bookishghostgirl

2230 points

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My Taste

The Shadow of the Bear (A Fairy Tale Retold #1)

Part of Your World (Part of Your World, #1)

Reading...

The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City's Soul

bookishghostgirl wants to read...

Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism

James W. Loewen

"Powerful and important . . . an instant classic." ― The Washington Post Book World The award-winning look at an ugly aspect of American racism by the bestselling author of Lies My Teacher Told Me , reissued with a new preface by the author In this groundbreaking work, sociologist James W. Loewen, author of the classic bestseller Lies My Teacher Told Me, brings to light decades of hidden racial exclusion in America. In a provocative, sweeping analysis of American residential patterns, Loewen uncovers the thousands of "sundown towns"―almost exclusively white towns where it was an unspoken rule that blacks weren't welcome―that cropped up throughout the twentieth century, most of them located outside of the South. Written with Loewen's trademark honesty and thoroughness, Sundown Towns won the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award, received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist , and launched a nationwide online effort to track down and catalog sundown towns across America. In a new preface, Loewen puts this history in the context of current controversies around white supremacy and the Black Lives Matter movement. He revisits sundown towns and finds the number way down, but with notable exceptions in exclusive all-white suburbs such as Kenilworth, Illinois, which as of 2010 had not a single black household. And, although many former sundown towns are now integrated, they often face "second-generation sundown town issues," such as in Ferguson, Missouri, a former sundown town that is now majority black, but with a majority-white police force.

bookishghostgirl started reading...

The Burning of the World: The Great Chicago Fire and the War for a City's Soul

Scott W. Berg

LONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE • The "illuminating" ( New Yorker ) story of the Great Chicago a raging inferno, a harrowing fight for survival, and the struggle for the soul of a city—told with the "the clarity—and tension—of a well-wrought military narrative" ( Wall Street Journal ) In the fall of 1871, Chicagoans knew they were due for the “big one”—a massive, uncontrollable fire that would decimate the city. It had been bone-dry for months, and a recent string of blazes had nearly outstripped the fire department’s already scant resources. Then, on October 8, a minor fire broke out in the barn of Irishwoman Kate Leary. A series of unfortunate mishaps and misunderstandings along with insufficient preparation and a high south-westerly wind combined to set the stage for an unmitigated catastrophe. The conflagration that spread from the Learys' property quickly overtook the neighborhood, and before long the floating embers had been cast to the far reaches of the city. Nothing to the northeast was safe. Families took to the streets with every possession they could carry. Powerful gusts whipped the flames into a terrifying firestorm. The Chicago River boiled. Over the next forty-eight hours, Chicago fell victim to the largest and most destructive natural disaster the United States had yet endured. The effects of the Great Fire were devastating. But they were also transforming. Out of the ashes, faster than seemed possible, rose new homes, tenements, hotels, and civic buildings, as well as a new political order. The elite seized the reconstruction to crack down on vice, control the disbursement of vast charitable funds, and rebuild the city in their image. But the city’s working class recognized only a naked power grab that would challenge their traditions, hurt their chances to keep their hard-earned property, and move power out of the hands of elected officials and into private interests. As soon as the battle against the fire ended, another battle for the future of the city erupted between its entrenched business establishment and its poor and immigrant laborers and shopkeepers. An enrapturing account of the fire’s inexorable march and an eye-opening look at its aftermath, The Burning of the World tells the story of one of the most infamous calamities in history and the new Chicago it precipitated—a disaster that still shapes American cities to this day.

bookishghostgirl commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

actualscorpion

Genre Stuck

Anyone else sometimes find themselves stuck reading one genre over and over. Like all the books you find yourself reading are similar. It feels like watching a comfort show over and over but instead with books. Like it's hard rn to start reading another genre because I just am like 'no it's too different' . idk, figured I'd share my struggle and see if anyone can relate.

bookishghostgirl commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

AlysasPaiges

Edited

Buying Used & Saving $$$

Where do you get your used/affordable books-ebooks?? Thought it’d be good to create a compilation of resources!

Mine go-tos are: -Thriftbooks.com -BookOutlet.com -Abebooks.com -WorldofBooks.com -PangoBooks (app - allows you to sell and buy books easily)

New Additions, Curtesy of the Comments! -HalfPricedBooks.com -Bookshop.org -Friends of the Library Book Sales (your local library should have quarterly book sales) -Bookbub.com (create a wishlist of ebooks and they will email you when a great deal on those titles is available! Make sure to change email settings to just those notifs, though, as they tend to spam you otherwise!)

For Friends in EU -Knihobot.sk/cz (for Czech/Slovak readers) -Martinus' knihovrátok (for Czech/Slovak readers)

For Friends in Singapore -Thryft.asia (ships worldwide; have good rates for Malaysia, Philippines, & Australia) -Bookshop.sg (sg local independent bookstores) -Carousell (local online marketplace)

bookishghostgirl finished reading and left a rating...

The Librarian of Crooked Lane (Glass Library, #1)

bookishghostgirl

Sep 06, 2025

3.5

Enjoyment: 3.0Quality: 3.0Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.0

This is one of those books where I don't remember how I came across it, but was slightly interested in reading it. After going back and forth on whether or not I wanted to read it, I made the jump and did the audiobook. It was an entertaining story and kept me interested. But at the same time parts of it felt a little flat and made me consider dnf'ing it. Although it is the first book in a series, I kind of wanted just a little bit more out of this book before moving onto the next book. It did wrap up the main points of the story and hopefully any remaining mysteries and questions will be answered in the later books.

bookishghostgirl commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

Tobi2x4

Physical vs eBook: My Personal Experience

So, I started reading Discworld last night (Guards! Guards! specifically), and I'm reading it on my phone (I don't have a dedicated ereader). I got to thinking, and I've noticed that, of the 43 books I've interacted with this year so far (35 Finished, 4 DNF, 2 Paused, 2 Reading) that only 8 of them (7 Finished, 1 Reading) are digital. This made me ask myself why. As it turns out, I find I get way more easily distracted while reading eBooks, and they inevitably take me longer to read. Way too easy to flip over to Discord or Facebook from the eReader on my phone.

Also, I tend to prefer the physical feeling of a book.

Just some random musing of mine. I have nothing against eBooks by any means. I just like touching my books. :3

bookishghostgirl commented on a post

readingwithrae

The best adaptation from this quest

Which book, in your opinion, received the most justice in its adaptation?

bookishghostgirl finished reading and left a rating...

bookishghostgirl

Sep 05, 2025

3.5

Enjoyment: 3.0Quality: 3.5Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.0

When it comes to thrillers, this one had me guessing. There was a few moments where I thought that one of the minor characters could have played a bigger part in the story. But it was a pleasant surprise when I was proven wrong. Though it was only a brief mention, it kind of bugged me when it was mentioned that the septic is in the basement when it's actually in the yard. Outside of that, I did enjoy the story.

Post from the Just the Nicest Couple forum

bookishghostgirl

Thoughts from 86% (page 280)

It was a brief mention, but it kind of bugged me when its mentioned that the septic is in the basement when its actually in the yard.

Post from the A Kennedy Affair forum

bookishghostgirl

Thoughts from 2%

I stumbled across this the other day at Barnes and Noble, so I can't wait to see what happens.

bookishghostgirl started reading...

The Briar Club

Kate Quinn

A haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, D.C. boardinghouse during the McCarthy era. Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the heart of the nation’s capital, where secrets hide behind white picket fences. But when the lovely, mysterious widow Grace March moves into the attic, she draws her oddball collection of neighbors into unlikely friendship: poised English beauty Fliss whose facade of perfect wife and mother covers gaping inner wounds; police officer’s daughter Nora, who is entangled with a shadowy gangster; frustrated baseball star Bea, whose career has ended along with the women’s baseball league of WWII; and poisonous, gung-ho Arlene, who has thrown herself into McCarthy’s Red Scare. Grace’s weekly attic-room dinner parties and window-brewed sun tea become a healing balm on all their lives, but she hides a terrible secret of her own. When a shocking act of violence tears apart the house, the Briar Club women must decide once and for all: Who is the true enemy in their midst?

bookishghostgirl commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

helli

Books You'll Never Unhaul

I've been staring at my bookshelves lately, trying to declutter a bit. Some books are definitely leaving, the ones I didn't enjoy, won't reread, and wouldn't recommend to anyone. I honestly don't even know why I kept them this long.

But then there are others I could never unhaul, no matter how my reading taste changes. Some are childhood and teenage favourites that I probably won't reread, but they carry so many memories with them. Others are beautiful editions I've been gifted over the years, like my clothbound Classics, my Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit set from my parents, or my gorgeous edition of Les Misérables from my grandma. Those are books I'll keep forever, simply because they're tied to people and moments that mean so much to me.

So now I'm curious: what about you? Do you also have books you'd never unhaul, whether it's for sentimental reasons, special editions, signed copies, or just childhood reads you could never let go of? When do you decide to let go of a book? Do you need to unhaul your bookshelves, too? Or are you more of an e-book reader with no overflowing shelves at home?

bookishghostgirl finished reading and left a rating...

Written in Starlight (Woven in Moonlight, #2)

bookishghostgirl

Sep 02, 2025

4.5

Enjoyment: 4.0Quality: 3.5Characters: 3.5Plot: 3.0

When I first came across this book, I thought it was a standalone before discovering that it was the second in a duology. But I did find it entertaining. It's not often that I say this, but this was one of the few times where I enjoyed the second book more than the first one.

bookishghostgirl commented on a post

BennuPheonix

I am so excited to listen to book. I have meaning to read it for years. And so many people have recommended it to me. I am going in with pretty high expectations, but hopefully realistic ones due to knowing it is a YA and expecting and good YA book

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Gather in these hallowed halls

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Iconic Series 📚👤💭

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A collection of the pilot books for popular series, for those of us who love to follow a character's journey for as long as an author will let us! Some of the below series have heavily debated starting points and book read orders--in those cases the pilot was selected based on what seems to be the most popular approach.

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Bronze: Finished 5 Main Quest books.

bookishghostgirl wants to read...