Rachel Baack
Summary: When a stranger misunderstands an overheard conversation between murder mystery writer Finlay Donovan and her agent, she attempts to hire Finlay, who she mistakes for a hitwoman, to kill her husband. Finlay is of course shocked, but she can’t help being curious, and she soon finds herself more deeply involved in the world of true crime than she ever intended to be.
Summary: When a stranger misunderstands an overheard conversation between murder mystery writer Finlay Donovan and her agent, she attempts to hire Finlay, who she mistakes for a hitwoman, to kill her husband. Finlay is of course shocked, but she can’t help being curious, and she soon finds herself more deeply involved in the world of true crime than she ever intended to be.
Summary: A few months after the end of World War II, author Juliette Ashton receives a letter from a pig farmer on the formerly occupied island of Guernsey who found her name and address written in a book that ended up in his possession. Juliette learns from the farmer, Dawsey Adams, that, during the occupation, he and his friends had formed a book club that, despite its creation as a cover for an unauthorized gathering they’d held, ended up becoming an indispensable community of support for its members. Juliette, intrigued, decides that she must meet the book club, and she sets out for a visit to the island that will change her life.
Summary: A few months after the end of World War II, author Juliette Ashton receives a letter from a pig farmer on the formerly occupied island of Guernsey who found her name and address written in a book that ended up in his possession. Juliette learns from the farmer, Dawsey Adams, that, during the occupation, he and his friends had formed a book club that, despite its creation as a cover for an unauthorized gathering they’d held, ended up becoming an indispensable community of support for its members. Juliette, intrigued, decides that she must meet the book club, and she sets out for a visit to the island that will change her life.
Added to listFantasywith 28 books.
Summary: This book traces the tale of the Roux family through four generations, detailing the devastating effects that romantic love (or something akin to it) has had on their lives. The youngest generation of Rouxs includes Ava, born inexplicably with a set of wings, and her twin brother Henry, who speaks rarely and without being often understood by those around him. This work of magical realism, despite detailing numerous tragedies that have befallen the Rouxs, beautifully portrays the sustaining effect that the love of a family—even a seemingly broken one—can have on its members.
Summary: This book traces the tale of the Roux family through four generations, detailing the devastating effects that romantic love (or something akin to it) has had on their lives. The youngest generation of Rouxs includes Ava, born inexplicably with a set of wings, and her twin brother Henry, who speaks rarely and without being often understood by those around him. This work of magical realism, despite detailing numerous tragedies that have befallen the Rouxs, beautifully portrays the sustaining effect that the love of a family—even a seemingly broken one—can have on its members.
Summary: Molly takes her job as a maid at a high-end hotel very seriously. She is thorough, organized, and hardworking, and she always does her best to do the right thing. She would never have expected to find herself, then, a suspect in the murder of a prominent hotel guest, but that is precisely what happens. In order to clear her name, Molly, alongside friends old and new, works to piece together clues that will demonstrate her innocence.
Summary: Molly takes her job as a maid at a high-end hotel very seriously. She is thorough, organized, and hardworking, and she always does her best to do the right thing. She would never have expected to find herself, then, a suspect in the murder of a prominent hotel guest, but that is precisely what happens. In order to clear her name, Molly, alongside friends old and new, works to piece together clues that will demonstrate her innocence.
Added to listScience Fictionwith 26 books.
Summary: When reporter Felicity Staples is assigned to cover the murder of real estate agent Madison May, she can’t help but notice that there is something odd about this case. It isn’t until a run-in with two individuals she believes to be connected to the case—one of whom may even be the killer—that Felicity’s reality is turned upside down, and she learns that Madison has, in fact, been killed multiple times across as many different realities.
I found the book to be incredibly interesting and thought-provoking, but I didn't love the ending.
Summary: When reporter Felicity Staples is assigned to cover the murder of real estate agent Madison May, she can’t help but notice that there is something odd about this case. It isn’t until a run-in with two individuals she believes to be connected to the case—one of whom may even be the killer—that Felicity’s reality is turned upside down, and she learns that Madison has, in fact, been killed multiple times across as many different realities.
I found the book to be incredibly interesting and thought-provoking, but I didn't love the ending.
Added to listMystery & Thrillerwith 22 books.
Summary: When a man turns up dead in an otherwise quiet retirement village, the Thursday Murder Club, formed by four members of a retirement village to do conduct armchair investigations into cold cases, decides to do some real-life sleuthing.
Summary: When a man turns up dead in an otherwise quiet retirement village, the Thursday Murder Club, formed by four members of a retirement village to do conduct armchair investigations into cold cases, decides to do some real-life sleuthing.
Added to listHistorical Fictionwith 26 books.
Added to listRomancewith 39 books.
Added to listRealistic Fictionwith 101 books.
Summary: When Diana Boyle discovers the existence of a directory of wealthy single women being used by the bachelors of England to find wives who will improve their financial situation, she decides not only to confront its author, Maxwell Dean, about his having painted targets on the backs of the women included in it, but also to plan with the ladies how they might use their inclusion in the directory to flip the social script and gain some control over their romantic destinies in a society that would not usually afford women this ability.
Summary: When Diana Boyle discovers the existence of a directory of wealthy single women being used by the bachelors of England to find wives who will improve their financial situation, she decides not only to confront its author, Maxwell Dean, about his having painted targets on the backs of the women included in it, but also to plan with the ladies how they might use their inclusion in the directory to flip the social script and gain some control over their romantic destinies in a society that would not usually afford women this ability.
Added to listShort Fictionwith 38 books.
Added to listHorror & Gothic Fictionwith 26 books.
Added to listDefies Categorizationwith 14 books.
Summary: In You Like It Darker, King presents twelve chilling short stories, ranging in subject matter from an otherworldly encounter that leaves its human participants uniquely gifted, to a highway stickup, to a haunting by a pair of infants.
Summary: In You Like It Darker, King presents twelve chilling short stories, ranging in subject matter from an otherworldly encounter that leaves its human participants uniquely gifted, to a highway stickup, to a haunting by a pair of infants.
Added to listHorror & Gothic Fictionwith 25 books.
Added to listShort Fictionwith 37 books.
Summary: This short story is told by an unnamed female narrator, who details the development of her relationship with her eventual husband from their meeting, through their courtship, marriage, and birth of their son, all the way to its end. Throughout the tale, the narrator has a mysterious green ribbon tied around her neck, and, as her relationship with her husband progresses, so does his fascination with the ribbon. This narrative is a feminist take on the urban-legend-turned-children’s-story “The Green Ribbon.”
Summary: This short story is told by an unnamed female narrator, who details the development of her relationship with her eventual husband from their meeting, through their courtship, marriage, and birth of their son, all the way to its end. Throughout the tale, the narrator has a mysterious green ribbon tied around her neck, and, as her relationship with her husband progresses, so does his fascination with the ribbon. This narrative is a feminist take on the urban-legend-turned-children’s-story “The Green Ribbon.”
Added to listDystopiawith 29 books.
Added to listScience Fictionwith 25 books.
Summary: In a dystopian future, low-level government worker Winston Smith lives under the authoritarian rule of the Party, which maintains control via constant surveillance of its citizenry and war with other nations, as well as regulation of the information its populous can access and the speech they can use. Winston, having grown dissatisfied with the restrictive life he and his fellow citizens must live, begins taking steps to break free from his oppressive reality.
Summary: In a dystopian future, low-level government worker Winston Smith lives under the authoritarian rule of the Party, which maintains control via constant surveillance of its citizenry and war with other nations, as well as regulation of the information its populous can access and the speech they can use. Winston, having grown dissatisfied with the restrictive life he and his fellow citizens must live, begins taking steps to break free from his oppressive reality.
Added to listRealistic Fictionwith 96 books.
Summary: The children of rather unconventional performance artists, Annie and Buster had, in their adult lives, succeeded in putting some distance between themselves and their parents. Now, however, they find themselves needing to return to their parents’ home, where they will have to lean on each other to navigate the absurdity of their family dynamics.
I found this book to be a touching portrayal of sibling relationships.
Summary: The children of rather unconventional performance artists, Annie and Buster had, in their adult lives, succeeded in putting some distance between themselves and their parents. Now, however, they find themselves needing to return to their parents’ home, where they will have to lean on each other to navigate the absurdity of their family dynamics.
I found this book to be a touching portrayal of sibling relationships.