Marina's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 05:33:27 -0700 60 Marina's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Seventh Bride 25935854
Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding. Upon arrival, she discovers that not only was her betrothed married six times before, but his previous wives are all imprisoned in his enchanted castle. Determined not to share their same fate, Rhea asserts her desire for freedom. In answer, Lord Crevan gives Rhea a series of magical tasks to complete, with the threat “Come back before dawn, or else I’ll marry you.�

With time running out and each task more dangerous and bizarre than the last, Rhea must use her resourcefulness, compassion, and bravery to rally the other wives and defeat the sorcerer before he binds her to him forever.

Revised edition: This edition of The Seventh Bride includes editorial revisions.]]>
237 T. Kingfisher 150394767X Marina 0 3.94 2014 The Seventh Bride
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Marina
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/30
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I’m Glad My Mom Died 59366244
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,� eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?� She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!�), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.]]>
304 Jennette McCurdy 1982185821 Marina 4 4.42 2022 I’m Glad My Mom Died
author: Jennette McCurdy
name: Marina
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/30
date added: 2025/04/29
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<![CDATA[Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1)]]> 10466342
Gamache cannot understand why anyone would want to deliberately kill well-loved artist Jane Neal, especially any of the residents of Three Pines - a place so free from crime it doesn't even have its own police force. 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...]]>
377 Louise Penny 0751547387 Marina 5 3.74 2005 Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1)
author: Louise Penny
name: Marina
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2021/01/01
date added: 2025/04/27
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<![CDATA[Truly Madly Magically (Witchlore, #3)]]> 197472646 A witch cursed to tell the truth, and the man who won’t let her lie to herself anymore�

Cursed by her own mother to always tell the truth and one of the only half-witches around, Ellowyn Good has never considered herself an equal part of the Riverwood coven. But when the evil ruling coven of the witching world targets her directly, she begins to wonder why they want her gone.

She’ll need to work with her newly formed coven to survive, which includes dealing with her first love, past wreckage and a whole new complication she didn’t see coming. With their fates in the balance, Ellowyn will have to learn to trust Zander again—or be doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. Assuming they all survive the Joywood’s latest bid for absolute power over the witching world…]]>
352 Hazel Beck 1525804731 Marina 0 3.90 2024 Truly Madly Magically (Witchlore, #3)
author: Hazel Beck
name: Marina
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/25
date added: 2025/04/25
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<![CDATA[Big Little Spells (Witchlore, #2)]]> 62062487
Rebekah Wilde was eighteen when she left St. Cyprian, officially stripped of her magic and banished from her home. Ten years later, she’s forced to return to face the Joywood Coven, who preside over not just her hometown but the whole magical world. Rebekah is happy to reunite with her sister, and with her friends, but the implications of her return are darker and more dangerous than they could have imagined.

The Joywood are determined to prove Rebekah and her friends are a danger to witchkind, and her group faces an impending death sentence if they can’t prove otherwise. Rebekah must seek help from the only one who knows how to stop the Joywood—the ruthless immortal Nicholas Frost. Years ago, he was her secret tutor in magic, and her secret impossible crush. But the icy immortal is as remote and arrogant as ever, and if he feels anything for Rebekah—or witchkind—it’s impossible to tell.]]>
384 Hazel Beck 1525804723 Marina 0 3.74 2023 Big Little Spells (Witchlore, #2)
author: Hazel Beck
name: Marina
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/24
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<![CDATA[Small Town, Big Magic (Witchlore, #1)]]> 59952170
Witches aren't real. Right?

No one has civic pride quite like Emerson Wilde. As a local indie bookstore owner and youngest-ever Chamber of Commerce president, she’d do anything for her hometown of St. Cyprian, Missouri. After all, Midwest is best! She may be descended from a witch who was hanged in 1692 during the Salem Witch Trials, but there’s no sorcery in doing your best for the town you love.
Or is there?

As she preps Main Street for an annual festival, Emerson notices strange things happening around St. Cyprian. Strange things that culminate in a showdown with her lifelong arch-rival, Mayor Skip Simon. He seems to have sent impossible, paranormal creatures after her. Creatures that Emerson dispatches with ease, though she has no idea how she’s done it. Is Skip Simon…a witch? Is Emerson?

It turns out witches are real, and Emerson is one of them. She failed a coming-of-age test at age eighteen—the only test she’s ever failed!—and now, as an adult, her powers have come roaring back.

But she has little time to explore those powers, or her blossoming relationship with her childhood friend, cranky-yet-gorgeous local farmer Jacob North: an ancient evil has awakened in St. Cyprian, and it’s up to Emerson and her friends—maybe even Emerson herself—to save everything she loves.]]>
411 Hazel Beck 1525804715 Marina 0 3.27 2022 Small Town, Big Magic (Witchlore, #1)
author: Hazel Beck
name: Marina
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/22
date added: 2025/04/22
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Funny Story 194802722 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

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

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

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

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]>
400 Emily Henry Marina 5 4.21 2024 Funny Story
author: Emily Henry
name: Marina
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/20
date added: 2025/04/20
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Buried Deep and Other Stories 203956677 A thrilling collection of thirteen short stories that span the worlds of the New York Times bestselling author of the Scholomance Trilogy, including a sneak peek at the land where her next novel will be set.

From the dragon-filled Temeraire series and the gothic, magical halls of the Scholomance trilogy to the fairy tale worlds of Spinning Silver and Uprooted, this stunning collection takes us from fairy tale to fantasy, myth to history, and mystery to science fiction as we travel through Naomi Novik’s most beloved stories.

In Buried Deep, we move from ancient Greece and Rome, through the Middle Ages and the Black Death, and into the modern era. We meet Mark Antony, Sherlock Holmes, and Elizabeth Bennet, in ways we have never seen them before. We visit exotic fantasy cities and alien civilizations among the stars.

Though the stories are vastly different, there is a unifying theme: the act of finding and seizing one’s destiny, and the lengths one will go to achieve that—be it turning pirate, captaining a fighting dragon, or shifting from marriage to seek your destiny with a sword.

And in the two tales original to this collection, we first reenter the remade Scholomance in the wake of El’s revolution and see what life is like for the new crop of students. Then, we get a glimpse at the world of Novik’s upcoming series, a deserted land, populated only by silent and enigmatic architectural behemoths whose secrets are yet to be unlocked.]]>
430 Naomi Novik 0593600355 Marina 4 3.99 2024 Buried Deep and Other Stories
author: Naomi Novik
name: Marina
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/19
date added: 2025/04/19
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The Last Thing He Told Me 54981009
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a U.S. marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband ľ±˛ő˛Ô’t who he said he was. Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.]]>
307 Laura Dave 1501171348 Marina 4 3.78 2021 The Last Thing He Told Me
author: Laura Dave
name: Marina
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/18
date added: 2025/04/17
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The Book of Tomorrow 6631792
What she discovers within the pages takes her breath away and shakes her world to its core.

A mesmerizing story about how tomorrow can change what happens today...]]>
320 Cecelia Ahern 0007233701 Marina 0 3.68 2009 The Book of Tomorrow
author: Cecelia Ahern
name: Marina
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/14
date added: 2025/04/14
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The Paradise Problem 214007978
Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam 'West' Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she'd signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways.

Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There's just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather's will, Liam won't see a penny until he's been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he's in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he's afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents - his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam's fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.]]>
340 Christina Lauren 0349440417 Marina 5 4.02 2024 The Paradise Problem
author: Christina Lauren
name: Marina
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/10
date added: 2025/04/11
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Project Hail Mary 58959523 An impossible mission.
An ally he never imagined.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission - and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn't know that. He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time. And he's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery-and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]>
476 Andy Weir 1529157463 Marina 4 4.42 2021 Project Hail Mary
author: Andy Weir
name: Marina
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/09
date added: 2025/04/09
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<![CDATA[The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches]]> 75479358 A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family—and a new love—changes the course of her life.

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for....]]>
336 Sangu Mandanna 1399709895 Marina 5 4.10 2022 The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Marina
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/07
date added: 2025/04/09
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<![CDATA[The Sinister Booksellers of Bath (Left-Handed Booksellers of London, #2)]]> 59882930 Return to the enchanting world of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London in this sequel by Garth Nix, bestselling master of teen fantasy, where once again a team of booksellers must fight to keep dangerous magic under cover before the stuff of legends destroys our world.

There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath. The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity that inhabits the ancient hot spring.

This time trouble comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger, requiring a desperate rescue attempt from his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, and art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.

The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery and guarded by monstrous living statues. But this is only the beginning. To unravel the secrets of a murderous Ancient Sovereign, the booksellers must investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths. If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal.]]>
368 Garth Nix 0063236338 Marina 4 3.94 2023 The Sinister Booksellers of Bath (Left-Handed Booksellers of London, #2)
author: Garth Nix
name: Marina
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/02
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A Calamity of Souls 210709422
Jack Lee is a white lawyer from Freeman County, Virginia, who has never done anything to push back against racism, until he decides to represent Jerome Washington, a Black man charged with killing an elderly and wealthy white couple. Doubting his decision, Lee fears that his legal skills may not be enough to prevail in a case where the odds are already stacked against both him and his client. And he quickly finds himself out of his depth when he realizes that what is at stake is far greater than the outcome of a murder trial.

Desiree DuBose is a Black lawyer from Chicago who has devoted her life to furthering the causes of justice and equality for everyone. She comes to Freeman County and enters a fractious and unwieldy partnership with Lee in a legal battle against the best prosecutor in town. Yet DuBose is also aware that powerful outside forces are at work to blunt the victories achieved by the Civil Rights era.

Lee and DuBose could not be more dissimilar. On their own, neither one can stop the prosecution’s deliberate march towards a guilty verdict and the electric chair. But together, the pair fight for what once seemed impossible: a chance for a fair trial and true justice.]]>
512 David Baldacci 1035035596 Marina 0 4.49 2024 A Calamity of Souls
author: David Baldacci
name: Marina
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/31
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The Weekend 51965110
Four older women have a lifelong friendship of the best kind: loving, practical, frank and steadfast. But when Sylvie dies, the ground shifts dangerously for the remaining three. Can they survive together without her?

They are Jude, a once-famous restaurateur, Wendy, an acclaimed public intellectual, and Adele, a renowned actress now mostly out of work. Struggling to recall exactly why they've remained close all these years, the grieving women gather for Christmas at Sylvie's old beach house - not for festivities, but to clean the place out before it is sold.

Without Sylvie to maintain the group's delicate equilibrium, frustrations build and painful memories press in. Fraying tempers, an elderly dog, unwelcome guests and too much wine collide in a storm that brings long-buried hurts to the surface - and threatens to sweep away their friendship for good.

The Weekend explores growing old and growing up, and what happens when we're forced to uncover the lies we tell ourselves. Sharply observed and excruciatingly funny, this is a jewel of a book: a celebration of tenderness and friendship that is nothing short of a masterpiece.]]>
259 Charlotte Wood 176029201X Marina 0 3.46 2019 The Weekend
author: Charlotte Wood
name: Marina
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/26
date added: 2025/03/31
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<![CDATA[The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Left-Handed Booksellers of London, #1)]]> 49867186 A girl’s quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.

In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn’t get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.

Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.

Susan’s search for her father begins with her mother’s possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.

Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan’s. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.]]>
416 Garth Nix 006268325X Marina 4 3.81 2020 The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Left-Handed Booksellers of London, #1)
author: Garth Nix
name: Marina
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/31
date added: 2025/03/30
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<![CDATA[House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3)]]> 52857700
Bryce Quinlan never expected to see a world other than Midgard, but now that she has, all she wants is to get back. Everything she loves is in Midgard: her family, her friends, her mate. Stranded in a strange new world, she's going to need all her wits about her to get home again. And that's no easy feat when she has no idea who to trust.

Hunt Athalar has found himself in some deep holes in his life, but this one might be the deepest of all. After a few brief months with everything he ever wanted, he's in the Asteri's dungeons again, stripped of his freedom and without a clue as to Bryce's fate. He's desperate to help her, but until he can escape the Asteri's leash, his hands are quite literally tied.

In this sexy, breathtaking sequel to the #1 bestsellers House of Earth and Blood and House of Sky and Breath, Sarah J. Maas's Crescent City series reaches new heights as Bryce and Hunt's world is brought to the brink of collapse-with its future resting on their shoulders.]]>
835 Sarah J. Maas 1681193094 Marina 5 4.15 2024 House of Flame and Shadow (Crescent City, #3)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Marina
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/25
date added: 2025/03/24
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Slow Dance 199495724
Slow Dance follows these star-crossed best friends from their inseparable teen years on the wrong side of the tracks to their far-flung adulthoods � through her marriage and motherhood and his time in the Navy � as they try to work out what they’re actually supposed to be to each other.

Told with Rowell’s trademark sensitivity and abundant wit, Slow Dance is a big, beaming power ballad of a novel about a love so true, it refuses to be forgotten.]]>
400 Rainbow Rowell 1405964790 Marina 3 3.86 2024 Slow Dance
author: Rainbow Rowell
name: Marina
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/21
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<![CDATA[House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2)]]> 75676855 THE DEADLIEST POWER.
THE FIERCEST PASSION.
THE CRUELLEST FATE.

The #1 Sunday Times bestseller and sequel to the #1 New York Times bestseller. Sarah J. Maas's sexy, groundbreaking CRESCENT CITY series continues with this second instalment.

Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar have made a pact. As they process the events of the Spring they will keep things platonic until Winter Solstice. But can they resist when the crackling tension between them is enough to set the whole of Crescent City aflame?

And they are not out of danger yet. Dragged into a rebel movement they want no part of, Bryce, Hunt and their friends find themselves pitted against the terrifying Asteri - whose notice they must avoid at all costs. But as they learn more about the rebel cause, they face a choice: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight. And they've never been very good at staying silent.

In this sexy, action-packed sequel to the #1 bestseller House of Earth and Blood, Sarah J. Maas weaves a captivating story of a world about to explode - and the people who will do anything to save it.]]>
801 Sarah J. Maas 1526628228 Marina 5 4.37 2022 House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Marina
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/21
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<![CDATA[Red Moon and Black Mountain: The End of the House of Kendreth]]> 1445840
Kedrinh, the Starlit Land, is threatened by the Powers of Darkness, for Fendarl, fallen Enchanter of the Star Magic and banished Lord of Black Mountain, has in his long exile grown strong enough to challenge the rule of Kiron and the Starborn. His power waxes with the Red Moon, and nowhere in the whole land is there a champion who can stand against him, for the Necromancer bears a charmed life.

Into this world come three of our own kind, each of whom has a part to play in the defence of Kedrinh. They learn that victory does not always come with conquest and that something more is necessary, before the Starlit Land is finally safe.]]>
277 Joy Chant 0048232203 Marina 5 favourite-reads 4.00 1970 Red Moon and Black Mountain: The End of the House of Kendreth
author: Joy Chant
name: Marina
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1970
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
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And Then There Were None 6251563 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B000FC1RCI


First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.]]>
276 Agatha Christie Marina 5 4.21 1939 And Then There Were None
author: Agatha Christie
name: Marina
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1939
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/27
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<![CDATA[The Gut Repair Plan: Four weeks to better health]]> 200171424 Easy steps to transform your gut health!Better gut health, better you! Revitalising your gut health can help with bloating, weight-loss, sleep, sugar-cravings, energy, immunity, mental health and a range of treatable diseases. Clinical nutritionist and best-selling author Sarah Di Lorenzo’s four-week plan has helped thousands of her patients repair their inner health and now she’s sharing it with you.The Gut Repair Plan is packed full of essential information about how the digestive system works, the good and bad bacteria in our gut, which foods are prebiotic and probiotic superstars, and which are the worst offenders. Sarah examines the science behind gut health and gives you tools to transform your gut health and change the way you eat forever. Ěý With practical advice, easy-to-follow meal plans and more than 50 delicious new recipes that are all nutrient dense, easy to prepare, low carbohydrate and cleansing. It’s the perfect way to cleanse, repair, rebuild and seal your gut! Ěý]]> 0 Sarah Di Lorenzo 1761423851 Marina 5 4.11 The Gut Repair Plan: Four weeks to better health
author: Sarah Di Lorenzo
name: Marina
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/27
date added: 2025/02/26
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<![CDATA[Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It]]> 19661852 Ěý
“A brilliant and thoroughly modern guide to learning new languages.”—Gary Marcus, cognitive psychologist and author of the ĚýNew York Times ĚýbestsellerĚý Guitar Zero
Ěý
At thirty years old, Gabriel Wyner speaks six languages fluently. He didn’t learn them in school—who does? Rather, he learned them in the past few years, working on his own and practicing on the subway, using simple techniques and free online resources—and here he wants to show others what he’s discovered.
Ěý
Starting with pronunciation, you’ll learn how to rewire your ears and turn foreign sounds into familiar sounds. You’ll retrain your tongue to produce those sounds accurately, using tricks from opera singers and actors. Next, you’ll begin to tackle words, and connect sounds and spellings to imagery rather than translations, which will enable you to think in a foreign language. And with the help of sophisticated spaced-repetition techniques, you’ll be able to memorize hundreds of words a month in minutes every day.Ěý
Ěý
This is brain hacking at its most exciting, taking what we know about neuroscience and linguistics and using it to create the most efficient and enjoyable way to learn a foreign language in the spare minutes of your day.]]>
326 Gabriel Wyner Marina 5 4.07 2014 Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It
author: Gabriel Wyner
name: Marina
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/19
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<![CDATA[Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament]]> 59552636 The book you need right now is finally here! From beloved spiritual teacher Michael A. Singer—author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Untethered Soul—this transformative and highly anticipated guide will be your compass on an exciting new journey toward self-realization and unconditional happiness.

Now more than ever, we’re all looking to feel more joy, happiness, and deeper meaning in our lives. But are we looking in all the wrong places? When our sense of wholeness depends on things or people outside ourselves—whether it’s a coveted job, a new house, a lavish vacation, or even a new relationship—sooner or later we’re bound to feel unsatisfied. That’s why we must look inside for real freedom, love, and inspiration. But how do we embark on this inner journey?

Living Untethered is the book to reach for. At once profoundly transcendent and powerfully practical, it provides clear guidance for moving beyond the thoughts, feelings, and habits that keep you stuck—so you can heal the pain of the past and let your spirit soar. On each page, you’ll discover a deeper understanding of where your thoughts and emotions come from, and how they affect your natural energy flow. Finally, you’ll find freedom from the psychological scars, or samskaras, that block you and keep you from reaching your highest potential.

It’s time to stop struggling and start experiencing. This miraculous book will show you how to put the spiritual teachings of Michael A. Singer into practice every day, and propel you toward a life of liberation, serenity, openness, and self-knowledge.

Isn’t it time you started Living Untethered?]]>
216 Michael A. Singer 1648480934 Marina 0 4.38 2022 Living Untethered: Beyond the Human Predicament
author: Michael A. Singer
name: Marina
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/17
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<![CDATA[Spellmaker (Spellbreaker Duology, #2)]]> 54245639 Dead wizards, stolen enchantments, and broken promises force a young spellbreaker out of the shadows in the next thrilling installment of the Spellbreaker series by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Paper Magician.

England, 1895. An unsolved series of magician murders and opus thefts ľ±˛ő˛Ô’t a puzzle to Elsie Camden. But to reveal a master spellcaster as the culprit means incriminating herself as an unregistered spellbreaker. When Elsie refuses to join forces with the charming assassin, her secret is exposed, she’s thrown in jail, and the murderer disappears. But Elsie’s hope hasn’t vanished.

Through a twist of luck, the elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey helps Elsie join the lawful, but with a caveat: they must marry to prove their cover story. Forced beneath a magical tutor while her bond with Bacchus grows, Elsie seeks to thwart the plans of England’s most devious criminal—if she can find them.

With hundreds of stolen spells at their disposal, the villain has a plan—and it involves seducing Elsie to the dark side. But even now that her secret is out, Elsie must be careful how she uses the new abilities she’s discovering, or she may play right into the criminal’s hands.]]>
301 Charlie N. Holmberg 1542022584 Marina 0 4.20 2021 Spellmaker (Spellbreaker Duology, #2)
author: Charlie N. Holmberg
name: Marina
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/14
date added: 2025/02/14
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<![CDATA[The Resilience Project: Finding Happiness through Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness]]> 52856373
How was it that young people he knew at home, who had food, shelter, friends and a loving family, struggled with their mental health, while these kids seemed so contented and resilient? He set about finding the answer and in time came to recognise the key traits and behaviours these children possessed were gratitude, empathy and mindfulness.

In the ensuing years Hugh threw himself into studying and sharing this revelation with the world through The Resilience Project, with his playful and unorthodox presentations which both entertain and inform. Now, with the same blend of humour, poignancy and clear-eyed insight that The Resilience Project has become renowned for, Hugh explains how we can all get the tools we need to live a happier and more fulfilling life.]]>
304 Hugh van Cuylenburg 1760892777 Marina 5 4.29 2019 The Resilience Project: Finding Happiness through Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness
author: Hugh van Cuylenburg
name: Marina
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/12
date added: 2025/02/11
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The Other Bennet Sister 56594917 'Will delight Pride and Prejudice fans' - Independent
'Gorgeous' - The Sun
'It's difficult not to race through those final pages' Jo Baker, author of Longbourn

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mary is the middle of the five Bennet girls and the plainest of them all, so what hope does she have? Prim and pious, with no redeeming features, she is unloved and seemingly unlovable.

The Other Bennet Sister, though, shows another side to Mary. An introvert in a family of extroverts; a constant disappointment to her mother who values beauty above all else; fearful of her father’s sharp tongue; with little in common with her siblings � is it any wonder she turns to books for both company and guidance? And, if she finds her life lonely or lacking, that she determines to try harder at the one thing she can be: right.

One by one, her sisters marry � Jane and Lizzy for love; Lydia for some semblance of respectability � but Mary, it seems, is destined to remain single and live out her life at Longbourn, at least until her father dies and the house is bequeathed to the reviled Mr Collins.

But when that fateful day finally comes, she slowly discovers that perhaps there is hope for her, after all.

Simultaneously a wonderfully warm homage to Jane Austen and a delightful new story in its own right, Janice Hadlow's The Other Bennet Sister is, at its heart, a life-affirming tale of a young woman finding her place in the world. Witty and uplifting, it will make you feel � and cheer � for Mary as you never have before.]]>
672 Janice Hadlow 1509842047 Marina 0 4.14 2020 The Other Bennet Sister
author: Janice Hadlow
name: Marina
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/10
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<![CDATA[Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)]]> 36223860 alternate cover for ISBN 9781250186928

It has a dark past � one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot." But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A� stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.]]>
158 Martha Wells Marina 4 4.23 2018 Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2)
author: Martha Wells
name: Marina
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/08
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Murderbot flees across the galaxy in search of answers about its own bloody past in another great sci fi adventure. I missed Dr Mensah and the other humans from the first book, but Art, another AI, this one a transport ship, is a great addition to the cast. The banter between the two AIs is a lot of fun.
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<![CDATA[All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)]]> 32758901 "As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."

In a corporate-dominated space-faring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. For their own safety, exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety ľ±˛ő˛Ô’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied â€droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.â€� Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.]]>
144 Martha Wells Marina 5 4.11 2017 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)
author: Martha Wells
name: Marina
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/08
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This novella was a great introduction to Murderbot and the life of a rogue sec unit. Hugely enjoyable sci fi told with dry humour by a very engaging protagonist.
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<![CDATA[The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself]]> 1963638 The Untethered Soul offers simple yet profound answers to these questions.

Whether this is your first exploration of inner space, or you’ve devoted your life to the inward journey, this book will transform your relationship with yourself and the world around you. You’ll discover what you can do to put an end to the habitual thoughts and emotions that limit your consciousness. By tapping into traditions of meditation and mindfulness, author and spiritual teacher Michael A. Singer shows how the development of consciousness can enable us all to dwell in the present moment and let go of painful thoughts and memories that keep us from achieving happiness and self-realization.

Copublished with the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) The Untethered Soul begins by walking you through your relationship with your thoughts and emotions, helping you uncover the source and fluctuations of your inner energy. It then delves into what you can do to free yourself from the habitual thoughts, emotions, and energy patterns that limit your consciousness. Finally, with perfect clarity, this book opens the door to a life lived in the freedom of your innermost being.]]>
183 Michael A. Singer Marina 0 4.19 2007 The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
author: Michael A. Singer
name: Marina
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at: 2025/02/03
date added: 2025/02/02
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<![CDATA[Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde, #3)]]> 208841368 Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project studying the inner workings of a faerie realm-as its queen.

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

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal world-how could an unassuming scholar like herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in-Wendell's murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell's magic-and Emily's knowledge of stories-to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.
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368 Heather Fawcett 0356519198 Marina 4 4.14 2025 Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde, #3)
author: Heather Fawcett
name: Marina
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/27
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<![CDATA[Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)]]> 63277682 High fantasy, low stakes � with a double-shot of coffee.

After decades of adventuring, Viv the orc barbarian is finally hanging up her sword for good. Now she sets her sights on a new dream � for she plans to open the first coffee shop in the city of Thune. Even though no one there knows what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the past behind her, she can’t go it alone. And help might arrive from unexpected quarters. Yet old rivals and new stand in the way of success. And Thune’s shady underbelly could make it all too easy for Viv to take up the blade once more.

But the true reward of the uncharted path is the travellers you meet along the way. Whether bound by ancient magic, delicious pastries or a freshly brewed cup, they may become something deeper than Viv ever could have imagined.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree is a cosy, heartwarming slice-of-life fantasy about found families and fresh starts � perfect for fans of TJ Klune, Katherine Addison and T. Kingfisher.]]>
312 Travis Baldree 1035007312 Marina 4 3.96 2022 Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)
author: Travis Baldree
name: Marina
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/01/24
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<![CDATA[House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)]]> 122991838 BOUND BY BLOOD.
TEMPTED BY DESIRE.
UNLEASHED BY DESTINY.

Bryce Quinlan loves her life. Every night is a party, and Bryce is going to savour all the pleasures Lunathion - also known as Crescent City - has to offer. But when a brutal murder shakes the very foundations of the city, Bryce's world comes crashing down.

Two years later, Bryce still haunts the city's most notorious nightclubs - but seeking only oblivion now. Then the murderer attacks again. And when an infamous Fallen angel, Hunt Athalar, is assigned to watch her every footstep, Bryce knows she can't forget any longer.

As Bryce and Hunt fight to unravel the mystery and their own dark pasts, the threads they tug ripple through the underbelly of the city, across warring continents and down to the deepest levels of Hel, where things that have been sleeping for millennia are beginning to stir .

Perfect for fans of Jessica Jones and True Blood, this is a blockbuster modern fantasy set in a divided world where one woman must uncover the truth to seek her revenge.

With unforgettable characters and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom - and the power of love.]]>
912 Sarah J. Maas 1526663554 Marina 0 4.49 2020 House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Marina
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/24
date added: 2025/01/24
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<![CDATA[Raising Good Humans Every Day: 50 Simple Ways to Press Pause, Stay Present, and Connect with Your Kids]]> 75633429 216 Hunter Clarke-Fields 1648481426 Marina 0 4.13 Raising Good Humans Every Day: 50 Simple Ways to Press Pause, Stay Present, and Connect with Your Kids
author: Hunter Clarke-Fields
name: Marina
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/23
date added: 2025/01/23
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<![CDATA[Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes, #0)]]> 65213543 When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn't always what we seek.

In Bookshops & Bonedust, a prequel to Legends & Lattes, author Travis Baldree takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and second-hand books.

Viv's career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam's Ravens isn't going as planned.

Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she's packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she'll never be able to return to it.

What's a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn't possibly imagine.

Still, adventure isn't all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.]]>
336 Travis Baldree 1250886104 Marina 4 4.13 2023 Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes, #0)
author: Travis Baldree
name: Marina
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/13
date added: 2025/01/13
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<![CDATA[The Expectant Detectives (The Expectant Detectives, #1)]]> 174399599 Fresh, funny and heartfelt, The Expectant Detectives is a charming debut mystery about a group of soon-to-be moms-turned-detectives.

“A darkly witty debut. Archly funny and highly recommended!”—Deanna Raybourn

Can they solve the mother of all murders?

For Alice and her partner Joe, moving to the sleepy village of Penton is a chance to embrace country life and prepare for the birth of their first child. He can take up woodwork; maybe she’ll learn to make jam? But the rural idyll they’d hoped for doesn’t quite pan out when a dead body is discovered at their local prenatal class, and they find themselves suspects in a murder investigation.

With a cloud of suspicion hanging over the heads of the whole group, Alice and her new-found pregnant friends set out to solve the mystery and clear their names, with the help of her troublesome dog, Helen. However, there are more secrets and tensions in the heart of Penton than first meet the eye. Between the discovery of a shady commune up in the woods, the unearthing of a mysterious death years earlier, and the near-tragic poisoning of Helen, Alice is soon in way over her head.]]>
Kat Ailes 1804180890 Marina 0 3.60 2023 The Expectant Detectives (The Expectant Detectives, #1)
author: Kat Ailes
name: Marina
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/07
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The Fake Mate 123199658
Noah, interventional cardiologist and all-round grump, has spent his entire life hiding what he is - an unmated alpha. But when an anonymous tip brings everything to light, he's left with two choices: come clean to the board and risk his career or find himself a mate. So, when the chatty, overly friendly ER doctor asks him to be her fake boyfriend the same day he's called to meet the board, it must be kismet, right?

Mackenzie gets her grandmother off her back, and Noah gets the chance to prove he can continue to work without a real mate - it's a mutually beneficial business transaction. But when the fake-mate act turns to a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realise love is a whole different kind of animal.]]>
372 Lana Ferguson 0593549376 Marina 4
A fun fake-dating romance between two werewolf doctors.]]>
3.62 2023 The Fake Mate
author: Lana Ferguson
name: Marina
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
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Definitely lived up to the claim of "epically smutty" on the back cover!

A fun fake-dating romance between two werewolf doctors.
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<![CDATA[Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed]]> 44645030 Have compassion, have compassion, have compassion. I repeat my mantra, then refocus on John � and just then, something occurs to me: what John has been talking about sounds eerily familiar.

As a therapist, Lori knows a lot about pain, about the ways in which pain is tied to loss, and how change and loss travel together. She knows how affirming it feels to blame the outside world for her frustrations, to deny ownership of whatever role she might have in the existential play called My Incredibly Important Life. When a devastating event takes place in Lori’s life, she realises that, before being able to help her patients, she must first learn how to help herself.

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is the story of an incredible relationship � between Lori, a therapist at a critical life juncture, and her own therapist, Wendell, a veteran therapist with an unconventional style. Through their sessions, Wendell teaches Lori how to become a better person and a better therapist, as she goes about the business of helping her own patients � the couple who are struggling after having a baby, the narcissist TV producer, the older woman who feels she has nothing to live for, the self-destructive alcoholic young woman, the terminally ill 35-year-old newlywed.

Taking place over one year, beginning with the devastating event that lands her in Wendell’s office, this is a rare and candid insight into a profession conventionally bound with rules and secrecy, told with charm and compassion, vulnerability and humour.

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415 Lori Gottlieb 1925548813 Marina 4
There are no great conclusions about the meaning of life but it makes a strong argument for the helpfulness of the "talking cure" and advocates for the destigmatisation of seeking that help. It's a fascinating peek into the usually hidden world of the therapist's office.]]>
4.42 2019 Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
author: Lori Gottlieb
name: Marina
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves:
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This is very well written and really draws you into the stories of these people--the newly wed with terminal cancer, the self-absorbed Hollywood guy, the older woman with nothing to live for, and the therapist herself, who is going through an unexpected break-up. It was as gripping as any novel and I cried several times.

There are no great conclusions about the meaning of life but it makes a strong argument for the helpfulness of the "talking cure" and advocates for the destigmatisation of seeking that help. It's a fascinating peek into the usually hidden world of the therapist's office.
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<![CDATA[The Wonder Engine (Clocktaur War, #2)]]> 38352077
What could possibly go wrong?

In the sequel to CLOCKWORK BOYS, Slate, Brenner, Caliban and Learned Edmund have arrived in Anuket City, the source of the mysterious Clockwork Boys. But the secrets they're keeping could well destroy them, before the city even gets the chance...]]>
370 T. Kingfisher Marina 4 4.21 2018 The Wonder Engine (Clocktaur War, #2)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Marina
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/02
date added: 2025/01/01
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<![CDATA[Family, Friends and Fatalities (A Life's a Beach Cozy Mystery Book 5)]]> 222127532 Checking out has never been so final.

Storms are brewing in peaceful Sunrise Bay as Charlie’s boyfriend prepares to battle his vindictive ex for custody of their little girl. A night out at a fancy hotel with her book club pals is a ray of sunshine among Charlie’s clouds—until a woman falls to her death from a hotel balcony.

Was it a tragic accident or something more sinister? The woman’s husband claims he was walking on the beach when she fell, but if that’s true, why don’t his shoes have any sand on them? And, speaking of footwear, why has one of the dead woman’s own shoes gone missing?

It’s a puzzle Charlie’s determined to resist. With the custody hearing looming, this is no time to be poking her nose into a police investigation. But when her dog finds the missing shoe, Charlie’s caught up in the case in spite of irate detectives, uncooperative suspects, and the collateral damage to her private life. Sometimes the best way to weather a storm is to face it head-on.]]>
Emerald Finn Marina 0 4.39 Family, Friends and Fatalities (A Life's a Beach Cozy Mystery Book 5)
author: Emerald Finn
name: Marina
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/12/30
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<![CDATA[Clockwork Boys (Clocktaur War, #1)]]> 36618062
If they succeed, rewards and pardons await, but that requires a long journey through enemy territory, directly into the capital. It also requires them to refrain from killing each other along the way! At turns darkly comic and touching, Clockwork Boys puts together a broken group of people trying to make the most of the rest of their lives as they drive forward on their suicide mission.]]>
230 T. Kingfisher Marina 4 4.15 2017 Clockwork Boys (Clocktaur War, #1)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Marina
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/30
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<![CDATA[Mind Over Menopause: Lose Weight, Love Your Body, and Embrace Life after 50 with a Powerful New Mindset]]> 63251932 Ěý
“A necessary roadmap for a mindful and confident menopause transition and the tools to navigate it on one’s own terms.”—Heather Hirsch, MD, author ofĚý Unlock Your Menopause Type

Welcome to menopause, where everything you thought you knew about your body changed overnight. You’re always hot (unless of course you’re freezing cold), you’re moodier than ever, sleep seems like a distant memory, and your skin is forming “age spots.� . . . You can’t help but wonder, Is this it? Thankfully, no.

Weight-loss life coach Pahla Bowers is here to help with a radically simple and powerful method to flip the script on menopause—by adjusting how you think. Pahla teaches how to target Really Unhelpful Thoughts (RUTs), to shed extra pounds and stay healthy. With this book, you will learn Combining exercise science, cognitive and behavioral psychology, and an inspiring, pragmatic perspective,Ěý Mind Over Menopause equips you with the tools and confidence to achieve your goals.]]>
272 Pahla Bowers 1615199756 Marina 0 3.68 2023 Mind Over Menopause: Lose Weight, Love Your Body, and Embrace Life after 50 with a Powerful New Mindset
author: Pahla Bowers
name: Marina
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
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The Princess Bride 2794395 317 William Goldman Marina 0 4.21 1973 The Princess Bride
author: William Goldman
name: Marina
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1973
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Year One (Chronicles of The One, #1)]]> 34489747 420 Nora Roberts 0349414947 Marina 0 3.82 2017 Year One (Chronicles of The One, #1)
author: Nora Roberts
name: Marina
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/16
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)]]> 218110859 This indomitable character appears at the centre of these narratives that comprise Olive Kitteridge. In each of them, we watch Olive, a retired schoolteacher, as she struggles to make sense of the changes in her life and the lives of those around her - always with brutal honesty, if sometimes painfully. Olive will make you laugh, nod in recognition, as well as wince in pain or shed a tear or two. We meet her stoic husband, bound to her in a marriage both broken and strong, and her own son, tyrannised by Olive's overbearing sensitivities. The reader comes away, amazed by this author's ability to conjure this formidable heroine and her deep humanity that infiltrates every page.]]> 277 Elizabeth Strout Marina 0 4.10 2008 Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)
author: Elizabeth Strout
name: Marina
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/06
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Dark Days Pact (Lady Helen #2)]]> 30302356 After the scandalous events at her presentation ball in London, Lady Helen has taken refuge at the fashionable seaside resort of Brighton, banished from her family and training as a Reclaimer with the covert Dark Days Club. She must learn to fight the dangerous energy-wielding Deceivers and prepare to face their master, the elusive Grand Deceiver.

As she struggles to put aside her genteel upbringing, Helen realizes that her mentor, Lord Carlston, is fighting his own inner battle. Has the foul Deceiver energy poisoned his soul, or is something else driving him towards violent bouts of madness? Either way, Helen is desperate to help the man with whom she shares a deep but forbidden connection.

When Mr. Pike, the hard bureaucratic heart of the Dark Days Club, arrives in Brighton, he has a secret mission for Helen: find the journal left by a mad rogue Reclaimer, before it falls into the hands of the Deceivers. Coerced by Pike, Helen has no choice but to do as ordered, knowing that the search for the journal may bring about Lord Carlston’s annihilation.]]>
491 Alison Goodman 1101592044 Marina 0 4.10 2017 The Dark Days Pact (Lady Helen #2)
author: Alison Goodman
name: Marina
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen, #1)]]> 30407729 New York Times bestselling author of Eon and Eona; a Regency adventure series starring a stylish and intrepid Buffy-esque demon-hunter

London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall's presentation to the queen, one of her family's housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?

* Includes a bonus Dark Days Club novella! *]]>
544 Alison Goodman 0142425095 Marina 0 3.71 2015 The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen, #1)
author: Alison Goodman
name: Marina
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Dark Days Deceit (Lady Helen, #3)]]> 26061583
Lady Helen has retreated to a country estate outside Bath to prepare for her wedding to the Duke of Selburn, yet she knows she has unfinished business to complete. She and the dangerously charismatic Lord Carlston have learned they are a dyad, bonded in blood, and only they are strong enough to defeat the Grand Deceiver, who threatens to throw mankind into chaos. But the heinous death-soaked Ligatus Helen has absorbed is tearing a rift in her mind. Its power, if unleashed, will annihilate both Helen and Carlston unless they can find a way to harness its ghastly force and defeat their enemy.

In the final book of the trilogy that began with THE DARK DAYS CLUB and continued with THE DARK DAYS PACT, the intrepid Lady Helen's story hurtles to a shocking conclusion full of action, heartbreak, and betrayal.]]>
534 Alison Goodman 0670785490 Marina 0 3.99 2018 The Dark Days Deceit (Lady Helen, #3)
author: Alison Goodman
name: Marina
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/05
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Wild Robot (The Wild Robot, #1)]]> 26030734
When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is all alone on a remote, wild island. She has no idea how she got there or what her purpose is—but she knows she needs to survive. After battling a violent storm and escaping a vicious bear attack, she realizes that her only hope for survival is to adapt to her surroundings and learn from the island's unwelcoming animal inhabitants.

As Roz slowly befriends the animals, the island starts to feel like home—until, one day, the robot's mysterious past comes back to haunt her.

From bestselling and award-winning author and illustrator Peter Brown comes a heartwarming and action-packed novel about what happens when nature and technology collide.]]>
282 Peter Brown 0316381993 Marina 4 4.19 2016 The Wild Robot (The Wild Robot, #1)
author: Peter Brown
name: Marina
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/10
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
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This is a cute little middle grade story about a robot who is washed ashore on an island inhabited only by animals. At first seen as a monster, the robot gradually makes friends and even adopts an orphaned baby gosling, gradually winning over the animals and working together as friends should. It's a lovely meditation on the value of friendship, the beauty of nature, and how to give a life purpose. The illustrations were sweet and added to the charm of the book. I'm waaaay older than the target market but I will happily read the sequel!
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<![CDATA[The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)]]> 25786523
Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family ľ±˛ő˛Ô’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.]]>
404 Becky Chambers 1473619807 Marina 0 4.18 2014 The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)
author: Becky Chambers
name: Marina
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/02
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Last Graduate (The Scholomance, #2)]]> 57410632 A budding dark sorceress determined not to use her formidable powers uncovers yet more secrets about the workings of her world in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education, the start of Naomi Novik's groundbreaking crossover series.

At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are faced with their final year--and the looming specter of graduation, a deadly ritual that leaves few students alive in its wake. El is determined that her chosen group will survive, but it is a prospect that is looking harder by the day as the savagery of the school ramps up. Until El realizes that sometimes winning the game means throwing out all the rules . . .

Praise for A Deadly Education

"The scholomance is the dark school of magic I've been waiting for, and its wise, witty, and monstrous heroine is one I'd happily follow anywhere--even into a school full of monsters."--Katherine Arden, New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

"Novik deliciously undoes expectations about magic schools, destined heroes, and family legacies. A gorgeous book about monsters and monstrousness, chockablock with action, cleverness, and wit."--#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black

"A must-read . . . Novik puts a refreshingly dark, adult spin on the magical boarding school. . . . Readers will delight in the push-and-pull of El and Orion's relationship, the fantastically detailed world, the clever magic system, and the matter-of-fact diversity of the student body."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)]]>
388 Naomi Novik 0593357280 Marina 5 4.17 2021 The Last Graduate (The Scholomance, #2)
author: Naomi Novik
name: Marina
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/11/01
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1)]]> 51184324
In the start of an all-new series, the bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver introduces you to a dangerous school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death - until one girl begins to rewrite its rules. Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.

There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal.Once you're inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die.El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school's many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions - never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school. Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying her hardest not to use it... that is, unless she has no other choice.

Wry, witty, endlessly inventive, and mordantly funny - yet with a true depth and fierce justice at its heart - this enchanting novel reminds us that there are far more important things than mere survival.


'Hilarious and wild! Take any fictional magic school, make it as over-the-top dangerous as possible, and populate it with a bunch of snarky teenagers; the result is pure batshit fun.' - N.K. Jemisin, three-time Hugo Award winner and author of The Fifth Season
'A dark, smart, delicious tale, set to redefine everything you think you know about schools for magic. A DEADLY EDUCATION is dangerously addictive.' - Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Mercies
'The Scholomance is the dark school of magic I've been waiting for, and its wise, witty, and monstrous heroine is one I'd happily follow anywhere-even into a school full of monsters.' - Katherine Arden, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale
'The wonderful cast of characters will grab a hold of your heart and you'll never want to leave this deadly school ... a fantasy that delights on every level. I loved this brilliant book.' - Stephanie Garber, #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Caraval series
'Eyeball-meltingly brilliant. Novik is, quite simply, a genius.' - Kiersten White, New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken
'Sharp, witty, and darkly effervescent, A Deadly Education is Naomi Novik's fresh take on the concept of the magic school. One of my favorite reads of the year.' - Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls
'Friendship in spite of itself; danger that doesn't quit-what a wildly magical ride!' - Tamora Pierce
'A Deadly Education is a book that lives up to its gobsmacker of an opening sentence ... Naomi Novik is relentlessly innovative and entertaining.' - Terry Brooks
'Naomi Novik reinvents the magical school story by working a strange, funny, wild, dark magic all her own. This is not just your next great read - it's your new obsession.' - Gwenda Bond
'A delightfully brutal world ... and a practical, ruthless heroine with the guts and wits to survive it.' - Emily Skrutskie
'Fresh, smart, and delightfully unique. It's Hogwarts with higher stakes and sharper claws, and I absolutely loved it.' - Alix E. Harrow]]>
313 Naomi Novik 1529100860 Marina 5 3.73 2020 A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1)
author: Naomi Novik
name: Marina
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/24
date added: 2024/12/28
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Role Playing 63843397
Otter is Aiden, a fifty-year-old optimist using the guild as an emotional outlet from his family drama caring for his aging mother while his brother plays house with Aiden’s ex-fiancée.

Bogwitch and Otter become fast virtual friends, but there’s a catch. Bogwitch thinks Otter is a college student. Otter assumes Bogwitch is an octogenarian.

When they finally meet face to face―after a rocky, shocking start―the unlikely pair of sunshine and stormy personalities grow tentatively closer. But Maggie’s previous relationships have left her bitter, and Aiden’s got a complicated past of his own.

Everything’s easier online. Can they make it work in real life?]]>
331 Cathy Yardley 1662503989 Marina 0 3.92 2023 Role Playing
author: Cathy Yardley
name: Marina
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/20
date added: 2024/12/28
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A Month of Sundays 39808294
Determined to enjoy her imminent retirement, Adele invites her fellow bibliophiles to help her house-sit in the Blue Mountains. It's a tantalising opportunity to spend a month walking in the fresh air, napping by the fire and, of course, reading and talking about books.

But these aren't just any books: each member has been asked to choose a book which will teach the others more about her. And with each woman facing a crossroads in her life, it turns out there's a lot for them to learn, not just about their fellow book-clubbers, but also about themselves.

Liz Byrski has written a beautiful novel about the joy and comfort reading a good book can bring to us all.]]>
352 Liz Byrski 1743534949 Marina 0 3.79 2018 A Month of Sundays
author: Liz Byrski
name: Marina
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/26
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Tress of the Emerald Sea (Secret Projects, #28)]]> 127280617 #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson brings us deeper into the Cosmere universe with a rollicking, riveting tale that will appeal to fans of The Princess Bride.

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?]]>
384 Brandon Sanderson 1250899664 Marina 0 4.24 2023 Tress of the Emerald Sea (Secret Projects, #28)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Marina
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/19
date added: 2024/12/28
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Devil's Cub 2257256 An alternative cover for this ISBN can be found here

Duellist and gamester, the young Marquis of Vidal had fairly earned the sobriquet 'Devil's Cub' - a tribute to the wilder excesses of his father, the Duke of Avon.

When Mary Challoner discovered Dominic's plans to run away with her lovely sister, she donned cloak and mask in a daring impersonation and found herself bound for France with the most notorious rake in Georgian London.

The many admirers of These Old Shades will meet some familiar friends.]]>
285 Georgette Heyer 0330023616 Marina 5 favourite-reads 4.38 1932 Devil's Cub
author: Georgette Heyer
name: Marina
average rating: 4.38
book published: 1932
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/15
date added: 2024/12/28
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Thornhedge 61884932 There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This ľ±˛ő˛Ô’t her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…]]>
116 T. Kingfisher 1250244099 Marina 0 3.95 2023 Thornhedge
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Marina
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/23
date added: 2024/12/28
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A Sorceress Comes to Call 195790847 A dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic

Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.

After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.

Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.]]>
327 T. Kingfisher 1250244072 Marina 0 4.06 2024 A Sorceress Comes to Call
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Marina
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/12
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Paladin's Faith (The Saint of Steel, #4)]]> 201967303
Shane is a paladin with three problems. His god is dead, his client is much too attractive for his peace of mind, and a powerful organization is trying to have them both killed.

Add in a brilliant artificer with a device that may change the world, a glittering and dangerous court, and a demon-led cult, and Shane and Marguerite will be lucky to escape with their souls intact, never mind their hearts. . .]]>
446 T. Kingfisher Marina 0 4.16 2023 Paladin's Faith (The Saint of Steel, #4)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Marina
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/07
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel, #3)]]> 59109627
Galen is a paladin of a dead god, lost to holiness and no longer entirely sane. He has long since given up on any hope of love. But when the two men and a brave gnole constable are drawn into the web of the mysterious killer, it's Galen's job to protect Piper from the traps that await them.

He's just not sure if he can protect Piper from the most dangerous threat of all…]]>
300 T. Kingfisher Marina 0 4.14 2021 Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel, #3)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Marina
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Paladin's Strength (The Saint of Steel, #2)]]> 57119466
When their paths cross at the point of a sword, Istvhan and Clara will be pitched headlong into each other’s quests, facing off against enemies both living and dead. But Clara has a secret that could jeopardize the growing trust between them, a secret that will lead them to the gladiatorial pits of a corrupt city, and beyond...]]>
445 T. Kingfisher Marina 0 4.20 2021 Paladin's Strength (The Saint of Steel, #2)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Marina
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Dear Mrs. Bird (The Emmy Lake Chronicles, #1)]]> 36373413 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Lilac Girls.

London 1940, bombs are falling. Emmy Lake is Doing Her Bit for the war effort, volunteering as a telephone operator with the Auxiliary Fire Services. When Emmy sees an advertisement for a job at the London Evening Chronicle, her dreams of becoming a Lady War Correspondent seem suddenly achievable. But the job turns out to be typist to the fierce and renowned advice columnist, Henrietta Bird. Emmy is disappointed, but gamely bucks up and buckles down.

Mrs Bird is very clear: Any letters containing Unpleasantness—must go straight in the bin. But when Emmy reads poignant letters from women who are lonely, may have Gone Too Far with the wrong men and found themselves in trouble, or who can’t bear to let their children be evacuated, she is unable to resist responding. As the German planes make their nightly raids, and London picks up the smoldering pieces each morning, Emmy secretly begins to write letters back to the women of all ages who have spilled out their troubles.

Prepare to fall head over heels with Emmy and her best friend, Bunty, who are spirited and gutsy, even in the face of events that bring a terrible blow. As the bombs continue to fall, the irrepressible Emmy keeps writing, and readers are transformed by AJ Pearce’s hilarious, heartwarming, and enormously moving tale of friendship, the kindness of strangers, and ordinary people in extraordinary times.]]>
281 A.J. Pearce 1501170066 Marina 0 3.76 2018 Dear Mrs. Bird (The Emmy Lake Chronicles, #1)
author: A.J. Pearce
name: Marina
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/28
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Dead Girl Gone (The Bookshop Detectives #1)]]> 216557696 “When we opened Sherlock Tomes people warned us that we’d made a terrible mistake. People warned us that e-readers were taking over. People warned us that we’d never compete with the evil Amazon. The one thing they didn’t warn us about was the murders…�

Introducing...the Bookshop Detectives!

When a mystery parcel arrives at Sherlock Tomes bookshop in small-town Havelock North, New Zealand, husband-and-wife owners Garth and Eloise (and their petrified pooch, Stevie) are drawn into the baffling case of a decades-old missing schoolgirl.

Intrigued by the puzzling, bookish clues the two ex-cops are soon tangled in a web of crime, drugs, and floral decapitations, while endeavouring to pull off the international celebrity book launch of the century.

With their beloved shop on the chopping block and the sinister suspect who forced them to run away from Blighty reemerging from the shadows, have Garth and Eloise Sherlock finally met their Moriarty?

For once, the cover copy is no exaggeration: Diary of a Bookseller really does meet Thursday Murder Club meets Bookseller at the End of the World in this witty debut novel, full of literary clues, comedic insights and the kinds of Kiwis you only ever meet in bookshops.
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340 Gareth Ward 1776951018 Marina 0 3.80 2024 Dead Girl Gone (The Bookshop Detectives #1)
author: Gareth Ward
name: Marina
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/25
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel, #1)]]> 50702014 Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year�

Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind�

From the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of Swordheart and The Twisted Ones comes a saga of murder, magic, and love on the far side of despair.]]>
366 T. Kingfisher Marina 0 4.08 2020 Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel, #1)
author: T. Kingfisher
name: Marina
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/23
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs Trilogy, #1)]]> 199826249 Desperate to undo the curse binding them to each other, an impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival venture deep into a magical forest in search of a counterspell—only to discover that magic might not be the only thing pulling them together.

Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics.

He can summon butterflies with a song, or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Such minor charms don’t earn him much admiration from other sorcerers (or his father), but anything more elaborate always blows up in his face. Which is why Leo vowed years ago to never again write powerful magic.

That is, until a mix-up involving a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime nemesis, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and an absolutely insufferable curmudgeon. The only thing they agree on is that getting caught using forbidden magic would mean the end of their careers. They need a counterspell, and fast. But Grimm casts spells, he doesn’t undo them, and Leo doesn’t mess with powerful magic.

Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To dissolve the curse, they’ll have to uncover the true depths of Leo’s magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and—much to their horror—work together.

Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them.]]>
416 Maiga Doocy 0356523993 Marina 0 4.32 2024 Sorcery and Small Magics (The Wildersongs Trilogy, #1)
author: Maiga Doocy
name: Marina
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/21
date added: 2024/12/28
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The Last Dragon of the East 207298738 Inspired by Chinese myths of ancient dragon gods and threads of fate, Katrina Kwan’s dazzling fantasy debut is an adventure perfect for fans of Sue Lynn Tan and Hannah Whitten.

At the spry young age of twenty-five, Sai has led a quiet life, keeping the family teahouse up and running—even if that means ignoring the past-due notices—and taking care of his ailing mother. But he has a not-so-secret gift that he’s parlayed into a side career: he was born with the ability see the red threads of fate between soulmates, which lends itself nicely to matchmaking. Sai has thus far been content not to follow his own thread, the only one he’s ever seen that’s gray and fraying.

But Sai’s ordinary existence is about to be turned upside-down by a pair of shining dragon scales. When his mother’s doctor sells them to him, claiming them as a miracle cure, Sai is pretty sure he’s being scammed. When the medicine actually works—and the terrifying, ruthless emperor catches wind—Sai is thrust into the search for a dragon long thought extinct that will lead him into the throes of a brewing war and deep into foreign lands, facing down challenges both magical and mortal on an unexpected adventure. And for the very first time, as his own thread of fate begins to move, he may be able to solve the mystery of his Fated One on the other end of the line.]]>
320 Katrina Kwan 1668051230 Marina 0 3.71 2024 The Last Dragon of the East
author: Katrina Kwan
name: Marina
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/19
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store]]> 35488858
In her late twenties, Cait Flanders found herself stuck in the consumerism cycle that grips so many of us: earn more, buy more, want more, rinse, repeat. Even after she worked her way out of nearly $30,000 of consumer debt, her old habits took hold again. When she realized that nothing she was doing or buying was making her happy—only keeping her from meeting her goals—she decided to set herself a challenge:Ěýshe would not shop for an entire year.

The Year of LessĚýdocuments Cait’s life for twelve months during which she bought only consumables: groceries, toiletries, gas for her car. Along the way, she challenged herself to consume less of many other things besides shopping. She decluttered her apartment and got rid of 70 percent of her belongings; learned how to fix things rather than throw them away; researched the zero waste movement; and completed a television ban. At every stage, she learned that the less she consumed, the more fulfilled she felt.

The challenge became a lifeline when, in the course of the year, Cait found herself in situations that turned her life upside down. In the face of hardship, she realized why she had always turned to shopping, alcohol, and food—and what it had cost her. Unable to reach for any of her usual vices, she changed habits she’d spent years perfecting and discovered what truly mattered to her.

Blending Cait’s compelling story with inspiring insight and practical guidance,ĚýThe Year of LessĚýwill leave you questioning what you’re holding on to in your own life—and, quite possibly, lead you to find your own path ofĚýless.]]>
189 Cait Flanders 1401954871 Marina 0 3.43 2018 The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store
author: Cait Flanders
name: Marina
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/16
date added: 2024/12/28
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The Visitor (Jack Reacher #4) 19738287 Featuring Jack Reacher, hero of the new blockbuster movie starring Tom Cruise.

Sergeant Amy Callan and Lieutenant Caroline Cooke have a lot in common.

Both were army high-flyers. Both were acquainted with Jack Reacher. Both were forced to resign from the service.

Now they're both dead.

Found in their own homes, naked, in a bath full of paint.

Apparent victims of an army man. A loner, a smart guy with a score to settle, a ruthless vigilante.

A man just like Jack Reacher.]]>
516 Lee Child Marina 0 4.16 2000 The Visitor (Jack Reacher #4)
author: Lee Child
name: Marina
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/13
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Book That Broke the World (The Library Trilogy, #2)]]> 157031755 We fight for the people we love. We fight for the ideas we want to be true.

Evar and Livira stand side by side and yet far beyond each other's reach. Evar is forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover her book if she's to return to her life. While Evar's journey leads him outside into the vastness of a world he's never seen, Livira's destination lies deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.

And all the while, the library quietly weaves thread to thread, bringing the scattered elements of Livira's old life � friends and foe alike � back together beneath new skies.

Long ago, a lie was told, and with the passing years it has grown and spread, a small push leading to a chain of desperate consequences. Now, as one edifice topples into the next with ever-growing violence, it threatens to break the world. The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.

The Library Trilogy is about many things: adventure, discovery, and romance, but it's also a love letter to books and the places where they live. The focus is on one vast and timeless library, but the love expands to encompass smaller more personal collections, and bookshops of all shades too.]]>
384 Mark Lawrence 0008456763 Marina 0 3.99 2024 The Book That Broke the World (The Library Trilogy, #2)
author: Mark Lawrence
name: Marina
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/12
date added: 2024/12/28
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The Nature of Witches 54717138
In Autumn, Clara wants nothing to do with her power. It's wild and volatile, and the price of her magic―losing the ones she loves―is too high, despite the need to control the increasingly dangerous weather.

In Winter, the world is on the precipice of disaster. Fires burn, storms rage, and Clara accepts that she's the only one who can make a difference.

In Spring, she falls for Sang, the witch training her. As her magic grows, so do her feelings, until she's terrified Sang will be the next one she loses.

In Summer, Clara must choose between her power and her happiness, her duty and the people she loves... before she loses Sang, her magic, and thrusts the world into chaos.

Practical Magic meets Twister in this debut contemporary fantasy standalone about heartbreaking power, the terror of our collapsing atmosphere, and the ways we unknowingly change our fate.]]>
367 Rachel Griffin 1728229421 Marina 0 3.79 2021 The Nature of Witches
author: Rachel Griffin
name: Marina
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/09
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy, #1)]]> 61612864
A girl has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust where nightmares stalk and no one goes.

The world has never even noticed them. That's about to change.

Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty, and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned.]]>
559 Mark Lawrence 0593437918 Marina 0 3.94 2023 The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy, #1)
author: Mark Lawrence
name: Marina
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/11/08
date added: 2024/12/28
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Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly 199618081 From the Costa-shortlisted author of THE OTHER HALF OF AUGUSTA HOPE and ALL MY MOTHERS

The story of two people who have no idea how to fall in love�

On the tiny island of Rokesby, Addie helps her mother run a women's retreat. Dreaming daily of escape, she consoles herself by swimming in the ocean that surrounds them.

On the neighbouring island, joined to Rokesby by a bridge at low tide, Sol has sought refuge at a wind-swept prayer house, grieving both his mother’s death and his father’s devastating betrayal. Alone and anxious, he takes comfort in birdwatching, books and the sounds of the sea.

Introverts with turbulent pasts and wary hearts, Sol and Addie are both drawn to nature far more than to people � until they catch sight of one another in the wild. Can they break free from past lessons in love to risk a better future together?

From the Costa-shortlisted author of THE OTHER HALF OF AUGUSTA HOPE and ALL MY MOTHERS, this is a beautifully observed and life-affirming novel about finding yourself, and then allowing someone else to find you.]]>
430 Joanna Glen 0008607435 Marina 0 4.04 Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly
author: Joanna Glen
name: Marina
average rating: 4.04
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rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/12/28
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Bespelled (Bewitched, #2) 136288670 “Neither magic, nor time, can keep us apart. We are like the stars. Eternal.�

No one told witch Selene Bowers having a soul mate would be so difficult. Nor did they warn her that he might be a vengeful, ancient sorcerer who would frame her for murder, force her to remember a past life he swears she lived, and then coerce her into an unbreakable marriage pact. But that’s exactly what happens the night of the Samhain Ball, when Selene finds herself in a jail cell.

After waking from enchanted sleep, Memnon swore to discover why Selene betrayed him long ago. But when his soul mate’s memories return, the truth reveals something else entirely. Horrified by his own actions and desperate to make amends, Memnon offers Selene the unthinkable: a magic bond that will give her full control over his will. And Selene is desperate enough to accept it.

But other enemies still haunt Henbane Coven, Selene’s magical academy, and they’ve taken a keen interest in her. If she wants to stop them, she’ll need Memnon’s help. But partnering with the sorcerer is a tricky business, especially when he’s dead set on winning her heart. And that can’t happen…because the bond controlling him will break the moment she falls in love with him.]]>
544 Laura Thalassa Marina 0 4.10 2024 Bespelled (Bewitched, #2)
author: Laura Thalassa
name: Marina
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/28
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Crepes of Wrath (A Story Island Cozy Mystery Book 3)]]> 216961068
Mix a heaping cup of suspicion with a whole can of worms. Fold in a starstruck best friend, a harried boyfriend, and his flaky ex-wife. Broil under the flame of dogged press and angry fans, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Can Eliza turn down the heat and rescue her happy ending—before it burns?]]>
183 Cordelia Rook Marina 0 4.42 The Crepes of Wrath (A Story Island Cozy Mystery Book 3)
author: Cordelia Rook
name: Marina
average rating: 4.42
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/12/28
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Talk Bookish to Me 55004513 Inspiration can come from the most unlikely—and inconvenient—sources.

Kara Sullivan’s life is full of love—albeit fictional. As a bestselling romance novelist and influential bookstagrammer, she’s fine with getting her happily-ever-after fix between the covers of a book.

But right now? Not only is Kara’s best friend getting married next week—which means big wedding stress—but the deadline for her next novel is looming, and she hasn’t written a single word. The last thing she needs is for her infuriating first love, Ryan Thompson, to suddenly appear in the wedding party. But Ryan’s unexpected arrival sparks a creative awakening in Kara that inspires the steamy historical romance she desperately needs to deliver.

With her wedding duties intensifying, her deadline getting closer by the second and her bills not paying themselves, Kara knows there’s only one way for her to finish her book and to give her characters the ever-after they deserve. But can she embrace the unlikely, ruggedly handsome muse—who pushes every one of her buttons—to save the wedding, her career and, just maybe, write her own happy ending?

"A fun and sexy romp, with chemistry that gave me all the feels!" —Jennifer Probst, New York Times bestselling author of Our Italian Summer

"Add this book to your TBR list immediately!"Ěý—Sarah Smith, author of Faker]]>
376 Kate Bromley 1525806432 Marina 0 3.53 2021 Talk Bookish to Me
author: Kate Bromley
name: Marina
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Disappearance of Vanessa Shaw: A Young Adult Psychological Thriller]]> 220809660 ONE OF US IS LYING MEETS UNTIL DAWN IN THE MUST-READ NEW MYSTERY FROM MILLION-BESTSELLING AUTHOR SARRA CANNONĚý
Secrets can kill.
Vanessa Shaw was the kind of girl you either loved or you loved to hate. Over the course of our friendship, I’d done both. I never should have gone to her family's secluded cabin on the river that night, but it was meant to bring us all closer.Ěý One last party with our original group before senior year began.Ěý


Instead, Vanessa disappeared without a trace, and her memory’s been haunting me ever since. Now, exactly one year later, her brother Kirin has brought us all back to the cabin to honor her life. Six of Vanessa's closest friends, each with a secret we’d do anything to protect.


But I have a feeling no one is leaving until we unbury the truth. After all, everyone there that night had a reason to want Vanessa gone ... Including me.

Don't miss this psychological thriller with a hint of the supernatural - perfect for fans of Pretty Little Liars andĚýA Good Girl's Guide To Murder. ]]>
432 Sarra Cannon 1624210953 Marina 0 4.54 The Disappearance of Vanessa Shaw: A Young Adult Psychological Thriller
author: Sarra Cannon
name: Marina
average rating: 4.54
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Once There Were Wolves 54860573 From the author of the beloved national bestseller Migrations, a pulse-pounding new novel set in the wild Scottish Highlands.

Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team of biologists tasked with reintroducing fourteen gray wolves into the remote Highlands. She hopes to heal not only the dying landscape, but Aggie, too, unmade by the terrible secrets that drove the sisters out of Alaska.

Inti is not the woman she once was, either, changed by the harm she’s witnessed—inflicted by humans on both the wild and each other. Yet as the wolves surprise everyone by thriving, Inti begins to let her guard down, even opening herself up to the possibility of love. But when a farmer is found dead, Inti knows where the town will lay blame. Unable to accept her wolves could be responsible, Inti makes a reckless decision to protect them. But if the wolves didn’t make the kill, then who did? And what will Inti do when the man she is falling for seems to be the prime suspect?

Propulsive and spell-binding, Charlotte McConaghy's Once There Were Wolves is the unforgettable story of a woman desperate to save the creatures she loves—if she ľ±˛ő˛Ô’t consumed by a wild that was once her refuge.]]>
258 Charlotte McConaghy 1250244145 Marina 0 4.07 2021 Once There Were Wolves
author: Charlotte McConaghy
name: Marina
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/24
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life]]> 44595007
What would be possible if you followed through on your best intentions? What could you accomplish if you could stay focused and overcome distractions? What if you had the power to become "indistractable"?ĚýĚý

International best-selling author, former Stanford lecturer, and behavioral design expert, Nir Eyal, wrote Silicon Valley's handbook for making technology habit-forming. Five years after publishing Hooked, Eyal reveals distraction's Achilles' heel in his groundbreaking new book.ĚýĚý

In Indistractable, Eyal reveals the hidden psychology driving us to distraction. He describes why solving the problem is not as simple as swearing off our devices: Abstinence is impractical and often makes us want more.ĚýĚý

Eyal lays bare the secret of finally doing what you say you will do with a four-step, research-backed model. Indistractable reveals the key to getting the best out of technology, without letting it get the best of us.ĚýĚý

Inside, Eyal overturns conventional wisdom and reveals:Ěý


Why distraction at work is a symptom of a dysfunctional company culture - and how to fix itĚýĚý
What really drives human behavior and why "time management is pain management"ĚýĚý
Why your relationships (and your sex life) depend on you becoming indistractableĚýĚý
How to raise indistractable children in an increasingly distracting worldĚý
Empowering and optimistic, Indistractable provides practical, novel techniques to control your time and attention - helping you live the life you really want.]]>
290 Nir Eyal 194883653X Marina 0 3.71 2019 Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life
author: Nir Eyal
name: Marina
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies (The Ill-Mannered Ladies, #1)]]> 62313333
Lady Augusta Colebrook, “Gus,� is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents to rescue their friend’s goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.
Ěý
The sisters set out to Caroline’s country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots and injures the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago.ĚýWhat follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived and rather charming Lord Evan.

Back in London, Gus can’t stop thinking about her unlikely (not to mention handsome) comrade-in-arms. She is convinced Lord Evan was falsely accused of murder, and she is going to prove it. She persuades Julia to join her in a quest to help Lord Evan, and others in need—society be damned! And so begins the beguiling secret life and adventures of the Colebrook twins.]]>
452 Alison Goodman 0593440811 Marina 0 4.14 2023 The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies (The Ill-Mannered Ladies, #1)
author: Alison Goodman
name: Marina
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/16
date added: 2024/12/28
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Light from Uncommon Stars 56179360
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate. But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline. As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]>
372 Ryka Aoki 1250789060 Marina 0 4.03 2021 Light from Uncommon Stars
author: Ryka Aoki
name: Marina
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/14
date added: 2024/12/28
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Bewitched (Bewitched, #1) 60225993 Come to me, Empress �

At age twenty, Selene Bowers desperately hopes to be accepted into Henbane Coven, an academy for young witches. Since one of the requirements for entry is to connect with her powers via a quest through the wilderness, Selene books a trip to South America. When a nefarious supernatural force tries to drag her plane from the sky, Selene's magic awakens to save her life―at a cost. Using her powers devours her memories, one by one.

Worse, when Selene braves the jungle and discovers the source of the attack, she finds herself awakening an ancient evil, Memnon the Cursed, who mistakes Selene for his long-dead wife. The wife who betrayed him. Selene manages to escape and begin her studies at Henbane, but when Memnon turns up at the coven and witches are found dead across campus, Selene becomes entangled in a dangerous plot. Accused of the murders on the basis of her memory loss, Selene must rely on Memnon's help for answers―and his plans for her will change everything.]]>
443 Laura Thalassa Marina 0 3.83 2023 Bewitched (Bewitched, #1)
author: Laura Thalassa
name: Marina
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/12
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Wild Robot Protects (The Wild Robot, #3)]]> 75593520
Roz calms and organizes the animals, but the poison tide takes a terrible toll on the island. And when the robot discovers that her new body is waterproof, she marches into the waves and sets out across the ocean, determined to stop the poison tide.

During her undersea journey, Roz encounters amazing geological formations and incredible creatures, and she sees the devastation caused by the toxic waters. Creatures she meets along the way direct her to a mysterious character known as the Ancient Shark, who explains that the poison tide is caused by a huge station that floats on the waves; a station operated by humans and by robots. To stop them, the Ancient Shark is prepared to attack with an army of sea creatures. However, Roz hopes to find a peaceful solution, instead. Can the wild robot save the ocean and her island and everything she loves?]]>
288 Peter Brown Marina 0 4.10 2023 The Wild Robot Protects (The Wild Robot, #3)
author: Peter Brown
name: Marina
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/06
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf (Mead Mishaps, #2)]]> 60865821
Dealing with a pirate ship full of demons that just moved into town was hard enough. Now on top of it, I have to convince a werewolf that I'm not his fated mate, he's just drugged. Easier said than done.

Though I have to say, having a gorgeous man show up and do all of your chores while telling you you're beautiful isn't the worst thing to happen to a girl.]]>
204 Kimberly Lemming Marina 0 4.05 2022 That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf (Mead Mishaps, #2)
author: Kimberly Lemming
name: Marina
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/03
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders, #1)]]> 203956647 A brand new series. An iconic new detective duo. And a puzzling new murder to solve...

Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar habits and routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him when he comes home. His days of adventure are over: adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s business now.

Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. As a private security officer, she doesn’t stay still long enough for habits or routines. She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Which was meant to be an easy job...

Then a dead body, a bag of money, and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending an SOS to the only person she trusts. A breakneck race around the world begins, but can Amy and Steve stay one step ahead of a lethal enemy?

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 059365322X.]]>
400 Richard Osman Marina 0 4.06 2024 We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders, #1)
author: Richard Osman
name: Marina
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/10/01
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo]]> 32620332
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the �80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.]]>
389 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1501139231 Marina 0 4.39 2017 The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Marina
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/26
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Wild Robot Escapes (The Wild Robot, #2)]]> 34219841 279 Peter Brown 0316382043 Marina 0 4.35 2018 The Wild Robot Escapes (The Wild Robot, #2)
author: Peter Brown
name: Marina
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/23
date added: 2024/12/28
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The Spellshop 199269577 The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.]]>
384 Sarah Beth Durst Marina 0 4.05 2024 The Spellshop
author: Sarah Beth Durst
name: Marina
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Fangs for Nothing (The Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven 1)]]> 215963754 He’s a hot, grumpy, reclusive vampire, and the last thing he wants is an interfering human tidying his castle…until her.

Lord Alaric Valerian has a problem. His mother is visiting his castle for the first time, but she doesn’t know that Alaric has filled every room with his centuries of artistic passions and creative pursuits.

Desperate, he hires professional organiser Winnie Preston to help him tame the mess. But Alaric ľ±˛ő˛Ô’t prepared for bubbly, passionate Winnie to show up at his castle and ram a metaphorical stake through his cold, vampire heart. Winnie sets his fangs on edge, but the more closely he works with her, the more he wishes she could be his.

So when Alaric’s mother arrives with a new bride-to-be in tow, Alaric convinces Winnie to pretend to be his fiance. He may be causing all kinds of scandal in the vampire court by being engaged to a human, but at least he doesn’t have to give up his reclusive life.

But Winnie still doesn’t know Alaric’s a vampire, and Alaric didn’t count on Winnie’s meddling book club pinning him for a mysterious murder in the village. Will their maybe-not-so-fake-marriage survive once Winnie discovers the monster that lurks beneath his fangs?

Fangs for Nothing is a kooky, spooky, vampire romance full to the cauldron-brim with fake dating, a meddling smutty book club, murder and mystery aplenty, endless cups of tea, quirky characters, and a broody vampire with an ass so fine, Geralt of Rivia comes to him for fitness tips.]]>
496 Steffanie Holmes 1991099762 Marina 0 4.09 Fangs for Nothing (The Nevermore Murder Club and Smutty Book Coven 1)
author: Steffanie Holmes
name: Marina
average rating: 4.09
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read at: 2024/09/12
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance, #3)]]> 55858638 New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate.

The one thing you never talk about while you're in the Scholomance is what you'll do when you get out. Not even the richest enclaver would tempt fate that way. But it's all we dream about, the hideously slim chance we'll survive to make it out the gates and improbably find ourselves with a life ahead of us, a life outside the Scholomance halls.

And now the impossible dream has come true. I'm out, we're all out--and I didn't even have to turn into a monstrous dark witch to make it happen. So much for my great-grandmother's prophecy of doom and destruction. I didn't kill enclavers, I saved them. Me, and Orion, and our allies. Our graduation plan worked to perfection: we saved everyone and made the world safe for all wizards and brought peace and harmony to all the enclaves of the world.

Ha, only joking! Actually it's gone all wrong. Someone else has picked up the project of destroying enclaves in my stead, and probably everyone we saved is about to get killed in the brewing enclave war on the horizon. And the first thing I've got to do now, having miraculously got out of the Scholomance, is turn straight around and find a way back in.]]>
407 Naomi Novik 0593158369 Marina 0 4.08 2022 The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance, #3)
author: Naomi Novik
name: Marina
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch (Glimmer Falls, #2)]]> 123201433 Calladia Cunnington curses the day she met Astaroth the demon, but when he shows up memoryless, why does she find him so helpless . . . and sort of hot?

Calladia Cunnington knows she's rough around the edges, despite being the heir to one of small-town Glimmer Falls' founding witch families. While her gym obsession is a great outlet for her anxieties and anger, her hot temper still gets the best of her and manifests in bar brawls. When Calladia saves someone from a demon attack one night, though, she's happy to put her magic and rage to good use . . . until she realizes the man she saved is none other than Astaroth, the ruthless demon who orchestrated a soul bargain on her best friend.

Astaroth is a legendary soul bargainer and one of the nine members of the demon high council--except he can't remember any of this. Suffering from amnesia after being banished to the mortal plane, Astaroth doesn't know why a demon named Moloch is after him, nor why the muscular, angry, hot-in-a-terrifying-way witch who saved him hates him so much.

Unable to leave anyone in such a vulnerable state--even the most despicable demon--Calladia grudgingly decides to help him. (Besides, punching an amnesiac would be in poor taste.) The two set out on an uneasy road trip to find the witch who might be able to restore Astaroth's memory so they can learn how to defeat Moloch. Calladia vows that once Astaroth is cured, she'll kick his ass, but the more time she spends with the snarky yet utterly charming demon, the more she realizes she likes this new, improved Astaroth . . . and maybe she doesn't want him to recover his memories, after all.]]>
394 Sarah Hawley 0593547942 Marina 0 3.73 2023 A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch (Glimmer Falls, #2)
author: Sarah Hawley
name: Marina
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease―and How to Fight It]]> 49207255 A scientist reveals the groundbreaking evidence linking many major diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease, to a common root cause—insulin resistance—and shares an easy, effective plan to reverse and prevent it. We are sick. Around the world, we struggle with diseases that were once considered rare. Cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes affect millions each year; many people are also struggling with hypertension, weight gain, fatty liver, dementia, low testosterone, menstrual irregularities and infertility, and more. We treat the symptoms, not realizing that all of these diseases and disorders have something in common.Ěý Each of them is caused or made worse by a condition known as insulin resistance. And you might have it. Odds are you do—over half of all adults in the United States are insulin resistant, with most other countries either worse or not far behind.Ěý In Why We Get Sick, internationally renowned scientist and pathophysiology professor Benjamin BikmanĚýexplores why insulin resistance has become so prevalent and why it matters. Unless we recognize it and take steps to reverse the trend, major chronic diseases will be even more widespread. But reversing insulin resistance is possible, and Bikman offers an evidence-based plan to stop and prevent it, with helpful food lists, meal suggestions, easy exercise principles, and more. Full of surprising research and practical advice, Why We Get Sick will help you to take control of your health.]]> 280 Benjamin Bikman 1950665178 Marina 0 4.11 2020 Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the Root of Most Chronic Disease―and How to Fight It
author: Benjamin Bikman
name: Marina
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/17
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[More: A Memoir of Open Marriage]]> 70251573
"An intimate portrait of a woman on an earnest search to reclaim her passion and her body from the quotidian obligations of her various roles."—Christie Tate, bestselling author of Group and BFF

Molly Roden Winter was a mom of two young children in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with a husband, Stewart, who often worked late. One night when Stewart missed the kids' bedtime, again , she stormed out of the house to clear her head. At impromptu drinks with a friend, she met Matt, an unbelievably hot younger man. When Molly told her husband that Matt had asked her out, she was surprised that he encouraged her to accept.

So begins Molly's unexpected open marriage, and with it a life-changing journey of self-discovery. Molly and Stewart, who also begins to see other people, set ground rules to Don’t date an ex. Don’t date someone you work with. Don't go to anyone's house. And above all, don't fall in love. Spoiler They end up breaking most of their rules, even the most important one.

Molly follows her sexual desire onto dating sites and to public places around New York City. In therapy sessions, fueled by the discovery that her parents had an open marriage, too, she grapples with her past and what it means to be both a mother and her truest self. Molly Roden Winter narrates her journey with warmth and style in this magnetic, intensely personal debut memoir.]]>
304 Molly Roden Winter 0385549458 Marina 0 3.41 2024 More: A Memoir of Open Marriage
author: Molly Roden Winter
name: Marina
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/09
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[A Hard Day for a Hangover (Sunshine Vicram, #3)]]> 58724889
Like we said, the new day can take a hike.]]>
352 Darynda Jones 1250233143 Marina 0 4.17 2022 A Hard Day for a Hangover (Sunshine Vicram, #3)
author: Darynda Jones
name: Marina
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/05
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World]]> 18085519 249 Benny Lewis 0062282697 Marina 0 3.62 2014 Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak Any Language from Anywhere in the World
author: Benny Lewis
name: Marina
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at: 2024/08/03
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (Hart and Mercy, #1)]]> 58510253
Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest.

After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend�. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.

If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most � Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares � each other?]]>
449 Megan Bannen 0356518655 Marina 0 4.04 2022 The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (Hart and Mercy, #1)
author: Megan Bannen
name: Marina
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/31
date added: 2024/12/28
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Mother May I 55004063 A novel of domestic suspense in which a mother must decide how far she is willing to go to protect her child and the life she loves -- a tale of power, privilege, lies, revenge, and the choices we make, ones that transform our lives in unforeseen ways.


Revenge doesn't wait for permission.

Growing up poor in rural Georgia, Bree Cabbat was warned that the world was a dark and scary place. Bree rejected that fearful outlook, and life has proved her right. Having married into a family with wealth, power, and connections, Bree now has all a woman could ever dream of.

Until the day she awakens and sees someone peering into her bedroom window--an old gray-haired woman dressed all in black who vanishes as quickly as she appears. It must be a play of the early morning light or the remnant of a waking dream, Bree tells herself, shaking off the bad feeling that overcomes her.

Later that day though, she spies the old woman again, in the parking lot of her daughters' private school . . . just minutes before Bree's infant son, asleep in his car seat only a few feet away, vanishes. It happened so quickly--Bree looked away only for a second. There is a note left in his place, warning her that she is being is being watched; if she wants her baby back, she must not call the police or deviate in any way from the instructions that will follow.

The mysterious woman makes contact, and Bree learns she, too, is a mother. Why would another mother do this? What does she want? And why has she targeted Bree? Of course Bree will pay anything, do anything. It's her child.

To get her baby back, Bree must complete one small--but critical--task. It seems harmless enough, but her action comes with a devastating price.

Bree will do whatever it takes to protect her family--but what if the cost tears their world apart?]]>
324 Joshilyn Jackson 0062855344 Marina 0 3.79 2021 Mother May I
author: Joshilyn Jackson
name: Marina
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/28
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Magic in the Flesh (The Cartomancer's Guide to Werewolves, #2)]]> 204145922 Disaster #1: My kind of magic involves Tarot cards, not shape-shifting, but I’ve been bitten. Now I’m a werewolf, forced to join my sworn enemies. I need to find a cure for lycanthropy fast and get the heck out of Dodge.

Disaster #2: My powerful but crazy new grandfather has just announced he has an Evil Plan to destroy all magic. Because of course he has. And it somehow involves me.

Disaster #3: My new pack hates me and my only ally is Conal, the sexy, smart-mouthed wolf who has sworn to protect me. To survive, I must convince the pack that I’m Conal’s mate.

My calendar is really filling up. Before the next full moon, I have to find a cure, save magic, and stage the romance of the century. Without actually falling in love.

Because that would be the biggest disaster of all.]]>
328 Marina Finlayson Marina 0 4.31 Magic in the Flesh (The Cartomancer's Guide to Werewolves, #2)
author: Marina Finlayson
name: Marina
average rating: 4.31
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[Magic on the Cards (The Cartomancer's Guide to Werewolves, #1)]]> 134293888
I’m the weakest cartomancer who ever lived, but I can use Tarot cards to work magic. Most days. That makes me the natural prey of the Soldiers of the Light, the jumped-up werewolves who police the magic community. They’ve hunted cartomancers for centuries because of some stupid ancient feud.

Never speak to a werewolf.

I’m helping the local vampires track a rogue that’s menacing our little town when I knock a handsome stranger off his motorbike. He’s badly hurt but refuses medical help. So I take Mr Tall, Dark and Suspicious home—and find out he’s a Soldier. Because that’s just the kind of day I’m having.

Never, under any circumstances, fall in love with a werewolf.

He’s my sworn enemy, but sparks fly between us. Now I have a monster to catch and a town to save, all while guarding my secret—and my heart—from a man who would kill me without a second thought if he knew the truth.]]>
386 Marina Finlayson Marina 0 4.16 2023 Magic on the Cards (The Cartomancer's Guide to Werewolves, #1)
author: Marina Finlayson
name: Marina
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/23
date added: 2024/12/28
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<![CDATA[The Wren in the Holly Library (Oak & Holly Cycle, #1)]]> 61431964 Can you love the dark when you know what it hides?

Some things aren’t supposed to exist outside of our imagination.

Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight.

In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce...of sorts.

But tonight, Kierse―a gifted and fearless thief―will break that treaty. She’ll enter the Holly Library...not knowing it’s the home of a monster.

He’s charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it’s just a matter of finding her price.

Now she’s locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She’ll sacrifice her freedom. She’ll offer her skills. Together, they’ll put their own futures at risk.

But he’s been playing a game across centuries―and once she joins in, there will be no escape...]]>
400 K.A. Linde 1649374070 Marina 0 3.73 2024 The Wren in the Holly Library (Oak & Holly Cycle, #1)
author: K.A. Linde
name: Marina
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2024/07/18
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
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