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A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan

A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan

The war for humanity’s survival has begun. Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, has escaped the snares of the White Tower and the first of the rebel Aes Sedai have sworn to follow him. Attacked by the servants of the Dark, threatened by the invading Seanchan, Rand rallies his forces and brings battle to bear upon Illian, stronghold of Sammael the Forsaken . . .

In the city of Ebou Dar, Elayne, Aviendha and Mat struggle to secure the ter’angreal that can break the Dark One’s hold on the world’s weather – and an ancient bane moves to oppose them. In the town of Salidar, Egwene al’Vere gathers an army to reclaim Tar Valon and reunite the Aes Sedai . . . And in Shadar Logoth, city of darkness, a terrible power awakens.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Problem: You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years now engaged to someone else. You can’t say yes–it would all be too awkward–and you can’t say no–it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of half-baked literary invitations you’ve received from around the world.

Question: How do you arrange to skip town? Answer: You accept them all. If you are Arthur Less.

Thus begins an around-the-world-in-eighty-days fantasia that will take Arthur Less to Mexico, Italy, Germany, Morocco, India and Japan and put thousands of miles between him… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Cheating
Alcohol consumption
Drug use
Terminal illness
Stroke

Reflected in You by Sylvia Day

Reflected in You by Sylvia Day

Gideon Cross. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. He was a bright, scorching flame that singed me with the darkest of pleasures. I couldn’t stay away. I didn’t want to. He was my addiction… my every desire… mine.

My past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. We’d never work. It was too hard, too painful… except when it was perfect. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape

A Choice Cocktail of Death by Christine Zane Thomas

A Choice Cocktail of Death by Christine Zane Thomas

When food blogger and restaurant reviewer, Allie Treadwell, is invited to the grand opening of Lanai’s newest attraction, a murder mystery dinner party, she expects a night of fun, good food, and mystery. What she didn’t expect is an actual murder.

What seems an open and shut case is anything but as Allie uncovers clues that lead to a conspiracy. With an innocent man framed, Allie can’t just sit by and watch. She uses the only power she has to help set the story straight, her words. But the real killer is out to silence the loudmouth foodie for good.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body shaming
Anxiety & panic attacks
Alcohol consumption
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent mentioned
Murder
Gun violence
Fire

The Salty Taste of Murder by Christine Zane Thomas

Thirty-year-old Allie Treadwell is a singleton. She’s a foodie, and a runner. A restaurant reviewer by day, and a Netflix aficionado by night. Even if it doesn’t make her the most popular dinner guest in the charming southern town of Lanai, Georgia, Allie’s reviews are always honest. And her latest is no different from any other. But Allie’s review isn’t the only thing to hit the newsstand. The restaurant’s owner and Allie’s one-time high school nemesis, Jessica Hayes, is found murdered. When Jessica’s husband, Miller, is labelled the prime suspect, Allie’s convinced the police are mistaken. As if dodging the bad press while she works… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Fatmisia & body shaming
Anxiety & panic attacks
Alcohol consumption
Murder
Gun violence

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

Sierra Santiago was looking forward to a fun summer of making art, hanging out with her friends, and skating around Brooklyn. But then a weird zombie guy crashes the first party of the season. Sierra’s near-comatose abuelo begins to say “Lo siento” over and over. And when the graffiti murals in Bed-Stuy start to weep…. Well, something stranger than the usual New York mayhem is going on.

Sierra soon discovers a supernatural order called the Shadowshapers, who connect with spirits via paintings, music, and stories. Her grandfather once shared the order’s secrets with an anthropologist, Dr. Jonathan Wick, who turned the Caribbean magic to his own foul ends. Now Wick wants to become the ultimate Shadowshaper… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Colourism
Sexism
Ableism
Sexual harassment
Stroke recounted
Dead bodies

The Fire This Time edited by Jesmyn Ward

The Fire This Time edited by Jesmyn Ward

with contributions from Kima Jones, Garnette Cadogan, Claudia Rankine, Emily Raboteau, Mitchell S. Jackson, Natasha Trethewey, Daniel José Older, Edwidge Danticat, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Wendy S. Walters, Isabel Wilkerson, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Carol Anderson, Kevin Young, Kiese Laymon, and Clint Smith.

National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward takes James Baldwin’s 1963 examination of race in America, The Fire Next Time, as a jumping-off point for this groundbreaking collection of essays and poems about race from the most important voices of her generation and our time.

In light of recent tragedies and widespread protests across the nation, The Progressive magazine republished one of its most famous pieces: James Baldwin’s 1962 “Letter to My Nephew,” which was later published in his landmark book, The Fire Next Time. Addressing his fifteen-year-old namesake on the one-hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Enslavement
Police brutality
Lynching
Terrorism
Refugee camps
Hurricane Katrina

Playboy Pilot by Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland

Playboy Pilot by Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland

Money or love? Which would you choose? You probably just answered the question in your head thinking it’s an easy decision. For me, it’s not. Did I mention it’s a lot of money? A hell of a lot. I needed to go far away to think it through. As I embarked on an impulsive trip, I hit a detour when I met sexy Carter in the airport lounge. We struck up a heated conversation.

Then, he left. I thought I’d never see him again. But fate had other plans. Surprise! He was the pilot of my flight. The bigger surprise was the adventure that followed after the plane landed. Carter was dangerous and always on the move but I was addicted. Nothing else mattered anymore. And I was going to get hurt. Because a part of me wanted to be the one to finally ground the playboy pilot. All good things must come to an end, right? Except our ending was one I didn’t see coming.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Depression
Suicide
Parent with alcoholism
Pregnancy mentioned

RoomHate by Penelope Ward

RoomHate by Penelope Ward

When my grandmother died and left me half of the house on Aquidneck Island, there was a catch: the other half would go to the boy she helped raise. The same boy who turned into the teenager whose heart I broke years ago. The same teenager who’s now a man with a hard body and a hardass personality to match. I hadn’t seen him in years, and now we’re living together because neither one of us is willing to give up the house. The worst part? He didn’t come alone.

I’d soon realize there’s a thin line between love and hate. I could see through that smug smile. Beneath it all…the boy is still there. So is our connection. The problem is…now that I can’t have Justin, I’ve never wanted him more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Slut-shaming
Child neglect recounted
Cheating
Unplanned pregnancy

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga

Cora hasn’t spoken to her best friend, Quinn, in a year. Despite living next door to each other, they exist in separate worlds of grief. Cora is still grappling with the death of her beloved sister in a school shooting, and Quinn is carrying the guilt of what her brother did.

On the day of Cora’s twelfth birthday, Quinn leaves a box on her doorstep with a note. She has decided that the only way to fix things is to go back in time to the moment before her brother changed all their lives forever—and stop him.

In spite of herself, Cora wants to believe. And so the two former friends begin working together to open a wormhole in the fabric of the universe… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a sister in a school shooting recounted