“Music doesn‘t just progress forward in a straight line but works backward into the past as well. Without understanding that, you would never appreciate the fascination of the fugue.” - At the end of the matinee

Enjoying all three of these books, but especially this one!

February was another great reading month!

I don‘t rate the books on Storygraph so this graphic shows what I read at the beginning, middle, and end of the month. The best book I read in February was Human Acts by Han Kang and I also attended a book club meeting on it as well

Spotting something unusual in the flower bed, student number one from class one in the first year of high school went over to it and discovered a round white growth.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

I had been looking forward to reading this for so long! It is set in Ireland, and the story centers on an archeological dig and the woods next to it. The woods, which really described vividly, were my favorite part.

It was disappointing to realize that I wanted to bail around a third of the way in, but I thought certainly this thriller would develop more tension and excitement. Nope!

The subtitle of We Still Here covers the main topics within: pandemic, policing, protest, and possibility. This book was published in 2020 and is organized in interviews format. The chapters Justice for “All” and Whose Violence? were especially powerful.
#Nonfiction2025 #BlackLivesMatter #MonthlyNonfiction2025
@Riveted_Reader_Melissa @julieclair

#WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain

Enjoying all four so far! Tonight I‘ll probably finish Marigold Mind Laundry and then continue reading The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen

Cute book sticker alert!!

What I warn you to remember is that I am a detective.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Reading Marigold Mind Library, I found a reference to film director and screen writer Park Chan-wook. That inspired me to watch one of his films, so I chose Uprising which is set during the Imjin War

I‘ve been reading Taiwan Travelogue this week! It imagines two women‘s lives during the Japanese rule of Taiwan and is is framed as a Japanese writer‘s rediscovered work in translation. I was interested to see this piece from the Asymptote Blog on Taiwanese literature in translation-

https://www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2025/02/19/taipei-travelogue-on-the-taipei...

Her Hidden Genius is about the life and work of Rosalind Franklin whose work was instrumental in discovering the structure of DNA. She faced many obstacles as a woman in science and this fictionalized account of her life includes not only her difficulties with colleagues in the lab but also her parents, who struggled to comprehend her passion for research. Yet she remained committed to her work despite everything ⬇️

❄️ Smitten with the library!

I‘m working on writing a longish book review so I‘ve been reading and rereading the same book all weekend - The Black Swan Mystery! But I had a very bookish #ValentinesDayReadathon
🩵 Finished watching The Essex Serpent
💛 Bought a copy of Remarkably Bright Creatures at the bookstore
💚 Attended a book club on Human Acts
🩷 Got a message from someone who picked up a book I took to a book swap a few months ago!
@ShananigansReads

“It is minus twelve degrees Celsius as Anna Larsson drives along Tångbölevägen, which is a very narrow road.”

This book, along with the first in the series Hidden in Snow are the basis of The Åre Murders on Netflix! #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Earlier this week I went to see Macbeth with David Tennant and Cush Jumbo at the cinema. The staff was handing out there free postcards as we went in the theater!
This production was amazing and I loved the music and set, but I think The Tempest is still my favorite. Which is your favorite Shakespeare play?

This is the first one of these lists I‘ve done! #tbt #ThreeListThursday @dabbe
1. There were several I studied as a French major: Rhinoceros, Tartuffe, The Stranger
2. Surfacing by Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite books
3. I would like to read The Street by Ann Petry

I think this week‘s sign might be my favorite so far!
The Library! A great place to get checked out 📚

Of course I was initially interested in this book because of seeing this beautiful cover on Litsy. When I was younger, I was a little obsessed with reading about the Salem Witch Trials, and I read The Scarlet Letter around that time too.

The author had such a unique idea for the origin of the famous red letter, and the reimagining of Hester and Nat‘s stories was so full of emotion!

I spotted this while reading the New York Review of Books. This month marks the 100th anniversary of Edward Gorey‘s birth 🎂
At the end of last year, I saw an amazing exhibit called Journey to the World of Edward Gorey - I love his illustrations!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
☕️ Had a Honey Cream Latte in a cute Tom & Jerry cup
🐧 Finch friends
🍱 Dinner at a Japanese restaurant
🍿 Watched A Real Pain at the cinema with a friend
🎧 Audiowalk listening to Hester

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl 🧬

A thin mist hovers over the Seine in the early morning air.

I just learned about mlíko when reading A Little Place in Prague and then saw this article about it while scrolling today! It‘s behind a paywall, so here‘s more info from Atlas Obscura instead

https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/czech-milk-beer-mliko-pilsner

Anna Love and Leo Knight are in Prague to learn about brewing beer, but only one of them will have the honor of having their beer featured at the Christmas Beer Festival. I loved everything about their story in the city of a hundred spires 💕
#FictionalTraveler #APlaceYouLove @julieclair

This was such a good cozy mystery with the beginnings of a romance between Clara Harrington, newly arrived in the village of Picklemarsh, and Felicity Abbot, local councillor. Clara and her Aunt investigate the death of their neighbor who collapses face first into his dessert.

But I can‘t recommend this book fully!! Why?? Because you‘ll want to know what happens next, and there don‘t seem to be any more books in the series!!

This weeks sign at the library! Winter is bearable with good books 🐻

I already posted a January wrap up but then I found the monthly graphics on Storygraph 😆 This is the first time I‘ve actually kept up with tracking my reading daily so I‘m excited to see this graph!!

#WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain

🧬 Her Hidden Genius
🍰 Death Before Dessert

January wrap up!! I enjoyed all 12 books this month📚

Not pictured are The Desire Map & Winter in Sokcho which I finished at the last minute! #FictionalTraveler #SomeplaceCold 🇰🇷

The Woman Destroyed 🇫🇷 The Samurai of the Red Carnation 🇫🇷 🇯🇵 Invisible Helix 🇯🇵 Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop 🇰🇷 #ReadtheWorld2025

The Puffin of Death 🇮🇸 A Trail of Lies #ThematicCozies
The Kiss Countdown #RiseUpReads

1. The 2025 planners were on sale so I bought a Snoopy themed one
2. Had coffee with a friend before attending a work event
3. Mr Donuts collab with Pierre Marcolini. Chocolate brings me joy😆
4. I tracked my reading every day this month!! Love seeing my completed tracker on Fable
5. Also I started using Finch from the beginning of the year-it‘s so cute and motivating

#FiveJoysFriday @DebinHawaii

He arrived bundled up in a woolen coat. —Winter in Sokcho

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Read it in one sitting!! Another great mystery in the Detective Galileo series—the characters and their invisible connections had me hooked 🧬

Shiori Ito‘s documentary Black Box Diaries, based on her memoir Black Box has been nominated for an Academy Award. It is the first Japanese documentary to be nominated

https://www.tokyoweekender.com/entertainment/movies-tv/shiori-itos-black-box-dia...

my daughter spotted this sign at the university library! I love it!! ❄️

I‘m really enjoying this book, probably because it has a lot about books and coffee! And I just love the idea of having all day to think about a film (or a book) and discovering something special.

It‘s not quite February yet but this is next up for #ThematicCozies

#WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. Got tickets to see Wicked in May! I want to read the book before seeing the musical!
2. A friend went to Hawaii and gave us some coffee as a souvenir
3. Going to Jazzercise class and dancing my stress away
4. I love to listen to these jazzy snoopy themed YouTube videos while I‘m working (eun.yeon)
5. Audio walks! Currently listening to The Storm We Made

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

“According to legend, coffee was discovered thanks to a herd of goats. When they ate a small round red fruit, they were very energetic and began to prance about, leading the goat herder to discover the coffee fruit and its properties.”

I looked up the story mentioned in this book because in Japan we have Kaldi coffee beans with a goat on the package. Turns out the goat herders name was Kaldi, so this is a popular name for coffee shops ☕️ 🐐

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView
1. Waking up early in the winter for first period class 🥶
2. There‘s No Such Thing as an Easy Job

This is a good time of year to read a book like this and think about goal setting. There is even a workbook in the back. It‘s not very well written, but the idea of core desired feelings is helpful. In the word list, I found the word ebullient which I like because it combines both cheerfulness and energy!

A birding group from the US travels to Iceland but disaster strikes and one of their main members (who dislikes puffins by the way!!) is found dead. The sleuth is a zookeeper from California who is in the country to pick up a polar bear and other animals for their northern climes exhibit.

Loved the animals and Iceland, but didn‘t really care about any of the characters. This is book four in the series so that may have something to do with it

#WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain

🇮🇸 The Puffin of Death
🫖 The Harlequin Tea Set

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1. Going to a writing group meeting at a bookstore
2. Homemade focaccia
3. Wordle! Every day my friend and I send each other our results and it‘s so fun to stay in touch this way. Even better I was able to solve all of them in 2 or 3 guesses this week!
4. Finished teaching for the semester. I loved listening to all the students‘ final presentations
5. Yummy bar of oatmilk chocolate from a friend 💛

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

This book is about the mass killings in Indonesia in 1965-66 and in other countries in the 20th century. There were so many details in this well researched book. I listened to the audio, so I‘m already planning to reread it and to research some of the topics in it, such as the Bandung Conference. #NonFiction

If you are curious about AI, and especially if you work in education, then this book would be a great one to read. The author also has a Substack called One Useful Thing.

The writing is engaging and even JRR Tolkien is quoted!
I especially enjoyed the chapters on AI as a creative, as a tutor, and as a coach.

1. I like the holidays and the chance to slow down

2. Murder at Everham Hall is set during New Year‘s and has a snowy manor scene on the cover ❄️

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

I had a three day weekend, so with plenty of time for reading, I alternated between two mysteries and two
nonfiction books #WeekendReads @rachelsbrittain
🌹 Kill Her Twice
🇮🇸 Puffin of Death
🤖 Co-Intelligence
🇮🇩 The Jakarta Method

Today attended a writing group meeting at a book shop. It was a quiet and cozy place, perfect for concentrating on words. Tagging one of my favorite writing books!