Renee's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 30 Apr 2025 00:46:23 -0700 60 Renee's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America]]> 27209433 In her groundbreaking history of the class system in America, extending from colonial times to the present, Nancy Isenberg takes on our comforting myths about equality, uncovering the crucial legacy of the ever-present, always embarrassing––if occasionally entertaining–�"poor white trash."

The wretched and landless poor have existed from the time of the earliest British colonial settlement. They were alternately known as “waste people,� “offals,� “rubbish,� “lazy lubbers,� and “crackers.� By the 1850s, the downtrodden included so-called “clay eaters� and “sandhillers,� known for prematurely aged children distinguished by their yellowish skin, ragged clothing, and listless minds.

Surveying political rhetoric and policy, popular literature and scientific theories over four hundred years, Isenberg upends assumptions about America’s supposedly class-free society––where liberty and hard work were meant to ensure real social mobility. Poor whites were central to the rise of the Republican Party in the early nineteenth century, and the Civil War itself was fought over class issues nearly as much as it was fought over slavery.

Reconstruction pitted "poor white trash" against newly freed slaves, which factored in the rise of eugenics�-a widely popular movement embraced by Theodore Roosevelt that targeted poor whites for sterilization. These poor were at the heart of New Deal reforms and LBJ’s Great Society; they haunt us in reality TV shows like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty. Marginalized as a class, "white trash" have always been at or near the center of major political debates over the character of the American identity.

We acknowledge racial injustice as an ugly stain on our nation’s history. With Isenberg’s landmark book, we will have to face the truth about the enduring, malevolent nature of class as well.]]>
460 Nancy Isenberg 0670785970 Renee 0 to-read 3.75 2016 White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America
author: Nancy Isenberg
name: Renee
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger]]> 38532207 A transformative book urging twenty-first century-women to embrace their anger and harness it as a tool for lasting personal and societal change.

Women are angry, and it isn’t hard to figure out why.

We are underpaid and overworked. Too sensitive, or not sensitive enough. Too dowdy or too made-up. Too big or too thin. Sluts or prudes. We are harassed, told we are asking for it, and asked if it would kill us to smile. Yes, yes it would.

Contrary to the rhetoric of popular “self-help� and an entire lifetime of being told otherwise, our rage is one of the most important resources we have, our sharpest tool against both personal and political oppression. We’ve been told for so long to bottle up our anger, letting it corrode our bodies and minds in ways we don’t even realize. Yet our anger is a vital instrument, our radar for injustice and a catalyst for change. On the flip side, the societal and cultural belittlement of our anger is a cunning way of limiting and controlling our power.

We are so often told to resist our rage or punished for justifiably expressing it, yet how many remarkable achievements in this world would never have gotten off the ground without the kernel of anger that fueled them? Rage Becomes Her makes the case that anger is not what gets in our way, it is our way, sparking a new understanding of one of our core emotions that will give women a liberating sense of why their anger matters and connect them to an entire universe of women no longer interested in making nice at all costs.

Following in the footsteps of classic feminist manifestos like The Feminine Mystique and Our Bodies, Ourselves, Rage Becomes Her is an eye-opening book for the twenty-first century woman: an engaging, accessible credo offering us the tools to re-understand our anger and harness its power to create lasting positive change.]]>
364 Soraya Chemaly 1501189557 Renee 0 to-read 4.35 2018 Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger
author: Soraya Chemaly
name: Renee
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Men Who Hate Women 48635408
Men Who Hate Women examines the rise of secretive extremist communities who despise women and traces the roots of misogyny across a complex spider web of groups. It includes eye-opening interviews with former members of these communities, the academics studying this movement, and the men fighting back.

Women's rights activist Laura Bates wrote this book as someone who has been the target of many hate-fueled misogynistic attacks online. At first, the vitriol seemed to be the work of a small handful of individual men... but over time, the volume and consistency of the attacks hinted at something bigger and more ominous. As Bates went undercover into the corners of the internet, she found an unseen, organized movement of thousands of anonymous men wishing violence (and worse) upon women.
In the book, Bates explores:

Extreme communities like incels, pick-up artists, MGTOW, Men's Rights Activists and more
The hateful, toxic rhetoric used by these groups
How this movement connects to other extremist movements like white supremacy
How young boys are targeted and slowly drawn in
Where this ideology shows up in our everyday lives in mainstream media, our playgrounds, and our government

By turns fascinating and horrifying, Men Who Hate Women is a broad, unflinching account of the deep current of loathing toward women and anti-feminism that underpins our society and is a must-read for parents, educators, and anyone who believes in equality for women.]]>
366 Laura Bates Renee 0 to-read 4.34 2020 Men Who Hate Women
author: Laura Bates
name: Renee
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone]]> 34758417
More than a decade ago, Juli Berwald left a career in ocean science to raise a family in landlocked Austin, Texas, but jellyfish drew her back to the sea. Recent, massive blooms of billions of jellyfish have clogged power plants, decimated fisheries, and caused millions of dollars of damage. Driven by questions about how overfishing, coastal development, and climate change were contributing to a jellyfish population explosion, Juli embarked on a scientific odyssey. She traveled the globe to meet the biologists who devote their careers to jellies, hitched rides on Japanese fishing boats to see giant jellyfish in the wild, raised jellyfish in her dining room, and throughout it all marveled at the complexity of these alluring and ominous biological wonders.]]>
336 Juli Berwald 0735211264 Renee 0 3.70 2017 Spineless: The Science of Jellyfish and the Art of Growing a Backbone
author: Juli Berwald
name: Renee
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: to-read, library-reads, non-fiction
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror]]> 48613308 384 John Hornor Jacobs 0062880837 Renee 4 3.84 2019 A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror
author: John Hornor Jacobs
name: Renee
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/29
date added: 2025/04/29
shelves: stand-alone, spoopy, novellas-short-stories-anthologies, mother-horror-recs
review:
4/29/2025 I have finally read "My Heart Struck Sorrow" and wow. This one is gonna stick with me for a while. It lingers... I don't know if I would call it cosmic horror but tbh I don't full understand the genre itself. It's been several years since I read "The Sea Dreams it is The Sky" so I don't have much to say about comparisons but I did mostly remember that I was just confused. Will have to reread it again one of these days. It could have just been that most novellas tend to confuse me. Anyway, this book in its entirety was good and I'm glad I have read it.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society]]> 39832183 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE ON NETFLIX - A remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

"I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers." January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb...

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.]]>
291 Mary Ann Shaffer 1984801813 Renee 0 4.27 2008 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
author: Mary Ann Shaffer
name: Renee
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read, library-reads, patron-suggestion
review:

]]>
The Art of Racing in the Rain 3153910
Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast. On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through.

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life ... as only a dog could tell it.]]>
336 Garth Stein 1554681723 Renee 0 4.22 2008 The Art of Racing in the Rain
author: Garth Stein
name: Renee
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/26
shelves: to-read, patron-suggestion, library-reads
review:

]]>
The Wings Upon Her Back 198821102
Five gods lie mysteriously sleeping above the city of Radezhda. Five gods who once bestowed great technologies and wisdom, each inspiring the devotion of their own sect. When the gods turned away from humanity, their followers built towers to the heavens to find out why. But when no answer was given, the collective grief of the sects turned to desperation, and eventually to war.

Zenya was a teenager when she ran away from home to join the mechanically-modified warrior sect. She was determined to earn mechanized wings and protect the people and city she loved. Under the strict tutelage of a mercurial, charismatic leader, Zenya became Winged Zemolai.

But after twenty-six years of service, Zemolai is disillusioned with her role as an enforcer in an increasingly fascist state. After one tragic act of mercy, she is cast out, and loses everything she worked for. As Zemolai fights for her life, she begins to understand the true nature of her sect, her leader, and the gods themselves.]]>
336 Samantha Mills 1616964146 Renee 0 to-read 3.96 2024 The Wings Upon Her Back
author: Samantha Mills
name: Renee
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Steal the Sky 50670646 Winner of the 2017 Gemmel Morningstar Award

Detan Honding, a wanted conman of noble birth and ignoble tongue, has found himself in the oasis city of Aransa. He and his trusted companion Tibs may have pulled off one too many cons against the city's elite and need to make a quick escape. They set their sights on their biggest heist yet - the gorgeous airship of the exiled commodore Thratia.

But in the middle of his scheme, a face changer known as a doppel starts murdering key members of Aransa's government. The sudden paranoia makes Detan's plans of stealing Thratia's ship that much harder. And with this sudden power vacuum, Thratia can solidify her power and wreak havoc against the Empire. But the doppel isn't working for Thratia and has her own intentions. Did Detan accidentally walk into a revolution and a crusade? He has to be careful - there's a reason most people think he's dead. And if his dangerous secret gets revealed, he has a lot more to worry about than a stolen airship.

File Under
Fantasy [ Sky Heist - Doppel Vision - Knives Out - Up Up and Away ]]]>
448 Megan E. O'Keefe 085766882X Renee 0 to-read 3.64 2016 Steal the Sky
author: Megan E. O'Keefe
name: Renee
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Velocity Weapon (The Protectorate, #1)]]> 41155068 Dazzling space battles, intergalactic politics, and rogue AI collide in Velocity Weapon, the first book in this epic space opera by award-winning author Megan O'Keefe.

Sanda and Biran Greeve were siblings destined for greatness. A high-flying sergeant, Sanda has the skills to take down any enemy combatant. Biran is a savvy politician who aims to use his new political position to prevent conflict from escalating to total destruction.


However, on a routine maneuver, Sanda loses consciousness when her gunship is blown out of the sky. Instead of finding herself in friendly hands, she awakens 230 years later on a deserted enemy warship controlled by an AI who calls himself Bero. The war is lost. The star system is dead. Ada Prime and its rival Icarion have wiped each other from the universe.


Now, separated by time and space, Sanda and Biran must fight to put things right.

]]>
533 Megan E. O'Keefe 0316419591 Renee 5 spaaaaace, science-fiction 3.88 2019 Velocity Weapon (The Protectorate, #1)
author: Megan E. O'Keefe
name: Renee
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/25
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves: spaaaaace, science-fiction
review:
Honestly, no notes. I enjoyed the ride. It gave me the same exact vibes of when I was reading the Illuminae Files books and I absolutely loved those. Sad it took me a long time to finish this but I'm glad I powered through as this was my 2nd or 3rd time attempting to read it.
]]>
<![CDATA[There Is No Antimemetics Division]]> 54870256 Antimemes are real. Think of any piece of information which you wouldn't share with anybody, like passwords, taboos and dirty secrets. Or any piece of information which would be difficult to share even if you complex equations, very boring passages of text, large blocks of random numbers, and dreams... But anomalous antimemes are another matter entirely. How do you contain something you can't record or remember? How do you fight a war against an enemy with effortless, perfect camouflage, when you can never even know that you're at war? Welcome to the Antimemetics Division. No, this is not your first day.This ebook is an official release by me, qntm from the SCP Foundation wiki! PM me if you require confirmation. This ebook collects all of my Antimemetics Division SCP-055, SCP-2256 and the complete serials There Is No Antimemetics Division and Five Five Five Five Five.]]> 220 qntm Renee 0 to-read 4.23 2020 There Is No Antimemetics Division
author: qntm
name: Renee
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)]]> 230094602 The phenomenal fifth book in the Hunger Games series! This Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition contains an in-depth conversation between Suzanne Collins and her publisher, David Levithan.

When you’ve been set up
to lose everything you love,
what is there left to fight for?

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

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

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]>
400 Suzanne Collins 154617575X Renee 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.72 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Renee
average rating: 4.72
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read, physical-tbr
review:

]]>
Wake Up and Open Your Eyes 204640265 From Vulture's "master of horror" Clay McLeod Chapman, a relentless and emotionally charged social horror novel about a family on the run from a demonic possession epidemic that spreads through media, for fans of The Last of Us and When Evil Lurks

Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening� is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it and get medical help.

Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.

But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart-–literally-–as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend watching particular channels, using certain apps, or visiting certain websites. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn�-but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?

This ambitious, searing novel from "one of horror's modern masters" holds a mirror to our divided nation, and will shake readers to the core.]]>
384 Clay McLeod Chapman Renee 0 to-read 3.38 2025 Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
author: Clay McLeod Chapman
name: Renee
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)]]> 7260188 My name is Katniss Everdeen.
Why am I not dead?
I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss's family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss's willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels' Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.]]>
390 Suzanne Collins 0439023513 Renee 0
I think I am going to reread this trilogy one of these days and come back and write a better review on it.]]>
4.10 2010 Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Renee
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: successful-in-making-me-cry, trilogy, borrowed
review:
I read this like a couple summers ago, so I cannot exactly tell you right now what my immediate reaction to this ending was, but I did like it. and I remember crying when [spoilers removed]

I think I am going to reread this trilogy one of these days and come back and write a better review on it.
]]>
Deep End 212806619 A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...]]>
446 Ali Hazelwood 0593641051 Renee 0 3.89 2025 Deep End
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: Renee
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/23
shelves: currently-reading, library-reads, mg-romance-book-club
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Blighted Stars (The Devoured Worlds, #1)]]> 58340705
She’s a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they’re found and Naira Sharp knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity’s expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.

He’s the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin’s father has tasked him with monitoring the mining of a new planet, and he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.

Disguised as Tarquin’s new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy his ship before it lands. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she’s sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that’s bigger than both of them.]]>
491 Megan E. O'Keefe 0316290793 Renee 0 to-read 4.08 2023 The Blighted Stars (The Devoured Worlds, #1)
author: Megan E. O'Keefe
name: Renee
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Tethered (The Binding Chronicles, #1)]]> 198910136
When Luna is sold into marriage to the Prince of Darkness, she thinks she knows what to expect. Arranged marriages happen all the time, right? Wrong. No one could have prepared her for the reality of being married to the vampire prince.

Ever since the day he was Made, Sebastian has been living according to Queen Marguerite’s rules. After all, he’s only alive because of her. When she orders him to marry and Bind himself to Luna, a human hailing a neighboring kingdom, he has no choice. He agrees to the marriage but never expects to feel anything for Luna.

When their Binding Ceremony goes awry, and they are magically Tethered, everything is thrown into upheaval. Unable to leave each other’s presence, they must learn to live with each other. Or die.

Tethered is a slow-burn arranged marriage epic romantic fantasy and is filled with forced proximity, magical bindings, vampires, and world-building.

Tethered takes place in the same world as Of Earth and Flame. It can be enjoyed on its own or alongside The Ithenmyr Chronicles.

NOTE: This series is upper YA/NA and has moderate steam. There are some instances of violence, language, and mature situations. Recommended for ages sixteen and up.]]>
416 Elayna R. Gallea 1738834239 Renee 0 to-read, bookstagram-finds 3.57 Tethered (The Binding Chronicles, #1)
author: Elayna R. Gallea
name: Renee
average rating: 3.57
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves: to-read, bookstagram-finds
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Heavenly Bodies (Heavenly Bodies, #1)]]> 58650445
In a world where no entities exist but the Stars, cruel and merciless gods that watch over the world, Elara has been cursed by fate. A prophecy that promises she will fall for a Star, and it will kill them both.

But when one descends to wreak havoc on Elara's Kingdom, she is forced to flee into the arms of her enemy in the neighbouring country.

As she learns more about her own magic, and the depth of the Stars' deceit, she also finds herself learning more about the country she is forced to take refuge in, and the enemy prince forced to train her into a weapon.

Something dark brews within her, a power made of night and shadows that begs to be broken free.]]>
619 Imani Erriu Renee 0 to-read 3.97 2022 Heavenly Bodies (Heavenly Bodies, #1)
author: Imani Erriu
name: Renee
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Atua WÄhine: The ancient wisdom of MÄori goddesses and how to navigate modern life]]> 211839491

Atua wÄhine are the MÄori goddesses who make up the world around the earth, fire, water, moon and more. Learn about 15 atua wÄhine and how we can draw upon them to help us live with courage and confidence in the modern world.

From the earth mother, PapatĹ«Äkuku, to the goddess of peace, HinepĹ«tehue, who transformed pain into beauty, to the misunderstood goddess of the underworld, HinenuitepĹŤ, this book is a treasure of knowledge and insight.

Drawing on whakataukÄ« (proverbs) and pĹ«rÄkau (stories), Hana Tapiata shares her experience of living by feminine Indigenous wisdom and shows how we can too. With guided steps, these atua will inspire you to embrace creativity, acknowledge cycles of change, and discover self-determination.]]>
0 Hana Tapiata 1775492834 Renee 0 to-read 4.59 Atua WÄhine: The ancient wisdom of MÄori goddesses and how to navigate modern life
author: Hana Tapiata
name: Renee
average rating: 4.59
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Tears of the Wolf (Wrath and Weeping, #1)]]> 223846779
Cenric needs a wife—but not just any wife—a sorceress. Having recently reclaimed his inheritance after a youth spent across the sea, a sorceress will bring security and legitimacy in his estranged homeland.

A marriage gives both Brynn and Cenric what they want—for now.

In the far northern reaches lies a land ruled by pride and strict codes of honor. As Brynn and Cenric struggle to navigate the aftermath of their hasty union, they soon realize that rival factions within the kingdom are on the verge of war once again.

Alone, they will be destroyed by the coming storm. Together, they might stand a chance.]]>
316 Elisabeth Wheatley Renee 0 to-read 4.42 2025 Tears of the Wolf (Wrath and Weeping, #1)
author: Elisabeth Wheatley
name: Renee
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Heartless (Chestnut Springs, #2)]]> 61373532 Working as a nanny for the world’s grumpiest single dad should have been simple. Except I can’t keep my eyes off him. And he can’t keep his hands off of me.

Cade Eaton is thirteen years older than I am and barely looks my way. Until I get him into the hot tub one night for a game of truth or dare. Then all bets are off—and so are our clothes.

He’s gruff, a little rough around the edges. But broad-shouldered ranchers with calloused hands and filthy mouths are this city girl’s kryptonite. So who am I to resist?

But it’s in our quiet moments together that he softens. It’s when he takes care of me that I realize his hardened exterior is just a façade. It’s when I watch him go all sweet with his little boy that I really fall for him.

Someone convinced him once that his best wasn’t good enough. But I’ve never felt more cherished than I do in his arms.

My contract may say this arrangement is only for two months.

But my heart says this is forever.
]]>
476 Elsie Silver Renee 0 to-read 4.39 2022 Heartless (Chestnut Springs, #2)
author: Elsie Silver
name: Renee
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[King of Sloth (Kings of Sin, #4)]]> 212471051 He'd never wanted anyone enough to chase them... until he met her.

Charming, easygoing, and rich beyond belief, Xavier Castillo has the world at his fingertips.

He also has no interest in taking over his family's empire (much to his father's chagrin), but that hasn't stopped women from throwing themselves at him... unless the woman in question is his publicist.

Nothing brings him more joy than riling her up, but when a tragedy forces them closer than ever, he must grapple with the uncertainty of his future―and the realization that the only person immune to his charms is the only one he truly wants.

***

Cool, intelligent, and ambitious, Sloane Kensington is a high-powered publicist who's used to dealing with difficult clients.

However, none infuriate―or tempt―her more than a certain billionaire heir, with his stupid dimples and laid-back attitude.

She may be forced to work with him, but she'll never fall for him...no matter how fast he makes her heart beat or how thoughtful he is beneath his party persona.

He's her client, and that's all he'll ever be. Right?]]>
465 Ana Huang 1464224579 Renee 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.11 2024 King of Sloth (Kings of Sin, #4)
author: Ana Huang
name: Renee
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read, physical-tbr
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Serpent & the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)]]> 180724703 Wall Street Journal bestselling Crowns of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent. Filled with heart-wrenching romance, dark magic, and bloodthirsty intrigue—perfect for fans of From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

For humans and vampires, the rules of survival are the never trust, never yield, and always—always—guard your heart.

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown� and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

But there’s no room for compassion in the Kejari. War for the House of Night brews, shattering everything that Oraya thought she knew about her home. And Raihn may understand her more than anyone � but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.]]>
464 Carissa Broadbent 1250343178 Renee 0 4.28 2022 The Serpent & the Wings of Night (Crowns of Nyaxia, #1)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Renee
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: currently-reading, vampires, physical-tbr
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy, #1)]]> 528997 When Love cast me out, it was Cruelty who took pity on me.

The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good...and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission...and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair...and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.

Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart - a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.]]>
912 Jacqueline Carey 0765342987 Renee 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.15 2001 Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy, #1)
author: Jacqueline Carey
name: Renee
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read, physical-tbr
review:

]]>
Apollyon (Covenant, #4) 9897164
The gods have killed thousands and could destroy entire cities in their quest to stop Seth from taking Alex’s power and becoming the all-powerful God Killer. But breaking Alex’s connection to Seth isn’t the only problem. There are a few pesky little loopholes in the whole “an Apollyon can’t be killed� theory, and the only person who might know how to stop the destruction has been dead for centuries.

Finding their way past the barriers that guard the Underworld, searching for one soul among countless millions, and then somehow returning will be hard enough. Alex might be able to keep Seth from becoming the God Killer� or she might become the God Killer herself.]]>
343 Jennifer L. Armentrout 1937053164 Renee 4 4.30 2013 Apollyon (Covenant, #4)
author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
name: Renee
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: favorite-authors, successful-in-making-me-cry
review:
The end hit hard...I wish I could see my mom again
]]>
The Sun Also Rises on Cthulhu 221476659 "When Hemingway meets Lovecraft, humanity faces its greatest the void."

If you loved the runaway success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, now a hit Hollywood movie and international bestseller, you’ll be captivated by The Sun Also Rises on Cthulhu. This bold reimagining of Hemingway’s iconic novel collides with the boundless terror of H.P. Lovecraft, crafting an unforgettable journey into the heart of cosmic horror.

In the fractured aftermath of war, Jack Schitt, Ro’brt Ctholh’en, Brett Ashley, and Creepy Bill navigate the disillusioned landscapes of Europe, searching for love, purpose, and identity. But beneath their fragile lives stirs a mind-shattering horror—an ancient terror intent on resurrecting elder gods and unraveling the fabric of reality. As the lines blur between human frailty and cosmic dread, the Lost Generation faces its ultimate to defy the incomprehensible or succumb to madness.

Brought to life by Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning Ernest Hemingway and Jorah Kai, the modern minstrel of the macabre celebrated for the darkly psychedelic Amos the Amazing, this literary-horror masterpiece charts a path through existential longing, cosmic terror, and the poignant struggles of love and identity.

The Sun Also Rises on Cthulhu resurrects a cherished classic into a realm of unimaginable nightmares. It is a tale for our time, combining Hemingway’s brilliance and Lovecraft’s terror in a genre-defying odyssey of haunting beauty. Perfect for fans of literary experiments and cosmic horror legends, this is a journey you cannot miss.

Praise for The Sun Also Rises on
“A cosmic cocktail of Hemingway and Lovecraft—graceful, stylish, and gloriously strange. A wild ride.�
—Robert Rivenbark, award-winning author of The Cloud

“A haunting, thought-provoking experience that seamlessly blends literary depth with psychological terror—and lingers long after the final page.�
—Donna Sundblad, author of Dragonborn and The Inheritance

"A fever dream with a beating heart� a love letter to lost souls wrapped in cosmic dread. Equal parts existential and absurd, literary and horrific, this mash-up of Hemingway and Lovecraft is unnerving, poignant, and absolutely something else."
—Ava, Coffee Book Couch


�
(Not technically a blurb, but it felt nice and explains a
“I send my deep apologies but am unable to provide a blurb at this time.�
—Brandon Sanderson)]]>
451 Ernest Hemingway Renee 0 to-read 4.11 The Sun Also Rises on Cthulhu
author: Ernest Hemingway
name: Renee
average rating: 4.11
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Sour Cherry 213816143 A stunning reimagining of Bluebeard—one of the most mythologized serial killers—twisted into a modern tale of toxic masculinity, a feminist sermon, and a folktale for the twenty-first century.

The tale begins with Agnes. After losing her baby, Agnes is called to the great manor house to nurse the local lord’s baby boy. But something is wrong with the child: his nails grow too fast, his skin smells of soil, and his eyes remind her of the dark forest. As he grows into a boy, then into man, a plague seems to follow him everywhere. Trees wither at the roots, fruits rot on their branches, and the town turns against him. The man takes a wife, who bears him a son. But tragedy strikes in cycles and his family is forced to consider their own malignancy—until wife after wife, death after death, plague after plague, every woman he touches becomes a ghost. The ghosts become a chorus, and they call urgently to our narrator as she tries to explain, in our very real world, exactly what has happened to her. The ghosts can all agree on one thing, an inescapable truth about this man, this powerful lord who has loved them and led them each to ruin: If you leave, you die. But if you die, you stay.

Natalia Theodoridou’s haunting and unforgettable debut novel, Sour Cherry, confronts age-old systems of gender and power, long-held excuses made for bad men, and the complicated reasons we stay captive to the monsters we love.]]>
312 Natalia Theodoridou 1963108191 Renee 0 to-read 3.74 2025 Sour Cherry
author: Natalia Theodoridou
name: Renee
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Feral & Hysterical: Mother Horror’s Ultimate Reading Guide to Dark and Disturbing Fiction by Women]]> 217323302 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered, horror fans will be delighted to discover a whole new list of horror recommendations—all by women writers.

Taking a cue from the popular practice of mood reading, the most common requests she gets on social media, and the overwhelming positive reaction to the icons included in her first book, Sadie has carefully curated and organized her 200+ recommendations into reading lists based on, well, vibes. Are you in your “Gothic Era?� Sadie has a list for that. Going on vacation and need some good dark beach reads? There’s a list for that. Just finished Mexican Gothic and need more “Sporror in your life?� You guessed it, there’s a list for that too! Each book on every list will include its title, author(s), date of publication, publisher, page count, theme, a spoiler-free description alongside Sadie’s recommendation.

Featuring five brand-new essays from popular and rising voices in the genre—Alma Katsu, Alexis Henderson, Christina Henry, Rae Knowles, and Laura Purcell, this illustrated reader’s guide is perfect for anyone looking to get out of a reading slump or diversify their TBR pile.]]>
Sadie Hartmann Renee 0 to-read 5.00 Feral & Hysterical: Mother Horror’s Ultimate Reading Guide to Dark and Disturbing Fiction by Women
author: Sadie Hartmann
name: Renee
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Fascism: A Warning 35230469 A personal and urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world, written by one of America’s most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state

A Fascist, observes Madeleine Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.”�

The twentieth century was defined by the clash between democracy and Fascism, a struggle that created uncertainty about the survival of human freedom and left millions dead. Given the horrors of that experience, one might expect the world to reject the spiritual successors to Hitler and Mussolini should they arise in our era. In Fascism: A Warning, Madeleine Albright draws on her experiences as a child in war-torn Europe and her distinguished career as a diplomat to question that assumption.

Fascism, as she shows, not only endured through the twentieth century but now presents a more virulent threat to peace and justice than at any time since the end of World War II.Ěý The momentum toward democracy that swept the world when the Berlin Wall fell has gone into reverse.Ěý The United States, whichĚýhistorically championed the free world, is led by a president who exacerbates division and heaps scorn on democratic institutions.Ěý In many countries, economic, technological, and cultural factors are weakening the political center and empowering the extremes of right and left.Ěý Contemporary leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are employing many of the tactics used by Fascists in the 1920s and 30s.

Fascism: A Warning is a book for our times that is relevant to all times.Ěý Written Ěýby someone who has not only studied history but helped to shape it, this call to arms teaches us the lessons we must understand and the questions we must answer if we are to save ourselves from repeating the tragic errors of the past.]]>
320 Madeleine K. Albright 0062802232 Renee 0 4.23 2018 Fascism: A Warning
author: Madeleine K. Albright
name: Renee
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read, library-reads, non-fiction
review:

]]>
Shroud 210384823 An utterly gripping story of alien encounter and survival from Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Children of Time.

They looked into the darkness and the darkness looked back . . .

New planets are fair game to asset strippers and interplanetary opportunists � and a commercial mission to a distant star system discovers a moon that is pitch black, but alive with radio activity. Its high-gravity, high-pressure, zero-oxygen environment is anathema to human life, but ripe for exploitation. They named it Shroud.

Under no circumstances should a human end up on Shroud’s inhospitable surface. Except a catastrophic accident sees Juna Ceelander and Mai Ste Etienne doing just that. Forced to stage an emergency landing, in a small, barely adequate vehicle, they are unable to contact their ship and are running out of time. What follows is a gruelling journey across land, sea and air. During this time, Juna and Mai begin to understand Shroud’s dominant species. It also begins to understand them . . .

If they escape Shroud, they’ll face a crew only interested in profiteering from this extraordinary world. They’ll somehow have to explain the impossible and translate the incredible. That is, if they make it back at all.]]>
436 Adrian Tchaikovsky 1035013797 Renee 0 to-read 4.16 2025 Shroud
author: Adrian Tchaikovsky
name: Renee
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth]]> 8474660
In 1553, England was about to experience the â€monstrous regimentâ€� - the unnatural rule - of a woman. But female rule in England also had a past. Four hundred years before Edward’s death, Matilda, daughter of Henry I and granddaughter of William the Conquerer, came tantalisingly close to securing her hold on the power of the crown. And between the 12th and the 15th centuries three more exceptional women - Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, and Margaret of Anjou - discovered, as queens consort and dowager, how much was possible if the presumptions of male rule were not confronted so explicitly.

The stories of these women - told here in all their vivid humanity - illustrate the paradox which the female heirs to the Tudor throne had no choice but to negotiate. Man was the head of woman; and the king was the head of all. How, then, could a woman be king, how could royal power lie in female hands?]]>
480 Helen Castor 0571237053 Renee 0 to-read 4.03 2010 She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth
author: Helen Castor
name: Renee
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Creatures that Breathe (Vengeance and Vows Book 1)]]> 210272172 When prey ensnares predator, everyone burns

Burdened with power ...

He is known only as the Spymaster. A male with no name, no face, certainly no conscience. He thrives in the shadows as the realm’s foremost secret stealer. Emotion is something he discarded years ago, making him one of the most clear-eyed, ruthless, and least known members of the Kingsguard - a band of deadly warriors cursed to crave revenge.

Charged with survival �

A lesser creature on the brink of extinction, Leni’s dealt with onerous males her entire life, sold by her father, betrothed to a depraved prince, forsaken by the king. Now, with an enemy hot on her tail, she seeks the only immortal capable of protecting her, not knowing how intensely she’ll be drawn to the steely spymaster.

Neither can resist the desire searing between them, but every second spent together edges them closer to a fate far worse than death �

Featuring a tormented anti-hero, a cunning heroine, and a tangle of powerful creatures in a world where Zeus and his children are always watching, Creatures that Breathe is the first of an interconnected series with a happily ever after.]]>
412 M.L. Chambers 1958374164 Renee 0 to-read 3.42 Creatures that Breathe (Vengeance and Vows Book 1)
author: M.L. Chambers
name: Renee
average rating: 3.42
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Blood on My Name 61161809 Vepar keeps to his word and erases Mara from her abusive ex's mind, but Vepar is back to retrieve her only a day later with his twin brother at his side.
Mara must find strength within herself to survive... and fight the growing lust for the dark, sexy demon holding her hostage.
Zepar has found his place on Earth collecting the souls of wealthy and desperate business executives. His wicked ways are interrupted when Vepar ropes him into helping conceal Mara from their holy brethren and a Prince of Hell. But he quickly sees something within Mara that’s worth tearing apart Heaven and Hell to save.

This spicy adult fantasy spins mythology into a gripping tale of prophecy, fate, and finding what your soul has been waiting for.]]>
K. Elle Morrison Renee 0 to-read 3.58 Blood on My Name
author: K. Elle Morrison
name: Renee
average rating: 3.58
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
A Study of Blood and Ichor 215020812 A man possessed. A witch who is determined to save him. And a demon who will stop at nothing to claim them both.

Ava Helacourt has never met a demon she couldn’t exorcise. Outcast amongst the other witches in her coven and estranged from her own family, Ava only finds solace from her dark past in her studies as a demonologist to protect the mortal realm from the monsters that creep in through the rifts between the two worlds.

When Rory, a man possessed by a demon who calls himself Vain, is captured by her coven, Ava throws herself headfirst into untangling the web surrounding the two of them. Even when Rory seems to have lost all his will to fight back against the demon who refuses to leave his human vessel, she is determined to free him from his lustful and tempting captor.

But as the lines between human and demon begin to blur and it becomes clear that their connection is deeper than she initially realized, Ava starts to question everything she has ever known, and must decide how far she is willing to go in order to save Rory’s soul. Even if that means ruining hers in the process.

A Study of Blood and Ichor is a dark and sensual MMF paranormal romance with heavy themes and mature content. Readers are encouraged to read the authors note in the front matter for a full list of content warnings.]]>
381 Katia Black Renee 0 to-read 4.02 2024 A Study of Blood and Ichor
author: Katia Black
name: Renee
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Aftertaste 220161226 What if you could have one last meal with someone you’ve loved, someone you’ve lost? Combining the magic of Under the Whispering Door with the high-stakes culinary world of Sweetbitter, Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a synesthetic adventure through food and grief.

Konstantin Duhovny is a haunted man. His father died when he was ten, and ghosts have been hovering around Kostya ever since. Kostya can’t exactly see the ghosts, but he can taste their favorite foods. Flavors of meals he’s never eaten will flood his mouth, a sign that a spirit is present. Kostya has kept these aftertastes a secret for most of his life, but one night, he decides to act on what he’s tasting. And everything changes.

Kostya discovers that he can reunite people with their deceased loved ones—at least for the length of time it takes for them to eat a dish that he’s prepared. He thinks his life’s purpose might be to offer closure to grieving strangers, and sets out to learn all he can by entering a particularly fiery ring of Hell: the New York culinary scene. But as his kitchen skills catch up with his ambitions, Kostya is too blind to see the catastrophe looming in the Afterlife. And the one person who knows Kostya must be stopped also happens to be falling in love with him.

Set in the bustling world of New York restaurants and teeming with mouthwatering food writing, Aftertaste is a whirlwind romance, a heart-wrenching look at love and loss, and a ghost story about all the ways we hunger—and how far we’d go to find satisfaction.

Lavelle’s debut is a multi-course tasting menu of a book that will sate, delight, excite, comfort, and inspire even the pickiest of readers.]]>
400 Daria Lavelle 1668061597 Renee 0 to-read 4.16 2025 Aftertaste
author: Daria Lavelle
name: Renee
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Ocean: Earth’s Last Wilderness]]> 220395156 Award-winning broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough and longtime collaborator Colin Butfield present a powerful call to action focused on our planet's oceans, exploring how critical this habitat is for the survival of humanity and the future of Earth.

Through personal stories, history and cutting-edge science, Ocean uncovers the mystery, the wonder and the frailty of the most unexplored habitat on our planet � and the one which shapes the land we live on, regulates our climate and creates the air we breathe. The book showcase the oceans' remarkable resilience: they are the part of our world that can, and in some cases has, recovered the fastest, if we only give them the chance.

Drawing a course across David Attenborough's own lifetime, Ocean takes readers on an adventure-laden voyage through eight unique ocean habitats, through countless intriguing species, and through the most astounding discoveries of the last 100 years, to a future vision of a fully restored marine world, even richer and more spectacular than we could possibly hope. Ocean reveals the past, present and potential future of our blue planet. It is a book almost a century in the making, but one that has never been more urgently needed.]]>
400 David Attenborough 1538772299 Renee 0 to-read 4.78 2025 Ocean: Earth’s Last Wilderness
author: David Attenborough
name: Renee
average rating: 4.78
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Jasad Heir (The Scorched Throne, #1)]]> 60581370
The lost Heir of Jasad, Sylvia never wants to be found. She can’t think about how Nizahl’s armies laid waste to her kingdom and continue to hunt its people—not if she wants to stay alive. But when Arin, the Nizahl Heir, tracks a group of Jasadi rebels to her village, staying one step ahead of death gets trickier.

In a moment of anger Sylvia’s magic is exposed, capturing Arin’s attention. Now, to save her life, Sylvia will have to make a deal with her greatest enemy. If she helps him lure the rebels, she’ll escape persecution.

A deadly game begins. Sylvia can’t let Arin discover her identity even as hatred shifts into something more. Soon, Sylvia will have to choose between the life she wants and the one she left behind. The scorched kingdom is rising, and it needs a queen.

In this Egyptian-inspired debut fantasy, a fugitive queen strikes a deadly bargain with her greatest enemy and finds herself embroiled in a complex game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever. ]]>
523 Sara Hashem 0316477869 Renee 0 to-read 3.95 2023 The Jasad Heir (The Scorched Throne, #1)
author: Sara Hashem
name: Renee
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Rise of the Melody (Siren of Shehan #1)]]> 200991308
Seventeen-year-old Colette “Letty� MacIntyre has everything going for her: a great life with her Aunt Lorna in Brooklyn, a promising singing career, and enough distractions to forget the tragic disappearance of her parents. She’s banking on a bright future in the city until strange things begin to happen. People are suddenly having peculiar reactions to her singing voice, and a giant wolfhound starts following her like a lost puppy. But the cherry on top is when the mayor of her long-forgotten birthplace, Shehan, a town on a mountainous island off the craggy northern coast of Maine, shows up on her doorstep with an impossible revelation: the folklore stories she grew up hearing are real. Letty is the last land siren on Earth…and he needs her help.

An escaped kelpie—a monstrous water horse—is terrorizing Shehan, and Letty’s voice is the only thing that can stop it. Despite the shock at learning her heritage, Letty returns to the island, which is filled with as much mystery as it is fog. She wants answers to her parents� disappearance as well as a chance to prove herself. But in a race of mighty druids and formidable Scottish witches, Letty’s power is an anomaly, feared and reviled by the mystic community. Her lineage must be kept secret. It becomes even harder to fulfil these tasks when a new enemy threatens her—an alluring, powerful druid boy filled with darkness who would just as soon kill her as kiss her.

Will her deadly melody be enough to save the town and herself?]]>
290 Wendy Higgins Renee 0 to-read, library-reads 4.20 2024 Rise of the Melody (Siren of Shehan #1)
author: Wendy Higgins
name: Renee
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, library-reads
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape]]> 61340227 320 Katie Holten 1953534686 Renee 0 3.97 2023 The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape
author: Katie Holten
name: Renee
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, religion-spirituality
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Good Nature: Why Seeing, Smelling, Hearing and Touching Plants is Good for Our Health]]> 207297806 A ground-breaking investigation into newly discovered evidence that remarkable things happen to our bodies and our minds when our senses interact with the natural world.

We all take for granted the idea that being in nature makes us feel better. But if you were a skeptical scientist—or indeed any kind of sceptic—who wanted hard scientific evidence for this idea, where would you look? And how would that evidence be gathered?

It wasn’t until Dr. Kathy Willis was asked to contribute to an international project looking for the societal benefits we gain from plants that she stumbled across a study that radically changed the way she saw the natural world. In the study there was clear proof that patients recovering from gall bladder operations recovered more quickly if they were looking at trees.

In fact, in the last decade there has been an explosion of “proof" that incredible things happen to our bodies and our minds when our senses interact with the natural world. In Good Nature, Kathy Willis takes the reader on a journey with her to dig out all the experiments around the world that are looking for this evidence—experiments made easier by the new kinds of data being collected from satellites and big-data biobanks. Having a vase of roses on your desk or a green wall in your office makes a measurable difference to your wellbeing; certain scents in room diffusers genuinely can boost your immune system; and, in a chapter that Kathy calls "Hidden Sense" we learn that touching organic soil has a significant effect on the healthiness of your microbiome.

What is remarkable about this book is how its revelations should to be commonsense� schools should let children play in nature to improve their health and concentration; urban streets should have trees—and yet it reveals just how difficult it is to prove this to businesses and governments. As Kathy Willis says in her narrative, "We now know enough to self-prescribe in our homes, offices or working spaces, gardens, and when out walking. However small these individual actions might be, overall they have the potential to provide a large number of health benefits. And we need to be encouraging others to do the same. Nature is far more than just something that is useful for our health. It is not a dispensable commodity. It is an inherent part of us."]]>
336 Kathy Willis 1639367640 Renee 0 3.67 2024 Good Nature: Why Seeing, Smelling, Hearing and Touching Plants is Good for Our Health
author: Kathy Willis
name: Renee
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, religion-spirituality
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[How to Read a Tree: Clues and Patterns from Bark to Leaves]]> 62315909 New York Times–bestselling author Tristan Gooley opens our eyes to the secret language of trees—and the natural wonders they reveal all around us


Trees are keen to tell us so much. They’ll tell us about the land, the water, the people, the animals, the weather, and time. And they will tell us about their lives, the good bits and bad. Trees tell a story, but only to those who know how to read it.



In How to Read a Tree, Gooley uncovers the clues hiding in plain sight: in a tree’s branches and leaves; its bark, buds, and flowers; even its stump. Leaves with a pale, central streak mean that water is nearby. Young, low-growing branches show that a tree is struggling. And reddish or purple bark signals new growth.



Like snowflakes, no two trees are exactly the same. Every difference reveals the epic story this tree has lived—if we stop to look closely.

]]>
384 Tristan Gooley 1615199438 Renee 0 4.15 2023 How to Read a Tree: Clues and Patterns from Bark to Leaves
author: Tristan Gooley
name: Renee
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, religion-spirituality
review:

]]>
Cloud Cuckoo Land 56783258 When everything is lost, it’s our stories that survive.

How do we weather the end of things? Cloud Cuckoo Land brings together an unforgettable cast of dreamers and outsiders from past, present and future to offer a vision of survival against all odds.

Constantinople, 1453:
An orphaned seamstress and a cursed boy with a love for animals risk everything on opposite sides of a city wall to protect the people they love.

Idaho, 2020:
An impoverished, idealistic kid seeks revenge on a world that’s crumbling around him. Can he go through with it when a gentle old man stands between him and his plans?

Unknown, Sometime in the Future:
With her tiny community in peril, Konstance is the last hope for the human race. To find a way forward, she must look to the oldest stories of all for guidance.

Bound together by a single ancient text, these tales interweave to form a tapestry of solace and resilience and a celebration of storytelling itself. Like its predecessor All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr’s new novel is a tale of hope and of profound human connection.]]>
626 Anthony Doerr 1982168439 Renee 0 to-read 4.24 2021 Cloud Cuckoo Land
author: Anthony Doerr
name: Renee
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

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

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

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

Told with her signature warmth and insight into matters of the heart, Rebecca Serle has finally set her sights on romantic love. The result is a gripping, emotional, passionate, and (yes) heartbreaking novel about what it means to be single, what it means to find love, and ultimately how we define each of them for ourselves. Expiration Dates is the one fans have been waiting for.]]>
288 Rebecca Serle 1982166835 Renee 0 to-read 3.52 2024 Expiration Dates
author: Rebecca Serle
name: Renee
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good]]> 63876551 A groundbreaking exploration of the ancient rules women unwittingly follow in order to be considered "good," revealing how the Seven Deadly Sins still control and distort their lives and illuminating a path toward a more balanced, spiritually complete way to live

Women congratulate themselves when they resist the doughnut in the office break-room. They celebrate their restraint when they hold back from sending an e-mail in anger. They feel virtuous when they wake up at dawn to get a jump on the day. They put others' needs ahead of their own and believe this makes them exemplary. In On Our Best Behavior, journalist Elise Loehnen explains that these impulses--often lauded as unselfish, distinctly feminine instincts--are actually ingrained in women by a culture that reaps the benefits, via an extraordinarily effective collection of mores known as the Seven Deadly Sins.

Since being codified by the Christian church in the fourth century, the Seven Deadly Sins--pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth--have exerted insidious power. Even today, in our largely secular, patriarchal society, they continue to circumscribe women's behavior. For example, seeing sloth as sinful leads women to deny themselves rest; a fear of gluttony drives them to ignore their appetites; and an aversion to greed prevents them from negotiating for themselves and contributes to the 55 percent gender wealth gap. Loehnen reveals how women have been programmed to obey the rules represented by these sins and how doing so qualifies them as "good."

This probing analysis of contemporary culture and thoroughly researched history explains how women have internalized the patriarchy, and how they unwittingly reinforce it. By sharing her own story and the spiritual wisdom of other traditions, Loehnen shows how women can break free and discover the integrity and wholeness they seek.]]>
384 Elise Loehnen 059324303X Renee 0 to-read 3.77 2023 On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good
author: Elise Loehnen
name: Renee
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Root Rot 219874871 Nine children travel with their families to their Grandfather's vacation property, where strange things begin to happen: eyes blink from the bottom up, mushrooms ooze blood, people's faces don't hang right anymore-except they do, once you look more closely. Transformations warp the children's sense of time and place, the very land itself seeming to encroach upon them.
As The Liar watches the children succumb one by one to an unknown fate, she must make sense of absent stars in the night sky, vials of amber liquid that taste of milk, a funny little rope tied in knots. She's faced with a choice: join or resist, only the choice is not so simple.
Set in The Grandfather's Lake House as he continues to extend his property lines and told in the eerie we of the children, Root Rot explores predatory family dynamics, the boundaries of bodies and home, and how individuals choose to participate in or push back against structures that would harm them.]]>
142 Saskia Nislow 1951971256 Renee 0 to-read, mother-horror-recs 3.71 2025 Root Rot
author: Saskia Nislow
name: Renee
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: to-read, mother-horror-recs
review:

]]>
Hard Times 2859195 Thomas Gradgrind is the guiding luminary of the Coketown school, stern proponent of the Philosophy of Fact, whose ill-conceived idealism blinds him to the essential humanity of those around him, with calamitous results. His daughter Louisa becomes trapped in a loveless marriage and falls prey to an idle seducer, and her brother Tom is ruined thanks to their father's pet theories. Meanwhile Sleary's circus offers a vision of escape and entertainment, a joyful contrast to the dreariness of life in Coketown. The hardship of the workers and the victimization of Stephen Blackpool are set against the exuberance of the circus people in Dickens's much-loved moral tale. Gradgrind is forced to reconsider his cherished system when he realizes that 'Facts alone' are not, after all, enough. (From the back cover)



Hard Times is Dickens's shortest novel, and arguably his greatest triumph. A useful appendix of the author's working notes, together with an enlightening introduction and full explanatory notes, will ensure that this edition becomes the obvious choice for anyone studying the novel. Paul Schlike is Lecturer in English at the University of Aberdeen.

]]>
299 Charles Dickens 0199536279 Renee 0 school-readings, to-read 3.30 1854 Hard Times
author: Charles Dickens
name: Renee
average rating: 3.30
book published: 1854
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/09
shelves: school-readings, to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[City of Gods and Monsters (House of Devils, #1)]]> 59820919 Welcome to the city of Angelthene. We hope you survive.

Loren Calla has only ever been ordinary. As a human struggling to survive in a city that caters to the needs of vampires, werewolves, witches, and other supernatural creatures, she always assumed her life would remain simple, predictable, and as safe as her world would allow.

Until she barely escapes abduction at the hands of Darkslayers—supernatural bounty hunters that possess the Sight, a magical tracking ability that allows them to see a person’s aura—and one of her friends is taken in her place. The abductors are demanding a ransom: Loren's life in exchange for her friend's safe return. Loren will do whatever it takes to get her friend back—even if it means accepting help from Darien Cassel, the leader of the Seven Devils, the most feared Darkslaying circle in the city.

Darien specializes in tracking down demons and criminals that are better off dead than alive, so when he takes a job to track down Loren and finds out she is human—and couldn't hurt a fly if her life depended on it—he decides to protect her instead of turn her in for a reward. As much as Loren doesn't want to admit it, Darien is her best and only chance at finding her friend alive, if she can somehow manage to get along with him—and not fall head-over-heels in love with him in the process, which is far easier said than done.

When more women start disappearing, and some of them slowly turn up dead, Loren and Darien's search for answers takes them deep into Angelthene's corrupt underbelly, where they discover a dark secret that threatens to unravel their world. And when tragedy strikes, Loren learns that love can make an ordinary person do extraordinary things.

From the author of Dreams of Ice and Iron comes a new fantasy romance perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Ilona Andrews, and Cassandra Clare.

Please note: This book contains darker content that might be triggering for some readers, including violence, mature language, sexual content, drug abuse, death of an animal (with a HEA), sexual harassment, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and suicide. It is not intended for anyone under the age of 18.]]>
760 Kayla Edwards 1777880734 Renee 0 to-read 3.68 2022 City of Gods and Monsters (House of Devils, #1)
author: Kayla Edwards
name: Renee
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Luminiferos: The Omen of Light]]> 80117768
PARALLEL WORLDS. FORBIDDEN LOVE. A DEADLY QUEST THAT COULD DESTROY THEM ALL

At just eighteen, Lilly White has lived multiple lives. She endured the harsh reality of growing up in an English orphanage, isolated and unwanted. But paradoxically, visions and dreams of lush forests, mystical creatures and most troubling of all � a warm, loving family. Lilly doesn’t know if these are the delusions of a lonely mind, or something more.

When a man with a raven reveals a portal to a lost world, she finally gets proof she is not insane. But for all the ethereal beauty of this impossible place, a toxic darkness creeps closer, consuming everything in its path.

Caught between the desire to belong and the need to fight an evil that threatens all of existence, Lilly uncovers gifts within herself she never imagined.

But some truths are hidden for your own good�

Now she is thrust into a mission to save two worlds with non-existent odds of survival. Yet it’s either that or a fate worse than death.]]>
384 Yana Metro 1739262611 Renee 0 to-read 3.44 Luminiferos: The Omen of Light
author: Yana Metro
name: Renee
average rating: 3.44
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Belladonna (Belladonna, #1) 59227936
Orphaned as a baby, nineteen-year-old Signa has been raised by a string of guardians, each one more interested in her wealth than her well-being—and each has met an untimely end. Her remaining relatives are the elusive Hawthornes, an eccentric family living at Thorn Grove, an estate both glittering and gloomy. Its patriarch mourns his late wife through wild parties, while his son grapples for control of the family’s waning reputation, and his daughter suffers from a mysterious illness. But when their mother’s restless spirit appears claiming she was poisoned, Signa realizes that the family she depends on could be in grave danger and enlists the help of a surly stable boy to hunt down the killer.
Ěý
However, Signa’s best chance of uncovering the murderer is an alliance with Death himself, a fascinating, dangerous shadow who has never been far from her side. Though he’s made her life a living hell, Death shows Signa that their growing connection may be more powerful—and more irresistible—than she ever dared imagine.]]>
409 Adalyn Grace 0316158232 Renee 0 to-read 3.97 2022 Belladonna (Belladonna, #1)
author: Adalyn Grace
name: Renee
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars, #1)]]> 75668288 The heart is a battlefield.

All Talasyn has ever known is the Hurricane Wars. Growing up an orphan in a nation under siege by the ruthless Night Emperor, Talasyn has found her family among the soldiers who fight for freedom. But she is hiding a deadly secret: light magic courses through her veins, a blazing power believed to have been wiped out years ago that can cut through the Night Empire's shadows.

Prince Alaric, the emperor's only son and heir, has been forged into a weapon by his father. Tasked with obliterating any threats to the Night Empire's rule with the strength of his armies and mighty Shadow magic, Alaric has never been bested. That is until he sees Talasyn burning brightly on the battlefield with the magic that killed his grandfather, turned his father into a monster, and ignited the Hurricane Wars. In a clash of light and dark, their powers merge and create a force the likes of which has never been seen.

Talasyn and Alaric both know this war can only end with them. But a greater threat is coming, and the strange new magic they can create together could be the only way to overcome it. Thrust into an uneasy alliance, they will confront the secrets at the heart of the war and find, in each other, a searing passion--one that could save their world...or destroy it.

An exquisite fantasy brimming with unforgettable characters, sizzling enemies-to-lovers romance, and richly drawn worlds, The Hurricane Wars marks the breathtaking debut of an extraordinary new writer.]]>
472 Thea Guanzon 0063277271 Renee 0 to-read 3.65 2023 The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars, #1)
author: Thea Guanzon
name: Renee
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Blue Whale: The Story of Big Blue]]> 3079727 29 Donna K. Grosvenor 0870442430 Renee 0 4.14 1995 The Blue Whale: The Story of Big Blue
author: Donna K. Grosvenor
name: Renee
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/08
date added: 2025/04/08
shelves: juv, non-fiction, to-buy, childhood-books, library-reads, re-reads
review:
loved it, had this book when I was a kid. :)
]]>
The Lamb 211143113
But Mama’s want is stronger than her hunger sometimes, and when a beautiful, white-toothed stray named Eden turns up in the heart of a snowstorm, Margot must confront the shifting dynamics of her family, untangle her own desires, and make her own bid for freedom.

With this gothic coming-of-age tale, novelist Lucy Rose explores how women swallow their anger, desire, and animal instincts—and wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.]]>
336 Lucy Rose 0063374609 Renee 0 to-read 3.89 2025 The Lamb
author: Lucy Rose
name: Renee
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Moonlight Scandals (de Vincent, #3)]]> 38608352 It takes a fearless woman to love the most scandalous man alive in New York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout’s breathtaking novel

Even a ghost hunter like Rosie Herpin couldn’t have foreseen the fateful meeting between two mourners that has brought her so intimately close to the notorious and seductive Devlin de Vincent. Everyone in New Orleans knows he’s heir to a dark family curse that both frightens and enthralls. To the locals, Devlin is the devil. To Rosie, he’s a man who’s stoking her wildest fantasies. When a brutal attack on her friend is linked to the de Vincents, he becomes a mystery she may be risking her life to solve.

Devlin knows what he wants from this sexy and adventurous woman. But what does Rosie want from him? It’s a question that becomes more pressing—and more dangerous—when he suspects her of prying into the shadows of his past.

Now, the legends surrounding the de Vincents may not be myths at all. But if she’s to discover the truth, she must follow them straight into the arms of the man she can’t resist—the handsome devil himself.]]>
400 Jennifer L. Armentrout Renee 0 4.25 2019 Moonlight Scandals (de Vincent, #3)
author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
name: Renee
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-read, favorite-authors, physical-tbr
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Moonlight Seduction (de Vincent, #2)]]> 36301030
Gabriel spent years beating himself up over his last encounter with Nikki. He’d wanted her then, but for reasons that were bad for both of them. Things have now changed. Gabe sees more than a girl he’s known forever; he sees a smart, talented, and heartbreakingly beautiful woman... one who’s being stalked from the shadows. Now, Gabe will do anything to keep Nikki safe � and to stop the de Vincent curse from striking again.

The de Vincent brothers are back � and so is the intrigue that surrounds them � in New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout’s sizzling new novel...]]>
389 Jennifer L. Armentrout 0062674560 Renee 0 4.00 2018 Moonlight Seduction (de Vincent, #2)
author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
name: Renee
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-read, favorite-authors, physical-tbr
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Moonlight Sins (de Vincent, #1)]]> 35068738
Julia Hughes has always played it safe until she learned a very painful lesson. Now Julia’s starting over with a job in the Louisiana bayou—and a scorching encounter with a stranger, only to discover he’s Lucian de Vincent . . . her new employer. The de Vincent brothers share a massive fortune and a dark reputation. Julia cares for their troubled sister, but a menacing presence in the mansion—and the ever-present temptation of Lucian—prove dangerously distracting.

Lucian’s grandmother claimed de Vincent men fall in love once—and hard. Apparently, it’s Lucian’s turn. Julia’s compassionate care of his twin makes Lucian want to lay himself bare. But some secrets are better for Julia not to know.

The recent “suicide� of Lucian’s father is the latest in a string of deaths on the estate. Someone is eliminating the de Vincents. And the best way to get to Lucian may be through Julia. . . .]]>
0 Jennifer L. Armentrout 0062674528 Renee 0 3.75 2018 Moonlight Sins (de Vincent, #1)
author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
name: Renee
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: physical-tbr, favorite-authors
review:

]]>
Overgrowth 217387964 Annihilation meets Day of the Triffids in this full-on body horror/alien invasion apocalypse.

This is just a story. It can't hurt you anymore.

Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she's an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has been willing to listen.

Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it's already been warned, and it may be too late. The invasion is coming, Stasia's biological family is on the way to bring her home, and very few family reunions are willing to cross the gulf of space for just one misplaced child.

What happens when you know what’s coming, and just refuse to listen?]]>
480 Mira Grant 1250768233 Renee 0 to-read 4.10 2025 Overgrowth
author: Mira Grant
name: Renee
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3) 223806512
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.]]>
Rebecca Yarros Renee 1 4.02 2025 Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Renee
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 1
read at: 2025/03/16
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves:
review:
I will not be taking questions at this time.
]]>
Their Monstrous Hearts 212431583 A haunting novel about the boundaries people will cross to keep their dreams alive.

A mysterious stranger shows up at Riccardo’s apartment with some news: his grandmother Perihan has died, and Riccardo has inherited her villa in Milan along with her famed butterfly collection.

The struggling writer is out of options. He’s hoping the change of scenery in Milan will inspire him, and maybe there will be some money to keep him afloat. But Perihan’s house isn’t as opulent as he remembers. The butterflies pinned in their glass cases seem more ominous than artful. Perihan’s group of mysterious old friends is constantly lurking. And there’s something wrong in the greenhouse.

As Riccardo explores the decrepit estate, he stumbles upon Perihan’s diary, which might hold the key to her mysterious death. Or at least give him the inspiration he needs to finish his manuscript.

But he might not survive long enough to write it.

]]>
320 YiÄźit Turhan 0778368270 Renee 0 to-read 3.45 2025 Their Monstrous Hearts
author: YiÄźit Turhan
name: Renee
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, #1)]]> 693016 Two hearts steeped in scandal . . .

When an unexpected inheritance elevates her family to the ranks of the aristocracy, Amelia Hathaway discovers that tending to her younger sisters and wayward brother was easy compared to navigating the intricacies of the ton. Even more challenging: the attraction she feels for the tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Cam Rohan.

Wealthy beyond most men’s dreams, Cam has tired of society’s petty restrictions and longs to return to his “uncivilized� Gypsy roots. When the delectable Amelia appeals to him for help, he intends to offer only friendship—but intentions are no match for the desire that blindsides them both. But can a man who spurns tradition be tempted into that most time-honored arrangement: marriage? Life in London society is about to get a whole lot hotter . . .]]>
360 Lisa Kleypas 0312949804 Renee 0 to-read, mg-romance-book-club 4.06 2007 Mine Till Midnight (The Hathaways, #1)
author: Lisa Kleypas
name: Renee
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read, mg-romance-book-club
review:

]]>
The Woman in the Mirror 45046726 Rebecca James unveils a chilling modern gothic novel of a family consumed by the shadows and secrets of its past in The Woman in the Mirror.

For more than two centuries, Winterbourne Hall has stood atop a bluff overseeing the English countryside of Cornwall and the sea beyond.

In 1947, Londoner Alice Miller accepts a post as governess at Winterbourne, looking after Captain Jonathan de Grey’s twin children. Falling under the de Greys� spell, Alice believes the family will heal her own past sorrows. But then the twins� adoration becomes deceitful and taunting. Their father, ever distant, turns spiteful and cruel. The manor itself seems to lash out. Alice finds her surroundings subtly altered, her air slightly chilled. Something malicious resents her presence, something clouding her senses and threatening her very sanity.

In present day New York, art gallery curator Rachel Wright has learned she is a descendant of the de Greys and heir to Winterbourne. Adopted as an infant, she never knew her birth parents or her lineage. At long last, Rachel will find answers to questions about her identity that have haunted her entire life. But what she finds in Cornwall is a devastating tragic legacy that has afflicted generations of de Greys. A legacy borne from greed and deceit, twisted by madness, and suffused with unrequited love and unequivocal rage.]]>
368 Rebecca James 1250230055 Renee 0 to-read 3.70 2018 The Woman in the Mirror
author: Rebecca James
name: Renee
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
The Call of the Wild 1852 The Call of the Wild is regarded as Jack London's masterpiece. Based on London's experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness and his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, The Call of the Wild is a tale about unbreakable spirit and the fight for survival in the frozen Alaskan Klondike.]]> 172 Jack London Renee 0 do-not-read 3.89 1903 The Call of the Wild
author: Jack London
name: Renee
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1903
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: do-not-read
review:

]]>
Anna Karenina 15823480 Anna Karenina provides a vast panorama of contemporary life in Russia and of humanity in general. In it Tolstoy uses his intense imaginative insight to create some of the most memorable characters in all of literature. Anna is a sophisticated woman who abandons her empty existence as the wife of Karenin and turns to Count Vronsky to fulfil her passionate nature - with tragic consequences. Levin is a reflection of Tolstoy himself, often expressing the author's own views and convictions.

Throughout, Tolstoy points no moral, merely inviting us not to judge but to watch. As Rosemary Edmonds comments, 'He leaves the shifting patterns of the kaleidoscope to bring home the meaning of the brooding words following the title, 'Vengeance is mine, and I will repay.]]>
964 Leo Tolstoy 0345803922 Renee 0 4.11 1878 Anna Karenina
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Renee
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1878
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read, classics, library-reads
review:

]]>
The Scarlet Letter 12296 279 Nathaniel Hawthorne 0142437263 Renee 0 to-read 3.43 1850 The Scarlet Letter
author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
name: Renee
average rating: 3.43
book published: 1850
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Elixir (Covenant, #3.5) 17132284 Even if it means doing the one thing he will never forgive himself for.
Even if it means making war against the gods.]]>
74 Jennifer L. Armentrout 1937053407 Renee 3 Apollyon . It did help me with my slump though.]]> 4.44 2012 Elixir (Covenant, #3.5)
author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
name: Renee
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: novellas-short-stories-anthologies
review:
Not much really happened, but a necessary filler for Apollyon . It did help me with my slump though.
]]>
<![CDATA[First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)]]> 9732743 This whole grim reaper thing should have come with a manual.
Or a diagram of some kind.
A flow chart would have been nice.

Charley Davidson is a part-time private investigator and full-time grim reaper. Meaning, she sees dead people. Really. And it's her job to convince them to "go into the light." But when these very dead people have died under less than ideal circumstances (like murder), sometimes they want Charley to bring the bad guys to justice. Complicating matters are the intensely hot dreams she's been having about an entity who has been following her all her life...and it turns out he might not be dead after all. In fact, he might be something else entirely. But what does he want with Charley? And why can't she seem to resist him? And what does she have to lose by giving in?

With scorching-hot tension and high-octane humor, First Grave on the Right is your signpost to paranormal suspense of the highest order.

]]>
330 Darynda Jones 0312577427 Renee 0 4.04 2011 First Grave on the Right (Charley Davidson, #1)
author: Darynda Jones
name: Renee
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2020/12/31
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves: library-reads, pnr-uf, series, audiobook-reads
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Buried Alive: A History of Premature Burials and Accidental Interments]]> 218142861 A spine-chilling exploration of premature burials, miraculous escapes, and humanity's deep fear of being buried alive throughout history.

The macabre meets the factual in this spine-chilling exploration of humanity's darkest being buried alive. From ancient folklore to modern medical marvels, Buried Alive delves deep into the annals of history, uncovering tales of premature interment and miraculous escapes.

Imagine the horror of waking up in a coffin, surrounded by suffocating darkness, with no hope of escape. Drawing on historical records and eyewitness accounts, this book reveals the grim reality of those who were inadvertently entombed before their time. From cases of war, where whole battalions have been covered in earth whilst still living, to ritual and superstition, from voodoo to suttee in Haiti and India, as well as the immurement in walls or errant monks and convent sisters. Less-known cases of burials of the living, through murderous intentions and natural disasters are also told, alongside tales of fakirs and hypnotists whose challenges were to have themselves put into a grave and left for days.

Amidst tales of terror, this book also celebrates the resilience and heroism of those who defied death's grasp, providing a wealth of historical detail and many cases which have never before appeared in print. From the invention of bell-rigged coffins to the formation of societies dedicated to preventing premature burials, discover the remarkable measures taken to combat this age-old fear.

Through meticulous research and a gripping narrative, Buried Alive separates fact from fiction, shedding light on the truth behind centuries of taphophobia. This book is a haunting reminder of the fragility of life and the enduring power of human resilience in the face of our deepest fears.]]>
240 AJ Griffiths-Jones 1036111709 Renee 0 to-read, non-fiction 3.71 Buried Alive: A History of Premature Burials and Accidental Interments
author: AJ Griffiths-Jones
name: Renee
average rating: 3.71
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/02
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]>
Rhapsodic (The Bargainer, #1) 68007888 From bestselling indie author Laura Thalassa comes the newly revised and edited first book in her smash-hit dark fantasy romance between a siren and the “bargainer� she owes countless favors to.

Callypso Lillis is a siren with a very big problem, one that stretches up her arm and far into her past.

For the last seven years Callie has been wearing a bracelet of black beads up her wrist, magical IOUs for favors she once received. Only death or repayment will fulfill her obligations.

Everyone knows that if you need a favor, you go to the Bargainer to make it happen. He’s a man who can get you anything you want � at a price. And everyone knows that sooner or later he always collects. But for Callie, he’s never asked for repayment. Not until now.

When Callie finds the Bargainer in her room, a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye, she knows things are about to change. At first it’s admitting a truth—a single bead’s worth—acknowledging the attraction between them. But the Bargainer is after more than just rekindling their connection. Something is happening in the Otherworld. Fae warriors are going missing one by one, and only the women are returned, each in a glass casket, a child clutched to her breast.

For the Bargainer to save his people, he’ll need the help of the siren he spurned long ago. If she can forgive him.

]]>
400 Laura Thalassa 1942662335 Renee 4 favorites that was one hell of a fucking love declaration

After getting to chapter 12, I decided to keep a tally of how many times Des called Callie "Cherub" and out of 375 pages, he called her that a total of 90 times. Granted it's not as bad as SJM's "mate" situation, but it was starting to get like that towards the ending chapters--after chapter 23 to be exact. I fear that's going to be even more of the case in book 2. I WILL be reading book two. I currently have it on hold at the library. we'll see how it goes.

But yes, this was such a good book, at least it was for me vibes-wise. ]]>
3.90 2016 Rhapsodic (The Bargainer, #1)
author: Laura Thalassa
name: Renee
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/16
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: favorites
review:
Okay so this was definitely fan fiction, and you know what? I didnt hate it. I even squeed a lot after reading the end of chapter 23 that was one hell of a fucking love declaration

After getting to chapter 12, I decided to keep a tally of how many times Des called Callie "Cherub" and out of 375 pages, he called her that a total of 90 times. Granted it's not as bad as SJM's "mate" situation, but it was starting to get like that towards the ending chapters--after chapter 23 to be exact. I fear that's going to be even more of the case in book 2. I WILL be reading book two. I currently have it on hold at the library. we'll see how it goes.

But yes, this was such a good book, at least it was for me vibes-wise.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Songbird & the Heart of Stone (Crowns of Nyaxia, #3)]]> 207613054 New York Times bestselling author and BookTok sensation Carissa Broadbent returns with a brand new novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, Songbird and the Heart of Stone, where A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Dante's Inferno, in an epic fantasy romance of love and treachery between mortals and gods. Features beautiful case art and a detailed map.

In the descent to the underworld, a bride of the sun must choose between the light of her redemption� or a dark love that defies the gods themselves

Mische lost everything when she was forcibly Turned into a vampire � her home, her humanity, and most devastating of all, the love of the sun god to whom she had devoted her life. Now, sentenced to death for murdering the vampire prince who Turned her, redemption feels impossible.

But when Mische is saved by Asar, the bastard prince of the House of Shadow with a past as brutal as his scars, she’s forced into a mission worse than execution: a journey to the underworld to resurrect the god of death himself.

Yet, Mische’s punishment may be the key to her salvation. In a secret meeting, her sun god commands her to help Asar in his mission, only to betray him� by killing the very death god she’ll help resurrect.

Mische and Asar must travel the treacherous path to the underworld, facing trials, beasts, and the vengeful ghosts of their pasts. Yet, most dangerous of all is the alluring call of the darkness � and her forbidden attraction to Asar, a burgeoning bond that risks invoking the wrath of gods.

As her betrayal looms, the underworld closes in and angry gods are growing restless. Mische will be forced to choose between the redemption of the sun or the damnation of the darkness.]]>
431 Carissa Broadbent 1250367786 Renee 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.06 2024 The Songbird & the Heart of Stone (Crowns of Nyaxia, #3)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Renee
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: to-read, physical-tbr
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2)]]> 198902263 This new hardcover edition of the bestselling The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King features new case art, a detailed map, and a never-before-seen bonus chapter!

From the New York Times bestselling author Carissa Broadbent, comes The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King, the gutting second installment of the Crowns of Nyaxia series, full of heartbreak, redemption, blood intrigue and heart-pounding action.

Love is a sacrifice at the altar of power.

In the wake of the Kejari, everything Oraya once thought to be true has been destroyed. A prisoner in her own kingdom, grieving the only family she ever had, and reeling from a gutting betrayal, she no longer even knows the truth of her own blood. She’s left only with one certainty: she cannot trust anyone, least of all Raihn.

Raihn’s own nobles are none too eager to accept a Turned king, especially one who was once a slave. And the House of Blood digs their claws into the kingdom, threatening to tear it apart from the inside.

When Raihn offers Oraya a secret alliance, taking the deal is her only chance at reclaiming her kingdom–and gaining her vengeance against the lover who betrayed her. But to do so, she’ll need to harness a devastating ancient power, intertwined with her father’s greatest secrets.

But with enemies closing in on all sides, nothing is as it seems. As she unravels her past and faces her future, Oraya finds herself forced to choose between the bloody reality of seizing power–and the devastating love that could be her downfall.]]>
591 Carissa Broadbent 1250343151 Renee 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.12 2023 The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Crowns of Nyaxia, #2)
author: Carissa Broadbent
name: Renee
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: to-read, physical-tbr
review:

]]>
Twisted Lies (Twisted, #4) 62058385
Charming, deadly, and smart enough to hide it, Christian Harper is a monster dressed in the perfectly tailored suits of a gentleman.

He has little use for morals and even less use for love, but he can't deny the strange pull he feels toward the woman living just one floor below him.

She's the object of his darkest desires, the only puzzle he can't solve. And when the opportunity to get closer to her arises, he breaks his own rules to offer her a deal she can't refuse.

Every monster has their weakness. She's his.

His obsession.

His addiction.

His only exception.

***

Sweet, shy, and introverted despite her social media fame, Stella Alonso is a romantic who keeps her heart in a cage.

Between her two jobs, she has little time or desire for a relationship.

But when a threat from her past drives her into the arms―and house―of the most dangerous man she's ever met, she's tempted to let herself feel something for the first time in a long time.

Because despite Christian's cold nature, he makes her feel everything when she's with him.

Passionate.

Protected.

Truly wanted.

Theirs is a love twisted with secrets and tainted by lies…and when the truths are finally revealed, they could shatter everything.]]>
560 Ana Huang 1728274893 Renee 3
I enjoyed it but it went on for a touch too long for my tastes. I think out of the four, this ranks at number 3 for me. Love, Hate, Lies, Games. I highlighted many quotes through this book and I completely forgot about who ultimately ended up being the stalker. I'm glad to be done with this group though and am looking forward to catching up on the Kings of Sin books. ]]>
4.12 2022 Twisted Lies (Twisted, #4)
author: Ana Huang
name: Renee
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves:
review:
actual rating: 3.75

I enjoyed it but it went on for a touch too long for my tastes. I think out of the four, this ranks at number 3 for me. Love, Hate, Lies, Games. I highlighted many quotes through this book and I completely forgot about who ultimately ended up being the stalker. I'm glad to be done with this group though and am looking forward to catching up on the Kings of Sin books.
]]>
Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2) 150260809
Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders� capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]>
895 Rebecca Yarros Renee 3


At this point idgaf about the characters except when Lilith died specially X&V, I'm so godsdamn tired of their bickering; but if ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING
happens to my precious dragon babies.... we ride at dawn!

Also I genuinely don't understand how Xaden is supposed to be book boyfriend material. I really don't.



That is all.]]>
4.56 2023 Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Renee
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves: buddy-reads, audiobook-reads, library-reads, successful-in-making-me-cry
review:
The fun part of this book was getting to buddy read it with the bestie <3 [true rating is 3.5]



At this point idgaf about the characters except when Lilith died specially X&V, I'm so godsdamn tired of their bickering; but if ANYTHING and I mean ANYTHING
happens to my precious dragon babies.... we ride at dawn!

Also I genuinely don't understand how Xaden is supposed to be book boyfriend material. I really don't.



That is all.
]]>
<![CDATA[The Path to Loving Him (Almond Bay, #3)]]> 220239464 From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn comes a new forced proximity, single dad romantic comedy. This steamy, laugh out loud, enemies-to-lovers, small town standalone romance delivers the perfect happily ever after.

What does one do when they completely blow an interview?
If you're me, you pick up a one-night stand with the most gorgeous man you've ever seen..

That's right, after a lousy interview that could have changed everything for me, I headed over to the local small town bar to sulk when the one man I shouldn't want walked in. And when my friend convinced me to take him back to my hotel room, I didn't think about it, I just did it . . . well, I did him.

It was an unforgettable night, but I didn't stay for breakfast. Instead, I got out of there and tried not to think about him again.

Everything was fine until I received a call from the interviewer saying I got the job as the assistant baseball coach at Almond Bay High. I'd be working directly under the one and only Ryland Rowley--my one-night stand.

Now, I'm not only working with him but renting the apartment above his garage. And I have to deal with the fact that he's the man I dream about and can't have while not letting my attraction get in the way of keeping the harmony between us. Sounds easy, doesn't it?

It should have been, except the plan falls apart when my shower breaks, and night after night I have to slip into his house to use the bathroom only to find him in the kitchen, staring me down with those hungry, single dad eyes.]]>
460 Meghan Quinn Renee 0 to-read 4.26 The Path to Loving Him (Almond Bay, #3)
author: Meghan Quinn
name: Renee
average rating: 4.26
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls 207611566 There’s power in a book�

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

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

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

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master� (NPR).]]>
482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 Renee 0 4.00 2025 Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Renee
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read, witches, physical-tbr, favorite-authors
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Shot in the Dark (Shot in the Dark, #1)]]> 209446986
For twenty-one summers, Sylvia has evaded the ironclad rules set by her village, driven by an insatiable curiosity to know the world beyond the confines of the willow her fellow fairies call home. Her ventures often lead her to the vacant human mansion beyond Elysia’s forest, where ghosts whisper and ancient treasures beckon in the darkness.

Her exploration is shattered by a bullet through her wing� courtesy of Jon and Cliff, seasoned monster hunters who suspect her involvement in gruesome disappearances. A harrowing captivity transforms into an unlikely alliance when Sylvia saves Jon’s life by sealing a magical pact with the enigmatic Ancients� fae powers who demand a cryptic price. Sylvia is left with no choice but to stay by Jon’s side while he and Cliff hunt for a ruthless werewolf, determined to free herself from the Ancients� settlement.

As the dangerous hunt unfolds, Sylvia finds that not all legends about hunters are true. She realizes she and Jon may have more in common than she ever could have imagined� and icy hostility melts into forbidden attraction.

But it doesn’t matter how he begins to look at her� it can’t matter. If Jon discovers her secret, Sylvia knows her fate is sealed. With the full moon's ominous countdown away, Sylvia and the hunters race against time with the fate of countless lives—including Sylvia's—hanging in the balance.

After all, killing a monster is easy compared to falling in love with someone you shouldn’t.

Perfect for fans of SUPERNATURAL and R.J. Anderson’s KNIFE, SHOT IN THE DARK is an action-packed urban fantasy novel that explores the courage it takes to embrace our true identity entwined with haunting themes of forbidden love and found family.]]>
421 Mary Dublin Renee 0 to-read 3.91 Shot in the Dark (Shot in the Dark, #1)
author: Mary Dublin
name: Renee
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Exquisite Ruin (The Labyrinth, #1)]]> 214864931 In this darkly romantic reimagining of the Minotaur myth, a sorceress and a demon are entwined in sensual battle to escape a deadly maze and reclaim their freedom.

In this deadly maze, the most dangerous thing may be the passion between them.

Sadaré wakes in a labyrinth, remembering nothing except that she is a powerful sorceress. Her only companion is a hostile immortal named Daesra—beautiful, dangerous, and demonic—who bound his divine soul for power and revenge.

Despite their animosity, the two have no choice but to work together to reach the center and defeat the monster who prevents their escape. But the longer they wander, the more deadly and alive the maze becomes—and the more Sadaré finds herself drawn to Daesra in ways she can't explain.

As sorceress and demon develop a tenuous truce, the labyrinth gives Sadaré glimpses of their shared history of passion and pain that make her question everything she knows. Unlocking the secrets of her past may be the only way to survive and heal their entwined fates—but as she learns more about the betrayals that brought them to the labyrinth, Sadaré begins to fear that the monster at the center could be Daesra ... or even herself.]]>
384 AdriAnne May 1668077299 Renee 0 to-read 3.49 2025 Exquisite Ruin (The Labyrinth, #1)
author: AdriAnne May
name: Renee
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
I Can Fix Her 216075822
Johnny spots her ex, Alice, at the local cafe with a vague sense that she’s been there before. Though she’s still angry about their breakup and Alice’s subsequent ghosting, Johnny can’t resist the draw of a second shot at their relationship and accepts Alice’s invitation back to her apartment. Once there, promises are exchanged. There’s talk of wonder and change and dreams made real. But after spending the night together, they face a morning in which Alice is still Alice, Johnny is still Johnny, and the dog has doubled in size.

Over the course of a week, increasingly bizarre changes in the world around them force Johnny to consider whether the pair can change just as easily, if they can change at all. Or if both her relationship and the bounds of reality are destined to implode. The narrative of I Can Fix Her operates on nightmare logic, putting forth an irresistible tale in which the world, the narrator, and time itself are not to be trusted.]]>
152 Rae Wilde 1960988514 Renee 0 to-read 4.13 2025 I Can Fix Her
author: Rae Wilde
name: Renee
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[A Feather So Black (Fair Folk, #1)]]> 182761396 Set in a world of perilous magic and moonlit forests, this seductive romantic fantasy tells the story of a defiant changeling, her cursed sister, and the dangerous fae lord she must defeat to save her family.

In a kingdom where magic has been lost, Fia is a rare changeling, left behind by the wicked Fair Folk when they stole the High Queen's daughter and retreated behind the locked gates of Tír na nÓg.

Most despise Fia's fae blood. But the queen raises her as a daughter and trains her to be a spy. Meanwhile, the real princess Eala is bound to Tír na nÓg, cursed to become a swan by day and only returning to her true form at night.

When a hidden gate to the realm is discovered, Fia is tasked by the queen to retrieve the princess and break her curse. But she doesn’t go with her is prince Rogan, Fia's dearest childhood friend—and Eala’s betrothed.

As they journey through the forests of the Folk, where magic winds through the roots of the trees and beauty can be a deadly illusion, Fia’s mission is complicated by her feelings for the prince…and her unexpected attraction to the dark-hearted fae lord holding Eala captive. Irian might be more monster than man, but he seems to understand Fia in a way no one ever has.

Soon, Fia begins to question the truth of her mission. But time is running out to break her sister's curse. And unraveling the secrets of the past might destroy everything she has come to love.]]>
496 Lyra Selene 0316564966 Renee 0 to-read 3.71 2024 A Feather So Black (Fair Folk, #1)
author: Lyra Selene
name: Renee
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self]]> 50997029
Now, Dr. LePera is ready to share her much-requested protocol with the world. In How to Do the Work, she offers both a manifesto for SelfHealing as well as an essential guide to creating a more vibrant, authentic, and joyful life. Drawing on the latest research from a diversity of scientific fields and healing modalities, Dr. LePera helps us recognize how adverse experiences and trauma in childhood live with us, resulting in whole body dysfunction—activating harmful stress responses that keep us stuck engaging in patterns of codependency, emotional immaturity, and trauma bonds. Unless addressed, these self-sabotaging behaviors can quickly become cyclical, leaving people feeling unhappy, unfulfilled, and unwell.Ěý]]>
320 Nicole LePera 0063012103 Renee 0 4.11 2021 How to Do the Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal from Your Past, and Create Your Self
author: Nicole LePera
name: Renee
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/10
shelves: to-read, library-reads, non-fiction
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[A Soul to Keep (Duskwalker Brides, #1)]]> 201056010
Known as a harbinger of bad omens and blamed for Demons eating her family, Reia is shunned by her entire village. When the next offering is due and the monstrous Duskwalker is seen heading their way, her village offers her an impossible choice—be thrown into the prison cells or allow herself to be sacrificed to a faceless monster.

However, he is not what he seems. His skull face and glow eyes are ethereal, and she finds herself unwittingly enchanted by him.

All Orpheus ever wanted was a companion.

Each decade, in exchange for a protection ward from the Demons that terrorize the world, Orpheus takes a human offering to the Veil—the place he lives and the home of Demons. The brief companionship does little to ease his loneliness, and their lives were always, unfortunately, cut short.

He'd thought it was a hopeless endeavor, until he met her. She’s not afraid of him, and his insatiable desire deepens within every moment of her presence.

But will Orpheus be able to convince Reia to stay before she’s lost to him forever?]]>
18 Opal Reyne Renee 3
Also holy hell! Wolfgang Milliken where have you been all my life???? I must hear more of your deep voice, might as well cosplay as CorpseHusband just...wow! I need to hear more!

Duet styled audiobooks should be more of the norm in my opinion. I'm really loving that style.

Elise Hoffman did pretty well too, I could hear more range when it came to the different voices. That spider demon scene was just oh :'(

I am for sure going to continue reading this series, my only gripe was just that it was a smidgen too long, story pretty much wrapped up and yet still had an hour left in the audiobook. I finished it in two days though, so take that as you will.]]>
3.83 2022 A Soul to Keep (Duskwalker Brides, #1)
author: Opal Reyne
name: Renee
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/06
date added: 2025/01/06
shelves: audiobook-reads, library-reads
review:
I agree with some that this went on a bit too long, HOWEVER I enjoyed this story. I'm not usually the type to adore the cinnamon roll heroes but Orpheus was just too damn sweet!

Also holy hell! Wolfgang Milliken where have you been all my life???? I must hear more of your deep voice, might as well cosplay as CorpseHusband just...wow! I need to hear more!

Duet styled audiobooks should be more of the norm in my opinion. I'm really loving that style.

Elise Hoffman did pretty well too, I could hear more range when it came to the different voices. That spider demon scene was just oh :'(

I am for sure going to continue reading this series, my only gripe was just that it was a smidgen too long, story pretty much wrapped up and yet still had an hour left in the audiobook. I finished it in two days though, so take that as you will.
]]>
<![CDATA[Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil]]> 215020997 ALL first edition copies will be signed by the author! Signed copies available while supplies last.

From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger.

This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

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

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

This is a story about life�
how it ends, and how it starts.


USA Today, 15 Most Anticipated of 2025
BookBub, Most Anticipated of 2025 (and Reader’s Pick)
Readers Digest, 20 Most Anticipated Books This Year
Paste Magazine, Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of 2025
BookRiot, Most Anticipated Books of 2025
Men's Health, 25 Best & Most Anticipated Books of 2025
The Nerd Daily, SFF to Devour in 2025
Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ, Readers' Most Anticipated Books of 2025]]>
560 Victoria E. Schwab 1035064642 Renee 0 to-read 4.39 2025 Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil
author: Victoria E. Schwab
name: Renee
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
At Dark, I Become Loathsome 210906882 From Eric LaRocca—Bram Stoker Award–nominated and Splatterpunk Award–winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke—c´Çłľ±đ˛ő At Dark, I Become Loathsome, a grim yet gentle, horrifying yet hopeful, intense tale of death, trauma, and love.

“If you’re reading this, you’ve likely thought that the world would be a better place without you.�

A single line of text, glowing in the darkness of the internet. Written by Ashley Lutin, who has often thought the same—and worse—in the years since his wife died and his young son disappeared. But the peace of the grave is not for him—it’s for those he can help. Ashley has constructed a peculiar ritual for those whose desire to die is at war with their yearning to live a better life.

Struggling to overcome his own endless grief, one night Ashley finds connection with Jinx—a potential candidate for Ashley’s next ritual—who spins a tale both revolting and fascinating. Thus begins a relationship that traps the two men in an ever-tightening spiral of painful revelations, where long-hidden secrets are dragged, kicking and screaming, into the light.

Only through pain can we find healing. Only through death can we find new life.]]>
178 Eric LaRocca Renee 0 to-read 3.33 2025 At Dark, I Become Loathsome
author: Eric LaRocca
name: Renee
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Zomromcom 221267276 Teaming up with your neighbor during a zombie outbreak is a no-brainer, but if it turns out he’s a vampire . . . the stakes couldn’t be higher, in this infectious new paranormal romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Spoiler Alert.

When Edie Brandstrup attempts to save her sweet, seemingly harmlessĚýhumanĚýneighbor from the first major zombie breach in two decades, she’s stunned to be saved byĚýhim—and his ridiculously large sword—instead.ĚýAs it turns out, he's actually a super-old, super-surly vampire.ĚýBut for all her neighbor's newly revealed cynicism and lethality, Gaston "Max" Boucher (yes, Gaston) is unexpectedly protective. He wants her to stay in his safety bunker until the breach is resolved. Edie can’t risk more innocent people getting killed, though—and Max won’t let her save them alone.

As they unravel a sinister conspiracy to set zombies loose on the world (again), the duo meet a host of lovable alliesĚýand discoverĚýthey're not the only ones willing toĚýfight for the future of humanity.ĚýDespiteĚýtheĚýawful timing, Edie finds herself falling for the vampire who’s helping her save the world . . . but all their dangerous plans could endĚýtheirĚýfutureĚýbefore it evenĚýbegins. As she and Max battle side by side, Edie must decide whether having a love worth living for also means having a love you'd die for—and, in a world that grows deadlier by the minute, whether that’s a risk she’s willing to take.]]>
Olivia Dade 0593818210 Renee 0 to-read 3.68 2025 Zomromcom
author: Olivia Dade
name: Renee
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Sounds Like Love 219301810 A hitmaking songwriter and a bitter musician share a startling and inexplicable connection that they’ll do anything to shake, in the next sparkling, magical book from Ashley Poston.

Joni Lark is living the dream. She’s one of the most coveted songwriters in LA…and she can’t seem to write. There’s an emptiness inside her, and nothing seems to fill it.

When she returns to her hometown of Vienna Shores, North Carolina, she hopes that the sand, the surf, and the concerts at The Revelry, her family’s music venue, will spark her inspiration. But when she gets there, nothing is how she left it. Her best friend is avoiding her, her mother’s memories are fading fast, and The Revelry is closing.

How can she think about writing her next song when everything is changing without her?

Until she hears it. A melody in her head, lyric-less and half-formed, and an alluring and addictive voice to go with it—belonging, apparently, to a wry musician with hangups of his own.

Surely, he’s a figment of her overworked imagination.

But then the very real man attached to the voice shows up in Vienna Shores. He’s aggravating and gruff on the outside—nothing like the sweet, funny voice in Joni’s head—and he has a plan:

They’ll finish the song haunting them both, break their connection, and hope they don’t risk their hearts in the process.

Because that song stuck in their heads? Maybe it’s there for a reason.]]>
Ashley Poston 0593641019 Renee 0 to-read 4.27 2025 Sounds Like Love
author: Ashley Poston
name: Renee
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Wild Side (Rose Hill, #3) 217271595
But when my nephew’s guardianship is contested, I decide I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him in Rose Hill. Even if it means marrying the enemy.

Rhys Dupris.

A man who is secretive, broody, and completely infuriating. A man whose work takes him away for weeks on end and brings him back covered in mysterious bruises—ones he won’t talk about. In fact, we barely talk at all.

Which would be fine, except when he’s not talking, he’s staring. And the way he looks at me is borderline indecent.

The tension between us has always been palpable. But living under the same roof is a dangerous temptation.

I swore I would never forgive him. But that was before I knew the man behind the mask. The one who’s fierce and protective. The one who’s gentle and patient. The one who shows up for us when we need him most.

He’s not at all who I thought he was.

And that makes hating my husband so much harder� and loving him just a little too easy.]]>
464 Elsie Silver 1464237522 Renee 0 to-read 4.15 2025 Wild Side (Rose Hill, #3)
author: Elsie Silver
name: Renee
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Rose in Chains (The Evermore Trilogy, #1)]]> 221179254 This beautiful DELUXE EDITION hardcover featuring gorgeous sprayed edges with stenciled art is only available for a limited first print run and while supplies last. This is a stunning special edition you will want to add to your collection.

YOUR NEXT ROMANTASY OBSESSION!

The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.

Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, Briony Rosewood knows that the world as she knows it is changed forever. The dark forces of Bomard have won and her people, the Eversuns, face imminent servitude, imprisonment or death. Her brother, fated to be heir twice over and unite the warring kingdoms, is dead.

Stripped of her Mind Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly auctioned off to the highest bidders in an auction � and as the heir-apparent’s sister, she fetches the highest price.

After a fierce bidding war, she’s sold to none other than Toven a high ranking Bomardsun � and her long-time and ill-fated infatuation. Scion of a family known for their cruel control of Heart Magic, the Hearsts are ruthlessly ambitious, and Briony knows they will use her however they can to further their own interests.

Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help � and hope � may yet arise in the most unlikely of places…]]>
464 Julie Soto 1538771225 Renee 0 to-read 4.54 2025 Rose in Chains (The Evermore Trilogy, #1)
author: Julie Soto
name: Renee
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The Radiant King (Astral Kingdoms, #1)]]> 215944300 The first installment ofĚýUSA Today bestseller David Dalglish's latest epic fantasy trilogy about immortal demigods, civil wars,Ěýand ancient evil will be irresistible to classic fantasy fans and will appeal to readers of James IslingtonĚýand Anthony Ryan.â€�

Six immortal siblings.ĚýFive sworn to peace.ĚýOne demands a throne.

Radiance, the mysterious power of life and creation, is theirs to command. Death cannot claim them. For hundreds of years, the ever-living ruled with ease. Yet when the world is nearly broken beneath their reign, the humbled six swear a They will sit upon no thrones, wear no crowns, and no longer teach humanity the gifts of radiance.

But after centuries of peace, Eder rejects their vow, anoints himself Voice of Father, and spreads a new, cruel faith across the land.

Faron cannot allow such indiscretion. Returning from a self-imposed exile, he swears to crush Eder’s kingdom, and he will not do so alone—Sariel, their cold and calculating brother, knows all too well that an ever-living’s dominion is bound for brutality and destruction. But to overthrow a nation, they will need more than each other. They will need an army and a ruler who can take the throne their own vow forbids. And so, they pledge themselves to the fanatical Bastard Princess, a woman with incredible powers she insists were given to her by the goddess Leliel.

But Eder’s conquest is not what it seems, and it will take more than a holy war to stop an immortal who has heard the desperate plea of a god.]]>
525 David Dalglish Renee 0 to-read 4.20 2025 The Radiant King (Astral Kingdoms, #1)
author: David Dalglish
name: Renee
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Blob: A Love Story 212994452 'A modern-day Mrs. Caliban, BLOB is a book that looks at identity and desire in profoundly interesting ways'
Kevin Wilson, author of Nothing to See Here

A hilarious and moving debut novel about a young woman who decides to turn a sentient blob into her perfect boyfriend...

The daughter of a Taiwanese father and white mother, Vi Liu has never quite fit into her Midwestern college town. Now at twenty-three, after getting dumped and dropping out of college, Vi works as a front desk attendant at a hotel where she refills cucumber water samovars and fends off overtures of friendship from her bubbly blond coworker, Rachel. But when Vi decides to accompany Rachel to a local drag show, her life changes forever. In the alley outside the bar, next to a trash can, is a blob with beady black eyes. Unable to leave it behind, Vi picks up the creature and, in a moment of drunken desperation, takes it home with her.

As her pet blob becomes sentient, Vi realizes it obeys her commands and she decides to mold the blob into her ideal partner. She feeds it sugary cereal and a stream of pop culture, and soon the creature transforms into a movie-star handsome white man. But as Vi's desire to be loved unconditionally threatens to spiral out of control, she is forced to confront her lonely childhood, the ex-boyfriend who has unfriended her, and the racial marginalization that has defined her relationships. Ultimately, Vi embarks on a journey of self-discovery and learns that it's impossible to control those you love.

Blending the familiar with the fantastical, BLOB tells a witty, heartfelt story of what it means to be human.

'An inventive, utterly unique debut'
Kimberly King Parsons, author of Black Light
]]>
256 Maggie Su 0063358646 Renee 0 to-read 3.39 2025 Blob: A Love Story
author: Maggie Su
name: Renee
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Listen to Your Sister 211004179 For fans of Jordan Peele’s films, Stranger Things, and The Other Black Girl, Listen To Your Sister is a laugh-out-loud, deeply terrifying, and big-hearted speculative horror novel from electrifying debut talent Neena Viel.

Twenty-five year old Calla Williams is struggling since becoming guardian to her brother, Jamie. Calla is overwhelmed and tired of being the one who makes sacrifices to keep the family together. Jamie, full of good-natured sixteen-year-old recklessness, is usually off fighting for what matters to him or getting into mischief, often at the same time. Dre, their brother, promised he would help raise Jamie–but now the ink is dry on the paperwork and in classic middle-child fashion, he’s off doing his own thing. And through it all, The Nightmare never stops haunting Calla: recurring images of her brothers dying that she is powerless to stop.

When Jamie’s actions at a protest spiral out of control, the siblings must go on the run. Taking refuge in a remote cabin that looks like it belongs on a slasher movie poster rather than an AirBNB, the siblings now face a new threat where their lives–and reality–hang in the balance. Their sister always warned them about her nightmares. They really should have listened.]]>
352 Neena Viel 1250906326 Renee 0 to-read 3.26 2025 Listen to Your Sister
author: Neena Viel
name: Renee
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
The Bewitching 220458657 Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.

“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches�: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales.

In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch.

Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved.]]>
368 Silvia Moreno-Garcia 0593874323 Renee 0 to-read 4.35 2025 The Bewitching
author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
name: Renee
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Cold Eternity 211003824 Cold Eternity is the newest action-packed space horror from S.A. Barnes perfect for fans of Severance, where desperation for eternal life leads to a fate worse than death...

Halley is on the run from an interplanetary political scandal that has put a huge target on her back. She heads for what seems like the perfect place to lay low: a gigantic space barge storing the cryogenically frozen bodies of Earth’s most fortunate citizens from more than a century ago�

The cryo program, created by trillionaire tech genius Zale Winfeld, is long defunct, and the AI hologram "hosts," ghoulishly created in the likeness of Winfeld’s three adult children, are glitchy. The ship feels like a crypt, and the isolation gets to Halley almost immediately. She starts to see figures crawling in the hallways, and there’s a constant scraping, slithering, and rattling echoing in the vents.

It’s not long before Halley realizes she may have gotten herself trapped in an even more dangerous situation than the one she was running from�.]]>
293 S.A. Barnes 1250884950 Renee 0 to-read 3.82 2025 Cold Eternity
author: S.A. Barnes
name: Renee
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
The Starlight Heir 212364043
“Be ready for a deadly contest for a bride, mistaken identities, hidden magic, and secrets that will keep you guessing until the end.� –NISHA J. TULI, internationally bestselling author of Trial of the Sun Queen

A bladesmith blessed by the stars. A prince with a dangerous secret. A god bound in shadows. From USA Today bestselling author Amalie Howard comes a scorching new romantasy that will leave you spellbound.

“His Imperial Majesty King Zarek requests your presence as his esteemed guest.�

When the gold-dusted court invitation arrives at Suraya Saab’s forge, she believes it’s a joke. Nobles might seek her skills as a bladesmith—one of few who can imbue her work with precious jadu, the last source of magic in the realm—but she has no qualifications as a potential bride for the crown prince. Still, the invitation is the chance at adventure, and the means to finally visit the capital city her late mother loved.

But what awaits her in Kaldari is nothing she could have imagined—and fraught with danger. It’s not the crown prince, but his impossibly handsome, illegitimate half-brother, Roshan, who captures her interest…and her ire. The invitation isn’t a quest to find a suitable bride, but a veiled hunt for the Starkeeper—a girl rumored to hold the magic of the stars in her blood. And across the city, unrest is brewing between the noble houses and the rebel militia.

When the rebels attack, Suraya and Roshan find themselves on the run, trying to deny their simmering attraction and the knowledge that Suraya herself might be the Starkeeper. But Roshan is guarding secrets of his own. And with no control over the power stirring within her, Suraya has drawn the attention of a dark god, an immortal whose interest might be the biggest threat of all.

“Consumes all your attention and leaves you longing for more!� —Jennifer L. Armentrout, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Stunning .� —Brigid Kemmerer, New York Times bestselling author

“Pure addictive delight." —Thea Guanzon, New York Times bestselling author

“Amalie Howard at her finest!� —Danielle L. Jensen, New York Times bestselling author]]>
368 Amalie Howard 0063355841 Renee 0 to-read 3.31 2025 The Starlight Heir
author: Amalie Howard
name: Renee
average rating: 3.31
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
Enchantra (Wicked Games, #2) 217182344 Ready or Not meets Throne of the Fallen in a spicy, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance, where an Italian getaway turns deadly after a young woman is trapped in her host family's cursed game.

Ready or not, the game has begun.

Genevieve Grimm has felt adrift ever since her sister became the head of the family. So when a mysterious friend of their mother's invites her to Italy, she accepts. She arrives at his grand palace, expecting passion and magic, decadence and luxury... perhaps even a midnight ball.

She doesn't expect the owner's ruthlessly handsome son to slam the door in her face. Rowin Silver is tall, dark, and exceptionally rude, and invitation or not, he demands Genevieve leave and never come back. But Genevieve follows nobody's orders, especially those of arrogant rich boys. She slips inside—and immediately discovers her mistake.

Rowin and his family are caught in an insidious game of hide and seek, where only one can win. The rest will be trapped in Hell... until the competition begins again.

Genevieve must either join the hunt or forfeit any hope of escaping. But to her dismay, her best chance of survival lies with Rowin. Since lovers may play as a pair, Rowin and Genevieve agree to form an alliance under the guise of a fake courtship. However, as they race through the game's elaborate labyrinth, trapped among gleaming gold and shining marble, their loathing gives way to irresistible attraction. Only Rowin is keeping secrets, especially when it comes to his ruthless family, and Genevieve can't help but wonder if she's trapped in two treacherous games: Enchantra and the one Rowin is playing with her heart.]]>
448 Kaylie Smith 1538770806 Renee 0 to-read, physical-tbr 4.37 2025 Enchantra (Wicked Games, #2)
author: Kaylie Smith
name: Renee
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read, physical-tbr
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You]]> 60165381 This Is What It Sounds Like is a journey into the science and soul of music that reveals the secrets of why your favorite songs move you. But it’s also a story of a musical trailblazer who began as a humble audio tech in Los Angeles to became Prince’s chief engineer for Purple Rain, and then create other No. 1 hits (including Barenaked Ladies' "One Week") as one of the most successful female record producers of all time.


Now an award-winning professor of cognitive neuroscience, Susan Rogers leads readers to musical self-awareness. She explains that we each possess a unique “listener profile� based on our brain’s natural response to seven key dimensions of any song. Are you someone who prefers lyrics or melody? Do you like music “above the neck� (intellectually stimulating), or “below the neck� (instinctual and rhythmic)? Whether your taste is esoteric or mainstream, Rogers guides readers to recognize their musical personality, and offers language to describe one's own unique taste. Like most of us, Rogers is not a musician, but she shows that all of us can be musical—simply by being an active, passionate listener.


While exploring the science of music and the brain, Rogers also takes us behind the scenes of record-making, using her insider’s ear to illuminate the music of Prince, Frank Sinatra, Kanye West, Lana Del Rey, and many others. She shares records that changed her life, contrasts them with those that appeal to her coauthor and students, and encourages you to think about the records that define your own identity.


Told in a lively and inclusive style, This Is What It Sounds Like will refresh your playlists, deepen your connection to your favorite artists, and change the way you listen to music.]]>
288 Susan Rogers 0393541258 Renee 0 audiobook-reads, non-fiction 3.81 2022 This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You
author: Susan Rogers
name: Renee
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/31
date added: 2024/12/31
shelves: audiobook-reads, non-fiction
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)]]> 55711529 From one of the most dynamic rising stars in astrophysics, an “engrossing, elegant� (The New York Times) look at five ways the universe could end, and the mind-blowing lessons each scenario reveals about the most important concepts in cosmology.

We know the universe had a beginning. With the Big Bang, it expanded from a state of unimaginable density to an all-encompassing cosmic fireball to a simmering fluid of matter and energy, laying down the seeds for everything from black holes to one rocky planet orbiting a star near the edge of a spiral galaxy that happened to develop life as we know it. But what happens to the universe at the end of the story? And what does it mean for us now?

Dr. Katie Mack has been contemplating these questions since she was a young student, when her astronomy professor informed her the universe could end at any moment, in an instant. This revelation set her on the path toward theoretical astrophysics. Now, with lively wit and humor, she takes us on a mind-bending tour through five of the cosmos’s possible finales: the Big Crunch, Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (the one that could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Guiding us through cutting-edge science and major concepts in quantum mechanics, cosmology, string theory, and much more, The End of Everything is a wildly fun, surprisingly upbeat ride to the farthest reaches of all that we know.]]>
256 Katie Mack 1982103558 Renee 0 4.29 2020 The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)
author: Katie Mack
name: Renee
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2024/12/25
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves: non-fiction, audiobook-reads, spaaaaace
review:

]]>
Cold Snap 205438896 A grieving mother and son hope to survive Christmas in a remote mountain cabin, in this chilling novella of dread, isolation and demons lurking in the frozen woods. Perfect for fans of The Only Good Indians, The Shining and The Babadook.

Two weeks ago, Christine Sinclaire's husband slipped off the roof while hanging Christmas lights and fell to his death on the front lawn. Desperate to escape her guilt and her grief, Christine packs up her fifteen-year-old son and the family cat and flees to the cabin they'd reserved deep in the remote Pennsylvania Wilds to wait out the holidays.

It isn't long before Christine begins to hear strange noises coming from the forest. When she spots a horned figure watching from between frozen branches, Christine assumes it's just a forest animal—a moose, maybe, since the property manager warned her about them, said they'd stomp a body so deep into the snow nobody'd find it 'til spring. But moose don't walk upright like the shadowy figure does. They don't call Christine's name with her dead husband's voice.

A haunting examination of the horrors of grief and the hunger of guilt, perfect for readers of Stephen King, Christina Henry, and Chuck Wendig.]]>
128 Lindy Ryan 1835410081 Renee 0 do-not-read 2.55 2024 Cold Snap
author: Lindy Ryan
name: Renee
average rating: 2.55
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/25
shelves: do-not-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell, #2)]]> 35457304 London, 1887. At the Curiosity Club, a ladies-only establishment for daring and intrepid women, Victorian adventuress Veronica Speedwell meets the mysterious Lady Sundridge, who begs her to take on an impossible task--saving society art patron Miles Ramsforth from execution. Ramsforth, accused of the brutal murder of his mistress, Artemisia, will face the hangman's noose in a week's time if the real killer is not found.

But Lady Sundridge is not all that she seems, and unmasking her true identity is only the first of many secrets Veronica must uncover. Together with her natural-historian colleague, Stoker, Veronica races against time to find the true murderer. From a Bohemian artists' colony to a royal palace to a subterranean grotto with a decadent history, the investigation proves to be a very perilous undertaking indeed....]]>
342 Deanna Raybourn 0451476166 Renee 0 to-read 4.11 2017 A Perilous Undertaking (Veronica Speedwell, #2)
author: Deanna Raybourn
name: Renee
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell, #1)]]> 28186322
But fate has other plans, as Veronica discovers when she thwarts her own abduction with the help of an enigmatic German baron who has ties to her mysterious past. Promising to reveal in time what he knows of the plot against her, the baron offers her temporary sanctuary in the care of his friend Stoker, a reclusive natural historian as intriguing as he is bad-tempered. But before the baron can deliver on his tantalizing vow to reveal the secrets he has concealed for decades, he is found murdered. Suddenly Veronica and Stoker are forced to go on the run from an elusive assailant as wary partners in search of the villainous truth.]]>
357 Deanna Raybourn 0451476026 Renee 5 yes it was a very slow burn kind of book specially given that it is in essence a mystery but oh my goodness I need them to kiss so bad! haha]]> 3.94 2015 A Curious Beginning (Veronica Speedwell, #1)
author: Deanna Raybourn
name: Renee
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/21
shelves: audiobook-reads, historical, mystery, favorites
review:
I love these two so much! I swear!
yes it was a very slow burn kind of book specially given that it is in essence a mystery but oh my goodness I need them to kiss so bad! haha
]]>
The Devils (The Devils #1) 212276037 A brand-new epic fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie, featuring a notorious band of anti-heroes on a delightfully bloody and raucous journey

Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.

Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.

Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it's a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side]]>
560 Joe Abercrombie 125088005X Renee 0 to-read 4.43 2025 The Devils (The Devils #1)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Renee
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Kiss of the Rose Princess, Vol. 1 (1)]]> 21412051 183 Aya Shouoto 1421573660 Renee 0 3.79 2009 Kiss of the Rose Princess, Vol. 1 (1)
author: Aya Shouoto
name: Renee
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at: 2016/01/11
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: graphic-novels-manga, library-reads, to-buy
review:

]]>
<![CDATA[Kiss of the Rose Princess, Vol. 4 (4)]]> 22609615 186 Aya Shouoto 1421573695 Renee 5 3.81 2010 Kiss of the Rose Princess, Vol. 4 (4)
author: Aya Shouoto
name: Renee
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2016/02/11
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: graphic-novels-manga, library-reads
review:

]]>