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Mara Tran

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Katherine
7,395 books | 486 friends

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Mara Tran

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United States
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Member Since
November 2011

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A Pacific Northwest native, Mara Tran has been pursuing the written arts since she was little and would type on her dad’s laptop for houes on end. In her lifetime, she has been a musician, librarian, bookseller, blogger, medical office assistant - and now a fulltime housewife and author. She’s a summer girl, but has learned to appreciate what each season brings, and she’s passionate about everything Victorian. Her top hobbies are reading, baking and cooking, swing dance, junk journaling, tea and cheese sampling, and embroidery. Her favorite authors are Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen.

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Mara Tran My own, and I would buy all the dresses from Monsieur Dubois’s dress shop, then tour Venisia.
Average rating: 4.83 · 6 ratings · 3 reviews · 1 distinct workSimilar authors
The Ward (The Birthright Ch...

4.83 avg rating — 6 ratings2 editions
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

THE WARD Read-Along in January

Hello and happy (almost) New Year!

We’re kicking 2024 off with a 4-week long read-along of my book THE WARD! Join the discussion group right here on Goodreads, and for extra fun tune into my IG for a live stream discussion of the creative process and other fun topics - posted every Sunday during the read-along! The read-along begins January 7th and ends February 3rd.

Below is the read-along schedule Read more of this blog post »
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Published on December 27, 2023 16:16 Tags: alternate-history, dickensian-fiction, mara-tran, mystery, readalong, the-ward, victorian-literature
Zombie Abbey
Mara is currently reading
by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (Goodreads Author)
bookshelves: currently-reading
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A Curse Dark as Gold
Mara is currently reading
by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Goodreads Author)
read in December 2011
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Mara Mara said: " I have probably said this about every fairy-tale re-telling I have read, and I am sorry if I have, but A Curse Dark as Gold really and truly is one of the best re-tellings I've read. Set in a wonderful time period and populated with fantastic charact ...more "

 
Jonathan Strange ...
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Mara’s Recent Updates

Mara is currently reading
Zombie Abbey by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Zombie Abbey
by Lauren Baratz-Logsted (Goodreads Author)
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The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
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While the Dark Remains by Joanna Ruth Meyer
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Mara entered a giveaway
Lost in the Empire City by Avi
Lost in the Empire City
by Avi
5 copies available, ends on October 28, 2024 Enter to win »
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The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
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Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? I love, love, looooooove the cover art! Maggie Stiefvater, please sell some of your art! You are a brilliant artist!!

Characters: What can I say about these characters that I haven't already? Blue continues to be an awesome fem
...more
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The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
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Cover Blurb: Yes or No? Yeah, you can kind of see the character impersonator's face, and I would rather that you couldn't, but I still really love the cover. Broody, mysterious, very atmospheric, it's just plain awesome.

Characters: Ronan Lynch is sti
...more
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These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly
These Shallow Graves
by Jennifer Donnelly (Goodreads Author)
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The Ward by Mara Tran
The Ward by Mara Tran
More of Mara's books…
If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”
Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde
“I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”
Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Oscar Wilde
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
Oscar Wilde

“There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.”
Linda Grayson

Jane Austen
“A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.”
Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

69932 History Buffs United — 506 members — last activity Dec 15, 2022 06:48AM
This group is for anyone who loves to read or write historical fiction. Our purpose is to recommend great reads, share our own writing, and help fello ...more
129073 Classics for Classic Ladies — 7 members — last activity Sep 09, 2015 11:43AM
A private bookclub for select members to join in with some friends and read a classic a month!
74989 Rosemary Sutcliff Book Group — 29 members — last activity Sep 18, 2019 10:47PM
This is a group for anyone who loves Rosemary Sutcliff's books whether you be a new or old fan or you want to read her books and have not done so yet. ...more
1247475 Millennial Reads — 3 members — last activity Sep 24, 2024 05:22AM
A laidback reading group for older, backlogged YA books - and a few new(ish) ones!
62777 Books, Blogs, Authors and More — 3730 members — last activity Sep 24, 2024 10:47AM
Need a place to advertise your blog? You can do that here. Need a place to advertise your book? You can do that here. Need a place to discuss books? Y ...more
203078 Supporting Bookstores — 82 members — last activity May 03, 2017 05:09PM
The greatest shopping experience is when one pays a visit to the bookstore. Not only will you come across what could be considered beautiful eye candy ...more
166632 The Indie Connection: Authors and Bloggers Unite! — 221 members — last activity Aug 11, 2024 02:45PM
This is a group for indie authors and bloggers both. Like Sherlock, we indie authors can't live without our bloggers. This group was made to help both ...more
More of Mara’s groups…



Comments (showing 127-176)    post a comment »

message 176: by Mara

Mara Through no intentional effort on my part, I seem to be starting 2017 out with nothing but HarperCollins books.


message 175: by Mara

Mara Abigail wrote: "Mara wrote: "I'm going to BookCon!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I wish you a good journey! :)"

Thanks, Abigail! It's going to be so awesome!


Abigail H. Leskey Mara wrote: "I'm going to BookCon!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I wish you a good journey! :)


message 173: by Mara

Mara I'm going to BookCon!!!!!!!!!!!!


message 172: by Mara

Mara In case anyone was wondering, I will be at BookCon in this year!


message 171: by Mara

Mara Thank you!!!! :) I did; I had a fabulous day. And it just keeps coming! Birthday wishes from swing friends and reading friends, belated prezzies. :)


Katherine Happy happy belated birthday Mara!!! I hope you had a wonderful day!!! :D


message 169: by Mara

Mara Thanks, Abigail! I almost forgot about my birthday! :)


Abigail H. Leskey Happy birthday!

(My apologies for this being belated.)


message 167: by Mara

Mara So I've been Miss Absent, haven't I? Sorry; I just haven't had time for social media of any kind lately! So, so, so busy!


message 166: by Mara

Mara Went to the 10:00 premiere of The Maze Runner last night. Am now totally in love with that movie. Just wow. I can't even describe how awesome it is. Whether or not you've read the book - go see it!


message 165: by Mara

Mara I am going all of September without blogging. . . . .I actually think that not blogging is stressing me out more than blogging ever did. Or maybe September just wasn't the right time to take this forced holiday.


message 164: by Hazel

Hazel West Mara wrote: "It has just been confirmed that Sherlock: Series 4 is getting a Christmas special! My day has just been made."

This makes me very happy :) (That's what I have to say because I'm freaking out on the inside)


message 163: by Mara

Mara It has just been confirmed that Sherlock: Series 4 is getting a Christmas special! My day has just been made.


message 162: by Cayla

Cayla Mara wrote: "I would start with Nicholas Nickleby, then Oliver Twist, then Little Dorrit."

Nicholas Nickleby it is. Thanks for the suggestion! :)


message 161: by Mara

Mara I would start with Nicholas Nickleby, then Oliver Twist, then Little Dorrit.


message 160: by Cayla

Cayla Okay, I wasn't really sure where else to put this, so I hope you don't mind me cluttering up your comments:

I'm just about to make my first foray into Charles Dickens this summer (because I just can't consider myself well-read without having read Dickens :D), however I'm stumped at where to start. Since you seem to be a pretty big fan of his, which book would you suggest I read first? I was thinking David Copperfield or Nicholas Nickleby, but he's written quite a few novels and I don't know where to begin, honestly!

Your suggestion would be appreciated. :)


message 159: by Mara

Mara Katherine wrote: "Happy belated birthday Mara!!! I hope you had a fantastic day filled with books!!! :)"
Thanks, Katherine! I did have a good day; it was nice and quiet with a good dinner, filming my first book haul, and watching a lot of BBC shows. My parents got me all 4 seasons of Downton Abbey, plus a complete collection of BBC Charles Dickens dramatizations, so yeah - lots of BBC!


Katherine Happy belated birthday Mara!!! I hope you had a fantastic day filled with books!!! :)


message 157: by Mara

Mara A very Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!


message 156: by Mara

Mara Would you believe it if I told you that I have shelf space? No, it's not because I purged (heaven help us if I ever have to do that). My dad finally built me another bookshelf. I was almost positive that it would be filled with the books I already have, but there's actually seven little shelves on it that are empty! That should last me until . . . . Christmas. If I stick to my buying plan.


message 155: by Mara

Mara I'm drowning in books again . . . But I don't feel as swamped now that I have a TBR (i.e. certain books I am waiting until certain months to read). Having a plan - albeit a tentative one - works so well relieving that reading stress that sometimes occurs.


message 154: by Mara

Mara Happy New Year, everyone! Hope you have a good one filled with fun, food, friends, and books (of course!).


Katherine Merry Christmas Mara!!! :)


message 152: by Hazel

Hazel West Merry Christmas to you! =)


message 151: by Mara

Mara Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you got lots of good books and had lots of yummies!


message 150: by Hazel

Hazel West That's a good idea ;)


message 149: by Mara

Mara Takes a snack to bed so the dwarves don't steal it. ;P


message 148: by Hazel

Hazel West I guess he just likes to eat in bed haha ;)


message 147: by Mara

Mara Quill washing isn't as hard as you might think. The crumbs don't really get in all that deep and you use a toothbrush to gently brush his quills, and that gets them all shiny and clean. Then after he's dry, he gets his oil (so he doesn't get dry skin) and nap time. ;) And in two weeks, we get to do it again! Because apparently he's a hedgie who needs two baths a month. He has a bad habit of eating his food in his sleeping bag, hence the crumbs in his quills.


message 146: by Hazel

Hazel West Nope haha ;) I imagine it would be hard to wash out all of his quills, I wouldn't think it would be very pleasant for him.


message 145: by Mara

Mara He's getting better about his baths, but they exhaust him, poor little dude. I guess some hedgehogs do actually like bath time; Bilbo isn't one of them. But now he's a clean hedgie; no more crumbs in his quills (ha; we'll see how long that lasts). I'm very much like a hedgehog as well, except my hissing isn't just silliness. ;)


message 144: by Hazel

Hazel West I can't imagine he would like bath day much, haha. I can understand his need for quiet time too, I am very much like a hedgehog ;).


message 143: by Mara

Mara Bilbo didn't enjoy Thanksgiving much, I don't think. It was bath day (he doesn't like bath day), and he was a little overwhelmed by all the people (though he was a very well behaved boy). So we retired early and read for a while. :)


message 142: by Hazel

Hazel West Happy Thanksgiving! I had a very pleasant day.
@Kel, best of luck finishing Nano!


message 141: by Mara

Mara Kel wrote: "A very happy Thanksgiving to you, too! And no, I shall not be reading too much ... I'll be too busy catching up on writng. Last few days of NaNoWriMo! Almost there!

Enjoy the holiday and the books!"


In the hopes it doesn't jinx it, I'll offer my early congrats on NaNo! :)


message 140: by Kel

Kel Mara wrote: "Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you have lots of good food and lots of fun! And don't spend too much time reading (like me). ;)"

A very happy Thanksgiving to you, too! And no, I shall not be reading too much ... I'll be too busy catching up on writing. Last few days of NaNoWriMo! Almost there!

Enjoy the holiday and the books!


message 139: by Mara

Mara Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you have lots of good food and lots of fun! And don't spend too much time reading (like me). ;)


message 138: by Mara

Mara Saw Catching Fire last night. It was better than The Hunger Games, but of course still had flaws (namely, the main cast is still horrible!).


message 137: by Mara

Mara The movie was WAY better, but that may just be me being biased because I like Asa Butterfield. :)


message 136: by Hazel

Hazel West Mara wrote: "Just in case you guys are wondering why the last two books in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Saga have suddenly disappeared from my shelves: I've decided to abandon the series. After flipping through X..."

No point in finishing something you can't stand. Glad to know the movie was better than the book =)


message 135: by Mara

Mara Just in case you guys are wondering why the last two books in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Saga have suddenly disappeared from my shelves: I've decided to abandon the series. After flipping through Xenocide, I realized I just didn't have the patience to get through the rest of the series. And what was the point anyway? I only needed to read the first one for the movie (which was very good, by the way; the movie, that is, not the book).


message 134: by Mara

Mara @ Kel: Or you could plan a trip to Powell's at some point in your life. Seriously - it would be worth it.

@ Katherine: Going to Powell's, one definitely has to plan on spending a lot of money. There is no such thing as going to Powell's and walking out with only a few books.


message 133: by Kel

Kel Mara wrote: "It is called Powell's City of Books. They have a website, too; check it out. The world's biggest used bookstore, it has seven floors and takes up an entire city block. It is a place every bookworm ..."

It looks absolutely amazing! Too bad it's on the opposite side of the country from me. I suppose I must content myself with its online offerings and keep it in mind for whenever I'm next out west. ;)


message 132: by Hazel

Hazel West Mara wrote: "My fall trip to my all-time favorite bookstore is complete . . . 16 books. How does one end up with so many books?! But on the bright side, I intended to get lots of books, and I got tons of ones t..."

Sounds like a great haul!

@Katherine: Yes, I would be tempted as well ;P


Katherine Mara wrote: "My fall trip to my all-time favorite bookstore is complete . . . 16 books. How does one end up with so many books?! But on the bright side, I intended to get lots of books, and I got tons of ones t..."

Oh my goodness Mara, can you imagine what would happen if both of us ended up in that bookstore... yeah, I'd probably buy the whole store, LOL!! I will definitely have to go there someday!


message 130: by Mara

Mara It is called Powell's City of Books. They have a website, too; check it out. The world's biggest used bookstore, it has seven floors and takes up an entire city block. It is a place every bookworm should plan to visit at least once.


message 129: by Kel

Kel Mara wrote: "My fall trip to my all-time favorite bookstore is complete . . . 16 books. How does one end up with so many books?! But on the bright side, I intended to get lots of books, and I got tons of ones t..."

Okay, slightly jealous. (Not that I should be talking considering how many used book stores/BWB 40% off sales/Amazon buys/etc. I've hit.) ;) What is this mysterious, magical place of which you speak?


message 128: by Mara

Mara My fall trip to my all-time favorite bookstore is complete . . . 16 books. How does one end up with so many books?! But on the bright side, I intended to get lots of books, and I got tons of ones that I was looking for, plus a few surprise buys, and they were all hardcover and for super great prices. Can't complain!


message 127: by Mara

Mara Attention, everyone! On October 1, my blog is moving to a new location! It will from now on be known as The Reading Hedgehog! I am slowly moving all of my old log content over, but starting October 1, all new posts will be done on The Reading Hedgehog. Check out the new blog!

http://thereadinghedgehog.blogspot.com/


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