Tree Cemetery by Wu Sheng

Full poem in the tagged or online at:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/155138/tree-cemetery

#aprilpoetrychallenge for #nationalpoetrymonth

8 April - tree

By Elizabeth Bishop

Available at: https://allpoetry.com/I-Am-In-Need-Of-Music

#aprilpoetrychallenge for #nationalpoetrymonth

7 April - Magic

September 1957, W.H. Auden

#aprilpoetrychallenge for #nationalpoetrymonth

6 April - one

Silver by Cleopatra Mathis

#aprilpoetrychallenge for #nationalpoetrymonth

5 April - extraordinary

I do love Vera. And one of the best scenes was her in the Robin‘s principals office.

But TWs (I‘ll put them in the comments with the spoiler alert because one does directly relate to the plot)

#5JoysFriday

1. This kitten. Plus toe beans!
2. We‘re working on using a leash. He‘s doing pretty well.
3. My soon-to-be apartment passed the housing inspection. One step closer!
4. It‘s Friday & I survived another week without getting fired.
5. I‘m enjoying my poetry challenge for National Poetry Month. In addition to posting poems & reading the ones @dabbe & @TheBookHippie have written/posted, I‘ve also been writing my own.

Mary Oliver

#aprilpoetrychallenge for National Poetry Month

4 April - nature

I just got book 2, so I decided to go reread book 1 first. (Plus, Eunice Wong is a fabulous narrator.) now that I‘m living in Italy, I had to laugh at this quote.

Excerpt from the poem “Pe ‘ahi Light” in the tagged or available online at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/159817/peahi-light

#AprilPoetryChallenge for National Poetry Month

3 April - east

#TLT

39/100 - most best picture nominees are just not my genre

Faves: Beauty & the Beast, Up, Moulin Rouge, Pulp Fiction, Sense & Sensibility (Emma Thompson + Alan Rickman ❤️), Chocolat, Crouching Tiger, Dead Poets Society

Soft pick.

I love all of Abby Jimenez‘s books and love that she doesn‘t shy from tough situations. This book is no different (there is a list of trigger warnings at the beginning). As much as I loved Samantha & Xavier, there really wasn‘t any real conflict. The obstacle was external, set-up basically at the beginning, and then I felt the story just floated along. So 3.75 stars. Summer & Playlist are still my faves.

#AprilPoetryChallenge for National Poetry Month

April 2 - adventure

The full poem can be read here ->
https://allpoetry.com/Night-For-Adventures

Soft pick.

While I felt all the feels at times, this book kind of dragged at times. It took me a bit to get through the first act. The second act was better, but still dragged a bit. The third act, well, it was an interesting & not unexpected turn, but I really don‘t feel as if the story resolved. I felt he was focused too much on the political issues and tried to make the plot fit that, so it didn‘t quite gel.

#aprilpoetrychallenge for National Poetry Month

April 1 - fool

Join me starting tomorrow, April 1, to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Use the prompts either to write your own daily poem 🖋️ or to read 1 poem a day 📖

The graphic is also available on my blog along with my thoughts on the importance of poetry: http://wanderinglynn.com/2025/03/20/celebrating-poetry/

Everyone is welcome to join! #aprilpoetrychallenge

#5JoysFriday

All of them really could be this kitten. He keeps me entertained. But despite the insanity & stress coming from DC, I‘ve had a pretty good week. I think I‘ve settled on an apartment that has an incredible view. We‘re getting a 59-minute early dismissal today. I finally got a car & moved off base! So I got to go grocery shopping at an Italian market, which was a fun experience (see photos & videos of that on IG).

#5JoysFriday

1. Sunrise
2. Seeing Mt. Vesuvius every day is surreal
3-5. This kitten ❤️🐱❤️

I‘m hosting a poetry challenge in April for National Poetry Month. I plan to write 1 poem a day & created a list of prompts. 🖋️

If you don‘t want to write a poem, then the challenge is to read 1 poem a day (bonus if you read one that fits the prompt). 🎉

The graphic is also available on my blog along with my thoughts on poetry: http://wanderinglynn.com/2025/03/20/celebrating-poetry/

Everyone is welcome to join! #aprilpoetrychallenge

#5JoysFriday on Saturday

1. This kitten ❤️🐱❤️
2. I‘m in Italy
3. Gelato
4. Books & my blog
5. I still have a job (at least as of Friday)

Exactly this. 😂

Congrats @Texreader on your new milestone! 🎉

For me, the bestest part of Litsy is the people. I‘ve made so many amazing book friends from swaps to reads alongs to pen pals to all the various events. I just love celebrating all things bookish with other book people. 💜📚

#5JoysFriday

1. This kitten ❤️
2. I no longer live in DC 🇮🇹 & I still have a job (at least so far)
3. OMG, this kitten! ❤️
4. Italian food
5. Have I mentioned the kitten? ❤️🐱

#5JoysFriday on Sunday

It‘s been a week. Between the insane politics, moving, & waiting for J‘s international health cert (which finally arrived on Friday), my stress levels have been high. Thank goodness for this guy 🐈‍⬛. He‘s been just the bestest kitten—adapting to hotel life, going through airport security, and now waiting in the United Lounge for our flight, he‘s doing so well and while nervous, is hanging in there.

This was too fun! 😂❤️

Type “literally my character” in the Pinterest search.

Thanks @dabbe for the idea!

If you think these firings won‘t affect you, you haven‘t been paying attention.

A friend who was fired today from the Dept. of Energy worked on projects with money appropriated by Congress. Projects that create American jobs, strengthen our country by improving the nation's electric grid, & advance industrial technologies that reduce pollution & keep us competitive with manufacturing abroad.

And this is just 1 person, 1 story.

Despite this being horror, I was mostly bored. It started with a few promising scenes, but it quickly fell flat because (1) the writing did nothing to build any kind of creepy/horror atmosphere & (2) the MC consistently said/thought stupid things. But the biggest issue I had with this book is that there really no plot. They see some weird things, make inappropriate jokes, & yet nothing really happens.

But it‘s now #OffMyShelf 🎉

#mentalhealthmonday

1. Stressed, more stressed, & tired
2. Music, audiobooks, rereading faves, cutting out nearly all social media
3. Nutrition & its effect on mental health, thinking errors, music/art, relaxation techniques

While he provides a compelling case for de jure housing segregation, I found it was buried through the dry recitation of facts within a somewhat repetitive argument. Instead of a fact filled data dump, more analysis of the impacts of these policies & actions would have made this a more compelling read. As it is, it would have been better as a long-form essay than a book. But despite that, it‘s still worth reading.

#OffMyShelf for nonfiction

The new Eve Dallas book! 🎉 No. 60 & a kickass installment where we get to learn more about Summerset & the Urban Wars.

The back of the book has all the titles & inside the dust jacket is a spot the picture to find all the animals.

#sundayfunday

So many (depending on what “classic” includes). But I am trying to read more classics. I read 3 in Jan—Ward No. 6, Don Quixote, & Brave New World.

Next up, probably in March, will be the tagged.

New to me author #OffMyShelf

The tagged was almost painful to read. Overhyped, boring, and disappointing. No character development, no world building, & not really a cozy fantasy. I skimmed most of it & still@knew exactly what was happening.

It‘s off my shelf & onto my PangoBooks bookshop.

But at least this book did finally get me my first #2025OffMyShelf bingo!

I‘m not going to get another book finished, so I‘m calling it. It‘s been a month between polar vortexes and political insanity, and I escaped hard into books!

Final tally is 41 + 7 DNFs
🎧 25 audio
📚 14 physical
💻 9 e-books

And 12 were for #2025OffMyShelf 🎉

I break it down on my blog, wanderinglynn.com

One last book done for January!

I appreciate WCW for basically inventing the casual American style of poetry & that his subject matter centered on everyday circumstances of life and the lives of common people. However, WCW is not my favorite poet. While I like some of his poetry, I also don't care for most of it & my rating reflects this. The great thing about poetry is that there‘s something for everyone.

#OffMyShelf for poetry prompt

It‘s been a super stressful & tragic week here in DC. But I have kept my eyes open for the little joys.

1. Jasper got neutered this week & he was sooo stoned when I picked him up.
2. Jasper escaping out of not 1 but 2 collars. He ended up playing with the soft one. 🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️
3. Books! I‘ve looked at my monthly stats today & I‘ve done some solid reading 📚
4. Friends ❤️
5. Finally finding a vet that can do the health certificate.

“When, from 2014 to 2016, riots in places like Ferguson, Baltimore, Milwaukee, or Charlotte captured our attention, most of us thought we knew how these segregated neighborhoods, with their crime, violence, anger, and poverty came to be.”

#firstlinefriday

Banned book #OffMyShelf

While I appreciate this book for its literary importance and for its themes/concepts, I did not find this book interesting or easy to read due to the execution & presentation. Plus, the Fordism got a bit cheesy. "Oh Ford!"

So, I am glad I finally read it, but I think there are better classics that speak to the same or similar themes and concepts that Huxley presents.

#2025OffMyShelf

Love Pippa Grant‘s books. Fletcher is adorable & Goldie is fun. Plus, Jason Clarke is the perfect narrator for Fletcher.

Soft pick. I haven‘t seen the emotion picture, so I did feel like I was missing something. But I stuck with it and get the gist of this world. However, I'd probably recommend watching the video first because I think it would have helped me understand this world better.

That being said, I mostly enjoyed it, although I liked some more than others

#OffMyShelf for written by a celebrity 🎉
And so close to a bingo!

#sundayfunday

I have a lot of comfort reads. Different ones for different needs. But many of them are romances because who doesn‘t need a HEA, especially when real life is not going so happily.

All of Abby Jimenez‘s books are on my comfort read list. But the tagged is probably my fave. Maybe because it was the first Jimenez I read. And because I love seeing how Sloan & Jason‘s relationship grows & how they overcome their obstacles.

So, so bad. He could have stopped with why her analysis of the profiles was off. She‘s an idiot because who thinks that because a man is in real estate that “he knows commitment” or that because a man is a brewer that “he knows chemistry.” Like terrible middle school valentine cards.

The only reason I didn‘t DNF was the narration by Andi Arndt & Jacob Morgan. Even that was a stretch because this story was *that* bad. So glad this was a freebie.

#OffMyShelf for short stories; anthology, or essays

I‘m really wishing I had taken a Russian literature class in college. I absolutely loved this short story collection. An incredible writer, Chekhov definitely transcends time. I can see why he‘s considered one of the greatest short story writers.

So this book is off my TBR shelf, but I‘m definitely keeping it & will revisit these stories often.

#2025OffMyShelf

Jasper apparently doesn‘t appreciate Russian literature.

#catsoflitsy

#NaturaLitsy #midwintersolace

I have many comfort reads—different ones for different comfort needs. The tagged is one (especially the audio version read by Steve West 🥰), along with their Kate Daniels series.

Other comfort reads include anything by Abby Jimenez, Kristen Callihan‘s VIP series, Dirty Secret by Mira Lyn Kelly, David Eddings‘s Belgariad & Mallorean series, Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs, Pride & Prejudice, & HHGTTG

#firstlinefriday

“In the hospital yard there stands a small lodge surrounded by a perfect forest of burdocks, nettles, and wild hemp.”

#5JoysFriday

This has been a tough week with a lot of uncertainty.
1. A hot toddy and my favorite candle
2. I created a new bingo board for my #OffMyShelf reading challenge
3. This cat makes me laugh 😹
4. Finally got confirmation this morning that my move is still on 🎉
5. This cat loves to snuggle ❤️

A fun article from Atlas Obscura

“The writer Rabelais invented fake book titles that were bawdy send-ups of the French establishment in the early 16th century. In the 18th and 19th centuries, servants‘ passages in wealthy households were often hidden by “jib doors,” bookshelves built directly into walls, and some of the more humorous-minded would put fake titles on the fake books.“

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/imaginary-books-nyc

I‘ve been so motivated with my #2025OffMyShelf challenge, I created a part 2!

These prompts are a bit broader to allow for a variety of interpretations.

I‘ve also put the Part 2 Reading Challenge on Story Graph. The links for SG as well as a jpg or pdf version of the bingo board are on my blog: http://wanderinglynn.com/2025/01/23/2025-off-my-shelf-reading-challenge-part-2/

#2025OffMyShelf2 #OffMyShelf2

“But people have grown better,” observed the bailiff.
“In what way?”
“Cleverer.”
“Cleverer, maybe, that‘s true, young man; but what‘s the use of that? What earthly good is cleverness to people on the brink of ruin? One can perish without cleverness. What‘s the good of cleverness to a huntsman if there is no game?”

From The Pipe. Written in 1887. Still relevant (or even more so) in 2025.

Book 2 in the love letters series (and there seems to be just the 2 books). Nathan might have edged out Maddox for book boyfriend. This is a beautiful story of childhood friends meeting as adults and finding love.

But, this book has dark underlying themes, including child abuse (verbal & physical), parental death, negative self-talk and suicidal thoughts—there is a content warning at the beginning of the book. So not a story for everyone.

#two4tuesday on Wednesday

1. Hm, several things, but mostly the political BS.

2. Tagged + the movie Office Space