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Pretty intense read, but super thought provoking. Not convinced by some of it? But it's the sort of book you always return to or think about. - Andrew

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I am not sure that another book has influenced my thinking quite as much as The Beginning of Infinity.

As I read through Deutsch's many provocative assertions, I often reacted with instinctive scorn and disbelief. But with only a few exceptions, I found myself within a few pages not only persuaded but convinced of the utter obviousness of his ideas.

The specific assertions in this book are important not because of the claims they make relevant to that field, but because they are meta-assertions wh...more

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I am not sure that another book has influenced my thinking quite as much as The Beginning of Infinity. As I read through Deutsch's many provocative assertions, I often reacted with instinctive scorn and disbelief. But with only a few exceptions, I found myself within a few pages not only persuaded but convinced of the utter obviousness of his ideas.

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Forever by Pete Hamill is a historical fantasy novel about an Irish immigrant, Cormac O'Connor, who gains immortality in 1740s New York City on the condition that he never leaves Manhattan. The book follows Cormac through centuries of the city's history, from a small settlement to a modern metropolis, as he witnesses its evolution, participates in major events like the American Revolution, and experiences love and loss. It's an epic tale that blends magical realism with a deep love for New York City, exploring themes of time, memory, and the city's diverse people.

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Lyn read but it was recommended a lot of places. Came out in 2025, debut novel. Woman trapped in an abusive marriage in the 1980s has 3 choices of names for her newborn son: the name her husband wants, the name her daughter wants, and the name she loves. Then 3 timelines follow each name choice.~Christina

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The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is a non-fiction book that intertwines the true stories of two men during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: Daniel Burnham, the brilliant architect leading the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure victims to his nearby "murder castle" hotel. The book contrasts the wonder and innovation of the "White City" with the dark, sinister crimes of Holmes, creating a narrative that reads like a novel.

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The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is a non-fiction book that intertwines the true stories of two men during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair: Daniel Burnham, the brilliant architect leading the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a cunning serial killer who used the fair to lure victims to his nearby "murder castle" hotel. The book contrasts the wonder and innovation of the "White City" with the dark, sinister crimes of Holmes, creating a narrative that reads like a novel.

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This was so so good on Audible. Science Fiction about saving the world and the collaboration with another space entity.

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Loved this book! It focuses on the intense, formative friendships of four teenagers dealing with unstable families and art, with themes of trauma, healing, and the power of connection.

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#1 New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman re…

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How do you find something that doesn’t exist?

1926. On the cliffs of Yorkshire, men are lowered on ropes to steal the eggs of the sea birds who nest there. The most beautiful are sold for large sums. A small girl—penniless and neglected by her family—retrieves one such treasure. Its discovery will forever alter the course of her life.

A century later. In a remote cottage in Wales, Patrick Fort finds his friend, Nick, and his mother tied up and robbed. The only thing missing: a carved case containing an incredible scarlet egg. Doggedly attempting to retrieve it, Patrick and Nick discover the cruel world of egg trafficking, and soon find themselves on the trail of a priceless collection of eggs lost to history. Until now.

A taut, wonderfully imagined novel brimming with skullduggery at every turn, The Impossible Thing is a blazing testament to Belinda Bauer’s status as one of our greatest living crime writers.

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Beautifully written from the POV of the imaginary friend Budo. Very unique and touching.

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Soman Chainani

The original trilogy (known as The School Years) follows the adventures of best friends Sophie and Agatha at the School for Good and Evil, an enchanted institution where children are trained to become fairytale heroes or villains, respectively. The second trilogy (The Camelot Years) follows Agatha and her true love King Tedros ascending to the role of Queen and King of the legendary kingdom, Camelot, and Sophie re-forming Evil into a new image. The final book in the original series was released on June 2, 2020, with the first book in a prequel series debuting in 2022. A film adaptation by Netflix was released on October 19, 2022.

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Story of a cult and it's development and the people involved.

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The twist was fantastic!

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My name is Amber Reynolds. There are three things you should know about me:
1. I’m in a coma.
2. My husband doesn’t love me anymore.
3. Sometimes I lie

Amber wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this brilliant psychological thriller Is something really a lie if you believe it's the truth?

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About two estranged siblings who come together after their mother's death and learn their family history which is intertwined with her recipe for Black Cake and their Jamaican roots.

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Initially set around the time of the Second World War, it focuses on nurse Claire Beauchamp, who travels through time to 18th-century Scotland, where she finds adventure and romance with the dashing Jamie Fraser. In this book series you will find Fantasy, Romance, History, and so much more.

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Stories from the womens' perspective of the Trojan War

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The Roaring Twenties—the Jazz Age—has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.

Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he’d become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows–their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman–Madge Oberholtzer–who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees.

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The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

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Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.

Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.

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Following a dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, Egan tells of their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black dust blizzards, crop failure, and the death of loved ones. Brilliantly capturing the terrifying drama of catastrophe, Egan does equal justice to the human characters who become his heroes, “the stoic, long-suffering men and women whose lives he opens up with urgency and respect” (New York Times).

In an era that promises ever-greater natural disasters, The Worst Hard Time is “arguably the best nonfiction book yet” (Austin Statesman Journal) on the greatest environmental disaster ever to be visited upon our land and a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of trifling with nature.

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Julie and Julia by Julie Powell: My Year of Cooking Dangerously

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Julie and Julia by Julie Powell: My Year of Cooking Dangerously

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Autobiography about a year in the life of Julie Powell who is going through a hard time in her life, and comes across a cookbook. She decides to cooks every single recipe in Julia Child's cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and finds herself in the process.

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Timebound: The Chronos Files series by Rysa Walker

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Timebound: The Chronos Files series by Rysa Walker

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When Kate Pierce-Keller’s grandmother gives her a strange blue medallion and speaks of time travel, sixteen-year-old Kate assumes the old woman is delusional. But it all becomes horrifyingly real when a murder in the past destroys the foundation of Kate’s present-day life. Suddenly, that medallion is the only thing protecting Kate from blinking out of existence.

Kate learns that the 1893 killing is part of something much more sinister, and her genetic ability to time travel makes Kate the only one who can fix the future. Risking everything, she travels back in time to the Chicago World’s Fair to try to prevent the murder and the chain of events that follows.

Changing the timeline comes with a personal cost—if Kate succeeds, the boy she loves will have no memory of her existence. And regardless of her motives, does Kate have the right to manipulate the fate of the entire world?

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Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande.

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Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande.

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This book is a 2014 non-fiction book by American surgeon Atul Gawande. The book addresses end-of-life care, hospice care, and also contains Gawande's reflections and personal stories.

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The sequel to Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

In this book, Scarlett travels back to Ireland to find the Irish O'Haras after GWTW leaves off. She finds family, roots, & a purpose in bringing the family estate back to life. Somehow she becomes the head of the O'Hara clan, & somehow Rhett finds her again.

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This was hard because I liked him so much, but a very good read.

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Synopsis. Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell

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Read 226 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes ...

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This book was SO hard to read. I could taste the dust during the Dust Bowl. But it was also SO gripping and wonderfully difficult.

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I loved this book! So interesting and just a nice read. -Janel

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The Scarlet Pimpernel series by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

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The Scarlet Pimpernel series by Baroness Emmuska Orczy

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Armed with only his wits and his cunning, one man recklessly defies the French revolutionaries and rescues scores of innocent men, women, and children from the deadly guillotine. His friends and foes know him only as the Scarlet Pimpernel. But the ruthless French agent Chauvelin is sworn to discover his identity and to hunt him down.

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The Blue Bottle Club by Penelope J. Stokes

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The Blue Bottle Club by Penelope J. Stokes

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Faced with the grim realities of the 1929 Depression, four hopeful girls treasured their youthful aspirations above all else. They wrote their dearest dreams on small pieces of paper and on Christmas Day, in a cold, candlelit attic, secretly placed them inside a cobalt-blue bottle, vowing to remain friends for life.
Sixty-five years later, Brendan Delaney, a local television news reporter, unexpectedly discovers those slips of paper in that dusty, forgotten bottle. She embarks on a passionate quest to interview the now-elderly women and finds that their youthful dreams have been diverted, disrupted, and even devastated. One heart was broken by a fiance's tragic past; another turned toward vows of chastity. A baby was born to an unwed mother; a daughter lost her father to suicide. Like leaves in the wind, the friends' dreams turned and tossed one way, and another. Some vanished forever.
But there is a common thread in each of the women's lives, and Brendan thinks she's found it. In following that thread, her life, dreams, and faith become forever intertwined with theirs.

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
, 
Annie Barrows

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
, 
Annie Barrows

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January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb...

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

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With courage, grace, and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah captures the epic panorama of World War II and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.

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Okay, I might be biased because he's my brother, but Brian's book is just incredible! The blurb from the publisher:

A first-person account of the Iraq War by a solider-poet, winner of the 2005 Beatrice Hawley Award. Adding his voice to the current debate about the US occupation of Iraq, in poems written in the tradition of such poets as Wilfred Owen, Yusef Komunyakaa ( Dien Cai Dau ), Bruce Weigl ( Song of Napalm ) and Alice James’ own Doug Anderson ( The Moon Reflected Fire ), Iraqi war veteran Brian Turner writes power-fully affecting poetry of witness, exceptional for its beauty, honesty, and skill. Based on Turner’s yearlong tour in Iraq as an infantry team leader, the poems offer gracefully rendered, unflinching description but, remarkably, leave the reader to draw conclusions or moral lessons. Here, Bullet is a must-read for anyone who cares about the war, regardless of political affiliation.

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Such an incredible tale! The sequel is great too! -Janel

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In the aftermath of best-selling Here, Bullet, Brian Turner deftly illuminates existence as both easily extinguishable and ultimately enduring. These prophetic, osmotic poems wage a daily battle for normalcy, seeking structure in the quotidian while grappling with the absence of forgetting.

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Again, possibly biased because she was my sister-in-law, but Ilyse wrote beautifully.

By turns poignant and hopeful, raging and joyful, Small Hours interweaves the personal and the political, connecting family history to moments within a larger historical arc of injustice and oppression. The poems in this collection bear witness to those whose stories have fallen into the fractures of history and been lost, their mouths opening / below earth, their bodies / burning like forbidden books, about whom we know almost nothing. These poems ask us to recall the tyrants of the past as similar abuses of power repeat themselves in the present.

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One day, not long from now, it becomes almost impossible to murder anyone - 999 times out of a thousand, anyone who is intentionally killed comes back. How? We don't know. But it changes everything: war, crime, daily life.

Tony Valdez is a Dispatcher - a licensed, bonded professional whose job is to humanely dispatch those whose circumstances put them in death's crosshairs, so they can have a second chance to avoid the reaper. But when a fellow Dispatcher and former friend is apparently kidnapped, Tony learns that there are some things that are worse than death and that some people are ready to do almost anything to avenge a supposed wrong.

It's a race against time for Valdez to find his friend before it's too late...before not even a Dispatcher can save him.

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Laos, 1976: Dr. Siri Paiboun, a 72-year-old medical doctor, has been unwillingly appointed the national coroner of newly-socialist Laos. Though his lab is underfunded, his boss is incompetent, and his support staff is quirky to say the least, Siri’s sense of humor gets him through his often frustrating days.

When the body of the wife of a prominent politician comes through his morgue, Siri has reason to suspect the woman has been murdered. To get to the truth, Siri and his team face government secrets, spying neighbors, victim hauntings, Hmong shamans, botched romances, and other deadly dangers. Somehow, Siri must figure out a way to balance the will of the party and the will of the dead.

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She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be by J.D. Barker

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She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be by J.D. Barker

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After the loss of his parents, young Jack Thatch first met Stella as a child—this cryptic little girl of eight with dark hair and darker eyes, sitting alone on a bench in the cemetery clutching her favorite book. Gone moments later, the brief encounter would spark an obsession. She'd creep into his thoughts, his every waking moment, until he finally finds her again exactly one year later, sitting upon the same bench, only to disappear again soon after.

The body of a man found in an alley, every inch of his flesh horribly burned, yet his clothing completely untouched. For Detective Faustino Brier, this wasn't the first, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. It was no different from the others. He'd find another just like it one year from today. August 9, to be exact.

Isolated and locked away from the world in a shadowy lab, a little boy known only as Subject "D" waits, grows, learns. He's permitted to speak to no one. He has never known the touch of another. Harboring a power so horrific, those in control will never allow him beyond their walls.

All of them linked in ways unimaginable.

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Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain by Portia de Rossi

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Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain by Portia de Rossi

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In this searing, unflinchingly honest book, Portia de Rossi captures the complex emotional truth of what it is like when food, weight, and body image take priority over every other human impulse or action.

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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

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Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

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In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.

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"An indispensable resource for women of all ages, this is a guide to help us better connect to ourselves, to value ourselves, to love ourselves, and ultimately, to be ourselves."
—Chelsea Clinton

"Positive body image isn’t believing your body looks good; it is knowing your body is good, regardless of how it looks.
How do you feel about your body?Have you ever stayed home from a social activity or other opportunity because of concern about how you looked?Have you ever passed judgment on someone because of how they looked or dressed?Have you ever had difficulty concentrating on a task because you were self-conscious about your appearance?
Our beauty-obsessed world perpetuates the idea that happiness, health, and ability to be loved are dependent on how w..."

Source: Publisher

Personal Take:

Written from perspective of cis-white gal, so somewhat limiting audience, but has good nuggets for everyone! I struggle a lot with body image and function after miscarriage so this is really refreshing to read!

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Definitely on the Fourth Wing train! Less problematic than some other women portrayed in romantascy novels, and a whole lot of fun!

"Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from #1 New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die."

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Life on Artemis, the first and only city on the moon, is tough if you're not a rich tourist or an eccentric billionaire. So smuggling in the occasional harmless bit of contraband barely counts, right? Not when you've got debts to pay and your job as a porter barely covers the rent.

Everything changes when Jazz sees the chance to commit the perfect crime, with a reward too lucrative to turn down. But pulling off the impossible is just the start of her problems, as she learns that she's stepped square into a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself—and that now, her only chance at survival lies in a gambit even riskier than the first.

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For generations, the Kalotay family has guarded a collection of ancient and rare books. Books that let a person walk through walls or manipulate the elements—books of magic that half-sisters Joanna and Esther have been raised to revere and protect.

All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna’s isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy. In the process, they’ll uncover the family secrets their parents kept hidden and a world of magic far bigger and more dangerous than they ever imagined; secrets that span centuries, continents, and even other libraries . . .

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Hard to determine if this should be romance or historical fiction. I'd say both. I was hooked in this story within a couple pages. A tragic space shuttle accident in the 80's brings about so many emotions. A wonderful love story, surrounded by historical and cultural aspects of the 1980's involving NASA. Must READ!!!

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The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

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The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

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Gothic with a huge twist!

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The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

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The On Devonshire Shores trilogy  by Julie Klassen

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The On Devonshire Shores trilogy  by Julie Klassen

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Regency

Book One-The Sisters of Sea View (very like Jane Austen)

Book Two-A Winter by the Sea (Queen Victoria is a baby in this one, lots of historical facts)

Book Three-A Seaside Homecoming (Just won a Christy Award)

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A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined.

It's a mystery, but so funny. I laughed out loud so many times!!

--Mandy Lentz