We do not care that we went to pick up our library hold today without a bra on because a) it‘s 100-freaking-degrees outside and who wants any additional fabric touching their body?? and b) as a woman of a certain age we are basically invisible so nobody even noticed anyway. 🙄😄

#WDNCW #WeDoNotCareWednesday
@dabbe

Our library just started an intergenerational Read for Your Rights Book Club focusing on books that have been banned. Last night we met to discuss “Giovanni‘s Room.” I‘d never read Baldwin before and I was blown away by his prose. The discussion was wonderful. And the participants ranged in age from 18-early 70s, which provided a richer understanding and sharing of perspectives. Next up is “The Things They Carried.

The mystery is OK—a bit meandering and confusing. The characters, however, are what makes this book. I liked Amy, I loved Steve —and I adored Rosie D‘Antonio. She‘s a hot ticket. 😄 Even the bad guys were wonderfully droll. I‘ll read more of this series.

Even famous people geek out about authors!

I read a wide range of genres, but I‘d have to pick narrative nonfiction. I do so love a well-written nonfiction account that educates me about a person, event or topic while entertaining me at the same time.

#SundayFunday
@BookmarkTavern

Reading about the damage Facebook has done to democracy and society made me horrified, depressed and sick to my stomach. I literally felt like throwing up at the chapters about Facebook‘s role in the destabilization of Myanmar and active influence in the 2016 U.S. election. May Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Joel Kaplan, etc. all burn in Hell. 😖

Short, sweet book about the friction that comes with relationships and marriages and the forgiveness needed to maintain them over long periods of time. As someone who‘s been married for almost 34 years now, I found myself nodding along to much of the dialogue and situations.

Heading out for our local #NoKingsDay protest and taking it to the streets. 💪🏼🇺🇸

When your office has a Summer Fridays policy and you can log off at noon to lounge in the yard with a cold drink and a stack of books on a glorious sunny day. 🥰

The harrowing tale of a cruise ship at the very start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and how the virus spread throughout the passengers and crew. A must-read for anyone who still thinks Covid was/is “basically like a cold.” It was frightening to read about how quickly things went terribly wrong and how politics stranded the people on board with no way off the ship.

Oh, it‘s a happy day when the new Wally Lamb book arrives in your mailbox! 😍🤩💃🏻🕺

A soft pick. Provides a background on the lives of four female scientists (2 Jewish, 2 not) and how they managed to get out of Nazi Germany. Also gives good info on the various immigration processes that people tried to use to escape. However, it‘s rather repetitive and I really don‘t like it when authors interject their personal opinions or make subjective snarky comments in a work of nonfiction like this.

I rarely listen to audiobooks. Except, of course, when it‘s a Malcolm Gladwell book read by Malcolm Gladwell. I was actually offered the hard copy of this from the library 3 months ago, but I declined and stayed on the waitlist until the audiobook was available. This dive into social epidemics and tipping points and how the overstories we create lead us in directions that are both unexpected and predictable was worth the wait.

This is the most depressing news I‘ve read in a long time.

https://www.abcactionnews.com/us-news/education/reading-to-kids-at-all-time-low-...

This is a soft pick. It kills me to say it, but I didn‘t love this one. While it had Backman‘s trademark humor and emotional depth, it felt meandering, verbose and somewhat saccharine. And in many places, the writing was more juvenile than you‘d expect. I thought maybe it was the translation, but no —it‘s the same translator as previous books. I was actually reading quickly just to get it over with. I guess they can‘t all be home runs. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Stats for May 2025. I‘m actually surprised that I managed to finish this many books/pages, given that we were traveling for the first two weeks of the month!

This book wasn‘t what I expected—and that‘s not a good thing. I don‘t like romance. But the back cover summary intrigued me —is it about two serial killers finding love? How would that even work? Halfway through, though, it veered unevenly into standard rom-com — and I promptly lost interest and skimmed to the end.

This #AuthorAMonth book wrecked me. It‘s the 5th Everett I‘ve read; every one has been an incredible experience. He published 3 versions of this book, where the stories diverge at 3 different fulcrum points — where thoughts either do/do not lead to actions and plans that are/are not followed to completion. The differences seem minor, but tiny choices have big impacts on the outcome. My version was C: If you‘ve read A or B, tell me your thoughts.

9 years?? Time certainly flies when you‘re reading with fellow book lovers!

@Kshakal , happy Litsyversary to my Litsy twin!

Fun and quick read about the guys who made watching arguments entertaining. 👍🏼 I always enjoyed “Siskel & Ebert” — they were smart, sharp and opinionated. In this bio Siskel comes across as a jerk, though. 👎🏼 The “pranks” he played on Ebert behind the scenes weren‘t very funny — it sounds more like bullying to me. 😖 Thanks to @JoeMo and #AuldLangSpine for putting this one on my radar!

Tried to read this for #BookedinTime, but I have to throw in the towel. The narrative is plodding and pedantic and the dialogue comes across as lectures by the characters. Life is too short —moving on.

This book was funny and weird and provocative and brilliant and completely bonkers. And I couldn‘t put it down. Percival Everett is an absolute gift to literature. #AuthorAMonth
 @Soubhiville

It used to be “War & Peace” or “Les Miserables” (I don‘t remember which one is longer!) — until the #Clarissa Crew took down this monster (all 1,781 pages/ 943,000 words of it). It‘s considered the longest novel ever written in English. I will never not brag — and complain — about finishing this one. 😄

#sundayfunday
@BookmarkTavern

I‘ve known for years that I should read this classic but the description of it as “romantic suspense” left me feeling lukewarm about picking it up. But I needed a paperback for our trip, so I packed this one and figured that would finally force me to read it. I‘m glad I did. I wouldn‘t classify it as “romance” at all—just delightfully creepy Gothic suspense. Check this one off the list. ✔️

So excited to arrive home from vacation to find this in the pile of bills and junk mail!

The only word that comes to mind to describe this book is “interminable.” It was probably a good thing I was stuck on an 8-hour flight or I may not have finished it.

When I was a junior in high school, my English teacher told us about her escape from Budapest during the 1956 revolution, and how she swam to freedom across the Danube River with a backpack that contained only a change of clothes and a copy of “Hamlet.” (You try explaining that you don‘t care for Shakespeare after that story…) She was brilliant and terrifying and she scared the crap out of me. And she pushed me to become a better writer … ⬇️

My husband and I have made it to Budapest on our trek through Eastern Europe. I‘ve tried to pick up a book in each country (but I missed out in Bulgaria and Croatia—not enough time to track down bookstores in the towns where we were that sell English editions). Anyway, I couldn‘t decide between a nonfiction and a fiction for Hungary —so I got them both. 😀 My carry-on is bursting at the seams now. Good thing we‘re heading home this weekend! 😬

This is the book I picked up from the Serbia leg of our trip through Eastern Europe.

Today‘s find in Belgrade: the Serbian edition of “Cutting for Stone.”

It‘s been slow going with this book so far —I‘m trying to read but I keep getting distracted by the gorgeous views of the Danube. (This is just after sailing through the Iron Gates, with Romania on one bank and Serbia on the other.)

On a bus tour into the mountains of Bulgaria and the woman next to me pulls out a paperback while her friend takes care of the photos. I feel like she‘s one of us. 😀
(It‘s a Lee Child thriller. I peeked at the cover.)

That moment when you‘re reading a book that randomly mentions a country — and you just happen to BE in that exact country! 🤯😀

Stumbled onto this gorgeous bookstore in Bucharest‘s Old Town today. It‘s located in a former nobility palace. What did I buy? After a tour of Transylvania, it had to be a copy of “Dracula” — of course!

My husband and I are traveling in Romania right now. I love looking at books—even in languages that I can‘t read!

Excellent biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. that examines his full life: his beliefs, his actions, his insecurities and his failures. In other words —a portrait of a man who had his flaws like any other human, but who rose to greatness and met the moment when it mattered.
Chunkster Petite category of #ChunksterChallenge2025 ✔️

April stats. Nonfiction is inching back up, so that‘s a good sign that my brain isn‘t as scattered and shattered from the news and events going on in the country and the world and I can concentrate again. Although I still want to stick my head in a hole and escape.

What an absolutely lovely little book! I‘m not crying —YOU‘RE crying.

This collection of letters between an American scriptwriter and the staff of a British bookstore in London restores my faith in humanity and confirms my belief that book people are the best people.

Listen to the audiobook —the narrators are delightful.

I eagerly awaited this, Adichie‘s first fiction outing in 10 years. I adore her writing, and “Americanah” is a favorite read. This one follows 4 women whose lives intersect and interconnect before/during/after the Covid-19 pandemic. I enjoyed it, but thought it was uneven in parts. I was drawn to Kadiatou‘s story but Chia‘s musings on past boyfriends left me feeling meh. Still recommend for the beauty of Adichie‘s prose.

Because I‘ve loved her recent books about the female assassin squad, I thought I‘d give this series a try. I was disappointed. While I liked Veronica Speedwell‘s sassiness, this felt more like a light romance than a mystery —the murder happens in the first few chapters, but it takes 200 pages before Veronica & Stoker begin to investigate it. And there‘s a lot of disbelief that must be suspended. I doubt I‘ll continue with the series.

When it‘s finally Friday evening after a long week and the hubby is working an overnight so you have the house to yourself and you can settle into the couch with a stack of books and a giant mug of camomile tea. 🥰🫠

Congrats on your 200k milestone, @dabbe ! Here‘s my mood board. It‘s not super cheerful —every day since Jan. 20 has been more challenging than the day before it. Trying to maintain my resolve and commitment to making good trouble, but the mountain feels higher and more dangerous every time I can bring myself to look at the news. I worry about my Marine son, I worry about the economy and I worry if we‘ll even have a country next year. Mood: 😵‍💫

From the moment of her unexpected birth in 1905 until her death more than 85 years later, Daisy Stone Goodwill experiences all the ups, downs, humor, melancholy, sadness, grief and joy of childhood, young adulthood, marriage, motherhood, widowhood and old age. In other words—a life, lived. This book gave me all the feels.

If you‘re going to attend a protest in DC, of course you also have to make a trek to Politics and Prose!

My husband, youngest son and I traveled to DC this weekend to participate in the Hands Off protest there. Current estimates at the moment are that 5 million people attended more than 1,400 protests around the world today. Keep the momentum going! We are the people—and we have the power! #resist

A sobering and unflinching account of the author‘s internment at Auschwitz in 1944-1945. After the camp was liberated by Soviet troops, Debreczeni, a reporter in Hungary before the war, wrote down his experience in this memoir. Because of the Cold War, it wasn‘t published outside of the country until recent years. While it‘s harsh and horrific, it‘s also moving, poetic and beautifully written. Highly recommend.

I‘d never read a Rainbow Rowell book, so when I saw this on the library shelf I figured I‘d give it a try. Almost 100 pages in and I‘m throwing in the towel. The main character is annoying, the dialogue is trite and stilted… and the worst offense? It‘s just so incredibly boring. 😖 Moving on.

Reading stats for March rebounded from the lull that was February. However, I‘m still not reading as much nonfiction as I normally do (it‘s usually close to 50/50). Pretty sure my brain is craving an escape from reality these days and just can‘t handle anything more at the moment. 😖😬

Another assignment for our sexagenarian assassins! This one doesn‘t have quite the same fun and witty banter as the first book, but it‘s still a rollicking romp. And the women are just as badass as ever.