en-US Sat, 04 Jan 2025 12:15:28 -0800 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 50706646
Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people.]]> 435 Andrea Stewart 0316541427 Ayesha 0 currently-reading 3.97 2020
author: Andrea Stewart
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 32109569 Alternate Cover Edition can be found here.

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street.

Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he'll be switched off, and they'll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty.

The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad - very mad.]]> 383 Dennis E. Taylor Ayesha 0 did-not-finish 4.29 2016
author: Dennis E. Taylor
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: did-not-finish
review:

]]> 39863238
Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansion—all while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secret—one that might spell the end of her Station and her way of life—or rescue it from annihilation.]]> 462 Arkady Martine 1250186439 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.07 2019
author: Arkady Martine
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 75302266 Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.

But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.]]> 378 Ava Reid 0063211505 Ayesha 0 to-read 3.73 2023
author: Ava Reid
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216017751 The time has come! Book seven in the bestselling Dungeon Crawler Carl series is here!

They call it Faction Wars.

The ninth floor.

Nine armies, each led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy. Each team has one objective: to capture and hold the castle at the very center of the battlefield. Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, and, of course, betrayal... It all makes for great fun and even greater television.

After all, none of these powerful aliens really die when they’re playing war.

Except this time. This time, winner takes all. Those who fall, stay in the ground.

As the AI continues its rapid decline, Carl and company take advantage of the chaos. For the first time ever, the crawlers are fighting back. They are now one of the nine teams. And this season, there’s a tenth army on the playing field. The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and formed a team of their own.

For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. Only one of them will be allowed to leave this level.

If they all want to survive, they’re going to need a little help from a veteran or two.

This is it.
This is what they’ve been fighting toward.
This is war.

This inevitable ruin.]]> 724 Matt Dinniman Ayesha 4 4.63 2024
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/24
date added: 2024/11/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 61327512 Tea-shop owner. Matchmaker. Detective?

Sixty-year-old self-proclaimed tea expert Vera Wong enjoys nothing more than sipping a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy ‘detective�� work on the internet (AKA checking up on her son to see if he’s dating anybody yet).

But when Vera wakes up one morning to find a dead man in the middle of her tea shop, it’s going to take more than a strong Longjing to fix things. Knowing she’ll do a better job than the police possibly could �� because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands �� Vera decides it’s down to her to catch the killer.

Nobody spills the tea like this amateur sleuth.]]> 339 Jesse Q. Sutanto 0593546172 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.00 2023
author: Jesse Q. Sutanto
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60387416
They think they've killed the last of us...

981 AD. The Viking King of Dublin is dead. His young widow, Gormflaith, has ambitions for her son �� and herself �� but Ireland is a dangerous place and kings tend not to stay kings for long. Gormflaith also has a secret. She is one of the Fomorians, an immortal race who can do fire-magic. She has kept her powers hidden at all costs, for there are other immortals in this world �� like the Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of warriors who are sworn to kill Fomorians.

Fódla is one of the Tuatha Dé Danann with the gift of healing. Her kind dwell hidden in a fortress, forbidden to live amongst the mortals. Fódla agrees to help her kin by going to spy on Brian Boru, a powerful man who aims to be High King of Ireland. She finds a land on the brink of war �� a war she is desperate to stop. However, preventing the loss of mortal lives is not easy with Ireland in turmoil and the Fomorians now on the rise...]]> 416 Shauna Lawless Ayesha 0 to-read 4.10 2022
author: Shauna Lawless
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61339098 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 1399709852 Ayesha 2 did-not-finish 4.19 2022
author: Sangu Mandanna
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves: did-not-finish
review:

]]> 125887685
It is bedlam on the eighth floor.
As management reels from the unexpected conclusion of the seventh level, the surviving crawlers stumble onto the eighth and find themselves scattered. It’s a map based on Earth’s final days before the collapse, where ethereal, intangible ghosts of humanity go about their lives, oblivious of the impending doom. Living amongst these ghosts are monsters based in Earth lore. “Legendary�� creatures tied to the geographical location they inhabit.

Each team of crawlers is given a task: find and capture six of these beasts. The captured monsters will be turned into cards. Cards that can be summoned into battle again and again. The stronger, the deadlier, the better.

At the end of the floor, the bad guys will also have decks, and they will have some of the most powerful cards available. So it’s crucial to assemble the toughest squad possible.

But, like always, there is a catch. There’s always a catch.

As Carl and Donut know all too well, just because someone is captured, it doesn’t mean they have been tamed.

Her name is Shi Maria. She’s easily the most powerful monster in their area. If they want to survive, they must capture her. But she is no ordinary beast. She’s intelligent. She was once married to a god, a god who is now missing. Her special attack is known to drive one insane. They call her the Bedlam Bride.

“Beware, beware. Beware the Eye of the Bedlam Bride”]]> 694 Matt Dinniman Ayesha 4 4.67 2023
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/07
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 60233239 Attention. Attention. The gates are down. The hunters are loose. Run, Run, Run.

A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. A mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed “The Butcher’s Masquerade.��

The sixth floor. The Hunting Grounds.

As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, a new, terrible threat looms. Outside tourists are finally allowed to enter the game, and they are here and ready to hunt. Among them is Vrah, a famed and veteran hunter, intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career.

But their prey is far from harmless, and this season they are fighting back.

Dungeon Crawler Carl and Princess Donut return in book five of the acclaimed litrpg series.]]> 732 Matt Dinniman Ayesha 4 4.69 2022
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.69
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 57905101 New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.

Here's the thing. It's never easy. Carl and his team can't go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.]]> 586 Matt Dinniman Ayesha 4 4.57 2021
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/30
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 56791389 Alternate cover edition of ASIN B08BKGYQXW


The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.]]> 446 Matt Dinniman Ayesha 4 4.49 2020
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/15
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 57001971 Welcome to the Gun Show!

The top ten list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face.

The Iron Tangle. An impossibly-complicated subway system built out of the world's subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away.

But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly-useless book. Welcome, crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon.]]> 534 Matt Dinniman Ayesha 4 4.49 2021
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/24
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 56377548
The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can't get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.

They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.

Carl still has no pants.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it's anything but a game.]]> 364 Matt Dinniman Ayesha 4 4.55 2021
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 55468002
My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a powerful answer to that question. Through the story of a year spent under the influence of a truly mad combination of drugs designed to heal our heroine from her alienation from this world, Moshfegh shows us how reasonable, even necessary, alienation can be. Both tender and blackly funny, merciless and compassionate, it is a showcase for the gifts of one of our major writers working at the height of her powers.]]> 301 Ottessa Moshfegh Ayesha 0 to-read 3.59 2018
author: Ottessa Moshfegh
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62047992 The moving international sensation about new beginnings, human connection, and the joy of reading.

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

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

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

As summer fades to autumn, Satoru and Takako discover they have more in common than they first thought. The Morisaki bookshop has something to teach them both about life, love, and the healing power of books.]]> 150 Satoshi Yagisawa 0063278677 Ayesha 0 to-read 3.66 2010
author: Satoshi Yagisawa
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 22878967 It has been twenty years since the end of the war. The dictatorial Augurs—once thought of almost as gods—were overthrown and wiped out during the conflict, their much-feared powers mysteriously failing them. Those who had ruled under them, men and women with a lesser ability known as the Gift, avoided the Augurs' fate only by submitting themselves to the rebellion's Four Tenets. A representation of these laws is now written into the flesh of any who use the Gift, forcing those so marked into absolute obedience.

As a student of the Gifted, Davian suffers the consequences of a war fought—and lost—before he was born. Despised by most beyond the school walls, he and those around him are all but prisoners as they attempt to learn control of the Gift. Worse, as Davian struggles with his lessons, he knows that there is further to fall if he cannot pass his final tests.

But when Davian discovers he has the ability to wield the forbidden power of the Augurs, he sets into motion a chain of events that will change everything. To the north, an ancient enemy long thought defeated begins to stir. And to the west, a young man whose fate is intertwined with Davian’s wakes up in the forest, covered in blood and with no memory of who he is…]]> 602 James Islington 099258020X Ayesha 0 did-not-finish 4.13 2014
author: James Islington
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves: did-not-finish
review:

]]> 38819868
My Sister, the Serial Killer is a blackly comic novel about how blood is thicker - and more difficult to get out of the carpet - than water...]]> 226 Oyinkan Braithwaite 0385544235 Ayesha 5 3.64 2018
author: Oyinkan Braithwaite
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/09
date added: 2024/08/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 60133986 Bestselling author S. A. Chakraborty's acclaimed Daevabad Trilogy gets expanded with this new compilation of stories from before, during, and after the events of The City of Brass, The Kingdom of Copper, and The Empire of Gold, all from the perspective of characters both beloved and hated, and even those without a voice in the novels. The River of Silver gathers material both seen and new--including a special coda fans will need to read--making this the perfect complement to those incredible novels.

Now together in one place, these stories of Daevabad enrich a world already teeming with magic and wonder. Explore this magical kingdom, hidden from human eyes. A place where djinn live and thrive, fight and love. A world where princes question their power, and powerful demons can help you...or destroy you.

A prospective new queen joins a court whose lethal history may overwhelm her own political savvy...

An imprisoned royal from a fallen dynasty and a young woman wrenched from her home cross paths in an enchanted garden...

A pair of scouts stumble upon a secret in a cursed winter wood that will turn over their world...

From Manizheh's first steps towards rebellion to adventures that take place after The Empire of Gold, this is a must-have collection for those who can't get enough of Nahri, Ali, and Dara and all that unfolded around them.]]> 242 S.A. Chakraborty 0063093731 Ayesha 0 4.25 2022
author: S.A. Chakraborty
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2023/08/01
date added: 2023/08/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 53183549 Shannon Chakraborty, the bestselling author of The City of Brass, spins a new trilogy of magic and mayhem on the high seas in this tale of pirates and sorcerers, forbidden artifacts and ancient mysteries, in one woman’s determined quest to seize a final chance at glory—and write her own legend.

Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.

But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse: retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter for a kingly sum. The chance to have one last adventure with her crew, do right by an old friend, and win a fortune that will secure her family’s future forever? It seems like such an obvious choice that it must be God’s will.

Yet the deeper Amina dives, the more it becomes alarmingly clear there’s more to this job, and the girl’s disappearance, than she was led to believe. For there’s always risk in wanting to become a legend, to seize one last chance at glory, to savor just a bit more power…and the price might be your very soul.]]> 496 Shannon Chakraborty 0008381348 Ayesha 5 4.27 2023
author: Shannon Chakraborty
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/07/05
date added: 2023/07/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 956854 0 Ruth Dudley Edwards 0754053296 Ayesha 0 to-read 3.87 1995
author: Ruth Dudley Edwards
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 173338910
Years ago, Lindon left his home as a powerless Unsouled. Now, he goes to war with the most powerful beings in the world over the future of Cradle itself. The Weeping Dragon has a grudge to settle, and Lindon intends to take out the Dreadgod with his friends by his side. But rival Monarchs know his plans, and they won’t let things end so easily. If Lindon does win, he will ascend to the heavens. But he may not find a safe haven there either. In the worlds above, Suriel and Ozriel face off against the Mad King to determine the new shape of the cosmos. The victor will decide the fate of countless universes. Whether he wins or dies, Lindon will soon leave this life behind. The time has come to say goodbye to Cradle.]]> 518 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.63 2023
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/22
date added: 2023/06/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 9539
In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?

In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.

In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.

In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.

Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn.....]]> 1007 Robert Jordan 0812513738 Ayesha 3 4.27 1992
author: Robert Jordan
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1992
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/19
date added: 2023/06/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 36601275 جب ناول ’’ٹیڑھ�� لکیر‘�� شائع ہوئی تو کچھ لوگوں نے کہا میں نے ایک جنسی مزاج اور بیمار ذہنیت والی لڑکی کی سرگزشت لکھی ہے۔ علم نفسیات کو پڑھیے تو یہ کہنا مشکل ہوجاتا ہے کہ کون بیمار ہے اور کون تندرست۔ ایک پارسا ہستی جنسی بیمار ہو سکتی ہے اور ایک آوارہ اور بدچلن انسان صحت مند ہو سکتا ہے۔ جنسی بیمار اور تندرست میں اتنا باریک فاصلہ ہوتا ہے کہ فیصلہ دشوار ہے مگر جہاں تک میرے مطالعے کا تعلق ہے ’’ٹیڑھ�� لکیر‘�� کی ہیروئن نہ ذہنی بیمار ہےاور نہ جنسی۔ جیسے ہر زندہ انسان کو گندے ماحول اور آس پاس کی غلاظت سے ہیضہ، طاعون ہو سکتا ہے اسی طرح ایک بالکل تندرست ذہنیت کا مالک بچہ بھی اگر غلط ماحول میں پھنس جائے تو بیمار ہوجاتا ہے اور موت بھی واقع ہو سکتی ہے۔
مگر شمن زندہ ہی نہیں ہے جاندار بھی ہے۔ اس پر مختلف حملے ہوتے ہیں لیکن ہر حملے کے بعد وہ پھر ہمت باندھ کر سلامت اُٹھ کھڑی ہوتی ہے۔ وہ ہر امتحان سے گزر کر پُر سکون انداز میں اپنا سر تکیے پر ٹکا دیتی ہے اور ٹھنڈے دل سے سوچ بچار کرنے کے بعد دوسرا قدم اٹھاتی ہے۔ یہ اس کا قصور نہیں ہے کہ وہ بے حد حساس اور ہر چوٹ پر منہ کے بل گرتی ہے مگر پھر سنبھل جاتی ہے۔ نفسیاتی اصولوں سے ٹکر لے کر وہ انہیں جھٹلا دیتی ہے۔ ہر طوفان سر سے گزر جاتا ہے۔
شمن کی سب سے بڑی بدنصیبی یہ ہے کہ کوئی اسے سمجھ نہیں پاتا، وہ پیار کی محبت اور دوستی کی بھوکی ہے اور انھی نعمتوں کی تلاش میں بھیانک جنگلوں کی خاک چھانتی ہے۔ اس کا دوسرا عیب ہے ضد ____ یا شاید یہی اس کی خوبی ہے۔ ہتھیار ڈال دینا اس کی طبیعت نہیں۔ کچھ لوگوں نے یہ بھی کہا ہے کہ ’’ٹیڑھ�� لکیر‘�� میری آپ بیتی ہے۔ مجھے خود یہ آپ بیتی لگتی ہے۔ میں نے اس ناول کو لکھتے وقت بہت کچھ محسوس کیا ہے۔ میں نے شمن کے دل میں اترنے کی کوشش کی ہے۔ اس کے ساتھ آنسو بہائے ہیں او رقہقہے لگائے ہیں۔ اس کی کمزوریوں سے جل بھی اٹھی ہوں، اس کی ہمت کی داد بھی دی ہے۔ اس کی نادانیوں پر رحم بھی آیا ہے اور شرارتوں پر پیار بھی آیا ہے۔ اس کے عشق و محبت کے کارناموں پر چٹخارے بھی لیے ہیں اور حسرتوں پر دکھ بھی ہوا ہے۔ ایسی حالت میں اگر میں کہوں کہ یہ میری آپ بیتی ہے تو کچھ زیادہ مبالغہ تو نہیں۔
اور جگ بیتی اور آپ بیتی میں بھی تو بال برابر کا فرق ہے۔ جگ بیتی اگر اپنے آپ پر بیتی محسوس نہ کی ہو تو وہ انسان ہی کیا؟ اور بغیر پرائی زندگی کو اپنائے ہوئے کوئی کیسے لکھ سکتا ہے۔
شمن کی کہانی کسی ایک لڑکی کی کہانی نہیں ہے۔ یہ ہزاروں لڑکیوں کی کہانی ہے۔ اس دور کی لڑکیوں کی کہانی ہے جب وہ پابندیوں اور آزادی کے بیچ ایک خلا میں لٹک رہی تھیں اور میں نے ایمانداری سے ان کی تصویر ان صفحات میں کھینچ دی ہے، تاکہ آنے والی لڑکیاں ا س سے ملاقات کر سکیں اور سمجھ سکیں کہ ایک لکیرکیوں ٹیڑھی ہوئی ہے اور کیوں سیدھی ہو جاتی ہے اور اپنی بچیوں کے راستے کو الجھانے کے بجائے سلجھا سکیں اور بجائے تنبیہ الغافلین کے اپنی بیٹیوں کے دوست اور رہنما بن سکیں۔

عصمت چغتائی]]> 478 Ismat Chughtai 9695160646 Ayesha 0 currently-reading 4.31 1944
author: Ismat Chughtai
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1944
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 60888209 A laugh-out-loud, slice-of-life martial-arts fantasy about . . . farming????

Jin Rou wanted to be a cultivator. A man powerful enough to defy the heavens. A master of martial arts. A lord of spiritual power. Unfortunately for him, he died, and now I’m stuck in his body.

Arrogant Masters? Heavenly Tribulations? All that violence and bloodshed? Yeah, no thanks. I’m getting out of here.

Farm life sounds pretty great. Tilling a field by hand is fun when you’ve got the strength of ten men—though maybe I shouldn’t have fed those Spirit Herbs to my pet rooster. I’m not used to seeing a chicken move with such grace . . . but Qi makes everything kind of wonky, so it’s probably fine.

Instead of a lifetime of battle, my biggest concerns are building a house, the size of my harvest, and the way the girl from the nearby village glares at me when I tease her.

A slow, simple, fulfilling life in a place where nothing exciting or out of the ordinary ever happens . . . right?

The first volume of the blockbuster progression-fantasy series—with more than 16 million views on Royal Road—now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, and Audible!]]> 485 CasualFarmer 1039413994 Ayesha 4 4.53 2022
author: CasualFarmer
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.53
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/11
date added: 2023/06/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 61242426
The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success �� not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.]]> 296 Travis Baldree Ayesha 4 4.04 2022
author: Travis Baldree
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/08
date added: 2023/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 60784305 From World Fantasy Award-winning author Fonda Lee comes Untethered Sky, an epic fantasy fable about the pursuit of obsession at all costs.

Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family.

Ester’s path leads her to the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra, Ester finds purpose and acclaim by devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice and a creature that will never return her love. The terrifying partnership between woman and roc leads Ester not only on the empire’s most dangerous manticore hunt, but on a journey of perseverance and acceptance.]]> 150 Fonda Lee 1250842468 Ayesha 0 to-read 3.88 2023
author: Fonda Lee
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 123179712
When the time loop is broken, sacrifices will be made, bonds will be tested, and trust will be more important than any magical skill or power—and even then, success is not guaranteed.

But unbeknownst to his allies, Zorian made another plan in secret…]]> 601 Domagoj Kurmaić 1955252394 Ayesha 4 4.63 2023
author: Domagoj Kurmaić
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/06
date added: 2023/06/06
shelves:
review:

]]> 62314351 743 Domagoj Kurmaić 1955252297 Ayesha 4 4.52 2022
author: Domagoj Kurmaić
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.52
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/05
date added: 2023/06/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 60236906
But while his mage skills develop and he pursues more advanced and unusual forms of magic, Zorian must battle necromancers, fanatical cultists, and vicious creatures—all while avoiding the attention of the lich who could kill him...

Permanently.]]> 664 Domagoj Kurmaić 195525222X Ayesha 3 4.49 2022
author: Domagoj Kurmaić
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2023/06/03
date added: 2023/06/03
shelves:
review:

]]> 59661342 Zorian Kazinski has all the time in the world to get stronger, and he plans on taking full advantage of it.

A teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, Zorian is attending his third year of education at Cyoria's magical academy. A driven and quiet young man, he is consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, resenting the Kazinskis for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, Zorian has no time for pointless distractions, much less other people's problems.

As it happens, though, time is something he is about to get plenty of.

On the eve of Cyoria's annual summer festival, Zorian is murdered, then abruptly brought back to the beginning of the month, just before he was about to take the train to school. Finding himself trapped in a time loop with no clear end or exit, he will have to look both within and without to unravel the mystery set before him. He does have to unravel it, too, because the loop clearly wasn’t made for his sake, and in a world of magic even a time traveler isn't safe from those who wish him ill.

Fortunately for Zorian, repetition is the mother of learning�� ]]> 644 Domagoj Kurmaić 1955252092 Ayesha 4 4.46 2021
author: Domagoj Kurmaić
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/01
date added: 2023/06/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 59515764
His most reliable ally is gone, the Monarchs see him as a threat, and he has inherited one of the most valuable facilities in the world. At any moment, his enemies could band together to kill him.

If it weren’t for the Dreadgods.

All four are empowered and unleashed, rampaging through Cradle, and grudges old and new must be set aside. The Monarchs need every capable fighter to help them defend their territory.

And Lindon needs time.

While he fights, he sends his friends off to train. They’ll need to advance impossibly fast if they want to join him in battle against the kings and queens of Cradle.

Together, they will need power enough to rival a Dreadgod.]]> 464 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.63 2022
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.63
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/29
date added: 2023/05/29
shelves:
review:

]]> 57640065
With his home finally secure, Lindon delves deep into the ancient labyrinth, seeking long-lost Soulsmithing knowledge and the secret to destroying the Dreadgods. Monarchs plot against him and against each other, unaware of the threats gathering in realms beyond.

Far above Lindon and the Monarchs and the Dreadgods, another war is waged. Suriel and the Abidan clash against the Mad King and his forces in a battle for the fate of many worlds.

And if it is lost, Cradle will be destroyed.]]> 465 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.67 2021
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.67
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/27
date added: 2023/05/27
shelves:
review:

]]> 55595995
In the years since Lindon left Sacred Valley, he has attained power beyond anything his family thought possible. Now he’ll have to put those powers to the test, because a Dreadgod is on its way.

Lindon and his allies set out to evacuate the valley before the arrival of the Wandering Titan, but their sacred arts are weakened by an ancient curse. They’ll have to persuade the squabbling inhabitants of Sacred Valley to leave behind their home and set off into the outside world.

But it has been a long time since Lindon left, and more has changed than he realized.

He has always sought power to save his family…but now he might be too late.]]> 378 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.51 2021
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/24
date added: 2023/05/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 55423083
Each Monarch schemes to seize any advantage they can...while far away, a Dreadgod stirs.

When the tournament ends, the Dreadgod will rise. Whether it will be driven back into the sea or allowed to rampage depends on the Monarchs.

And on which of them is left standing.]]> 540 Will Wight Ayesha 3 4.68 2020
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.68
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2023/05/20
date added: 2023/05/20
shelves:
review:

]]> 50789354 Tiberian Arelius, the fallen Patriarch.
Akura Malice, Queen of Shadows.
Seshethkunaaz, King of Dragons.
Reigan Shen, Emperor of Lions.
Luminous Queen Sha Miara.
The Eight-Man Empire.
Northstrider.

The Monarchs, the most powerful sacred artists on Cradle, rule with unquestioned authority. They are mysterious and distant, and catching a glimpse of one is privilege enough for a lifetime.

Now, they have all gathered in one place, bringing their heirs and greatest students together for a competition to determine whose successor is the best in the world:

The Uncrowned King tournament.]]> 336 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.59 2019
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/18
date added: 2023/05/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 43895031
All around the world, great clans and sects prepare their disciples to fight against one another in a competition of young Underlords. Even the Blackflame Empire is drawn in, but their youth are not strong enough to compete.

Yet.]]> 400 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.61 2019
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.61
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/17
date added: 2023/05/17
shelves:
review:

]]> 40280403
This world, known as Ghostwater, housed some of his most valuable experiments. Now, it has been damaged by the attack of the Bleeding Phoenix, and a team of Skysworn have been sent to recover whatever they can from the dying world.

Now, Lindon must brave the depths of this new dimension, scavenging treasures and pushing his skills to new heights to compete with new enemies.

Because Ghostwater is not as empty as it seems.]]> 310 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.56 2018
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/16
date added: 2023/05/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 36332410
As a Blackflame, he is too dangerous to remain free. The Skysworn, protectors of the Empire, have imprisoned him to keep him under control until the day of his promised fight arrives.

When it does, he will face Jai Long.

But a new danger approaches the Empire, closer every day. Only the Skysworn stand between the people of the land and total annihilation.

And Lindon may be forced to join them.]]> 292 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.38 2017
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/15
date added: 2023/05/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 25300956
Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.]]> 675 Robin Hobb Ayesha 0 to-read 4.31 1996
author: Robin Hobb
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1996
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 35023786
When his time runs out, he’ll have to fight an opponent that no one believes he can beat. Unless he learns the magic of the sacred arts the right way, from scratch, he won’t have a chance to win…and even then, the odds are against him.

In the course of their training, Lindon and Yerin travel to the Blackflame Empire, where they struggle to master an ancient power. Success means a chance at life, but failure means death.

In the sacred arts, only those who risk the most can travel far.]]> 370 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.51 2017
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/15
date added: 2023/05/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 32283608
Lindon has reached Copper, taking the first step on the road to power, but the warriors of the outside world are still far beyond him.

To advance, he turns to the arcane skills of the Soulsmiths, who craft weapons from the stuff of souls. With new powers come new enemies, and Lindon soon finds himself facing an entire sect of Golds.]]> 284 Will Wight Ayesha 0 4.34 2016
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at: 2023/05/11
date added: 2023/05/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 30558257
Lindon is Unsouled, forbidden to learn the sacred arts of his clan.

When faced with a looming fate he cannot ignore, he must defy his family's rules...and forge his own Path.]]> 294 Will Wight Ayesha 4 4.16 2016
author: Will Wight
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/24
date added: 2023/04/24
shelves:
review:

]]> 52166786 The final chapter in the Daevabad Trilogy, in which a con-woman and an idealistic djinn prince join forces to save a magical kingdom from a devastating civil war.

Daevabad has fallen.

After a brutal conquest stripped the city of its magic, Nahid leader Banu Manizheh and her resurrected commander, Dara, must try to repair their fraying alliance and stabilize a fractious, warring people.

But the bloodletting and loss of his beloved Nahri have unleashed the worst demons of Dara’s dark past. To vanquish them, he must face some ugly truths about his history and put himself at the mercy of those he once considered enemies.

Having narrowly escaped their murderous families and Daevabad’s deadly politics, Nahri and Ali, now safe in Cairo, face difficult choices of their own. While Nahri finds peace in the old rhythms and familiar comforts of her human home, she is haunted by the knowledge that the loved ones she left behind and the people who considered her a savior are at the mercy of a new tyrant. Ali, too, cannot help but look back, and is determined to return to rescue his city and the family that remains. Seeking support in his mother’s homeland, he discovers that his connection to the marid goes far deeper than expected and threatens not only his relationship with Nahri, but his very faith.

As peace grows more elusive and old players return, Nahri, Ali, and Dara come to understand that in order to remake the world, they may need to fight those they once loved . . . and take a stand for those they once hurt.]]> 766 S.A. Chakraborty 0062678167 Ayesha 4 4.48 2020
author: S.A. Chakraborty
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/14
date added: 2023/04/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 39988431 Return to Daevabad in the spellbinding sequel to THE CITY OF BRASS.

Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad and quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her familyand one misstep will doom her tribe.

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid, the unpredictable water spirits, have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad's towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve.]]> 625 S.A. Chakraborty 0008239444 Ayesha 5 4.37 2019
author: S.A. Chakraborty
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/12
date added: 2023/04/12
shelves:
review:

]]> 32718027
But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for...]]> 532 S.A. Chakraborty 0062678108 Ayesha 4 4.12 2017
author: S.A. Chakraborty
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2023/04/11
date added: 2023/04/11
shelves:
review:

]]> 91981
Simon, a kitchen boy from the royal castle unknowingly apprenticed to a member of this League, will be sent on a quest that offers the only hope of salvation, a deadly riddle concerning long-lost swords of power. Compelled by fate and perilous magics, he must leave the only home he’s ever known and face enemies more terrifying than Osten Ard has ever seen, even as the land itself begins to die.

After the landmark Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, the epic saga of Osten Ard continues with the brand-new novel, The Heart of What Was Lost. Then don’t miss the upcoming trilogy, The Last King of Osten Ard, beginning with The Witchwood Crown!]]> 672 Tad Williams 0756402697 Ayesha 0 to-read 3.96 1988
author: Tad Williams
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1988
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 9626382
Outside any city still standing, the Mechanical Circus Tresaulti sets up its tents. Crowds pack the benches to gawk at the brass-and-copper troupe and their impossible feats: Ayar the Strong Man, the acrobatic Grimaldi Brothers, fearless Elena and her aerialists who perform on living trapezes. War is everywhere, but while the Circus is performing, the world is magic.

That magic is no accident: Boss builds her circus from the bones out, molding a mechanical company that will survive the unforgiving landscape.

But even a careful ringmaster can make mistakes.

Two of Tresaulti's performers are entangled in a secret standoff that threatens to tear the circus apart just as the war lands on their doorstep. Now the Circus must fight a war on two fronts: one from the outside, and a more dangerous one from within.]]> 320 Genevieve Valentine 1607012537 Ayesha 0 to-read 3.83 2011
author: Genevieve Valentine
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 34897 The Dragon Reborn—the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him—is on the run from his destiny.

Able to touch the One Power, but unable to control it, and with no one to teach him how—for no man has done it in three thousand years—Rand al'Thor knows only that he must face the Dark One. But how?

Winter has stopped the war—almost—yet men are dying, calling out for the Dragon. But where is he?

Perrin Aybara is in pursuit with Moiraine Sedai, her Warder Lan, and Loial the Ogier. Bedeviled by dreams, Perrin is grappling with another deadly problem—how is he to escape the loss of his own humanity?

Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve are approaching Tar Valon, where Mat will be healed—if he lives until they arrive. But who will tell the Amyrlin their news—that the Black Ajah, long thought only a hideous rumor, is all too real? They cannot know that in Tar Valon far worse awaits...

Ahead, for all of them, in the Heart of the Stone, lies the next great test of the Dragon reborn....
]]> 624 Robert Jordan 0765305119 Ayesha 4 4.27 1991
author: Robert Jordan
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1991
rating: 4
read at: 2022/08/26
date added: 2022/08/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 334123
If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn't tough enough, Nathaniel's master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy's only saving grace is the master's wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him.

Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine.]]> 462 Jonathan Stroud 078681859X Ayesha 0 to-read 4.03 2003
author: Jonathan Stroud
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/07/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 233649
Rand cannot run for ever. With every passing day the Dark One grows in strength and strives to shatter his ancient prison, to break the Wheel, to bring an end to Time and sunder the weave of the Pattern.

And the Pattern demands the Dragon.]]> 705 Robert Jordan 0812517725 Ayesha 3 4.25 1990
author: Robert Jordan
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1990
rating: 3
read at: 2022/07/13
date added: 2022/07/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 228665
Moiraine Damodred arrives in Emond’s Field on a quest to find the one prophesized to stand against The Dark One, a malicious entity sowing the seeds of chaos and destruction. When a vicious band of half-men, half beasts invade the village seeking their master’s enemy, Moiraine persuades Rand al’Thor and his friends to leave their home and enter a larger unimaginable world filled with dangers waiting in the shadows and in the light.]]> 800 Robert Jordan 0812511816 Ayesha 4 4.19 1990
author: Robert Jordan
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1990
rating: 4
read at: 2022/06/13
date added: 2022/06/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 43575115 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world—a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth. What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.]]> 498 Erin Morgenstern 038554121X Ayesha 0 to-read 3.82 2019
author: Erin Morgenstern
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/06/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 43798285
In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.

As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is Stephen King's gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good versus evil in a world where the good guys don't always win.
--front flap]]> 561 Stephen King Ayesha 4 4.17 2019
author: Stephen King
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/26
date added: 2022/05/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 60835862
In the near future, genetic defects will soon be a thing of the past. Every child is born using The Template, a revolutionary invention ensuring health and happiness. Its success brought about Mendelium, the largest technology company in the world, which now controls humanity’s genetic future via a board of directors.

Charlie Lamarck, an engineer with Tourette’s syndrome, is working to create a better life for future generations when he’s suddenly thrust into a position of power by Gerhard Geller, the eccentric CEO who taken a liking to him—perhaps too quickly.

Charlie’s differences have brought success into his life, and he’s skeptical of a world without flaws. Now, he faces a choice.

Should Charlie work to change the future, or will he be part of the last generation shaped by their own genetic disadvantages?

Compelling, genuine, timely, and unforgettable: The Final Flaw is a gripping exploration into our differences and what makes us unique as human beings. This thought-provoking novel underlines the positives of neurological diversity and paints an all-too-realistic future of the corporatization of genetic technologies.]]> 282 Michael R. Sullivan Ayesha 0 to-read 3.80 2022
author: Michael R. Sullivan
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 18245822
He was not sure what he had been looking for. He only knew that he had not found it.

Shadow Moon has been away from America for nearly two years. His nights are broken with dangerous dreams. Sometimes he almost believes he doesn't care if he ever returns home.

In the Highlands of Scotland, where the sky is pale white and it feels as remote as any place can possibly be, the beautiful and the wealthy gather at a grand old house in the glen. And when the strange local doctor offers him work at the party, Shadow is intrigued. He knows there is no good reason for him to be there. So what do they want with him?]]> 128 Neil Gaiman Ayesha 3 3.78 2006
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at: 2022/05/19
date added: 2022/05/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 54540316 "Everything dragon lovers crave in a fantasy adventure, and more. Holt and Ash are now two of my favorite fantasy characters ever."
- Dyrk Ashton, Bestselling author of the Paternus series

Holt Cook was never meant to be a dragon rider. He has always served the Order Hall of the Crag dutifully, keeping their kitchen pots clean.

Until he discovers a dark secret: dragons do not tolerate weakness among their kin, killing the young they deem flawed. Moved by pity, Holt defies the Order, rescues a doomed egg and vows to protect the blind dragon within.

But the Scourge is rising. Undead hordes roam the land, spreading the blight and leaving destruction in their wake. The dragon riders are being slaughtered and betrayal lurks in the shadows.

Holt has one chance to survive. He must cultivate the mysterious power of his dragon's magical core. A unique energy which may tip the balance in the battles to come, and prove to the world that a servant is worthy after all.

"Ascendant is a delightful dragon-rider yarn in the tradition of Pern, Pit Dragon, Eragon, and Temeraire. It plucks at the strings of nostalgia in the best possible way, and picking it up feels like returning to old, beloved haunts."
- John Bierce, Bestselling author of the Mage Errant series]]> 554 Michael R. Miller Ayesha 0 to-read 4.17 2020
author: Michael R. Miller
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 31199023 A special illustrated edition of Black Dog by bestselling storytelling legend, Neil Gaiman. This American Gods world novella will thrill Games of Thrones devotees and Terry Pratchett fans alike. Illustrations by celebrated artist Daniel Egnéus.

'It followed me home,' he said, conversationally.

In a rural northern village, legend tells of a ghostly black dog that appears from the darkness before you die.

Shadow Moon has been on the road a while now but he can't walk any further tonight, not with the rain lashing down. Gratefully, he heads home with a nice English couple, who offer a box room, hot whisky and local tales.

But when the man collapses en route, Shadow realises that something about this place has been left untold.

Something ancient, something within the very walls of the village.

Something shadowing them all.]]> 96 Neil Gaiman 1472235444 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.08 2016
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 4407
Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, American Gods takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what - and who - it finds there...

This is the author's preferred text, never before published in the UK, and is about 12,000 words longer than the previous UK edition.

]]> 635 Neil Gaiman Ayesha 4 4.10 2001
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2022/05/15
date added: 2022/05/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 48909025
Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist--yet. Fired from every apprenticeship he's landed, his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret and her bloodhound Trouble. Margaret begrudgingly allows him to stay, but on one condition: he must join the hunt with her.

Although they make an unlikely team, Wes is in awe of the girl who has endured alone on the outskirts of a town that doesn’t want her, in this creaking house of ghosts and sorrow. And even though Wes disrupts every aspect of her life, Margaret is drawn to him. He, too, knows what it's like to be an outsider. As the hunt looms closer and tensions rise, Margaret and Wes uncover dark magic that could be the key to winning the hunt - if they survive that long.]]> 384 Allison Saft 1250623650 Ayesha 2 3.84 2022
author: Allison Saft
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2022/04/28
date added: 2022/04/28
shelves:
review:

]]> 21414439 In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.

Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.]]> 416 Susan Dennard Ayesha 0 to-read 3.85 2016
author: Susan Dennard
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 39863237
Far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family's power plays and ambitions. He also discovers that the storybooks have lied about a lot of other things too: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love, and how the hero always wins.

Then again, maybe he's not the hero, for Kihrin is not destined to save the empire.

He's destined to destroy it.]]> 560 Jenn Lyons 1250175488 Ayesha 0 to-read 3.80 2019
author: Jenn Lyons
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 51057191
The Kauls have been battered by war and tragedy. They are plagued by resentments and old wounds as their adversaries are on the ascent and their country is riven by dangerous factions and foreign interference that could destroy the Green Bone way of life altogether. As a new generation arises, the clan’s growing empire is in danger of coming apart.

The clan must discern allies from enemies, set aside bloody rivalries, and make terrible sacrifices�� but even the unbreakable bonds of blood and loyalty may not be enough to ensure the survival of the Green Bone clans and the nation they are sworn to protect.]]> 713 Fonda Lee 035651059X Ayesha 5 4.62 2021
author: Fonda Lee
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.62
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/13
date added: 2022/04/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 49890511 How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?

She stumbled backwards, her eyes wide, as the figure started coming out of the canvas
...
She tried to be brave. Well, she said, her hands only a little shaky, at least tell me what I should call you.
...
Well, little girl, it replied, I suppose you can call me Pet.

There are no more monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. With doting parents and a best friend named Redemption, Jam has grown up with this lesson all her life. But when she meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colours and claws, who emerges from one of her mother's paintings and a drop of Jam's blood, she must reconsider what she's been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption's house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth.

In their riveting and timely young adult debut, acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi asks difficult questions about what choices a young person can make when the adults around them are in denial.

]]> 208 Akwaeke Emezi Ayesha 0 to-read 4.13 2019
author: Akwaeke Emezi
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/02/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 31817749
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.

Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.

For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.

The remarkable conclusion to the post-apocalyptic and highly acclaimed trilogy that began with the multi-award-nominated The Fifth Season.]]> 416 N.K. Jemisin Ayesha 4 4.32 2017
author: N.K. Jemisin
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/08
date added: 2022/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> 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 isn’t a primary concern.

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.�� 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 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.11 2017
author: Martha Wells
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 8288246 CURSES AND CONS.
MAGIC AND THE MOB.

In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always though he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth - he's the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything - or anyone - into something else.

That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila's been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion-worker mom. And if Lila's love is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, then he can't believe anything she says or does.

When Cassel's oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue - crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too - they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can't trust anyone - least of all, himself?

Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.]]> 327 Holly Black 144240339X Ayesha 0 to-read 3.95 2011
author: Holly Black
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 13543121
Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfill her mission to confront the evil that has devastated the earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned.

As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.]]> 432 Christopher Buehlman 1937007863 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.20 2012
author: Christopher Buehlman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 49187294
Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.]]> 128 Alix E. Harrow 1250765366 Ayesha 0 to-read 3.77 2021
author: Alix E. Harrow
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 48595550
But Vivek’s closest bond is with Osita, the worldly, high-spirited cousin whose teasing confidence masks a guarded private life. As their relationship deepens—and Osita struggles to understand Vivek’s escalating crisis—the mystery gives way to a heart-stopping act of violence in a moment of exhilarating freedom.

Propulsively readable, teeming with unforgettable characters, The Death of Vivek Oji is a novel of family and friendship that challenges expectations—a dramatic story of loss and transcendence that will move every reader.]]> 248 Akwaeke Emezi 0525541608 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.12 2020
author: Akwaeke Emezi
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 17607 All About Love offers radical new ways to think about love by showing its interconnectedness in our private and public lives. In eleven concise chapters, hooks explains how our everyday notions of what it means to give and receive love often fail us, and how these ideals are established in early childhood. She offers a rethinking of self-love (without narcissism) that will bring peace and compassion to our personal and professional lives, and asserts the place of love to end struggles between individuals, in communities, and among societies. Moving from the cultural to the intimate, hooks notes the ties between love and loss and challenges the prevailing notion that romantic love is the most important love of all.

Visionary and original, hooks shows how love heals the wounds we bear as individuals and as a nation, for it is the cornerstone of compassion and forgiveness and holds the power to overcome shame.

For readers who have found ongoing delight and wisdom in bell hooks's life and work, and for those who are just now discovering her, All About Love is essential reading and a brilliant book that will change how we think about love, our culture-and one another.]]> 240 bell hooks 0688168442 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.06 1999
author: bell hooks
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/12/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 46041199 A fierce international bestseller that launched Korea’s new feminist movement, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 follows one woman’s psychic deterioration in the face of rigid misogyny.

Truly, flawlessly, completely, she became that person.

In a small, tidy apartment on the outskirts of the frenzied metropolis of Seoul lives Kim Jiyoung. A thirtysomething-year-old “millennial everywoman,�� she has recently left her white-collar desk job—in order to care for her newborn daughter full-time—as so many Korean women are expected to do. But she quickly begins to exhibit strange symptoms that alarm her husband, parents, and in-laws: Jiyoung impersonates the voices of other women—alive and even dead, both known and unknown to her. As she plunges deeper into this psychosis, her discomfited husband sends her to a male psychiatrist.

In a chilling, eerily truncated third-person voice, Jiyoung’s entire life is recounted to the psychiatrist—a narrative infused with disparate elements of frustration, perseverance, and submission. Born in 1982 and given the most common name for Korean baby girls, Jiyoung quickly becomes the unfavored sister to her princeling little brother. Always, her behavior is policed by the male figures around her—from the elementary school teachers who enforce strict uniforms for girls, to the coworkers who install a hidden camera in the women’s restroom and post their photos online. In her father’s eyes, it is Jiyoung’s fault that men harass her late at night; in her husband’s eyes, it is Jiyoung’s duty to forsake her career to take care of him and their child—to put them first.

Jiyoung’s painfully common life is juxtaposed against a backdrop of an advancing Korea, as it abandons “family planning�� birth control policies and passes new legislation against gender discrimination. But can her doctor flawlessly, completely cure her, or even discover what truly ails her?

Rendered in minimalist yet lacerating prose, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 sits at the center of our global #MeToo movement and announces the arrival of writer of international significance]]> 163 Cho Nam-Joo 1631496700 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.17 2016
author: Cho Nam-Joo
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/11/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 37168303 Spinning Silver draws readers deeper into a glittering realm of fantasy, where the boundary between wonder and terror is thinner than a breath, and safety can be stolen as quickly as a kiss.

Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her father’s inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty—until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.

When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk—grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh—Miryem’s fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar.

But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love.

Channeling the vibrant heart of myth and fairy tale, Spinning Silver weaves a multilayered, magical tapestry that readers will want to return to again and again.]]> 466 Naomi Novik 0399180982 Ayesha 4 4.18 2018
author: Naomi Novik
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2021/10/25
date added: 2021/10/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 43641
Beautifully written, Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of a love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.]]> 368 Sara Gruen 1565125606 Ayesha 2 4.11 2006
author: Sara Gruen
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 2021/10/02
date added: 2021/10/02
shelves:
review:

]]> 33519172 In this wonderful paean to Guru Nanak, Khalid describes his travels across the length and breadth of Pakistan as he visits the many gurdwaras and other locales associated with the saint, delving into their history and musing about their place and significance in a Muslim country. But this book is not merely a story about gurdwaras, it is also a re-telling of the story of Nanak the son, the poet, the wanderer, the father, the friend. Sifting through the stories of his miracles and poetry, we emerge with a picture of Nanak, the man.
Also exploring the histories of all the subsequent Gurus after Nanak, the book traces the story of how an unorganized spiritual movement evolved into the institutionalized Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh. Through the journeys of all the Gurus, the book describes how Nanak the poet became Guru Nanak the saint.]]> 318 Haroon Khalid Ayesha 0 to-read 4.30 2016
author: Haroon Khalid
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 44588316
]]> Sami Shah Ayesha 0 to-read 3.33
author: Sami Shah
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 34895950 Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons.

After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.]]> 71 Kay O'Neill 1620104415 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.35 2017
author: Kay O'Neill
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 35667546
455 ce: In the fabled university city of Takshasilla, Buddhamitra, a monk, is distressed by how his colleagues seem to have lost sight of the essence of the Buddha's message of compassion.

1620 ce: During the reign of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, two itinerant fortune seekers endeavour to swindle the patrician elite, only to find themselves utterly disillusioned.

1857 ce: Mir Sahib, a wandering minstrel, traverses the realms of human deception even as a rebellion against the British Raj is advancing across India.

2009 ce: In contemporary Lahore, the widow Rafiya Begum navigates legal complexities in order to secure her rights and fend off predatory charlatans.

2084 ce: A scholar revisits the known history of the cataclysmic events that led to world domination by ruthless international water conglomerates.

Across epochs and civilizations, these are intensely personal journeys that investigate the legitimacy of religion and authority, and chronicle the ascent of dissent. Snuffing Out the Moon is a dazzling debut novel that is at once a cry for freedom and a call for resistance.

Advance Praise for Snuffing Out the Moon

‘Criss-crossing historical periods and populating its multiple narratives with a diverse set of characters, Snuffing Out the Moon is a daringly original novel charting the past and the future of our civilization, and so illuminating the author’s view of our present. A challenging and thought-provoking read’��
Shashi Tharoor, author and MP

‘This novel stirred strange feelings in me. Its air is bleak and somehow forbidding. It is vast in scope but comparatively compressed in a space that the novelist uses expertly to draw for us the lineages of the past, the present and the future. It leaves us with the chilling vision that evil—greed or the impulse to destroy—is man’s destiny. Masterfully composed, the novel sums up aeons of history and culture with an assurance of narrative power that makes the picture of the past and the present as compelling as his imaginings of the future. Present fears are no less than the horrible imaginings, the novel seems to say. Learned and sagacious, the narrative pleases while it also awes the reader’—Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, author of The Mirror of Beauty

‘Osama Siddique’s ambitious historical novel will be of consequence not only to Pakistan but to the Indian subcontinent’—Bapsi Sidhwa, author of Ice-Candy-Man

‘Innovative, introspective and evocative, this remarkable debut novel gives poignant expression to an age-old human dilemma and one of the central challenges of our own troubled times: the choice between stultifying social conformity born of ignorance, intellectual laziness and fear, and the liberating agency that comes from doubt, dissent and defiance. Polyphonic in scope and written in the fragmentary and episodic mode, the intriguingly titled Snuffing Out the Moon deftly weaves together half a dozen different narratives informed by the rich sociopolitical, cultural and literary traditions of South Asia’s six millennia- long history. Beginning in 2084 BCE with the Indus Valley Civilization and ending in 2084 CE when the deadly politics of religious radicalism and water wars have drastically recast the face of South Asia, the novel is a gripping read. It dispenses with linear time by criss-crossing the past, present and the future in a disconnected fashion without becoming random and trivial or devoid of inner meaning and connectedness. A welcome addition to South Asia’s burgeoning trove of English-language literature, it will engage and absorb a cross-section of readers with its sparkling wit, lyrical bursts and welter of insights into human frailties and foibles’—Ayesha Jalal, historian and author of Jinnah: The Sole Spokesman]]> 431 Osama Siddique 9780670090 Ayesha 0 to-read 3.82
author: Osama Siddique
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.82
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/09/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 7624 182 William Golding 0140283331 Ayesha 3 3.70 1954
author: William Golding
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.70
book published: 1954
rating: 3
read at: 2021/09/23
date added: 2021/09/23
shelves:
review:

]]> 51901147
The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined -- every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.]]> 541 Suzanne Collins Ayesha 3 3.99 2020
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/08/16
date added: 2021/08/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 26228034 410 N.K. Jemisin Ayesha 4 4.27 2016
author: N.K. Jemisin
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2021/08/16
date added: 2021/08/16
shelves:
review:

]]> 50202953
There is one other person in the house—a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.]]> 272 Susanna Clarke 163557563X Ayesha 4 4.22 2020
author: Susanna Clarke
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/21
date added: 2021/07/25
shelves:
review:

]]> 18143977
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here]]> 544 Anthony Doerr 1476746583 Ayesha 4 4.31 2014
author: Anthony Doerr
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/17
date added: 2021/07/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 2224718 256 Berlie Doherty 1596433779 Ayesha 3 3.86 2007
author: Berlie Doherty
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2021/07/14
date added: 2021/07/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 20451150
Karachi, You're Killing Me! is Bridget Jones's Diary meets The Diary of a Social Butterfly - a comedy of manners in a city with none.]]> 272 Saba Imtiaz 8184004605 Ayesha 4 2.89 2014
author: Saba Imtiaz
name: Ayesha
average rating: 2.89
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2021/07/14
date added: 2021/07/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 45046567
Arthur Parnassus is the master of the orphanage. He would do anything to keep the children safe, even if it means the world will burn. And his secrets will come to light.

The House in the Cerulean Sea is an enchanting love story, masterfully told, about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.]]> 398 T.J. Klune 1250217288 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.42 2020
author: T.J. Klune
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/07/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 40714769
"Because we want them to thrive," Marla always says.

What does thriving look like? Like carrying a snow shovel everywhere. Like selling pot at the Arby's drive-thru window. Like a first class ticket to Jamaica between cancer treatments. Like a flea-circus in a doublewide. Like the GPS coordinates to a mound of dirt in a New Jersey forest.

As the rot just beneath the surface of the Hemmings precious white suburban respectability begins to spread, the far flung grand children gradually find their ways back to each other, just in time to uncover the terrible cost of maintaining the family name.]]> 394 A.S. King 1101994916 Ayesha 4 4.16 2019
author: A.S. King
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/26
date added: 2021/06/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 2890090
Magi political elections are imminent, and the factions are in need of a pawn. If Locke agrees to play the role, sorcery will be used to purge the venom from his body - though the process will be so excruciating he may well wish for death. Locke is opposed, but two factors cause his will to crumble: Jean's imploring - and the Bondsmage's mention of a woman from Locke's past: Sabetha. She is the love of his life, his equal in skill and wit, and now, his greatest rival.

Locke was smitten with Sabetha from his first glimpse of her as a young fellow orphan and thief-in-training. But after a tumultuous courtship, Sabetha broke away. Now they will reunite in yet another clash of wills. For faced with his one and only match in both love and trickery, Locke must choose whether to fight Sabetha - or to woo her. It is a decision on which both their lives may depend.

]]> 650 Scott Lynch 0553804693 Ayesha 3 4.21 2013
author: Scott Lynch
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2021/06/20
date added: 2021/06/19
shelves:
review:

]]> 10852065 The following is a short story I wrote in the Elantris world back in January of 2006. At that point, Elantris had only been out in stores for about seven or eight months, but I actually hadn't written anything new on the story or world since 2000, when I'd finished the first draft of the original book. This story was originally posted for sale on Amazon.com; once the contract with them ran out, I posted it on my website.

There were always a few holes in the manuscript where I decided not to include viewpoints or sections of explanation in the name of streamlining, particularly at the end. In the back of my mind, I knew what happened. This story talks about one of those holes; it is meant to be read after you've finished the novel and takes place during the events of the climax. In the , I've written a further explanation of why I wrote this piece. Some of you may find it interesting to read this ahead of time; I put it in the annotation, however, as I know others would rather enjoy the story without bias beforehand, then read my thoughts afterward.

Either way, if you haven't read the novel Elantris, this contains major spoilers. Might I suggest reading the book first? This story won't work at all for you if you haven't.

As always, thanks for reading!]]> 25 Brandon Sanderson Ayesha 4 3.62 2006
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/14
date added: 2021/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 68427
Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping—based on their correspondence—to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

A rare epic fantasy that doesn't recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It's also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.]]> 638 Brandon Sanderson 0765350378 Ayesha 3 4.16 2005
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at: 2021/06/14
date added: 2021/06/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 49127718 A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined

Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix up their own marriage. There's a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.

Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.

Humorous, compassionate, and wise, Anxious People is an ingeniously constructed story about the enduring power of friendship, forgiveness, and hope—the things that save us, even in the most anxious of times.

Includes short story - The Last Round of Golf]]> 336 Fredrik Backman 198216963X Ayesha 4 4.17 2019
author: Fredrik Backman
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2021/06/10
date added: 2021/06/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 17910048 A lush tale of deadly court intrigue and a modern classic of fantasy by Locus award winner and Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award finalist Katherine Addison

The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three half brothers in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.

Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend . . . and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne–or his life.]]> 446 Katherine Addison 076532699X Ayesha 3 4.04 2014
author: Katherine Addison
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2021/06/01
date added: 2021/06/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 50623864
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.]]> 448 Victoria E. Schwab 0765387565 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.16 2020
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 18243345
Elantris and Warbreaker sequels aren’t to be expected until Stormlight Five and Wax and Wayne Four are done.

Status: Keep waiting. (Sorry again, again.)]]> Brandon Sanderson Ayesha 0 to-read 4.29
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.29
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/05/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 1268479
Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.

By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.]]> 688 Brandon Sanderson Ayesha 4 4.29 2009
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2021/05/09
date added: 2021/05/09
shelves:
review:

]]> 50892360 The first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic.

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world.

Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.]]> 454 Rebecca Roanhorse 1534437673 Ayesha 3 4.17 2020
author: Rebecca Roanhorse
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/05/07
date added: 2021/05/07
shelves:
review:

]]> 40290 241 Orson Scott Card 076534775X Ayesha 0 to-read 3.88 1987
author: Orson Scott Card
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 52381770
It worries about the fragile human crew who've grown to trust it, but only where no one can see.

It tells itself that they're only a professional obligation, but when they're captured and an old friend from the past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

Drastic action it is, then.

]]> 350 Martha Wells 1250229863 Ayesha 0 to-read 4.44 2020
author: Martha Wells
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 35606041
On the blood-soaked borders of Angland, Leo dan Brock struggles to win fame on the battlefield, and defeat the marauding armies of Stour Nightfall. He hopes for help from the crown. But King Jezal's son, the feckless Prince Orso, is a man who specializes in disappointments.

Savine dan Glokta - socialite, investor, and daughter of the most feared man in the Union - plans to claw her way to the top of the slag-heap of society by any means necessary. But the slums boil over with a rage that all the money in the world cannot control.

The age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. With the help of the mad hillwoman Isern-i-Phail, Rikke struggles to control the blessing, or the curse, of the Long Eye. Glimpsing the future is one thing, but with the guiding hand of the First of the Magi still pulling the strings, changing it will be quite another...

]]> 480 Joe Abercrombie 031618716X Ayesha 3 4.45 2019
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Ayesha
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2021/04/20
date added: 2021/04/22
shelves:
review:

]]> 35673569 A startlingly original voice makes her literary debut with this wondrous coming-of-age story infused with Chinese folklore, romantic intrigue, adventure, and fascinating, dreamlike twists.

'One evening, my father asked me whether I would like to become a ghost bride...'

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family's only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, traditional ghost marriages are used to placate restless spirits. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lims' handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits, and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family's darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.]]> 12 Yangsze Choo Ayesha 0 to-read 3.91 2013
author: Yangsze Choo
name: Ayesha
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/04/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>