en-US Mon, 21 Sep 2026 06:38:10 -0700 60 144 41 https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 248337536
A woman wakes up with amnesia to a totally different life and teams up with her charming new neighbor to piece together her missing memories in this tender and funny romantic comedy from the author of How Freaking Romantic.



Growing up, Marnie Stephens believed in magic. That destiny was real, the universe had a plan, and every problem could be fixed by one of her grandmother’s many crystals or mantras. But now, at thirty, Marnie’s dreams have fallen by the wayside as real life proves to be more difficult than divine. That’s all about to change, though, thanks to her upcoming move from LA to Boston with her boyfriend Matt. Sure, she still has some nagging worries about the future, but those things will work themselves out. She just needs a fresh start.



Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Marnie gets when she wakes up at a hospital in Boston with no knowledge of how she got there. Her doctor tells her she suffered a head injury, Matt insists they broke up months ago, and, most distressing of all, her hair is somehow eight inches shorter. Nothing makes sense, but one thing is clear: Marnie has no memory of the past year. Soon, she’s discharged and finds herself in an apartment she doesn’t remember with a new neighbor, Ben Morgan, a man she’s sure she won’t forget.



Now, with the clues she finds scattered around her home, and Ben, who knows Boston like the back of his hand, Marnie sets out to retrace the past year to figure out where things went wrong and set them right. But despite what her grandmother always told her, there’s no magic to make her recovery easier. Between doctor’s visits and treks across the city in search of her lost memories, the last thing Marnie needs is to start falling for the grumpy—and incredibly attractive—man helping her. But the universe has other plans, and it’s not long before Marnie begins to wonder if fighting for the past is as important as the one person who could be her future.

]]> 336 Emily Harding 1668225204 Joana 0 to-read 4.03
author: Emily Harding
name: Joana
average rating: 4.03
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 243392707 'A superb writer, by turns funny, graceful, acidly cynical, lyrical.' Guardian
'Jem Calder is my new favourite writer.' Andrew O'Hagan
'Calder's writing achieves that rare thing of capturing how it feels to be young.' Esquire

Chuck and Joey meet in a bar. He's in his mid-thirties; she's twelve years younger. He's long abandoned his ambition of becoming a novelist and now works as a copywriter at a big ad agency. 'Lead copywriter,' he corrects himself. Joey lives paycheck to paycheck on her barista wages and privately dreams of making it as a poet. They go back to Chuck's luxury flat-a world away from Joey's cramped house-share, the crumbs in her bed. Soon, Joey's imagining a future between them, and Chuck's moving on from a major change in his recent past. Amazing, how meeting a new person can make you feel so new.

Funny, excruciating, and true, I Want You to Be Happy is a sharp-eyed tale of two people searching for meaning and connection in modern times, missing the mark maybe, but trying.]]> 238 Jem Calder 0571387489 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.53 2026
author: Jem Calder
name: Joana
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2026
rating: 3
read at: 2026/08/27
date added: 2026/09/21
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
After seeing this flashy cover all over London during my July visit, I had to see what it was all about. What I found was the most annoying yet compelling pair of characters. Everything's going sideways, but you can't help but stand by and watch it till the end. I also felt that this book couldn't be set anywhere else but England.
]]> 242830395
The acclaimed, prize-winning #1 New York Times bestselling writer returns with a moving, luminous novel that reminds us of the sweetness and impermanence of life and the power of connection to defy time.

When Daphne Fuller and her husband Jonathan visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, they notice an older, white-haired gentleman following them. The man turns out to be Eddie Triplett, her former stepfather, who had been married to her mother for a little more than year when Daphne was nine. Now fifty-three, Daphne hasn’t seen Eddie for many years, not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. Meeting again, time falls away; while their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both, and now that they are reunited, they have no intention of ever being separated again.

Whistler is a story about two adults looking back over the choices they made, and the choices that were made for them. It’s a story about bravery, memory, the often small yet consequential moments that define our lives, and the endless stream of loss that in time comes for us all. Beautiful in its simplicity, it is ultimately about how love endures, and how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.]]> Ann Patchett Joana 5 read-in-2026 This audiobook was the first to make me actually miss my exit because I was so enthralled by the story. ]]> 4.26 2026
author: Ann Patchett
name: Joana
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/08/23
date added: 2026/09/21
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Hearing this, narrated by Ann Patchett herself, was a balm to my soul. My queen of compassionate realism, a term I stole from a substack by Lucy Fuggle, did it again with a heartwarming story about memories, found family, and cherishing life to the fullest.
This audiobook was the first to make me actually miss my exit because I was so enthralled by the story.
]]> 241379386 A Malnascida, A Malcriada.

Comparada a grandes escritores italianos — Ginzburg, Moravia, Ferrante —, Beatrice Salvioni confirma neste segundo romance, tão terno quanto furioso, que chegou para firmar o nome no pódio das letras italianas.

É noite cerrada, e uma rapariga corre descalça pela cidade deserta. Desesperada, raivosa, acaba de descobrir que foi traída por alguém que jamais julgara capaz de a enganar.

Estamos em Monza, Itália, em 1940. Há quatro anos que Francesca não tem notícias de Maddalena, que foi internada num hospício e não responde a nenhuma carta. Francesca desconfia de que a amiga lhe guarda grande ressentimento. Afinal, Maddalena nunca deixou de ser a rejeitada, a malnascida. Acontece que também Francesca pisou o risco e se passou para o lado dos malditos daquela sociedade conservadora e fugiu de casa para ir viver com Noè Tresoldi, provocando um escândalo na família. A mãe acusa-a de ser uma degenerada, uma filha amaldiçoada.

É a este cenário que Maddalena regressa enfim, ainda pequena e ainda mais magra, como se o tempo não tivesse passado por ela e pudesse fingir ser a adolescente corajosa de sempre. Mas os anos passados no hospício deixaram marcas, e agora a guerra está prestes a começar.]]> 480 Beatrice Salvioni 9895894023 Joana 4 read-in-2026 4.30 2024
author: Beatrice Salvioni
name: Joana
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2026/08/25
date added: 2026/09/21
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Como é bom voltar a casa! Não há amor como o primeiro, mas este não lhe ficou muito atrás. Devorei estas páginas e, tal como no primeiro, só queria passar mais tempo com estas personagens. Muito ansiosa com os próximos trabalhos de Beatrice Salvioni!
]]> 251118707 Jedno mesto. Dve rodiny. Tajomstvo, ktoré všetko zmení.

Máj 1945. V mestečku Bonhomie v štáte Ohio spojí Cala Jenkinsa a Margaret Saltovú ukradnutý okamih vášne, ktorý vzplanie v bujarej atmosfére po víťazstve Spojencov v Európe. Netušia, že tento okamih zmení životy nielen im dvom, ale aj všetkým naokolo.

Calova manželka Becky má nezvyčajný dar – dokáže sprostredkovať hlas mŕtvych a pomáha rodinám nadviazať spojenie s tými, ktorých stratili. Margaret sa zasa snaží uniknúť vlastnej minulosti, kým jej manžel Felix slúži na mori.

To, čo začne ako krátke zlyhanie, sa postupne mení na tajomstvo, ktoré sa nedá pochovať. V malom meste, kde každý pozná každého, pravda skôr či neskôr vypláva na povrch – a jej dôsledky zasiahnu dve rodiny naprieč generáciami.

Keď príde búrka je silný viacgeneračný román o láske, vine a o tom, či sa dá napraviť to, čo sme pokazili.]]> 432 Patrick Ryan 9895960379 Joana 4 read-in-2026 ]]> 4.06 2025
author: Patrick Ryan
name: Joana
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/08/22
date added: 2026/09/21
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Sinto um quentinho no coração sempre que penso neste livro. Este não é um livro em que acontecem muitas coisas de forma muito rápida. Aqui tudo toma o seu tempo, a escrita agarra-nos pela mão e exige que façamos uma pausa, que nos percamos verdadeiramente nas vidas simples, mas com alguns trambolhões, destas personagens.

]]> 112976344 By the New York Times bestselling author of Just Haven't Met You Yet, a downtrodden twenty-six-year-old wakes up to the life she's always wanted, but is it really a dream come true?

At twenty-six, Lucy Young is tired. Tired of fetching coffees for senior TV producers, tired of going on disastrous dates, and definitely tired of living in a damp flat share with flatmates who never buy toilet roll. She could quit her job for a better living, but she's not ready to give up on her dreams. Not just yet. After another diabolical date lands her in a sudden storm and no money for bus fare, Lucy finds herself seeking shelter in a tiny shop, where she stumbles upon a curious wishing machine. Pushing her last coin into the slot, Lucy closes her eyes and wishes with everything she's got: Please, let me skip to the good part of my life.

When she wakes the next morning to a handsome man, a ring on her finger, a high-powered job, and storybook perfect little boy and baby girl, Lucy can't believe this is real--especially when she looks in the mirror, and staring back is her own forty-something face. Has she really skipped ahead to the future she's always wanted, or has she simply forgotten a huge chunk of her life? And as Lucy begins to embrace this new life and new relationships, she'll have to ask herself: Can she go back, and if so, does she want to?]]> 351 Sophie Cousens 0593539893 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.99 2023
author: Sophie Cousens
name: Joana
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2026/08/14
date added: 2026/09/21
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
This was my first Sophie Cousens ride, and I'd only heard great things about her work. It ended up being a slow burn - at first, the protagonist was annoying me so bad, and a DNF was crossing my mind. However, I can't pinpoint when the story grabbed me and made it worthwhile. Was this the Sophie Cousens experience I'd been promised? No. I guess I'll have to read her other works to fully understand my stance on her.
]]> 229277479 Benny and Joy like to say that they've been saving each other since the moment they met.

Until the day Joy disappears and Benny is accused of her murder.

Best friends Benny and Joy host a beloved 'comedy survival' podcast, gleefully finding life-affirming humour in near-death experiences.

When Benny arrives at Joy and her husband's home one morning to record, he finds shattered glass and an empty house.

With Joy missing and the hours ticking by, not even their most devoted fans could guess the terrible secrets they have hidden from the world - and from each other.

If Benny wants to find Joy in time, and clear his own name, he'll have to solve the highest stakes survival story yet.]]> 369 Tiffany Crum 1399744704 Joana 2 read-in-2026 3.87 2026
author: Tiffany Crum
name: Joana
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2026
rating: 2
read at: 2026/08/11
date added: 2026/09/21
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Another case of a book with a beautiful cover and an interesting plot that ended up not living up to the hype it had. Don't get me wrong, I was entertained while reading it mainly because I wanted to see how it ended, but I was expecting something more thrilling than it was.
]]> 236847870 The newest book from bestselling author and Kindle Unlimited sensation Catherine Walsh, in which an ambitious editor travels to Ireland to help the daughter of a fantasy author legend complete her father’s final book, only to fall in love with her in the process.

Ciara Sheridan’s father has left her with three things: a sprawling and distinctly ramshackle estate on the Irish coast, the outline for the finale to his bestselling epic fantasy series that he wanted her to finish—and writer’s block.

Enter Sam Frank Sheridan fanboy and hotshot editor, sent from the New York publishing house direct to Ciara’s doorstep. Ciara was expecting a crusty old-timer, so the handsome young American is a surprise. And for his part, Sam was expecting Ciara to have written something by now. 

Ciara and Sam have two weeks of the hottest Irish summer on record to write this novel together and secure Frank’s legacy—but will their own love story be the plot twist neither of them see coming?]]> 352 Catherine Walsh Joana 0 read-in-2026 However, this ended up being a lovely surprise, with characters that provided great company for a long train ride home.]]> 3.71 2026
author: Catherine Walsh
name: Joana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at: 2026/08/06
date added: 2026/09/20
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
I'm not gonna lie, this one took a bit of time to reel me in, which hadn't been my experience with Catherine Walsh.
However, this ended up being a lovely surprise, with characters that provided great company for a long train ride home.
]]> 241950796 Annie


On a cruise with her one-time favourite boyband and a thousand female super-fansStill reeling from her divorceBeing replaced at work by her intern
Keith


Fifty years old and in a band that performs dance routines with hip thrustsSuffering from sea sicknessCertain his wife doesn’t love him anymore
When a meet-and-greet throws them together, Annie develops a crush on Keith, and Keith starts to wonder if life might have a few surprises in store for him.

But are Keith and Annie just living a fantasy? And what happens when they get back to shore? ]]> 299 Emma Straub 1405946156 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.33 2026
author: Emma Straub
name: Joana
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2026
rating: 3
read at: 2026/08/01
date added: 2026/09/20
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
This felt like a love letter to what being a fan is. Don't go into it expecting a lot of action and fuss; just enjoy the smooth sailing with an interesting group of characters.
]]> 246241224 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road comes the heart-wrenching journey of a family facing a tragic genetic destiny, set against the scientific search for hope for all of us who fear losing our selves to dementia

In the idyllic American town of Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, lived a family with nine siblings, the youngest a girl named Barb. As the older children headed off to college and started their lives, only Barb was home to see their beautiful, still-young mother fall under a gothic spell, changed into someone they don’t withdrawn, neglectful, uncaring.

Thus begins The Vanishing Family, journalist Robert Kolker’s stunning follow-up to Hidden Valley Road (“Deeply compassionate and chilling”, Washington Post). The family, we learn, has a gene mutation for dementia, but with a special cruel twist. As early as their forties, formerly loving parents and hard driving executives will lose their jobs, have affairs, take up drinking—shed all inhibitions and sense of responsibility, and become people their families hardly know. And there is a 50/50 chance that it will happen to their children, too.

Kolker follows the family over years as they realize that what happened to their mother is happening to first one, then two, three, four, and more begin to change. The Vanishing Family unfolds like a heartbreaking thriller, as the siblings struggle to cope with terrifying fates. Sue, the black sheep of the family, finds a calling in caring for the others. And Barb sets out to find a cure. She learns that their mutation for a rare form of FTD (frontotemporal dementia) might help scientists understand and cure all dementia, including the scourge of Alzheimer’s disease.

Moving, intimate, hopeful, redemptive— The Vanishing Family is a medical detective story about an unforgettable family that speaks to all of us who wonder how our own stories will end.]]> 368 Robert Kolker 0385551037 Joana 0 to-read 4.54 2026
author: Robert Kolker
name: Joana
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 244671682 The inspiring memoir of a brilliant young man who, sentenced to life in prison, refused to surrender his future—a story so powerful that it transformed even the judge who handed down the sentence.

If our world were more just, Chris Young would have been crossing a stage at college graduation at the age of 22. Instead, he was marched into a maximum-security federal prison, facing life under mandatory drug sentencing laws. Like far too many young Black men from his neighborhood in Clarksville, Tennessee, this was where his story was supposed to end.

But one day in the prison library, a book caught his eye: an encyclopedia. As he began to turn the pages, Chris felt himself transported. Knowledge became a portal. He began to confront the nihilism around him, the trauma of his past, and the cruelty of a system determined to confine him. From the library, his cell, and even solitary confinement, Chris built an education from scratch, studying philosophy, art, anthropology, history, physics, and politics. He learned to analyze the stock market and taught himself how to code without a computer. He trained his mind—and refused to let prison dictate the limits of his imagination. At his sentencing hearing, Chris gave such a moving speech that the judge resigned from his lifetime appointment to the bench and fought to free him.

Started in solitary confinement and finished beyond bars, The Wound Is Where the Light Enters is a powerful meditation on choice, consequence, and human potential, told through the story of a man who was never given a chance—and who fought until, at last, he was.]]> 336 Chris Young 0316565288 Joana 0 to-read 4.49 2026
author: Chris Young
name: Joana
average rating: 4.49
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 249186882 Big Little Lies or not, this is the perfect novel for longtime fans and new readers alike.

The last time we saw the women of Big Little Lies—Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie—their children were five years old. If someone wasn’t invited to a child’s birthday party, feelings were hurt. But ten years have passed, and the kids are now in high school, with all of the drama that accompanies teendom (goodbye playdates, hello drugs, sex, and alcohol).

Now, after the principal of the high school receives a severed human finger in the mail, the parents are in an uproar. But Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie have other things to worry about. Celeste’s mother-in-law, Mary Louise, is behaving oddly—is it old-age forgetfulness and forthrightness, or something more sinister? Madeline is facing perhaps the biggest challenge of her life, Jane is at a dangerous fork in her marriage, Bonnie has realized there’s only so much solace in yoga. And Renata? Renata is living her best life—revenge is sweet.

When a strange man begins lurking around the school asking supposedly innocent questions, this tightly connected group of women must finally face the full repercussions of the big little truths they have and haven’t shared with their kids. Because the stakes are now much higher than not being invited to an ice-skating show—and the ice has never been thinner for any of them.]]> 464 Liane Moriarty 0593798635 Joana 0 to-read 4.16 2026
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Joana
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 248296726 The number one bestselling author of global sensation Lessons in Chemistry returns with an irresistible, delightful, and tender story about a young man whose life turns upside down when he is hired by the most prestigious, secretive, and dysfunctional poetry journal in the world: the renowned Peck & Peck of New York City.

Batter Gray is worried about his future. Even when he was eleven, his classmates seemed to have settled on a goal: doctor, lawyer, broker, engineer. Good jobs that automatically command respect, security, 401Ks. Now Batter is in his early twenties, living in New York City, and he wants something different; something that alienates some readers and bores most. Poetry. And yet—to him and exactly thirty-nine editors at a company called Peck & Peck—poetry not only represents the power of humanity but holds the key to its survival.

Batter is named after his mother’s heroic dog. An identical twin who lost his brother at birth, he finds himself confronted by the everyday dualities that make up life: right vs. wrong, truth vs. lies, rejection vs. acceptance. It’s almost as if his dead brother is a reminder: there are always two sides to every story.

No, wait. Make that three.]]> 432 Bonnie Garmus 166825106X Joana 0 to-read 3.95 2026
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: Joana
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 248116509
Livia Cable has made her peace with her marriage and modest livelihood in the farm country where she grew up, until a shocking phone call from an old lover shakes her to the core. Decades earlier, this man knew her as Livia Bohusz, a music conservatory student estranged from her home and family, uncertain of anything except her passion for music and promise as an extraordinary pianist. His request, now, to see her again stirs up ghosts she’s kept at bay for a lifetime.

Shifting between past and present, Livia’s decision to meet or reject the reunion means confronting step by step, in memories framed as musical dances, the traumas of childhood loss, abandonment, self-immolating passion, and perilous attachment to a man who broke her belief in love and ruptured the course of her life.

With razor-sharp acuity and deep affection, Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver’s unforgettable new novel reflects on class barriers, the risks of ambition, and the timeless love affair between life and art.]]> 408 Barbara Kingsolver 0571404731 Joana 0 to-read 4.32 2026
author: Barbara Kingsolver
name: Joana
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 245957901 At last, the National Book Award finalist and NYT bestselling author of Pachinko returns with a breathtaking contemporary epic: Min Jin Lee has written a masterpiece by turns sweeping and intimate, one that reckons with ambition and moderation, lust and loyalty, personal dreams and familial duty.

In schools and churches, hotel rooms and nail salons, law firms and fried-fish shops; in cramped, dingy apartments and luxury, gated communities, the men, women, and children in American Hagwon struggle to find satisfaction and meaning in a world that seems to grow less forgiving with each passing year.

Once comfortably middle class in Korea, John and Helen Koh and their three children—Bo, DH, and Mido—find their lives upended, first by a shocking betrayal by John’s oldest friend, then by the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Desperately striving to regain their footing, they leave Seoul for Sydney and eventually settle in Southern California—where new vistas of opportunity open up for the children as their parents, strangers in a strange land, must adjust to a new life in which their experience and education mean little, and they set their sights on whatever it takes to provide for their children’s futures.

The Kohs, their friends, relatives, and even their foes move in and out of each other’s lives as they navigate new courses across the years, always nursing the almost all-consuming faith that education will lead the next generation to success and security. In American Hagwon, Min Jin Lee has crafted an unforgettable, panoramic novel where the smallest of gestures can have enormous repercussions, where the bonds of family and of memory twist and fray but rarely break, and where willful self-sacrifice—for the benefit of loved ones and even strangers—is a kind of prayer.]]> 656 Min Jin Lee 1538752042 Joana 0 to-read 4.21 2026
author: Min Jin Lee
name: Joana
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 250252723 A behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story that brilliantly confronts the private cost of a public life

For rising young actors Kai Laramie and Juniper Castillo, being cast in the buzzy biopic Andy Warhol Never Gets Old is the opportunity they’ve been waiting for. They’re on the verge of breaking out, and maybe even falling in love. Soon the movie is blowing up and so are their lives—in exciting but also terrifying ways.

John Green artfully blends a behind-the-scenes Hollywood love story with an unflinching examination of the insatiable attention economy. Told through dual points of view, the novel follows Kai and Juniper from their first days on location to the movie’s premiere, brilliantly juxtaposing their story with the on-screen study of Warhol’s life at the dawn of celebrity culture.

Hollywood, Ending is a deeply observed novel about the tension between a public and a private life, and finding your safe someone to hold onto. Tender, heartbreaking, and shrewdly funny, this is a story as only Green can tell it.]]> 416 John Green Joana 0 to-read 4.43 2026
author: John Green
name: Joana
average rating: 4.43
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 248337055 The author of the “brilliant” (Library Journal) An Academic Affair returns with a steamy romance about a recently separated single mom who’s absolutely not looking for another relationship...only to fall for the younger owner of her favorite wine bar.

Fiona Fisher thought she had it a loving husband, three kids, and a life far away from the suffocating expectations of her family. But when her husband reveals that he’s leaving her for his secret second family, Fiona is left devastated and humiliated.

Satoshi Tsukamoto wants it all. He’s the owner of a popular wine bar, and he’s studying for the hardest test in the the Master Sommelier exam. There aren’t enough hours in the day for anything else—except maybe for Fiona, his favorite customer, and the woman he’s absolutely, head-over-heels in love with.

On paper, Fiona and Satoshi make no sense. He’s eight years younger than her and has no time for romance. She’s a single mother and doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to trust anyone again. But how can Fiona resist when Satoshi suggests they give into their mutual attraction and let off some steam? And how can Satoshi resist when the woman he adores is finally within his grasp—even if they’ve agreed to keep things casual?

The perfect read for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Abby Jimenez, A Study in Sparkling proves that Jodi McAlister truly is “a writer to watch” (Booklist).]]> 384 Jodi McAlister 1668236338 Joana 0 to-read 3.61 2026
author: Jodi McAlister
name: Joana
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 241344658
Parker Navarro’s debut novel was meant to define his career - until critic Selina Chan’s blistering review made it the flop of the decade. Four years later, his new book is his shot at redemption; for Selina, reviewing him again is a professional risk she can’t refuse. When her second takedown ignites a viral feud, both their fortunes shift overnight. But as the literary world feeds on their public sparring, a quieter dialogue begins - one that challenges everything they thought they knew about success, sincerity, and each other.

Both incisive and tender, Bad Words lays bare the costs of creation - the pull between ambition and integrity, the vulnerability of being seen, and the unexpected closeness that can grow in the space between critique and care.

When words can make or break us, how do you stay true to what matters most?]]> 400 Rioghnach Robinson 1250431298 Joana 0 to-read 4.31 2026
author: Rioghnach Robinson
name: Joana
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/08/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 251296591 'MADELEINE GRAY IS A DAZZLING WRITER - A HUGE TALENT'
GILLIAN ANDERSON

Nell has accepted, at age twelve, that hers will likely be a friendless existence. She does not care for boys, or makeup, or competing to see who can eat the least - so has no hope of success at tweenage girl social climbing.

But then, a new girl arrives at school. Eve has short hair like a boy's, a wicked sense of humour and an unshakable confidence that she will one day find her place in the world. The moment they meet, Nell changes her mind about the friend thing.

From their childhood to their twenties and thirties, Eve and Nell will love each other and hurt each other - through teenage feuds and the chlorine-scented savagery of all-girls' schools; through long, drunken nights in scruffy share houses; through the highs and lows of coparenting a child together without being romantically involved. But always, despite a mire of unspoken feelings and sexual confusion, they will choose each other. Again, and again. As friends, as lovers, as family.]]> 352 Madeleine Gray 1399636952 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.76 2026
author: Madeleine Gray
name: Joana
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2026
rating: 3
read at: 2026/07/22
date added: 2026/07/26
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
It's messy, it's funny, and it will make you question what you think about the concept of family. Madeleine Gray is an auto-buy for me.
]]> 241217481 The apocalypse will be televised!
A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground. The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe. Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over.

In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style. You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big. You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game - with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy. They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

Includes part one of the exclusive bonus story, "Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.”]]> 480 Matt Dinniman 0593820258 Joana 2 read-in-2026 4.37 2020
author: Matt Dinniman
name: Joana
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at: 2026/07/20
date added: 2026/07/26
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Very sad to say this one didn't work for me. I'll never hear the words "new achievement" without a shiver down my spine.
]]> 243806861
Twenty years later, Gen is an Olympic runner, the career she strived for, while Emily is living a picture-perfect Manhattan townhouse, two young children and a wealthy husband, Jack. But Jack's controlling behaviour is spiralling, and Emily has lost sight of who she once was.

Now, despite Emily's fracturing marriage and the pressures of Gen's career, they are drawn back together by a magnetic attraction. After years of heartbreak, missed chances and misunderstandings, will they finally get a second chance at first love?]]> 368 Marie Rutkoski 034914690X Joana 5 read-in-2026 4.15 2025
author: Marie Rutkoski
name: Joana
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/12
date added: 2026/07/26
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
You know I can't resist a pretty cover with a "buy one get one half price" sticker on it at the airport. It's true, I lose all touch with my financial responsibilities when I'm inside a WHSmith at a London airport. I'm so glad for it because it took me to this book! The YEARNING is off the charts in this one. Gobbled it up. You'll find sexy, messy, and just profound love within these pages. Give yourself a sapphic romance summer and grab this one ASAP.
]]> 240114457 A football star and a diehard fan entangled in a PR stunt—that only one side knows is fake—might be the right play in this new romantic comedy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lynn Painter.

Duffy Distefano loves three things: her dad, the family cat, and Minneapolis Coyotes football. So when she gets booed out of a game and becomes the internet’s villain, she is distraught—and disgruntled. All she did was shove Coyote Carl away when he made a move on her, but everyone else just saw a woman attacking their team’s beloved mascot. Eager to clear the air, Duffy agrees to an interview on a hit morning show. She doesn’t expect a co-guest to join her—especially not the Coyotes’ star tight end.

When MVP Connor Cunningham gets tasked with damage control to help his team out of their PR nightmare, he thought that meant saying a few words on the team’s behalf. Instead, he finds himself in a highly amusing verbal sparring match with a recently wronged fan on live TV. Duffy pelts him with fiery jabs but is also clearly diehard about the Coyotes—color him intrigued…and attracted.

The interview instantly goes viral, and the public is obsessed with them. A strong push from the Coyotes’ PR team to ride the wave results in Connor asking Duffy out. Despite his distaste for PR stunts, he’s surprised to discover being with Duffy is much easier than he thought, and somehow it doesn’t feel fake to him. Harboring this secret can only blow up, but all he knows is that if he messes things up with Duffy, it’ll be the greatest fumble of his life.]]> 320 Lynn Painter 0593817443 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.74 2026
author: Lynn Painter
name: Joana
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2026
rating: 3
read at: 2026/07/11
date added: 2026/07/26
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
I love reading Lynn Painter because she always delivers a good time. Do I spend most of the time saying "This doesn't make any sense"? Yes, but I Eat. It. Up. Always my girl for a little fun romance for turning my brain off.
]]> 238872971 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9798217181162.

She knows what her happily ever after looks like. And it’s not him.

Cassia Park believes in soul mates. Fated love stories. It’s her family business, after all—for centuries, from Korea to Los Angeles, Park women have peered into clients’ past lives to find their one true love, their fated. This magical secret is why One & Only Matchmaking has a 100% guarantee…for everyone but Cassia.

For ten years, Cass has been searching for her fated, a man named Daniel Nam. But he’s still nowhere to be found.

And so, on the eve of her 40th birthday, Cass decides to do something for herself. She impulsively has a fling with Ellis. He’s twenty-eight, indecently handsome, and not destined to be the love of her life. But she’s surprised by their connection and their fling feels like something more—up to the moment he introduces her to his boss…Daniel Nam.

As she battles between fate and chance, head and heart, a family secret is revealed that will make her question everything she’s ever known. Cassia will have to decide if she’ll follow her fate…or make her own.]]> 358 Maurene Goo Joana 5 read-in-2026
Sometimes buying a book for its cover pays off, and this one definitely did; I absolutely loved it so much. If you're looking for a fun summer romance and don't mind a bit of a love triangle, pick this one up. ]]> 3.94 2026
author: Maurene Goo
name: Joana
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/07/09
date added: 2026/07/26
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
I love it when a book is so good that it just reminds you of why you read, why you pour yourself into these fictional stories and root for people who only exist on paper.

Sometimes buying a book for its cover pays off, and this one definitely did; I absolutely loved it so much. If you're looking for a fun summer romance and don't mind a bit of a love triangle, pick this one up.
]]> 242000418 The new head gardener at the enchanting Lilymoor House stumbles upon a secret garden . . . with a mysterious man trapped inside, in the next magical novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Sounds Like Love and The Seven Year Slip.

When Sophie Drear plans her escape to coastal Maine for the summer—for a temporary job revitalizing the storied grounds at Lilymoor House—she doesn’t expect to fall in love.

But she does: With the beguiling land, the fragrant flowers, and the towering hedge maze. With the quirky staff and the enigmatic woman who owns the place.

And then, the door appears. Never in the same place twice, it leads her to a secret, and unfinished, garden with a frustrated thundercloud of a man trapped inside.

This mysterious garden is not the only sign that the future of Lilymoor is unstable: the foliage resists Sophie’s careful nurturing, vines threaten to strangle the hedges, and the manor’s owner has wild ideas about who will take over when she retires—including her inconveniently attractive nephew who is also there just for the summer.

Despite herself, Sophie has come to care for the residents of Lilymoor just as much as she cares for its grounds. With the help of one man on the outside of the secret garden, and one man on the inside, she might be the only person who can figure out exactly what Lilymoor needs to bloom once more.]]> 396 Ashley Poston 0593952758 Joana 2 read-in-2026 3.78 2026
author: Ashley Poston
name: Joana
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2026
rating: 2
read at: 2026/07/17
date added: 2026/07/26
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
I love Ashley Poston so much, but this didn't work for me. Couldn't find myself rooting for any of the characters; the story felt a little wobbly on its feet and rushed at the same time. Hoping her next work will bring back all the butterflies I felt with her other works.
]]> 221301917 A group of friends from university; seven summer days in a cabin in rural Denmark. A chance to swim, sunbathe, flirt, read and spend time together like the old days.

At least that’s what Sylvia had hoped. But when Gry turns up with her kids and Esben and Karen announce their wedding, Sylvia is left wondering what happened to the radical ways of living they envisaged at university. Plus, she is nursing a decades-long crush on Esben, that her monogamous, long-term girlfriend Charlie won’t approve of.

Within the rest of the group, desire and anxiety swirl in equal measure. Quince finally feels at home in his body and is ready to rave, but there are children with bedtime routines. While sparks fly around the dinner table, Gry is feeling banal among her colourful, eccentric friends. Unusually, she’s also brought her husband Adam, the poster child for a heterosexual masculinity Quince can't decide if he wants to tear down or tie down.

As the week progresses, discussions and flirtations intensify. A modern midsummer night’s dream for the new generation, Waist Deep adds a sensuous, ethereal flourish to the perennial what is the best way to live and love as you get older?

‘A perfume dream of a debut’ Politiken

‘Linea Maja Ernst writes about sexual desire so well that it turns her readers on’ Weekendavisen]]> 213 Linea Maja Ernst 1529954398 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.38 2024
author: Linea Maja Ernst
name: Joana
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2026/06/27
date added: 2026/07/26
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
This is the perfect example of why I love reading about friend groups. Although so different, they meet at so many points, and it's always fascinating. It's like you're living the fantasy of being a fly on the wall and getting the tea on all the group drama.
]]> 243502711 One perfect day. A million catastrophes.

For weeks she has been saying it will be their special day. One last, perfect day with her children before she returns to work after maternity leave. What’s the worst that can happen?
 
Unfolding across 24 hours, Natural Disaster is a propulsive, funny and sharply observed novel about the absurd, frustrating, hilarious, precarious, bittersweet, sometimes astonishing challenge—literal, existential—of being a woman, a mother, a wife, a person for one single, entire day.
 
A high-octane Mrs. Dalloway for our hectic times, Natural Disaster is “a thunderously good novel—the kind that makes you rock with laughter, shed a genuine tear, and immediately think of which friends you’re going to lend it to first.” (Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall)]]> 208 Lisa Owens 0316596418 Joana 0 to-read 3.49
author: Lisa Owens
name: Joana
average rating: 3.49
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 242513544 It’s all fun and games until someone falls in love.

MANSION • APARTMENT • SHACK • HOUSE

Ruby Wynne is a staunch rule-follower who lives by the numbers. So when a surprising breakup – on her thirty-fifth birthday – ruins all her well-laid plans, Ruby makes an unexpected wish . . . Only to wake up inside a M.A.S.H. game from seventh grade.

Settled in a Technicolor mansion, driving a tie-dye Jeep, and running a roller-disco restaurant, Ruby is living out her childhood dreams come true—with one exception. According to the game, Ruby’s “other half” is supposed to be Penn Hayes, her brother’s annoying, and annoyingly handsome, best friend. But there’s zero romance between them. Just like in real life, all they share is sarcasm. With no rules to follow and desperate to return to reality, Ruby makes her best guess at an escape plan: win Penn’s heart so the game comes completely true and she can go home.

It’s unthinkable. On Ruby’s list of dos and don’ts, Penn Hayes is a lifelong don’t. But as Ruby navigates the magical world she dreamed up at thirteen, she wonders if, by finally throwing out her rules, she might just find her way home to the life and love she deserves.]]> 337 Laura Marie Meyers Joana 0 to-read 3.79 2026
author: Laura Marie Meyers
name: Joana
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/07/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 249006071
O nascimento de Lajos simboliza os muitos segredos, casos amorosos e acontecimentos incríveis que assolam os Lázár. Com o passar das décadas, a família continuará a ser vítima dos seus desejos, entre vidas grandiosas e tragédias ainda maiores, à medida que é arrastada pelas marés da guerra e da revolução que assolam o seu país - os Lázár governam as suas terras húngaras há gerações. Contudo, uma e outra vez, nos anos mais felizes, o amor e a esperança irrompem com um poder indomável.

Saga familiar escrita com mão de mestre e profundamente cativante, Os Lázár é um romance magistral que nos apresenta a história de uma nação através da vida de uma família extraordinária, numa leitura que ressoa com tremenda intensidade.]]> 272 Nelio Biedermann 9722550985 Joana 3 read-in-2026 Este livro convidou-me a passear por um género literário muito diferente do habitual e deu-me uma experiência muito prazerosa. Passou-se tão bem com esta família que eu não me importava de ter ficado com eles durante mais umas páginas. Dei por mim a sublinhar várias reflexões, todas muito diferentes umas das outras, e inclusive fez-me ter vontade de colocar este livro na mão da pessoa com quem estava e dizer-lhe "lê este parágrafo. Não é fantástico como ele conseguiu descrever tão bem esta sensação?" ]]> 3.87 2025
author: Nelio Biedermann
name: Joana
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/06/22
date added: 2026/06/30
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Não conhecia este livro, nem nunca tinha ouvido falar do autor, até a editora o ter enviado cá para casa. O que mais me saltou à vista inicialmente foi o facto de ser uma obra de estreia tão premiada e ter sido escrita por um autor tão jovem. Depois disso, comecei a ouvir falar dele por todo o lado, tal como quando compramos um carro e de repente cruzamo-nos com modelos iguais todos os dias.
Este livro convidou-me a passear por um género literário muito diferente do habitual e deu-me uma experiência muito prazerosa. Passou-se tão bem com esta família que eu não me importava de ter ficado com eles durante mais umas páginas. Dei por mim a sublinhar várias reflexões, todas muito diferentes umas das outras, e inclusive fez-me ter vontade de colocar este livro na mão da pessoa com quem estava e dizer-lhe "lê este parágrafo. Não é fantástico como ele conseguiu descrever tão bem esta sensação?"
]]> 195790586 She’s rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?

Emma Wheeler desperately longs to be a screenwriter. She’s spent her life studying, obsessing over, and writing romantic comedies―good ones! That win contests! But she’s also been the sole caretaker for her kind-hearted dad, who needs full-time care. Now, when she gets a chance to re-write a script for famous screenwriter Charlie Yates―The Charlie Yates! Her personal writing god!―it’s a break too big to pass up.

Emma’s younger sister steps in for caretaking duties, and Emma moves to L.A. for six weeks for the writing gig of a lifetime. But what is it they say? Don’t meet your heroes? Charlie Yates doesn’t want to write with anyone―much less “a failed, nobody screenwriter.” Worse, the romantic comedy he’s written is so terrible it might actually bring on the apocalypse. Plus! He doesn’t even care about the script―it’s just a means to get a different one green-lit. Oh, and he thinks love is an emotional Ponzi scheme.

But Emma’s not going down without a fight. She will stand up for herself, and for rom-coms, and for love itself. She will convince him that love stories matter―even if she has to kiss him senseless to do it. But . . . what if that kiss is accidentally amazing? What if real life turns out to be so much . . . more real than fiction? What if the love story they’re writing breaks all Emma’s rules―and comes true?]]> 336 Katherine Center 1250283809 Joana 4 read-in-2026 4.01 2024
author: Katherine Center
name: Joana
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2026/06/19
date added: 2026/06/30
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
My first Katherine Center and certainly not my last. Fun, cute, and layered with very relatable conflict, all in the right amount. A perfect summer read, if you're looking for one!
]]> 236717594 84 Charing Cross Road meets A Man Called Ove in this heartwarming, witty story about the life of an extraordinary woman, told through her letters.

In her letters to family and friends we come to know the life of Sybil Van Antwerp- stubborn, cantankerous, opinionated, always steadfast in her belief in the power of the written word.

But as the clock begins to tick for Sybil, the need for a few post-scripts to the life she's led becomes apparent. Fixing her difficult relationship with her children. Taking a final chance at romance. Atoning for an old legal case which has come back to haunt her. And finally, reckoning with a devastating loss that she has spent the last thirty years holding close to her chest.]]> 271 Virginia Evans 0241721261 Joana 5 read-in-2026 4.33 2025
author: Virginia Evans
name: Joana
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2026/06/15
date added: 2026/06/30
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
As a nosy gal, I loved reading Sybil's correspondence. As a reader, I absolutely loved this book. The characters felt so alive that I almost had the urge to grab their address and write them something.
]]> 235992260 A new “angsty, sexy, emotional” (Farrah Rochon, New York Times bestselling author) lyrical romance by Peyton Corinne that follows a college couple through first love, heartbreak, and the struggle to come together again.

Paloma Blake is, at best, antagonistic. But beneath the hairspray, attitude, and promiscuity is a scared girl whose trauma runs deep. Still, the walls she’s built are strong, ensuring everyone only sees Paloma’s sexy façade. Everyone except for Bennett.

Bennett Reiner, the carefully controlled, neurodivergent goalie, has his routines and sticks to them, which helps him keep a hold on his OCD compulsions and the crippling anxiety that comes with them. The quiet and meticulous Bennett sees everything, especially the girl beneath Paloma’s ever-present masks. And he always has.

Unbeknownst to their friends, Bennett and Paloma were each other’s first real love, which ended in crippling heartbreak. Bennett still doesn’t know what happened, and Paloma is determined to stay away from the comfort she used to find only in his arms. For years, Bennett has remained her protective shadow, coming to Paloma’s rescue whenever she asked, keeping her as close and safe as she’ll let him. But, like a tumultuous sea to a constant shore, Bennett and Paloma find each other once more.

Alternating between scenes from their past and present, Unbound contrasts the tentative tension and passionate beginnings of first love with the devastating loneliness and deep yearning of having that love ripped away from you without truly knowing why. As Bennett discovers the truth about Paloma’s past, the threads to his careful control start to come unbound, and both begin to realize that letting go of everything else might be worth it, if it means they both get the real love they once shared again.]]> 496 Peyton Corinne 1668219425 Joana 0 read-in-2026 4.10 2026
author: Peyton Corinne
name: Joana
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at: 2026/06/11
date added: 2026/06/30
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Usually, the third book is my favorite in a series, so I had high hopes for this one, so much so that it's the only one that I have a physical copy of. I love Paloma and Bennett, but I liked them better in the other books, oops. Looking forward to some Toren Kane action coming my way tho!
]]> 243806961 Almost Life is Kiran Millwood Hargrave's breathtaking story of love and longing, of the lives we almost live and the choices we don't make ― and finding the courage to embrace who you really want to be.

One chance encounter can define a lifetime.

Erica and Laure meet on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur in Paris, 1978.
Erica is a student, relishing her first summer abroad before beginning university at home in England. Laure is studying for her Ph.D. at the Sorbonne, drinking and smoking far too much, and sleeping with a married woman.

The moment the two women meet the spark is undeniable.
But their encounter turns into far more than a summer of love. It is the beginning of a relationship that will define their lives and every decision they have yet to make. Spanning cities, decades and heartbreaks, fate brings them within touching distance again and again.

But will they be brave enough to seize the life they truly want?]]> 448 Kiran Millwood Hargrave 1035007509 Joana 5 read-in-2026 4.11 2026
author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave
name: Joana
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/31
date added: 2026/06/30
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Think of a book that will catch you off guard with its beautiful prose and heartfelt storyline. Now add two striking and complex protagonists, alongside a group of incredible side characters. Top it off with a gut-wrenching love story spanning over decades, and you'll get a memorable read.
]]> 60392428
The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays.  

“Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. 

At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a suprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. 

A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. 

From the enchantments of Kate di Camilo’s children’s books to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.]]> Ann Patchett 0063092816 Joana 4 read-in-2025 4.36 2021
author: Ann Patchett
name: Joana
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/07/13
date added: 2026/06/23
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
When Ann Patchett raves about one of the books that made you a reader as a young kid, you'll know you've found a new comfort read.
]]> 177333
Born and raised in the Bronx, the daughter of "urban peasants," Gornick grows up in a household dominated by her intelligent but uneducated mother's romantic depression over the early death of her husband. Next door lives Nettie, an attractive widow whose calculating sensuality appeals greatly to Vivian. These women with their opposing models of femininity continue, well into adulthood, to affect Gornick's struggle to find herself in love and in work.

As Gornick walks with her aged mother through the streets of New York, arguing and remembering the past, each wins the reader's admiration: the caustic and clear-thinking daughter, for her courage and tenacity in really talking to her mother about the most basic issues of their lives, and the still powerful and intuitively-wise old woman, who again and again proves herself her daughter's mother.

Unsparing, deeply courageous, Fierce Attachments is one of the most remarkable documents of family feeling that has been written, a classic that helped start the memoir boom and remains one of the most moving examples of the genre.]]> 224 Vivian Gornick 0374529965 Joana 0 to-read 4.08 1987
author: Vivian Gornick
name: Joana
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1987
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/06/22
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63344269
Lois is no baker, but she could use a roommate, even if it is a needy colony of microorganisms. Soon, not only is she eating her own homemade bread, she’s providing loaves daily to the General Dexterity cafeteria. The company chef urges her to take her product to the farmer’s market, and a whole new world opens up.

When Lois comes before the jury that decides who sells what at Bay Area markets, she encounters a close-knit club with no appetite for new members. But then, an alternative emerges: a secret market that aims to fuse food and technology. But who are these people, exactly?]]> 272 Robin Sloan Joana 0 to-read 3.77 2017
author: Robin Sloan
name: Joana
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/05/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63104844
With contributions from:

Nick Hornby * Ruth Ozeki * Ann Patchett * Benjamin Zephaniah * Marian Keyes * Elizabeth Strout * Deborah Levy * Tessa Hadley * Elif Shafak * George The Poet * Leila Slimani * Ali Smith * Derek Owusu * Dolly Alderton * Paris Lees * Jojo Moyes * Paul Mendez * Sebastian Faulks * Diana Evans * Meena Kandasamy * Lisa Taddeo * Nikesh Shukla * Taiye Selasi * Monica Ali * Nina Stibbe * Caleb Azumah Nelson * Elizabeth Day * Sara Collins * Damon Galgut * Naoise Dolan * William Boyd * Emma Dabiri * Fatima Bhutto * Kit De Waal]]> 126 Pandora Sykes 1526657473 Joana 5 4.03 2022
author: Pandora Sykes
name: Joana
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/24
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves:
review:
The perfect book to gift to all of your bookish friends. It feels so intimate to read these opinions, almost as if the writers were telling you this in person, over a cup of coffee.
]]> 239703816
Frankie and George have been best friends since they were eight years old. Both passionate, impulsive, and headstrong—they’ve always clashed . . . and come back together. Until now. It’s the eve of Frankie’s wedding weekend, and she doesn’t know where they stand or even if George will show up as her best man.

Then, at the start of the festivities, in walks George. For one glorious evening, surrounded by her loved ones, Frankie’s life is finally perfect. But it all comes crashing down when her fiancé dumps her the next morning, leaving only a note as an explanation.

Crushed and confused, Frankie returns to her family’s home to wallow. But George has a different idea and a plan for healing Frankie’s broken heart. He wants her to go on her honeymoon. With him. For one week, to the lush rainforests and misty beaches of Tofino.

Frankie agrees, seeing the trip for what it really is: one last chance to repair their friendship. Even if it means unearthing secrets and long buried feelings neither knows how to handle. Even if it means falling apart for good.]]> 432 Carley Fortune 059395324X Joana 5 read-in-2026 3.96 2026
author: Carley Fortune
name: Joana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/24
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Carley Fortune, the absolute queen that you are. Another banger that has made me want to go to Canada and eat everything slightly mentioned in these pages. It made me smile, it made me cry, it gave me all the feels, and I loved it! My book is so underlined and annotated because I just wanted to commit everything to memory. Life feels pretty fucking great when we're reading a book as good as this one.
]]> 214151426 A bestselling romance author flees to Alaska to reinvent herself and write her first murder mystery, but the rugged resort proprietor soon has her fearing she’s living in a rom-com plot instead in this earnestly spectacular debut by a stunning new voice.

Beloved romance author Margot Bradley has a dark secret: she doesn’t believe in Happily Ever Afters. Not for herself, not for her readers, and not even for her characters, for whom she secretly writes alternate endings that swap weddings and babies for divorce papers and the occasional slashed tire. When her Happily Never After document is hacked and released to the public, she finds herself canceled by her readers and dropped by her publisher.

Desperate to find a way to continue supporting her chronically ill sister, Savannah, Margot decides to trade meet-cutes for murder. The fictional kind. Probably. But when Savannah books Margot a six-week stay in a remote Alaskan resort to pen her first murder mystery, Margot finds herself running from a moose and leaping into the arms of the handsome proprietor, making her fear she’s just landed in a romance novel instead.

The last thing Dr. Forrest Wakefield ever expected was to leave his dream job as a cancer researcher to become a glorified bellhop. What he’s really doing at his family’s resort is caring for his stubborn, ailing father, and his puzzle-loving mind is slowly freezing over—until Margot shows up. But Forrest doesn’t have any room in his life for another person he could lose, especially one with a checkout date.

As long snowy nights and one unlikely trope after another draw Margot and Forrest together, they’ll each have to learn to overcome their fears and set their aside assumptions before Margot leaves—or risk becoming a Happily Never After story themselves.]]> 327 Victoria Lavine 1668079275 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.71 2025
author: Victoria Lavine
name: Joana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/05/20
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
It was fun, but I read it in between a streak of much more compelling romances, so I didn't enjoy this one as much as I'd anticipated. However, this truly is a love letter to romance readers, so let's hear it for all of us who keep on cheering and celebrating fictional love stories as if our lives depended on it.
]]> 250749437
An epic, decades-spanning love story that blazes through the worlds of acting and comedy and charts a connection unlike any other.

“The truth is there’s no such thing as a normal life. There’s just the time you get and how you spend it.”

In the summer of 2000, AJ Graves dreams of writing for SNL; instead, she’s stuck working in a video rental store, with slim odds of escaping her Massachusetts small town and large family. Then in walks Noah Drew, the enigmatic and intense scion of the Drew acting dynasty, and her life changes forever. Despite wildly different upbringings, the two forge a deep, cosmic bond first as friends, then as acting partners—until one day, Noah disappears without a word.

Seven years later in New York City, AJ is shocked to find herself cast in the same intergalactic TV production as Noah, by then a well-known Hollywood heartthrob. As their on-screen characters grow closer every day, the lines between reality and acting begin to blur. Unable to stay away from each other, AJ and Noah are forced to confront the truth of what happened years ago—and the devastating secret that will send their lives careening apart, even as fate continues to draw them together.

Blending unforgettable characters, explosive chemistry, and devastating emotion, Into the Blue is a journey unlike any other—one that asks: What does it mean to diverge from the script to forge your own story?]]> 15 Emma Brodie Joana 5 read-in-2026 3.96 2026
author: Emma Brodie
name: Joana
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/19
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
The chemistry between the main characters rewrote my brain chemistry. AMAZING narration, I hadn't been engrossed in an audiobook like this for a while.
]]> 243806837 'My name is Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive…'

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

Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children―they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Is this a hoax? A reality show? A test from God? Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn't her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.]]> 391 Caro Claire Burke 0008742774 Joana 4 read-in-2026 Amazing critique of the tradwife movement and how we live our lives through social media. ]]> 3.89 2026
author: Caro Claire Burke
name: Joana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2026
rating: 4
read at: 2026/05/09
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Boy oh boy, was this one a wild ride. Nothing could've prepared me for the way this story unravelled.
Amazing critique of the tradwife movement and how we live our lives through social media.
]]> 228110489
She was in her senior year of college when star students Sam and Yash swept her into an intoxicating world of academic fervour, rapid-fire banter and raucous card games. Their lives became quickly intertwined - with friendship but also with unpredictable passions and the intimations of first love.

Decades later, she is a successful writer, living a comfortable life with her husband and children, when a surprise visit brings the past crashing into the present, forcing her to confront the decisions and deceptions of her youth.]]> 256 Lily King 0802165176 Joana 5 read-in-2026 It's been weeks since I finished it, and I still find myself thinking about these characters and feeling emotional about their story. ]]> 4.13 2025
author: Lily King
name: Joana
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2026/05/04
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
This might be my 2026 fave. The way I bawled when I finished this book.
It's been weeks since I finished it, and I still find myself thinking about these characters and feeling emotional about their story.
]]> 220114865 A Cosmopolitan book to look out for in 2025

Jules has been divorced from her ex-husband Leon for five years, but she still works alongside him at Gunk, the grotty student nightclub he owns in central Brighton. She spends her nights serving shots and watching, from behind the bar, as Leon flirts with students on the dancefloor. In the early hours of the morning, she paces home to sleep.

But then Leon hires nineteen-year-old Nim to work the bar with Jules – Nim, with her shaved head and steady pour, her disarming sweetness and sudden distance – and Jules finds herself jolted awake. When Nim discovers she's pregnant, Jules agrees to help. As the months pass, and the relationship between the two women grows increasingly intimate and perplexing, it emerges that Nim has her own unexpected gifts to give.

Now, alone in her small flat, Jules is holding a baby, just twenty-four-hours old, who still smells of Nim. But no one knows where Nim is, or if she's coming back. What could the future – for Jules, Nim, and this unnamed baby – possibly look like?

Raw, exhilarating, tender and wise, Gunk is an electrifying debut novel exploring love and desire, safety and destruction, chaos and control – and family in all its forms.]]> 224 Saba Sams 1526621819 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.73 2025
author: Saba Sams
name: Joana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/05/01
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Gunk really is the perfect title for this book. The dynamics and relationships explored in this book were fascinating and always made me want to come back to it. Also, having the opportunity to read this in Brighton was the cherry on top!
]]> 199534613
Now, at twenty, Margo is alone with an infant, unemployed, and on the verge of eviction. She needs a cash infusion—fast. When her estranged father, Jinx, shows up on her doorstep and asks to move in with her, she agrees in exchange for help with childcare. Then Margo begins to form a plan: she’ll start an OnlyFans as an experiment, and soon finds herself adapting some of Jinx’s advice from the world of wrestling. Like how to craft a compelling character and make your audience fall in love with you. Before she knows it, she’s turned it into a runaway success. Could this be the answer to all of Margo’s problems, or does internet fame come with too high a price?

Blisteringly funny and filled with sharp insight, Margo’s Got Money Troubles is a tender tale starring an endearing young heroine who’s struggling to wrest money and power from a world that has little interest in giving it to her. It’s a playful and honest examination of the art of storytelling and controlling your own narrative, and an empowering portrait of coming into your own, both online and off.]]> 304 Rufi Thorpe 0063356589 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.81 2024
author: Rufi Thorpe
name: Joana
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2026/05/03
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Funny, entertaining, and led by one of the most original characters out there.
]]> 247239137 Num mundo que já se habituou à indiferença, um som impossível ecoa do céu e da terra e, num instante, tudo muda.
Depois dele, surge uma nova verdade, tão simples quanto devastadora: o toque mata.
Milhares sucumbem. As regras da convivência e do amor são reescritas e a sociedade renasce sob um novo pacto — o da distância.
Mas como continuar a ser gente num mundo onde o afeto é proibido?
Serão a liberdade e a justiça um preço que estamos dispostos a pagar para sobreviver?
Cinco desconhecidos — duas mulheres, dois homens e uma criança surda — embarcam numa jornada perigosa rumo a um refúgio remoto, onde acreditam existir uma cura.
Entre a esperança e a manipulação, eles tornam-se heróis improváveis de uma epopeia distópica que reflete, com inquietante precisão, o mundo em que vivemos.
Uma história sobre o medo, a coragem e o poder devastador — e redentor — do contacto humano.]]> 364 Mafalda Santos 9895892578 Joana 5 read-in-2026 4.07 2026
author: Mafalda Santos
name: Joana
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/22
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Esta foi a minha primeira experiência com a imaginação incrível da Mafalda Santos e já estou ansiosa pelas outras que tenho à espera. Absolutamente incrível, uma exploração fascinante daquilo que nos torna humanos e de como manter essa essência quando nos vemos privados de algo tão basilar como o toque.
]]> 231801371 A beautiful, compelling novel that revels in laughter, friendship, and the messy choices life can throw our way.

In everyone’s life, there’s a split-second decision that can change everything...

For Larissa, it came when choosing which guy to ride home with after a concert. That night, she had no idea she’d met the perfect man. She and Chris are great together, co-parenting a slightly unhinged rescue Yorkie, sharing their favorite books, and judging bread (pumpernickel for the win!). For the first time amid all her side hustles to scrape by, things finally feel easy.

But Chris isn't the one who drove Larissa home all those months ago—Chris is her boyfriend's best friend. All Chris wants is for Larissa to be happy. Standing by on the sidelines is slowly killing him, but making a move would destroy someone else. And he’s just not that guy.]]> 400 Abby Jimenez Joana 0 read-in-2026 3.93 2026
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Joana
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at: 2026/04/19
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Yeah, this trope was a tough one to pull, and it didn't work out for me. Yikes.
]]> 142732927
A small-town sweetheart and an emotionally unavailable bad boy try to find some common ground in this chemistry-filled romance from the author of The Cheat Sheet and When in Rome.

Annie Walker is on a quest to find her perfect match—someone who complements her happy, quiet life running the local flower shop in Rome, Kentucky. But finding her dream man may be harder than Annie imagined. Everyone knows everyone in her hometown, and the dating prospects are getting fewer by the day. After she overhears her latest date say she is “so unbelievably boring,” Annie starts to think the problem might be her. Is it too late to become flirtatious and fun like the leading ladies in her favorite romance movies? Maybe she only needs a little practice . . . and Annie has the perfect person in mind to be her tutor: Will Griffin.

Will—the sexy, tattooed, and absolutely gorgeous bodyguard—is temporarily back in Rome, providing security for Amelia Rose as excitement builds for her upcoming marriage to Noah Walker, Annie’s brother. He has one personal objective while on the job: stay away from Annie Walker and any other possible attachments to this sleepy town. But no sooner than he gets settled, Will finds himself tasked with helping Annie find the love of her life by becoming the next leading lady of Rome, Kentucky. Will wants no part in changing the sweet and lovely Annie. He knows for a fact that some stuffy, straitlaced guy won’t make her happy, but he doesn’t have the heart to say no.

Amid steamy practice dates and strictly “educational” tutoring lessons, Annie discovers there are more layers to Will’s usual stoic attitude. As the lines of their friendship become dangerously blurred, Annie reconsiders her dream guy. Maybe her love life doesn’t need to be perfect—it just needs to be real.]]> Sarah Adams Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.89 2023
author: Sarah Adams
name: Joana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2026/05/03
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
seeing Annie discover her voice outside of people's expectations was a blast!
]]> 60092579 Opposites certainly attract for the stranded pop star and small-town baker in this charming slice of romance from the author of the TikTok sensation The Cheat Sheet.

Amelia Rose, known as Rae Rose to her adoring fans, is burned-out from years of maintaining her "princess of pop" image. Inspired by her favorite Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday, she drives off in the middle of the night for a break in Rome . . . Rome, Kentucky, that is.

When Noah Walker finds Amelia on his front lawn in her broken-down car, he makes it clear he doesn't have the time or patience for celebrity problems. He's too busy running the pie shop his grandmother left him and reminding his nosy but lovable neighbors to mind their own damn business. Despite his better judgment, he lets her stay in his guest room—but only until her car is fixed—then she's on her own.

Then Noah starts to see a different side of Rae Rose—she's Amelia: kindhearted and goofy, yet lonely from years in the public eye. He can't help but get close to her. Soon she'll have to return to her glamorous life on tour, but until then, Noah will show Amelia all the charming small-town experiences she's been missing, and she'll help him open his heart to more.

Amelia can't resist falling for the cozy town and her grumpy tour guide, but even Audrey had to leave Rome eventually.]]> 320 Sarah Adams 0593500784 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.85 2022
author: Sarah Adams
name: Joana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2026/04/21
date added: 2026/05/24
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
if it wasn't for the audiobook, i wouldn't have read this one, and i'm glad i did! cosy and sweet, perfect to take my mind off work on the way home.
]]> 60861109
As people get up each morning and go to work, school, church or the pub, the daily news rolls in of another car bomb exploded, another man beaten, killed or left for dead. In the class Cushla teaches, the vocabulary of seven-year-old children now includes phrases like 'petrol bomb' and 'rubber bullets'. And as she is forced to tread lines she never thought she would cross, tensions in the town are escalating, threatening to destroy all she is working to hold together.]]> 320 Louise Kennedy 1526623331 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.97 2022
author: Louise Kennedy
name: Joana
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2026/04/14
date added: 2026/05/21
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
The emotional depth of this book took me completely off guard.
]]> 240908159
Four years later and one night in a crowded bar in the West Village, there he is, just as perfect as ever. Maybe it's the lighting or the way his hair curls above his brow, but when he asks her to be his fake girlfriend for his sister's wedding, she can't bring herself to say no.

But with old feelings resurfacing at every staged, romantic interaction and stolen glance, she begins to wonder if maybe this time she should have protected her heart...

Discover why readers all over the world have fallen in love with this irresistible romance...

'10/10! Levi is chef's kiss... a cute friends to lovers, fake dating, pure yearning romance' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Sooo adorable from the vibes to the quotes. This is definitely a must read!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'I read this book in less than 3 hours and couldn't put it down' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Quickly became one on my favourite books of all time' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]]> Liana Cincotti Joana 0 read-in-2026 3.76 2023
author: Liana Cincotti
name: Joana
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2026/04/12
date added: 2026/05/21
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
very cute, but sadly didn't get the hype around it. consider it a good palate cleanser or light book when you're in need of a pick-me-up.
]]> 203237161
If your twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life, Bennet Taylor is failing miserably . . . with a big emphasis on the miserable. Where’s that zest she keeps hearing about? She’s a temp worker in New York City with no direction, no future, and no social life. And at the painful center of this listlessness is grief over the death of her first love.

When Bennet runs into Henry Adams just hours after standing him up for a first date, she makes an alcohol-fueled confession: She’s not ready to date. In fact, it’s been years since she felt passion for something. Not even pottery, or organized sports—not anything. Rather than leaving her to ruminate, Henry jumps at the opportunity for adventure: Bennet needs to find a passion for life, and Henry will help her find it. Every Saturday, they’ll try something new in New York City. As friends, of course.

As their “passion project” continues, the pair tackle everything from carpentry to tattooing to rappelling off skyscrapers, and Bennet feels her guarded exterior ebbing away. But as secrets surface, Bennet has to decide what she wants, and if she’s truly ready to move on. With emotional resonance and sparkling banter, Passion Project is a fun, flirty, thoughtful story of finding a spark—and igniting happiness.]]> 368 London Sperry 0143138561 Joana 2 read-in-2026 3.76 2025
author: London Sperry
name: Joana
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2025
rating: 2
read at: 2026/04/03
date added: 2026/04/14
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Cute and cosy, but it suffered from a case of "I had high expectations, and I had already read a book with a similar trope which I liked more".
]]> 241686780 In this lush, slow-burning romance, two childhood neighbors, connected by a shared tragedy, unexpectedly reunite to ghostwrite a love story for a reclusive author. Spending the summer at her secluded Hamptons estate, they soon discover that dozens of classic romance tropes, including the ones they’re crafting on page, are mysteriously playing out in real life.

Katie Caruso is a completely normal twenty-five-year-old girl. At least, for the past eight years, she’s tried to be. She likes glitter and sequins and flirting with cute boys at New York City bars. She’s also a ghostwriter for Meredith Bradford, the bestselling romance novelist of all time. But then Tyler McNally walks back into Katie’s life, and that bedazzled facade crumbles at her platform-sneakered feet.

Katie and Tyler haven’t seen or spoken to each other since the overdose death of Katie’s older brother, a standout MLB pitching prospect. Tyler was her brother’s best friend, and Katie—naturally—was the girl next door. But now, Tyler is a sleeve-tattooed, Ivy League-educated aspiring literary fiction novelist, nine years sober . . . and Katie’s writing partner for the summer.

As genre conventions require, Katie and Tyler soon find themselves removed from Manhattan and instead writing their love story in “forced proximity” at Meredith’s isolated Southampton home. As the summer unfolds, the tropes Katie and Tyler have written into their novel begin to play out in their own lives. Call it destiny, fate, or magic It’s clear their love story is unfinished. This time, though, they’ll fight for their happy ending.

Heart-wrenching and tender, Tropesick is a love letter to the romance genre. With a wink and a nod, Okie has packed the novel with listeners’ favorite

Grumpy/Sunshine Brother’s best friend Girl next door Forced proximity Forbidden love Kissing in the rain Groveling hero Second-chance romance Slow burn Only one bed]]> 416 Lauren Okie 0063479613 Joana 0 to-read 3.43 2026
author: Lauren Okie
name: Joana
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/04/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 236772706 Sometimes love sends you back to the drawing board.

After a traumatic accident threatens the foundations of their happy marriage, a couple tries to rebuild and find their way back to each other—and themselves—in this tender, slow-burn romance.

Roz and Vin can’t look each other in the eyes anymore, let alone share a bed. It’s been a year since they survived a life-altering accident, and their marriage hasn’t been the same. But Roz has held out hope that they can fix things, until she discovers Vin has signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced Manhattanite would do: sign up for a figure-drawing class.

Between Roz’s determined attempts to improve her artistic skills and her adventures with her best friend, Raffi, she can almost ignore Vin’s impending move-out date and his footsteps in their previously unoccupied guest room. But it would all be a lot easier if Vin wasn’t Raffi’s older brother, and if she didn’t still find him incredibly, debilitatingly attractive and kind.

So kind, in fact, that Vin offers to let Roz draw him. What is she supposed to say? It’s probably better than her original plan of finding some random male model online, and she needs all the practice she can get. Plus, that’s sure to make a separation easier, right? Focus on every detail of your estranged spouse’s body while drawing him in the nude? But after the year they’ve spent avoiding each other, it feels good to see and be seen by one another again.

As Roz works to capture the wholeness of the person she fell in love with, will they both be able to draw upon the feelings they buried deep inside to finally heal together?]]> 352 Cara Bastone 059397767X Joana 5 read-in-2026 3.77 2026
author: Cara Bastone
name: Joana
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2026
rating: 5
read at: 2026/04/01
date added: 2026/04/10
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Cara Bastone, my new romance queen, has done it again and wrapped me around her finger with a loving story about second chances and finding each other. Very compelling characters and narrative that made me really feel inside their shoes and see life through their POV.
]]> 6530635
Uma quadrilha decide assaltar o Museu Gulbenkian, farta dos seus banais assaltos. Durante o livro fala sobre a vida de cada um dos elementos da quadrilha e como se conheceram. Mas o assalto ao museu não correu como esperavam...]]> 144 Mário Zambujal Joana 5 read-in-2026 3.81 1980
author: Mário Zambujal
name: Joana
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1980
rating: 5
read at: 2026/03/24
date added: 2026/04/10
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
A questão que fica é: como é que demorei tanto tempo a chegar a este livro?? Adorei, ri-me muito com estas personagens.
]]> 247354130
Numa casa sem homens, três gerações de mulheres partilham espaços, dificuldades, agravos e as arestas cortantes da vida. Desse improvável gineceu, emerge a personalidade singular da protagonista nunca nomeada deste romance: criança ruiva que não conheceu o pai, carrega as marcas da impunidade masculina, e faz‑se ao mundo com a desfaçatez de quem atravessa uma tempestade para se colocar no olho do furacão.
Eis uma existência contada de vislumbre em vislumbre, com desassombro e lucidez, em espelhos de vários tamanhos, onde a realidade não cabe inteira.

«Abri a conta e mantive‑a privada. Um arquivo de quadrados. Uma manta de retalhos do meu corpo. Um mosaico que mostrasse não o reflexo que vejo ao espelho mas a imagem que tenho de mim. Como se fosse preciso ver‑me em fragmentos para me conseguir ver toda.»]]> 112 Inês Bernardo 9895950063 Joana 4 read-in-2026 3.85
author: Inês Bernardo
name: Joana
average rating: 3.85
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/22
date added: 2026/04/10
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Gostei da capa e da sinopse assim que as vi, mas gostei ainda mais desta história. Uma escrita simples que encapsula na perfeição a complexidade de viver como mulher nos dias de hoje e não só.
]]> 240764417 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of I’m Glad My Mom Died comes a sad, funny, thrilling novel about sex, consumerism, class, desire, loneliness, the internet, rage, intimacy, power, and the (oftentimes misguided) lengths we’ll go to in order to get what we want.

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

Startlingly perceptive, mordantly funny, and keenly poignant, Half His Age is a rich character study of a yearning seventeen-year-old who disregards all obstacles—or attempts to overcome them—in her effort to be seen, to be desired, to be loved.]]> Jennette McCurdy Joana 1 read-in-2026 3.14 2026
author: Jennette McCurdy
name: Joana
average rating: 3.14
book published: 2026
rating: 1
read at: 2026/03/16
date added: 2026/04/10
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Yeah, this one was very unnecessary. Having the author read the audiobook was not the right choice.
]]> 199335111 Kai

I’m a single dad and starting pitcher for Chicago’s MLB team.
I’m stretched too thin, but I don’t want help raising my son.

Each of his previous nannies only lasted a few weeks before I let them go.
Now, my coach is putting his foot down by hiring the one person I can’t fire—his daughter.

Miller Montgomery is the last woman I should fall for. Too wild, too young, and too unattached.

Chicago is just a quick stop for her. I thought I’d be counting down the days until she left, but summer feels too short when I start thinking about forever.


Miller

As a high-end pastry chef who recently won the most prestigious award in my industry, I’m desperate to prove I deserve it. But with a new title comes new pressure, and I can’t create a fresh and inspiring dessert to save my life.

With only two months to get back on track, I should be focusing in the kitchen, but instead, I let my dad talk me into using my time off to nanny for his star player’s kid.

Kai Rhodes forgot how to have fun, and I’m eager to jog his memory. But when he and his son start to feel like home, I have to remind us both that my time in Chicago ends with the summer.

Besides, I’ve always been a runner, and the last thing I want is to get caught.]]> 408 Liz Tomforde 139972858X Joana 0 read-in-2026 Will I read the next one in the series? Stay tuned for my wild journey through the Windy City.]]> 4.38 2023
author: Liz Tomforde
name: Joana
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at: 2026/03/12
date added: 2026/04/10
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Thought about DNFing this one a lot; that should tell you everything.
Will I read the next one in the series? Stay tuned for my wild journey through the Windy City.
]]> 217513554 Two competing meteorologists are forced to find common ground in this opposites attract, When Harry Met Sally inspired romance, from New York Times bestselling author B.K. Borison.

Jackson Clark and Delilah Stewart have had their fair share of run-ins over the years, often ending in disaster. While Jackson thrives on routine and organization from the comfort of his radio booth, Delilah loves the spontaneity and adventure out in the field. When they’re partnered against their will to cover the snowstorm of the century, they find themselves scrambling to figure out how to work together.

Eager to be taken seriously as a journalist, Delilah offers Jackson a deal. If he can help her ace this assignment, she’ll help him rediscover his long-lost fun side. With an undiscovered chemistry burning beneath their clashes, the unlikely partnership quickly tumbles into an easy and surprising friendship.

But when other feelings start to enter the equation, can Jackson and Delilah withstand the storm? Or does what happens in the mountains, stay in the mountains?]]> 464 B.K. Borison Joana 0 read-in-2026 3.90 2026
author: B.K. Borison
name: Joana
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at: 2026/03/05
date added: 2026/04/10
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Oh, how this book made me giddy and kicking my feet! I don't think it was so much of a When Harry Met Sally retelling, but I had a blast with these characters and their adventures. The perfect comfort read!
]]> 245336983 Um homem à deriva, prisioneiro de um vazio que não sabe nomear, procura nesses espetáculos silenciosos a resposta. E uma mulher que dedicou a vida a cuidar dos que ficaram para trás, na maternidade, como uma forma de curar a própria ferida. Ambos marcados por ausências antigas.
Entre cerimónias, rostos e memórias difusas, nasce uma estranha familiaridade — como se um reconhecesse no outro a solidão que o habita.
Um romance sobre o isolamento humano, o peso da ausência e as formas inesperadas que a vida encontra para nos reunir ao que perdemos.]]> 128 Carolina Fulcher 9895893205 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.21
author: Carolina Fulcher
name: Joana
average rating: 3.21
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2026/03/01
date added: 2026/04/10
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Uma narrativa diferente e inovadora que nos faz pensar nas diferentes formas como a solidão se manifesta.
]]> 220239075 New York Times bestselling author Sarah MacLean’s first foray into contemporary fiction, with a sharp, sexy novel about a wealthy New England family's long-overdue reckoning with hidden desires, destructive secrets…and one week that threatens to tear them apart

Alice isn't like the other Storm siblings. While the rest stayed to battle for their parents' approval, attention, and untold billions, she left, building her own life beyond the family’s name and influence. Nothing could induce her to come back, except the shocking death of her larger-than-life father. Now back on the family’s private island off the Rhode Island coast, she plans to keep her head down, pay the last of her respects, and leave the minute the funeral is over.

Unfortunately, her father had other plans. The eccentric, manipulative patriarch left his widow and their grown children a final challenge--an inheritance game designed to humiliate, devastate, and unravel the Storm family in ways both petty and life-altering. The rules of the game are clear: stay on the island for one week, complete the tasks, receive the inheritance.

One week on Storm Island is an impossible task for Alice. Every corner of the sprawling old house is bursting dysfunctional chaos: Her older sister’s secret love affair. Her brother’s incessant mansplaining. Her sister-in-law’s unapologetic greed. Her younger sister’s obsession with "vibes". Her mother’s penchant for stirring up competition between her children. And all under the stern, watchful gaze of Jack Dean, her father’s enigmatic, unfairly good-looking, second-in-command. It will be a miracle if Alice manages to escape the week unscathed.

A story about the transformative power of grief, love, and family, this luscious novel is at once deliciously clever and surprisingly tender, exploring past secrets, present truths, and futures forged in the wake of wild summer storms.]]> 384 Sarah MacLean 0593972252 Joana 4 read-in-2026 3.71 2025
author: Sarah MacLean
name: Joana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/02/24
date added: 2026/04/10
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Rich people drama is one of my favorite tropes. This one had me on the edge of my seat for the next reveal.
]]> 220137908 Love. Loyalty. Sacrifice.

Grey Flynn has dedicated her life to her mage, Kier.

She will be his blade on the battlefield, his healer and protector. The deep well of raw power inside her is Kier's to use. Grey would do anything for Kier - be anything for him - if he would only ask.

When a quest to protect the child of an enemy kingdom pulls them into the dangerous heart of their nation's war, Grey and Kier will need to decide what they are willing to sacrifice to protect their secret.

For Grey is no ordinary magical well, but heir to the lost island of Locke - the root of all power. If she dies, all magic dies with her.

The Second Death of Locke is a devastatingly romantic epic fantasy and about the undying bond between a knight and their mage, perfect for fans of The Knight and the Moth and The Six Deaths of the Saint.]]> 481 V.L. Bovalino 035652454X Joana 4 read-in-2026 3.82 2025
author: V.L. Bovalino
name: Joana
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2026/03/18
date added: 2026/04/10
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
I'm not much of a fantasy reader, but books like this make me a fan of the genre. The yearning was so great on this one that I can definitely understand all the hype it got.
]]> 242678102 Five interlocking lives. One beloved story. A dazzling adventure across centuries and continents in search of the things that hold us together.

It’s 1983 and Becks can’t wait to get the hell out of Cincinnati. She’s nineteen, blasting her Walkman, and hiding from the fact that her beloved uncle, the only person who understood her, is dead. But she has work to do: he left her a half-finished game to complete—one last collaboration to find her way out of loneliness.

Little does she know, what Becks is making will echo far into the future and shape the lives of a scientist, a sentient automaton, and a flinty sea captain in ways she cannot imagine. All are bound together by their search for connection—and by a futuristic traveler on a mysterious mission through space.

A novel about our deep interconnectedness, Homebound is a clear-eyed, hopeful adventure into humanity’s future and capacity for love.]]> 304 Portia Elan 1668201739 Joana 0 to-read 3.30 2026
author: Portia Elan
name: Joana
average rating: 3.30
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

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

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

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

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

When the facts surrounding the invasion of her privacy come to light, Dahye is faced with the humiliating truth. Her pain and hurt turn to rage as she faces her past. Her desire for vengeance is insatiable, and she will not rest until the men who have wronged her have paid in blood...]]> 304 Monika Kim 1645661261 Joana 0 to-read 3.77 2026
author: Monika Kim
name: Joana
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 235992833 The acclaimed author of the “disorienting, creepy, paranoia-inducing” (Paul Tremblay, author of The Cabin at the End of the World) A History of Fear returns with a spine-tingling new thriller about a weight loss treatment with potentially murderous side effects.

Retail worker Emmett Truesdale has never fit the Southern California mold of six-pack, suntanned masculinity. Over three hundred pounds, he carries the weight of his childhood trauma and millennial ennui around his waist and in his soul. After trying every diet under the sun, he remains stuck—in his dead-end job, in love, and in his body.

Desperate for help, he enrolls in a clinical trial for a new weight loss product called Obexity. The treatment is as horrifying as the results are miraculous and as Emmett sheds pounds at superhuman speed, every part of his life improves overnight.

Unfortunately, Obexity comes with some killer side effects, including lost stretches of time and overwhelming cravings. Worse, people who were cruel to him have started disappearing and when the police warn of a cannibalistic killer on the loose, he fears that Obexity is turning him into a monster. But how can he give it up now that people are finally starting to treat him like he’s human?

Nerve-racking, sinister, and at times surreal, Nothing Tastes as Good is an unputdownable thriller that combines The Substance with the best of Stephen King and keeps you guessing until the final page.]]> 352 Luke Dumas 1668068419 Joana 0 to-read 3.72 2026
author: Luke Dumas
name: Joana
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 231127042 Friendship is the love story you can count on.

Remy is lucky. Her debut novel, based on her three best friends, became an instant bestseller when it was released, and her agent and publisher are clamoring for a follow-up. But just as Remy’s creative inspiration seems to leave her, so too do her friends: one moves to New York, one gets pregnant, and one gets back together with her (awful) boyfriend. After an ill-advised one-night stand complicates matters further, Remy is left deeply alone—and unable to find her next book idea.

Simone is successful. A Kindergarten teacher with a passion for kids, and a well-paying side hustle that affords her all the material comforts she desires, she doesn't have time for a robust social life. All Simone needs is her close-knit family—but after the true nature of her work is revealed, they cut her off, and she realizes for the first time just how isolated she is.

When Simone and Remy bump into each other (literally) in a bookstore, it isn’t exactly soulmates at first sight. Simone is guarded and prickly, Remy is insecure and heartbroken, and each woman is harboring a secret. And yet they might just be the missing piece the other has been searching for—if only they can let each other in.

Can Simone help Remy make one of the most important decisions of her life—and can Remy help Simone recover all that she’s lost? In Jessica George’s heartwarming, funny, and soulful second novel, she explores the restorative nature of female friendship and the life-changing power of platonic love.]]> 336 Jessica George 1250282543 Joana 0 to-read 3.89 2026
author: Jessica George
name: Joana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2026
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2026/03/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217387713 Mia’s secret comedy career, forbidden office crush, and a long-guarded family secret take center stage, threatening her newfound confidence and her one shot at fame in this hilarious, heartfelt coming-of-age story perfect for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld and Etaf Rum.

Mia Almas has a secret. By day, she works at a respectable job as a media fact checker—a position her conservative, Arab grandparents approve of—and, by night, she takes to the stages of New York City comedy clubs. She holds herself back in a lot of ways, especially in the romance department, but being on stage lights her up and makes being a wallflower the rest of the time more bearable. That is, until Phaedra, her stylish and bold new neighbor, inspires Mia to take a few risks.

As Mia pursues a forbidden romance with her boss, her standup gets better and bolder, leading to a surprise spotlight that exposes her secret gig. Horrified and worried that her rebellious act could mean big consequences for her reserved Palestinian-American family, Mia frantically dives into damage control. But all of her efforts to pull back from the spotlight expose a family scandal from the 1940s that could change everything…

Equal parts funny and tender, What Will People Think? is a heart-bursting exploration of what it means to discover and embrace the hidden parts of yourself, and how love in all forms can make you whole.]]> 336 Sara Hamdan 1250329817 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.59 2025
author: Sara Hamdan
name: Joana
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/02/14
date added: 2026/02/15
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
This book had so many plot lines that I spent the majority of it thinking, "What's supposed to be the message on this one?". I know a book can be about many things, but I think this one would've benefited from a more focused path. Also expected this one to be funnier since it leans into the comedy world. However, it was an interesting read about the experience of growing up as a Palestinian American.
]]> 58236456
Um dia, é visitado por uma jovem jornalista que o incita a contar a sua verdadeira história. Nas paredes da casa, saturadas de fumo de cigarro e de velhas memórias, ressoa a confissão de uma vida feita de rivalidade, desamor e arrependimento.

Balada para Sophie é uma deslumbrante novela gráfica de uma das duplas mais consagradas da Banda Desenhada em Portugal.]]> 320 Filipe Melo 9897842829 Joana 5 read-in-2026 4.72 2020
author: Filipe Melo
name: Joana
average rating: 4.72
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2026/02/07
date added: 2026/02/15
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Ai, o meu coraçãozinho. Que história tão bonita e que ilustrações tão mágicas.
]]> 227912786 Sometimes love shows up where you least expect it—right next door.

A jaded twenty-something is stuck living at home, her life on pause, when a single dad becomes her new neighbor, and unexpectedly sets her life—and her heart—into motion in this modern love story from the bestselling author of You, Again.

At 26, Sam Pulaski expected to be thriving in her academic career, living on her own in some exciting city. Expectations, meet reality. She has massive student loans from studying art history, a dead-end service industry job, a situationship that’s equal parts intoxicating and toxic. And she’s been crashing in her mom’s condo—at least it’s not a basement?—for the last five years. If she can finally get accepted into a PhD program and get out of Ohio, the adult life that’s been on hold for half her twenties will finally begin. 

Her mom’s new neighbor, Nick, is the ultimate grownup. His adult life began the moment his nine-year-old daughter, Kira, was born. Her happiness is Nick’s only priority, especially in the wake of divorce. There’s nothing he won’t do for Kira–including giving up his globetrotting career for something more stable…like managing a chain restaurant. 

Sam has zero interest in an ultra-dependable guy pushing forty; frankly, she’s a little afraid of kids. But with just one thin wall separating the two condos, Nick proves difficult to avoid. His quiet confidence forces Sam to grapple with the other men in her her emotionally derelict friend-with-benefits and her actually-derelict father. As her unexpected connection with Nick heats up (and steams up his minivan windows), Sam finds herself falling fast for a man whose life is steady and settled–while hers is anything but.]]> 352 Kate Goldbeck 059373081X Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.39 2025
author: Kate Goldbeck
name: Joana
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/02/05
date added: 2026/02/15
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Kate Goldbeck gave me one of my favorite romances ever, so I had high expectations for this one. Although the story wasn't all that for me, I'm always highly entertained by the author's sense of humour and how she builds her characters. The exploration of how comics work was fascinating.
]]> 208430658
"The best fantasy novel of the year" The Guardian

“The easiest 5 star I have ever given” ***** Reader Review

-------------------------------------------------------------

For twenty years, Sciona has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic.

When she finally achieves her ambition to become the first woman admitted to the High Magistry at the University of Magics and Industry, she finds herself undermined at every turn. Instead of a lab assistant, she’s paired with a janitor, putting her crucial research at risk.

But Thomil wasn’t always a janitor. Once a nomadic hunter from the wild plains outside the city, he now sees a chance to understand the forces that decimated his tribe and drove him from his homeland.

Together they will uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever – if it doesn’t get them killed first.


Praise for Blood Over Bright Haven:

“This is the new god-tier fantasy author” Reader Review

“I couldn't put it down” Reader Review

“My favourite fantasy of all time” Reader Review

“I will never emotionally recover” Reader Review

“The best book – bar none – I've read all year” Evan Winter, author of The Rage of Dragons

"This book is a merciless reckoning that leaves you reeling long after the last page is turned." Sara Hashem, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Jasad Heir

"A scathing but truthful look at the world we live in… A stunningly powerful story." Terry Brooks, author of the epic fantasy Shannara series

"Innovative and brilliantly written, this is a glorious jewel added to the crown of dark academia." Seanan McGuire, author of the Wayward Children series

"A storytelling masterclass." Mark Lawrence, author of The Book that Wouldn't Burn

"A fantastic page-turner – clever, emotional, and thematically rich. I was completely engaged the whole way through. Highly recommended!" James Islington, author of The Will of the Many]]> 428 M.L. Wang 0593873351 Joana 5 read-in-2026 4.29 2023
author: M.L. Wang
name: Joana
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2026/02/03
date added: 2026/02/15
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Reading this book feels like that crazy, anxious feeling from "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers, when Brandon's singing "started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this???". Good god, this book was a great wave that took over my entire mind when I was reading it. The magic system, the entire underlying social and political critique of it, the twists and turns of the story, I couldn't get enough. This book was so good that I recommend it with my eyes closed, and it will be the first answer out of my mouth when asked what the best book I've read in a while is.
]]> 215815693 A THEM BEST LGBTQ+ BOOK OF 2025

From the author of Under the Rainbow, a hilarious, emotional love story about an anxious publicist who's tasked with keeping an extremely gay starlet in the closet—but ends up falling for her instead.​

It's 2005, and Ali is a publicist for Hollywood's biggest stars. Part of her job entails keeping gay celebrities in the closet—which is pretty ironic, since she's a lesbian. When Ali is assigned a new gay client, Cara Bisset, who's breaking onto the scene with a (hetero) romantic blockbuster, keeping Cara's sexuality under wraps becomes Ali's biggest challenge yet.

Cara is unruly and unpredictable, and hates that she has to hide her identity. After a series of increasingly close calls, Ali is sent on the worldwide promotional tour for the movie to help keep Cara in line. Instead, she finds herself drawn to Cara's confidence and bravery. For the past year, Ali has been mired in grief after losing her partner in a freak accident. But with Cara, Ali's fears about the world subside, and she begins to question the Hollywood closeting system she’s helped perpetuate. 

As Cara's fame continues to rise, both Ali and Cara have to decide which is more maintaining the status quo, or risking it all for another chance at love.]]> 370 Celia Laskey 1538765616 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.33 2025
author: Celia Laskey
name: Joana
average rating: 3.33
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/01/22
date added: 2026/02/15
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
I bought this book anticipating a fun, saphic romance, but instead got a complex narrative tackling heavy issues. Although it wasn't a perfect read, I was quite entertained for most of it, and was surprised to see the avalanche of bad reviews it got here. Guess we do have very different experiences with the same book.
]]> 61242426
The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

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

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.]]> 296 Travis Baldree Joana 2 read-in-2026 4.00 2022
author: Travis Baldree
name: Joana
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2026/01/27
date added: 2026/02/15
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
Turns out I prefer my fantasy with high stakes.
]]> 234860028
Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor’s stories are just fiction, but Holland St. James has always been convinced that magic is real. When she tracks down a local legend named the Watch Man, who can supposedly tell you when you’ll die, the world finally makes sense. Except that the Watch Man tells her she will die at midnight tomorrow unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart.

With the clock ticking, Holland is pulled deeper into this magical world in the heart of Los Angeles—and into the path of a magnetic stranger. Everything about him feels like a bad idea, but he promises Holland that her sister sent him to protect her. As they chase clues and stories that take them closer to the Alchemical Heart, Holland realizes everyone in this intoxicating new world is lying to her, even this stranger. And if she can’t figure out whom to trust, not even the Alchemical Heart will save her.]]> 324 Stephanie Garber 1399631330 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.93 2025
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Joana
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2026/01/18
date added: 2026/02/15
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
When I was reading this book, I asked a friend who had already read it about her opinion of it, and her answer was "Stephanie Garber's books work best when you can read the entire trilogy". That is the best way to sum up this book for me. The setting was interesting, and the entire magic system was also pretty cool, but there were so many new things being introduced in each chapter that I always felt like I was running in the same place. Curious to see how the rest of this story works out!
]]> 63005964
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo comes an all-new audio production read by Julia Whelan, including a bonus conversation with Julia Whelan and Taylor Jenkins Reid, recorded exclusively for this edition.

“Have you ever heard of supernovas? They shine brighter than anything else in the sky and then fade out really quickly, a short burst of extraordinary energy. I like to think you and Ben were like that . . . in that short time, you had more passion than some people have in a lifetime.”

Elsie Porter is an average twentysomething and yet what happens to her is anything but ordinary. On a rainy New Year’s Day, she heads out to pick up a pizza for one. She isn’t expecting to see anyone else in the shop, much less the adorable and charming Ben Ross. Their chemistry is instant and electric. Ben cannot even wait twenty-four hours before asking to see her again. Within weeks, the two are head over heels in love. By May, they’ve eloped.

Only nine days later, Ben is out riding his bike when he is hit by a truck and killed on impact. Elsie hears the sirens outside her apartment, but by the time she gets downstairs, he has already been whisked off to the emergency room. At the hospital, she must face Susan, the mother-in-law she has never met—and who doesn’t even know Elsie exists.

Interweaving Elsie and Ben’s charmed romance with Elsie and Susan’s healing process, Forever, Interrupted will remind you that there’s more than one way to find a happy ending.]]> Taylor Jenkins Reid 1797153544 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.69 2013
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Joana
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2026/01/11
date added: 2026/01/16
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
When I first started reading this one, I was shocked by the difference between the TJR that I have read (Daisy Jones & the Six, etc.) and this one. It's so interesting to see how she evolved. But the basics of what I love about her work are already here. The way she writes characters in a way that you almost feel like they could be your next-door neighbours, and how she portrays heavy emotions.
]]> 199532113 Talia Hibbert meets Carley Fortune in this swoon-worthy story of love and friendship in the age of social media—where what you see might not be all you get.

To her countless Instagram followers Josephine Boateng is the dazzling Dr. Jojo—and her opinions on health, growth, and self-love matter. Her message: be smart (she has a medical degree after all), be significant, and do not put up with foolish men.

But behind the camera, Jo’s story is more complicated—she finds her influencer career underwhelming; her potential career in medicine overwhelming, and she’s hung up on her best friend, nepo-baby and romcom heartthrob Ezra Adelman. When Ezra shows up to his thirtieth birthday party with her childhood bully on his arm, however, Josephine realizes that it’s time to take her own advice and prioritize herself for once.

No one is more shocked than Malcolm Waters when his debut novel turns him into a critic’s darling. When he’s invited to a swanky penthouse party to discuss turning his book into a film, he knows rubbing elbows with the elites of entertainment will be great for his career. The only problem: he’s not good with people, and even worse at networking.

Just when he’s about to throw in the towel, he’s rescued by none other than Dr. Jojo. He’s been following her on social media for years, and she’s even more impressive in real life. And to his bewilderment, the feeling is mutual.

But in a world where the lines between private and public are as blurred as those between friendship and love, can they risk it all for something real?]]> 368 Shirlene Obuobi 0063307316 Joana 3 read-in-2026 3.73 2024
author: Shirlene Obuobi
name: Joana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2026/01/08
date added: 2026/01/16
shelves: read-in-2026
review:
I picked this up highly influenced by the Emily Henry blurb. It's a romance that tends to lean more into the likes of lit-fic because of its pace - it's not slow, it's calm and pondered. Everything's set with an intention. What kept me interested throughout was the writing and the approach of topics such as mental health, family trauma, and major life decisions.
]]> 15815333
The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers at a summer camp for the arts become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. In The Interestings, Wolitzer follows these characters from the height of youth through middle age, as their talents, fortunes, and degrees of satisfaction diverge.

The kind of creativity that is rewarded at age fifteen is not always enough to propel someone through life at age thirty; not everyone can sustain, in adulthood, what seemed so special in adolescence. Jules Jacobson, an aspiring comic actress, eventually resigns herself to a more practical occupation and lifestyle. Her friend Jonah, a gifted musician, stops playing the guitar and becomes an engineer. But Ethan and Ash, Jules's now-married best friends, become shockingly successful—true to their initial artistic dreams, with the wealth and access that allow those dreams to keep expanding. The friendships endure and even prosper, but also underscore the differences in their fates, in what their talents have become and the shapes their lives have taken.

Wide in scope, ambitious, and populated by complex characters who come together and apart in a changing New York City, The Interestings explores the meaning of talent; the nature of envy; the roles of class, art, money, and power; and how all of it can shift and tilt precipitously over the course of a friendship and a life.]]> 468 Meg Wolitzer 1594488398 Joana 4 read-in-2025 The biggest takeaway for me was how much the friends we make in our formative years impact the people we become, and how we struggle when any of these friends change something about themselves, even if it's for the best.]]> 3.58 2013
author: Meg Wolitzer
name: Joana
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2026/01/03
date added: 2026/01/16
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
This book was a slow read throughout December, which is something unusual for me, but I think it was the perfect way to savour this story. The characters were very compelling, and the story of this friend group made me reflect so much about my own groups. The title fits this book perfectly.
The biggest takeaway for me was how much the friends we make in our formative years impact the people we become, and how we struggle when any of these friends change something about themselves, even if it's for the best.
]]> 63247365
Helen Zhang hasn’t seen Grant Shepard once in the thirteen years since the tragic accident that bound their lives together forever.

Now a bestselling author, Helen pours everything into her career. She’s even scored a coveted spot in the writers’ room of the TV adaptation of her popular young adult novels, and if she can hide her imposter syndrome and overcome her writer’s block, surely the rest of her life will fall into place too. LA is the fresh start she needs. After all, no one knows her there. Except…

Grant has done everything in his power to move on from the past, including building a life across the country. And while the panic attacks have never quite gone away, he’s well liked around town as a screenwriter. He knows he shouldn’t have taken the job on Helen’s show, but it will open doors to developing his own projects that he just can’t pass up.

Grant’s exactly as Helen remembers him—charming, funny, popular, and lovable in ways that she’s never been. And Helen’s exactly as Grant remembers too—brilliant, beautiful, closed off. But working together is messy, and electrifying, and Helen’s parents, who have never forgiven Grant, have no idea he’s in the picture at all.

When secrets come to light, they must reckon with the fact that theirs was never meant to be any kind of love story. And yet… the key to making peace with their past—and themselves—might just lie in holding on to each other in the present.]]> 384 Yulin Kuang Joana 5 3.57 2024
author: Yulin Kuang
name: Joana
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/28
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2024, favorites-updated-2025
review:
Haley Pham loved it, so I had to read it. I was very curious because Yulin Kuang is a very important person in the adaptations of two of my favorite author books (Emily Henry, My Queen) and it did not disappoint. I'm sure this book won't be for everyone, but it worked out great for me. I was rooting for them the entire time, and couldn't think about anything other than this book. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
]]> 62926938
So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.

An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate… only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.]]> 336 Ashley Poston Joana 5 4.14 2023
author: Ashley Poston
name: Joana
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2024, favorites-updated-2025
review:
Hello, I loved this one??? I think Ashley Poston just became one of my go-to authors after this one. I really liked Dead Romantics, but this one?? Finished me. One of those books I wish I could forget just so I could enjoy it like the first time all over again.
]]> 59770316 Following the death of her closest friend, Sloane Crosley explores multiple kinds of loss in this disarmingly witty and poignant memoir.

Grief Is for People is a deeply moving and surprisingly suspenseful portrait of friendship and a book about loss packed with verve for life. Sloane Crosley is one of our most renowned observers of contemporary behavior, and now the pathos that has been ever present in her trademark wit is on full display. After the pain and confusion of losing her closest friend to suicide, Crosley looks for answers in friends, philosophy, and art, hoping for a framework more useful than the unavoidable stages of grief.

Read by the author.]]> 6 Sloane Crosley Joana 5 3.74 2024
author: Sloane Crosley
name: Joana
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/16
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2024, favorites-updated-2025
review:
I am at a loss for words to describe how this book made me feel. It is a lovely homage to a great friendship, written beautifully in an honest and vulnerable way, balanced out with the humor Sloane Crosley has made a signature of hers. I listened to this one on audiobook, narrated by the author, which made this feel so much more personal. I felt as if I was listening to Sloane telling me all these thoughts in her head over a glass of wine. I loved how she used a robbery as a metaphor, a way to better explain how losing her best friend made her feel. Still processing this book, will definitely want to re-read this one with a physical copy.
]]> 54870201
But then, in an instant, their lives are changed forever.

In the aftermath, Eve’s world is upended. As stunning secrets are revealed, she begins to wonder if she really knew her friends as well as she thought. And when someone from the past comes back into her life, Eve’s future veers in a surprising new direction...

They say every love story starts with a single moment. What if it was just last night?]]> 393 Mhairi McFarlane 0063036851 Joana 5 I loved the characters, the story, the twists and turns of it, everything. Absolutely recommend it to everyone who loves to read about friend group dynamics, dealing with grief, and finding the light again.
I wish I could've seen how I looked going through Ikea, listening to a major plot twist on the audiobook and just cruising around looking for a showerhead with my mouth open in shock.]]> 3.94 2021
author: Mhairi McFarlane
name: Joana
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/02
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2024, favorites-updated-2025
review:
This was the summer of second chances. After giving Miss Abby Jimenez a second shot and having loved it, it was time for Miss Mhairi McFarlane (and yes, although I try my best, I will always mispronounce her name at least once when talking about it). I loved this one so much that I had the urge to start reading it again as soon as I finished it. Didn't do it though, I have way too many books on my tbr.
I loved the characters, the story, the twists and turns of it, everything. Absolutely recommend it to everyone who loves to read about friend group dynamics, dealing with grief, and finding the light again.
I wish I could've seen how I looked going through Ikea, listening to a major plot twist on the audiobook and just cruising around looking for a showerhead with my mouth open in shock.
]]> 63039516
Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favour to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil - can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written - is there still time to find a happy ending?]]> 639 Paul Murray 0241984416 Joana 5 You know I have a huge big book fear, but I'm so glad I braved through this one. ]]> 3.91 2023
author: Paul Murray
name: Joana
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/04
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2024, favorites-updated-2025
review:
I fell in love with this book on the first pages and I think I'm still falling after having finished it a while ago. THIS is the definition of a tragic comedy, a complex family dynamic, compelling characters, and distinctive and fascinating points of view.
You know I have a huge big book fear, but I'm so glad I braved through this one.
]]> 214269328 Grieving the loss of her best friend, a young woman’s life is turned upside down when she meets a grumpy stranger who swears he can help her live again, in this heartwarming, slow-burn romance by the author of Ready or Not

Lenny’s a bit of a mess at the moment. Her best friend, Lou, recently passed away after a battle with cancer, and her death has left Lenny feeling completely lost. She’s avoiding her concerned parents, the apartment she shared with Lou, and the list of things she’s supposed to do to help her live again. The only thing she can do is temporary babysitting gigs, and luckily, she just landed a great one, helping overworked, single mom Reese and her precocious daughter, Ainsley. It’s not perfect: Ainsley’s uncle, Miles, always seems to be around, and is kind of... a huge jerk. But if Lenny acts like she has it all together, maybe no one will notice she’s falling apart.

Miles sees right through her though. Turns out, he knows a lot about grief and, surprisingly, he offers her a proposition. He’ll help her complete everything on her “live again” list if she’ll help him connect with Ainsley and overcome his complicated relationship with Reese. Lenny doubts anything can fill the Lou has left behind, but she begins to spend more time with Miles, Lenny is surprised to discover that, sometimes, losing everything is only the first step to finding yourself, and love, again.]]> 373 Cara Bastone 0593595734 Joana 5 4.06 2025
author: Cara Bastone
name: Joana
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/06/28
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2025, favorites-updated-2025
review:
Cara Bastone really said, "I will write about grief in the rawest and purest way, and this book will find you at the time you needed it the most". I underlined this one to oblivion because everything just felt right. A favorite for life, that's for sure.
]]> 54338851
Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has "a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb and you should see her legs" is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel writes cookbooks for a living. And in between trying to win Mark back and loudly wishing him dead, Ephron's irrepressible heroine offers some of her favorite recipes. "Heartburn" is a sinfully delicious novel, as soul-satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect soufflé.]]> 189 Nora Ephron Joana 4 3.74 1983
author: Nora Ephron
name: Joana
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1983
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2025, favorites-updated-2025
review:
This book will make you hungry, it will make you laugh, and then it will make you think about stuff. Loved it.
]]> 221473262 336 Aisha Muharrar 0593655842 Joana 5 This was one of the many quotes I underlined in this book, and I think it sums up the book perfectly. 2025 was a year marked by books about grief, not for the best reasons, and if you think about it, grief is a pretty common experience. We all go through it sooner or later in our lives, whether we lose someone or something. It feels different to everyone, but we all go through it, and it's always a remarkable experience that changes us in some way.
This is a funny but also sad approach to the theme, and although it may be seen as a light one at some points, this story still managed to make me really sit with my thoughts and feelings about my grieving experiences. The more I think about it, the more emotional I get about it.
There's another part in the book where one character says, "We don't get to choose. You can't opt out. You lost him. We lost him." But you do get to choose and opt in to this book, which I highly recommend.

And another quote for my twenty-niners out there:
"Right before turning thirty, I'd felt acutely aware that I'd reached the end of something. Not just my twenties, but also that feeling that life was completely fresh, newly unfolding."
I hope you get to unfold beautiful things in this fresh canvas. ]]> 3.64 2025
author: Aisha Muharrar
name: Joana
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/12/07
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2025, favorites-updated-2025
review:
"Just because it's common doesn't mean it's not remarkable."
This was one of the many quotes I underlined in this book, and I think it sums up the book perfectly. 2025 was a year marked by books about grief, not for the best reasons, and if you think about it, grief is a pretty common experience. We all go through it sooner or later in our lives, whether we lose someone or something. It feels different to everyone, but we all go through it, and it's always a remarkable experience that changes us in some way.
This is a funny but also sad approach to the theme, and although it may be seen as a light one at some points, this story still managed to make me really sit with my thoughts and feelings about my grieving experiences. The more I think about it, the more emotional I get about it.
There's another part in the book where one character says, "We don't get to choose. You can't opt out. You lost him. We lost him." But you do get to choose and opt in to this book, which I highly recommend.

And another quote for my twenty-niners out there:
"Right before turning thirty, I'd felt acutely aware that I'd reached the end of something. Not just my twenties, but also that feeling that life was completely fresh, newly unfolding."
I hope you get to unfold beautiful things in this fresh canvas.
]]> 1232 The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets—an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.]]> 487 Carlos Ruiz Zafón Joana 5 4.26 2001
author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
name: Joana
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: favorites, in-portuguese, favorites-updated-on-2020, favorites-updated-on-2022, favorites-updated-2025
review:

]]> 41086877 Librarian note: See an alternate cover edition here.

Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in the west of Ireland, but the similarities end there. In school, Connell is popular and well-liked, while Marianne is a loner. But when the two strike up a conversation – awkward but electrifying – something life-changing begins.

Normal People is a story of mutual fascination, friendship and love. It takes us from that first conversation to the years beyond, in the company of two people who try to stay apart but find they can’t.]]> 266 Sally Rooney Joana 5 3.84 2018
author: Sally Rooney
name: Joana
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2019/07/22
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: in-english, favorites-updated-on-2020, favorites-updated-on-2022, favorites-updated-2025
review:
A história destes dois conquistou-me no primeiro capítulo e a escrita da Sally Rooney prendeu-me brutalmente. Há muito tempo que não lia um livro que me agarrasse assim, uma história tão crua e tão real, sem os floreados habituais de um romance. São, indeed, Normal People.
]]> 55275757
Twelve summers ago: Poppy and Alex meet. They hate each other and are pretty confident they'll never speak again.

Eleven summers ago: they're forced to share a ride home from college, and by the end of it, a friendship is formed. And a pact: every year, one vacation together.

Ten summers ago: Alex discovers his fear of flying on the way to Vancouver. Poppy holds his hand the whole way.

Seven summers ago: they get far too drunk and narrowly avoid getting matching tattoos in New Orleans.

Two summers ago: it all goes wrong.

This summer: Poppy asks Alex to join her on one last trip. A trip that will determine the rest of their lives.]]> 364 Emily Henry 0241992230 Joana 5
REREAD @ 2025

Of course, I had to come back to my favorite after GBBL. Still hits the same. I love this book so much.]]> 3.70 2021
author: Emily Henry
name: Joana
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/28
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: favorites-updated-on-2022, favorites-updated-2025
review:
I've been waiting for this one ever since I read Beach Read. Emily Henry creates characters that just speak to me. Of course, I couldn't control myself and read this one in just one sitting. Poppy and Alex made me laugh, smile and swoon. The banter and sexual tension in this book are off the charts, I was gripping my pillow the entire time because I just couldn't get enough of it. Pick this one up if you're looking for a light, funny and sexy read!

REREAD @ 2025

Of course, I had to come back to my favorite after GBBL. Still hits the same. I love this book so much.
]]> 36174638
Achilles, “best of all the Greeks,” is everything Patroclus is not—strong, beautiful, the child of a goddess—and by all rights their paths should never cross. Yet one day, Achilles takes the shamed prince under his wing and soon their tentative connection gives way to a steadfast friendship. As they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something far deeper—despite the displeasure of Achilles’ mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess with a hatred of mortals.

Fate is never far from the heels of Achilles. When word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, the men of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows Achilles into war, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they have learned, everything they hold dear. And that, before he is ready, he will be forced to surrender his friend to the hands of Fate.

Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart.]]> 352 Madeline Miller Joana 5 4.41 2011
author: Madeline Miller
name: Joana
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2021/06/03
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: favorites-updated-on-2022, favorites-updated-2025
review:
When I tell you that I cried with this book, believe me, I emptied all the liquid content of my body over this book. And what about reading this one right after finishing a drama like Hamnet? Call me crazy and you'll be absolutely right. I already knew Achilles and Patroclus's story from school, including how it ended. However, I managed to forget some key points so my brain was ambushed with this plot. Beautiful story, amazing writing! Madeline Miller deserves all the praise and some more. Absolutely in love with this book, will not shut up about it and I'm guessing I'll over the heartache it caused me in 5 to 10 years.
]]> 53414230
At once an achingly beautiful love story and a potent insight into race and masculinity, Open Water asks what it means to be a person in a world that sees you only as a Black body, to be vulnerable when you are only respected for strength, to find safety in love, only to lose it. With gorgeous, soulful intensity, Caleb Azumah Nelson has written the most essential British debut of recent years.]]> 145 Caleb Azumah Nelson 0241448778 Joana 5 3.99 2021
author: Caleb Azumah Nelson
name: Joana
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/01
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: favorites-updated-on-2022, favorites-updated-2025
review:
An automatic favorite for life. I have yet to find the right words to talk about this book. I loved it from the first chapter and, although it's less than 200 pages long, it has the right size, and to make it any bigger would be to ruin its essence. Caleb Azumah Nelson's writing is a breath of fresh air that punches you with the strength of a thousand men while embracing you warmly like the first hints of Spring.
]]> 224003821 A charming new romance about two English professors who embark on a fake relationship…only to discover that it may be harder to pretend than they realized.

Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have been academic rivals since they first crossed paths as undergraduates in the literature department thirteen years ago. Now that a highly coveted teaching opportunity has come up, their rivalry hits epic proportions. Jonah needs the job to move closer to his recently divorced sister and her children, while Sadie needs the financial security and freedom of a full-time teaching position.

When Sadie notices that the job offers partner hire, however, she hatches a plot to get them both the job. All they must do is get legally married. It’s a simple win-win solution but when sparks begin to fly, it becomes clear that despite their education, these two may not have thought this whole thing through.]]> 368 Jodi McAlister 1668092336 Joana 0 read-in-2025 3.73 2025
author: Jodi McAlister
name: Joana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at: 2025/12/26
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
I just love it when a man falls first and falls hard for a woman. The academic setting was very interesting, since I know little of this world. It's a romance that takes its time, and it was exactly what I needed at the time. Also, bonus points for all the popular fiction mentions, I love to see my faves being recognized and set in paper.
]]> 228143079 In this sweeping, second-chance romance, a twist of fate forces two former roommates to move back into their beloved New York City brownstone and face the events that led to their estrangement—and confront their unresolved feelings for each other.

Subject 74 Perry Street

So begins the email that turns June Wood’s entire world on its head. Five years ago, she lived on Perry Street with her former best friend Adam Harper. But why is the management company reaching out to her about it now? 

Still smarting from the news of her hit TV show being canceled, June has nothing else to lose. She boards a plane from Los Angeles to New York City to find out more about the mysterious email and the promised opportunity it alludes to. It turns out that, thanks to an unbelievable legal loophole, if she and Adam can live together in the stunning West Village brownstone for a month, it’s theirs. Any true New Yorker knows you don’t pass up prime city real estate, and that fall in the city is magical—so what’s there to think about?

And yet, though most things have changed in the time since they last spoke, one thing hasn’ June and Adam have unfinished business. They didn’t exactly end on good terms when they each went off to chase their dreams. Now, confronted with the consequences of their choices, they must navigate the minefield of their past the best way they know together.

Every day they move closer to owning Perry Street reveals misunderstandings, long-term resentments, and long-buried feelings . . . which are suddenly feeling very, very not so buried. But they’ve already lost their friendship once before, devastating them both. Can they risk losing it again for something a little different this time?]]> 432 Joss Richard Joana 3 read-in-2025 3.91 2025
author: Joss Richard
name: Joana
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/12/23
date added: 2025/12/29
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
Sometimes you just have to buddy read a romance where the FMC manages to piss you and your buddy off. It was entertaining, but I couldn't take another page of June. On the other hand, Adam was a dream.
]]> 228412107 From the author of Natural Beauty, set in the fiercely competitive art world, a novel about an obsessive friendship upended by a cutting-edge technology purported to enhance empathy and connection

Enka meets Mathilde in art school. Mathilde is a dizzyingly talented yet tortured artist whose star is on the rise—and Enka, struggling to make art that feels original, is immediately drawn to her. The two strike up an intense bond that soon turns codependent. But when Mathilde’s fame reaches new heights, Enka becomes desperate to keep her best friend close—no matter the cost.

Enka quickly falls in love with and marries a billionaire whose family’s company is funding an unconventional technology purported to heighten empathy, which could allow someone else to inhabit Mathilde’s mind and absorb the trauma from her brain. Soon, the boundaries between Mathilde and Enka begin to blur even further, setting in motion a disturbing series of events that forever changes their lives.

Blisteringly smart, thought-provoking, and shocking, Immaculate Conception deftly navigates big questions of art, technology, authorship, and what makes us human. Ling Ling Huang offers us a portrait of close friendship—achingly tender and twisted—that captures the tenuous line between love and possession that will haunt you long after you turn the final page.]]> Ling Ling Huang Joana 3 read-in-2025 I love it when authors go the extra mile to discuss complex human experiences. The way this book explores how the closest friendships can sometimes border on or actually cross into obsession is absolutely bonkers and amazing. ]]> 3.98 2025
author: Ling Ling Huang
name: Joana
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/12/17
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
When you think "this book can't get any crazier", Ling Ling Huang says, "just watch me".
I love it when authors go the extra mile to discuss complex human experiences. The way this book explores how the closest friendships can sometimes border on or actually cross into obsession is absolutely bonkers and amazing.
]]> 63251742
A wedding planner and her grumpy ex must work together to plan a celebrity event in this deliciously spicy and funny novel from the creator of Generation Me.

Ama Torres is an optimistic wedding planner who doesn’t believe in marriage. But weddings? They’re amazing. Elliot Bloom is a brooding florist who hates owning a flower shop…until a certain bright-eyed, donut-loving workaholic shows up at his door.

Once upon a time, they collaborated on events by day, and by night, Ama traced the intricate flower tattoos etched along his body. Then Ama shattered his heart and never spoke to Elliot again.

Now they’re working on an event that could make or break both of their careers—except neither of them has gotten over what happened two years ago. Things are not helped by the two brides, who see the obvious chemistry between Ama and Elliot and are determined to set them up, not knowing their complicated history. But as the wedding takes on a life of its own, Ama and Elliot are about to discover that some things can survive a complete catastrophe . . .

Smart and hilarious, Forget Me Not is about two people giving themselves—and love!—a second chance.]]> Julie Soto 1668626276 Joana 3 read-in-2025 3.89 2023
author: Julie Soto
name: Joana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2025/12/07
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
This was my first time with Julie Soto, and it left me curious about her other works. Cute little second-chance romance, and I know it would be a nightmare to produce because of all the weddings and floral arrangements, but I would love to see this one as a movie.
]]> 64785417 Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test in A CURSE FOR TRUE LOVE, the breathtaking conclusion to Stephanie Garber’s #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy

Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out. . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.]]> 385 Stephanie Garber Joana 4 read-in-2025 4.10 2023
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Joana
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/12/04
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
It was a good ending, but I think my review of it is entirely linked with my reading experience and the way I was so obsessed with these characters and their lives.
]]> 59332540 Not every love is meant to be...

After Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, betrays her, Evangeline Fox swears she’ll never trust him again. Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can. . . .]]> 416 Stephanie Garber 1529380960 Joana 4 read-in-2025 4.55 2022
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Joana
average rating: 4.55
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/28
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
This might be my favorite one from the trilogy, but I really can't say for sure. It's like choosing a favorite child. I read this one during a round trip from Lisbon to Porto, and it was a great company. I smiled, I gasped, I was so enthralled with this narrative, but I assure you my driving was still safe.
]]> 60718856
For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings... until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.

Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic but wicked Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy...]]> 408 Stephanie Garber 1529380944 Joana 4 read-in-2025 The reason it took me so long to finally grab it? Everybody kept telling me that I couldn't do it without having read the Caraval trilogy by the same author. And I'm here to tell you that is a lie. You can absolutely read it without any previous experience with the author. In fact, I URGE you to read this trilogy because I had a blast with all of the books.]]> 4.04 2021
author: Stephanie Garber
name: Joana
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/27
date added: 2025/12/21
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
The reason I bought this book 3 years ago? The cover is beautiful, and the title is catchy.
The reason it took me so long to finally grab it? Everybody kept telling me that I couldn't do it without having read the Caraval trilogy by the same author. And I'm here to tell you that is a lie. You can absolutely read it without any previous experience with the author. In fact, I URGE you to read this trilogy because I had a blast with all of the books.
]]> 218460337 Nothing to lose. Everything to gain. Winner takes all.

Lily—a bored, beautiful twentysomething—wakes up on a remote desert compound alongside nineteen other contestants on a popular reality TV show. To win, she must outlast her housemates while competing in challenges for luxury rewards, such as champagne and lipstick, and communal necessities to outfit their new home, like food, appliances, and a front door.

The cameras are catching all her angles, good and bad, but Lily has no desire to leave: Why would she, when the world outside is falling apart? As the competition intensifies, intimacy between the players deepens, and it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish between desire and desperation. When the producers raise the stakes, forcing contestants into upsetting, even dangerous situations, the line between playing the game and surviving it begins to blur. If Lily makes it to the end, she'll receive prizes beyond her wildest dreams—but what will she have to do to win?

Addictive and prescient, The Compound is an explosive debut from a major new voice in fiction and will linger in your mind long after the game ends.]]> 292 Aisling Rawle 0593977270 Joana 0 to-read 3.51 2025
author: Aisling Rawle
name: Joana
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/12/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 214868013 A terrible heatwave. A very tense baby shower. It will all end in tears...

Nicki, Lauren, Charlotte and Steffi have been friends since university. Now in their thirties, life is pulling them in different directions - but when Charlotte organises the baby shower of hell for pregnant Nicki, the girls are reunited.

Under a sweltering hot summer day, tensions rise - and by the end of the evening, nothing will ever be the same. Someone started a fire at the house - and everyone's a suspect... Is it Steffi, happily child-free but feeling judged by her friends? Is it Charlotte, desperate to conceive and jealous of those who have? Is it Lauren, who is finding motherhood far, far worse than she imagined? Or is it Nicki herself, who never wanted a baby shower anyway?

In the aftermath, the police put together the facts - but the truth will shock everyone. Even you.

BIG LITTLE LIES meets REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY in the incredible new novel from Holly Bourne - it's the book you'll want to read three times, then give to every woman in your life.]]> 423 Holly Bourne 1529301645 Joana 5 read-in-2025 3.85 2025
author: Holly Bourne
name: Joana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/11/20
date added: 2025/11/24
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
Reading this book should be mandatory for all women between the ages of 25 and 40. What a beautiful read, a master study in female friendship, motherhood, and especially how these two impact our life experience as women. I'm begging you to read this book even if you want nothing to do with motherhood; it will be a great exercise of empathy and reflection.
]]> 203194039 The Hating Game meets Book Lovers in this sexy and hilarious enemies-to-lovers romance from a debut Peruvian-Tennessean voice.

Rosie Maxwell has a move to New York, get her creative writing degree from NYU, become a bestselling romance writer. But that plan is derailed when she ends up in class with her archnemesis and ex-crush, Aiden Huntington, an obnoxious, surly, unreasonably gorgeous literary fiction writer who has no patience for romance – or for Rosie.

Exhausted by Rosie and Aiden’s constant verbal sparring, their professor gives them an leave her class, or cowrite a novel that blends their respective genres.

As Rosie and Aiden collaborate on their (accidentally steamy) novel, they try to put their differences aside. Could their manuscript-in-progress be just the outlet they need to confess their feelings – and explore their mutual attraction?

But a potentially career-changing opportunity soon reignites the flames of their old rivalry. Rosie and Aiden’s once-in-a-lifetime love story is once again at risk of being shelved – unless they can find a way to end the book on their own terms...]]> 336 Katie Holt 1639109757 Joana 3 read-in-2025 3.76 2024
author: Katie Holt
name: Joana
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/11/23
date added: 2025/11/24
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
So, I like books about people writing books about themselves while disguising it as fiction, sue me! Fun and cute, romantic in all the right ways. Enemies having to co-write a romance novel? Ooof, sign me up any day. I'm choosing to ignore the last 3 chapters because I didn't like how it all played out, but that's on me.
]]> 53968496
When the Rebel Queen is captured, Kiva is charged with keeping the terminally ill woman alive long enough for her to undergo the Trial by Ordeal: a series of elemental challenges against the torments of air, fire, water, and earth, assigned to only the most dangerous of criminals.

Then a coded message from Kiva’s family arrives, containing a single order: “Don’t let her die. We are coming.” Aware that the Trials will kill the sickly queen, Kiva risks her own life to volunteer in her place. If she succeeds, both she and the queen will be granted their freedom.

But no one has ever survived.

With an incurable plague sweeping Zalindov, a mysterious new inmate fighting for Kiva’s heart, and a prison rebellion brewing, Kiva can’t escape the terrible feeling that her trials have only just begun.

From bestselling author Lynette Noni comes a dark, thrilling YA fantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, and Sabaa Tahir.]]> 416 Lynette Noni 0358434556 Joana 3 read-in-2025
Fun fact: I read this as a buddy read, and my friend Ana loved it. Funny how the same book can be read in such a different way. ]]> 4.14 2021
author: Lynette Noni
name: Joana
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/11/16
date added: 2025/11/24
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
I picked this one up after seeing Haley Pham absolutely loving it in one of her vlogs. However, this wasn't it for me. The setting was really interesting and the characters were also good, but the pacing was too slow for me. Most of the stars go for the wild plot twist in the ending, and the little boy who works in the infirmary with the main character (I can't remember his name, but he was my MVP).

Fun fact: I read this as a buddy read, and my friend Ana loved it. Funny how the same book can be read in such a different way.
]]> 228421170 A USA TODAY BESTSELLER!

Falling in love with your husband is anything but convenient in this steamy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of Business or Pleasure.

Dani Dorfman has somehow made it to her thirties without knowing what she wants to do with her life. So when an office romance ends poorly and gets her fired, she applies for a job in Amsterdam, idly dreaming of escaping the mess she’s created, but never imagining she'll actually get it.

Except she does. By the end of her first week in Amsterdam, she’s never felt more adrift or alone. Then she crashes her bike into her high school ex-boyfriend—and suddenly life is blooming with new opportunities.

Wouter van Leeuwen was a Dutch exchange student Dani’s family hosted, a forbidden love that ended in a painful breakup. Years later, there’s still sizzling chemistry between them, and okay, maybe a little animosity. More importantly, Wouter needs to be married to inherit a gorgeous family home on a canal—and when Dani's job falls apart, she needs a visa. As the marriage of convenience pushes them together in unexpected ways, Dani must decide whether her new life is yet another mistake—or if it's worth taking a risk on a second chance.]]> Rachel Lynn Solomon Joana 3 read-in-2025 3.55 2025
author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
name: Joana
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/11/23
date added: 2025/11/24
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
Rachel Lynn Solomon's adult romance novels have been a Yes-No-Yes-No experience for me, and I forgot the last one had been a YES for me when I set my expectations for this one. It's a cute story, but it felt way too prolonged and predictable (I know most of the books I read are predictable, but I could see all the twists and turns in this one from a mile away). So sad that this was a no for me, stay tuned to see if her next work will be a hit.
]]> 213762840
For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.

Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.

Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.

Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.]]> 1 Lynn Painter 1668120496 Joana 4 read-in-2025 3.63 2024
author: Lynn Painter
name: Joana
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/11/13
date added: 2025/11/24
shelves: read-in-2025
review:
It had been a while since I'd picked up a Lynn Painter book, and this one reminded me why she's one of my go-to authors. Yes, certain aspects of her writing don't quite fit with me, but it's easy to overlook them because I always have so much fun with her stories. This one was a great audio company for a couple of days, and I have a feeling I liked the sequel better than the first book.
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