230 ratings | 105 reviews | avg rating:4.55

Kate’s Year In Books

Kate’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Kate’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Kate’s 2025 Year in Books

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2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

CHALLENGE

Kate Shanahan has read 19 of 45 books.

42%

Kate Shanahan

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://kvshanahan.com/

Genre

Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Member Since

April 2022

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After graduating from University of Michigan with a BA in Political Science (East Asia Concentration), Kate taught English in Sapporo, Japan for two years. She enjoyed the experience so much she returned to U of M for an MA in Asian Studies (Japan Specialization), and while there, worked part-time for the Center for Japanese Studies. Fortunately for Kate, Honda was expanding operations in Ohio around the time she finished, and she spent an entire career at Honda in project, business, and people management, thrilled to be able to travel to Japan and speak Japanese for work, all the while dreaming of writing a book about tenth century writer Sei Shonagon.

After all those years in northern latitudes, Kate and her husband moved to Florida's Gulf ...more

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Combine Editions
Kate Shanahan’s books

Average rating: 4.22 · 119 ratings · 60 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	Tangled Spirits (Tangled Spirits #1) 4.16 avg rating — 96 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Iron Palace (Tangled Spirits, #2) 4.48 avg rating — 23 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

9 posts
Kate Shanahan's Blog

2025 Books

Below is a very short quiz based on what I read in 2025. See if you can answer any of these, and if you can't (or don't want to), I put the answers at the end of this post. You can see my full list of 2025 books in my Goodreads profile.

1. Which two books include a key plot point that involves leprosy?

2. Which three books are translations from the Japanese?

3. Which four books are set in Japan? (If Read more of this blog post »

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Published on December 29, 2025 11:37 • Tags: books, reading

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Series by Kate Shanahan

Tangled Spirits (2 books)
by

Kate Shanahan (Goodreads Author)

4.22 avg rating — 119 ratings

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Kate’s Recent Updates

Kate Shanahan rated a book really liked it The Last Yakuza: Life and Death in the Japanese Underworld by Jake Adelstein (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jake Adelstein, author of Tokyo Vice, has the inside track to yakuza life. A longtime yakuza leader tells Adelstein the story of his life. Adelstein takes this story, combines it with his own knowledge and experience with Japan and yakuza, and presen ...more
Jul 07, 2026 02:38PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Last Yakuza by Jake Adelstein. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Last Yakuza by Jake Adelstein <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kate Shanahan rated a book it was amazing Daikon by Samuel Hawley (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I don’t know why I didn’t expect this to be good. Maybe because I don’t like radishes, the daikon kind or the little red and white ones. Or maybe it’s because I’ve sworn off novels set during the Second World War. But the location (Japan) and the top ...more
Jul 06, 2026 10:58AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Daikon by Samuel Hawley. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Daikon by Samuel Hawley <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kate Shanahan rated a book it was amazing Girl in a Box: A Novel by Jean Gordon Kocienda (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I couldn't wait to jump into my ARC copy of Girl in a Box by Jean Gordon Kocienda. Set in Japan? check. Historical fiction based on a real person? check. A woman's struggle to change her destiny? check. Set in Japan in the late 19th and early 20th ce ...more
Jul 06, 2026 10:56AM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Girl in a Box by Jean Gordon Kocienda. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Girl in a Box by Jean Gordon Kocienda <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kate Shanahan rated a book it was amazing Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
While Japanese Gothic is billed as a horror story, it’s really not. Yes, there’s some gore, and some possible paranormal activity, hallucinations of a murder, and a kinda creepy main character. I’m not much for the horror genre, so I wasn’t quite sur ...more
Jul 02, 2026 09:14AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kate Shanahan rated a book it was amazing The True Happiness Company: A Memoir by Veena Dinavahi (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I accidentally borrowed this book, thinking it was fiction based on the book description in Libby and looking at the sample pages. What a cool story! I thought to myself. After finishing the first chapter, I realized it's actually a memoir, but I was ...more
Jul 02, 2026 05:44AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The True Happiness Company by Veena Dinavahi. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The True Happiness Company by Veena Dinavahi <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kate Shanahan has read The Woman in Cabin 10 (Lo Blacklock #1) by Ruth Ware (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I'd heard of author Ruth Ware some time ago, but I'd never read any of her books until I read The Perfect Couple in March, 2026. That was so good, I borrowed this book on Libby. It was fast-paced and suspenseful, a thoroughly enjoyable read, so I'm o ...more
Jul 02, 2026 05:43AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kate Shanahan rated a book it was amazing One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A fun, slightly satirical premise, taking on reality tv "survivor" type of shows, with an ending more serious than I expected, and a twist I didn't see coming. ...more
Jul 02, 2026 05:36AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kate Shanahan rated a book really liked it The Ruling Class (The Fixer, #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
An entertaining read with an engaging main character.
Jul 02, 2026 05:33AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Ruling Class by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Ruling Class by Jennifer Lynn Barnes <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kate Shanahan rated a book it was amazing The Sarashina Diary: A Woman's Life in Eleventh-Century Japan by Lady Sarashina	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Imagine this: You only get to read the first few chapters of a really great novel, but that's all you have. The rest of the book isn't available to you Those chapters are so good, you dream about getting your hands on the rest of the book. Now imagin ...more
Jul 01, 2026 01:18PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Sarashina Diary by Lady Sarashina. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Sarashina Diary by Lady Sarashina <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kate Shanahan is currently reading Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 30, 2026 01:10PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">