pickAmy Tan's illustrations are beautiful, and her notes about her observations of the birds that visit her yard are so interesting! She also includes some information that she's learned from expert birders. Unfortunately not all of her observations are happy, and it makes me sad to think of birds getting ill and being in distress, but I guess that's part of nature, too.
pick#OffMyShelf. “Poetry”
This was a collection of some of Marquis‘ writings (including poems) from his newspaper columns between 1916 and 1922 featuring Archy, a cockroach who is the reincarnation of a free verse poet. Less frequent but nonetheless memorable are entries from the alley cat Mehitabel (toujours gai!).
Way more entertaining than I expected and also a fantastic time machine back to a time when newspapers were ubiquitous.
#weekendreads
📕Still reading the tagged for the poetry prompt for #OffMyShelf
📗Encyclopedia Brown is this month‘s #EBBR
📘Not at Home is for #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub
📙Das Achte Leben I pulled down on a whim. It‘s gonna take me a few months to finish but it‘ll work for #ChunksterChallenge2025 and #AllergictoChunksters
Not a bad month, two bingos, even! A couple of books for #192025, #Nepal book for #FoodandLit, a couple of books #OffMyShelf, a couple of books for #LGBTQIA2025 Bingo/#TBRTarot, and a #1001Books,. Didn't manage one for #FictionalTraveler, as my book for Ireland was actually set in Copenhagen, oops.
pick#OffMyShelf “Published in last 2 years”
I generally don‘t care for short stories, but I love Atkinson - her writing style, her sense of humor and her pessimism about human nature. These stories are mainly interconnected and it was fun to find the links. They are also often slightly speculative and fantastical in nature.
pick#OffMyShelf “Banned book”
In 2022 A Tennessee school district banned this Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic memoir about the Holocaust due to “inappropriate language” and an illustration of a nude woman.
Spiegelman‘s parents were both survivors of Auschwitz. This memoir is his father‘s story and also coming to terms with their relationship; a child of survivors. I‘m not a fan of graphic novels, I find them hard to parse. But this was powerful.
pickBingo! #OffMyShelf “By a BIPOC author”
Possibly next to “Tar Baby”, the least trauma inducing novel from Morrison so far. Yes, bad things happen, but I also found this book to be a celebration. It‘s about a love triangle gone wrong and a murder, the historical wounds of those involved, but also about hope and love; a love note to New York City and the flowering of Black American culture in the mid 20th century.
pickI loved this book and wish I hadn't let this sit on my bookshelf for so long!
Miranda inherits a Bookshop from her estranged uncle, that includes clues she has to decipher, just like when she was a little kid. I had to suspend disbelief a little, as it seems he left a lot up to chance. But the whimsical nature of it lightened the heartbreak of the story.
And I loved all of the references to Shakespeare and the classics!
⬇️
so-so#OffMyShelf “By a celebrity”
I‘d heard this wasn‘t that good but curiosity got the best of me. He is arrogant, but not undeservedly. Kilmer is an incredible actor. But this memoir doesn‘t go very deep. He comes across as very smart but kind of a kook. I was surprised (why?) to find out what a devoted Christian Scientist he is.
so-soIt took a few chapters for me to get into this story, but once I did I liked it for the most part. I thought there were a few flaws in the storyline, but it was a fun story of Lily, Nicole, Leo, Walt, Bradley, and Terry on a treasure hunt for the stolen money of Butch Cassidy.
#LitsyLoveReads
#OffTheShelf @Librariana
#OffMyShelf @Wanderinglynn
#ReadOrDonate: read @julieclair
#FourFoursIn25: shiver river @Lauredhel
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#OffTheShelf @Librariana
#OffMyShelf @Wanderinglynn
#FourFoursIn25: robin bobbin @Lauredhel 4h