Anna's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:52:06 -0700 60 Anna's bookshelf: all 144 41 https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Ладь Золотая (Lad’ Zolotaja) 18103630 444 В.Б. Лавринайтис Anna 0 4.00 Ладь Золотая (Lad’ Zolotaja)
author: В.Б. Лавринайтис
name: Anna
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/23
shelves: currently-reading, classics, middle-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)]]> 168373577 Henrik Vanger, head of the dynastic Vanger Corporation, is tormented by the loss of a child decades earlier and convinced that a member of his family has committed murder.

The Journalist
Mikael Blomkvist delves deep into the Vangers' past to uncover the truth behind the unsolved mystery. But someone else wants the past to remain a secret an will go to any lengths to keep it that way.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Lisbeth Salander, the enigmatic, delinquent and dangerous security specialist, assists in the investigation. A genius computer hacker, she tolerates no restrictions placed upon her by individuals, society or the law.]]> 561 Stieg Larsson Anna 0 to-read, detectives 4.41 2005 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)
author: Stieg Larsson
name: Anna
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/20
shelves: to-read, detectives
review:

]]> Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Saga) 29016987 Librarian's Note: Alternate-cover edition for ASIN B007XFJDYO

Miles Vorkosigan and his cousin Ivan are sent on a diplomatic mission to the court of the Cetagandan Empire, Barrayar's former enemy. This sophisticated, genetically advanced but in many ways alien society both fascinates and repels, and when the Cetagandan Empress and her attendant die suddenly, Miles and Ivan find themselves embroiled in intrigues that are hard to fathom. Ivan's romances and Miles' infatuation with a nobel Cetagandan lady further complicate matters in this novel by four-time Hugo Award winner Lois McMaster Bujold.]]> 302 Lois McMaster Bujold Anna 4 science-fiction 4.04 1995 Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Saga)
author: Lois McMaster Bujold
name: Anna
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2026/07/20
date added: 2026/07/20
shelves: science-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Сахарный ребенок. История девочки из прошлого века, рассказанная Стеллой Нудольской]]> 39857278 160 Ольга Громова 5000833929 Anna 0 4.71 2014 Сахарный ребенок. История девочки из прошлого века, рассказанная Стеллой Нудольской
author: Ольга Громова
name: Anna
average rating: 4.71
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/16
shelves: currently-reading, audiobooks, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Grand Tour: or The Purloined Coronation Regalia (Cecilia and Kate, #2)]]> 39094167 Two young Regency ladies with special powers must save the monarchy

Ocean voyages do not agree with wizards, and seasickness during the Channel crossing is the price Cecelia must pay for her budding magical skill. As her nausea ebbs, she is comforted by her new husband, James, and the knowledge that at long last they are on their honeymoon. In their company is Cecelia’s cousin Kate, newly minted as the Marchioness of Schofield, and her husband, Thomas. The shared journey guarantees the two couples a happy start to married life, if they can survive the perils of the Continent. In Calais, a mysterious woman visits Cecelia with a package intended for Thomas’s mother. Inside is an alabaster flask of noble manufacture, one of the royal artifacts that have been vanishing all over Europe as part of a magical plot against the French crown. This is no simple honeymoon: On their tour of Europe, Kate and Cecelia must save the monarchy from an emperor-in-exile named Napoleon.

This ebook features illustrated biographies of Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the authors’ personal collections.]]> 484 Patricia C. Wrede Anna 0 3.97 2004 The Grand Tour: or The Purloined Coronation Regalia (Cecilia and Kate, #2)
author: Patricia C. Wrede
name: Anna
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/16
shelves: currently-reading, historian-fantasy
review:

]]> Bronze Horseman 28582601 224 Alexander Pushkin 0436388456 Anna 4 classics, historical-fiction 4.00 1833 Bronze Horseman
author: Alexander Pushkin
name: Anna
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1833
rating: 4
read at: 2026/07/16
date added: 2026/07/16
shelves: classics, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sea-Wolf (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)]]> 533823 256 Jack London 0486411087 Anna 0 3.94 1904 The Sea-Wolf (Dover Thrift Editions: Classic Novels)
author: Jack London
name: Anna
average rating: 3.94
book published: 1904
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/16
shelves: currently-reading, audiobooks, classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Маланьина свадьба: Исторические миниатюры]]> 230054691 Валентин Пикуль Anna 3 3.00 Маланьина свадьба: Исторические миниатюры
author: Валентин Пикуль
name: Anna
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/06/26
date added: 2026/06/26
shelves: audiobooks, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Сыщик, ищи вора! Или самые знаменитые разбойники России (Бушков. Шокирующая история Российской империи) (Russian Edition)]]> 214100465 Великолепный рассказчик Александр Бушков из малодоступных и малоизвестных источников по крупицам собрал информацию по этой теме. И получилась уникальная книга, единственная в своем роде История самых знаменитых разбойников России.
И в этом списке – верьте глазам своим! - Александр Меншиков, единственный в России герцог, любимец Петра, самая высокопоставленная после императора персона – вор и разбойник.
Тут же исчерпывающее объяснение, когда и почему обычного главаря разбойничьей шайки Степана Ра&#]]> 303 Александр Бушков 5041435189 Anna 3 audiobooks, non-fiction 4.00 Сыщик, ищи вора! Или самые знаменитые разбойники России (Бушков. Шокирующая история Российской империи) (Russian Edition)
author: Александр Бушков
name: Anna
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/06/26
date added: 2026/06/26
shelves: audiobooks, non-fiction
review:

]]> Elantris (Elantris, #1) 68427
Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping—based on their correspondence—to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

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

A rare epic fantasy that doesn't recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It's also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.]]> 638 Brandon Sanderson 0765350378 Anna 0 4.15 2005 Elantris (Elantris, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Anna
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/26
shelves: currently-reading, audiobooks, epic-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Bronze Horseman: Selected Poems of Alexander Pushkin]]> 1181366 The Bronze Horseman is the second-most famous poem in Russian literature after his Eugene Onegin, and notoriously difficult to translate. This new translation, described by Robert Chandler as 'truly wonderful', is accompanied here by Pushkin's greatest shorter verses. They range from lyric poetry to narrative verse, based on traditional Russian stories of enchanted tsars and magical fish. Together, they show the dazzling range and achievement of Russia's greatest poet.]]> 261 Alexander Pushkin 0670192414 Anna 0 to-read 4.16 The Bronze Horseman: Selected Poems of Alexander Pushkin
author: Alexander Pushkin
name: Anna
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/03
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> War with the Newts 7575624 War with the Newts (1936) is Karel Capek's darkly humorous allegory of early twentieth-century Czech politics. Captain van Toch discovers a colony of newts in Sumatra which can not only be taught to trade and use tools, but also to speak. As the rest of the world learns of the creatures and their wonderful capabilities, it is clear that this new species is ripe for exploitation – they can be traded in their thousands, will do the work no human wants to do, and can fight – but the humans have given no thought to the terrible consequences of their actions.]]> 348 Karel Čapek 0141192704 Anna 5 4.06 1936 War with the Newts
author: Karel Čapek
name: Anna
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1936
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/03
date added: 2026/06/03
shelves: audiobooks, classics, dystopian-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Черная Ведьма в Академии Драконов]]> 43224116 Но если в Темных землях на тебя открыли охоту и в спину дышит палач, то укрыться в стенах светлой академии — не самая плохая идея. Именно так подумала Вивьен Блеквуд и просочилась в магистерию под личиной скромной, несимпатичной и почти бездарной адептки. И все бы ничего, но ведьмин характер эликсиром не смоешь. А уж если украла (ну совершенно случайно) мелкого дракона у самого популярного старшекурсника, лучшего боевого мага, то жди мести. Вот только неизвестно, кто смыслит в вендетте больше: темные или светлые?]]> 282 Надежда Мамаева 5992228209 Anna 3 3.78 Черная Ведьма в Академии Драконов
author: Надежда Мамаева
name: Anna
average rating: 3.78
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/06/03
date added: 2026/06/03
shelves: audiobooks, romance, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> The American Tragedy 56330056
Based on an actual criminal case, 'An American Tragedy' was the inspiration for the film 'A Place in the Sun', which won six Academy Awards and starred Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift.]]> 950 Theodore Dreiser Anna 4 audiobooks, classics 3.92 1925 The American Tragedy
author: Theodore Dreiser
name: Anna
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1925
rating: 4
read at: 2026/04/28
date added: 2026/04/28
shelves: audiobooks, classics
review:

]]> Dead Souls 119075 Dead Souls, a comic masterpiece about a mysterious con man and his grotesque victims, is one of the major works of Russian literature. It was translated into English in 1942 by Bernard Guilbert Guerney; the translation was hailed by Vladimir Nabokov as "an extraordinarily fine piece of work" and is still considered the best translation of Dead Souls ever published. Long out of print, the Guerney translation of Dead Souls is now reissued. The text has been made more faithful to Gogol's original by removing passages that Guerney inserted from earlier drafts of Dead Souls. The text is accompanied by Susanne Fusso's introduction and by appendices that present excerpts from Guerney's translations of other drafts of Gogol's work and letters Gogol wrote around the time of the writing and publication of Deal Souls.

 

"I am delighted that Guerney's translation of Dead Souls [is] available again. It is head and shoulders above all the others, for Guerney understands that to 'translate' Gogol is necessarily to undertake a poetic recreation, and he does so brilliantly."—Robert A. Maguire, Columbia University

 

"The Guerney translation of Dead Souls is the only translation I know of that makes any serious attempt to approximate the qualities of  Gogol's style—exuberant, erratic, 'Baroque,' bizarre."—Hugh McLean, University of California, Berkeley

 

"A splendidly revised and edited edition of Bernard Guerney's classic English translation of Gogol's Dead Souls. The distinguished Gogol scholar Susanne Fusso may have brought us as close as the English reader may ever expect to come to Gogol's masterpiece. No student, scholar, or general reader will want to miss this updated, refined version of one of the most delightful and sublime works of Russian literature."—Robert Jackson, Yale University]]> 304 Nikolai Gogol 0300060998 Anna 5 audiobooks, classics 4.08 1842 Dead Souls
author: Nikolai Gogol
name: Anna
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1842
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/04
date added: 2026/04/04
shelves: audiobooks, classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q #1)]]> 22886701 The Keeper of Lost Causes (originally published in the UK as Mercy) is the nail-biting first book in the internationally bestselling Department Q series. It is now a major movie, released in the UK in August 2014.



At first the prisoner scratches at the walls until her fingers bleed. But there is no escaping the room. With no way of measuring time, her days, weeks, months go unrecorded. She vows not to go mad. She will not give her captors the satisfaction. She will die first.



Copenhagen detective Carl Mørck has been taken off homicide to run a newly created department for unsolved crimes. His first case concerns Merete Lynggaard, who vanished five years ago. Everyone says she's dead. Everyone says it's a waste of time. He thinks they're right.



The voice in the dark is distorted, harsh and without mercy. It says the prisoner's torture will only end when she answers one simple question. It is one she has asked herself a million times:



Why is this happening?


]]> 505 Jussi Adler-Olsen Anna 5 audiobooks, detectives
As it always happens, it’s characters that carried the story for me. I can’t say that I fully came to like Carl Morck, but he’s certainly more complex than he appears to be at the first glance. Carl is said to be such a jerk that only very few people could get on with him, and he is indeed not the nicest person, being gruff, pessimistic and self-centered. But Carl’s true personality shines through in tons of small things that speak louder than words. It’s said that Morck’s old teammates were the only ones able to get along with him, and Carl is indeed very attached to them; he’s visiting the surviving member of his team in the hospital almost daily, trying to keep up his spirits and even involves him in the investigation to give him back a will to live. And while Carl isn’t initially thrilled to have Assad as his assistant, he still takes time to make sure that Assad, who is Muslim, could pray properly and later always clarifies things when Assad faces any linguistic or cultural difficulties. It’s worth noting that Carl has a life outside his work, too; he’s going through a divorce process with his wife, and when his stepson decided to live with Carl and not his mother, he, while definitely not a father figure, still grudgingly takes care of him. And the tenant renting a room at Carl’s house also feels like a family member, cooking for Carl and cleaning the house while Carl genuinely asks how the latter is doing in the university. Carl has very good relationship with his neighbors as well – he lets them have barbeque parties in his yard, and admits that their support kept him afloat after the shooting accident. To put it short, Carl Morck can pretend to be a lone wolf all he wants, but it’s more than clear to me that this wolf has a pack.

Now, I have strong opinions about Hafez al-Assad. Namely, that he is a ray of sunshine. Yeah, he is prone to lying about his past, skilled in breaking-and-entering, has acquaintances in near-criminal circles and carries a folding knife on his person, but he’s still a ray of sunshine. Hired as Carl’s assistant, Assad was only supposed to make coffee, clean the office and sort the papers, but he quickly inserted himself into the investigation and proved to be an irreplaceable member of the team, with his unbridled enthusiasm, sharp mind and perceptive eye. Carl Morck is smarter of the two and has way more experience, but Assad can notice things that slip past Carl’s attention. Together, they make an ultimate power duo, and I enjoy their interactions a lot.

The case that killed Carl’s teammates and left him traumatized really intrigued me, and while in this book it only served to provide backstory for Carl, I hope it would be investigated further in the series. It sure doesn’t seem to be a banal murder; what happened is that during a routine crime scene examination where a local drunkard got shot in the head with a nail gun, someone burst in, shot the police team, leaving them for dead, then spent some time in the flat and left, without severely wounded Carl seeing the killer. It doesn’t seem that the criminal was targeting the police specifically, so what was their true objective? What were they looking for, and why it wasn’t taken after the very first murder? Whatever the cause, this is obviously more complicated than your everyday casual drunk-fight-gone-wrong murder.

The main story follows two separate timelines: the investigation of Merete’s disappearance in 2007, and the events leading right up to this disappearance in 2002, as well as their consequences. This didn’t quite work out for me as one timeline inevitably spoils the other – while Carl and Assad don’t know whether Merete is alive or dead, and if her disappearance was a kidnapping or something else, we know the truth through Merete’s PoV in the flashbacks. Plus, during the investigation the police has to retrace the events of Merete’s last days before the disappearance, thus repeating the facts we also already know.

Unexpectedly, I loved Merete’s chapters, even if they were very grim, quickly shifting from her daily routine to her kidnapping and the life in captivity. This woman suffered so much, being subjected to tons of psychological torture - locked in concrete sack with zero facilities for years, surrounded with either absolute darkness or incessant light for months at a time. Not only that, but she suffered physically as well as her captors pumped the atmosphere pressure in the cell higher and higher. And Merete not only survived, she managed to remain sane, holding onto her memories and her love for her brother. She kept fighting, hindering her torturers however she could and defying them in small things. Even when she learned that she was doomed to die a horrible death, she did everything in her power to point at her killer’s crimes even after her demise. This plotline may be dark and bleak, but it’s also inspiring because Merete is so darn strong.

Speaking about the detective line itself, I gotta say that at first it wasn’t exactly exciting – Carl just kept questioning Merete’s colleagues and acquaintances while it was obvious that they had nothing to do with her disappearance. But about halfway through he hit the trail, and the facts that we knew nothing about began to come up; for example, it turned out that while Merete was the criminal’s main target, she wasn’t the only victim. That’s where things got interesting and the real investigation had begun. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that difficult to deduce who kidnapped Merete and why – there had never been many suspects to choose from, and even less of those who had a reason to hate Merete enough to torture her for years. But even though I knew the culprits’ identities, it was still a nail-biting experience to follow Carl and Assad as they tracked the criminals down, using every thread and every tiniest catch to find them. The final show-down was incredibly tense, since Carl and Assad not only had to face down a family of revenge-obsessed sadists, but also were forced to race against time itself as Merete’s life was put at the stake. At the end, what seemed at first to be a bitter-sweet final turned into an open ending with a strong hints of a cautiously optimistic, and that left me deeply satisfied. ]]> 4.23 2007 The Keeper of Lost Causes (Department Q #1)
author: Jussi Adler-Olsen
name: Anna
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/05
date added: 2026/04/04
shelves: audiobooks, detectives
review:
‘The Keeper of Lost Causes’ starts a series dedicated to so-called Department Q, a special police unit tasked with investigating the cold cases. At least, that’s the official version for the newspapers – in reality, the department is created by the big police bosses to get a cut of government money, and it employs only two people: Carl Morck, whose bad temper got only worse due to PTSD after his whole team was killed, and immigrant Hafez al-Assad, who’s only hired because of his persistence. Their first case is the disappearance of a famous politician Merete Lynggaard, believed to be a suicide or an accident – until Carl begin to dig deeper into it.

As it always happens, it’s characters that carried the story for me. I can’t say that I fully came to like Carl Morck, but he’s certainly more complex than he appears to be at the first glance. Carl is said to be such a jerk that only very few people could get on with him, and he is indeed not the nicest person, being gruff, pessimistic and self-centered. But Carl’s true personality shines through in tons of small things that speak louder than words. It’s said that Morck’s old teammates were the only ones able to get along with him, and Carl is indeed very attached to them; he’s visiting the surviving member of his team in the hospital almost daily, trying to keep up his spirits and even involves him in the investigation to give him back a will to live. And while Carl isn’t initially thrilled to have Assad as his assistant, he still takes time to make sure that Assad, who is Muslim, could pray properly and later always clarifies things when Assad faces any linguistic or cultural difficulties. It’s worth noting that Carl has a life outside his work, too; he’s going through a divorce process with his wife, and when his stepson decided to live with Carl and not his mother, he, while definitely not a father figure, still grudgingly takes care of him. And the tenant renting a room at Carl’s house also feels like a family member, cooking for Carl and cleaning the house while Carl genuinely asks how the latter is doing in the university. Carl has very good relationship with his neighbors as well – he lets them have barbeque parties in his yard, and admits that their support kept him afloat after the shooting accident. To put it short, Carl Morck can pretend to be a lone wolf all he wants, but it’s more than clear to me that this wolf has a pack.

Now, I have strong opinions about Hafez al-Assad. Namely, that he is a ray of sunshine. Yeah, he is prone to lying about his past, skilled in breaking-and-entering, has acquaintances in near-criminal circles and carries a folding knife on his person, but he’s still a ray of sunshine. Hired as Carl’s assistant, Assad was only supposed to make coffee, clean the office and sort the papers, but he quickly inserted himself into the investigation and proved to be an irreplaceable member of the team, with his unbridled enthusiasm, sharp mind and perceptive eye. Carl Morck is smarter of the two and has way more experience, but Assad can notice things that slip past Carl’s attention. Together, they make an ultimate power duo, and I enjoy their interactions a lot.

The case that killed Carl’s teammates and left him traumatized really intrigued me, and while in this book it only served to provide backstory for Carl, I hope it would be investigated further in the series. It sure doesn’t seem to be a banal murder; what happened is that during a routine crime scene examination where a local drunkard got shot in the head with a nail gun, someone burst in, shot the police team, leaving them for dead, then spent some time in the flat and left, without severely wounded Carl seeing the killer. It doesn’t seem that the criminal was targeting the police specifically, so what was their true objective? What were they looking for, and why it wasn’t taken after the very first murder? Whatever the cause, this is obviously more complicated than your everyday casual drunk-fight-gone-wrong murder.

The main story follows two separate timelines: the investigation of Merete’s disappearance in 2007, and the events leading right up to this disappearance in 2002, as well as their consequences. This didn’t quite work out for me as one timeline inevitably spoils the other – while Carl and Assad don’t know whether Merete is alive or dead, and if her disappearance was a kidnapping or something else, we know the truth through Merete’s PoV in the flashbacks. Plus, during the investigation the police has to retrace the events of Merete’s last days before the disappearance, thus repeating the facts we also already know.

Unexpectedly, I loved Merete’s chapters, even if they were very grim, quickly shifting from her daily routine to her kidnapping and the life in captivity. This woman suffered so much, being subjected to tons of psychological torture - locked in concrete sack with zero facilities for years, surrounded with either absolute darkness or incessant light for months at a time. Not only that, but she suffered physically as well as her captors pumped the atmosphere pressure in the cell higher and higher. And Merete not only survived, she managed to remain sane, holding onto her memories and her love for her brother. She kept fighting, hindering her torturers however she could and defying them in small things. Even when she learned that she was doomed to die a horrible death, she did everything in her power to point at her killer’s crimes even after her demise. This plotline may be dark and bleak, but it’s also inspiring because Merete is so darn strong.

Speaking about the detective line itself, I gotta say that at first it wasn’t exactly exciting – Carl just kept questioning Merete’s colleagues and acquaintances while it was obvious that they had nothing to do with her disappearance. But about halfway through he hit the trail, and the facts that we knew nothing about began to come up; for example, it turned out that while Merete was the criminal’s main target, she wasn’t the only victim. That’s where things got interesting and the real investigation had begun. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that difficult to deduce who kidnapped Merete and why – there had never been many suspects to choose from, and even less of those who had a reason to hate Merete enough to torture her for years. But even though I knew the culprits’ identities, it was still a nail-biting experience to follow Carl and Assad as they tracked the criminals down, using every thread and every tiniest catch to find them. The final show-down was incredibly tense, since Carl and Assad not only had to face down a family of revenge-obsessed sadists, but also were forced to race against time itself as Merete’s life was put at the stake. At the end, what seemed at first to be a bitter-sweet final turned into an open ending with a strong hints of a cautiously optimistic, and that left me deeply satisfied.
]]> <![CDATA[Граница Империи (Szare Płaszcze, #2)]]> 55359035
Серая Стража ведет войну с чернокнижниками и не вмешивается в политику, но есть исключения.

Натаниэль Эверсон узнает, что его семья замешана в грязных делах, — пришло время собраться с силами и сделать выбор.

С Границы надвигается полчище склавян, и Магнус, Касс и Люциус снова вместе, ведь ведьмы пророчат прибытие кровавого демона – как обычно, только на этот раз опасность грозит со всех сторон и требует жертв. Но что значит боль единиц по сравнению со спасением тысяч?]]> 352 Marcin Guzek 5041118507 Anna 3 slavic-fantasy 3.32 Граница Империи (Szare Płaszcze, #2)
author: Marcin Guzek
name: Anna
average rating: 3.32
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/03/29
date added: 2026/03/29
shelves: slavic-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Wiedźma Opiekunka (Kroniki Belorskie, #2)]]> 33955284 Wolha Redna, której niezwykłe przygody poznaliśmy w powieści Zawód: Wiedźma, powraca w drugim tomie bestsellerowych Kronik Belorskich autorstwa Olgi Gromyko - znanej w Polsce m.in. dzięki znakomitej trylogii Rok Szczura.

Najbardziej W.REDNĄ wiedźmę w historii świata czekają nowe wyzwania – na początek egzaminy końcowe w Wyższej Szkole Magii, Wróżbiarstwa i Zielarstwa. Kiedy wydaje się, że wrota do wymarzonego życia stają przed dziewczyną otworem, musi ona udać się na staż do Jego Wysokości króla Nauma, a potem… potem już nic nie idzie zgodnie z planem.

Wolha Redna jednak nigdy nie poddaje się bez walki i nawet jeśli jej życiu zagraża śmiertelne niebezpieczeństwo, wciąż pozostaje W.REDNĄ sobą.

W Wiedźmie Opiekunce spotkamy starych znajomych i dobrze nam znany nieprzeciętny humor, ale też nowych barwnych bohaterów i nowe niezwykłe przygody rudej wiedźmy.]]> 498 Olga Gromyko 8365568306 Anna 4 slavic-fantasy 4.28 2003 Wiedźma Opiekunka (Kroniki Belorskie, #2)
author: Olga Gromyko
name: Anna
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/18
date added: 2026/03/18
shelves: slavic-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shifting Shadows (Mercy Thompson #0.1, #0.5, #0.7, #0.9, #1.2, #1.8, #4.5, #5.5, #7.4, #8.5)]]> 20821263 Mercy Thompson’s world just got a whole lot bigger…

A collection of all-new and previously published short stories featuring Mercy Thompson and the characters she calls friends…

Includes the new stories…
“Silver”... “Roses in Winter”... “Redemption”... “Hollow”

…and reader favorites
“Fairy Gifts”
“Gray”
“Alpha and Omega”
“Seeing Eye”
“The Star of David”
“In Red, with Pearls”

]]> 450 Patricia Briggs 0425265005 Anna 5 patricia-briggs Silver – 5 stars. This is the backstory of Samuel and Bran and their earliest days, when they were just turned into werewolves and forced to serve Bran’s witch mother. It’s also the backstory of Ariana and the days when she was forced to serve her cruel father. A dark and sad story, but it’s beautifully written, and it’s almost poetic how Samuel and Ariana’s fates parallel each other.

Fairy Gifts – 5 stars. The characters were completely new to me, but even in the span of this short story, they captivated me. A Chinese-American vampire with an affinity for earth and an earth-kissed fairy with both Irish and Finnish heritage make for an unusual pair of protagonists, and the twist to the story of Maggie’s captivity caught me unaware.

Gray – 5 stars. Again, this is the story featuring completely new characters that was a total blast. I almost instantly connected with Elena Gray, the vampire so tortured by guilt for unwillingly killing her husband that she avenged him by killing her seethe mistress and ran back to her old home – only to discover that her husband is now a ghost haunting their old flat.

Seeing Eye – 3 stars. I liked Moira and Tom in ‘Hunting Ground’, but for some reason, their story was lackluster. There was so much potential that didn’t go anywhere – for all the build-up leading to Moira’s showdown with the witch coven, the villains were defeated way too easily, and I wish Moira’s conflict with her family and Tom’s bond with his brother were explore more.

Alpha and Omega – 4 stars. I already read this novella before, but I had forgotten how good it was. It still irks me how quickly Anna and Charles got together, but there’s a solid detective story involving Chicago’s pack, and I had forgotten how severely Anna was abused and how rad she is for breaking free of it.

The Star of David – 5 stars. David was such a minor character in ‘Moon Called’ that I completely forgot about him. However, I loved how the story gave us some lore on wizards, who are pretty rare in this ‘verse, and how the narration flipped around the roles of the savior and saved when it came down to David and Stella’s interactions.

Roses in Winter – 5 stars. A lovely little story; while Kara is a stranger to me, I adore Asil, and I enjoyed seeing the side of him hidden from everyone – his tender friendship with Kara, the memories he treasures of his dead mate, the roses he nurtures. Because a rose in winter is magic, simply because it’s a rose in winter.

In Red, with Pearls – 4 stars. I love Warren, so the story from his PoV that showcased his job as a detective and delved into his relationship with Kyle was a treat. And yes, I was so used to seeing Warren is a kind and nice guy that I wasn’t prepared for his darker side emerging – but I liked it. My only criticism is that the reveal of the final villain was pretty far-fetched and thus unrealistic.

Redemption – 5 stars. Woah, this was a blast. Ben is not a likable character, intentionally so; he’s someone whose trauma twisted him into a spiteful jerk. This story not only delves into his past but also explores his present; it shows that even for someone like Ben, there are borders not to cross – and that means that even someone like him, who had gone from victim of the abuse to accomplice of an abuser, can become the defender of the abused. And it does so wonderfully.

Hollow – 3 stars. I was looking forward to the story that focused on Mercy and not supporting characters, but this one kinda disappointed me. The new characters failed to interest me, and the plot twist of the ghost mystery was too straightforward for me to fully enjoy the story.

Overall rating – 4.5 stars.]]> 4.36 2014 Shifting Shadows (Mercy Thompson #0.1, #0.5, #0.7, #0.9, #1.2, #1.8, #4.5, #5.5, #7.4, #8.5)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Anna
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2026/01/22
date added: 2026/03/14
shelves: patricia-briggs
review:
Silver – 5 stars. This is the backstory of Samuel and Bran and their earliest days, when they were just turned into werewolves and forced to serve Bran’s witch mother. It’s also the backstory of Ariana and the days when she was forced to serve her cruel father. A dark and sad story, but it’s beautifully written, and it’s almost poetic how Samuel and Ariana’s fates parallel each other.

Fairy Gifts – 5 stars. The characters were completely new to me, but even in the span of this short story, they captivated me. A Chinese-American vampire with an affinity for earth and an earth-kissed fairy with both Irish and Finnish heritage make for an unusual pair of protagonists, and the twist to the story of Maggie’s captivity caught me unaware.

Gray – 5 stars. Again, this is the story featuring completely new characters that was a total blast. I almost instantly connected with Elena Gray, the vampire so tortured by guilt for unwillingly killing her husband that she avenged him by killing her seethe mistress and ran back to her old home – only to discover that her husband is now a ghost haunting their old flat.

Seeing Eye – 3 stars. I liked Moira and Tom in ‘Hunting Ground’, but for some reason, their story was lackluster. There was so much potential that didn’t go anywhere – for all the build-up leading to Moira’s showdown with the witch coven, the villains were defeated way too easily, and I wish Moira’s conflict with her family and Tom’s bond with his brother were explore more.

Alpha and Omega – 4 stars. I already read this novella before, but I had forgotten how good it was. It still irks me how quickly Anna and Charles got together, but there’s a solid detective story involving Chicago’s pack, and I had forgotten how severely Anna was abused and how rad she is for breaking free of it.

The Star of David – 5 stars. David was such a minor character in ‘Moon Called’ that I completely forgot about him. However, I loved how the story gave us some lore on wizards, who are pretty rare in this ‘verse, and how the narration flipped around the roles of the savior and saved when it came down to David and Stella’s interactions.

Roses in Winter – 5 stars. A lovely little story; while Kara is a stranger to me, I adore Asil, and I enjoyed seeing the side of him hidden from everyone – his tender friendship with Kara, the memories he treasures of his dead mate, the roses he nurtures. Because a rose in winter is magic, simply because it’s a rose in winter.

In Red, with Pearls – 4 stars. I love Warren, so the story from his PoV that showcased his job as a detective and delved into his relationship with Kyle was a treat. And yes, I was so used to seeing Warren is a kind and nice guy that I wasn’t prepared for his darker side emerging – but I liked it. My only criticism is that the reveal of the final villain was pretty far-fetched and thus unrealistic.

Redemption – 5 stars. Woah, this was a blast. Ben is not a likable character, intentionally so; he’s someone whose trauma twisted him into a spiteful jerk. This story not only delves into his past but also explores his present; it shows that even for someone like Ben, there are borders not to cross – and that means that even someone like him, who had gone from victim of the abuse to accomplice of an abuser, can become the defender of the abused. And it does so wonderfully.

Hollow – 3 stars. I was looking forward to the story that focused on Mercy and not supporting characters, but this one kinda disappointed me. The new characters failed to interest me, and the plot twist of the ghost mystery was too straightforward for me to fully enjoy the story.

Overall rating – 4.5 stars.
]]> Приключения капитана Врунгеля 52770200 192 Andrei Nekrasov 5389024303 Anna 4 audiobooks, middle-grade 4.33 1939 Приключения капитана Врунгеля
author: Andrei Nekrasov
name: Anna
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1939
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/20
date added: 2026/02/23
shelves: audiobooks, middle-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[If Walls Could Talk: An intimate history of the home]]> 12834772 373 Lucy Worsley 0571259537 Anna 0 to-read, non-fiction 4.32 2011 If Walls Could Talk: An intimate history of the home
author: Lucy Worsley
name: Anna
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/22
shelves: to-read, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[500 Miles from You (Kirrinfief, #3)]]> 53066550
In London, the gentle Cormac is a fish out of the water; in Kirrinfief, the dynamic Lissa finds it hard to adjust to the quiet. But these two strangers are now in constant contact, taking over each other’s patients, endlessly emailing about anything and everything. Lissa and Cormac discover a new depth of feeling…for their profession and for each other.

But what will happen when Lissa and Cormac finally meet…?]]> 432 Jenny Colgan 0062911244 Anna 3 audiobooks, romance 3.72 2020 500 Miles from You (Kirrinfief, #3)
author: Jenny Colgan
name: Anna
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2026/02/14
date added: 2026/02/14
shelves: audiobooks, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)]]> 77566 500 Dan Simmons 0553283685 Anna 0 to-read, science-fiction 4.27 1989 Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #1)
author: Dan Simmons
name: Anna
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1989
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/09
shelves: to-read, science-fiction
review:

]]> The Siege 22598058 For fans of Alan Furst and Carlos Ruiz Zafón comes a haunting and layered thriller filled with history, adventure, suspense, and an unforgettable love story—by the internationally bestselling author Arturo Pérez-Reverte.
 
Cádiz, 1811: The Spanish port city has been surrounded by Napoleon’s army for a year. Their backs to the sea, its residents endure routine bombardments and live in constant fear of a French invasion. And now the bodies of random women have begun to turn up throughout the city—victims of a shadowy killer.
 
Police Comisario Rogelio Tizón has been assigned the case. Known for his razor-sharp investigation skills—as well as his brutal interrogation methods—Tizón has seen everything. Or so he thought. His inquiry into the murders reveals a surprising pattern: Each victim has been found where a French bomb exploded. Logic tells him to pass it off as coincidence; his instinct tells him otherwise, and he begins to view Cádiz as a living chessboard, with himself and the killer the main players.
 
In a city pushed to the brink, violence and desperation weave together the lives of a group of unlikely people: the Spanish taxidermist who doubles as a French spy; the young woman who uses her father’s mercantile business to run the enemy blockade; the rough-edged corsair who tries to resist her charms; and the brilliant academic furiously trying to perfect the French army’s artillery and bring Cádiz to its knees once and for all. And as Napoleon presses closer, Tizón must make his next move on the bomb-scarred chessboard before the killer claims another pawn.
 
Combining fast-paced narrative with scrupulous historical accuracy, this smart, suspenseful tale of human resilience is Arturo Pérez-Reverte at the height of his talents.
 
]]> 576 Arturo Pérez-Reverte 0812994728 Anna 0 3.95 2010 The Siege
author: Arturo Pérez-Reverte
name: Anna
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/02/09
shelves: currently-reading, historical-fiction
review:

]]> Шесть имен кота-демона 201855415 544 Zhang Yun 5002142036 Anna 0 3.33 Шесть имен кота-демона
author: Zhang Yun
name: Anna
average rating: 3.33
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/26
shelves: to-read, historical-fiction, detectives
review:

]]> <![CDATA[У Ворона две жизни (Дивные берега, #1)]]> 60475368
Но наставник мертв, по всей стране пропадают люди, а нечисть сходит с ума. Стать Вороном и отомстить за смерть учителя – Василиса готова ступить на этот путь. Но куда приведет дорога, проложенная самой Смертью?]]> 352 Елена Кондрацкая 5041597391 Anna 0 wish-list, slavic-fantasy 3.55 У Ворона две жизни (Дивные берега, #1)
author: Елена Кондрацкая
name: Anna
average rating: 3.55
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/21
shelves: wish-list, slavic-fantasy
review:

]]> Корни дуба 20321406 304 Vsevolod Ovchinnikov Anna 4 audiobooks, non-fiction 4.08 1980 Корни дуба
author: Vsevolod Ovchinnikov
name: Anna
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1980
rating: 4
read at: 2026/01/18
date added: 2026/01/18
shelves: audiobooks, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Zawód: Wiedźma (Kroniki Belorskie, #1)]]> 31558465 Zawód: Wiedźma to pierwsza powieść Olgi Gromyko, a zarazem otwarcie cyklu Kroniki Belorskie, na który składa się kilka tomów opowieści osadzonych w magicznym świecie Belorii.

Ta seria to znak firmowy tej autorki – połączenie niezwykle wartkiej, pełnej fantastycznych przygód akcji z dużą dozą humoru i iskrzących relacji między bohaterami.

Wolha Redna to jedyna kobieta na typowo męskim wydziale magii Starmińskiej Wyższej Szkoły Magii, Wróżbiarstwa i Zielarstwa. Rudowłosa, wścibska, ciekawska… Posiadaczka wyjątkowego talentu do praktyk magicznych, nieprzeciętnej intuicji i inteligencji. Zapewne właśnie dlatego została wybrana przez mistrza do rozwiązania zagadki, która do tej pory pochłonęła już życie 13 osób, o wiele bardziej od niej doświadczonych.

W Dogewie, krainie zamieszkiwanej przez wampiry i inne stwory źle się dzieje. Umiera coraz więcej istot, a magicy wysyłani na ratunek nie powracają. Czy młodej wiedźmie uda się odkryć co, lub kto zabija, jeśli starsi i bardziej doświadczeni magowie polegli na polu bitwy?

Czy tak naprawdę Wolha Redna okaże się królikiem doświadczalnym, ofiarą czy wybawicielką?]]> 546 Olga Gromyko 8365568004 Anna 4 slavic-fantasy 4.07 2003 Zawód: Wiedźma (Kroniki Belorskie, #1)
author: Olga Gromyko
name: Anna
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/01
date added: 2026/01/18
shelves: slavic-fantasy
review:

]]> 1984 53207765 330 George Orwell 9389647746 Anna 4 classics, dystopian-fiction 4.25 1949 1984
author: George Orwell
name: Anna
average rating: 4.25
book published: 1949
rating: 4
read at: 2026/01/17
date added: 2026/01/17
shelves: classics, dystopian-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games)]]> 214331246
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

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

When Haymitch's name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He's torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who's nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he's been set up to fail. But there's something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 387 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 Anna 0 to-read, dystopian-fiction 4.49 2025 Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games)
author: Suzanne Collins
name: Anna
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/15
shelves: to-read, dystopian-fiction
review:

]]> The Last Human 56097700 feel like the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Most days, she's got other things on her mind. Like hiding her identity among the hundreds of alien species roaming the corridors of Watertower Station. Or making sure her adoptive mother doesn't casually eviscerate one of their neighbors. Again.

And most days, she can almost accept that she'll never know the truth--that she'll never know why humanity was deemed too dangerous to exist. Or whether she really is--impossibly--the lone survivor of a species destroyed a millennium ago. That is, until an encounter with a bounty hunter and a miles-long kinetic projectile leaves her life and her perspective shattered.

Thrown into the universe at the helm of a stolen ship--with the dubious assistance of a rebellious spacesuit, an android death enthusiast on his sixtieth lifetime, and a ball of fluff with an IQ in the thousands--Sarya begins to uncover an impossible truth. What if humanity's death and her own existence are simply two moves in a demented cosmic game, one played out by vast alien intellects? Stranger still, what if these mad gods are offering Sarya a seat at their table--and a second chance for humanity?

The Last Human is a sneakily brilliant, gleefully oddball space-opera debut--a masterful play on perspective, intelligence, and free will, wrapped in a rollicking journey through a strange and crowded galaxy.]]> 448 Zack Jordan 0451499824 Anna 0 3.72 2020 The Last Human
author: Zack Jordan
name: Anna
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/15
shelves: science-fiction, currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Слава Империи (Szare Płaszcze #3)]]> 57589007 416 Marcin Guzek 5041175055 Anna 0 slavic-fantasy, to-read 3.52 Слава Империи (Szare Płaszcze #3)
author: Marcin Guzek
name: Anna
average rating: 3.52
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/13
shelves: slavic-fantasy, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Profiler (Fang Mu - Eastern Crimes, #2)]]> 18162513
Three young women are found dead one after another in Jiangbin City, each horribly murdered and disemboweled in her home. Police investigations reveal that the killer is a monster who likes to mix milk together with human blood—and then drink it. Is he some kind of immortal vampire, straight out of legend? A series of four rape and murder cases surface in Changhong City. All of the victims are white-collar workers between the ages of twenty-five and thirty. A graduate student at the top of his class suddenly goes mad and begins attacking his friends and fellow classmates.

After a succession of seemingly unrelated homicides occurring not far from the city, the police are still completely at a loss. A television viewer sends in a letter with a sketch of what he claims is the murderer's face. Intrigued, the chief of the Public Security Bureau seeks out the author of the letter, and to his surprise it is a reticent, anti-social university student—Fang Mu.

After the killer is executed, however, another spate of homicides begins to crop up. Was Fang Mu mistaken? Following deductive reasoning, he realizes that the ultimate victim will be Fang Mu himself. Can he "profile" this monster and discover his true identity before it's too late?]]> 507 Mi Lei Anna 0 4.06 2007 Profiler (Fang Mu - Eastern Crimes, #2)
author: Mi Lei
name: Anna
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/13
shelves: currently-reading, asian-novellas, detectives
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)]]> 7736182 JASON HAS A PROBLEM. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and his best friend is a guy named Leo. They’re all students at the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids," as Leo puts it. What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly? Jason doesn't know anything—except that everything seems very wrong.

PIPER HAS A SECRET. Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out, whether she wants to or not.

LEO HAS A WAY WITH TOOLS. When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who's gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

Join new and old friends from Camp Half-Blood in this thrilling first book in The Heroes of Olympus series. Best-selling author Rick Riordan has pumped up the action, humor, suspense, and mystery in an epic adventure that will leave readers panting for the next installment.]]> 576 Rick Riordan 142311339X Anna 5 rick-riordan 4.27 2010 The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus, #1)
author: Rick Riordan
name: Anna
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2010
rating: 5
read at: 2025/12/25
date added: 2026/01/12
shelves: rick-riordan
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Severed Thread (The Bone Spindle, #2)]]> 53254083 Which threads of fate will hold—and which will break?

Clever, bookish Fi and her brash, ax-wielding partner Shane are back in this action packed sequel to the bestselling The Bone Spindle, the gender-flipped Sleeping Beauty retelling, perfect for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and The Cruel Prince.

Fi has awakened the sleeping prince, but the battle for Andar is far from over. The Spindle Witch, the Witch Hunters, and Fi’s own Butterfly Curse all stand between them and happily ever after.

Shane has her partner’s back. But she’s in for the fight of her life against Red, the right hand of the Spindle Witch who she’s also, foolishly, hellbent on saving.

Briar Rose would do anything to restore his kingdom. But there’s a darkness creeping inside him—a sinister bond to the Spindle Witch he can’t escape.

All hopes of restoring Andar rest on deciphering a mysterious book code, finding the hidden city of the last Witches, and uncovering a secret lost for centuries—one that just might hold the key to the Spindle Witch’s defeat. If they can all survive that long…

Set in a world of twisted fairytales, The Severed Thread combines lost ruins, ride-or-die friendships, and heart-pounding romance.]]> 404 Leslie Vedder 0593325850 Anna 0 to-read, epic-fantasy 4.00 2023 The Severed Thread (The Bone Spindle, #2)
author: Leslie Vedder
name: Anna
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/01/11
shelves: to-read, epic-fantasy
review:

]]> Гонки химер 49504656 352 Алексей Верт 5041021724 Anna 4 epic-fantasy 3.67 Гонки химер
author: Алексей Верт
name: Anna
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/16
date added: 2026/01/11
shelves: epic-fantasy
review:

]]> Корейские мифы (Мифы от и до) 60827800 272 Кёндок Ли Anna 4 audiobooks, non-fiction 3.87 2020 Корейские мифы (Мифы от и до)
author: Кёндок Ли
name: Anna
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/10
date added: 2026/01/11
shelves: audiobooks, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Small Favor (The Dresden Files, #10)]]> 3456594 Librarian's note: This an alternate edition for: 9780451462008

Wizard Harry Dresden’s life finally seems to be calming down. The White Council’s war with the vampiric Red Court is easing up, no one’s tried to kill him lately, and his eager apprentice is starting to learn real magic. For once, the future looks fairly bright.

But the past casts one hell of a long shadow.

Mab, monarch of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, calls in an old favor from Harry. Just one small favor he can’t refuse – one that will trap Harry Dresden between a nightmarish foe and an equally deadly ally and strain his skills and loyalties to their very limits.

And everything was going so well for once….]]> 545 Jim Butcher Anna 4 jim-butcher Death Masks', 'Small Favor' is the only book in the series so far that I had rated only 4* instead of 5*. Interesting enough, both of these books feature the Denarians. See the pattern there? But more about it later.

Harry Dresden has no sympathy at all for Gentleman Johnny Marcone, the city's mafia boss, but he has no choice when Queen Mab of the Winter Court calls in a favor from him. And so Harry has to rescue the kidnapped Marcone – and to do that, he had to find out what the Denarians have to do with it and to avoid the minions of the Summer Court who seem to be more than ready to kill him to stop him. Unlike other Harry Dresden books, I had difficulty feeling the story in this one – the plot seemed weaker than in the others, even though there were enough space left for twists and deathly fights. Only when we were finally able to see the real design behind the Denarians' actions that was so devilish that all that Harry and the Wardens did played right into their hands that the plot does become more intriguing. However, while I came to like the plotline involving the Denarians, it wasn't the same with the one involving the fairies. The Summer Court doesn't get as much attention as the Winter Court, so at first I welcomed the change, but as the Denarian plotline developed the fairy one only grew redundant. In the end, it was explained why Summer and Winter Courts were interested in Johnny Marcone enough to interfere, and while their motivation wasn't as confusing there as in 'Proven Guilty', I still find this subplot distracting, especially since the main plot was much more gripping.

The secondary characters that were brought in focus in the story were not my favourites either with the exception of the Knights of the Cross. Johnny Marcone? I couldn't care less for him. His team? Ms. Gard certainly impressed me with her toughness, and I wouldn't have minded a story about how she came to work for Marcone, but other than that, nothing. Kincaid? He seems too much of a cliché to be interesting. Ivy/the Archive? Now, we are getting to the good parts. I admit that I didn't exactly like the Archive before, partly because we knew so little of her - she had always been kind of 'there' with little explanation as of how her abilities work and why she ever exists. It was hard to get attached to the Archive who is so cold and emotionless and downright creepy due to the misbalance of power she has and her mental state, but in this book I truly began to feel for Ivy, [spoilers removed]

But the title of the best secondary character goes to Sanya, without any doubt. I loved him ever since he appeared in 'Death Masks', and it's a pity that we had to wait so long to see him again. [spoilers removed] What's not to love about that guy? In 'Small Favor', we learn even more about Sanya, his backstory and why he chose the life he leads – and it's as amazing as you would expect. I don't want to reveal too much, but I will say that the fact that Sanya actually went astray and fell, but managed to rise again speaks more about it than anything else. And remember the episode where [spoilers removed]? That was a moment of pure awesomeness for me.

But the best aspect of the book for me was Harry Dresden himself and the regular cast. Harry's character truly shines in this story, and it's especially great to see Harry show some guile. He had always been a cunning character with a penchant for crazy and brilliant plans, but he was prone to repeating the same mistakes, namely him being sensitive to seeing women and children in danger. But now, when the villains try to use his chivalry to manipulate him, he realizes this and plays along to manipulate them and trick them to execute his original plan. Even in the most hopeless situation Harry still manages to turn things into his favor, and it's especially amazing now that the confrontation between the Denarians and the Knights of the Cross was brought to the new level with involvement of higher forces.

I love the relationship Harry shares with his friends and companions, and among them one of the firmest bonds is the one between Harry and the Knights of the Cross. [spoilers removed]

And then there is Thomas. Right, he didn't have such an important role in this book as he did in 'White Night', but I simply love Thomas, and his presence always makes things better. In fact, the only thing that comes close to Harry/Thomas relationship is Harry/Murphy interactions. Murphy is an awesome character, but I don't think that I need to repeat it, since this fact was established a long time ago in the first book. I just love the interactions between Harry and Murphy, especially once Murphy allows her feelings to surface, as opposed to her usual tough and no-nonsense demeanour. It's not often that we see Murphy's sensitive side, and because of that these moments are especially precious. One of the best scenes of the book is the one when [spoilers removed]. Now, I really want Harry and Murphy to get together – heck, I've waited for it to happen since book one! - but I actually wouldn't mind if they don't if they just stay this close to each other.

There is one more thing that I entirely agree with Murphy on - [spoilers removed] is not the right match for Harry. [spoilers removed] ]]> 4.42 2008 Small Favor (The Dresden Files, #10)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Anna
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2016/05/27
date added: 2026/01/09
shelves: jim-butcher
review:
'Dresden Files' is one of my favourite series, but I had a hard time getting into this book. Moreover, together with 'Death Masks', 'Small Favor' is the only book in the series so far that I had rated only 4* instead of 5*. Interesting enough, both of these books feature the Denarians. See the pattern there? But more about it later.

Harry Dresden has no sympathy at all for Gentleman Johnny Marcone, the city's mafia boss, but he has no choice when Queen Mab of the Winter Court calls in a favor from him. And so Harry has to rescue the kidnapped Marcone – and to do that, he had to find out what the Denarians have to do with it and to avoid the minions of the Summer Court who seem to be more than ready to kill him to stop him. Unlike other Harry Dresden books, I had difficulty feeling the story in this one – the plot seemed weaker than in the others, even though there were enough space left for twists and deathly fights. Only when we were finally able to see the real design behind the Denarians' actions that was so devilish that all that Harry and the Wardens did played right into their hands that the plot does become more intriguing. However, while I came to like the plotline involving the Denarians, it wasn't the same with the one involving the fairies. The Summer Court doesn't get as much attention as the Winter Court, so at first I welcomed the change, but as the Denarian plotline developed the fairy one only grew redundant. In the end, it was explained why Summer and Winter Courts were interested in Johnny Marcone enough to interfere, and while their motivation wasn't as confusing there as in 'Proven Guilty', I still find this subplot distracting, especially since the main plot was much more gripping.

The secondary characters that were brought in focus in the story were not my favourites either with the exception of the Knights of the Cross. Johnny Marcone? I couldn't care less for him. His team? Ms. Gard certainly impressed me with her toughness, and I wouldn't have minded a story about how she came to work for Marcone, but other than that, nothing. Kincaid? He seems too much of a cliché to be interesting. Ivy/the Archive? Now, we are getting to the good parts. I admit that I didn't exactly like the Archive before, partly because we knew so little of her - she had always been kind of 'there' with little explanation as of how her abilities work and why she ever exists. It was hard to get attached to the Archive who is so cold and emotionless and downright creepy due to the misbalance of power she has and her mental state, but in this book I truly began to feel for Ivy, [spoilers removed]

But the title of the best secondary character goes to Sanya, without any doubt. I loved him ever since he appeared in 'Death Masks', and it's a pity that we had to wait so long to see him again. [spoilers removed] What's not to love about that guy? In 'Small Favor', we learn even more about Sanya, his backstory and why he chose the life he leads – and it's as amazing as you would expect. I don't want to reveal too much, but I will say that the fact that Sanya actually went astray and fell, but managed to rise again speaks more about it than anything else. And remember the episode where [spoilers removed]? That was a moment of pure awesomeness for me.

But the best aspect of the book for me was Harry Dresden himself and the regular cast. Harry's character truly shines in this story, and it's especially great to see Harry show some guile. He had always been a cunning character with a penchant for crazy and brilliant plans, but he was prone to repeating the same mistakes, namely him being sensitive to seeing women and children in danger. But now, when the villains try to use his chivalry to manipulate him, he realizes this and plays along to manipulate them and trick them to execute his original plan. Even in the most hopeless situation Harry still manages to turn things into his favor, and it's especially amazing now that the confrontation between the Denarians and the Knights of the Cross was brought to the new level with involvement of higher forces.

I love the relationship Harry shares with his friends and companions, and among them one of the firmest bonds is the one between Harry and the Knights of the Cross. [spoilers removed]

And then there is Thomas. Right, he didn't have such an important role in this book as he did in 'White Night', but I simply love Thomas, and his presence always makes things better. In fact, the only thing that comes close to Harry/Thomas relationship is Harry/Murphy interactions. Murphy is an awesome character, but I don't think that I need to repeat it, since this fact was established a long time ago in the first book. I just love the interactions between Harry and Murphy, especially once Murphy allows her feelings to surface, as opposed to her usual tough and no-nonsense demeanour. It's not often that we see Murphy's sensitive side, and because of that these moments are especially precious. One of the best scenes of the book is the one when [spoilers removed]. Now, I really want Harry and Murphy to get together – heck, I've waited for it to happen since book one! - but I actually wouldn't mind if they don't if they just stay this close to each other.

There is one more thing that I entirely agree with Murphy on - [spoilers removed] is not the right match for Harry. [spoilers removed]
]]> Notes from a Dead House 22474925
The inticate procedure whereby the men strip for the bath without removing their ten-pound leg-fetters is an extraordinary tour de force, compared by Turgenev to passages from Dante's Inferno.

Terror and resignation - the rampages of a pyschopath, the brief serence interlude of Christmas Day - are evoked by Dostoevsky, writing several years after his release, with a strikingly uncharacteristic detachment. For this reason, House of the Dead is certainly the least Dostoevskian of his works, yet, paradoxically, it ranks among his great masterpieces.]]> 336 Fyodor Dostoevsky 0307959597 Anna 5 audiobooks, classics 3.96 1862 Notes from a Dead House
author: Fyodor Dostoevsky
name: Anna
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1862
rating: 5
read at: 2025/11/28
date added: 2025/11/28
shelves: audiobooks, classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening]]> 30333227
Collects MONSTRESS #1-6]]> 208 Marjorie M. Liu Anna 5 comics, epic-fantasy 3.97 2016 Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening
author: Marjorie M. Liu
name: Anna
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2025/11/23
date added: 2025/11/23
shelves: comics, epic-fantasy
review:

]]> Copper Coins [铜钱龛世 ] 58594017
The monk’s monastic title was Xuan Min, his memories all missing, yet was versed in the arts of Feng Shui Kan Yu. On the very first day arriving in Ningyang, he did not hesitate to take care of a dangerous manor, picking up Xue Xian, who was hidden there, along the way.

Since then, Xue Xian – who had been all-powerful in the first half of his life – gained a new life pursuit: to get this baldy who had only a good outer appearance to take his last breath and “smile from his grave”.

Xue Xian: If you are unhappy, then I will be happy. If you die, I’ll laugh my ass off.

Xuan Min: …]]> 788 Mu Su Li Anna 0 3.45 2016 Copper Coins [铜钱龛世 ]
author: Mu Su Li
name: Anna
average rating: 3.45
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/11/23
shelves: to-read, asian-novellas, epic-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Смерть мужьям (Родион Ванзаров, #1)]]> 202502625
Самый первый роман цикла о Родионе Ванзарове и Лебедеве! Самое начало приключений и расследований юного сыщика и опытного криминалиста.]]> 384 Антон Чиж 5041040869 Anna 3 3.00 2010 Смерть мужьям (Родион Ванзаров, #1)
author: Антон Чиж
name: Anna
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2010
rating: 3
read at: 2025/11/23
date added: 2025/11/23
shelves: audiobooks, historical-fiction, detectives
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Trickster's Choice (Daughter of the Lioness, #1)]]> 36547463
After a furious argument Aly runs away, with disastrous consequences. Captured and sold as a slave in the Copper Isles, she discovers that this whole nightmare has not come about by chance - the Trickster God, Kyprioth, has plans for her...]]> 448 Tamora Pierce Anna 3 tortall-series 4.32 2003 Trickster's Choice (Daughter of the Lioness, #1)
author: Tamora Pierce
name: Anna
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2003
rating: 3
read at: 2025/11/23
date added: 2025/11/23
shelves: tortall-series
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Evenings Near the Village of Dikanka]]> 10339848
"Evenings" stories:
- The Fair at Sorochintsï
- St John's Eve
- May Night, or the Drowned Maiden
- The Lost Letter: A Tale Told by the Sexton of the N...Church
- Christmas Eve
- A Terrible Vengeance
- Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt
- A Bewitched Place.]]> 277 Nikolai Gogol Anna 5 classics 4.08 1832 Evenings Near the Village of Dikanka
author: Nikolai Gogol
name: Anna
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1832
rating: 5
read at: 2004/01/01
date added: 2025/10/07
shelves: classics
review:

]]> The Road With No Return 50028315
In the heart of the Amell mountains, in the pass of Klamat, lives a monstrosity which terrorizes the surrounding villages: the Kotchei. Visenna, druidess of the Circle of Mayen and magician, is the only one who can defeat this dreadful creature. On the way, she helps Korin, a fearless warrior who ends up accompanying him on his mission. Together, they venture on a perilous road, a road from which no one ever returns.

In this new novel, discover the meeting between Visenna, Geralt's mother, and Korin, whom some believe to be the father of the witcher.]]> 43 Andrzej Sapkowski Anna 4 the-witcher
However, Visenna and Korin really stood out as their own characters for me, with their own distinct voices and personalities. They seem to be very different people at first, a sorceress that can raise the dead just as well as she can heal and a rough warrior fighting for money and the excitement of battle, but in the end, they are both lonely people brought together by the road. Korin appears to be a more flawed character, as he admits himself that he’s not a noble knight, but a mercenary who doesn’t care much about common people – yet he’s also the one who gave his last meal to a total stranger and then risked his life for Visenna. Compared to him, Visenna is a more noble person, and even though the villain implies that she has interior motives for helping the villagers, it’s clear that she sincerely cares about people and not the rewards. However, Visenna has a harsh side as well to balance her softness, and that makes her a pleasant character to follow.

The main plotline of the story itself wasn’t complicated, but it was pretty engaging, and should I mention the atmosphere? The story’s beginning is marked with the crossing of four roads with the direction sign that says, ‘You that comes from the west; if you go forward, you will not return’, as well as a murderous old witch and rumors of a monstrous Kaschei guarding the mountain pass ahead. All of that reminds me so much of classical Russian folk tales, and it gives me all the feels. [spoilers removed]

So, what is my final verdict after reading ‘The Road With No Return’? Did it awe me like ‘Grain of Truth’ or ‘Lesser Evil’? Nope. Did it contribute significantly to the history and worldbuilding of the series? Not exactly. However, it was a solid story that stood out on its own merit, having vivid characters in Visenna and Korin, as well as believable chemistry between them and exciting action, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.]]> 3.53 The Road With No Return
author: Andrzej Sapkowski
name: Anna
average rating: 3.53
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2020/11/16
date added: 2025/09/01
shelves: the-witcher
review:
Much to my surprise, I discovered this short story in an old anthology collection in my home library, and this find made me both excited and skeptical. I love ‘The Witcher’ series, so I was excited to read one more story set in Geralt’s world, but at the same time I was wary. After all, Geralt isn’t defined by the identity of his mother or father, and he made his own story, so I didn’t think that the prequel about his parents was really necessary.

However, Visenna and Korin really stood out as their own characters for me, with their own distinct voices and personalities. They seem to be very different people at first, a sorceress that can raise the dead just as well as she can heal and a rough warrior fighting for money and the excitement of battle, but in the end, they are both lonely people brought together by the road. Korin appears to be a more flawed character, as he admits himself that he’s not a noble knight, but a mercenary who doesn’t care much about common people – yet he’s also the one who gave his last meal to a total stranger and then risked his life for Visenna. Compared to him, Visenna is a more noble person, and even though the villain implies that she has interior motives for helping the villagers, it’s clear that she sincerely cares about people and not the rewards. However, Visenna has a harsh side as well to balance her softness, and that makes her a pleasant character to follow.

The main plotline of the story itself wasn’t complicated, but it was pretty engaging, and should I mention the atmosphere? The story’s beginning is marked with the crossing of four roads with the direction sign that says, ‘You that comes from the west; if you go forward, you will not return’, as well as a murderous old witch and rumors of a monstrous Kaschei guarding the mountain pass ahead. All of that reminds me so much of classical Russian folk tales, and it gives me all the feels. [spoilers removed]

So, what is my final verdict after reading ‘The Road With No Return’? Did it awe me like ‘Grain of Truth’ or ‘Lesser Evil’? Nope. Did it contribute significantly to the history and worldbuilding of the series? Not exactly. However, it was a solid story that stood out on its own merit, having vivid characters in Visenna and Korin, as well as believable chemistry between them and exciting action, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
]]> Love of Life (Single Story) 14625706 A unique annotated edition of Love of Life by Jack London
Published by Mychkine Editions as part of the Will, Wilderness & Revolution series.

🖋️ A brand-new critical introduction on London’s life, survival themes, and literary style

🔍 7+ pages of original philosophy, symbolism, and existential parallels

🐺 An in-depth look at the dying wolf as a mirror of human instinct and fear

🎓 A complete study timeline, glossary, discussion questions, and FAQ

📚 Curated suggestions for further reading across London’s most impactful works

Perfect for students, lovers of naturalist fiction, and readers drawn to tales of raw endurance and inner strength.


❄️ About the Step into the frozen wilderness of the Canadian Arctic with Love of Life — Jack London’s most harrowing and poetic tale of survival. First published in 1907, this story strips existence to its rawest form.

A nameless man, abandoned and starving, crawls across a desolate landscape pursued by pain, madness — and a dying wolf.

More than a tale of adventure, Love of Life is a stark fable

❄️ Nature’s indifference
🔥 The flickering power of hope
🐺 The shifting line between predator and prey
💀 The life-or-death struggle for meaning and humanity


✅ Why this story still grips readers 🌍 Unflinching realism – London’s unmatched ability to portray the cruelty and beauty of the wild
💪 Universal theme – The will to survive, no matter the cost
📖 A literary triumph – Taut, brutal, symbolic — and timeless
🎒 Essential reading – For fans of naturalism, existentialism, and high-stakes fiction
👤 Pure London – Brutal, vivid, unforgettable

📚 Part of the Jack Will, Wilderness & Revolution series
💡 Explore more tinyurl.com/Mychkine-Editions
🎧 Also “Jack The Man Who Lived What He Wrote” – podcast & audio documentary

👉 Support independent publishing. Rediscover the classics with vision and voice.]]> 32 Jack London Anna 0 to-read, classics 3.87 Love of Life (Single Story)
author: Jack London
name: Anna
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/08/30
shelves: to-read, classics
review:

]]> Dracula 10483223 399 Bram Stoker 1435129733 Anna 5 classics, audiobooks 3.96 1897 Dracula
author: Bram Stoker
name: Anna
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1897
rating: 5
read at: 2025/08/04
date added: 2025/08/04
shelves: classics, audiobooks
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Devil Venerable Also Wants To Know]]> 59066963
Readers: Why doesn’t the female lead like the Devil Venerable?!

Devil Venerable: This Venerable also wants to know. But what I really want to know is why I even like the female lead at all.

In order to understand why the female lead wasn’t attracted to him, the self-conscious Devil Venerable brutally interrogated the entire cast of characters from the novel.

Background characters: I have so many things I want to say but I don’t dare to say it to his face!

–

After obtaining the book, the Devil Venerable discovered that the book described the world he lived in. This book said that after he sacrificed himself for the female lead, the fourth male lead, his silent and loyal subordinate Yin Hanjiang, blackened and attempted to kill her as a sacrificial offering for his lord.

Devil Venerable Wenren E: Yin Hanjiang, this Venerable wants to know why you wanted to kill the female lead.

Yin Hanjiang was silent.

Wenren E: If you refuse to speak, this Venerable will cut out your tongue and drink it with alcohol!

Yin Hanjiang: …

Wenren E: What the hell are you blushing for?!]]> 721 Cyan Wings Anna 0 4.30 2019 Devil Venerable Also Wants To Know
author: Cyan Wings
name: Anna
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/22
shelves: to-read, asian-novellas, epic-fantasy
review:

]]> Faraway Wanderers [天涯客] 58088122 585 Priest Anna 0 4.16 Faraway Wanderers [天涯客]
author: Priest
name: Anna
average rating: 4.16
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/22
shelves: to-read, epic-fantasy, asian-novellas
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Silent Reading (I) (默读 Series, #1)]]> 228568350
We keep reviewing and seeking out the motives of criminals, exploring the subtlest emotions driving them. It’s not to put ourselves in their shoes and sympathize, or even forgive them; it’s not to find some reasons to exculpate their crimes; it’s not to kneel down before the so-called “complexity of human nature”; nor to introspect social conflicts, much less to alienate ourselves into monsters.

We just want to have a fair trial – for ourselves and for those who still have hope for the world.]]> 606 Priest Anna 0 4.45 Silent Reading (I) (默读 Series, #1)
author: Priest
name: Anna
average rating: 4.45
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/22
shelves: to-read, detectives, asian-novellas
review:

]]> <![CDATA[烈火浇愁 [Lie Huo Jiao Chou] Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire]]> 50281149
Sheng Lingyuan has long been dead since he jumped into the fiery abyss of Chiyuan, that is, until he’s “woken up” by some unknown force three thousand years later.

Xuan Ji is the newly appointed director of the Reparations Department of the Deviant Control Office, designated to offer aftercare services and clean up the mess whenever supernatural occurrences happen.

The two are brought together by a freak event, and thousand years worth of conspiracy and careful planning begin to unfold before them.]]> 1800 Priest Anna 0 4.35 2018 烈火浇愁 [Lie Huo Jiao Chou] Drowning Sorrows in Raging Fire
author: Priest
name: Anna
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/07/22
shelves: currently-reading, urban-fantasy, asian-novellas
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Murder is Announced (Miss Marple, #5)]]> 31308 382 Agatha Christie 0007120966 Anna 5 audiobooks, agatha-christie 3.93 1950 A Murder is Announced (Miss Marple, #5)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Anna
average rating: 3.93
book published: 1950
rating: 5
read at: 2025/07/21
date added: 2025/07/21
shelves: audiobooks, agatha-christie
review:

]]> Светлая личность 229756690 Ilya Ilf Anna 4 audiobooks, classics 4.00 1928 Светлая личность
author: Ilya Ilf
name: Anna
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1928
rating: 4
read at: 2025/07/14
date added: 2025/07/14
shelves: audiobooks, classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Headless Horseman: A Strange Tale of Texas Legend]]> 15899029
Set in nineteenth-century Texas, The Headless Horseman tells the story of Louise Poindexter, who is a newcomer to town. Courted by Cassius Calhoun and Maurice Gerald, Louise finds that her life takes a turn when her brother, Henry Poindexter, is found murdered. The tale twists further when it is reported that a headless horseman has been seen on the Poindexter plantation. In this classic tale, Mayne Reid takes readers on an incredible journey to discover the killer of Henry Poindexter and solve the mystery of the Headless Horseman.]]> 528 Thomas Mayne Reid 1620874687 Anna 4 4.15 1865 The Headless Horseman: A Strange Tale of Texas Legend
author: Thomas Mayne Reid
name: Anna
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1865
rating: 4
read at: 2025/07/14
date added: 2025/07/14
shelves: classics, audiobooks, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Around the World in 50 Years: My Adventure to Every Country on Earth]]> 25206557
After that-although it took him forty-seven more years-Albert Podell set another record by going to every country on Earth. He achieved this by surviving riots, revolutions, civil wars, trigger-happy child soldiers, voodoo priests, robbers, pickpockets, corrupt cops, and Cape buffalo. He went around, under, or through every kind of earthquake, cyclone, tsunami, volcanic eruption, snowstorm, and sandstorm that nature threw at him. He ate everything from old camel meat and rats to dung beetles and the brain of a live monkey. And he overcame attacks by crocodiles, hippos, anacondas, giant leeches, flying crabs-and several beautiful girlfriends who insisted that he stop this nonsense and marry them.

Albert Podell's Around the World in 50 Years is a remarkable and meaningful tale of quiet courage, dogged persistence, undying determination, and an uncanny ability to extricate himself from one perilous situation after another-and return with some of the most memorable, frightening, and hilarious adventure stories you have ever read.]]> 370 Albert Podell 1466852933 Anna 2 audiobooks, non-fiction 3.82 2015 Around the World in 50 Years: My Adventure to Every Country on Earth
author: Albert Podell
name: Anna
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2025/07/03
date added: 2025/07/03
shelves: audiobooks, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #2)]]> 39108567 Among Arthur's motley shipmates are Ford Prefect, a longtime friend and expert contributor to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the three-armed, two-headed ex-president of the galaxy; Tricia McMillan, a fellow Earth refugee who's gone native (her name is Trillian now); and Marvin, the moody android who suffers nothing and no one very gladly. Their destination? The ultimate hot spot for an evening of apocalyptic entertainment and fine dining, where the food (literally) speaks for itself.
Will they make it? The answer: hard to say. But bear in mind that the Hitchhiker's Guide deleted the term "Future Perfect" from its pages, since it was discovered not to be!]]> 255 Douglas Adams Anna 3 science-fiction 4.17 1980 The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #2)
author: Douglas Adams
name: Anna
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1980
rating: 3
read at: 2025/06/25
date added: 2025/06/25
shelves: science-fiction
review:

]]> The Chosen and the Beautiful 54102719 Immigrant. Socialite. Magician.

Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society―she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. She’s also queer, Asian, adopted, and treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.

But the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man. She just has to learn how.

Nghi Vo’s debut novel reinvents this classic of the American canon as a coming-of-age story full of magic, mystery, and glittering excess, and introduces a major new literary voice.]]> 272 Nghi Vo Anna 1 audiobooks, historian-fantasy 3.67 2021 The Chosen and the Beautiful
author: Nghi Vo
name: Anna
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 1
read at: 2025/06/04
date added: 2025/06/04
shelves: audiobooks, historian-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)]]> 55660039 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780345418913


Seconds before Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor.

Together, this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by a galaxyful of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox--the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian (formerly Tricia McMillan), Zaphod's girlfriend, whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; and Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he's bought over the years.

Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? For all the answers, stick your thumb to the stars!]]> 215 Douglas Adams Anna 4 science-fiction 4.07 1979 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)
author: Douglas Adams
name: Anna
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1979
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/16
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: science-fiction
review:

]]> The Twelve Chairs 19455426 395 Ilya Ilf Anna 5 audiobooks, classics 4.00 1928 The Twelve Chairs
author: Ilya Ilf
name: Anna
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1928
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/16
date added: 2025/04/16
shelves: audiobooks, classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog (Sister Pelagia Mysteries, #1)]]> 64550 Excellent Book 273 Boris Akunin 0812975138 Anna 5 3.73 2000 Sister Pelagia and the White Bulldog (Sister Pelagia Mysteries, #1)
author: Boris Akunin
name: Anna
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/11
date added: 2025/03/11
shelves: detectives, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Дальний Восток: иероглиф пространства. Уроки географии и демографии]]> 58702660
На все эти вопросы пытается ответить писатель и журналист Василий Авченко, обращаясь к тем, кто торил первые тропы, осваивал и отстаивал, жил на Дальнем Востоке.

Это не учебник истории и не краеведение. Скорее – геолирика, попытка расшифровать иероглиф пространства, понять феномен территории и человека, живущего на ней.]]> 440 Vasily Avchenko 5171327416 Anna 5 audiobooks, non-fiction 3.38 Дальний Восток: иероглиф пространства. Уроки географии и демографии
author: Vasily Avchenko
name: Anna
average rating: 3.38
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/08
shelves: audiobooks, non-fiction
review:

]]> Lirika 96715300 352 Bulat Okudzhava 5699967389 Anna 4 classics 4.00 Lirika
author: Bulat Okudzhava
name: Anna
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/11
date added: 2025/02/11
shelves: classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)]]> 61219635 A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes.

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

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

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

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.


9781250886088
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781250886088.]]> 294 Travis Baldree Anna 0 wish-list, epic-fantasy 4.14 2022 Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)
author: Travis Baldree
name: Anna
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: wish-list, epic-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #5)]]> 6706721
Chaos is coming, old son.

With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. As families prepare to head back to the city and children say goodbye to summer, a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store. Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets buried in the wilderness.
 
No one admits to knowing the murdered man, but as secrets are revealed, chaos begins to close in on the beloved bistro owner, Olivier. How did he make such a spectacular success of his business? What past did he leave behind and why has he buried himself in this tiny village? And why does every lead in the investigation find its way back to him?

As Olivier grows more frantic, a trail of clues and treasures— from first editions of Charlotte’s Web and Jane Eyre to a spider web with the word “WOE” woven in it—lead the Chief Inspector deep into the woods and across the continent in search of the truth, and finally back to Three Pines as the little village braces for the truth and the final, brutal telling.
]]> 384 Louise Penny 0755341031 Anna 2 audiobooks, detectives 3.95 2009 The Brutal Telling (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #5)
author: Louise Penny
name: Anna
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2025/02/04
date added: 2025/02/04
shelves: audiobooks, detectives
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Postscript (P.S. I Love You, #2)]]> 44358774
Wanneer Holly Kennedy wordt benaderd door de P.S. I Love You Club wordt haar rustige leven op zijn kop gezet. Geïnspireerd door de brieven van Holly's overleden man wil de club dat Holly hen helpt met het schrijven van hun eigen afscheidsbrieven.
Als Holly één ding niet wil, is het teruggaan naar het verdriet van toen. Nu, zeven jaar later, wil ze juist vooruitkijken. Maar Holly leert leden van de club toch kennen en ze beseft dat wanneer je van iemand houdt, er altijd nog iets te zeggen valt...]]> 362 Cecelia Ahern 0008194882 Anna 2 audiobooks, romance 4.01 2019 Postscript (P.S. I Love You, #2)
author: Cecelia Ahern
name: Anna
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2025/01/13
shelves: audiobooks, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Мы можем жить среди людей (Живые, #1)]]> 27801803 416 Варвара Еналь 5353076028 Anna 4 audiobooks, dystopian-fiction 4.21 Мы можем жить среди людей (Живые, #1)
author: Варвара Еналь
name: Anna
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves: audiobooks, dystopian-fiction
review:

]]> Sister Carrie 644146
Sister Carrie brought American literature into the twentieth century. This volume, which reprints the text Dreiser approved for publication during his lifetime and includes a special appendix discussing his earlier, unedited manuscript, is the original standard edition of one of the great masterpieces of literary realism.]]> 409 Theodore Dreiser 0553213741 Anna 4 audiobooks, classics 3.50 1900 Sister Carrie
author: Theodore Dreiser
name: Anna
average rating: 3.50
book published: 1900
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2024/12/17
shelves: audiobooks, classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Skull Throne (The Demon Cycle, #4)]]> 26117949
Built from the skulls of fallen generals and demon princes, it is a seat of honor and ancient, powerful magic, keeping the demon corelings at bay. From atop the throne, Ahmann Jardir was meant to conquer the known world, forging its isolated peoples into a unified army to rise up and end the demon war once and for all.

But Arlen Bales, the Warded Man, stood against this course, challenging Jardir to a duel he could not in honor refuse. Rather than risk defeat, Arlen cast them both from a precipice, leaving the world without a savior, and opening a struggle for succession that threatens to tear the Free Cities of Thesa apart.

In the south, Inevera, Jardir’s first wife, must find a way to keep their sons from killing each other and plunging their people into civil war as they strive for glory enough to make a claim on the throne.

In the north, Leesha Paper and Rojer Inn struggle to forge an alliance between the duchies of Angiers and Miln against the Krasians before it is too late.

Caught in the crossfire is the duchy of Lakton--rich and unprotected, ripe for conquest.

All the while, the corelings have been growing stronger, and without Arlen and Jardir there may be none strong enough to stop them. Only Renna Bales may know more about the fate of the missing men, but she, too, has disappeared...]]> 640 Peter V. Brett 0345531493 Anna 5 epic-fantasy 4.06 2015 The Skull Throne (The Demon Cycle, #4)
author: Peter V. Brett
name: Anna
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: epic-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[At Bertram's Hotel (Miss Marple, #10)]]> 16333
When Miss Marple comes up from the country for a holiday in London, she finds what she's looking for at Bertram's: traditional décor and impeccable service. But she senses an unmistakable atmosphere of danger behind the highly polished veneer. Not even Miss Marple can foresee the violent chain of events set in motion when an eccentric hotel guest makes his way to the airport one day late!

Librarian's note: this entry is for the novel, "At Bertram's Hotel." Collections and other Miss Marple stories are located elsewhere on Goodreads. The series includes 12 novels and 20 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching Goodreads for: "a Miss Marple Short Story."]]> 223 Agatha Christie Anna 3 agatha-christie 3.72 1965 At Bertram's Hotel (Miss Marple, #10)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Anna
average rating: 3.72
book published: 1965
rating: 3
read at: 2012/11/28
date added: 2024/11/28
shelves: agatha-christie
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7)]]> 477732
Luckily, however, he's not alone. Although most people don't believe in magic, the Chicago P.D. has a Special Investigations department, headed by his good friend Karrin Murphy. They deal with the . . . stranger cases. It's down to Karrin that Harry sneaks into Graceland Cemetery to meet a vampire named Mavra. Mavra has evidence that would destroy Karrin's career, and her demands are simple. She wants the Word of Kemmler - and all the power that comes with it. But first, Harry's keen to know what he'd be handing over. Before long he's racing against time, and six necromancers, to get the Word. And to prevent a Halloween that would truly wake the dead.

Magic - it can get a guy killed.]]> 396 Jim Butcher 0451460278 Anna 5 jim-butcher 4.35 2005 Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, #7)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Anna
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2005
rating: 5
read at: 2014/06/11
date added: 2024/11/24
shelves: jim-butcher
review:

]]> Anna Karenina 53679417 1297 Leo Tolstoy Anna 0 to-read, classics 4.43 1878 Anna Karenina
author: Leo Tolstoy
name: Anna
average rating: 4.43
book published: 1878
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/23
shelves: to-read, classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Lords and Ladies (Discworld, #14)]]> 20494131
It's Midsummer Night - no time for dreaming. Because sometimes, when there's more than one reality at play, too much dreaming can make the walls between them come tumbling down. Unfortunately there's usually a damned good reason for there being walls between them in the first place - to keep things out. Things who want to make mischief and play havoc with the natural order.

Granny Weatherwax and her tiny coven are up against real elves. And even in a world of dwarfs, wizards, trolls, Morris dancers and the odd orang-utan, this is going to cause real trouble. With lots of hey-nonny-nonny and blood all over the place.]]> 327 Terry Pratchett 147320027X Anna 5 discworld 4.34 1992 Lords and Ladies (Discworld, #14)
author: Terry Pratchett
name: Anna
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1992
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/17
date added: 2024/11/17
shelves: discworld
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Красная Фурия. Том 1. В поисках Грааля. Книга 1 (Красная Фурия, #1)]]> 49517801
Рыжеволосой красотке открывают тайну. Существует древнее пророчество об «орудиях страстей Христовых»: если Меч Святого Петра, Копьё Лонгина и Святой Грааль будут собраны воедино, их обладатель получит вечную власть над миром! Величайшие правители лелеяли надежду на то, что именно им выпадет честь собрать полный «комплект». Зачастую их желание заполучить реликвии и приводило к кровопролитным войнам. Ближе всех к осуществлению заветной мечты подобрался Адольф Гитлер — он нашёл Чашу, добыл Меч, но не смог отбить Копьё у СССР и проиграл во Второй Мировой. Незадолго до капитуляции Германии Святой Грааль был надёжно спрятан по личному указанию фюрера. Великий диктатор надеялся, что его преемники отыщут артефакт и отомстят за все неудачи германской нации, но Чашу так и не нашли, и всё это время о ней ничего не было слышно... До этого самого момента!

Ника, получившая от коллег прозвище «Красная Фурия», приступает к самому увлекательному и опасному событию в своей жизни — поискам Святого Грааля...

Выпуски с 1 по 7. Переиздание с новой обложкой.]]> 232 Артем Габрелянов 5990650671 Anna 0 to-read, comics 4.00 2014 Красная Фурия. Том 1. В поисках Грааля. Книга 1 (Красная Фурия, #1)
author: Артем Габрелянов
name: Anna
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/11
shelves: to-read, comics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[С ума сойти! Путеводитель по психическим расстройствам для жителя большого города]]> 61115566
Перед вами новое, дополненное издание бестселлера Дарьи Варламовой и Антона Зайниева. С проблемой ментальных расстройств авторы знакомы не понаслышке. Оба столкнулись с клинической депрессией и нехваткой адекватной информации об этом. Они перерыли ворох научных публикаций, поговорили со специалистами и в итоге написали книгу, получившую премию «Просветитель» и заслужившую большую популярность среди российских читателей.

В новом издании книги авторы добавили информацию о свежих исследованиях и передовых методах лечения психических заболеваний, а также комментарии научного редактора. А еще написали отдельную главу про обсессивно-компульсивное расстройство. Так что из книги по-прежнему можно получить самые актуальные знания про расстройства психики, которые помогут не сойти с ума.]]> 376 Daria Varlamova Anna 5 audiobooks, non-fiction 4.80 2016 С ума сойти! Путеводитель по психическим расстройствам для жителя большого города
author: Daria Varlamova
name: Anna
average rating: 4.80
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/10
date added: 2024/11/10
shelves: audiobooks, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Doctor Who: Heroes and Monsters Collection]]> 25361906 334 Justin Richards 1405922680 Anna 2 science-fiction 3.75 2015 Doctor Who: Heroes and Monsters Collection
author: Justin Richards
name: Anna
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/29
date added: 2024/10/29
shelves: science-fiction
review:

]]> The Goblin Emperor 43797446 Even on the throne, you're only as good as your wits—or your heart.

Maia, the youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor, has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it.

But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident”, he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Surrounded by sycophants and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the spectre of the unknown conspirators, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor.

Vividly imagined fantasy of court intrigue and dark magics…nominated for the Nebula and Hugo awards, and a world fantasy award finalist, Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor is not to be missed!]]> 480 Katherine Addison 178108730X Anna 0 epic-fantasy, to-read 4.13 2014 The Goblin Emperor
author: Katherine Addison
name: Anna
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves: epic-fantasy, to-read
review:

]]> Молчание костей 58956880
1800 год, Чосон.
Шестнадцатилетняя сирота Соль поступает на работу в полицейское ведомство, где становится ассистенткой молодого инспектора Хана. Девушка участвует в расследовании громкого убийства юной аристократки.

Погружаясь в пучину секретов жертвы, Соль и Хан постепенно сближаются. Но неожиданно для всех именно инспектор становится главным подозреваемым в этом запутанном деле…

Соль оказывается в трудной ситуации: возможно, только она способна раскрыть это ужасающее преступление. Удастся ли девушке отыскать убийцу, если никто вокруг не в силах помочь ей?]]> 384 June Hur 5041206945 Anna 5 3.95 2020 Молчание костей
author: June Hur
name: Anna
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/23
date added: 2024/10/23
shelves: audiobooks, detectives, historical-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Имеющий уши, да услышит (По следам громких дел. Детективы Т. Степановой) (Russian Edition)]]> 210263231
Он. Евграф Комаровский — граф, генерал-адъютант Александра I, дуэлянт, жандарм и, как ни парадоксально, тоже писатель, автор знаменитых исторических «Записок».

Детектив. 1826 год. Клер Клермонт и Евграф Комаровский становятся соратниками в расследовании серии ужасных преступлений. В поместье Иславское зверски убита семья — судейский чиновник, его юная дочь и служанка. И это лишь звено в цепи кровавых событий, потрясших Одинцовский уезд много лет назад, связанных с именем того, кого крестьяне называют Темным. Стараясь раскрыть мрачные мистические тайны прошлого и жестокие убийства, подвергаясь опасности, рискуя и не отступая, они проходят свой путь навстречу истине. Два харизматичных антагониста, два абсолютных антипода, которых тянет силой вспыхнувших чувств друг к другу...]]> 492 Татьяна Степанова 5041610460 Anna 5 3.75 Имеющий уши, да услышит (По следам громких дел. Детективы Т. Степановой) (Russian Edition)
author: Татьяна Степанова
name: Anna
average rating: 3.75
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/19
date added: 2024/10/19
shelves: detectives, historical-fiction
review:

]]> Оттенки серого 216703072 480 Jasper Fforde 5041689067 Anna 0 4.75 2009 Оттенки серого
author: Jasper Fforde
name: Anna
average rating: 4.75
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves: to-read, audiobooks, dystopian-fiction
review:

]]> Триптих 197942387 Секундочку... Но ведь наша история совсем не об этом. Вернее, об этом, но начинать её нужно совсем с другого конца.
Всем героям полагается спокойно идти себе по своим сюжетным линиям, послушно следуя велению судьбы и иногда подсказкам Редактора. Только вот судьба имеет обыкновение подбрасывать совсем уж неожиданные сюрпризы и затягиваться вокруг петлёй событий, которые могут объединить даже самых разных персонажей, когда на горизонте появится сильный
и неуязвимый общий враг — само время...
Новый масштабный кроссовер возвращает на шахматную доску истории значимые фигуры вселенной комиксов BUBBLE, сталкивает их друг с другом и ставит на кон вопрос о том, как, объединив силы, спасти весь мир от новой неведомой угрозы. Вам кажется, что такое уже было? Ничего страшного, это всего лишь дежавю, явление крайне частое...]]> 144 Алексей Замский 5907726172 Anna 0 to-read, comics 2.67 2023 Триптих
author: Алексей Замский
name: Anna
average rating: 2.67
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/11
shelves: to-read, comics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Moonlight Statue (The Hounds of Penhallow Hall #1)]]> 36109070 For Polly, moving to Penhallow Hall is the fresh start she’s been longing for since the death of her father. Her mum has got a job managing the stately home and once the last of the visitors leave for the day the place is all theirs! One night, Polly sleepwalks into the garden and wakes to find her hand on the head of one of the stone dogs that guard the steps down to the lawn. Then she feels him lick her cheek! The dog introduces himself as Rex, an Irish Wolfhound who lived at Penhallow many hundreds of years earlier. And he is not the only resident ghost – Polly has also glimpsed a strange boy around the place. With Rex’s help she finds herself unravelling the story of his beloved master, William Penhallow, who was killed in the First World War aged only 17.

]]> 137 Holly Webb 184715848X Anna 2 animals, middle-grade
In the very first chapter we learn that Polly’s father had died in a car crash, so she tries to find a way to cope with his sudden death. The move into the Penhallow Hall, where her mother is going to work, is both a blessing for Polly, as it takes her away from their old home and so many memories, and a challenge, as she adapts to her new surroundings. Moreover, Polly is the only child in Penhallow, so she feels very lonely, and sadness and desire to find a friend is what mostly defines her.

Then things begin to get more and more mysterious – there are strange footsteps heard in the empty rooms and a statue disappears from its dais. And when Polly meets Rex, the statue of a dog that can come to life, it’s not even the most extraordinary event in the estate, because it seems that there’s a real ghost in the house. Since this is a story aimed at younger readers, the plot isn’t very complicated, though it was entertaining to investigate the mysteries at Penhallow together with Polly and Rex, and the characters were likable enough. It’s impossible not to fall in love with the spirit hounds; Rex is just a huge playful puppy both in attitude and behavior, but it’s Magnus, another living statue, that became my favourite. Magnus appears to be gruff and grumpy, but he is actually a gentle giant who’s very devoted to his friends, and I just love such characters.

That being said, the book is not without a fault. [spoilers removed] I suppose that some of these threads were left undisclosed so they could be picked up in the sequel, but as a result, the first book feels unfinished and can’t well stand on its own. There are both inner challenges, like Polly accepting the changes in her life, as well as outer conflicts, like the discovery of the truth of William’s story, but they aren’t monumental enough to stand out as the main conflict, so the final feels inconsistent, as if it had lost its focus.]]> 4.05 2017 The Moonlight Statue (The Hounds of Penhallow Hall #1)
author: Holly Webb
name: Anna
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2022/09/17
date added: 2024/10/08
shelves: animals, middle-grade
review:
I picked this book expecting a light-hearted story about a magical dog. I certainly didn’t expect to be kicked right in the feels with heavier topics of grief and loneliness and striving to belong!

In the very first chapter we learn that Polly’s father had died in a car crash, so she tries to find a way to cope with his sudden death. The move into the Penhallow Hall, where her mother is going to work, is both a blessing for Polly, as it takes her away from their old home and so many memories, and a challenge, as she adapts to her new surroundings. Moreover, Polly is the only child in Penhallow, so she feels very lonely, and sadness and desire to find a friend is what mostly defines her.

Then things begin to get more and more mysterious – there are strange footsteps heard in the empty rooms and a statue disappears from its dais. And when Polly meets Rex, the statue of a dog that can come to life, it’s not even the most extraordinary event in the estate, because it seems that there’s a real ghost in the house. Since this is a story aimed at younger readers, the plot isn’t very complicated, though it was entertaining to investigate the mysteries at Penhallow together with Polly and Rex, and the characters were likable enough. It’s impossible not to fall in love with the spirit hounds; Rex is just a huge playful puppy both in attitude and behavior, but it’s Magnus, another living statue, that became my favourite. Magnus appears to be gruff and grumpy, but he is actually a gentle giant who’s very devoted to his friends, and I just love such characters.

That being said, the book is not without a fault. [spoilers removed] I suppose that some of these threads were left undisclosed so they could be picked up in the sequel, but as a result, the first book feels unfinished and can’t well stand on its own. There are both inner challenges, like Polly accepting the changes in her life, as well as outer conflicts, like the discovery of the truth of William’s story, but they aren’t monumental enough to stand out as the main conflict, so the final feels inconsistent, as if it had lost its focus.
]]> <![CDATA[Strange Jest: a Miss Marple Short Story (Miss Marple #SS 15)]]> 13621864
Our careful observer of human nature knows that an examination of the scene is needed. Invited to Ansteys, the couple's ransacked family seat, Miss Marple ensconces herself in a household that has perhaps been too thoroughly investigated. She regales its members with what appear to be meaningless, infuriating anecdotes. Little do the others know their importance and where they will lead!

Librarian's note: this entry relates to the short story, Strange Jest. Collections and the other stories by the author are located elsewhere on Goodreads. The Miss Marple series includes twelve novels and 20 short stories. Entries for each of the short stories can be found by searching Goodreads for: a Miss Marple Short Story.]]> 28 Agatha Christie 0062129686 Anna 3 agatha-christie 3.57 1941 Strange Jest: a Miss Marple Short Story (Miss Marple #SS 15)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Anna
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1941
rating: 3
read at: 2015/08/20
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: agatha-christie
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Golden Tree (Guardians of Ga'Hoole, #12)]]> 8726157 166 Kathryn Lasky 0545283434 Anna 5 kathryn-lasky 4.32 2007 The Golden Tree (Guardians of Ga'Hoole, #12)
author: Kathryn Lasky
name: Anna
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2007
rating: 5
read at: 2011/02/18
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: kathryn-lasky
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Dragon Avenger (Age of Fire #2)]]> 12020128 386 E.E. Knight 1440631204 Anna 5 dragons Dragon Champion and ‘Dragon Avenger’ both happen in the same time but follow different characters, and that broadens the world by a long way. In ‘Dragon Champion’, Hypatian Empire was mentioned quite often, but it’s only in ‘Dragon Avenger’ that we get to see these pitiful remains of the once great domain. On the other hand, in ‘Dragon Avenger’ we see the Chartered Company a couple of times and the dragons carrying riders – and both are playing the major role in ‘Dragon Champion’. In ‘Dragon Champion’, AuRon faces down Eliam, the younger Dragonblade with scarred face, a sadist who kills chained dragonelles and calls it glory. In ‘Dragon Avenger’ we see how he got the said scars when Wistala crossed paths with Eliam, a youth who would throw a cat into the fire just for the fun of it. Truly, some people never change.

What makes the world of this series so real is how diverse it is. In some books, you got dwarves, elves and humans having cultures different from each other but all the same inside the race – but there you can see different groups in the same race. There are dwarf mercenary clans and dwarf trading guilds; elf bandits, elf scholars and elf landlords; human farmers, human barbarians and human nomads and more, too much to list.

One of the main differences, though, is between Wistala and Auron themselves. They are far from each other opposites, a scaleless grey dragon and a lone dragonelle in the world full of enemies, and both of them survive and thrive through cunning and not brute force. Still, the ways they think differ greatly: Auron is prone to head-on advances, while Wistala always uses more subtle approach to the problem. Both Auron and Wistala lost their family – but Auron put the past in the past and lives on while Wistala craves vengeance. Still, Wistala is the one who has more qualms about killing hominids since she sees them as people, while Auron would kill without a second thought. If you see how many hominids the two had killed with only their teeth and talons, Auron is far ahead of Wistala – but no one lays waste on the whole cities better than her.

‘Dragon Avenger’ has a very interesting and original take on the theme of revenge. I admit I have a love-hate relationship with this topic, and Wistala’s choice appeals to me. After seeing her mother and sister butchered and skinned, after nursing her father back to life only to see him killed before her eyes, Wistala makes those who did it pay. But her heart isn’t burning with all-consuming hatred, neither does she have a cold, sick and twisted mind focused entirely on her revenge.

‘She’d kept her promises but felt little satisfaction in were-blood. Avenging her own was a grim duty, like breaking a bullock’s back in a dive so that you could eat, and just as necessary to survival. Ignoring those who kill others in the hope they won’t get around to you only means that when they appear to take your head and scales, they would apply all they learned in other victories, making your chances against them so much the worse.’


Wistala views revenge as something that just has to be done. Sometimes it’s making sure that her enemy is in no condition to kill any more hatchlings. Sometimes it’s putting your pride and arrogance aside and settling old scores once and for all – as it was done with the Dragonblade.

The Dragonblade is one of the most complex and controversial characters I’ve encountered, both a villain and a hero in his own right. He’s a mercenary dragon-slayer who kills hatchlings and dragonelles – but he also takes on full-grown dragons himself. He makes his living by killing for money and selling bodies of his victims – but he believes in what he’s doing. The dragons are the main heroes of the story, but let’s not forget that they do tend to be the scourge of hominids, whether by burning villages or just by stealing cattle. To hominids, the Dragonblade is the hero who believes that all the dragons must be slain for the hominids to prosper. And he’s not without honor, the most prominent example when he was hired by Hammar to kill Wistala. After seeing for himself what a black-livered scum Hammar is, Dragonblade slaps him full in the face, turns round and walks away with the words, ‘Keep you **** money, I’m out of this, and you can kill your **** dragon yourself.’ That’s why I’ve been dreading seeing the battle between the Dragonblade and one of our heroes since ‘Dragon Champion’: I didn’t know for whom I would’ve been cheering. Can you imagine my reaction when the feud between the Dragonblade and Wistala resolved the way it did?

Unlike Auron, who spends a large part of ‘Dragon Champion’ wandering, Wistala settles down early and builds up a tight adopted family of her own: Rainfall and Dsossa, mean-tempered Avalanche, Yari Sunwarm Fourth Orangedaughter, a true cat from nose to tailtip, and others. It just makes me glad to see how Rainfall and Wistala managed to rally people and turn Mossbell from a poor half-ruined estate into a lively and bright place. One of the most wondrous is that Jessup immediately became Wistala's friend after meeting her instead of being scared and terrified by the dragon. The first thing he says to Wistala is how beautiful she is, which genuinely surprises her: out of her family, her sister Jizara was graceful and beautiful one, while Wistala was a thick-bodied and short-limbed one. However, DharSii is there to bring her down on the earth, since he doesn’t hesitate to tell Wistala that her wings are too wide and her tail is much longer than her neck. But though DharSii may be rude, he is certainly honest and open-minded. I wonder if he and Wistala may meet again?]]> 4.23 2006 Dragon Avenger (Age of Fire #2)
author: E.E. Knight
name: Anna
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2015/05/12
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: dragons
review:
Wistala’s story, the story of the Avenger of the Clutch, begins in the same way as Auron’s story, but its course and outcome varies greatly. Dragon Champion and ‘Dragon Avenger’ both happen in the same time but follow different characters, and that broadens the world by a long way. In ‘Dragon Champion’, Hypatian Empire was mentioned quite often, but it’s only in ‘Dragon Avenger’ that we get to see these pitiful remains of the once great domain. On the other hand, in ‘Dragon Avenger’ we see the Chartered Company a couple of times and the dragons carrying riders – and both are playing the major role in ‘Dragon Champion’. In ‘Dragon Champion’, AuRon faces down Eliam, the younger Dragonblade with scarred face, a sadist who kills chained dragonelles and calls it glory. In ‘Dragon Avenger’ we see how he got the said scars when Wistala crossed paths with Eliam, a youth who would throw a cat into the fire just for the fun of it. Truly, some people never change.

What makes the world of this series so real is how diverse it is. In some books, you got dwarves, elves and humans having cultures different from each other but all the same inside the race – but there you can see different groups in the same race. There are dwarf mercenary clans and dwarf trading guilds; elf bandits, elf scholars and elf landlords; human farmers, human barbarians and human nomads and more, too much to list.

One of the main differences, though, is between Wistala and Auron themselves. They are far from each other opposites, a scaleless grey dragon and a lone dragonelle in the world full of enemies, and both of them survive and thrive through cunning and not brute force. Still, the ways they think differ greatly: Auron is prone to head-on advances, while Wistala always uses more subtle approach to the problem. Both Auron and Wistala lost their family – but Auron put the past in the past and lives on while Wistala craves vengeance. Still, Wistala is the one who has more qualms about killing hominids since she sees them as people, while Auron would kill without a second thought. If you see how many hominids the two had killed with only their teeth and talons, Auron is far ahead of Wistala – but no one lays waste on the whole cities better than her.

‘Dragon Avenger’ has a very interesting and original take on the theme of revenge. I admit I have a love-hate relationship with this topic, and Wistala’s choice appeals to me. After seeing her mother and sister butchered and skinned, after nursing her father back to life only to see him killed before her eyes, Wistala makes those who did it pay. But her heart isn’t burning with all-consuming hatred, neither does she have a cold, sick and twisted mind focused entirely on her revenge.

‘She’d kept her promises but felt little satisfaction in were-blood. Avenging her own was a grim duty, like breaking a bullock’s back in a dive so that you could eat, and just as necessary to survival. Ignoring those who kill others in the hope they won’t get around to you only means that when they appear to take your head and scales, they would apply all they learned in other victories, making your chances against them so much the worse.’


Wistala views revenge as something that just has to be done. Sometimes it’s making sure that her enemy is in no condition to kill any more hatchlings. Sometimes it’s putting your pride and arrogance aside and settling old scores once and for all – as it was done with the Dragonblade.

The Dragonblade is one of the most complex and controversial characters I’ve encountered, both a villain and a hero in his own right. He’s a mercenary dragon-slayer who kills hatchlings and dragonelles – but he also takes on full-grown dragons himself. He makes his living by killing for money and selling bodies of his victims – but he believes in what he’s doing. The dragons are the main heroes of the story, but let’s not forget that they do tend to be the scourge of hominids, whether by burning villages or just by stealing cattle. To hominids, the Dragonblade is the hero who believes that all the dragons must be slain for the hominids to prosper. And he’s not without honor, the most prominent example when he was hired by Hammar to kill Wistala. After seeing for himself what a black-livered scum Hammar is, Dragonblade slaps him full in the face, turns round and walks away with the words, ‘Keep you **** money, I’m out of this, and you can kill your **** dragon yourself.’ That’s why I’ve been dreading seeing the battle between the Dragonblade and one of our heroes since ‘Dragon Champion’: I didn’t know for whom I would’ve been cheering. Can you imagine my reaction when the feud between the Dragonblade and Wistala resolved the way it did?

Unlike Auron, who spends a large part of ‘Dragon Champion’ wandering, Wistala settles down early and builds up a tight adopted family of her own: Rainfall and Dsossa, mean-tempered Avalanche, Yari Sunwarm Fourth Orangedaughter, a true cat from nose to tailtip, and others. It just makes me glad to see how Rainfall and Wistala managed to rally people and turn Mossbell from a poor half-ruined estate into a lively and bright place. One of the most wondrous is that Jessup immediately became Wistala's friend after meeting her instead of being scared and terrified by the dragon. The first thing he says to Wistala is how beautiful she is, which genuinely surprises her: out of her family, her sister Jizara was graceful and beautiful one, while Wistala was a thick-bodied and short-limbed one. However, DharSii is there to bring her down on the earth, since he doesn’t hesitate to tell Wistala that her wings are too wide and her tail is much longer than her neck. But though DharSii may be rude, he is certainly honest and open-minded. I wonder if he and Wistala may meet again?
]]> <![CDATA[Voices of Dragons (Voices of Dragons, #1)]]> 7853337
Seventeen-year-old Kay Wyatt knows she's breaking the law by rock climbing near the border, but she'd rather have an adventure than follow the rules. When the dragon Artegal unexpectedly saves her life, the rules are abruptly shattered, and a secret friendship grows between them.

But suspicion and terror are the legacy of human and dragon inter­actions, and the fragile truce that has maintained peace between the species is unraveling. As tensions mount and battles begin, Kay and Artegal are caught in the middle. Can their friendship change the course of a war?

In her young-adult debut, New York Times bestselling author Carrie Vaughn presents a distinctly twenty-first-century tale of myths and machines, and an alliance that crosses a seemingly unbridgeable divide.]]> 320 Carrie Vaughn 0061987484 Anna 4 dragons, urban-fantasy 3.90 2009 Voices of Dragons (Voices of Dragons, #1)
author: Carrie Vaughn
name: Anna
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/21
date added: 2024/09/28
shelves: dragons, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> The Hob's Bargain 6631084 #1 New York Times bestselling author Patrica Briggs presents a tale of beauty meets beast in this romantic fantasy novel.Hated and feared, magic was banished from the land. But now, freed from the spells of the wicked bloodmages, magic-both good and evil-returns. And Aren of Fallbrook feels her own power of sight strengthen and grow...Overcome by visions of mayhem and murder, Aren vows to save her village from the ruthless raiders who have descended upon it-and killed her family. With the return of wildlings to the hills and forests, she strikes a bargain with the Hob, a magical, human-like creature imbued with the power of the mountains. But the Hob is the last of his kind. And he will exact a heavy price to defend the village-a price Aren herself must pay...]]> 290 Patricia Briggs 1101207914 Anna 5 patricia-briggs
Aren makes a very good hero; I love her so much because it's easy to relate to her. Aren feels so much like a real person – she grieves the loss of her family, she blames herself for not saving them, she is afraid of her visions and the changes in her world. Despite her faults, Aren is actually an admirable person for me, as she is ready to do anything for her village and her people despite not being a well-loved person there; truly, loyalty is about something more than just liking someone.

The romantic aspect of the book was very enjoyable and light and decent, I should say. When I just started the book I was worried about it: you see, Aren [spoilers removed]. It would've felt utterly wrong if she began romancing the hob so soon after [spoilers removed], but the whole thing was handed nicely. The hob doesn’t officially appear until well into the book, and then he and Aren are first bonded by having a common goal they both work to reach, and only late in the book the romance aspect of their relationship appeared.

Among the side characters Kith and Wandel are especially well-written. Kith is the best friend of Aren’s brother, a professional soldier and berserker – or at least he was one before he lost his arm in a battle. Now he cannot fight and cannot work at farm, making him feel like he is living on borrowed time. Not only Kith has his own plot to develop, but he also has wonderful relationship with Aren. Wandel is intriguing because he is a bard and minstrel who has a secret behind his easygoing demeanor that turns all you ever knew about him upside down.

However, there were a lot of opportunities for secondary characters development that weren’t used. There were glimpses of interesting character threads here and there – for example, when Aren realized that Albrin’s hate of mageborn comes not from the blind fear, but from the fact that Albrin had his son taken from him by bloodmages who twisted his son's body and mind and turned him into such a 'plaything' that his son himself is afraid and ashamed of what he had become. But aside from these occasional glimpses side characters would’ve certainly benefited from more development. What about Danci, a widow with children that had fallen in love with Kith, him one-armed and not the husband you want to support the family? What about Poul, Aren’s brother-by-marriage who is notorious magic-hater? What about Koret, a village elder who is rumored to have been a pirate in his younger years?

The book's main focus is a small backwater village of Fallbrook located in a secluded valley, and that means we don't get the bigger picture. The king of the country is in war, but we don't know with whom or why, we don't know how the country is called or what the king's name is. But we don’t actually need to know it, because Aren and the other main characters are villagers, and to them such stuff is unimportant and even useless; the biggest authority they face is their local lord Moresh, who holds more power over them than the king. Because of this amount of details of the life in Fallbrook the world created by Patricia Briggs feels so amazingly real, and the author’s language is clear and beautiful.

The book’s main plot and structure are threefold: instead of a single villain to defeat, there is a series of threats to the very existence of Fallbrook that Aren and the villagers had to handle. The merciless raider attacks threaten to take over Fallbrook and either kill the villagers or starve them by taking over their fields and herds – a great danger to the small village, even if it is insignificant in the big, kingdom-wise, picture. The wild magic returns to the land, and at first it seems that this change is for the better… until the wildlings craving human flesh or just powerful spirits and elementals return with it as well, and Fallbrook isn’t ready for them. This plot thread presents an interesting topic of the paganism vs. the religion of One God. After the wild magic was bound and various spirits and wildlings lulled to sleep, people forgot about them – they have One God now. The problem is that the spirits are awake now, and they don’t agree with it… What I like is that none of the religions is portrayed as evil or wrong, and there are ways for both people and spirits to have peace. And of course, there is the bloodmage gone mad from dabbling in the death magic. He is powerful – but Aren is a spirit speaker, and with the hob’s help her powers are growing, too. And at one point you’ve got to wonder what is the most evil – the threats that come from the outside or the darkness that can spread from within… ]]> 4.25 2001 The Hob's Bargain
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Anna
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2015/04/09
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: patricia-briggs
review:
Centuries ago, in the world where Aren lives, the wild magic was bound by the death spells of human bloodmages. Mageborn people still exist, but they have only two choices in life: either you die, or you become a bloodmage who use the magic of death and pain to fuel their spells. That’s how it was… until one day the spells tying the wild magic were unbound.

Aren makes a very good hero; I love her so much because it's easy to relate to her. Aren feels so much like a real person – she grieves the loss of her family, she blames herself for not saving them, she is afraid of her visions and the changes in her world. Despite her faults, Aren is actually an admirable person for me, as she is ready to do anything for her village and her people despite not being a well-loved person there; truly, loyalty is about something more than just liking someone.

The romantic aspect of the book was very enjoyable and light and decent, I should say. When I just started the book I was worried about it: you see, Aren [spoilers removed]. It would've felt utterly wrong if she began romancing the hob so soon after [spoilers removed], but the whole thing was handed nicely. The hob doesn’t officially appear until well into the book, and then he and Aren are first bonded by having a common goal they both work to reach, and only late in the book the romance aspect of their relationship appeared.

Among the side characters Kith and Wandel are especially well-written. Kith is the best friend of Aren’s brother, a professional soldier and berserker – or at least he was one before he lost his arm in a battle. Now he cannot fight and cannot work at farm, making him feel like he is living on borrowed time. Not only Kith has his own plot to develop, but he also has wonderful relationship with Aren. Wandel is intriguing because he is a bard and minstrel who has a secret behind his easygoing demeanor that turns all you ever knew about him upside down.

However, there were a lot of opportunities for secondary characters development that weren’t used. There were glimpses of interesting character threads here and there – for example, when Aren realized that Albrin’s hate of mageborn comes not from the blind fear, but from the fact that Albrin had his son taken from him by bloodmages who twisted his son's body and mind and turned him into such a 'plaything' that his son himself is afraid and ashamed of what he had become. But aside from these occasional glimpses side characters would’ve certainly benefited from more development. What about Danci, a widow with children that had fallen in love with Kith, him one-armed and not the husband you want to support the family? What about Poul, Aren’s brother-by-marriage who is notorious magic-hater? What about Koret, a village elder who is rumored to have been a pirate in his younger years?

The book's main focus is a small backwater village of Fallbrook located in a secluded valley, and that means we don't get the bigger picture. The king of the country is in war, but we don't know with whom or why, we don't know how the country is called or what the king's name is. But we don’t actually need to know it, because Aren and the other main characters are villagers, and to them such stuff is unimportant and even useless; the biggest authority they face is their local lord Moresh, who holds more power over them than the king. Because of this amount of details of the life in Fallbrook the world created by Patricia Briggs feels so amazingly real, and the author’s language is clear and beautiful.

The book’s main plot and structure are threefold: instead of a single villain to defeat, there is a series of threats to the very existence of Fallbrook that Aren and the villagers had to handle. The merciless raider attacks threaten to take over Fallbrook and either kill the villagers or starve them by taking over their fields and herds – a great danger to the small village, even if it is insignificant in the big, kingdom-wise, picture. The wild magic returns to the land, and at first it seems that this change is for the better… until the wildlings craving human flesh or just powerful spirits and elementals return with it as well, and Fallbrook isn’t ready for them. This plot thread presents an interesting topic of the paganism vs. the religion of One God. After the wild magic was bound and various spirits and wildlings lulled to sleep, people forgot about them – they have One God now. The problem is that the spirits are awake now, and they don’t agree with it… What I like is that none of the religions is portrayed as evil or wrong, and there are ways for both people and spirits to have peace. And of course, there is the bloodmage gone mad from dabbling in the death magic. He is powerful – but Aren is a spirit speaker, and with the hob’s help her powers are growing, too. And at one point you’ve got to wonder what is the most evil – the threats that come from the outside or the darkness that can spread from within…
]]> <![CDATA[Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson, #7)]]> 17278540
After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and Jesse can’t reach Adam—or anyone else in the pack for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.

Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam’s disappearance may be related—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely.]]> 343 Patricia Briggs 1101619651 Anna 5 patricia-briggs 4.50 2013 Frost Burned (Mercy Thompson, #7)
author: Patricia Briggs
name: Anna
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2017/10/29
date added: 2024/09/24
shelves: patricia-briggs
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire, #1)]]> 22699128
Clay and his friends have grown up under a mountain, secretly raised by the Talons of Peace to fulfill a mysterious prophecy. The five young dragons are destined to end the war that's been raging between the tribes of Pyrrhia -- but how they'll do this, none of them knows.

But not every dragonet wants a destiny. When one of their own is threatened, Clay and his friends decide to escape. Maybe they can break free and end the war at the same time -- or maybe they'll risk everything ...]]> 286 Tui T. Sutherland 0545443172 Anna 5 dragons Erin Hunter that created 'Warriors' and 'Seekers' series, which are one of my favourite books ever. So when I learned that one of the team is writing a new series featuring dragons, I was sold immediately. And I wasn't disappointed, for Tui Sutherland obviously took everything she had learned from 'Warriors' and put it into writing 'Wings of Fire'.

Even though 'The Dragonet Prophecy', just as other books by Erin Hunter, is aimed at younger audience, it's actually pretty dark. There is a three-way civil war for SandWing throne that rages in the world of Pyrrhia, but there is no truly good side for which we can cheer: Burn is cruel and ruthless and would bath the world in blood for her own pleasure, Blister is a literal snake, manipulative and scheming, who would poison everything on her way to the throne, and while we haven't seen Blaze yet, she is described as being brainless and thus equally incompetent. Moreover, [spoilers removed].

Clay, the main hero of the book, is one of the Dragonets of Destiny, five young dragons that the famous prophecy speaks of, five young dragons that are fated to stop the war and save Pyrrhia... except that neither of them knows how exactly. But the dragonets' guardians seem to know Clay's role in it – he is a born fighter, and that's not only because he is large and strong, but because when he had hatched, he was so ferocious that he had attacked other eggs, trying to shatter them. Clay is constantly told that there is a monster inside him that he should let out, but he doesn't feel like a killer. He is not a leader or even a good fighter; he is clumsy, not as smart as others and always hungry. Clay doesn't really know who he is – but he knows that his friends are his family and he would do anything to save them. That's why I fell in love with Clay at once: he tries his best even in the most desperate situations, and he is always looking out for his friends, even if it means taking the blow for them.

Not satisfied with having their destiny decided and predetermined for them by an old prophecy, Clay and his friends escape from their guardians, eager to see the world and get a chance to choose their fate themselves – only to find out that the outer world is much crueler than they expected. Soon enough, they are taken prisoner by Queen Scarlet who is more than ready to make sure that the prophecy never comes true... While there is more than one villain in the series, Scarlet could be considered the central antagonist of the first book, though I admit that she didn't impress me. Queen Scarlet has the making of a good villain – she is cruel, selfish and manipulative and outright creepy, but her over the top villainy makes her sound awfully cheesy. If she were in a movie, she would be the type of villain that cackles maniacally over the captured hero and twirls her moustache. That's the reason I'd rather prefer Burn's open and straightforward bloodthirstiness or Blister's cunning and subtle scheming.

'The Dragonet Prophecy' is Clay's book, but he is not the only character the story centres on. Truly, Clay’s character arc couldn't be disclosed fully if it weren't for the parallels and contrast between him and Peril, Queen Scarlet's champion. [spoilers removed]

While the other dragonets don't get as much attention as Clay, they still possess a lot of personality and individuality to make them appealing characters: Starflight is an awkward bookworm who doesn't fit into the mould of the leader prepared for him by the guardians, Sunny is upbeat and optimistic in the face of the darkness they encourage, and Tsunami is stubborn and loyal even if quite pushy. And since I've already read the second book I can say that 'The Dragonet Prophecy' lays down the foundation of future plots and character arcs. For example, the scene of Tsunami being forced to fight in Queen Scarlet's arena is tragic enough on its own, but it becomes even more poignant and heart-breaking when just a tiny piece of information is disclosed in 'The Lost Heir'. The only dragonet I don't like is actually Glory – she is sassy and sarcastic, but that doesn't make her cool, it makes her rude and ill-mannered. She always behaves like an attention-seeker, she snaps at those who care about her and she is mean to Clay while he clearly likes her. In fact, Glory is offended when Clay befriends Peril and puts him in a situation when he has to choose between her and the prophecy, and this is exactly what Peril did, thinking that Clay ought to pick either her or his old friends.

The guardians of the dragonets were featured only briefly, but I certainly took a liking to gruff and grumpy Dune and I like to think that he possessed somewhat of a tough father's love for the dragonets. And Kestrel, amazing Kestrel! I hadn't expected such a turn regarding this character at all. [spoilers removed]

I always pay a lot of attention to worldbuilding since I find this element to be one of the most fascinating aspects of the story, and I really enjoyed the trip to Pyrrhia, even though we are teased with tidbits of the world rather than treated with them. In particular, the dragonets spend a large part of the story in the Sky Kingdom, but we didn't get much information about SkyWings except for how messed up Queen Scarlet and her reign is. However, that is understandable since the action is limited to the Sky Palace and the underground caverns where the dragonets were brought up, and this left very little space for exploring the SkyWings and their culture. Still, we get a delightful insight into the life of the MudWing tribe – they have very interesting society and unique family structure with their close bonds between siblings and unusual parenting customs, and while it can be viewed as odd, it draws me in a lot.

Since I've been talking about the characters so much one may think that the plot isn't so developed in comparison. But while 'The Dragonet Prophecy' is a character-centred story and the plot is tied closely with Clay's personal arc, there is still an overarching plot that is bigger than Clay or any of his friends, there is a war raging and power-hungry villains who would stop at nothing to reach their goals. I don't want to reveal much, but it escaping from Queen Scarlet's clutches is not easy for our heroes, and there is an even bigger mission waiting for the dragonets at the end. ]]> 4.48 2012 The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire, #1)
author: Tui T. Sutherland
name: Anna
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2016/06/01
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: dragons
review:
Tui Sutherland is one of the team of writers known as Erin Hunter that created 'Warriors' and 'Seekers' series, which are one of my favourite books ever. So when I learned that one of the team is writing a new series featuring dragons, I was sold immediately. And I wasn't disappointed, for Tui Sutherland obviously took everything she had learned from 'Warriors' and put it into writing 'Wings of Fire'.

Even though 'The Dragonet Prophecy', just as other books by Erin Hunter, is aimed at younger audience, it's actually pretty dark. There is a three-way civil war for SandWing throne that rages in the world of Pyrrhia, but there is no truly good side for which we can cheer: Burn is cruel and ruthless and would bath the world in blood for her own pleasure, Blister is a literal snake, manipulative and scheming, who would poison everything on her way to the throne, and while we haven't seen Blaze yet, she is described as being brainless and thus equally incompetent. Moreover, [spoilers removed].

Clay, the main hero of the book, is one of the Dragonets of Destiny, five young dragons that the famous prophecy speaks of, five young dragons that are fated to stop the war and save Pyrrhia... except that neither of them knows how exactly. But the dragonets' guardians seem to know Clay's role in it – he is a born fighter, and that's not only because he is large and strong, but because when he had hatched, he was so ferocious that he had attacked other eggs, trying to shatter them. Clay is constantly told that there is a monster inside him that he should let out, but he doesn't feel like a killer. He is not a leader or even a good fighter; he is clumsy, not as smart as others and always hungry. Clay doesn't really know who he is – but he knows that his friends are his family and he would do anything to save them. That's why I fell in love with Clay at once: he tries his best even in the most desperate situations, and he is always looking out for his friends, even if it means taking the blow for them.

Not satisfied with having their destiny decided and predetermined for them by an old prophecy, Clay and his friends escape from their guardians, eager to see the world and get a chance to choose their fate themselves – only to find out that the outer world is much crueler than they expected. Soon enough, they are taken prisoner by Queen Scarlet who is more than ready to make sure that the prophecy never comes true... While there is more than one villain in the series, Scarlet could be considered the central antagonist of the first book, though I admit that she didn't impress me. Queen Scarlet has the making of a good villain – she is cruel, selfish and manipulative and outright creepy, but her over the top villainy makes her sound awfully cheesy. If she were in a movie, she would be the type of villain that cackles maniacally over the captured hero and twirls her moustache. That's the reason I'd rather prefer Burn's open and straightforward bloodthirstiness or Blister's cunning and subtle scheming.

'The Dragonet Prophecy' is Clay's book, but he is not the only character the story centres on. Truly, Clay’s character arc couldn't be disclosed fully if it weren't for the parallels and contrast between him and Peril, Queen Scarlet's champion. [spoilers removed]

While the other dragonets don't get as much attention as Clay, they still possess a lot of personality and individuality to make them appealing characters: Starflight is an awkward bookworm who doesn't fit into the mould of the leader prepared for him by the guardians, Sunny is upbeat and optimistic in the face of the darkness they encourage, and Tsunami is stubborn and loyal even if quite pushy. And since I've already read the second book I can say that 'The Dragonet Prophecy' lays down the foundation of future plots and character arcs. For example, the scene of Tsunami being forced to fight in Queen Scarlet's arena is tragic enough on its own, but it becomes even more poignant and heart-breaking when just a tiny piece of information is disclosed in 'The Lost Heir'. The only dragonet I don't like is actually Glory – she is sassy and sarcastic, but that doesn't make her cool, it makes her rude and ill-mannered. She always behaves like an attention-seeker, she snaps at those who care about her and she is mean to Clay while he clearly likes her. In fact, Glory is offended when Clay befriends Peril and puts him in a situation when he has to choose between her and the prophecy, and this is exactly what Peril did, thinking that Clay ought to pick either her or his old friends.

The guardians of the dragonets were featured only briefly, but I certainly took a liking to gruff and grumpy Dune and I like to think that he possessed somewhat of a tough father's love for the dragonets. And Kestrel, amazing Kestrel! I hadn't expected such a turn regarding this character at all. [spoilers removed]

I always pay a lot of attention to worldbuilding since I find this element to be one of the most fascinating aspects of the story, and I really enjoyed the trip to Pyrrhia, even though we are teased with tidbits of the world rather than treated with them. In particular, the dragonets spend a large part of the story in the Sky Kingdom, but we didn't get much information about SkyWings except for how messed up Queen Scarlet and her reign is. However, that is understandable since the action is limited to the Sky Palace and the underground caverns where the dragonets were brought up, and this left very little space for exploring the SkyWings and their culture. Still, we get a delightful insight into the life of the MudWing tribe – they have very interesting society and unique family structure with their close bonds between siblings and unusual parenting customs, and while it can be viewed as odd, it draws me in a lot.

Since I've been talking about the characters so much one may think that the plot isn't so developed in comparison. But while 'The Dragonet Prophecy' is a character-centred story and the plot is tied closely with Clay's personal arc, there is still an overarching plot that is bigger than Clay or any of his friends, there is a war raging and power-hungry villains who would stop at nothing to reach their goals. I don't want to reveal much, but it escaping from Queen Scarlet's clutches is not easy for our heroes, and there is an even bigger mission waiting for the dragonets at the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Philomel Cottage: an Agatha Christie Short Story]]> 12549958
Perplexed, Alix tries to calm herself by spending time in the garden of her picturesque cottage. But her elderly gardener confuses her further by wishing her well on her coming trip to London—a trip which Alix knows nothing about. Now she asks herself if the gardener is imagining things, or is she?

Librarians note: previously published in the print anthologies, The Listerdale Mystery and Other Stories, and, Witness for The Prosecution and Other Stories.]]> 40 Agatha Christie 0062129821 Anna 5 agatha-christie 3.89 1924 Philomel Cottage: an Agatha Christie Short Story
author: Agatha Christie
name: Anna
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1924
rating: 5
read at: 2015/04/24
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: agatha-christie
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3)]]> 7021986 465 Jim Butcher 1440653909 Anna 5 jim-butcher 4.22 2001 Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Anna
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2012/12/28
date added: 2024/09/21
shelves: jim-butcher
review:
Just as good as the first two books: interesting characters and great plot with lots of twists. The final battle wasn't as impressive as in the first books, but I like its symbolism: the evil is brought down by the same evil it created earlier. I also love the idea that there is the Church organization which protects people against evil, and Harry is not the only one to fight this battle. Michael Carpenter, Knight of the Cross, is a really cool character. The only thing that annoyed me is Susan's carelessness, which looked like just a means to keep plot moving. [spoilers removed]
]]> The Hunchback of Notre Dame 50825353 This historically significant novel of love and betrayal led to a renewed interest in preserving the grand architecture of Paris.

Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame was written in 1831, at a time when the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was falling into disrepair. This epic novel helped spark a preservationist movement that led to the cathedral being restored to its full glory. Set in 1482, the story tells of how four men—the hunchbacked bell-ringer, Quasimodo; the archdeacon of Notre Dame, Claude Frollo; the dashing soldier Phoebus de Chateaupers; and the poet Pierre Gringoire—vie for the love of Esmeralda, a young Romani woman. As the story unfolds, readers come to realize that the focus of the story is not only on the human characters but on the grand cathedral itself. 
 ]]> 624 Victor Hugo 1645171787 Anna 0 to-read, audiobooks, classics 3.99 1831 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
author: Victor Hugo
name: Anna
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1831
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves: to-read, audiobooks, classics
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rivers of London (Rivers of London, #1)]]> 55967976 392 Ben Aaronovitch Anna 5 urban-fantasy 3.64 2011 Rivers of London (Rivers of London, #1)
author: Ben Aaronovitch
name: Anna
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/08
date added: 2024/09/08
shelves: urban-fantasy
review:

]]> Стерегущие золото грифы 199280116
Пять историй сплетаются в причудливый узор и рисуют картины далекого прошлого, в которых оживают образы легендарной принцессы и тех, кто был ей дорог.

Над заснеженными вершинами, строптивыми реками, опасными перевалами и бескрайними лесами летит песня об отважных кочевниках, мудрых шаманах, справедливом Духе Тайги, таинственных слезах солнца и людях со звезд.]]> 352 Анастасия Перкова 5002144209 Anna 0 4.19 Стерегущие золото грифы
author: Анастасия Перкова
name: Anna
average rating: 4.19
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/01
shelves: to-read, historian-fantasy, slavic-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Around the World in Eighty Days]]> 3676708 294 Jules Verne 0141035870 Anna 4 audiobooks, classics
Firstly, there are vivid and three-dimensional characters, though I have to admit that they still pretty much consist out of stereotypes. In most adaptations Phileas Fogg is presented as a very eccentric gentleman, an oddball and even a bit of a mad scientist, but while in the book Phileas is indeed viewed as odd, it’s for different reasons entirely – he’s the most introverted introvert you can ever imagine, and a homester with what appears to be a serious case of OCD who set out on a journey simply to prove his point. I actually wonder whether Jules Verne praises Fogg’s traditional English imperturbability and stoicism or pokes fun at it by presenting Phileas as a gathering of archetypes. I suspect it’s the latter, since emotional and impressive Passepartout with his frank manners and ingenuous outlook at the world was much easier to sympathize and relate to than impassive Phileas.

Secondly, there’s some amount of character development, which is not something you often see in the 19th century adventure stories. Passepartout doesn’t really change throughout the book, and even Fogg is very much the same reserved and withdrawn homebody after returning from his journey as he was before. However, in the beginning Phileas’s incredible persistence is not only his asset, as he would’ve failed from the very beginning if it weren’t for his stubbornness, but a hurdle as well, since it meant that he’s rather inflexible; [spoilers removed] Overall, in the start of the story we were only told about Fogg’s nobility and generosity, but at the journey’s end we can actually see it with our own eyes.

Thirdly, I was pleasantly surprised by the subplot involving detective Fix. At first I only viewed him as a comic relief as well as an antagonist trying to hinder the heroes by any means possible, cause seriously, isn’t it a bit of a stretch that Fix decided that Fogg is a bank robber and crossed half of the world based solely on the vague description that can fit anyone? However, this line takes an interesting turn when Fogg left the territory of British Empire and Fix’s arrest warrant became nil, so Fix decided to change tactics and help Fogg finish his journey and return to England. [spoilers removed]

And last but not least, the adventures during the heroes’ journey were pretty awesome. [spoilers removed] Say whatever you will, but Jules Verne knows how to write an adventure to keep you glued to the pages!

However, this book is not without the drawbacks, and personally, I found the journey itself lacking. Jules Verne doesn’t give us many descriptions and very often there’s not much action aside from Fogg jumping from steamboat to train and from train to steamboat again – for example, the trip through Europe was omitted altogether, and the sea voyages were described very briefly, too. There are objectives on Fogg’s way, either created by Fix trying to arrest him or natural occurrences, but Fogg usually solves them by throwing money at them. Phileas Fogg is so rich that he can easily afford to buy an elephant if there’s no railroad to travel or to hire a steamboat to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and if it’s this easy for the heroes to overcome their predicaments, I stop being so invested in their fate. That’s why I was most engaged in the episodes where the characters couldn’t buy their way out of the problems, like Fogg’s trip through the Indian jungles or Passepartout’s miseries in Japan.

The biggest disappointment, though, was the execution of Aouda’s character. Practically the first thing we learn about her, - aside from the fact that she’s strikingly beautiful, that’s it, - is that she’s as light-skinned as a European and that she was brought up and educated as an English lady. I can understand that the book was written in 1872, and introducing an Indian heroine as a love interest for the main character was a bold step then, but Jules Verne curbed the potential of his own idea from the start by making Aouda culturally more English than Indian. It’s as if he wanted to add a character from an exotic culture, but also decided to make sure that she wasn’t too exotic, and so Aouda is Indian in name only. But what frustrates me the most is how amazingly nonexistent Aouda’s personality is. Yes, other characters aren’t the most complicated and rather stereotypical, but Fogg, Passepartout and even Fix feel vivid and alive, and Aouda doesn’t have a single personality trait or any individuality at all. She doesn’t even do anything for the whole of the book, she’s just there to accompany Fogg and stare adoringly at him! There is just one scene featuring Aouda that I really appreciate – after Fogg and his crew finally returns in London, Aouda is the one who proposes to him. Again, that was 1872, and it was incredibly bold for a woman even to confess her feelings first, never mind actually saying, ‘Hey, how about we get married?’ But alas, in all the other aspects Aouda’s character was a complete failure.

Overall, this classic among adventure novels withstood the test of time and gets solid 4 stars from me.]]> 3.83 1872 Around the World in Eighty Days
author: Jules Verne
name: Anna
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1872
rating: 4
read at: 2023/03/22
date added: 2024/08/31
shelves: audiobooks, classics
review:
‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ is a story so well-known that even those who had never read the book can name the key events of its plot due to the many adaptations – the daring wager, the trip through India on an elephant, the rescue of a beautiful woman... However, it doesn’t mean that the story isn’t interesting, as the adaptations omitted or changed details of the adventures, and this book still managed to surprise me.

Firstly, there are vivid and three-dimensional characters, though I have to admit that they still pretty much consist out of stereotypes. In most adaptations Phileas Fogg is presented as a very eccentric gentleman, an oddball and even a bit of a mad scientist, but while in the book Phileas is indeed viewed as odd, it’s for different reasons entirely – he’s the most introverted introvert you can ever imagine, and a homester with what appears to be a serious case of OCD who set out on a journey simply to prove his point. I actually wonder whether Jules Verne praises Fogg’s traditional English imperturbability and stoicism or pokes fun at it by presenting Phileas as a gathering of archetypes. I suspect it’s the latter, since emotional and impressive Passepartout with his frank manners and ingenuous outlook at the world was much easier to sympathize and relate to than impassive Phileas.

Secondly, there’s some amount of character development, which is not something you often see in the 19th century adventure stories. Passepartout doesn’t really change throughout the book, and even Fogg is very much the same reserved and withdrawn homebody after returning from his journey as he was before. However, in the beginning Phileas’s incredible persistence is not only his asset, as he would’ve failed from the very beginning if it weren’t for his stubbornness, but a hurdle as well, since it meant that he’s rather inflexible; [spoilers removed] Overall, in the start of the story we were only told about Fogg’s nobility and generosity, but at the journey’s end we can actually see it with our own eyes.

Thirdly, I was pleasantly surprised by the subplot involving detective Fix. At first I only viewed him as a comic relief as well as an antagonist trying to hinder the heroes by any means possible, cause seriously, isn’t it a bit of a stretch that Fix decided that Fogg is a bank robber and crossed half of the world based solely on the vague description that can fit anyone? However, this line takes an interesting turn when Fogg left the territory of British Empire and Fix’s arrest warrant became nil, so Fix decided to change tactics and help Fogg finish his journey and return to England. [spoilers removed]

And last but not least, the adventures during the heroes’ journey were pretty awesome. [spoilers removed] Say whatever you will, but Jules Verne knows how to write an adventure to keep you glued to the pages!

However, this book is not without the drawbacks, and personally, I found the journey itself lacking. Jules Verne doesn’t give us many descriptions and very often there’s not much action aside from Fogg jumping from steamboat to train and from train to steamboat again – for example, the trip through Europe was omitted altogether, and the sea voyages were described very briefly, too. There are objectives on Fogg’s way, either created by Fix trying to arrest him or natural occurrences, but Fogg usually solves them by throwing money at them. Phileas Fogg is so rich that he can easily afford to buy an elephant if there’s no railroad to travel or to hire a steamboat to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and if it’s this easy for the heroes to overcome their predicaments, I stop being so invested in their fate. That’s why I was most engaged in the episodes where the characters couldn’t buy their way out of the problems, like Fogg’s trip through the Indian jungles or Passepartout’s miseries in Japan.

The biggest disappointment, though, was the execution of Aouda’s character. Practically the first thing we learn about her, - aside from the fact that she’s strikingly beautiful, that’s it, - is that she’s as light-skinned as a European and that she was brought up and educated as an English lady. I can understand that the book was written in 1872, and introducing an Indian heroine as a love interest for the main character was a bold step then, but Jules Verne curbed the potential of his own idea from the start by making Aouda culturally more English than Indian. It’s as if he wanted to add a character from an exotic culture, but also decided to make sure that she wasn’t too exotic, and so Aouda is Indian in name only. But what frustrates me the most is how amazingly nonexistent Aouda’s personality is. Yes, other characters aren’t the most complicated and rather stereotypical, but Fogg, Passepartout and even Fix feel vivid and alive, and Aouda doesn’t have a single personality trait or any individuality at all. She doesn’t even do anything for the whole of the book, she’s just there to accompany Fogg and stare adoringly at him! There is just one scene featuring Aouda that I really appreciate – after Fogg and his crew finally returns in London, Aouda is the one who proposes to him. Again, that was 1872, and it was incredibly bold for a woman even to confess her feelings first, never mind actually saying, ‘Hey, how about we get married?’ But alas, in all the other aspects Aouda’s character was a complete failure.

Overall, this classic among adventure novels withstood the test of time and gets solid 4 stars from me.
]]> <![CDATA[Jaguar Fever (Heart of the Jaguar, #2)]]> 18349548
Even in an exotic world of humans, jaguars, and tantalizing creatures who shift between the two, Maya Anderson stands out from the crowd. Interest from human suitors is bad enough, but when male shifters give chase, the real trouble starts.

Who's the hunter and who's the prey?

Investigating the black marketing trade of exotic animals keeps Wade Patterson more than busy. When he and Maya both get entangled in a steamy jungle mission, it becomes impossible to tell who is being hunted or who the hunters are. Wade is desperate to survive this deadly game of cat and mouse. But it's Maya's piercing eyes that keep him awake at night.]]> 321 Terry Spear 1402266960 Anna 4 romance, urban-fantasy 4.20 2013 Jaguar Fever (Heart of the Jaguar, #2)
author: Terry Spear
name: Anna
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/21
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves: romance, urban-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Союзники. Том 1. Перед рассветом]]> 43843368
Союзники №№1—4]]> 152 Natalya Devova 5950008499 Anna 0 comics, to-read 4.40 2018 Союзники. Том 1. Перед рассветом
author: Natalya Devova
name: Anna
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves: comics, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)]]> 25073764
So begins Lewis Carroll's famous story, which has become one of the best-loved books ever written.

Alice's adventures lead her down the rabbit-hole into Wonderland, where she meets an array of curious characters, inlcuding the Mad Hatter, the Mock Turtle and the grinning Cheshire-Cat.]]> 196 Lewis Carroll Anna 3 3.76 1865 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)
author: Lewis Carroll
name: Anna
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1865
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/12
date added: 2024/08/12
shelves: audiobooks, classics, middle-grade
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Little Shop of Happy Ever After]]> 35558172 358 Jenny Colgan 0751563749 Anna 2 audiobooks, romance 3.89 2016 The Little Shop of Happy Ever After
author: Jenny Colgan
name: Anna
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at: 2024/08/09
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves: audiobooks, romance
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Primate's Memoir: Love, Death and Baboons]]> 45161745 FROM AUTHOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, BEHAVE

'Remarkable... A Primate's Memoir is the closest the baboon is likely to come - and it's plenty close enough - to having its own Iliad' The New York Times Review of Books

'One of the best scientist-writers of our time' Oliver Sacks

Brooklyn-born Robert Sapolsky grew up wishing he could live in the primate diorama in the Museum of Natural History. At school he wrote fan letters to primatologists and even taught himself Swahili, all with the hope of one day joining his primate brethren in Africa. But when, at the age of twenty-one, Sapolky's dream finally comes true he discovers that the African bush bears little resemblance to the tranquillity of a museum.

This is the story of the next twenty-one years as Sapolsky slowly infiltrates and befriends a troop of Savannah baboons. Alone in the middle of the Serengeti with no electricity, running water or telephone, and surviving countless scams, culinary atrocities and a surreal kidnapping, Sapolsky becomes ever more enamoured with his adopted baboon troop - unique and compelling characters in their own right - and he returns to them summer after summer, until tragedy finally prevails.

Exhilarating, hilarious and poignant, A Primate's Memoir is a uniquely honest window into the coming-of-age of one of our greatest scientific minds.]]> 352 Robert M. Sapolsky 1529112303 Anna 5 4.18 2001 A Primate's Memoir: Love, Death and Baboons
author: Robert M. Sapolsky
name: Anna
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/23
date added: 2024/07/23
shelves: audiobooks, animals, non-fiction
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rag and Bone (Rag and Bone, #1)]]> 27210949 It’s amazing what people throw away…

Crispin Tredarloe never meant to become a warlock. Freed from his treacherous master, he’s learning how to use his magical powers the right way. But it’s brutally hard work. Not everyone believes he’s a reformed character, and the strain is putting unbearable pressure on his secret relationship with waste-man Ned Hall.

Ned’s sick of magic. Sick of the trouble it brings, sick of its dangerous grip on Crispin and the miserable look it puts in his eyes, and sick of being afraid that a gentleman magician won’t want a street paper-seller forever—or even for much longer.

But something is stirring among London’s forgotten discards. An ancient evil is waking up and seeking its freedom. And when wild magic hits the rag-and-bottle shop where Ned lives, a panicked Crispin falls back onto bad habits. The embattled lovers must find a way to work together—or London could go up in flames.

This story is set in the world of the Charm of Magpies series.

Contains a warlock who needs to go straight (but isn’t), a waste-man running out of patience, blood magic, bad-tempered justiciars, and a pen with a mind of its own.]]> 146 K.J. Charles Anna 0 wish-list, historian-fantasy 4.13 2016 Rag and Bone (Rag and Bone, #1)
author: K.J. Charles
name: Anna
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves: wish-list, historian-fantasy
review:

]]>