off? We need to find another place for us to live safely.
A strong place, a secret place.
In a world like this, someone has to take charge.]]>
128 O.T. Nelson 0761349030 Kandyce 2 high-school-librarian Ehh. 3.48 2012 The Girl Who Owned a City: The Graphic Novel
author: O.T. Nelson
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves: high-school-librarian
review:
Ehh.
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<![CDATA[Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy]]> 54464604 An engaging children's book whose aim is opening a dialogue about systemic racism, inspired by Emmanuel Acho’s viral video series "Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man."

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy is an accessible book for children to learn about systemic racism and racist behavior. For the awkward questions white and non-black parents don’t know how to answer, this book is an essential guide to help support communication on how to dismantle racism in our youngest generation.

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy creates a safe, judgment-free space for curious children to ask questions they’ve long been afraid to verbalize. How can I have white privilege if I’m not wealthy? Why do Black people protest against the police? If Black people can say the N-word, why can’t I? And many, many more.

Young people have the power to effect sweeping change, and the key to mending the racial divide in America lies in giving them the tools to ask honest questions and take in the difficult answers. Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy is just one way young readers can begin to short circuit racism within their own lives and communities.]]>
320 Emmanuel Acho 1250801060 Kandyce 4 high-school-librarian 4.43 2021 Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy
author: Emmanuel Acho
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves: high-school-librarian
review:
I specifically read this because I have it in my high school library and it’s on “the list�. After reading it, I guess thinking or having an opinion is the intended target for removal. To clarify, I haven’t been asked to remove, but it was highlighted for me because I’m the only one in the district that has it. Did some of the conversations in the book make me uncomfortable, yep. Will I think differently in the future? Yep. Emmanuel Acho, thank you for helping me to grow.
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<![CDATA[Sunflower Sisters (Lilac Girls, #3)]]> 54809001
Georgeanne "Georgey" Woolsey isn't meant for the world of lavish parties and demure attitudes of women of her stature. So when the war ignites the nation, Georgey follows her passion for nursing during a time when doctors considered women a bother on the battlefront. In proving them wrong, she and her sister Eliza venture from New York to Washington, D.C., to Gettysburg and witness the unparalleled horrors of slavery as they become involved in the war effort.

In the South, Jemma is enslaved on the Peeler Plantation in Maryland, where she lives with her mother and father. Her sister, Patience, is enslaved on the plantation next door and both live in fear of LeBaron, an abusive overseer who tracks their every move. When Jemma is sold by the cruel plantation mistress Anne-May at the same time the Union army comes through, she sees a chance to finally escape--but only by abandoning the family she loves.

Anne-May is left behind to run Peeler Planation when her husband joins the Union Army and her cherished brother enlists with the Confederates. In charge of the household, she uses the opportunity to follow her own ambitions and is drawn into a secret Southern network of spies, finally exposing herself to the fate she deserves.

Inspired by true accounts, Sunflower Sisters provides a vivid, detailed look at the Civil War experience, from the barbaric and inhumane plantations, to a war-torn New York City to the horrors of the battlefield. It's a sweeping story of women caught in a country on the brink of collapse, in a society grappling with nationalism and unthinkable racial cruelty, a story still so relevant today.]]>
528 Martha Hall Kelly 1524796409 Kandyce 5 high-school-librarian 4.22 2021 Sunflower Sisters (Lilac Girls, #3)
author: Martha Hall Kelly
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: high-school-librarian
review:
The third in a series (in reverse), this was my favorite. The characters have beautiful voice and offer a handful of different perspectives.
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Call Me Iggy 111673432
Call me Iggy tells the story of Iggy searching for his place in his family, his school, his community, and ultimately—as the political climate in America changes during the 2016 election� his country. Focusing on familial ties and budding love, Call me Iggy challenges our assumptions about Latino-American identity while reaffirming our belief in the hope that all young people represent. Perfect for lovers of multigenerational stories like Displacement and The Magic Fish.]]>
256 Jorge Aguirre 1250204151 Kandyce 5 4.03 2023 Call Me Iggy
author: Jorge Aguirre
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves:
review:
Beautiful. The challenges, that I will never fully understand, dealing with being an immigrant, having parents that have immigrated and how you become a part of where you are and where you came from. I loved the connection Ignacio has with his grandfather. A reminder of what I’ve taken for granted.
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Age 16 181513297 312 Rosena Fung 1773218336 Kandyce 5 high-school-librarian 4.25 Age 16
author: Rosena Fung
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/23
shelves: high-school-librarian
review:
Wow. For those who think graphic novels aren’t “reading�, give this a try. Covering three different generations of women. Beautiful insight on parenting and being a teenager. A few triggers, things we do, say and hear without intent and the long lasting affects they can have.
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End of Story 213847223
So writes Sebastian Trapp, reclusive mystery novelist, to his longtime correspondent Nicky Hunter, an expert in detective fiction. With mere months to live, Trapp invites Nicky to his spectacular San Francisco mansion to help draft his life story . . . living alongside his beautiful second wife, Diana; his wayward nephew, Freddy; and his protective daughter, Madeleine. Soon Nicky finds herself caught in an irresistible case of real-life “detective fever.�

“You and I might even solve an old mystery or two.�

Twenty years earlier—on New Year’s Eve 1999—Sebastian’s first wife and teenaged son vanished from different locations, never to be seen again. Did the perfect crime writer commit the perfect crime? And why has he emerged from seclusion, two decades later, to allow a stranger to dig into his past?

“Life is hard. After all, it kills you.�

As Nicky attempts to weave together the strands of Sebastian’s life, she becomes obsessed with discovering the truth . . . while Madeleine begins to question what her beloved father might actually know about that long-ago night. And when a corpse appears in the family’s koi pond, both women are shocked to find that the past isn’t gone—it’s just waiting.]]>
416 A.J. Finn 0062678469 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.12 2024 End of Story
author: A.J. Finn
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.12
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/20
shelves: to-read
review:

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<![CDATA[Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #1)]]> 338691
But Gamache knows that evil is lurking somewhere behind the white picket fences and that, if he watches closely enough, Three Pines will start to give up its dark secrets...]]>
293 Louise Penny 0312948557 Kandyce 0 to-read 3.86 2005 Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #1)
author: Louise Penny
name: Kandyce
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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

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

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

Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.]]>
448 Fredrik Backman 1982112824 Kandyce 0 to-read 4.58 2025 My Friends
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Kandyce
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: to-read
review:

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