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Showing posts from June, 2023

In The Shadow of Lightening

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 By: Brian McClellan Location: FIC MCC Genre: Epic Fantasy Magic is a finite resource—and it’s running out. Demir Grappo is an outcast—he fled a life of wealth and power, abandoning his responsibilities as a general, a governor, and a son. Now he will live out his days as a grifter, rootless, and alone. But when his mother is brutally murdered, Demir must return from exile to claim his seat at the head of the family and uncover the truth that got her killed: the very power that keeps civilization turning, godglass, is running out. Now, Demir must find allies, old friends and rivals alike, confront the powerful guild-families who are only interested in making the most of the scraps left at the table and uncover the invisible hand that threatens the Empire. A war is coming, a war unlike any other. And Demir and his ragtag group of outcasts are the only thing that stands in the way of the end of life as the world knows it. Review by Zak In the Shadow of Lightning is an easy read with a cl

Tress of the Emerald Sea

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 By: Brandon Sanderson Location: FIC SAN Genre: Sanderson has his very own #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson expands his Cosmere universe shared by The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn with a new standalone novel for everyone who loved The Princess Bride. The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death? Matts review "G oing into this book, I was quite confident that it wasn't going to be for me. In general, I haven't really like the Brandon Sa

The Book Of Cold Cases

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 By: Simone St James Location: FIC STJ Genre: Mystery, Thriller A true crime blogger gets more than she bargained for while interviewing the woman acquitted of two cold case slayings in this chilling new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Sun Down Motel . In 1977, Claire Lake, Oregon, was shaken by the Lady Killer Two men, seemingly randomly, were murdered with the same gun, with strange notes left behind. Beth Greer was the perfect suspect—a rich, eccentric twenty-three-year-old woman, seen fleeing one of the crimes. But she was acquitted, and she retreated to the isolation of her mansion.   Oregon, 2017 . Shea Collins is a receptionist, but by night, she runs a true crime website, the Book of Cold Cases—a passion fueled by the attempted abduction she escaped as a child. When she meets Beth by chance, Shea asks her for an interview. To Shea’s surprise, Beth says yes.   They meet regularly at Beth’s mansion, though Shea is never comfortable there. Items move when s

The Isles Of The Gods

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 By: Amie Kaufman Location: FIC KAU Genre: Fantasy, Pirate, Romance "Gorgeously detailed and thoroughly enchanting, the first book in Amie Kaufman’s new epic fantasy series is a masterfully immersive, high stakes adventure story that I can guarantee will have you on the edge of your seats." Selly has salt water in her veins. So when her father leaves her high and dry in the port of Kirkpool, she has no intention of riding out the winter at home while he sails to adventure in the north seas. But any plans to follow him are dashed when a handsome stranger with tell-tale magician's marks on his arms commandeers her ship under cover of darkness: He is Prince Leander of Alinor, and he needs to cross the Crescent Sea without detection so he can complete a ritual on the sacred Isles of the Gods. Selly has no desire to escort a spoiled prince anywhere, and no time for his entitled demands or his good looks. But what starts as a leisure cruise will lead to acts of treason and shee

I Was Born For This

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 By: Alice Oseman  Location: FIC OSE Genre: LGBGT, Contemporary, Fictio n 'I'm gonna die. I'm literally gonna die.' 'Wouldn't recommend that,' says Juliet, as if she's been on a two week holiday to Death and gave it a two out of five on TripAdvisor. For Angel, life is only about one thing: The Ark – a pop-rock trio of teenage boys who are currently taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark’s fandom has given her everything – her friend Juliet, her dreams, her place in the world. Jimmy owes everything to The Ark. He’s their frontman – and playing in a band with his mates is all he ever dreamed of doing. But dreams don't always turn out the way you think, and when Jimmy and Angel are unexpectedly thrust together they find out just how strange and surprising facing up to reality can be. Funny and wise,  I Was Born for This  is a stunning reflection on the power of believing in something - especially yourself

A Hunger of Thorns

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 By: Lili Wilkinson  Location: FIC WIL Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, LGBGT I cry out for every girl who was told to comb her hair and wash the mud from her face. To keep herself contained. To be ashamed of her voice, her hair, her flesh. To be quiet and good and nice. Girls are not nice. Girls are wild and fierce and powerful, and I will not let anyone take that away. Not ever again. Be swept up in this brilliant witchy tale about forbidden magic and missing girls who don't need handsome princes to rescue them. Perfect for fans of the Serpent & Dove series. 'Completely entrancing. I have never read anything like this book. It's full of magic - the real thing. And it's full of feminine power, dark mysteries and unforgettable characters. The luscious depth of the world-building and the effortless skill with which it is conveyed make me utterly jealous.' - Amie Kaufman Maude is the daughter of witches. She spent her childhood running wild with her best friend, Odette

A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons

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 By: Kate Khavari  Location: FIC KHA Genre: Mystery, Historical Fiction " Cozy mystery meets historical thriller with romantic vibes and a stunning artsy cover is a dreamy package for my suspense cravings!" The Lost Apothecary meets Dead Dead Girls in this fast-paced, STEMinist adventure. Debut author Kate Khavari deftly entwines a pulse-pounding mystery with the struggles of a woman in a male-dominated field in 1923 London. Newly minted research assistant Saffron Everleigh is determined to blaze a new trail at the University College London, but with her colleagues’ beliefs about women’s academic inabilities and not-so-subtle hints that her deceased father’s reputation paved her way into the botany department, she feels stymied at every turn. When she attends a dinner party for the school, she expects to engage in conversations about the university's large expedition to the Amazon. What she doesn’t expect is for Mrs. Henry, one of the professors’ wives, to drop to the flo

Better Than The Movies

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 By: Lynn Painter Location: FIC PAI Genre: Romance “Sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have.” ―  Lynn Painter,  Better than the Movies Perfect for fans of Kasie West and Jenn Bennett, this “sweet and funny” (Kerry Winfrey, author of Waiting for Tom Hanks ) teen rom-com follows a hopelessly romantic teen girl and her cute yet obnoxious neighbor as they scheme to get her noticed by her untouchable crush. Perpetual daydreamer Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar—and maybe snag him as a prom date—even befriend Wes Bennet. The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbor might seem like a prime candidate for romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitat

The Atlas Paradox

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 By: Olivie Blake  Location: FIC BLA Genre: Fantasy Fiction LGBT The Atlas Paradox is the long-awaited sequel to dark academic sensation The Atlas Six—guaranteed to have even more yearning, backstabbing, betrayal, and chaos. Six magicians. Two rivalries. One researcher. And a man who can walk through dreams. All must pick a side: do they wish to preserve the world—or destroy it? In this electric sequel to the viral sensation, The Atlas Six, the society of Alexandrians is revealed for what it is: a secret society with raw, world-changing power, headed by a man whose plans to change life as we know it are already under way. But the cost of knowledge is steep, and as the price of power demands each character choose a side, which alliances will hold and which will see their enmity deepen?” Great interview with the author here: Can we expect more Filipino characters in the future? Can you give us a hint on what they’ll be like? There is another character coming in the next installment of th

Nubia

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 By: Omar Epps Location: FIC EPP Genre: Sci fi, Dystopia, Fantasy "I really enjoyed this cultural urban fantasy tale. Climate change, racism, social classes, political corruption, abuse, death, friendship, family ties, ancestry, magic and more. It had just enough and never too much." From beloved actor and producer Omar Epps and writer Clarence A. Haynes comes the biggest epic fantasy of the year. A powerful saga of three teens, the children of refugees from a fallen African utopia, who must navigate their newfound powers in a climate-ravaged New York City. Perfect for fans of  Black Panther  and  Children of Blood and Bone . For Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho, Nubia is a mystery. Before they were born, a massive storm destroyed their ancestral homeland, forcing their families to flee across the ocean to New York City. Nubia, a utopic island nation off the coast of West Africa, was no more, and their parents' sorrow was too deep for them to share much of their history beyond

The Driver

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 By: Mark Dawson Location: FIC DAW Genre: Thriller AND we are getting more in to fill out the series! This is John Milton THREE- One and Two are coming! John Milton had started to hope that he might have a future. He has a job driving a taxi around the streets of San Francisco. He has his anonymity and his solitude. Being invisible has become a comfortable habit. He doesn't want to be found. But when a girl he drives to a party goes missing, Milton is worried. Especially when two dead bodies are discovered and the police start treating him as their prime suspect. Milton is a fugitive from the British Secret Service and a man in his position needs extra attention like he needs a hole in the head. As unpleasant secrets leak out, and the body count rises, one thing is for sure: Milton might just be the right guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Driver is a taut, nail-biting adventure which once again stars Mark Dawson's irresistible hero, the maverick ex-MI6 assassin John

An Agency For Scandal

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 By: Laura Wood Location: FIC WOO Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance Kai says  " Love love love me a Victorian all-female underground spy and revenge agency diamond heist romance novel" n all-female detective agency righting wrongs at the end of the nineteenth century; infiltrating a scandalous upper class world straight out of Bridgerton and using their wit and bravery to unmask a villain. Eighteen-year-old Isobel Stanhope is keeping a lot of secrets. There's the fact that she's head over heels in love with a Duke who doesn't know she exists; there's the fact that her family is penniless but nobody in society knows about it; and then there's her job at the Aviary, an investigative agency run by women that specializes in digging up scandal on powerful men. When Izzy finds herself pulled into a case that involves gaslighting, blackmail, and missing jewels, as well as the Duke who holds her heart, can she and her friends untangle the web of secrets

Seven Percent of Ro Devereux

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 By: Ellen O Clover Location: FIC OCL Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Stem Fans of Emma Lord, Rachel Lynn Solomon, and Alex Light will love this clever, charming, and poignant debut novel with a masterful slow-burn romance at its core about a girl who must decide whether to pursue her dreams or preserve her relationships, including a budding romance with her ex-best friend, when an app she created goes viral. Ro Devereux can predict your future. Or, at least, the app she built for her senior project can. Working with her neighbor, a retired behavioral scientist, Ro created an app called MASH, designed around the classic game Mansion Apartment Shack House, that can predict a person’s future with 93% accuracy. The app will even match users with their soulmates. Though it was only supposed to be a class project, MASH quickly takes off and gains the attention of tech investors. Ro’s dream is to work in Silicon Valley, and she’ll do anything to prove to her new backing company—and the world—t

Chaos and Flame

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 By Tessa and Justina Ireland  Location: FIC GRA Genre: Fantasy, Romance ,Dragons An assassin, a soldier, a prince . . . and a deadly game of power, where no one knows the rules. Prepare to enter the world of  Chaos and Flame When  Darling Seabreak 's family were murdered by the ruthless House Dragon, she swore she'd get revenge. And as a deadly assassin, there's no one she'd rather take out than their bloodthirsty war general, Talon Goldhoard. Talon Goldhoard  has no problem defending his lands from threats - even ones he hates, like the whispers of madness that surround his brother, the High Prince. So when he battles a ferocious girl who looks exactly like the one Caspian has painted obsessively, repeatedly, for years, Talon knows he must capture her alive - and find out exactly what kind of a threat she really is. What Talon is unprepared for is the thrilling chaos that Darling will bring into his life. With the world they both know appearing to catch fire all aroun

Immortality- A Love Story

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  By: Dana Schwarts Location: FIC SCH Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Series: #2 in the Anatomy Series Cover art winner! Hazel Sinnett is alone and half convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know if Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her. When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: Hazel has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly granddaughter of King George III. Soon Hazel is dragged into the glamour and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death. As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn't the only thing at

Strange Sally Diamond

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 By: Liz Nugent  Location: FIC NUG Genre: Mystery Question:  What would you get if you mixed  Eleanor Oliphant  with  Room ? Answer:  Strange Sally Diamond! Sally Diamond cannot understand why what she did was so strange. She was only doing what her father told her to do, to put him out with the rubbish when he died. Now Sally is the centre of attention, not only from the hungry media and worried police, but also a sinister voice from a past she has no memory of. As she begins to discover the horrors of her childhood, recluse Sally steps into the world for the first time, making new friends, finding independence, and learning that people don't always mean what they say. But when messages start arriving from a stranger who knows far more about her past than she knows herself, Sally's life will be thrown into chaos once again . . .

Scary Stories in the Dark

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 By: Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell Location: FIC CG Genre: Scary Stories in the Dark  Justin said this.. . In anticipation of the new movie, I dusted this off and made the foolish decision of reading in an empty house, well past the twilight hour. About halfway I got too creeped out to continue. Had to finish the rest this morning. The iconic anthology series of horror tales that's now a feature film! This is a new edition of the complete original book. Stephen Gammell’s artwork from the original  Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark  appears in all its spooky glory. Read if you dare! Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark  is a timeless collection of chillingly scary tales and legends, in which folklorist Alvin Schwartz offers up some of the most alarming tales of horror, dark revenge, and supernatural events of all time. SOON TO BE A MOVIE!!!! Review by Khan from Goodreads Warning: SCARY PICTURES. Do not click on this review if you don't want to be plagued by nightmares. I don&#

Vile Stars

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 By: Sera Milano Location: FIC MIL Genre:  Contemp, LGBGT, Romance   What a line this is ...    "Grief is just Love with nowhere to go" " An important, poignant book about the insidious nature of a toxic relationship. It gripped my heart on page one and still hasn’t let go. Absolutely stunning. (TRUE) LOVE (TOXIC) LOVE (LOST) LOVE This is a different kind of love story. 17-year-old Luka isn't looking for love. She's trying to piece her life back together after a heartbreaking loss. But when she meets the gorgeous and charismatic Cosmo under a meteor shower at the Greenwich Observatory, it feels like destiny has played a hand. Surely theirs is a love written in the stars. But Cosmo isn't what he seems, using Luka's love for him to slowly take control of her life. As the pandemic starts to make headlines and lockdown sets in, she is trapped emotionally and physically in a coercive relationship. Luka's friends and brother can see what's happening, bu