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This is not the story of how I died. But how I lived. In Saara El-Arifi's Cleopatra , the author tells from Cleopatra's point of view the story of the infamous and relationship with Caesar (and the partnership's political implications in the world), but by the time (When I was listening to the audiobook, the Italian accents for certain characters at times felt almost

This was a fascinating story that offered satisfying character depth and various permutations of Cara I was intrigued by the layers Johnson built into the story. There's a postapocalyptic feel to the story, with turf wars, corruption, mercenary "runners" who shake down travelers, and gritty survivors. Side note: I'd like for this story to also become a movie, thank you very much.

plan to enter into single parenthood despite the many practical challenges she faces; but the love story The first time she repeatedly found herself short on time so that she wouldn't be able to brush her teeth But the novel settled into a lovely set of back stories and a deliciously loving found-family situation And while the trajectory of the novel was evident, it was fun to watch the nontraditional love story You might also like the novels on the Greedy Reading Lists Six Lighter Fiction Stories Perfect for Summer

Dream State felt like different genres in one book; what felt like a romance became a story of characters But Cece's time with Garrett begins to make her question her future with Charlie. The story and its characters are largely focused on a place (the Montana lake) that feels pivotal to so many aspects of their lives, then much later, and seemingly abruptly, the story is somewhat focused Finally, the story focuses on the fits and starts of a version of complicated forgiveness after years

events surrounding the Trojan War; and Under the Whispering Door, TJ Klune's upcoming heartwarming story annoyance at the bards' reported tales of Odysseus as he extends his outrageously complicated and indulgent travels Door is by the author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, and here, TJ Klune offers another heartwarming story , this time featuring the character of Wallace, who is suspecting that something is going on--and who Klune offers another whimsical, tender, striking, LGBTQ story about finding your true self, recognizing

, vulnerability, and hurt, then offers up faulted, broken, hopeful, impulsive characters who are at times wondrously stoic, and at other times act against their best interests, complicating everything and potentially is a study of an extreme, life-and-death-stakes fallout after heartbreaking tragedy, but it's also a story I read this immersive story in a flash.

Hawker offers irresistible details of daily life and historical elements that add vivid layers to this story lives of three women in Utah Territory in 1857 and of the burgeoning Mormon faith in that place at that time The story is inspired in part by Hawker's own ancestors' experiences. Much of the story is set on the unforgiving trail west to Utah (and if you're looking for a reason to Blackbird, One for the Crow, which I listed in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories

Kauffman's story about childhood friends brought together by a tragedy in their circle inspires each Kauffman deftly shapes what could have been a treacly story about old friends reliving the past and coming There were a few small moments that felt too easy and therefore took me out of the story. out: the friends' falling asleep in each others' arms at the lake house, which was mentioned multiple times But nitpicks aside, in this story about facing the past, forgiveness, and revisiting how shaped we can

The story swirls with seedy, sordid characters, and it's all built on a framework of heroes with heart Various depraved and frighteningly cruel characters help drive the story of Things in Jars and add to Veronica finds herself entangled in a dangerous set of circumstances, complete with intrigue, a traveling Gilbert, but I will tell you something I know: the truth depends on who it is that’s telling the story The Jackaby story is dark, mysterious, and feels Gothic, yet there's humor too.

Kitchen Cookbook: Feeding Humanity, Feeding Hope by José Andrés The World Central Kitchen Cookbook offers stories in late fall 2022 but wasn't on my radar last year, and I couldn't resist including it for the first time The Lost Kitchen was named one of TIME Magazine's World's Greatest Places and one of "12 Restaurants Worth Traveling Across the World to Experience" by Bloomberg.

neighborhood and its' Jewish and Black families' purposes and missions, which sometimes intersect and other times conflict, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. 01 Expiration Dates by Rebecca Serle Every time Daphne Bell meets a potential love interest, she receives Their cultures conflict in some ways, but their stories and existences overlap, and their challenges I'm listening to The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store as an audiobook.

The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch are the others, and I think Arden's stories get even I wasn't initially sure I was going to be able to suspend my disbelief as I dove into the story, but I really liked this story and I still think about this book, years after reading it. Novik's story offers endless odd, lovely, unexpected, and complex elements. 04 The Golem and the Jinni We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through.

You could get a real job instead of this endless loop of make-believe, this merry-go-round of cover stories installment of Deanna Raybourn's Killers of a Certain Age series was a fun, darkly funny, feminist story It was the right book at the right time for me: entertainment in the perfect combination of action and And you know that every time you do, you've left another piece of you behind. But I'm one of those who are eager for more time with these clever, sometimes grumpy, often spontaneous

“You die down there, you better hope I live a real long time. This is a rough yet sometimes tender story set at the end of the Civil War, amid the confusion and desperation and cruelty and kindnesses of that time. I included this book in the Greedy Reading List Six Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War .

We meet two main protagonists: independent Birdie, who travels from her rural hometown to Oxford to beg

Then an Illum does the unthinkable: for the first time in decades, an Illum intends to take a Mate. (He shows up for the first time as the book begins, appearing in Emeline's underground workspace, the only person ever to do so, which seems oddly convenient for the story; he also seems to almost certainly Strict class division, segregation, selective breeding, and eugenics are at the heart of this story and overarching conflict, the feelings, and the motivations all felt too surface-level to achieve a cohesive story

Wrong Number, and other books I haven't yet read. 02 The Rule Book by Sarah Adams This love story about I adored the voices of the characters and witnessing their growth over the course of the story. This young adult story is sweet and fun; the pacing often feels somewhat slapstick and frantic--as is Ann Liang is also the author of the wonderful fake-dating young adult novel This Time It's Real, as well This Doesn't Find You. 06 Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez Just for the Summer is another Jimenez story

mental-health journeys, and early in the book she shares the ways in which they messily trudge forward at times Bamford doesn't shy away from addressing potentially weighty issues, such as her time in mental health I cringed some and I laughed at times, but I appreciated her candid sharing more than I felt immersed it; despite her brutal honesty about many parts of her life, I felt somewhat at a distance from her story

dream, a heartwarming tale, an intriguing mystery that ticked all of my boxes, a funny and poignant story I hope you've been able to take some time for yourself this holiday break and read some great books. In John Green's nonfiction book, he tells his story of befriending a young man, Henry, who was suffering There was the time he kidnapped a neighbor's pet goose, the time he accidentally aided and abetted a I loved this story.

while I appreciated the strong main female character here and the World War II-era crises, for me, the story invested in Gazala's young life; the concessions, cleverness, and compromises necessary during desperate times The story meandered through subsequent years, and I didn't feel immersed in the novel; I was told that stars, the heartbreakingly beautiful In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss , Away , Lucky Us , Come to Me: Stories , and A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You: Stories .

I like a story driven by a female investigaor of a main protagonist, and in this small-town mystery and teen daughter Madison brushes her off, then shows up, needy and asking for help, Emmy doesn't have time The sordid back story quickly shows itself to be twisted, preying, and horrifying. More Slaughter and More Bossy Mysteries I listened to this story as an audiobook.

Trace Temple is a disillusioned, angry young man whose family lost its ranch after hard times. Blake includes wonderful scientific detail and details of life in that time. The sweet story offers poignancy, heart, and hope. The story would have stood on its own for me, but the references to the Cinderella story were a fun added I also love a story involving a character's mysterious past, and I love a suspenseful story that I'm

listen to in the form of audiobooks read by the author, because I love hearing a person tell their own story under oppressive totalitarian rule for thirty-six years, tells a fascinating story of his life in North excellent job of exploring the brainwashing, isolation, and fear in North Korea, while building the stories to make me feel like the worst type of voyeur—that the details of the affair at the center of this story But the story was ultimately more about an emotionally stunted mother, her codependence on her adolescent

dual-timeline debut novel concerns 16th-century prophecies and a modern-day murder mystery, linked through time herself, and Alison dives into trying to add to her vast knowledge of the woman she's spent so much time Clues to the murder--and, possibly, to vast riches from Barton's era--may lie in the story of Elizabeth Brown toggles back and forth in time, so that we see Alison's experiences in present day as well as Barton's We spend far more page time with Alison, her professional passion, and her interpersonal struggles.

a few cases delving back into their past to set a stage for current-day events--and building a rich story I wasn't sure how Moriarty was going to tie up the many loose ends, but by the time the book ended, I felt like the story offered an appropriate amount of open-ended aspects, with more resolution and satisfaction I'd love to hear your Bossy thoughts about this story! is also the author of Three Wishes , The Last Anniversary , What Alice Forgot , The Hypnotist's Love Story

The premise of Lincoln in the Bardo is that the story's characters are caught in limbo, somehow unaware The character growth surprised me and felt in line with the tone and pacing of the story. was recently talking with a friend about this novel and other books with characters in limbo at the times I included Lincoln in the Bardo in the Greedy Reading List Six Fascinating Historical Fiction Stories

Arctic Circle in the mid-nineteenth century; I'm listening to Joanna Quinn's story of an English manor 01 The End of Drum-Time by Hanna Pylväinen In Hanna Pylväinen's The End of Drum-Time, it's 1851 in the I'm reading The End of Drum-Time as my March book club book. For more cold-setting stories, check out my Greedy Reading List Six Books with Cold, Wintry Settings Joanna Quinn's debut is a doorstop of a book at 558 pages, and the story sweeps through time from the

I loved Williams's immersive story so much, I was in for all of Our Woman in Moscow's elements: Russia In her memoir In Love, author Amy Bloom shares the story of an impossible situation: how she faced the What is it about aviation stories and my being so in love with them? fiction novel Wingwalkers, Zeno, a former World War I ace pilot, and Della, his daring wingwalking wife, travel I savored this story and delighted in its characters and just loved this book.

I didn't realize up front that this is based upon a true story, and now I'm even more deeply haunted. A Deadly Education is the first in Novik's Scholomance series, which begins the story of a magical high illness...until she realizes that the red door and visions of the past are real memories from her own time-travel The story features instances of rape, abandonment, witch hunting, and attempted suicide. The story is wonderfully narrated by Aysha Kala, Helen Keeley, and Nell Barlow.

The author was inspired by a true story. The story is based upon a real account of a Southern woman who helped a Union soldier during the Civil But when a stranger who calls himself Rube shows up in a rented PT Cruiser and a story about how Mad They are not allowed to touch each other but may speak, and to bond and pass the time, they share stories For more postapocalyptic and dystopian stories I've Bossily reviewed, please check out the titles here

This faerie-centric reimagining of Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities offered a compelling story of redemption I feared this was the best of times; I hoped it could not get any worse. H. G. takes place against the mayhem of the French Revolution (which is also the backdrop of the Dickens story But in Parry's novel he must also reckon with his fantastical origin story (stolen by faeries and pressed This took me out of the story and killed the momentum for me as a reader.

Allegra Goodman's This Is Not About Us  is a story of an extended Jewish-American family. The story is told through multiple points of view as the various Rubinstein family members navigate the The story's small moments are heartbreaking; the dialogue is often wryly funny; and the words that are unspoken are at times the most powerful communication between characters who flounder as they try to grandmothers who can only sometimes hold their tongues, their blunt delivery of advice as they age and their time

If you like stories about brave women during wartime, you might also like the titles I listed on the recent Greedy Reading List Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II . 01 Miss Graham's I found the author's note about her inspiration for the book's hook and story line really interesting Code by Kate Quinn Kate Quinn makes the urgency of World War II code breaking come alive through the stories The Rose Code is a wonderfully spun historical fiction story of three very different women who answer

I loved each of the story's two timelines--following a stewardess on board The Titanic as well as a British The story's later timeline takes place in the time of World War II as Daphne, an intelligent and educated Sometimes in a dual-timeline story I feel far more invested in one story or the other. story, although the reader will know of their bond before the women themselves do. You might like my Bossy reviews of other spy stories; you can find them here.

I think I'll read anyone's story, as long as it's compelling and honest. the intentions of artists, the stories behind the artwork, his own feelings about the works, and others ' reactions, which he witnessed in real time. Renkl weaves in stories of her pivotal childhood encounters with nature, and for me the book really shone Ina shares her life story, beginning with a difficult, abusive childhood, continuing to her marriage

Taylor Jenkins Reid offers the story of a band, its making, and its unmaking, through interviews with And now every time you cross it again, it just gets grayer and grayer until one day you look around and I thought the interview format might possibly get tiresome, but Reid skillfully builds the story, the I mentioned Daisy Jones & the Six in the Greedy Reading List Six Rockin' Stories about Bands and Music The story has been adapted into one season of a television series.

unlikely heroes' magnificent quests alongside wonderful supporting characters--as well as a romantic story that tackled weighty issues (my favorite kind), and a historical fiction story that made me buy into I loved the facing of mortality in the story--as well as the focus on literature and its power. I love Dunlap's writing and the way the author crafted this story. When the protagonists' journeys intersect, the story ramps up in intensity and in epic scope.

Harrow's upcoming novel The Everlasting ; I'm listening to Yiming Ma's exploration of a future in which Her bravery is the stuff of fables, but her real story is no longer remembered. Centuries after her death, spindly, awkward historian Owen Mallory unearths her story--and becomes inexorably Autobiography of a Traitor and a Half-Savage , and Fractured Fables . 02 These Memories Do Not Belong to Us by Yiming Woolever also recounts her time as assistant to the kind, passionate Tony Bourdain until the time of

For more cold-setting stories, check out my Greedy Reading List Six Books with Cold, Wintry Settings Joanna Quinn's debut novel is a hefty 558 pages, and the story sweeps through time from the 1920s malaise The pacing of the story picks up, appropriately, when World War II begins to shift the world, exerting The story's later timeline takes place in the time of World War II as Daphne, an intelligent and educated I adored the voices of the characters and witnessing their growth over the course of the story.

, Alan Hollinghurst's novel of a young man in boarding school; I'm listening to the quirky Japanese story In the charming Japanese story We'll Prescribe You a Cat , a winding, hard-to-find Kyoto alleyway leads Patients are given basic animal care instructions and "take" their cat prescriptions for a period of time Ishida's offbeat story tells the tales of various characters, lost or in pain, who find themselves transformed by spending time with feline companions.

book club dug into his novel Beartown --and there was a dramatic split between those who loved that story The book tracks back in time to that summer that changed everything, and it alternates peeks into the Patrick Ryan's upcoming literary fiction title Buckeye , set during and after World War II, we follow the story Now he's working at his father-in-law's hardware store and is bewildered about how to live a life worth

world of conflicting classes and disparate privilege, but had difficulty feeling as connected to this story Cara who also appear in Those Beyond the Wall--in Cara's case, as a key player without a lot of page time Scales isn't sure who she can trust; she is challenged by grasping the time, place, and circumstances Factors that contributed to my inability to hold on to the story: characters who appear and are doppelgangers as drawn in by Scales's extended thoughts and reflections as I was by the action and dialogue in the story

in the wilderness and rugged terrain of British Columbia, along a highway where unsuspecting women traveling alone go missing from time to time--yet a predator never ends up being brought to justice. She can't return to her aunt's, and for a time the book is satisfyingly focused on her survival skills read and was engrossed in, Wendy Walker's Don't Look for Me, especially regarding the villains of both stories

I read this story as an e-book and was therefore robbed of gazing at this gorgeous cover. "Stories, Jessilyn. We tell ourselves the wrong stories.” Russell also interestingly explores Holliday's career as a dentist (at a time when the dental profession was tainted by traveling butchers and thieves), and his gallant, grumpy, well-read, mischievous, and Captain Kidd has fought in three wars, and after the Civil War's end, he serves as a traveling news reader

rescue efforts; I'm reading Carley Fortune's newest friend-based, ultimately steamy romance, Our Perfect Storm SecUnit), who in this eighth book in the series is faced with another high-stakes rescue attempt--this time Then SecUnit, along with its charges, finds itself tasked with an additional time-sensitive side rescue Carley Fortune is great at crafting a romance story with characters I like to root for and steamy, poignant We hear at times from Ransom's point of view, and we hear frequently from Caspia, a new-to-us character

I appreciated the epic length of the book (688 pages), in which each remaining knight gets page time But the many points of view and meandering stories also felt a little broad at times, and I wished for

Captain Kidd has fought in three wars, and after the Civil War's end, he serves as a traveling news reader They'll have to pass through lawless lands to get to San Antonio, and Johanna isn't exactly a cooperative traveling I adored every bit of Jiles's story--Captain Kidd's reluctant but gentlemanly involvement and his voice tough young woman; the vivid Texas setting; the fits and starts of adventure; the noble heart of the story But for me, Jiles's story struck all the right chords, and I delighted in watching the tough characters

retelling of the Mark Twain novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , we hear a version of that novel's story imagined arguments and discussions with noted philosophers during several delirious moments of the story The timing will almost certainly set white folks on James's tail as a presumed child murderer. The two are stuck together for a time, and the James-Huck Finn connection built by Everett is unexpected Yet the true horrors of life as an enslaved Black person in the deep South at the time of Twain's novel

Passage North, Anuk Arudpragasam's recent literary novel about a young man considering his life as he travels Atkinson At the recommendation of my wise friend Laura, I'm reading (well, listening to) this immersive story message that Rani, his grandmother's former caregiver, who lived in the household with all of them for a time Arudpragasam is also the author of The Story of a Brief Marriage. Here he offers a literary fiction story in which Krishan examines his young life, analyzes his romantic

The Everlasting involves jaunts through multiple versions of the same story, as our fantastic main protagonists Her bravery is the stuff of fables, but her real story is no longer remembered. Centuries after her death, spindly, awkward, cowardly historian Owen Mallory unearths her story--and The Everlasting is filled with rich adventure; twisty jaunts through time; tragedy and loss; dark turns