Yusuf/Cat Stevens autobiography with Leeloo.
“ Oh I’ve been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one. And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come...”. Beautiful autobiography by Yusuf/ Cat Stevens. His songs inspire peace and his story challenges readers to look beyond a Western view of Islam. Insightful and personal.
Leeloo, Lobster and the novel, The Murder at World’s End.
Readers seeking a cozy locked-room mystery will love this one from Ross Montgomery. An elderly aunt, a maid and the second footman must solve a murder that occurred while everyone was locked down to escape the Halley Comet apocalypse. An entertaining whodunit with twists and a comet!
Leeloo the Boston poses with a cover of Held by Anne Michaels. The cover is a winner scene with shadows and dark trees.
“Nothing enrages a tyrant more than hope.” A beautifully written novel that explores how the past can haunt. The author is an amazing artist of language.
Book cover for Possession by A.S. Byatt and Leeloo, the Boston Terrier. Possession is my last read of 2025.
Last read of 2025–Possession by A.S. Byatt. Byatt wrote all the Victorian poetry featured in the novel as well as letters and diaries. It’s a literary mystery and romance that asks questions about possession of scholarship, relationships, secrets, poetry. A gorgeous novel.
Cover of American Midnight by Adam Hochschild. History about United States between 1917-1920.
“Truth and Falsehood are arbitrary terms.... There is nothing in experience to tell us that one is always preferable to the other.... The force of an idea lies in its inspirational value. It matters very little whether it is true or false.” US politics today mirrors the democracy of 1917-20.
Leeloo sleeping next to a Matrix, a novel written by Lauren Groff.
Lauren Groff has been on my list for too long! This novel is genius. Marie is exiled from court by Eleanor of Aquitaine to an impoverished abbey in England where Marie uses all her powers to create an amazing community of creative women. A tapestry of violence, sensuality and mysticism.
Boston terrier, Leeloo, her red ball and a paperback copy of Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor.
Winter is a great time to travel to Western Africa—at least in a fantasy written by the talented Nnedi Okorafor. So beautifully written! Great characters and a thrilling story.
Leeloo, a black and white Boston terrier is happy her reader has completed The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass.
Finished! This book was not what I was expecting from a novel centered on WW2. I’m glad I traveled with this absurd circus of characters to the end. It was a dark, weird tour.
Book cover of My Good Bright Wolf by Sarah Moss. Next to the cover is a dozing Boston terrier named Leeloo.
The great challenge as a reader is to recognize brilliance. This book seemed to me, at first, boring. Then daunting. Then, with a humbled mind I realized I had misunderstood and went to back to reread chapters and paragraphs. This is a memoir that reads like great literature.
Book cover for The Drowned, by John Banville
Great read for a windy October Sunday!
Easy on the Eyes, Texas Hill
Book cover of The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka accompanied by sleeping Boston terrier.
I love this novel! Written by Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka this book is a murder mystery, political thriller & poignant discourse about love & friendship. Main character Maali Almeida has 7 moons to solve his own murder, reveal the horrors of a civil war and fight demons. Highly recommend!
Leeloo, Boston Terrier, with book on my lap. Book is The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
I finally read this one! So good. Here’s some other historical fiction I’ve read that include the gods or this time period: The Last of the Wine, Mary Renault; Silence of the Girls, Pat Barker; and Thessaly, Jo Walton which includes robots which is awesome! Here’s to fate and fallen heroes!
Leeloo is a Boston terrier with a squirrel toy posing with Trust, a novel by Hernan Diaz.
Just starting Trust by Hernan Diaz. A friend recommended it so I moved it from my TBR shelf to the reading chair which I’m sharing with Leeloo and flat squirrel.
Broken book, Great Shame by Thomas Keneally. Reader broke the spine.
Sometimes the book doesn’t survive the reader…Finished this one finally but the book paid the price. RIP to a good book with a glued spine.
Book cover of Exit Strategy, The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Fourth in the series, cover shows Murderbot floating away from space pod.
Swinging in a hammock on my front porch, reading about Murderbot. It’s a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Like a Prayer, Madonna I hear your voice…
Book cover for the graphic novel by Kate Beaton—Ducks, Two Years in the Oil Sands. Published by Drawn & Quarterly, 2022.
This remarkable memoir by Beaton is a graphic wonder. She captures the scale of the machinery and the mining sites and writes candidly about the alienation and harshness of the labor. We learn with Beaton about the exploitation and alienation of large corporations on indigenous communities.
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Leeloo the Bossy Boston Terrier is napping while I read There’s No Turning Back by Alba De Cespedes.
“Who can forget having been master of herself? … Those who remained can’t forgive us for having a key to our own room.” From the 1938 novel about the hidden lives of women by de Cespedes and translated by Ann Goldstein.
There is no greater moral failure than stealing a child from their family. It is evil, full stop. Those who carry it out have forfeited their humanity. I’m hoping karma is real & she exacts her full vengeance upon them. We are called to act. Show up. Speak out. Call every single day.
Graphic showing stats mentioned in post text
Who’s really behind book bans?
It’s not just concerned parents… 72% of book censorship efforts come from pressure groups and government officials. Only 16% come from parents, and 12% from others like teachers or library users.
#FreedomToRead #StopBookBans #FactsMatter #LetBooksBe #ProtectLibraries
I’m a Believer, The Monkees
#PostcardDay June 7th We will not kneel to a tyrant
#PostcardDay! June 7th we will swamp social media with DIGITAL postcards to get ready for the June 14th No Kings! protest.
Find links to pre-made postcards and templates for making your own:
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
POST/REPOST with #PostcardDay on June 7th
@50501supporters.bsky.social
Book cover for The Crow Girl written by Swedish author duo Jerker Eriksson and Hallam Axlander Sundquist. Translated from Swedish by Neil Smith. Nordic noir thriller.
Intense psychological thriller. Nordic noir can be twisty and dark so it’s not always my first choice. This was well-written but I always worry about Sweden’s mental well-being when I finish a book like this. No happy endings with this one!
Book cover for Where Sleeping Girls Lie, written by Eridah Abike-Iyimide. YA mystery set at a boarding school.
Read this so fast, I almost forgot to post it. Look this awesome cover! A compelling mystery that compassionately includes mature topics faced by young students. I read this in one day because the writing is so good and the characters were amazing.
Book cover for The Antidote by Karen Russell
Quoted text from The Antidote by Karen Russell. “Why should money make evil compressible to anyone? …Evil’s genius is to costume itself as sense.”
My read this week. Set during the Dustbowl in Nebraska. Beautiful characters, a little witchcraft and magic. Depth and humor deftly written to impart the importance of hope for the future by giving respect to the past.
Book cover for Zorrie by Laird Hunt.
This amazing novel spans the lifetime of Zorrie Underwood. After
The deaths of her parents and guardian, she moves West from Depression-era Indiana to work in a radium processing plant then back home where trials and pain must be faced with tenacity.
