Don‘t start a book by stating there‘s almost no documentation on the mongol queens & then write a narrative history! There are no in-text citations and it really drags in some places. Genghis Khan left huge parts of his empire to his daughters, who were systematically butchered & tortured by their brothers. The brothers lose everything. It takes another woman to try to piece it back together after decades of corruption and cruelty. 2/5 stars

Being sick means I get to read a bit! This book is surprisingly fun, great world development, and good characters as well. In a world where women with magic are bound, Darcy must convince Elizabeth to trust him and together they must save England from a war with the Fey and black magic. 4/5 stars, read if you want a magic light and fey heavy P&P retelling.

This is a collection of previously published essays and papers which covered a lot of interesting topics but what I really wanted was a focus on Zombie ideas and why they don‘t die. The lack of cohesion made this a so-so. I did enjoy learning a lot about economics, as I don‘t know much about that discipline and the continuing evidence that racism is behind much of our country‘s collapse is interesting. 2/5 stars

A good book, drags a lot in the middle, but the characters are realistic and the story is interesting if depressing. Rin makes it into the most prestigious military academy and begins training to try to harness the power of the gods. An invasion leads to unspeakable atrocities and hard choices that could lead to the end of the world. 2.5/5 stars, read this if you want a more dark fantasy world with lots of battle school & a based on history vibe.

I wanted to know more about the Supreme Court, but while this book claims to provide insight and be a history, it has no citations and provides almost no context for what for author describes. 1/5 stars

This is interesting and sad, with great character development. It‘s a sequel but I read it as a stand alone. Katherine‘s family is being driven into bankruptcy by her uncle, the mad Duke, but when he promises to save their finances if she comes and learns to be a his sword fighter, her needy mother sends her off. She trains with the greats, learns more about her family‘s very dark past, and eventually starts on her own path. 3/5 stars.

I listened to this on audiobook and it was so good! Great story, great world building, and how awesome to see how two ladies who no one expects to do anything but be ladies can have such a huge impact on big events in their world. Two best friends and cousins must navigate a complex political and magical plot set in regency England. 4.5/5 stars, read this for a light and fun YA magical regency romance

Sadly, the poor writing = so-so rating. The world building is fantastic, I ❤️ the author‘s commentary on religion, but a lot of the book fell flat. Deka is impure & is given a chance at salvation through service & combat for the emperor. She & and the other impure girls must fight beasts, who she has strange powers over. Are they really beasts and can she trust anyone? You can totally predict this if you‘ve read books before. 3/5 stars.

This is a surprisingly dark book, but I love the references to The Prince and the Inferno. Adelina, like others who lived through the plague, has powers, unlike the others she did not manifest her powers until she kills her father. She is recruited by a group of others with powers to try to over throw the corrupt queen and much chaos ensues. 3/5 stars. If you enjoyed Nevernight, but want something a little less intense, this is the book for you.

This was not as light of a Romance as I thought, but it is very historically accurate which was nice. A disgraced vicar‘s daughter who is on scholarship at Oxford meets a Duke and is tasked with trying to get him to support the suffragette‘s cause. They fall madly in love and many things go wrong. 3.5/5 stars. Read if you like historical Romance with a lot of realism.

This book was horribly boring to read, which is hard to achieve with such fascinating data and unique topics. Big take away- the American health care system and all its supporting components are largely to blame for the surge of deaths of despair, which disproportionately affect white Americans with no college degree. Fascinating topic, the last third of the book is good. 2/5 stars only because it‘s so hard to read for the first half of the book.

I loved listening to this on audiobook, such a great narrative and it was lovely hear all of the accents done properly. I learned a lot about South African history and the cultures there. 4/5, read this if you looking for a funny, dramatic, and touching story.

Super scary, but well written & fascinating. Ultimate take away- cyber warfare is so advanced that we can‘t really fight it, we can only plan to survive it. The US govrnmt should‘ve sanctioned Russia when it would have made a difference, they didn‘t & now we can‘t stop, only mitigate the consequences. This book tracks an elite Russian hacking group through their attacks, how they learned from the US, and their testing ground-Ukraine. 4/5 stars

I really wanted to like this, but I found it too full of dead ends and not enough character development. Yash almost gets shot at a political rally and goes to a Yoga instructor and proclaimed “stress expert” (gag me, I promise all Californians aren‘t like this), whom he had a love zap before embarking on a fake relationship to help his friend, in order to deal with his PTSD. Complications ensue, romance blooms and it‘s silly & boring. 1.5/5 stars

I didn‘t like the start of this book, but once it settled, it was interesting. A strange young woman hints at a dark conspiracy & pulls a former psychiatrist into a different reality. A young man trained to peak physical condition to fight & kill with no hesitation is given magic weapons and tasked with protecting the empress. A young boy speaks to a dragon and must find a demon. 3.5/5 stars, read if you like Robin Hobb but want happier endings

OMG, this book is terrifying and I am really worried that the western world does not truly appreciate the strategic wars that Putin is directing towards former USSR states. I see echos of appeasement and the beginning of WWII in what is happening. Fascinating read so far.

So sad this is the final book in the series. Dina and her werewolf boyfriend must host incredibly powerful and dangerous guests during the week long celebration of the creation of the Inns. This includes a debate between rival factions of space chickens, a young woman with the raw power of a planet meeting with a devious millionaire, and still no answers about Dina‘s parents. I want more of these books so much!!! 4/5 stars

Great book that expands the universe, introduces background w/o being horribly boring and leaves on a character introduction that is NEVER followed up 🥺🥺🥺
Maud decides to follow the vampire that claims to love her back to his planet, and hopes her half vampire child will thrive there while she decides if she wants to marry another Vampire. Politics, battles, and bloodshed balanced with romance. 4/5 stars hopefully more books in the series soon!

The writing is not super clear, it does not help me understand math or how to do math, and there was almost no baking. Just putting a recipe in the front of your chapter is NOT using baking to explain math. I made it 50% and after almost falling asleep while reading in the middle of the day, I decided to finally bail. 0/5 stars, read this if you already like and know math but want theory. Basic idea is that math is not difficult, it‘s logic, yay?

Dina received an emergency message from her sister; her vampire friend and her werewolf almost boyfriend go with her to a planet full of vampire outlaws to rescue her. Sister and niece return to the Inn where they help Dina play host to the last of a species that is the focus of a religious hunt from a neighboring species and try to get an answer to their parents disappearance. SO many plots started, NEED authors to write more in this series!

An excellent sequel, more world building and the start of a nice romance. I really wish there were more books in the series.
Dina has been asked by a respected galactic peace keeping organization to host peace talks between Vampires, the Horde, and the Merchants. Saying no is the smart move, but saying yes means her Inn will receive money, sustenance, and reputation, all of which she needs. Can she make peace or will this destroy her and the Inn

I had this audio book but it was so good I bought the kindle book because I can read way faster than I listen. Dina is an Innkeeper, she runs a galactic way house on earth, which stays I conquered because of the Inns and a neutrality treaty. She decides to break her neutrality when something kills her neighbors dog and ends up with Vampires, ware wolves, & scary assassins from all over the galaxy in her suburban Inn. Great world, fun characters

Awful, this book is just awful. The only reason I finished it is because I wasted an Audible credit on it. Bad writing, boring and over written story, stupid characters, drags on and on, and huge plot holes. It is an insult to call this a rewrite of the Count of Monte Cristo, but if it‘s based on a Disney movie and not the book I guess it makes sense. Stupid girl seeks revenge on a foolish spoiled boy at the behest of a creepy old man. 0/5 stars

This is well written which makes it‘s a pick and not a so-so. The author does really interesting work and I wished she had focused on that instead of recapping the work of others. I think this is a good place to start reading about this topic, but I am sad I bought it (I would rather the space on my shelf go to Whistling Vivaldi). 2.5/5 stars. Read to learn about unconscious bias and it‘s affects on people and society.

Well written, interesting story, but made me very sad. Jo is struggling to find her place in a world that is dead set on not accepting her, and as she gains knowledge about her past and her family, she has to choose whether to be herself or be what society tells her to be. It‘s hard to read this as a person of mixed Asian descent, but it‘s really well written. 4/5 stars. Read if you like Lisa See but ant more Romance

I love a good revenge story, but some of the writing in this book is just plain ridiculous. “Subtle like a knife seen under a coat”?! What kind of BS sentence is that?

This book was not well cited but was mostly a good read. The author went on some long tangents, but I learned a lot and I appreciated learning about knives, stoves, and kitchen design as well as the history of other tools. The photo is some of my favorite kitchen tools. 3/5 stars read if you like to cook, eat, or bake.

I enjoyed this short, but felt that the author blamed the state too much and not individuals for the horrors of this world. A post-apocalyptic USA where gender roles are strictly defined and enforced, Librarians carry approved material between settlements in a dry and war focused world. A young women who feels she is poison to all those around her wants to be a librarian and stows away only to learn that the world is more than she imagined. 3/5 ⭐️

It was fun to read little extras about all the characters and the story of Violet and the first viscount (in the series). It was also really interesting to read the authors comments about how and why she wrote certain things and the reactions that other readers had. 3/5 stars, if you‘re reading the series, I think this is a good read.

While I was hoping for more WWI, this is really an imaginative epic style fantasy. John is to meet his professor while on leave from the front, but when the professor is brutally murdered the night before he is caught up in a whirlwind of adventure, intrigue, and evil with two other Oxford men. They must protect the map of imaginary lands & maybe bring peace to the kingdoms. 3/4 stars, unique read, great for classic fantasy fans.

This short book used way too much work from other writers and much of the original data should have been reported via graphs and not written description. An interesting look at various ways that discovery systems in libraries are biased and the programming behind those systems and how the programming is biased. 1.5/5 stars.

Totally my favorite book in this series. Gregory falls in love with a beautiful woman who is in love with someone else, and when her good friend proves herself the true love, Gregory must try to stop a wedding. Good characters, fun story, and a nice relaxing read. 3.5/5 stars.

❤️ Great narration, an interesting world and great characters. I am going to buy this eventually, it was that good. 5 stars. Raised in a great library and to believe that all sorcery is evil, Elisabeth must work with a sorcerer from one of the darkest families to save the libraries and save the world. Full of dangerous books, libraries with dungeons and lot of complicated politics, the romance is a balanced relationship among the strong plot. 5/5

An interesting story but not a great history book. Three girls were sent to America to learn to be modern western style women and bring back western ideals of education for women. They return to Japan as young women, where they shape the ideas of Japanese women hood for the wealthy and privileged classes in different ways. Without proper citations I don‘t know how much is fact and how much is author opinion, so only 3 stars.

This fascinating and depressing book examines the legal, political, and social structures that allow very bad people to steal money from their country, their employees, and all kinds of people, and get away with it. It discusses the history that put these structures into place, the often futile fights to break them, and how new structures are built. 4/5 stars, read this for a depressing and enraging look at the super wealthy.

I really wanted to like this book, the story is cute, the world is fun, but it just kept missing. The MC was very whiny and not very patient with her prince, and her best friend totally got the short end of the stick. 2/5 stars. Delilah and Oliver are together in the real world, but things aren‘t as easy or as safe when you can‘t close a book and restart. Big questions are asked, but very few of them are answered.

This book is a SLOG, but it has many fascinating themes and ideas and I really wish I had a book club to chat all about it. The authors notes at the end was really interesting and I think perhaps an example of self delusion. 3/5 stars, a lot of description, but interesting to read. Scientists are killing themselves, one goes undercover and discovers we aren‘t alone in the universe and the aliens are coming towards earth.

Not a bad novel, the last daughter of the Bridgerton family gets married to a man who ends up being a great match for her, just as her mentor Lady Danberry predicted. Not a great novel, it tended to drag a long time with the whole mystery diamonds, but I look forward to the Netflix adaptation.

Please excuse bad photo, I was trying to get both doggies. This was a bit more horror than I like, but lots of interesting developments in the story and the world. A Power is growing again in Nor Cal, and the investigation will force our heroes to relive trauma (I‘m getting irritated with this constantly happening in the series, you can have growth you know) and utilize powers they don‘t normally use. 3/5 stars, i‘m glad Leah gets her story told

This book was a fun and easy read. Good world building and fun story. Tsumiko inherited a grand estate that included an enslaved fox who has been abused for many generations. He doesn‘t believe her when she says that she will free him and she feels that she needs a purpose. 3/5 stars. Fun read, relaxing and a happy ending for all.

EVERYONE who is in education should read this, & people who deal with people in healthcare should too. This book was really fascinating, I loved the breakdown of the research & the progression of the authors approach. This book documents the physical and mental work and cost that people who must fight stereotype threat must do. It starts with higher Ed but goes into health, business, k-12 and back to colleges. 5/5 stars, read this!

Started fine, but then ugh. The MC was unbelievable (a “smart” girl who ❤️ to read & learn except about her new powers? She accepts the rules some guy her dead mother says not to trust told her?). I wanted to give up when it was revealed that demons can get power by masturbating. 1 star only for great narration & well formed sentences. Helen gains super powers to fight demons & must decide to join the Dark Days club or try to live a normal life.

Very heavy on theory, which I dislike, & a lot of repetitive information. I really appreciate the spotlight it puts on the importance of regulating Google, how important it is to force companies like Google to address the racist & biased structures they work with, and the potential impact (& danger) of all of our online data being archived and available. It highlights the importance of Information Literacy and need for change.
2/5 stars

This is between a pick and a so-so for me. I thought a lot of the book was really interesting and sad, but the author takes a lot of tangents. I think the most impactful part of the book is when the author tries to find the fish in the wild, and even in places where the fish was only recently discovered, it‘s extremely difficult to find and speaks to the devastation that humankind is bringing to the planet and the animals we share it with. 2.5/5

I ❤️ this! Dora had half her soul taken from her by a fairy and is not able to feel emotions like a normal human. This serves her in good stead during an unusual maybe fake courtship and as she tries to help the most powerful sorcerer in this alternative regency England right some of the awful wrongs in their world. It‘s the passion against that pain for all the wrongs in the world that is wonderful to read and makes me weep &❤️ this 📖 5/5 stars

This is a fascinating history of Bible translations and while there is a lot I wish the author included, I respect that he followed his introduction and stayed very focused. I do think it would have benefited from more historical context, and I think more detail on modern translations. I enjoy the history and I learned a lot - fun fact a woman didn‘t translate the Bible until the 19th century. 3/5 stars

Thanks so much for the very kind LitsyLove @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ! It was a fun and unexpected surprise!

I found that this book wasn‘t very well argued and didn‘t really catch my interest and that is sad since the book focused on an interesting topic. The author argues that since freedom of religion is really freedom of thought and practice, American history is a history of faith, but not of any one faith. The book needs in-text citations BADLY. 2/5 stars

Based on the Netflix show, Penelope is my favorite character and I am very happy that this book starts with her and focused very much on her. Collin is not quite so much of an ass as the B son, but still as ass. The amount of ego stroking that man needs is disgusting. But at least he acknowledges it and eventually tries to do deal with it. 3/5 stars, I want more Penelope!

I didn‘t enjoy this as much as the previous book in the series. I didn‘t feel like Benedict really care about Sophie, I felt he just wanted her and that ruined a lot of the romance for me. I enjoyed that Sophie wasn‘t a complete wet handkerchief, but I feel she should have been more suspicious of her treatment as a maid at the Bridgerton‘s. A retelling of Cinderella with a less than charming prince and lots of sex, I give this book 2.5/5 stars.