4916 ratings | 569 reviews | avg rating:4.44

Nora’s Year In Books

Nora’s 2025 Year in Books

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

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Nora’s Bookshelves

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Nora’s Friends (153)

Theanticharles007

5,759 books | 40 friends

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751 books | 202 friends

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2,812 books | 33 friends

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3,030 books | 84 friends

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2,603 books | 812 friends

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525 books | 43 friends

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1,369 books | 2,218 friends

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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 · 473 ratings · 120 reviews · 5 distinct works

	Frenemy of the People 3.30 avg rating — 181 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 2.84 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 4.06 avg rating — 78 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 3.43 avg rating — 30 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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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 rated a book really liked it But He Was Already Dead When I Got There by Barbara Paul	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
Dec 19, 2025 05:30PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of But He Was Already Dead When I Got There by Barbara Paul. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — But He Was Already Dead When I Got There by Barbara Paul <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Nora rated a book really liked it Is Nothing Something?: Kids' Questions and Zen Answers About Life, Death, Family, Friendship, and Everything in Between by Thich Nhat Hanh	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 give everything four stars pretty much but I didn’t actually enjoy this book. I liked the concept of a wise Buddhist monk answering kids’ questions. However—and obviously this says more about me than about Thich Nhat Hanh—many of the answers anno ...more
Dec 19, 2025 03:43PM · like · see review
Nora wants to read Shadows of the San Joaquin by Parisa Karami	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
Dec 18, 2025 07:02PM · like
Nora wants to read Blinsby by Adam S. Leslie (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
Dec 18, 2025 02:21PM · like
Nora rated a book really liked it Is Nothing Something?: Kids' Questions and Zen Answers About Life, Death, Family, Friendship, and Everything in Between by Thich Nhat Hanh	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 give everything four stars pretty much but I didn’t actually enjoy this book. I liked the concept of a wise Buddhist monk answering kids’ questions. However—and obviously this says more about me than about Thich Nhat Hanh—many of the answers anno ...more
Dec 18, 2025 01:36PM · like · see review
Nora rated a book really liked it Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell (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 marriage of convenience/"marriage before romance" sf novel was light and fun! The Goblin Emperor meets Goodnight Mister Tom meets generic m/m novel. ...more
Dec 17, 2025 04:43PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Nora wants to read If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude (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
Dec 17, 2025 12:00PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Nora wants to read Lifeling by Kirsty Applebaum (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
Dec 16, 2025 03:43PM · like
Nora rated a book it was amazing Across the Meadow by Ben Shecter	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
Dec 14, 2025 08:59AM · like
Nora rated a book really liked it The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories by Martin Edwards (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
My favorites were: By the Sword by Selwyn Jepson---country house murder from the murderer's POV. Blind Man's Hood by Carter Dickson--is it a mystery or a ghost story or both? Sister Bessie or Your Old Leech by Cyril Hare--a wicked man is being blackmai ...more
Dec 12, 2025 05:08PM · like · see review

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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

topics	posts	views	last activity
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	694	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

20722 likes

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

tags: writing

3852 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

12933 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

4125 likes

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

tags: books, stories, telling-stories, writing

189 likes

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