the only books i've given 5★ to

The Naturals

Jennifer Lynn Barnes · 2013

Divine Rivals

Rebecca Ross · 2023

Catching Fire (Hunger Games, Book Two)

Suzanne Collins · 2010

Better Than the Movies

Lynn Painter · 2024

<b>Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Ali Hazelwood, this “sweet and funny” (Kerry Winfrey, author of <i>Waiting for Tom Hanks</i>) teen rom-com is hopelessly romantic with enemies to lovers and grumpy x sunshine energy!</b><br>  <br><b>Liz hates her annoyingly attractive neighbour but he’s the only in with her long-term crush…</b><br><br> Perpetual daydreamer and hopeless romantic Liz Buxbaum gave her heart to Michael a long time ago. But her cool, aloof forever crush never really saw her before he moved away. Now that he’s back in town, Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar—and maybe snag him as a prom date—even befriend Wes Bennet.<br><br> The annoyingly attractive next-door neighbour might seem like a prime candidate for romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only been a pain in Liz’s butt since they were kids. Pranks involving frogs and decapitated lawn gnomes do not a potential boyfriend make. Yet, somehow, Wes and Michael are hitting it off, which means Wes is Liz’s in.<br><br> But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she likes being around Wes. And as they continue to grow closer, she must re-examine everything she thought she knew about love—and rethink her own ideas of what Happily Ever After should look like.<br>  <br><b><i>Better Than the Movies</i></b><b> features quotes from the best-loved rom-coms of cinema and takes you on a rollercoaster of romance that isn’t movie-perfect but jaw-dropping and heart-stopping in unexpected ways.</b><br>  <br><b><b>Pre-order </b><i>Nothing Like the Movies, </i><b>the swoony sequel to </b><i>Better than the Movies </i><b>and don't miss out on </b><i>The Do-Over</i><b> and <i>Betting On You </i>from Lynn Painter!</b></b>

Babel

R. F. Kuang · 2022

<p>Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller from the author of The Poppy War  </p><p>“Absolutely phenomenal. One of the most brilliant, razor-sharp books I've had the pleasure of reading that isn't just an alternative fantastical history, but an interrogative one; one that grabs colonial history and the Industrial Revolution, turns it over, and shakes it out.” -- Shannon Chakraborty, bestselling author of The City of Brass</p><p>From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire.</p><p>Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.</p><p>1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel.</p><p>Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working—the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars—has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire’s quest for colonization.</p><p>For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide…</p><p>Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? </p>

The Secret History

Donna Tartt · 2011

<b><b><b>A READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK <b>• ONE OF <i>TIME MAGAZINE</i>'S 100 BEST MYSTERY AND THRILLER BOOKS OF ALL TIME • </b>INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • A contemporary literary classic and "a<b>n accomplished psychological thriller ... absolutely chilling" (<i>Village Voice</i>)</b>, f<b>rom the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of <i>The Goldfinch.<br><br></i></b></b></b>One of <i>The Atlantic</i>’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years</b><br><br>Under the influence of a charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at a New England college discover a way of thought and life a world away from their banal contemporaries. But their search for the transcendent leads them down a dangerous path, beyond human constructs of morality.<br><br><b>“A remarkably powerful novel [and] a ferociously well-paced entertainment . . . Forceful, cerebral, and impeccably controlled.” —<i>The New York Times</i></b>