4978 ratings | 584 reviews | avg rating:4.44

Nora’s Year In Books

Nora’s 2025 Year in Books

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Nora Olsen

Goodreads Author

Born

in New York, NY, The United States

Website

http://noraolsen.com

Genre

Young Adult, Gay & Lesbian, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Influences

John Marsden, John Christopher, Octavia E. Butler, Anne Frank ...more

Member Since

June 2008

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/avisnora

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Nora Olsen's debut novel, The End: Five Queer Kids Save The World, was published by Prizm Books in December 2010. It's the story of five LGBTQ teens who must travel through time to avert a nuclear war. Olsen's second novel, Swans & Klons, was published Bold Strokes Books' Soliloquy imprint in May 2013 and is a dystopian YA novel about two girls who fall in love as they join the struggle to free enslaved clones. Frenemy of the People (2014) is the story of two girls who hate each other... until they fall in love. Maxine Wore Black (2014) is a queer and trans YA homage to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca. ...more

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Combine Editions
Nora Olsen’s books

Average rating: 3.27 · 472 ratings · 121 reviews · 5 distinct works

	Frenemy of the People 3.31 avg rating — 180 ratings — published 2014 — 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
	Swans and Klons 2.85 avg rating — 125 ratings — published 2013 — 4 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
	Heiresses of Russ 2011 by JoSelle Vanderhooft (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Steve Berman (Editor), Jewelle Gomez 4.08 avg rating — 80 ratings — published 2011 — 5 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 End:: Five Queer Kids Save the World 3.32 avg rating — 82 ratings — published 2010 — 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
	Maxine Wore Black 3.41 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 2014 — 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

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15 posts
Nora Olsen's Blog

Olivia de Havilland

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I am a great admirer of Olivia de Havilland. My brother and I were talking about her and he mentioned that she was 97 years old. I looked her up and discovered she is actually 100! Her advanced age threw me into some sort of panic and I decided that I wanted to watch a few of her movies and review them here to show my appreciation for her.

If you have had the bad luck to go throu

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Nora’s Recent Updates

Nora liked Cheryl's review of Creepy Mouse Coming to Get You: "4 stars -- Well, this was quite the read. I am not sure what I expected, but it was not this. Jeremy is probably 12 or 13. He lives at home with his mom, while his dad now lives in Baltimore after their divorce. Recently, Jeremy's sister, Rosalie, & " Read more of this review »
5 hours, 25 min ago · see review
Nora rated a book it was amazing Bread of Angels: A Memoir by Patti Smith (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
The parts about her childhood in particular were so tender it was almost painful but in a good way.
19 hours, 20 min ago · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Bread of Angels by Patti Smith. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Bread of Angels by Patti Smith <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Nora and 9 other people liked Lulu's review of Bread of Angels: A Memoir: "Thanks for making me cry on the tube I guess "
19 hours, 22 min ago · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Bread of Angels by Patti Smith. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Bread of Angels by Patti Smith <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Nora wants to read Bad Kid (A Graphic Memoir): My Life as a "Troubled Teen" by Sofia Szamosi	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
23 hours, 52 min ago · like
Nora rated a book really liked it Darksight Dare (Penric and Desdemona, #16) by Lois McMaster Bujold (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
May 21, 2026 03:21PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Darksight Dare by Lois McMaster Bujold. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Darksight Dare by Lois McMaster Bujold <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Nora rated a book really liked it Testimony of Mute Things (Penric and Desdemona #15) by Lois McMaster Bujold (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
May 19, 2026 07:24PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Testimony of Mute Things by Lois McMaster Bujold. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Testimony of Mute Things by Lois McMaster Bujold <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Nora wants to read Stag Dance by Torrey Peters	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
May 19, 2026 07:20AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Stag Dance by Torrey Peters. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Stag Dance by Torrey Peters <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Nora wants to read Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj (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
May 18, 2026 07:29PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Nora rated a book really liked it Roast Eggs by Douglas Clark	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
May 18, 2026 09:22AM · like
Nora rated a book it was amazing Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky (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
This was similar in a lot of ways to Cage of Souls, so of course I loved it. Also reminded me a bit of The Forever War by Joe Haldemann. So if that sounds good to you, go get it!
May 17, 2026 08:38AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Nora Olsen (?)

“That's why I should drive the bulldozer," Desi said. "Brains, beauty, and pizza.”
― Nora Olsen, Frenemy of the People

tags: nora-olsen

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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A Million More Pages: July BOTM Fantasy Mini - Daughter of Smoke & Bone Spell It Out	114	102	Aug 12, 2015 12:08PM
The Seasonal Read...: Summer Challenge 2015: Completed Tasks (DO NOT DELETE POSTS)	3424	695	Sep 01, 2015 07:40PM

Nora’s Quotes

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
― Toni Morrison

tags: books, writing

20760 likes

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”
― W. Somerset Maugham

tags: writing

3849 likes

“Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.”
― Terry Pratchett, Jingo

tags: humor, proverb

12964 likes

“Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

tags: most-famous-novella

4120 likes

“I just knew there were stories I wanted to tell.”
― Octavia E. Butler

tags: books, stories, telling-stories, writing

191 likes

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