en-US Fri, 11 Sep 2026 07:50:04 -0700 60 144 41 https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 255437050 The mining ship Red Dwarf is in orbit around Saturnian moon Titan, and the bulk of the crew is heading down for their shore leave A strangely reluctant hen party; a relaxing cheaty golfing break; a terminally-boring cultural Odessey; a marathon drinking and fighting binge; a stomach-challenging culinary beanfeast and an invigoratingly violent tour of Shore Patrol...
Menial chicken soup machine repairmen Dave Lister and Arnold Rimmer have slightly less noble ambitions.
Rimmer is in search of some illicit exam-cheating tech, to land a much-lusted-for promotion, and Lister plans to acquire a cat to smuggle back on board as part of a nefarious scheme to return to Earth. Mainly they just want to get as far away from each other as possible. However, their objectives are scuppered when they receive a cryptic message... from the future.
The two feuding crewmen are catapulted into a breakneck race to save not only this, but every other Reality.
Along the way, they'll find themselves united again, for the first time, with some new, but somehow old friends, as they embark on a labyrinthian quest through the seediest, most dangerous underbelly of humankind's furthest outpost, where lurk bizarre off-worldly dangers and one mysterious hidden nemesis with an obscure, yet clearly lethal agenda.
So strap yourself into your Holly Hop Drive, and set your bazookoids to "thrill" - the Dwarfers are taking on TITAN.
'Don't tell my mother I died with my arm up a gorilla's bottom.'
'But sir - it will be on the death certificate.']]> 406 Rob Grant 139963609X Nicola 0 currently-reading 3.90
author: Rob Grant
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.90
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/09/11
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 249066135 How can you survive when you can't remember who wants you dead?

Dr. Charly McKenna had the perfect life: a thriving dermatology practice, a luxury apartment overlooking Central Park, and a handsome husband who adored her.

Until the night a bullet tore through her skull… and stole everything.

Now Charly wakes in a rehabilitation hospital unable to walk, speak, or remember her own name. All she knows is that someone tried to kill her―and they may still be out there. As fragments of memory surface, so do unsettling questions about the people around her, including the attentive man who keeps appearing at her bedside.

The truth of what happened that night lives somewhere inside her brain. And as Charly pieces together the jagged edges of her past, she begins to realize the most terrifying possibility: the person who wants her dead might be the one she once trusted most.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden comes a scalpel-sharp psychological thriller about fractured memory, buried secrets, and how far the mind will go to protect you from the truth.]]> 384 Freida McFadden 146424961X Nicola 5 3.69 2016
author: Freida McFadden
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2026/09/08
date added: 2026/09/11
shelves: crime-and-mystery, freida-mcfadden, read-in-2026, thriller, trashy-fun
review:

]]> 230824619
Talia Kemper is on death row for murdering her husband. She had an alibi and no known motive, yet Talia’s unwavering protestations of innocence have always been ignored. Then one day in the visiting area, she sees a recognizable stranger she’s certain is her husband. It turns out the man she’s been convicted of killing may not be dead after all. But as the days tick away toward Talia’s execution, what will it take for her to be believed?

Freida McFadden’s Death Row is part of Alibis, a collection of stories about lies, truth, and deception. It’s just a matter of what you can get away with. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.]]> 74 Freida McFadden 1662532261 Nicola 5 3.52 2025
author: Freida McFadden
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2026/08/29
date added: 2026/08/29
shelves: crime-and-mystery, freida-mcfadden, i-m-going-slightly-mad, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 235648605
1903. Sir John Seward, survivor of Count Dracula’s murderous campaign ten years before, takes up a post as a psychiatric doctor at an Oxford public asylum. There, a new patient arrives whose traumatic experiences resurrect horrors John has spent a decade trying to forget.

1884. Mafalda Lowell journeys from London to Budapest to care for her recently widowed aunt Reka. She uncovers the chilling truth about her uncle’s death, and writes to her secret love Lucy North for comfort. Chaperoned by former schoolfriend Eliza and lady’s maid Alice, Lucy travels across the continent to be with her beloved.

Only Alice, beset by nightmares and terrifying visions, notices the strange black-clad man who seems to follow them wherever they go. When Eliza is struck down with a mysterious wasting illness, her doctor orders her to take the healing waters of Transylvania, a journey with devastating consequences.

There was meant to be four . . .

A dual timeline novel, told through letters, diary entries, psychiatric reports, that places women at the centre of literature's most famous vampire story.]]> 400 Charlotte Cross 1035059266 Nicola 5 3.61 2026
author: Charlotte Cross
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/08/28
date added: 2026/08/29
shelves: favourites-of-2026, horror, i-m-going-slightly-mad, read-in-2026, supernatural-the-genre-not-the-show, vampires
review:

]]> 235993046 Follow the Rites...

Nothing less than the survival of humanity is at stake.

From Marcus Kliewer, a new “titan of the macabre and unsettling” (Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author), comes a supernatural horror about a young woman who accepts a caretaking job from Craigslist, only to discover the position has consequences far greater—and more dangerous—than she ever could have imagined.

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY:
Caretaker urgently needed. Three days of work. Competitive pay. Serious applicants ONLY.

Macy Mullins can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention—it had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all—vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she's not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for.

Besides, it’s only three days’ work…

Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness.

What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property—and Macy Mullins might just be the only thing standing between it, and the rest of humanity.

Follow the Rites...

Follow the Rites...

Follow the Rites...

..--- / ..... / ---..]]> 295 Marcus Kliewer 1982198818 Nicola 5 3.56 2026
author: Marcus Kliewer
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/08/16
date added: 2026/08/17
shelves: apocalypses-and-dystopias, favourites-of-2026, ghosts, horror, i-m-going-slightly-mad, maybe-magic-maybe-mundane, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 199757490
When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the question over and over, Bela understands that unless she says yes, her family will soon pay.

Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe, but other incidents show cracks in her parents’ marriage. The safety Bela relies on is about to unravel.

But Other Mommy needs an answer.

Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror about a family as haunted as their home.]]> 367 Josh Malerman 0593723120 Nicola 5 3.54 2024
author: Josh Malerman
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2026/08/12
date added: 2026/08/12
shelves: also-a-movie, favourites-of-2026, horror, i-m-going-slightly-mad, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 241483196
Find out in the highly anticipated prequel to New York Times bestselling author Caroline Kepnes’s hit You series, which inspired the blockbuster Netflix show.]]> 416 Caroline Kepnes 039959146X Nicola 0 to-read 3.44 2026
author: Caroline Kepnes
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 242978105 “The symmetry should have tipped me off.”

After a violent incident at work, Tamsin goes looking for a fresh start in a remote cottage far away from her old life. Here she could make real friends, find a job she loves, become a whole new person, even.

But the solitary cottage is actually a semi-detached, with only a thin wall separating her from a total stranger. Her neighbour is an enigma. Dowdy one moment, vivacious the next, but always wearing an unnerving smile. Tamsin can’t shake the feeling that there’s something wrong with her, especially when she starts experiencing disturbances in her own home.

As the locals share strange stories about her house, and her barely contained paranoia spirals out of control, Tamsin begins to suspect that the past she was so desperate to escape might never let her go.]]> 288 Rhiannon Grist 1837867631 Nicola 5 Unsettling and relatable 3.76 2026
author: Rhiannon Grist
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/08/10
date added: 2026/08/10
shelves: favourites-of-2026, horror, i-m-going-slightly-mad, maybe-magic-maybe-mundane, read-in-2026
review:
Unsettling and relatable
]]> 220161004
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it” (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).]]> 312 Marcus Kliewer 1982198796 Nicola 5 3.67 2024
author: Marcus Kliewer
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2026/08/02
date added: 2026/08/02
shelves: favourites-of-2026, horror, i-m-going-slightly-mad, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 247449391
Years later, on Ithaca's rocky shores, Melantho is sent to serve Princess Penelope and her new husband, Prince Odysseus. Hardened by slavery, Melantho vows to stay distant from Penelope. Yet, the undeniable pull between them proves stronger than ever.

As war ignites Greece, Odysseus and Ithaca's men are called away and, in their absence, Melantho finds a new world opening up before her – one where women rule, where family can be found, and where love is finally given the space to bloom.

But all wars eventually end and as Troy falls, Penelope and Melantho must face the King’s return and decide how far they will go to protect what matters most to them.]]> 486 Rosie Hewlett 178763731X Nicola 5 4.31 2026
author: Rosie Hewlett
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/30
date added: 2026/08/01
shelves: favourites-of-2026, good-for-her, historical-fiction, myths-retold, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 19420355 Burning Girls, by Veronica Schanoes, is a fascinating dark fantasy novella about a Jewish girl educated by her grandmother as a healer and witch growing up in an increasingly hostile environment in Poland in the late nineteenth century. In addition to the natural danger of destruction by Cossacks, she must deal with a demon plaguing her family.]]> 54 Veronica Schanoes Nicola 0 to-read 3.94 2013
author: Veronica Schanoes
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 243452193
Murder can be a family business …🌷🌷🌷

Even wallflowers have to bloom.

Sixteen-year-old Ivy is your average teenager. She’s annoyed by the scratchy labels on her school uniform, old men who wolf-whistle, and her mother the serial killer.

But is murder in her roots?

Ivy was raised far away from the shadows of Rhiannon Lewis, the Sweetpea killer, but when the local predator – better known as Ivy’s football coach – is found dead, could it be that she has discovered a taste for blood?

As suspicion grows deeper, Ivy’s only way out is to get some motherly advice. But when the internet’s unlikeliest vigilantes determine that Ivy must be punished for her mother’s crimes, she must decide whether to control the rage burning inside her.

Or to unleash her thorns…

READERS LOVE C.J. SKUSE!‘This darkly comic novel… has the potential to become a cult classic’ Daily Mail

‘Dark, depraved and devilishly delicious. A full throttle savage and satirical thriller’ John Marrs

'Hilarious, refreshing, dark and memorable. It doesn’t disappoint, I loved it’ Phoebe Morgan

‘Visceral, chilling and absolutely downright I wish I had read it sooner!’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Wickedly funny’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Brilliantly dark and twisted’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Think Bridget Jones but really really angry, readable and deeply dark and funny’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A deliciously dark and twisted read that had me well and truly gripped’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Bridget Jones meets Dexter! Brilliant, original and unputdownable!’ Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]]> 349 C.J. Skuse 0008819491 Nicola 5 4.19
author: C.J. Skuse
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/22
date added: 2026/07/22
shelves: crime-and-mystery, enfant-terrible, favourites-of-2026, good-for-her, read-in-2026, sci-fi, thriller
review:

]]> 58959523 An impossible mission.
An ally he never imagined.

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

Except that right now, he doesn't know that. All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time, and he's just woken to find himself hurtling through space, millions of miles from home..

It's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery, and he's got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]> 476 Andy Weir 1529157463 Nicola 5 4.45 2021
author: Andy Weir
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/19
date added: 2026/07/19
shelves: also-a-movie, favourites-of-2026, plagues-and-pandemics, read-in-2026, sci-fi
review:

]]> 19403945
John Polidori's classic tale of the vampyre was a product of the same ghost-story competition that produced Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Set in Italy, Greece, and London, Polidori's tales is a reaction to the dominating presence of his employer Lord Byron, and transformed the figure of the vampire from the bestial ghoul of earlier mythologies into the glamorous aristocrat whose violence and sexual allure make him literally a 'lady-killer'. Polidori's tale introduced the vampire into English fiction, and launched a vampire craze that has never subsided.

The Vampyre was first published in 1819 in the London New Monthly Magazine. The present volume selects thirteen other tales of the macabre first published in the leading London and Dublin magazines between 1819 and 1838, including Edward Bulwer's chilling account of the doppelganger, Letitia Landon's elegant reworking of the Gothic romance, William Carleton's terrifying description of an actual lynching, and James Hogg's ghoulish exploitation of the cholera epidemic of 1831-2.

ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.]]> 385 Robert Morrison 0191504416 Nicola 0 to-read 3.58 1997
author: Robert Morrison
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 202468451 From a #1 internationally bestselling author comes an atmospheric, chilling novel about a family who thinks there's someone hiding in their attic.

“Andrea Mara is a star.” —Lee Child

You thought you were home alone.

Anya is enjoying a relaxing bath when she hears a noise coming from the ceiling. Through the open bathroom door, she sees the attic hatch swing down, and a masked figure drops to the floor. Thirty seconds later, Anya is dead.

You're not afraid of being alone in the dark. You're afraid you're not alone.

Across town, Anya's old school friend, Julia, sees an online video of a masked figure climbing out of an attic. She suddenly realizes why the footage is eerily familiar: it was filmed inside her house in a luxury gated community, designed to keep intruders out.

And now your worst fears are coming true.

Why would a stranger target Julia? Unless of course, it's not a stranger at all.]]> 368 Andrea Mara Nicola 5 3.63 2024
author: Andrea Mara
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/10
date added: 2026/07/10
shelves: crime-and-mystery, i-m-going-slightly-mad, read-in-2026, thriller
review:

]]> 59355120 CLOSE YOUR EYES

The game of hide and seek is over, everyone has gone home, but little Lily Murphy hasn't been found. Her parents search the woods and tell themselves that the worst hasn't happened - but deep down they know this peaceful Dublin suburb will never be the same again.

COUNT TO TEN

Years later, Joanna moves into a new house. It seems perfect in every way, until she learns that this was once Lily Murphy's home. From that moment onwards, a sense of dread seems to follow her from room to room.

AND WHEN YOU OPEN THEM, YOUR CHILD IS GONE

As Joanna unravels the secrets at the heart of this close-knit community, her own dark past begins to resurface. Because she thinks she knows what really happened to Lily - and if the truth gets out, it might be her undoing...]]> 337 Andrea Mara 1787634523 Nicola 5 3.98 2022
author: Andrea Mara
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/08
date added: 2026/07/08
shelves: crime-and-mystery, read-in-2026, thriller
review:

]]> 18875291 206 Paul Dini 1401243495 Nicola 0 to-read 4.35 1993
author: Paul Dini
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 152034931 A rollicking history of England's earliest kings and queens, a story of narcissists, excessive beheadings, middle-management insurrection, uncivil wars, and more, from award-winning British actor and comedian David Mitchell

Think you know the kings and queens of England? Think again.

In Unruly , David Mitchell explores how early England’s monarchs, while acting as feared rulers firmly guiding their subjects’ destinies, were in reality a bunch of lucky bastards who were mostly as silly and weird in real life as they appear to us today in their portraits.

Taking us right back to King Arthur ( he didn’t exist), Mitchell tells the founding story of post-Roman England right up to the reign of Elizabeth I ( she dies), as the monarchy began to lose its power. It’s a tale of bizarre and curious ascensions, inadequate self-control, and at least one total Cnut, as the English evolved from having their crops stolen by the thug with the largest armed gang to bowing and paying taxes to a divinely anointed King.

How this happened, who it happened to, and why the hell it matters are all questions Mitchell answers with brilliance, wit, and the full erudition of a man who once studied history—and is damned if he’ll let it off the hook for the mess it’s made of everything. 

A funny book that takes history seriously, Unruly is for anyone who has ever wondered how the monarchy came to be—and who is to blame.]]> 433 David Mitchell 0593728491 Nicola 0 to-read 4.10 2023
author: David Mitchell
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 40595446 The never-before-told story of one woman's heroism that changed the course of the Second World War

In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her."

This spy was Virginia Hall, a young American woman--rejected from the foreign service because of her gender and her prosthetic leg--who talked her way into the spy organization deemed Churchill's "ministry of ungentlemanly warfare," and, before the United States had even entered the war, became the first woman to deploy to occupied France.

Virginia Hall was one of the greatest spies in American history, yet her story remains untold. Just as she did in Clementine, Sonia Purnell uncovers the captivating story of a powerful, influential, yet shockingly overlooked heroine of the Second World War. At a time when sending female secret agents into enemy territory was still strictly forbidden, Virginia Hall came to be known as the "Madonna of the Resistance," coordinating a network of spies to blow up bridges, report on German troop movements, arrange equipment drops for Resistance agents, and recruit and train guerilla fighters. Even as her face covered WANTED posters throughout Europe, Virginia refused order after order to evacuate. She finally escaped with her life in a grueling hike over the Pyrenees into Spain, her cover blown, and her associates all imprisoned or executed. But, adamant that she had "more lives to save," she dove back in as soon as she could, organizing forces to sabotage enemy lines and back up Allied forces landing on Normandy beaches. Told with Purnell's signature insight and novelistic flare, A Woman of No Importance is the breathtaking story of how one woman's fierce persistence helped win the war.]]> 352 Sonia Purnell 073522529X Nicola 0 to-read 4.08 2019
author: Sonia Purnell
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222376494
Glamorous Angelica, who sought fulfillment through attachments to powerful men, eloped at twenty with a war profiteer and led a luxurious life, first in Paris, then in London, charming Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and the Prince of Wales. Eliza, one year her junior, too candid for flirtation and uninterested in influence or intrigue, married a penniless illegitimate outsider, Alexander Hamilton, and devoted herself to his career. But after his appointment as America's first treasury secretary, she was challenged by the controversies in which he became involved, not the least of which was the attraction that grew between him and her adored sister.

When tragedy followed, everything changed for both women: one deprived of her animating spirit, the other improbably gaining a new, self-determined life. "You would not have suffered if you had married into a family less near the sun," wrote Angelica to Eliza, "but then [you would have missed] the pride, the pleasure, the nameless satisfactions."

Drawing on deep archival research, including never-published records and letters, Amanda Vaill dismantles the false binary of private experience and public events to create a history of the founding era that is also a narrative with the sweep and intimacy of a nineteenth-century novel. Full of battles and dinner parties, murky politics and transparent frocks, fierce loyalty and betrayals both public and personal, PRIDE AND PLEASURE brings to two extraordinary American heroines to life.]]> 720 Amanda Vaill 0374254370 Nicola 0 to-read 4.11 2025
author: Amanda Vaill
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54304031 In the tradition of Wench and Twelve Years a Slave, this harrowing story follows an enslaved woman forced to barter love and freedom while living in the most infamous slave jail in Virginia.

Born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia, Pheby Brown was promised her freedom on her eighteenth birthday. But when her birthday finally comes around, instead of the idyllic life she was hoping for with her true love, she finds herself thrust into the bowels of slavery at the infamous Devil’s Half-Acre, a jail where slaves are broken, tortured, and sold every day. Forced to become the mistress of the brutal man who owns the jail, Pheby faces the ultimate sacrifice to protect her heart in this powerful, thrilling story of one slave’s fight for freedom.]]> 278 Sadeqa Johnson 1982149108 Nicola 0 to-read 4.41 2021
author: Sadeqa Johnson
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62919732
According to Confucius, “an educated woman is a worthless woman,” but Tan Yunxian—born into an elite family, yet haunted by death, separations, and loneliness—is being raised by her grandparents to be of use. Her grandmother is one of only a handful of female doctors in China, and she teaches Yunxian the pillars of Chinese medicine, the Four Examinations—looking, listening, touching, and asking—something a man can never do with a female patient.

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus , they tell from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her from seeing Meiling and from helping the women and girls in the household. Yunxian is to act like a proper wife—embroider bound-foot slippers, recite poetry, give birth to sons, and stay forever within the walls of the family compound, the Garden of Fragrant Delights.

How might a woman like Yunxian break free of these traditions and lead a life of such importance that many of her remedies are still used five centuries later? How might the power of friendship support or complicate these efforts? A captivating story of women helping each other, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is a triumphant reimagining of the life of one person who was remarkable in the Ming dynasty and would be considered remarkable today.]]> 352 Lisa See 1982117087 Nicola 0 to-read 4.30 2023
author: Lisa See
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 202204721
A disgraced daughter. A fearsome witch.

A woman more myth than mortal.

Medea, princess of Colchis, longs for a different life. Since childhood, she has been shunned from her family, tormented by her people, and treated with shame. All because of a unique and dangerous talent: witchcraft.

But when a dashing young hero, Jason, arrives to claim the famed Golden Fleece, Medea sees her opportunity for escape. Her offer to help Jason sets in motion a journey that will test every ounce of strength, magic, and loyalty she has. A journey that will see her battle monsters, dethrone kings, and confront a love more brutal than any before.

A journey that will ultimately end in betrayal, bloodshed, and a dark power impossible to forget.]]> 464 Rosie Hewlett 1728299012 Nicola 0 to-read 4.02 2024
author: Rosie Hewlett
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 33375622 Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.

A wife refuses her husband's entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store's prom dresses. One woman's surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella Especially Heinous, Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naively assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgangers, ghosts, and girls with bells for eyes.

Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.

The husband stitch --
Inventory --
Mothers --
Especially heinous --
Real women have bodies --
Eight bites --
The resident --
Difficult at parties]]> 248 Carmen Maria Machado 155597788X Nicola 0 to-read 3.82 2017
author: Carmen Maria Machado
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 239433278 molka (n): the Korean term for spy cameras secretly and illegally installed, often to capture voyeuristic images and videos

Dahye can't believe her luck when she finds herself in a whirlwind romance with handsome, charismatic Hyukjoon, the heir to a multi-million dollar fortune.

But then a shocking revelation threatens: the couple has been caught on a spycam amid Korea's growing molka epidemic, and the video is all over the internet. When Hyukjoon flees the country to avoid the intense public scrutiny, Dahye is left to grapple with the ramifications on her own; and the demons from her childhood, long dormant, begin to surface.

Amid the chaos, she catches the attention of Junyoung, a nerdy, introverted IT tech at work. Junyoung harbours a dark secret: he has been spying on the women at work with his own hidden cameras. As Dahye's life begins to unravel, she unknowingly becomes the sole target of Junyoung's perverse obsession.

When the facts surrounding the invasion of her privacy come to light, Dahye is faced with the humiliating truth. Her pain and hurt turn to rage as she faces her past. Her desire for vengeance is insatiable, and she will not rest until the men who have wronged her have paid in blood...]]> 304 Monika Kim 1645661261 Nicola 0 to-read 3.77 2026
author: Monika Kim
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 231126846 A relentless, horror-inducing psychological suspense for fans of The Push and Baby Teeth by New York Times bestselling author CG Drews.

Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale. She’s met Bren, equal parts golden-retriever devoted and sinfully handsome. He’s whisked her and her autistic son, Jude, to the crumbling family house he’s renovating. She has a new husband, a new house, and a new baby on the way. Everything is perfect.

Then Jude claims he can hear voices in the walls. He says their renovations are “hurting” the house. Even Elodie can’t ignore it–something strange is going on. The question is, is it with the house, or with her son?

Then the one secret Elodie has been hiding is revealed, and no one is safe anymore.

A pulse-pounding, clever take on the haunted house novel, You Did Nothing Wrong examines the complexities of motherhood and the twisted bonds of family as it races to its shocking ending.]]> 294 C.G. Drews 1250369991 Nicola 0 to-read 3.60 2026
author: C.G. Drews
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 235991934 In a near future, where even the smallest of appliances are sentient, a young Roomba vacuum sets out to save the humans of her house from a rising technological power in this compelling, original novel.

In a self-running, smart house, a young and sentient Roomba listens as her owner, Harold, reads aloud to his dying wife, Edie. Mesmerized by To Kill a Mockingbird and craving the human connection she witnesses in Harold’s stories, the little vacuum renames herself Scout and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.

But when Edie passes away, Scout and her fellow sentient appliances discover that there are sinister forces in their midst. The omnipresent Grid, which monitors every household in the City, seeks to remove Harold from his home, a place he’s lived in for fifty years.

With the help of Adrian, a neighborhood boy who grows close to Scout and Harold, as well as Kate, Harold and Edie’s formerly estranged daughter, the humans and the appliances must come together to outwit the all-controlling Grid lest they risk losing everything they hold dear.]]> 214 Glenn Dixon 1668097265 Nicola 0 to-read 3.87 2026
author: Glenn Dixon
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 238226952 She can hop into any novel, but she just can’t stay there.

Come along with the Book Witch in this magical and inspiring love letter to reading from the USA Today bestselling author of The Wishing Game.

Rainy March is a proud, third-generation Book Witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps in and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes like a modern-day magical Nancy Drew.

Book Witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real world; fictional characters belong in works of fiction. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don’t even think about it.

Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she’s ever caught with him again, she’ll be expelled from her book coven—and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there’s only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.]]> 301 Meg Shaffer 0593983580 Nicola 0 to-read 4.02 2026
author: Meg Shaffer
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 231127175 Rippling with humor, warmth, and style, Lost Lambs is a new vision of the charms and pitfalls of family dysfunction.

The Flynn family is coming undone. Catherine and Bud's open marriage has reached its breaking point as their daughters spiral in their own chaotic: Abigail, the eldest, is dating a man in his twenties nicknamed War Crime Wes; Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist; the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone—or something—is monitoring the town’s citizens.

Casting a shadow across their lives, and their small coastal town, is Paul Alabaster, a billionaire shipping magnate. Rumors of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except Harper, whose obsession with a mysterious shipping container sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy—one that may just bring them closer together.

Irreverent and addictive, pinging between the voices of the Flynn family and those of the panorama of characters around them, Madeline Cash’s Lost Lambs is a debut novel of quick-witted observation and surprising tenderness. With Lost Lambs, Cash has crafted a family saga for the twenty-first century, all held together with crazy glue.]]> 323 Madeline Cash 0374619239 Nicola 0 to-read 3.80 2026
author: Madeline Cash
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 223436601
Now you can read her award-winning story. Candid and entertaining, Wynn-Williams’ account pulls back the curtain on Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg and the global elite. She exposes the true cost of Silicon Valley’s ambition, from outrageous schemes cooked up on private jets to the alarming consequences of Facebook’s aggressive pursuit of global dominance.

Careless People is an ordinary woman's gripping and darkly funny memoir that will forever change how you view the technology that runs our lives – and the unchecked power of those who control it.]]> 382 Sarah Wynn-Williams 1250391237 Nicola 0 to-read 4.10 2025
author: Sarah Wynn-Williams
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 53285047 We were just these innocent girls in the night trying to make something beautiful. We nearly died. We very nearly did, didn't we?

Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University. A scholarship student who prefers the company of her dark imagination to that of most people, she is utterly repelled by the rest of her fiction writing cohort--a clique of unbearably twee rich girls who call each other Bunny, and seem to move and speak as one.

But everything changes when Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies' fabled Smut Salon, and finds herself inexplicably drawn to their front door--ditching her only friend, Ava, in the process. As Samantha plunges deeper and deeper into the Bunnies' sinister yet saccharine world, beginning to take part in the ritualistic off-campus Workshop where they conjure their monstrous creations, the edges of reality begin to blur. Soon, her friendships with Ava and the Bunnies will be brought into deadly collision.

The spellbinding new novel from one of our most fearless chroniclers of the female experience, Bunny is a down-the-rabbit-hole tale of loneliness and belonging, friendship and desire, and the fantastic and terrible power of the imagination.

Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Vogue, Electric Literature, and The New York Public Library]]> 305 Mona Awad 0525559752 Nicola 0 to-read 3.38 2019
author: Mona Awad
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 216670080 The spine-tingling bestseller that has taken Japan by storm—an eerie fresh take on horror for fans of Hidden Pictures and Junji Ito, in which a series of seemingly innocent pictures draws you into a disturbing web of unsolved mysteries and shattered psyches.

An exploration of the macabre, where the seemingly mundane takes on a terrifying significance. . . .

A pregnant woman's sketches on a seemingly innocuous blog conceal a chilling warning.

A child's picture of his home contains a dark secret message.

A sketch made by a murder victim in his final moments leads an amateur sleuth down a rabbithole that will reveal a horrifying reality.

Structured around these nine childlike drawings, each holding a disturbing clue, Uketsu invites readers to piece together the mystery behind each and the over-arching backstory that connects them all. Strange Pictures is the internationally bestselling debut from mystery horror YouTube sensation Uketsu—an enigmatic masked figure who has become one of Japan's most talked about contemporary authors.]]> 236 Uketsu 0063433087 Nicola 0 to-read 3.91 2022
author: Uketsu
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 52578297
When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change.

The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she had done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren't always what she imagined they'd be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger.

Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live?]]> 288 Matt Haig 0525559477 Nicola 0 to-read 3.95 2020
author: Matt Haig
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 235629746 The gripping story of the Ruby Ridge siege, showing how the historic eleven-day standoff in Idaho between federal agents and a white-separatist family began, devolved, and ultimately ended in tragedy—both for its participants, and for the nation that remains warped by its explosive force. 
 
On August 21, 1992, federal agents surveilled a cabin in Boundary County, Idaho, as part of an operation to arrest white separatist Randy Weaver for failure to appear in court. What followed was a shootout and eleven-day standoff punctuated by shocking bursts of violence. By the time Weaver surrendered to the authorities, his wife, son, and dog lay dead, as did a US Marshal.

In End of Days, Chris Jennings uses the gripping story of Ruby Ridge to examine the long history of apocalyptic faith in America and the way it has changed the nation. The strain of doomsday Christianity that gripped the Weavers, he shows, was grounded in a particular reading of the Book of Revelation that can be traced back to the 1870s and the twentieth century rise of Christian fundamentalism. Today, polling indicates that almost 60 percent of white evangelicals believe the apocalyptic prophecies in the Book of Revelation will soon come to pass. Against that backdrop, the perceived overreaction by federal forces in Idaho galvanized and radicalized many Americans, triggering the birth of the militia movement and propelling the conspiratorial politics that have defined the Trump era. The story of the Weavers holds the key to understanding this downward spiral and, perhaps, to reversing it.]]> 384 Chris Jennings 0316381942 Nicola 0 to-read 4.04 2026
author: Chris Jennings
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 40513854 For fans of vintage YA, a humorous and in-depth history of beloved teen literature from the 1980s and 1990s, full of trivia and pop culture fun.

Those pink covers. That flimsy paper. The nonstop series installments that hooked readers throughout their entire adolescence. These were not the serious-issue novels of the 1970s, nor the blockbuster YA trilogies that arrived in the 2000s. Nestled in between were the girl-centric teen books of the ’80s and ’90s—short, cheap, and utterly adored.

In Paperback Crush, author Gabrielle Moss explores the history of this genre with affection and humor, highlighting the best-known series along with their many diverse knockoffs. From friendship clubs and school newspapers to pesky siblings and glamorous beauty queens, these stories feature girl protagonists in all their glory. Journey back to your younger days, a time of girl power nourished by sustained silent reading. Let Paperback Crush lead you on a visual tour of nostalgia-inducing book covers from the library stacks of the past.]]> 256 Gabrielle Moss 1683690796 Nicola 0 to-read 3.56 2018
author: Gabrielle Moss
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2018
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211004154 A memoir reflecting on heartbreak, perseverance, and life lessons learned from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, from the hosts of the hit podcast Buffering the Vampire Slayer.

Kristin and Jenny’s marriage started with an ultimatum: to further their relationship, Kristin must watch Jenny's favorite show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. With the terms set, they began a journey that has led them through seven seasons of the beloved genre show, a podcast rewatching the series with their newly minted listenership of “Scoobies,” unexpected success, and a divorce. Through it all, their love for Buffy and their commitment to their community held them together against the odds.

Slayers, Every One of Us is the story of how two queer women navigated divorce on a very public level and managed to stay in each other’s lives through it all. While chock full of Buffy (and Buffering!) content for true fans, this is ultimately a memoir of queer love and chosen family. It's a heartwarming story for anyone who's experienced lost love, and a roadmap for staying close with your ex.]]> 256 Kristin Russo 1250286247 Nicola 0 to-read 3.93 2025
author: Kristin Russo
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
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]]> 235992262 One of The Observer (London)'s Best Debut Novels of 2026

A story of class and coming-of-age as a group of best friends investigates the allegations against their teacher.

It’s the mid-nineties, and in the small, shitty coastal town of Vincent, Australia, four Nirvana-obsessed fourteen-year-old girls form a grunge band. The Bastards are “forgettable girls”—poor, not particularly clever, ridiculed by their better-off classmates, and desperate to escape the fates of their mothers, who seem locked into a life of minimum-wage jobs, surprise pregnancies, and drunk boyfriends. The Battle of the Bands is the girls’ one ticket out.

As small-town rumors swirl, however, The Bastards are abandoned by their lead singer Lily Lucid, who accuses their beloved music teacher of assault. The three remaining girls are left with nothing. Nothing, that is, except their amateur detective skills, a conviction that Mr. P is innocent, and a readiness to sacrifice everything to keep their dream alive. Spinning with rage at the confines of their lives, they reach a precipice where there’s no turning back.

Brash and bold, grungy and propulsive, In Bloom is a coming-of-age novel about class, girlhood in precarious circumstances, and how to build a sense of self when the foundations of friendship fail.]]> 256 Liz Allan 1668205939 Nicola 0 to-read 3.61 2026
author: Liz Allan
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59089704 What if you could take a vacation to your past?

With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, beloved New York Times bestseller Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes, and a different kind of love story.

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice's life isn't terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn't exactly the one she expected. She's happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn't just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it's her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?]]> 310 Emma Straub 052553900X Nicola 0 to-read 3.78 2022
author: Emma Straub
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60435878 Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.

By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.

But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.

At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. Even if the sports media says that they never liked the 'Battle-Axe' anyway. Even if her body doesn't move as fast as it did. And even if it means swallowing her pride to train with a man she once almost opened her heart to: Bowe Huntley. Like her, he has something to prove before he gives up the game forever.

In spite of it all: Carrie Soto is back, for one epic final season. In this riveting and unforgettable novel, Taylor Jenkins Reid tells a story about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete attempting a comeback.]]> 384 Taylor Jenkins Reid 0593158687 Nicola 0 to-read 4.18 2022
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 78411
I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.

In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.

It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket]]> 162 Lemony Snicket 0439206472 Nicola 5 4.03 1999
author: Lemony Snicket
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 25104465 472 Sarah Waters Nicola 0 to-read 4.12 1998
author: Sarah Waters
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 11650 Pulitzer Prize Winner (1998)

In American Pastoral, Philip Roth gives us a novel of unqualified greatness that is an elegy for all the twentieth century's promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss. Roth's protagonist is Seymour 'Swede' Levov—a legendary high school athlete, a devoted family man, a hard worker, the prosperous inheritor of his father's Newark glove factory—comes of age in thriving, triumphant post-war America. And then one day in 1968, Swede's beautiful American luck deserts him.

For Swede's adored daughter, Merry, has grown from a loving, quick-witted girl into a sullen, fanatical teenager—a teenager capable of an outlandishly savage act of political terrorism. And overnight Swede is wrenched out of the longed-for American pastoral and into the indigenous American berserk. Compulsively readable, propelled by sorrow, rage, and a deep compassion for its characters, this is Roth's masterpiece.]]> 432 Philip Roth Nicola 5 3.93 1997
author: Philip Roth
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1997
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: alternate-universe-history, adapted-for-tv, favorites
review:

]]> 40024
The newly appointed police commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt, in a highly unorthodox move, enlists the two men in the murder investigation, counting on the reserved Kreizler's intellect and Moore's knowledge of New York's vast criminal underworld. They are joined by Sara Howard, a brave and determined woman who works as a secretary in the police department. Laboring in secret (for alienists, and the emerging discipline of psychology, are viewed by the public with skepticism at best), the unlikely team embarks on what is a revolutionary effort in criminology-- amassing a psychological profile of the man they're looking for based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who has killed before--and will kill again before the hunt is over.

Fast-paced and gripping, infused with a historian's exactitude, The Alienist conjures up the Gilded Age and its untarnished underside: verminous tenements and opulent mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. Here is a New York during an age when questioning society's belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and mortal consequences.]]> 498 Caleb Carr 0812976142 Nicola 0 to-read 4.06 1994
author: Caleb Carr
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 386187
The story is peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproarious black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.]]> 386 John Berendt 0679751521 Nicola 0 to-read 3.91 1994
author: John Berendt
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.91
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 9828349 Angels in America is a play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. The play is a complex, often metaphorical, and at times symbolic examination of AIDS and homosexuality in America in the 1980s. Certain major and minor characters are supernatural beings (angels) or deceased persons (ghosts). The play contains multiple roles for several of the actors. In the first half, Millennium Approaches, initially and primarily focusing on a gay couple in Manhattan, the play also has several other storylines, some of which occasionally intersect. The second half of Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning epic Angels in America, Perestroika steers the characters introduced in Millennium Approaches from the opportunistic eighties to a new sense of community in the nineties]]> 344 Tony Kushner 1559363843 Nicola 0 to-read 4.40 1991
author: Tony Kushner
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.40
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 232209360 Inspired by true, long-buried stories of enslaved people who dared to fight back, a searing portrayal of resistance for readers of Colson Whitehead, Jesmyn Ward, and Percival Everett, from Clay Cane, award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author of The Grift.

In the midst of the Civil War, another war brews among the enslaved who are living and enduring in the shadow of the plantations—imposing monuments to power and tyranny. Their interconnected journeys of rebellion and kinship unite them in a long-seething need for justice. In an ultimate act of revolution, they will get it.

Luke, intelligent and literate, and Henri, a man with a strong and defiant spirit, forge an unbreakable bond at Magnolia Row in Virginia. Both seek escape from unimaginable cruelty. And sure as the fires of hell, Luke and Henri will leave their mark, sparking future uprisings. Like Josephine, a young, sharp, and observant girl who wields silence as her greatest weapon. She listens, watches, waits. Her vow is They gonna remember us. Also, Charity Butler has successfully fought for her freedom, but battles against a deeply unjust system and a future abolitionist. Then there is Nathaniel, a Black enslaver whose existence disturbs the very nature of bondage. His rule is both fragile and contradictory, setting off a collision of resistance that will shape their fates.

When these souls and those of others—oppressed and oppressors alike—collide, a visceral and indelible portrait of love, brutality, betrayal, and identity comes unsparingly to life. Inspired by the true stories of the profoundly courageous men and women who dared to fight back against the barbarism of the era, Burn Down Master’s House is a singular tour de force of a novel—breathtaking in scope, compassion, righteousness, and timely defiance.]]> 288 Clay Cane 1496759141 Nicola 5 4.32 2026
author: Clay Cane
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/30
date added: 2026/06/30
shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 239433082 “Thank you for your interest in our school, but we regret to inform you that…” you’re not special. You’re too average. You’re too boring.

Well, in that case, she’ll have to show them just how interesting she can be.

Elizabeth Zhang is well aware of her place in the world. She’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics. While she’s never been the most beautiful or the most liked, she knows she has the intelligence and ambition to achieve her greatest dream: Harvard Law School. But when Harvard rejects Elizabeth for not standing out enough—which she knows means she's just another boring Asian female—her carefully constructed life falls apart. What shocks her even more is that Laura Kim, a classmate at Columbia, got in. Elizabeth can’t figure out how this could have happened. Why was Laura accepted? What makes her so interesting?

At first, she follows her because she’s just curious. What Laura orders for lunch. Where Laura shops. What Laura’s hobbies are. All of these things must contribute to her overall package, what makes her an acceptable person to Harvard. But still, Elizabeth just can’t see it. The only thing she sees is that Laura has taken her spot.

A spot that she knows she deserves after working so hard. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.

Layered and subversive, this novel brings to light how, in the face of societal expectations and self-inflicted pressures, a person can unlock the darkest parts of themselves and show how far they’re willing to go to achieve their vision of success.]]> 336 Canwen Xu 0593954580 Nicola 0 to-read 3.72 2026
author: Canwen Xu
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 233333688 In this lyrical, wildly inventive horror novel interwoven with Japanese mythology, two people living centuries apart discover a door between their worlds.

October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn't always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls.

October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house behind the sword ferns. A monster came home from war wearing her father’s face, but Sen would do anything to please him, even turn her sword on her own mother. She knows the soldiers will soon slaughter her whole family when she sees a terrible omen: a young foreign man who appears outside her window.

One of these people is a ghost, and one of these stories is a lie.

Something is hiding beneath the house of sword ferns, and Lee and Sen will soon wish they never unburied it.]]> 344 Kylie Lee Baker 1335001557 Nicola 0 to-read 3.88 2026
author: Kylie Lee Baker
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212806663 Books can seduce you. They can, Sarah Chihaya believes, annihilate, reveal, and provoke you. And anyone incurably obsessed with books understands this kind of unsettling literary encounter. Sarah calls books that have this effect “Life Ruiners”.

Her Life Ruiner, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, became a talisman for her in high school when its electrifying treatment of race exposed Sarah’s deepest feelings about being Japanese American in a predominantly white suburb of Cleveland. But Sarah had always lived through her books, seeking escape, self-definition, and rules for living. She built her life around reading, wrote criticism, and taught literature at an Ivy League University. Then she was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, and the world became an unreadable blank page. In the aftermath, she was faced with a question. Could we ever truly rewrite the stories that govern our lives?

Bibliophobia is an alternately searing and darkly humorous story of breakdown and survival told through books. Delving into texts such as Anne of Green Gables, Possession, A Tale for the Time Being, The Last Samurai, Chihaya interrogates her cultural identity, her relationship with depression, and the intoxicating, sometimes painful, ways books push back on those who love them.]]> 240 Sarah Chihaya 059359472X Nicola 0 to-read 3.55 2025
author: Sarah Chihaya
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222292403 This is the astonishing story of the ten million books that US intelligence smuggled across the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.

From copies of Orwell to Agatha Christie, the Western effort was to undermine the censorship of the Soviet bloc, offer different visions of thought and culture to the people, and build relationships with real readers in the East.

Historian Charlie English follows the characters of the era, with Bucharest-born George Minden at the narrative's heart. Tasked with masterminding the effort, Minden understood both sides of the story: he was opposed to the intellectual straightjacket created by the communist system, but he also resented the Americans' patronising tone—the people weren't fooled by what their puppet governments were saying, but they did need culture, diversity of thought, entertainment, art, reassurance and solidarity. This is how the perilous mission to bring books as beacons of hope played out, told in riveting detail.]]> 341 Charlie English 0593447905 Nicola 0 to-read 3.53 2025
author: Charlie English
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61963198
Each recommendation includes a full synopsis as well as a quick overview of the book’s themes, style, and tone so you can narrow down your next read at a glance.

Featuring a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Josh Malerman and five brand-new essays from rising voices in the genre, this illustrated reader’s guide is perfect for anyone who dares to delve into the dark.]]> 168 Sadie Hartmann 164567780X Nicola 0 to-read 4.31 2023
author: Sadie Hartmann
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 239151034 A fascinating, first of its kind exploration of Stephen King and his most iconic early books, based on groundbreaking research and interviews with King—all conducted by the first scholar to be given extended access to his private archives

After Caroline Bicks was named the University of Maine's inaugural Stephen E. King Chair in Literature, she became the first scholar to be granted extended access by King to his private archives, a treasure trove of manuscripts that document the legendary writer's creative process—most of them never before studied or published. The year she spent exploring King’s early drafts and hand-written revisions was guided by one question millions of King's enthralled and terrified readers (including her) have asked What makes Stephen King’s writing stick in our heads and haunt us long after we’ve closed the book?

Bicks focuses on five of his most iconic early works—The Shining, Carrie, Pet Sematary, 'Salem's Lot, and Night Shift—to reveal how he crafted his language, storylines, and characters to cast his enduring literary spells. While tracking King’s margin notes and editorial changes, she discovered scenes and alternative endings that never made it to print, but that King is allowing her to publish now. The book also includes interviews Bicks had with King along the way that reveal new insights into his writing process and personal history.

Part literary master class, part biography, part memoir and investigation into our deepest anxieties, Monsters in the Archives—authorized by Stephen King himself—is unlike anything ever published about the master of horror. It chronicles what Bicks found when she set out to unearth how King crafted some of his scariest, most iconic moments. But it’s also a story about a grown-up English professor facing her childhood fears and getting to know the man whose monsters helped unleash them.]]> 304 Caroline Bicks 0593736729 Nicola 0 to-read 4.01 2026
author: Caroline Bicks
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2026
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55333938 The remarkable, little-known story of Belle da Costa Greene, J. P. Morgan's personal librarian - who became one of the most powerful women in New York despite the dangerous secret she kept in order to make her dreams come true, from New York Times bestselling author Marie Benedict and acclaimed author Victoria Christopher Murray.

In her twenties, Belle da Costa Greene is hired by J. P. Morgan to curate a collection of rare manuscripts, books, and artwork for his newly built Pierpont Morgan Library. Belle becomes a fixture on the New York society scene and one of the most powerful people in the art and book world, known for her impeccable taste and shrewd negotiating for critical works as she helps build a world-class collection.

But Belle has a secret, one she must protect at all costs. She was born not Belle da Costa Greene but Belle Marion Greener. She is the daughter of Richard Greener, the first Black graduate of Harvard and a well-known advocate for equality. Belle's complexion isn't dark because of her alleged Portuguese heritage that lets her pass as white—her complexion is dark because she is African American.

The Personal Librarian tells the story of an extraordinary woman, famous for her intellect, style, and wit, and shares the lengths to which she must go—for the protection of her family and her legacy—to preserve her carefully crafted white identity in the racist world in which she lives.

This is a previously-published edition of ISBN 9780593101537.]]> 341 Marie Benedict Nicola 0 to-read 3.97 2021
author: Marie Benedict
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203337138 From the New York Times bestselling co-author of Mad Honey comes an “inspiring” (Elle) novel about two women, centuries apart—one of whom is the real author of Shakespeare’s plays—who are both forced to hide behind another name.

Young playwright Melina Green has just written a new work inspired by the life of her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano. But seeing it performed is unlikely, in a theater world where the playing field isn’t level for women. As Melina wonders if she dares risk failure again, her best friend takes the decision out of her hands and submits the play to a festival under a male pseudonym.

In 1581, young Emilia Bassano is a ward of English aristocrats. Her lessons on languages, history, and writing have endowed her with a sharp wit and a gift for storytelling, but like most women of her day, she is allowed no voice of her own. Forced to become a mistress to the Lord Chamberlain, who oversees all theatre productions in England, Emilia sees firsthand how the words of playwrights can move an audience. She begins to form a plan to secretly bring a play of her own to the stage—by paying an actor named William Shakespeare to front her work.

Told in intertwining timelines, By Any Other Name, a sweeping tale of ambition, courage, and desire centers two women who are determined to create something beautiful despite the prejudices they face. Should a writer do whatever it takes to see her story live on . . . no matter the cost? This remarkable novel, rooted in primary historical sources, ensures the name Emilia Bassano will no longer be forgotten.]]> 528 Jodi Picoult 0593497228 Nicola 0 to-read 4.10 2024
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 219542927 Seven authors enter the manor

Can they survive the story within?

When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen passes, a group of writers find themselves invited to his last will and testament reading expecting a piece of his massive fortune. Each have their own unique connection to the literary icon, some known, some soon to be discovered, and they've been waiting for their chance to step into the author’s shoes for some time.

Instead, they arrive at his grand manor and are invited to play a game. The rules are simple, solve the riddle and progress to the next room. If they don’t, the manor will take one of them for itself.

You see, the Queen estate was built on the bones of Mortimer’s family, and like any true horror story, the house is still very, very hungry.

With the clever, locked-room thrills of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone with the ghostly horror of The Fall of the House of Usher, How to Survive a Horror Story is a bright, biting, thrill-ride that begs us to contemplate how the best horror stories come to be.]]> 368 Mallory Arnold 1464227403 Nicola 0 to-read 3.62 2025
author: Mallory Arnold
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220921867 The Housemaid’s Wedding is a winter-themed short story meant to fill in the long gap between Book 2 of the Housemaid series (The Housemaid’s Secret) and Book 3 (The Housemaid is Watching). It can be read either between Book 2 and Book 3, or after Book 3.

Today is supposed to be the happiest day of my life.

I'm engaged to the man of my dreams, and in a few short hours, I'm going to stand before a judge, who will declare us husband and wife, till death does us part. Despite some bumps in the road, this day is everything I dreamed it would be.

There's only one problem:

Someone out there doesn't want me to live long enough to say my vows.

And if I'm not careful, they may very well get their wish.]]> 76 Freida McFadden Nicola 5 3.32 2024
author: Freida McFadden
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/25
date added: 2026/06/25
shelves: freida-mcfadden, read-in-2026, thriller, trashy-fun
review:

]]> 55963583 The phenomenal new thriller from the international bestselling author of Sometimes I Lie.

Ten years of marriage.
Ten years of secrets.
An anniversary they’ll never forget.

Adam and Amelia are spending the weekend in the Scottish Highlands. The remote location is perfect for what they have planned.

But when their romantic trip takes a dark turn, they both start to wonder – can they trust the one they’re with?

Because every couple tells little white lies. Only for Adam and Amelia, the truth is far more dangerous.]]> 312 Alice Feeney 0008370982 Nicola 5 3.88 2021
author: Alice Feeney
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/23
date added: 2026/06/24
shelves: general-fiction, good-for-her, people-suck, thriller
review:

]]> 221552530 She won her freedom. Now someone wants her silenced.

After serving nine years of a life sentence for the manslaughter of a former beauty queen, Shona Pickton returns to her home town of Felixstowe, exonerated after an appeal quashed her conviction. She has always protested her innocence – despite being tried and convicted by the media long before her trial.

Determined to clear her name, Shona insists that one man can corroborate her well-known police informer Karl Cuskie, her alibi for the night Cassandra Norton died.

But then Cuskie is found dead, throwing the reopened case wide open.

Terrified for her life, Shona turns to police specialist Dr Cora Lael, whose insight might reveal Norton and Cuskie’s murderer. But Cora is should she help Shona behind the back of DS Rob Minshull and her police colleagues? And when a trail of corruption leads to the heart of South Suffolk CID, can Cora unmask the killer before they come for Shona?

A fast-paced, atmospheric, utterly gripping detective novel that will keep you guessing from the first page to the last. Perfect for fans of Elly Griffiths, LJ Ross and Kate Ellis.

Crime thriller fans and authors love the Cora Lael Mysteries!:

‘A superb crime debut from a massive talent. Cora is a character you won’t forget.’ Steve Cavanagh

‘An unusual premise and an engaging cast of characters. What more could you want from a crime debut? I flew through it.’ Mari Hannah

‘A corker of a debut with a brilliantly drawn main character.’ Simon Toyne

‘The perfect mix of suspense, mystery and interesting plot…Gripping from the first page to the last…This is a brilliant book!!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review

‘A page-turning, twisty crime thriller… one of those weekend binge reads you won’t be able to put down!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Reader Review

‘Dr Cora Lael is such an interesting character…a unique crime thriller which I would definitely recommend!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

‘‘This was excellent… There were many twists and I loved the plot development…I will pick up anything by this author in the future!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

‘Wow! What a fantastic story…I read it in a day, just couldn’t put it down.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review

‘Truly could not put this down… so many twists and turns… Great characters who are also believable’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Reader Review]]> 394 M.J. White 1804367117 Nicola 5 3.65
author: M.J. White
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.65
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/19
date added: 2026/06/19
shelves: crime-and-mystery, read-in-2026, thriller
review:

]]> 49090884 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781982150921.

Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.]]> 209 Agustina Bazterrica Nicola 5 3.74 2017
author: Agustina Bazterrica
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/11
date added: 2026/06/11
shelves: favourites-of-2026, horror, people-who-eat-people, people-suck, plagues-and-pandemics, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 46230645 If there are two sides to every story, someone is always lying…

Jack: Three words to describe my wife: Beautiful. Ambitious. Unforgiving.
Anna: I only need one word to describe my husband: Liar.

When a woman is murdered in Blackdown village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Anna’s ex-husband, DCI Jack Harper, is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation.

Someone is lying, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.]]> 360 Alice Feeney 000837094X Nicola 5 4.05 2020
author: Alice Feeney
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/09
date added: 2026/06/09
shelves: adapted-for-tv, enfant-terrible, good-for-her, people-suck, read-in-2026, thriller
review:

]]> 57951420 416 Andrea Mara 0552177989 Nicola 5 4.10 2021
author: Andrea Mara
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/05
date added: 2026/06/05
shelves: adapted-for-tv, crime-and-mystery, general-fiction, good-for-her, read-in-2026, thriller
review:

]]> 21081244 113 Gabriel García Márquez Nicola 0 to-read 4.19 1970
author: Gabriel García Márquez
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221205228
Merulo isn’t thrilled to be babysitting a spoilt, attention-seeking knight, but fate has tied them together. And transmogrifying Cameron into a vulture is at least a great source of entertainment. Cameron, meanwhile, is on a voyage of self-discovery. It turns out he’s really, really into surly sorcerers who lock him up and tell him what to do. Who knew?

As a legion of knights surround their stronghold, the sorcerer’s poisonous ambitions draw ever closer to fruition. Cameron is quite invested in not dying, but he finds he’s also invested in Merulo. And sometimes, supporting the sorcerer you care about means taking an interest in their hobbies. Even if that hobby is trying to kill God.

Even if it might get you killed, too.]]> 384 Greer Stothers 1835413811 Nicola 0 to-read 3.43 2026
author: Greer Stothers
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 247100469 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of I’m Glad My Mom Died comes a sad, funny, thrilling novel about sex, consumerism, class, desire, loneliness, the internet, rage, intimacy, power, and the (oftentimes misguided) lengths we’ll go to in order to get what we want.

Waldo is ravenous. Horny. Blunt. Naive. Wise. Impulsive. Lonely. Angry. Forceful. Hurting. Perceptive. Endlessly wanting. And the thing she wants most of all: Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher with the wife and the kid and the mortgage and the bills, with the dead dreams and the atrophied looks and the growing paunch. She doesn’t know why she wants him. Is it his passion? His life experience? The fact that he knows books and films and things that she doesn’t? Or is it purer than that, rooted in their unlikely connection, their kindred spirits, the similar filter with which they each take in the world around them? Or, perhaps, it’s just enough that he sees her when no one else does.

Startlingly perceptive, mordantly funny, and keenly poignant, Half His Age is a rich character study of a yearning seventeen-year-old who disregards all obstacles—or attempts to overcome them—in her effort to be seen, to be desired, to be loved.]]> 276 Jennette McCurdy Nicola 5 3.51 2026
author: Jennette McCurdy
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/01
date added: 2026/06/01
shelves: general-fiction, people-suck, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 13456414
In this haunting existential novella, author, philosopher, and ecologist Steven L. Peck explores a subversive vision of eternity, taking the reader on a journey through the afterlife of a world where everything everyone believed in turns out to be wrong.]]> 108 Steven L. Peck 098374842X Nicola 0 to-read 4.11 2011
author: Steven L. Peck
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 231681636 Siblings return to the house they fled eighteen years before, called back by the ghost of their long-missing brother and his haunting request to come home.

Strange things happen in Fell, New York: A mysterious drowning at the town’s roadside motel. The unexplained death of a young girl whose body is left by the railroad tracks. For Violet, Vail, and Dodie Esmie the final straw was their little brother's shocking disappearance, which started as a normal game of hide-and-seek.

As their parents grew increasingly distant, the sisters were each haunted by visions and frightening events, leading them to leave town and never look back. Violet still sees dead people—spirits who remind her of Sister, the menacing presence that terrorized her for years. Now after nearly two decades it’s time for a homecoming—because Ben is back, and he’s ready to lead them to the answers they’ve longed for and long feared.]]> 337 Simone St. James 0593200411 Nicola 0 to-read 3.70 2026
author: Simone St. James
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211721806 The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.

You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.


Includes part one of the exclusive bonus story “Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.”]]> 450 Matt Dinniman 059382024X Nicola 0 to-read 4.36 2020
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 244403162 What is a happily ever after really worth?

Naomi was living the quintessential love story. Boy meets girl. They fall in love, get married, buy a dream house, start a family…

Then―he kicks her out, hires the city’s best divorce lawyers, drains their accounts, and takes up with a 20-something.

It’s a brutal end to the story. Naomi should accept defeat: move into a dingy apartment, get back into the workforce, and piece together the shattered remains of her life.

Except, why should she?

Instead, Naomi fixates on her husband’s new girlfriend. What begins as cynical curiosity soon twists into obsession―and then into something far darker. As Naomi uncovers secrets she never imagined, she realizes her own life may be in danger.

But if it keeps her perfect family intact, isn’t it worth it?

In The Divorce, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a razor-sharp, subversive thriller where love curdles into vengeance, and survival becomes the most dangerous game of all.]]> 368 Freida McFadden 1464249636 Nicola 5 3.74 2026
author: Freida McFadden
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/27
date added: 2026/05/27
shelves: crime-and-mystery, freida-mcfadden, general-fiction, people-suck, read-in-2026, thriller, trashy-fun
review:

]]> 59366244
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

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

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.]]> 304 Jennette McCurdy 1982185821 Nicola 0 to-read 4.36 2022
author: Jennette McCurdy
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58978299 This genre-defying, Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker award-winning thriller follows a father desperate to salvage what's left of his family—even if it means a descent into violence.

Buried in debt due to his young daughter’s illness, his marriage at the brink, Mario reluctantly takes a job as a hitman, surprising himself with his proclivity for violence. After tragedy destroys the life he knew, Mario agrees to one final job: hijack a cartel’s cash shipment before it reaches Mexico. Along with an old friend and a cartel-insider named Juanca, Mario sets off on the near-suicidal mission, which will leave him with either a cool $200,000 or a bullet in the skull. But the path to reward or ruin is never as straight as it seems. As the three complicated men travel through the endless landscape of Texas, across the border and back, their hidden motivations are laid bare alongside nightmarish encounters that defy explanation. One thing is certain: even if Mario makes it out alive, he won’t return the same.

The Devil Takes You Home is a panoramic odyssey for fans of S.A. Cosby’s southern noir, Blacktop Wasteland, by way of the boundary-defying storytelling of Stephen Graham Jones and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY: NPR, Harper's Bazaar, Chicago Tribune, Vulture, Oprah Daily, CrimeReads, The Millions, and many more!

An Edgar Award Finalist • A Bram Stoker Award Winner • A Shirley Jackson Award Winner • A Book of the Month Club Pick • An August Indie Next List Selection • An ABA Indie Bestseller]]> 320 Gabino Iglesias 0316426911 Nicola 0 to-read 3.63 2022
author: Gabino Iglesias
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 157035866 Jennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.

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

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

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

(Warning: May invoke feelings of irritation, dread, and despair that come with large family gatherings.)]]> 293 Jennifer Marie Thorne 1250826128 Nicola 0 to-read 3.81 2024
author: Jennifer Marie Thorne
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60460704
Adelaide Henry carries an enormous steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. It’s locked at all times. Because when the trunk opens, people around Adelaide start to disappear.

The year is 1915, and Adelaide is in trouble. Her secret sin killed her parents, forcing her to flee California in a hellfire rush and make her way to Montana as a homesteader. Dragging the trunk with her at every stop, she will become one of the “lone women” taking advantage of the government’s offer of free land for those who can tame it—except that Adelaide isn’t alone. And the secret she’s tried so desperately to lock away might be the only thing that will help her survive the harsh territory.

Crafted by a modern master of magical suspense, Lone Women blends shimmering prose, an unforgettable cast of adventurers who find horror and sisterhood in a brutal landscape, and a portrait of early-twentieth-century America like you’ve never seen. And at its heart is the gripping story of a woman desperate to bury her past—or redeem it.]]> 275 Victor LaValle 052551208X Nicola 0 to-read 3.66 2023
author: Victor LaValle
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 199534613
Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?

Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who’s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It’s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.]]> 304 Rufi Thorpe 0063356589 Nicola 0 to-read 3.81 2024
author: Rufi Thorpe
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 28260515
Regarded as a Great American Novel, "Moby Dick" is the ultimate tale of seeking vengeance.

Narrated by the crew member Ishmael, this epic whaling adventure follows the crew of the "Pequod," as its captain, Ahab, descends deeper and deeper into madness on his quest to find and kill the white whale that maimed him. Beyond the surface--of ship life, whaling, and the hunt for the elusive Moby Dick--are allegorical references to life--and even the universe--in this masterpiece by Herman Melville.

Complete and unabridged, this elegantly designed clothbound edition features an elastic closure and a new introduction by Christopher McBride.]]> 768 Herman Melville 1509826645 Nicola 5 4.05 1851
author: Herman Melville
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1851
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/25
date added: 2026/05/26
shelves: classic, general-fiction, i-m-going-slightly-mad, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 199798217
Luckily, on the first day of school, she meets Homa, a kind, passionate girl with a brave and irrepressible spirit. Together, the two girls play games, learn to cook in the stone kitchen of Homa’s warm home, wander through the colorful stalls of the Grand Bazaar, and share their ambitions for becoming “lion women.”

But their happiness is disrupted when Ellie and her mother are afforded the opportunity to return to their previous bourgeois life. As Ellie enjoys her new popularity at the best girls’ high school in Iran, her memories of Homa begin to fade. Years later, however, Homa's sudden reappearance in Ellie’s privileged world alters the course of both of their lives.

Together, the two young women come of age and pursue their own goals for meaningful futures. But as the political turmoil in Iran builds to a breaking point, one earth-shattering betrayal will have enormous consequences.

Written with Marjan Kamali's signature prose, The Lion Women of Tehran is a sweeping exploration of how profoundly we are shaped by those we meet when we are young, and the way love and courage transform our lives.]]> 336 Marjan Kamali 1668036584 Nicola 0 to-read 4.44 2024
author: Marjan Kamali
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221625625
Whether creeping across the moonlit lawns in her undergarments or gently tormenting the house staff, Winifred struggles at every turn to stifle the horrid compulsions of her past until her chillingly dark imagination breaches the feeble boundary of reality on Christmas morning.

Wielding her signature sardonic wit and a penchant for the gorgeously macabre, Virginia Feito returns with a vengeance in Victorian Psycho.]]> 192 Virginia Feito 0008739595 Nicola 5 3.58 2025
author: Virginia Feito
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/05
date added: 2026/05/06
shelves: favourites-of-2026, i-m-going-slightly-mad, enfant-terrible, incest-fun-for-the-whole-family, people-who-eat-people, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 55539745
At home full-time with her two-year-old son, an artist finds she is struggling. She is lonely and exhausted. She had imagined - what was it she had imagined? Her husband, always travelling for his work, calls her from faraway hotel rooms. One more toddler bedtime, and she fears she might lose her mind.

Instead, quite suddenly, she starts gaining things, surprising things that happen one night when her child will not sleep. Sharper canines. Strange new patches of hair. New appetites, new instincts. And from deep within herself, a new voice...

With its clear eyes on contemporary womanhood and sharp take on structures of power, Nightbitch is an outrageously original, joyfully subversive read that will make you want to howl in laughter and recognition. Addictive enough to be devoured in one sitting, this is an unforgettable novel from a blazing new talent.]]> 238 Rachel Yoder 1787302644 Nicola 5 3.45 2021
author: Rachel Yoder
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/02
date added: 2026/05/06
shelves: also-a-movie, good-for-her, i-m-going-slightly-mad, maybe-magic-maybe-mundane, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 13030260
Pepper is a rambunctious big man, minor-league troublemaker, working-class hero (in his own mind), and, suddenly, the surprised inmate of a budget-strapped mental institution in Queens, New York. He’s not mentally ill, but that doesn’t seem to matter. He is accused of a crime he can’t quite square with his memory. In the darkness of his room on his first night, he’s visited by a terrifying creature with the body of an old man and the head of a bison who nearly kills him before being hustled away by the hospital staff. It’s no delusion: The other patients confirm that a hungry devil roams the hallways when the sun goes down.

Pepper rallies three other inmates in a plot to fight back: Dorry, an octogenarian schizophrenic who’s been on the ward for decades and knows all its secrets; Coffee, an African immigrant with severe OCD, who tries desperately to send alarms to the outside world; and Loochie, a bipolar teenage girl who acts as the group’s enforcer. Battling the pill-pushing staff, one another, and their own minds, they try to kill the monster that’s stalking them. But can the Devil die?

The Devil in Silver brilliantly brings together the compelling themes that spark all of Victor LaValle’s radiant fiction: faith, race, class, madness, and our relationship with the unseen and the uncanny. More than that, it’s a thrillingly suspenseful work of literary horror about friendship, love, and the courage to slay our own demons.]]> 412 Victor LaValle 1400069866 Nicola 5 3.50 2012
author: Victor LaValle
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/27
date added: 2026/04/28
shelves: adapted-for-tv, favourites-of-2026, horror, i-m-going-slightly-mad, maybe-magic-maybe-mundane, people-suck, read-in-2026, supernatural-the-genre-not-the-show
review:

]]> 248298570 Every trad wife needs a baby. Camille will get one - no matter the cost.

Camille lives to embody the perfect traditional wife―cooking, cleaning, homesteading, and documenting it all for her followers. But without a baby, her image―and her following―feels incomplete. As Camille's husband begins to withdraw and his attention in her waning, Camille’s desperation deepens.

When Camille discovers a crumbling well hidden in the wheat field behind her new house, she is drawn to it, despite its proximity to an intimidating local forest. Unsure of what else to do, she makes a wish.

Soon, she’s haunted by vivid dreams she believes are divine. Then something visits her―something not quite angelic. Her belly swells unnaturally fast. Her cravings turn raw. And yet, her announcement goes viral.

But as Camille’s influence grows, so does the horror inside her. The life she always wanted is finally within reach… if it doesn’t consume her first.]]> 320 Saratoga Schaefer 0857509411 Nicola 5 3.92 2026
author: Saratoga Schaefer
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/21
date added: 2026/04/21
shelves: enfant-terrible, favourites-of-2026, horror, i-m-going-slightly-mad, people-who-eat-people, read-in-2026, supernatural-the-genre-not-the-show, good-for-her
review:

]]> 247522184 'My name is Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive…'

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and has the social media accounts to prove it. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What Natalie’s followers don’t know won’t hurt them.

Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children―they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn't her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.]]> 391 Caro Claire Burke 0008742766 Nicola 5 3.93 2026
author: Caro Claire Burke
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/20
date added: 2026/04/20
shelves: favourites-of-2026, i-m-going-slightly-mad, maybe-magic-maybe-mundane, people-suck, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 231387416 A haunting, atmospheric modern Gothic horror tale based on traditional Irish mythology, from the author of smash hit The Watchers. Ancient evil is awakened on a lonely isle off the coast of Ireland.

TO LEARN THE TRUTH

WOULD YOU DESCEND INTO HELL?

Off the west coast of Ireland lies a lonely island, isolated and wilfully forgotten. Some say there hasn't been a child born on the island for thirty years. Others speak of strange deaths there, decades ago. But no one really knows what happened. Locals believe that the dark times are behind them.

They are mistaken.

Grace, adopted at four years old, has never known where she came from. A mysterious phone call leads her back to the island where she was born – and where a terrible evil has been disturbed.

As the evil starts to spread, Grace finds herself dragged back into a living nightmare that threatens to engulf anyone who steps into its path.

Grace is perfect for fans of horror classics, Paul Tremblay, and Kealan Patrick Burke.]]> 304 A.M. Shine 1804547980 Nicola 5 3.67 2026
author: A.M. Shine
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/18
date added: 2026/04/18
shelves: favourites-of-2026, ghosts, horror, people-suck, read-in-2026, supernatural-the-genre-not-the-show
review:

]]> 25153576
In a small New England town more than half a century ago, a boy is playing with his new toy soldiers in the dirt in front of his house when a shadow falls over him. He looks up to see a striking man, the new minister, Jamie learns later, who with his beautiful wife will transform the church and the town. The men and boys are a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls, with the Reverend Jacobs — including Jamie's sisters and mother. Then tragedy strikes, and this charismatic preacher curses God and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from age 13, he plays in bands across the country, running from his own family tragedies, losing one job after another when his addictions get the better of him. Decades later, sober and living a decent life, he and Reverend Charles Jacobs meet again in a pact beyond even the Devil's devising, and the many terrifying meanings of Revival are revealed.

King imbues this spectacularly rich and dark novel with everything he knows about music, addiction, and religious fanaticism and every nightmare we ever had about death. This is a masterpiece from King in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe.]]> 308 Stephen King 1444789198 Nicola 5 4.02 2014
author: Stephen King
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2014/11/26
date added: 2026/04/16
shelves: fantasy, horror, kindle, read-in-2014, stephen-king
review:

]]> 219441105 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • An “enthralling” (Los Angeles Times) and “remarkably engrossing” (The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice) novel of literary and psychological suspense about the dark secrets that surface after the shocking disappearance of a charismatic, mercurial teacher at an elite boarding school—by legendary author Joyce Carol Oates

This edition contains “The Frenzy,” the title story from Joyce Carol Oates’s forthcoming short story collection.

“Eerie, shocking, provoking, and beautifully written.”—Gillian Flynn
“I found it mesmerizing front to back.”—Michael Connelly
“I can’t remember the last time I read something so (darkly, disconcertingly) addictive.”—Rebecca Makkai
“An extraordinary novel . . . unlike any other mystery I’ve read.”—Joseph Finder
“Tom Ripley, eat your heart out.”—NPR
“A classic psychological suspense.”—People
“A dark, daring plunge into literary suspense . . . Oates dissects the predator-prey dynamic with merciless precision.”—The Seattle Times

A HARPER’S BAZAAR AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Who is Francis Fox? A charming English teacher new to the idyllic Langhorne Academy, Fox beguiles many of his students, their parents, and his colleagues at the elite boarding school, while leaving others wondering where he came from and why his biography is so enigmatic. When two brothers discover Fox’s car half-submerged in a pond in a local nature preserve and parts of an unidentified body strewn about the nearby woods, the entire community, including Detective Horace Zwender and his deputy, begins to ask disturbing questions about Francis Fox and who he might really be.

A hypnotic, galloping tale of crime and complicity, revenge and restitution, victim vs. predator, Joyce Carol Oates’s Fox illuminates the darkest corners of the human psyche while asking profound moral questions about justice and the response evil demands. A character as magnetically diabolical as Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley and Vladimir Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert, Francis Fox enchants and manipulates nearly everyone around him, until at last he meets someone he can’t outfox. Written in Oates’s trademark intimate, sweeping style, and interweaving multiple points of view, Fox is a triumph of craftsmanship and artistry, a novel as profound as it is propulsive, as moving as it is full of mystery.]]> 640 Joyce Carol Oates 0593978102 Nicola 0 to-read 3.88 2025
author: Joyce Carol Oates
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59522680 1228 J.R.R. Tolkien Nicola 0 4.70 1955
author: J.R.R. Tolkien
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.70
book published: 1955
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 149267
And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides - or are chosen. A world in which good rides on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old Mother Abagail - and the worst nightmares of evil are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the dark man.]]> 1152 Stephen King Nicola 0 4.35 1978
author: Stephen King
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.35
book published: 1978
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/13
shelves:
review:

]]> 239933729 The Sunday Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ugly is back with a psychological masterpiece that will leave you questioning everything you know about love, identity, and revenge.

Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.

One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.

Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person's date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.

My Husband’s Wife is a tangled web of deception, obsession, and mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Prepare yourself for the ultimate mind-bending marriage thriller and step inside Spyglass – if you dare – to experience a story where nothing is as it seems.]]> 320 Alice Feeney 1035083000 Nicola 5 4.00 2026
author: Alice Feeney
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/13
date added: 2026/04/13
shelves: crime-and-mystery, general-fiction, read-in-2026, thriller
review:

]]> 62918724 The internationally bestselling author of Lying in Wait returns with a wickedly dark, twisted, and brilliantly observed new novel about an enigmatic woman confronting her unknown past.

Reclusive Sally Diamond causes outrage by trying to incinerate her dead father. Now she’s the center of attention, not only from the hungry media and police detectives, but also a sinister voice from a past she does not remember. As she begins to discover the horrors of her early childhood, Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, big decisions, and learning that people don’t always mean what they say.

But who is the man observing Sally from the other side of the world, and why does he call her Mary? And why does her new neighbor seem to be obsessed with her? Sally’s trust issues are about to be severely challenged…]]> 312 Liz Nugent 1501189719 Nicola 0 to-read 4.08 2023
author: Liz Nugent
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 194020321
While going through their parents' belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.

Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.]]> 256 Jeneva Rose Nicola 0 to-read 3.77 2024
author: Jeneva Rose
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 233333691 A heartbreaking and empowering debut memoir about a mother’s all-consuming love, a son’s perilous quest to discover the world beyond the front door and the unregulated homeschool system that impacts millions like him

Stefan Merrill Block was nine when his mother pulled him from school, certain that his teachers were “stifling his creativity.” With no background in education and no formal training, she began to instruct Stefan in the family’s living room. Beyond his formal lessons in math, however, Stefan was largely left to his own devices and his mother’s erratic whims. She forced him to bleach his hair and to crawl like a baby in a strange and regressive attempt to recapture his early years.

Long before homeschooling would become a massive nationwide movement, at a time when it had just become legal in his home state of Texas, Stefan vanished into that unseen space and into his mother’s increasingly eccentric theories and projects. But when, after five years away from the outside world, Stefan reentered the public school system in Plano as a freshman, he was in for a jarring awakening.

At once a novelistic portrait of mother and son, and an illuminating window into an overlooked corner of the American education system, Homeschooled is a moving, funny and ultimately inspiring story of a son’s battle for a life of his own choosing, and the wages of a mother’s all-consuming love.]]> 288 Stefan Merrill Block 1335000984 Nicola 0 to-read 3.55 2026
author: Stefan Merrill Block
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 224003717
In May of 2022, Columbia University’s Dr. Eleanor Johnson watched along with her students as the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. At the same time, her class was studying the 1968 horror film Rosemary’s Baby and Johnson had a sudden epiphany: horror cinema engages directly with the combustive politics of women’s rights and offers a light through the darkness and an outlet to scream.

With a voice as persuasive as it is insightful, Johnson reveals how classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Shining expose and critique issues of reproductive control, domestic violence, and patriarchal oppression. Scream With Me weaves these iconic films into the fabric of American feminism, revealing that true horror often lies not in the supernatural, but in the familiar confines of the home, exposing the deep-seated fears and realities of women’s lives.

While on the one hand a joyful celebration of seminal and beloved horror films, Scream With Me is also an unflinching and timely recognition of the power of this genre to shape and reflect cultural dialogues about gender and power.]]> 352 Eleanor Johnson 1668087634 Nicola 0 to-read 4.09 2025
author: Eleanor Johnson
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 235991966 Beth March’s sisters will stop at nothing to track down her killer—until they begin to suspect each other—in this debut thriller that’s also a bold, contemporary reimagining of the beloved classic Little Women.

When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year’s Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer.

Suspects abound. There’s the neighbor who has feelings for not one but two of the girls. Meg’s manipulative best friend. Amy’s flirtatious mentor. And Beth’s lionhearted first love. But it doesn’t take the surviving sisters much digging to uncover motives each one of the March girls had for doing the unthinkable.

Jo, an aspiring author with a huge following on social media, would do anything to hook readers. Would she kill her sister for the story? Amy dreams of studying art in Europe, but she’ll need money from her aunt—money that’s always been earmarked for Beth. And Meg wouldn’t dream of hurting her sister…but her boyfriend might have, and she’ll protect him at all costs.

Despite the growing suspicion within the family, it’s hard to know for sure if the crime was committed by someone close to home. After all, the March sisters were dragged into the spotlight months ago when their father published a controversial bestseller about his own daughters. Beth could have been killed by anyone.

Beth’s perspective told in flashback unfolds next to Meg, Jo, and Amy’s increasingly fraught investigation as the tragedy threatens to rip the Marches apart.]]> 400 Katie Bernet 166598869X Nicola 0 to-read 3.80 2026
author: Katie Bernet
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 222376679 Three women. Three centuries. One legacy of fury, love, and a power that refuses to die

In this fiercely captivating novel, horror meets historical fiction when a curse bridges generations, binding the fates of three women. Anne Bolton, a healer facing persecution for witchcraft, bargains with a dark entity for protection—but the fire she unleashes will reverberate for centuries. Mary Shephard, a picture perfect wife in a suffocating community, falls for Sharon and begins a forbidden affair that could destroy them both. And Camilla Burson, the rebellious daughter of a preacher, defies conformist expectations to uncover an ancient power as her father’s flock spirals into crisis.]]> 326 Kristi DeMeester 1250286816 Nicola 0 to-read 3.79 2025
author: Kristi DeMeester
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 231126977 Everyone said she was wicked.
Now Cinderella's stepmother tells her own story...

After the death of her second husband, Lady Etheldreda Verity Isolde Tremaine Bramley is solely responsible for her two daughters, Rosamund and Mathilde, her simpering stepdaughter Elin, a razor-taloned peregrine falcon, and a crumbling manor buried in the woods.

When a royal ball offers the chance to change their fortunes, Ethel risks her pride in pursuit of an invitation for all three of girls - only for her hopes to be fulfilled by the wrong Elin.

Yet as her stepdaughter's engagement to the future king unfolds, Ethel discovers a sordid secret hidden in the depths of the royal family, forcing her to choose between the security she craves and the feckless stepdaughter who has rebuffed her at every turn...

Bridgerton meets Circe in this breathtaking reimagining of one of the world's most iconic fairytales, Cinderella.

**Lady Tremaine has stolen the hearts of readers everywhere!**]]> 339 Rachel Hochhauser 1250396344 Nicola 0 to-read 4.13 2026
author: Rachel Hochhauser
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 232209420 Accused of “promiscuity” in 1940s North Carolina, a young woman unjustly incarcerated and subjected to involuntary medical treatment at The State Industrial Farm Colony for Women decides to fight back in this powerful, shockingly timely novel based on the long-buried history of the American Plan, the government program designed to regulate women’s bodies and sexuality throughout the first half of the 20th century.

The day Ruth Foster’s life changes begins the same way as many others—with a walk through her North Carolina hometown toward the diner where she works. But on this day, Ruth is stopped by the local sheriff, who insists that she accompany him to a health clinic. Women like Ruth—young, unmarried, living alone—must undergo testing in order to preserve decency and prevent the spread of sexual disease.

Though Ruth has never shared more than a chaste kiss with a man, by day’s end she is one of dozens of women held at the State Industrial Farm Colony for Women. Some, like 15-year-old Stella Temple, are brought in at their family’s request. For Stella, even the Colony’s hardships seem like a respite from her nightmarish home life.

Superintendent Dorothy Baker, convinced that she’s transforming degenerate souls into upstanding members of society, oversees the women’s medical treatment and “training” until they’re deemed ready for parole. Sooner or later, everyone at the Colony learns to abide by Mrs. Baker’s rule book or face the consequences—solitary confinement, grueling work assignments, and worse.

But some refuse to be cowed. Against Mrs. Baker’s dogged efforts and the punishing weight of authority, Ruth and other inmates find ways to fight back, resolved to regain their freedom at any cost . . .]]> 368 Donna Everhart 1496740726 Nicola 0 to-read 3.81 2026
author: Donna Everhart
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
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]]> 234943561
Your historians call me seductress, but I was ever in love's thrall.

Your playwrights speak of witchcraft, but my talents came from the gods themselves.

Your poets sing of my bloodlust, but I was always protecting my children.

How wilfully they refuse to concede that a woman could be powerful, strategic, and divinely blessed to rule.

Death will silence me no longer.

This is not the story of how I died. But how I lived.]]> 352 Saara El-Arifi 0593875648 Nicola 0 to-read 3.89 2026
author: Saara El-Arifi
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 223665360
When a new neighbor, Bitsy, moves in, Lulu suspects that something darker lurks behind the woman's constant smile. As her fixation on Bitsy deepens, Lulu is drawn into a web of unsettling truths that threaten to expose the cracks in her own life. The more she uncovers about Bitsy, the more she questions everything she thought she knew―and soon, others begin questioning her sanity. But is Lulu truly losing her mind? Or is she on the verge of discovering a reality too terrifying to accept?

In the vein of The Bell Jar and The Hours, The Mad Wife weaves domestic drama with psychological suspense, so poignant and immersive, you won't want to put it down.]]> 352 Meagan Church 1464236747 Nicola 0 to-read 3.83 2025
author: Meagan Church
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 243021983 Dundee, 1812. Isabel Baxter awaits the arrival of Mary Godwin, a girl of fierce intelligence and grand passions, sent north to recover from a mysterious ailment. The Baxter family home, nestled in woodland by the river Tay, seems the perfect retreat. But The Cottage is a place of secrets, and Mary is no ordinary guest.
As the girls grow closer, their friendship becomes all-consuming, haunted by memory, fuelled by feverish
creativity, and shadowed by something monstrous.
Inspired by true events, this is an immersive reimagining of the young Mary Shelley before she became the
author of Frankenstein. A story of girlhood, obsession, and the birth of a literary legend.
Years before Frankenstein, this is a story of emerging womanhood and literary intrigue, exploring the many monsters in young Mary Shelley's life.
From the bestselling author of Waterstones Scottish Book of the month, the Specimens, Poor Creatures is perfect for fans of Stacey Halls, Sara Sheridan and Ambrose Parry.]]> 288 Mairi Kidd 1785306480 Nicola 5 3.58 2025
author: Mairi Kidd
name: Nicola
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/11
date added: 2026/04/11
shelves: historical-fiction, general-fiction, local-history, read-in-2026
review:

]]> 41633243 577 Stephen Jones 1848637969 Nicola 5 4.00 1991
author: Stephen Jones
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1991
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/07
date added: 2026/04/08
shelves: ghosts, horror, i-m-going-slightly-mad, people-suck, read-in-2026, short-stories, supernatural-the-genre-not-the-show
review:

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In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is meticulously planned – from the layout of the winding roads, to the colours of the houses, to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules.

Enter Mia Warren – an enigmatic artist and single mother – who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenage daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than just tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother–daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past, and a disregard for the rules that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community.

When old family friends attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town – and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at an unexpected and devastating cost . . .]]> 338 Celeste Ng 0735224293 Nicola 5 4.04 2017
author: Celeste Ng
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2026/03/15
shelves:
review:

]]> 35900387 No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine.

Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.

But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling and deeply unhygienic IT guy from her office. When she and Raymond together save Sammy, an elderly gentleman who has fallen on the sidewalk, the three become the kinds of friends who rescue one another from the lives of isolation they have each been living. And it is Raymond’s big heart that will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one.

Soon to be a major motion picture produced by Reese Witherspoon, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine is the smart, warm, and uplifting story of an out-of-the-ordinary heroine whose deadpan weirdness and unconscious wit make for an irresistible journey as she realizes. . .

The only way to survive is to open your heart. ]]> 390 Gail Honeyman 0008172145 Nicola 5 4.16 2017
author: Gail Honeyman
name: Nicola
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2026/03/15
shelves:
review:

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