#25Alive! Day 7: Belle Greene lived a most #Prosperous and charmed life, as she served as a personal librarian to the illustrious and obscenely wealthy JP Morgan during New York‘s Gilded Age in the early 1900s. I can see this #EuropaCollective December pick being made into a riveting TV series. In my last few pages of this fascinating story. So happy to be part of the #EuropaCollective book club. Any 2025 edition, @jlhammar ? 🤩😍

#PoetryMatters Day 6: #Voodoo - featured it here back in 2013: https://wp.me/pDlzr-5zO

#25Alive! Day 6: This book - and the kunafah cheesecake plus mint tea - bring me so much #Joy especially as we celebrate husband‘s 55th birthday - same time as my departed mother‘s 89th birthday in heaven.

#PoetryMatters Day 3: #Volcano

#25Alive! Day 5: This is the #NewYrQuote #NewYearQuote I used to welcome 2025. Fats featured the book from where the poem was culled here: https://wp.me/pDlzr-jIp

#25Alive! Day 4: This labor of love by Maria Popova seems like #Blessings wrapped in divination cards of sorts. Too bad this deck of poetic cards doesn‘t ship here to the Emirates. See here for more info about these #blessings: https://www.themarginalian.org/2024/07/26/almanac-of-birds/

#PoetryMatters Day 3: #Volcano

#25Alive! Day 3: #Winter - here‘s hoping I finally get to Norwegian Knausgaard this year as GatheringBooks launched its #ReadTheWorld2025 reading theme inspired by how my travels to eight countries in 2024 shaped my reading journeys: https://wp.me/pDlzr-qUy

#PoetryMatters Day 2: #Void

#25Alive! Day 2: A strawberry mojito #Toast to our #EuropaCollective pick for December which I have not finished reading yet, unfortunately. 🙈

My #Top24Of2024 in books is now up on GatheringBooks for New Year‘s Day. Here is the full link: https://wp.me/pDlzr-qU9
My review of tagged book can be found here: https://wp.me/p7Q7pO-c3R
What is your #Top24in2024 in books?

#PoetryMatters Day 1: #Voice
Thank you to this reading community that nourishes the spirit. ✨🌷✨

#25Alive! Day 1: I find #Peace while reading this book of Consolations, thanks to Maria Popova. David Whyte is a balm to the spirit.
Happy New Year, fellow Littens! I am back from my Litsy hiatus. I hope to be more around in the coming year to check out everyone‘s lovely reads. 🙏🏼🎊🎉🤩🎆✨

#DaysDevotedTo Day 13: My mother passed away last Sunday. This poetry anthology on #Kindness, peace, and renewal comforts me.

#DaysDevotedTo Day 9: #ArtMuseum - these two books are the perfect fit.

#DaysDevotedTo Day 8: #CoffeeTea with a Norwegian novel while I was in Bodo Norway early this year. This is part of the free “fika” offered by the hotel between 3-5 pm and- said to be a big part of Scandinavian culture. Reminded me of our merienda - byproduct of Spanish colonization.

#DaysDevotedTo Day 7: there are soul-stirring real-life #FamilyStories in this journalistic memoir of sorts by Portuguese author Susana Moreira Marques. This book will stay with me for awhile. Review is forthcoming.

#DaysDevotedTo Day 6: #HealthyLifestyle means standing in awe and wonder at what the world has to offer - plus this viral cake with pistachio and kunafa filling.

#DaysDevotedTo Day 4: With multi-award-winning author, #Candy Gourlay here in Dubai during the Emirates Literature Festival last February.

#DaysDevotedTo Day 3: #Sandwich

#DaysDevotedTo Day 2: #AllSouls with Pessoa. Here is my book haul from Livraria Bertrand in Lisbon, the world‘s oldest operating bookstore in the world, according to the Guinness World Records: https://wp.me/pDlzr-qPD

#DaysDevotedTo Portuguese #Authors while I was in Lisbon a few weeks back - at the ostensibly oldest running bookstore in the world, according to Guinness World Records - Livraria Bertrand founded in 1732.

#WickedWhispers Day 31: #Mask - I should begin Memory of Fire by Uruguayan literary author Eduardo Galeano. I fell in love with his The Book of Embraces and bought all his other books I can find. I should get to them soonest. 🙏🏼

#WickedWhispers Day 30: #Blood - brought this title written by Senegalese-French novelist David Diop while I was in Paris two months back. Naturally, I paired it with some escargot while in Paris, because French. Lols.

#WickedWhispers Day 29: Crows are always met with a sense of #Dread - epicturebook find from Libby. Review is forthcoming.

#WickedWhispers Day 18: There are a lot of #Evil ghosts in this book, like seriously creepy. Too much exposition for the world-building and too plot driven for my usual fare, but ey its Leigh Bardugo, so will trudge on, hoping it improves towards the end.

#WickedWhispers Day 27: #Grave

#WickedWhispers Day 26: #Trick

#WickedWhispers Day 25: #Shadow

#WickedWhispers Day 24: #Potion

#WickedWhispers Day 23: #Mystery

#WickedWhispers Day 22: At the heart of the narrative is ten year old Karen Reyes, a comic book aficionado, lover of #monster(s) and all things gruesome, budding artist, and self-appointed private detective. This is a book that one should take time reading. It is hefty, fairly thick and detailed, and tears at one‘s insides. My review: https://wp.me/pDlzr-jkn

#WickedWhispers Day 21: #Death - paired with broken cheesecake, lemon daiquiri and espresso martini - all mocktails, and utterly delicious.

#WickedWhispers Day 20: #Scarecrow - took a photo of this Goosebumps collection while at Big Bad wolf book sale in Sharjah last January - and sent it to our college kid who has an entire collection. This boxed set looks yummy!

#WickedWhispers Day 19: #Magic

#WickedWhispers Day 18: #Scream

#WickedWhispers Day 17: #Skull

#WickedWhispers Day 16: #Haunt - The “haunted bookshop” is essentially haunted by “the ghosts of all great literature.” Nicely put, right? My full review here: https://wp.me/pDlzr-gov

#WickedWhispers Day 15: #Witch - found in a London bookshop last year.

#WickedWhispers Day 14: #Lantern

#WickedWhispers Day 13: This title sounds particularly #Chilling in a moribund sort of way. Made sure I brought female Portuguese novelists with me as I travel to Lisbon in a few hours‘ time. Made sure I have posts now for the entire duration of my five day travel. 🧳✈️🛫🇵🇹

#WickedWhispers Day 12: #TheUnknown is explored in the first few sections of the novel with a build up towards unwitting espionage or just a disingenuous interaction of unsympathetic characters leading to dire consequences and what counts for “scandal” in polite and seemingly-elite societies. Posting way in advance on account of my travel in two hours‘ time to Saramago‘s land.

#WickedWhispers Day 11: #Candy shop found in Istanbul last year.

#WickedWhispers Day 10: Found this in a park in Sibiu, Romania last year. Looks a bit like a #Tombstone of one of Romania‘s political elites.

#WickedWhispers Day 9: Possibly a few #Dark stories here and there in this short story collection. Brought this book as I will be flying to Lisbon in two hours‘ time; thus posting in advance because it will be crazy hectic again in the coming days.

#WickedWhispers Day 8: A Junji Ito graphic novel always looks like it could have #Zombie(s) on it. Recent book haul of college kid.

#WickedWhispers Day 7: #Spells

#WickedWhispers Day 6: #Howl

#WickedWhispers Day 5: Fairy tales would always have its fair share of monsters and #Cadavers. My review is forthcoming. 💕

#WickedWhispers Day 4: #Disguise