It is surprisingly difficult to find admirable mothers in literature. Here‘s hoping this current century does a better job of telling the stories of mothers!

Steinbeck seems to have the right quote for everything. I‘m reading his “Life in Letters” and I can across this quote which reminded me of A Room With A View, which i just recently read and watched.

Calvin & Hobbes are based on real-life philosophers!

Calvin is named for John Calvin, who founded Protestant Calvinism & believed that humanity‘s base state was “total depravity” and could only be saved by God & religion.

Hobbes is named for Thomas Hobbes, writer of “Leviathan”, which argued that government was necessary to prevent humanity from descending into anarchy & living lives that were “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”

Just finished this book for my book group. I can‘t say that I loved it, Karen Blixen writes a little too much in the colonial mindset for me to be comfortable with it, but she has some beautiful descriptions and she certainly lives a brave and wondrous life.

Happy #ReadABookDay! This is my home library and favorite reading spot. I have to make a long drive today, but this is where I will wish I was reading!

Where will you be reading today? 📖

I don‘t know about the first sentence, but the first story in Interpreter of Maladies was definitely an embrace. ❤️

Woohoo! My “Rediscovering The Classics” book group now has its reading list for the 2019-2020 year! I cannot wait to get started! Anyone want to join us?? #RtC

September: Interpreter of Maladies
October: The Power of Myth
November: Out of Africa
December: Calvin and Hobbes
January: Twelve Angry Men
February: Invisible Man
March: Bel Canto
April: A Room With A View
May: Civil Disobedience

Happy #BadPoetryDay! What‘s your favorite poem (good or bad)?

This was a charming read, but a little underwhelming. All the characters are literate, clever, & talk just like Amy Sherman-Palladino characters. Reading about Nina navigating her charming new family, dealing with her charming romantic troubles, & fixing her charming employment problems was fun & relaxing, like spending the day at the Santa Monica Pier. I enjoyed reading & was always happy to pick it up, but I'm not sure it will stick with me.

Do you like to read with a book club IRL? Online? Or are you purely an independent reader?

Ever since I was a kid summer was a time for me to become a hermit and read through as many books on my TBR as possible. Now that I‘m a working parent, that is a LOT harder to do and I miss it! I still have a couple of books I hope to finish before school starts. How about you? #summerreading #introvert

Happy #bookloversday! The true classics are the ones that persist through the centuries, being told and retold, with each successive generation claiming the story and making it their own. A true classic never loses its relevance.
💘Which classic retellings are your favorites?💕
#bookloversday2019

This looks right up my alley! It isn‘t available from any of my libraries...have any of you Littens read it? Should I go ahead and jump in and purchase it? Recommendations appreciated!

By any measure—but especially in language—Toni Morrison changed our lives through hers. Rest In Peace fine lady. 💙

Best beginner mythology book ever. Every house should have one.

Where can I find a vampire to cook for me? Sheesh! I can‘t read this book without running for the kitchen. 🧀🥩🥮🍾

A travel protection charm for my car. 🕯🔮🚙 Not exactly from Scott Cunningham‘s book, but Scott is always an inspiration. #MagicalReads

I seem to like the witchy reads at bedtime. This is my newest. (Thank you @Litsy for the info on how to add a book to the database. 👍🏻) #witchyreads

This book is almost 50 years old, and with a few minor exceptions, it is still relevant today. I‘ve been a practicing witch for 20 years and learned plenty from this book. Farrar writes in a clear and concise manner, without any of the hyperbole or overblown mysticism you find in other books on witchcraft. I appreciated his direct style, journalistic observations as a newcomer in a coven, and thoughtful research into history and traditions.

I love alternative artwork inspired by my favorite books, and this print by Chet Phillips just tickles me! #Firestarter has gone through enough printings to have a LOT of different covers. I‘d love to know what book cover all my fellow #LosersClub readers have! @DGRachel

Reading snack of champions. 🍰🥃 #readathon

Here I am, getting ready to do a little reading on my flight to Portland. All those other frequent flyers can keep their downloaded movies.

My current read is amazing, and I‘m only about a third of the way through. Westover‘s childhood, thus far, seems to be a churning maw of idyllic freedom (talk about “free-range” kids) and anticipated horror. She‘s a straightforward and evocative writer who keeps the pages turning!

My 14 year old started reading The Great Gatsby tonight, and read some of it out loud to me. This book is a magical unicorn. Passing the love on to the next generation. ❤️

I want to play! #tuesdaytidbits @JenlovesJT47 #thisorthat

1. 😈🤡 Horror
2. 🍎Apple
3. 🧙🏻‍♀️Witches!!
4. 🏚Haunted House—all that hay gets under your clothes.
5. 🤮Exorcist
6. @stephhammer @NeesyBeth (in case you haven‘t already been tagged)

⭐️⭐️ 2 out of 5 stars for this one. It wanted to be a grownup book, it really did, but couldn‘t get out of the way of its own drunk, awkward, stumbling way. The parts about the job, the travel, and the Obama administration were truly interesting, but I had to read through too many liquor-soaked bad decisions and gut-wrenching remorse in between.

😂 And all too true.

I liked the concept of this book, but the characters were frustrating. Especially as the story progressed all the female characters got more and more maddeningly irrational, and all the surrounding characters threw up their hands in this "oh well, what can you do?" kind of way. I did finish the book because the story itself was compelling, I just wish the characters had been more likable.

I loved this book. It's a book of contradictions and revelations that encompasses just about every aspect of life. I enjoyed getting to know Victoria Sweet and the doctors and patients of Laguna Honda. I especially loved going along on Sweet's journey through time, learning about the healing methods of Hildegard, and how they're still relevant today. A wonderful, inspiring book along the lines of Oliver Sacks.

That feeling when you're super grumpy, then find yourself amongst trees and all is suddenly better. 🌲🌳🌲😌

Spiced cranberry bourbon cocktail and a new book is the perfect way to spend a rainy evening. #booksandbooze

1. The Southern Vampire Mysteries.
2. Does "Dune" count as a series? Finished the first book, couldn't do any more.
3. Usually shelve, although now I'm beginning to pass more on. (Running out of space!)
4. Yes. I've been running my "Rediscovering the Classics" group for 10 years. Woohoo! ??(We also have a FB group. Newcomers welcome! https://bkwurm.wordpress.com/rediscovering-the-classics/)

@CSeydel @GarthRanzz #weekendchat

"...taking a life was an act of conscience and consciousness."

The Pepper-pup has some philosophical opinions about this book, you can see it in her eyes. ?

I love how this book makes you think it has two important main characters, but by the end you realize how important ALL the characters are, and how well you know them and their secrets. Each storyline is lovingly told, with strengths and flaws given equal weight. This is a book that is comfortable with ambiguity. As someone who is myself very comfortable with ambiguity, I loved it.

1. Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kamila Shamsie
2. Forest green 🌲🌲
3. God's Hotel by VIctoria Sweet (It's my before bed book.)
4. Mark Watney (obviously), Valentine Wiggin, Doc Ed Ricketts, Lovelace (Lovey from The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers)
5. Anyone? ✋🏼

@jesshowbooks you always make #friyayintro so much fun!

This was my work commute #audiobook. I found it overwhelmingly inspiring, sometimes frustrating, and periodically I cried. HRC's desire to just make the world better for as many people as possible shines through. I'm still with her. #InternationalWomensDay

I haven't read a graphic novel since Sandman years ago. Thanks to the @bookriot #ReadHarder2018 challenge for getting me to pick a few up again!

According to my #bulletjournal 2018 has been a great year for books so far! I've racked up 7 for my #ReadHarder challenge, 3 for my #Booked2018 challenge, and just 1 for #LitWorld2018GB (but that will change). Bring me more books!! 📚

@Cinfhen @GatheringBooks

Sitting by the fire, taking my time with the ghosts of Spoon River. #poetry ❤️

"Sexism is all the big and little ways that society draws a box around women and says, 'You stay in there."

I've been brought to tears a number of times listening to this book. This is my choice for #celebritymemoir. #ReadHarder @bookriot

A delightful little book for word nerds and grammar lovers everywhere.

My 2018 book stats this far! (And an update of my bullet journal book log.) #January #2018 #JustKeepReading #bulletjournal #booklog

Johanna Lindsey's Mallory clan are my illicit romantic pleasure. 😍

Entertaining but lacking emotion. A lot of immediate reactions to the situations presented in the book, but not enough character growth/development to make me love it. When it came down to it, nothing really changed, and it never really dug deep enough to inspire any kind of self or world reflection except on the most surface levels. The writing is good, Perrotta is a fine storyteller, but this particular story lacked heart and courage.

The Hate U Give deserves all the praise it receives. Thomas drops you right into the story, and it rolls forward like the boulder in the Indiana Jones temple. I laughed out loud, I blinked back tears, and I never wanted to put it down. It made me look at a part of society I'm lucky enough to not have to look at every day, but one that needs to be acknowledged. It's not pretty, but it's hopeful and full of heart, thought-provoking and inspiring.

"The untold story of a coach, a dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team"

This book isn't what I thought it would be, I thought it would be more like the movie Miracle. But it's been a super-interesting read! It's my Olympic Sport read for #Booked2018 ????

Yes. ✊🏼

(Happy birthday Virginia Woolf.)

Do you have a favorite quote you can recite from memory?

This is one of my favorite quotes ever. Lucinda Matlock says it straight. #quotsy #Poetry

Starting this today, hoping to finish by end of week. The library holds are all coming in at once and piling up! #MtTBRchallenge

1. Anywhere. Everywhere!
2. Random. (Or even dog-eared pages 😳)
3. Can stop anytime.
4. Yes. Mostly chocolate and whisky. 🍫🥃
5. Prefer quiet, but in our small house & 2 kids, I make do.
6. Several at once!
7. Everywhere.
8. Silently, except poetry. 😊
9. Yes. I read the last chapter first.
10. 📚 are meant to be loved.
11. Almost always. ❤️marginalia.
12. @NeesyBeth @stephhammer
Thanks @beachbookworm7 & @MelAnn #readinghabits