Stuff and Nonsense

Poem of the day

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

The Guest House

Rumi
(Translated by Coleman Barks)

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Poem of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

I, Too

By Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

From The Selected Works of Langston Hughes, Knopf Doubleday, 2011.

Funny Friday

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Fri, 03 Apr 2026 13:00:00 +0000

March Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Definitely Maybe Not a Detective (Wyatt Investigations #1) by Sarah Fox. (Random House Publishing Group, 6 January 2026.)

I loved this cozy mystery about Emersyn Gray, guardian to her seven-year-old niece Livy. Emersyn is "between jobs", as well as broke because her ex cleaned out her bank account.

In an effort to help, Emersyn's friend Jemma half-jokingly makes her some business cards for "Wyatt Investigations" (Wyatt being the name of her imaginary childhood crush).

While tailing her ex, Emersyn bumps into a handsome security expert named... Wyatt, and somehow they end up working together to get Emersyn's money back.

The Kindness of Strangers by Emma Garman. (Simon & Schuster, 12 May 2026).

This is a twisty and charming mystery starring the residents of a London boarding house in 1953.

When a secretive young man who introduces himself as "Jimmy" appears one night, and landlady Honor Wilson takes him in without question, the four current residents are confused and intrigued.

They are all convinced that he's bad news, and each attempts in her/his own way to determine who he really is.

The Primrose Murder Society by Stacy Hackney. (HarperCollins, 3 March 2026).

This is another charming cozy about a woman and child solving mysteries together.

Lily Shaw's husband has been arrested for white-collar crime. When she is turned out of her home by the FBI, Lily and her 10-year-old daughter move into a junk-filled apartment to clean it out.

When the owner of the building's penthouse dies a few days after Lily and Bea move in. When they learn that his will set up a two-million-dollar reward for whoever solves the murder of his granddaughter 21 years earlier.

As an avid true-crime fan, Bea is determined to figure it out, and, acknowledging the need for money, Lila reluctantly agrees.

Like the heroines of Definitely Maybe Not a Detective, Lila and Bea are intelligent, appealing protagonists.

The Tree of Light and Flowers (Jane Whitefield #10) by Thomas Perry. (The Mysterious Press, 3 March 2026).

After the birth of her daughter, May, Jane Whitefield believes she's retired from helping people disappear.

Three unrelated incidents change her situation.

A teenaged girl and a middle-aged man who are seeking justice track her down.

Russian mob boss who thought Jane was dead learns that she isn't and sends his best to deal with her.

As a result, Jane is not only attempting to help two runners disappear, she's trying to protect her family and save her own life.

Cross-posted on Substack.

February Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Beth is Dead by Katie Bernet (Sarah Barley Books/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 6 January 2026).

The Restoration Garden by Sara Blaydes (Lake Union Publishing, 1 November 2025).

Found in a Bookshop (Lost for Words) by Stephanie Butland. (Headline Books, 27 April 2023).

This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page (Berkley, 3 February 2026).

Most Ardently Yours by Freya Sampson (Sourcebooks Landmark, 7 July 2026).

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (Park Row Books, 22 July 2025).

(Cross-posted to my Substack.)

Just finished reading...

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Found in a Bookshop by Stephanie Butland. (Headline, 27 April 2023).

I don't know how I missed this amazing book when it was first released!

The bookshop itself is the protagonist of this story, which takes place during the first year of the COVID pandemic.

Loveday Cardew, the owner of Lost for Words, is beginning to wonder if her beloved bookshop will survive the shutdown. While the store is still receiving a few online and phoned in orders, it's not nearly enough to support herself, her family, and her staff.

When they receive a letter from a customer, enclosing cheque for £100, requesting a copy of Persuasion, and "books that we might think are wonderful".

After receiving a few such requests, shop manager Kelly comes up with the idea of a book "prescription" service. On the store's social media, she posts a request for customers to tell them what they need right now: books to alleviate boredom or anxiety, loneliness, or any other issue that a reader (or non-reader!) might have.

After the local newspaper publishes a piece about this "bespoke" service, which includes shipping or personal delivery, Lost for Words' business begins to revive.

The book's chapters alternate between vignettes about how Loveday and her staff and family, and people who live in the area are dealing with the unprecedented situation, and essays reflecting on the nature and importance of books.

Butland has really written a love letter to books and their readers. Although some of the stories about people trying to cope with the pandemic as well as their usual problems are painful to read, her message is one of hope and love.

Cross-posted on my Substack.

Just finished reading...

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 14:00:00 +0000

This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page*. Berkley, 3 February 2026.

Tilly Nightingale has been a widow for a mere 6 months. She's having trouble coming to terms with the death of her husband, and is (not) dealing with it by throwing herself into her job as an editor.

Previously a voracious reader, Tilly hasn't opened a book since Joe was diagnosed with cancer.

Then she gets a call from bookstore owner Alfie Lane, who informs her that, prior to his death, Joe had arranged for him to give her a book, with a letter enclosed, every month for one year. Knowing that Tilly had lost one of her greatest comforts, Joe arranged for each book to gently pull Tilly further out of her self-imposed isolation.

Tilly finds herself doing things and going places she'd never imagined experiencing.

During the course of the year, Tilly and Alfie develop a close friendship, which also eases Tilly's grief process.

Ms. Page has sensitively chronicled a difficult journey in a young woman's life. The story she tells is engrossing, and satisfying.

Highly recommended!

*I borrowed this ebook from my local library.

Cross-posted on my Substack.

January favorites

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz (Ace, 18 November 2025),

Guy Shadowfade is dead, and after a lifetime as the dark sorcerer’s right-hand, Violet Thistlewaite is determined to start over—not as the fearsome Thornwitch, but as someone kind. Someone better. Someone good.

The quaint town of Dragon’s Rest, Violet decides, will be her second chance—she’ll set down roots, open a flower shop, keep her sentient (mildly homicidal) houseplant in check, and prune dark magic from the twisted boughs of her life.

Violet’s vibrant bouquets and cheerful enchantments soon charm the welcoming townsfolk, though nothing seems to impress the prickly yet dashingly handsome Nathaniel Marsh, an alchemist sharing her greenhouse. With a struggling business and his own second chance seemingly out of reach, Nathaniel has no time for flowers or frippery—and certainly none for the intriguing witch next door.

When a mysterious blight endangers every living plant in Dragon’s Rest, Violet and Nathaniel must work together, through their fears, and pasts to save their community. But with a figure from her previous life knocking at her door and her secrets threatening to uproot everything she’s worked so hard to grow, Violet can’t help but wonder…does a former villain truly deserve a happily-ever-after?

Mrs. Spy by M.J Robotham (Bloomsbury Publishing, 15 July 2025).

Maggie Flynn isn't your typical mum.

She's a spy, an operative for MI5, stalking London's streets in myriad disguises.

Widowed and balancing her clandestine career with raising a Beatles-mad teenage daughter, Maggie finds comfort and purpose in her profession – providing a connection to her late husband, whose own covert past only surfaced after his death.

But Maggie's world spins out of control when a chance encounter with a mysterious Russian agent triggers a chilling revelation: he knew her husband. And what's worse, the agent suspects someone on home soil betrayed him.

As Maggie searches for answers, she'll question everyone – and everything – she thought she could trust. In the murky and perilous world of espionage, can she outsmart those determined to keep her silenced?

See my review of Mrs. Spy here.

The Reckoning (A Renata Drake Thriller) by Kelli Stanley.

California, Southern Humboldt County, 1985. Renata Drake steps off a Greyhound bus and into small-town Garberville, hoping to disappear. She checks the papers. She’s not headline news. Not yet.

But she’s made a mistake. The FBI have the cannabis-producing “Emerald Triangle” town— and its corrupt residents—in their sights. Even worse, a teenage girl is missing, and when she turns up dead, the third in three years, it’s clear a serial killer is living among them.

Renata knows about murdered girls and the burning desire for justice—and for revenge. Her younger sister Josie is gone, and now, so is the man who killed her. Renata didn’t stay in Washington, D.C. to be arrested for executing a murderer, and she shouldn’t stay here either. But Renata decides to investigate, and what she uncovers will trigger a final reckoning: For herself, for a killer, and for all of Southern Humboldt.

See my review of The Reckoning here.

Cross-posted on my Substack.

Just finished reading...

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Mrs. Spy by M.J. Robotham (Bloomsbury Publishing, 15 May 2025).

Yes, this is a spy novel, but it feels more like a cozy mystery.

The book is written in first person, from Maggie's point of view. We learn, in the first few paragraphs that Maggie Flynn is 45 years old, and may be growing a bunion. During the remainder the first chapter, we learn that she's tailing someone, and that she's carrying a bag full of objects she can use to change her appearance on the fly.

Soon, we learn that she works for MI5, but that she's an ordinary

"middle-aged parent of one very teenage girl, a widow of almost three years, and the only daughter of a mother undergoing some type of breakdown or renaissance, depending on which day of the week it is. And here I am, smack-bang in what is apparently the world’s hippest city."*

The aforementioned city happens to be London, and the year is 1965.

She may have discovered a turncoat in the agency's administration, and doing her regular job at the same time as trying to flush out the rat is taking up a lot of time.

Meanwhile, Maggie's daughter Libby wants tickets to The Beatles' December concert at the Hammersmith Odeon. Maggie desperately wants to find these tickets for her daughter, but Maggie is a little busy.

The book is great fun to read. The author has done an incredible job of recreating London in the mid-1960s.

Is it a cozy mystery? Is it a spy thriller? Read it and decide!

*Mrs. Spy, p. 19

Cross-posted to my Substack.

Funny Friday

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 00:56:00 +0000

Funny Friday

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

My favorite literary fiction of 2025

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Cooper (William Morrow, 2025).

Lightning in a Mason Jar by Catherine Mann (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

It's a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025).

The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O'Neal (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

The Page Turner by Viola Shipman (Graydon House, 2025).

The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner (William Morrow, 2025).

Mystery Monday - My 2025 favorites

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

For Duck's Sake (Meg Lanslow #37) by Donna Andrews ((St. Martin's Press, 2025).

Just Another Dead Author (Berit Gardner #2) by Katrina Bivald (Poisoned Pen Press, 2025).

From Cradle to Grave (Her Royal Spyness #19) by Rhys Bowen (Penguin Group, 2025).

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Alison Brennan (MIRA Books, 2025).

Death of a Forest Fairy (Hungarian Tea House #4) by Julia Buckley (Julia Buckley, 2025).

The Wexford Carole (Imogen Durant #2) by Janice MacDonald (Ravenstone Press, 2025).

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (St. Martin's Press, 2025).

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson (Penguin Group, 2025).

Funny Friday

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Wrong Hands by John Atkinson

- originally published on Wrong Hands, 6 January 2026

Just finished reading...

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

The Reckoning by Kelli Stanley (Severn House, 6 January 2026).

I read this book without knowing much about it, except that it takes place in 1985 in Humboldt County, California. And that was written by Kelli Stanley.

The story is written in the first person (something that Kelli excels at) from Renata's point of view. Thus, we know how she's feeling about events as they occur, and how they connect to her motivations and her background.

We learn in the first chapter that the date is September 20, and that Renata Drake is running from something. We also learn that she took a Greyhound bus from somewhere to Garberville, California simply because she remembered it from a photo she'd seen as a child.

At first, she's just trying to hide, but it's hard. The situation in Humboldt County at the time was akin to Prohibition earlier in the century, (except the substance was cannabis instead of alcohol) so there was a large law enforcement presence.

Yes, this book is fiction, but Garberville and its environs are real. Searching for information and photos of the area, I found that while much has changed in almost 41 years, some places look eerily similar to they way Renata describes them.

Open-hearted and independent, Renata is at the same time vulnerable. As a librarian, one of the things I liked most about her was her love of books and bookish people.

Not a traditional thriller, but more of a historical mystery, this is one of those books that I wanted to read as fast as possible to find out what happened, but also slowly to savor the prose. I ~~think~~ hope I managed both.

The Reckoning is the first 2026 [book] publication that I've read. Even so, I'm certain that it will be on my "favorites" list at the end of the year.

If you read it and enjoy it, do yourself a favor and read Ms. Stanley's backlist as well.

Kelli and me at Bouchercon 2024

Kelli Stanley is the award-winning author of historical crime fiction, both novels and short stories.

She also founded the Anthony award-winning non-profit publisher, Nasty Woman Press. Kelli earned a Master's Degree in Classics (and a double BA in Classics and Art History), loves jazz, old movies, battered fedoras, Art Deco and speakeasies. Like Renata, Ms. Stanley is also a fan of books and bookish people.

She credits Raymond Chandler, Ernest Hemingway, Cornell Woolrich, Dashiell Hammett and Thomas Hardy as some of her major influences.

Cross-posted to my Substack.

My favorite historical fiction of 2025

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict (St. Martin's, 2025).

The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick (Harper Muse, 2025).

Mrs. Endicott's Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union, 2025).

Kate & Frida by Kim Fay (Penguin, 2025).

The Dressmakers of London by Julia Kelly (Gallery Books, 2025).

The Martha's Vineyard Beach and Book Club by Martha Hall Kelly (Random House, 2025).

Confessions of a Grammar Queen by Eliza Knight (Sourcebooks, 2025).

The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes (William Morrow, 2025).

The Eights by Joanna Miller (Penguin, 2025).

A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan (Penguin, 2025).

Kaye's favorites

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 14:00:00 +0000

My online friend Kaye Barley, asked if I would share her list of book favorites from 2025, and I happily agreed.

We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1) by Karin Slaughter (William Morrow, 2025).

Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2025).

Apostle’s Cove (A Cork O'Connor Mystery) by William Kent Krueger (Atria Books, 2025).

My Beloved (A Mitford Novel) by Jan Karon (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025).

All This Could Be Yours by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Minotaur Books, 2025).

Hunter’s Heart Ridge (A Franklin Warren and Alice Bellows Mystery) by Sarah Stewart Taylor (Minotaur Books, 2025).

Mrs. Endicott’s Splendid Adventure by Rhys Bowen (Lake Union Publishing, 2025).

These Heathens by Mia McKenzie (Random House, 2025).

Through An Open Window by Pamela Terry (Ballantine Books, 2025).

That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (Park Row, 2025).

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (Crown, 2025).

The Look by Michelle Obama (Crown, 2025).

Where the Rivers Merge by Mary Alice Monroe (William Morrow, 2025).

Kaye Wilkinson Barley is a retiree, wife, fur-mama, reader, occasional writer and blogger at Meanderings and Muses, and full-time outspoken liberal.

Funny Friday

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 18:49:00 +0000

Wrong Hands by John Atkinson

- Originally published on Wrong Hands, 2 January 2026

Farewell to the mass market paperback

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

Last week, Publisher’s Weekly shared an article entitled “Last call for the mass market paperback”. I was stunned, and saddened. In fact, I may have been a little misty-eyed.

On my shelves

When I was in junior high school (yes, I'm old enough that it was junior high, not middle school), high school, even undergrad and grad school, I loved mass market paperbacks.

Not only were they small enough to fit into my purse or my book bag, they were inexpensive enough that even a poor student like me could afford to buy them.

And yes, I would count the months after the hardcover release of a particularly desired title in anxious anticipation.

When I worked in independent bookstores (two different ones, at different stages in my life), they were the most popular format. And one of the most often-asked questions was "When will that be released in paperback?". And we booksellers knew that the customer meant "mass market paperback" because there were few books that went to trade paperback format first back in the late 1980s.

On my shelves

Years later, in the early 2000s (well before e-galleys existed), when I first started my book review blog, I used to purchase mass market paperbacks. At the time, cozy mysteries were often published only in that format. And that suited this reviewer just fine, because I could afford to purchase more of them.

I still have shelves full of mass market paperbacks. And I'll keep them until they crumble.

(Cross posted to my Substack.)

But I don't read fiction...

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 23:18:00 +0000

I came across my blog post from this date in 2014, with book suggestions for that friend who only reads memoirs, or biographies, or cookbooks, etc., etc.

It made me wonder why I stopped sharing gift suggestions for readers. So, if you celebrate Christmas (and are therefore running out of time) and have run out of gift ideas for that person, here you go:

For the sports buff:

On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the revolution in women's sports by Christine Brennan (Scribner, 2025).

Caitlin Clark arrived as a sports and cultural icon a little more than fifty years after the passage of Title IX, the 1972 law that opened the floodgates for girls and women to play sports in America. On Her Game is a sports story, certainly, but it’s also the story of a nation falling in love with what it has created because of that law—millions of new athletes, led by the magical Caitlin Clark.

For the music-lover:

Great Musicians: Letters for the ages edited by James Drake and Edward Smyth (Bloomsbury Continuum, 2025).

Ranging from Hildegaard von Bingen to Amy Winehouse, the letters assembled in this collection combine to delve into musicians' personal relationship with music and the creative process behind their greatest works of art. Witness your musical idols, warm-hearted and compassionate, arrogant and angry, insecure and egocentric, defeated and morose.

For the foodie:

Good Things: Recipes and Rituals to Share with People You Love by Samin Nosrat (Random House, 2025).

With all the generosity of spirit that has endeared her to millions of fans, Samin Nosrat offers more than 125 of her favorite recipes—simply put, the things she most loves to cook for herself and for friends—and infuses them with all the beauty and care you would expect from the person Alice Waters called “America’s next great cooking teacher.”

For the history (and mystery) buff:

The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective by Sara Lodge (Yale University Press, 2025).

From Wilkie Collins to the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, the traditional image of the Victorian detective is male. Few people realise that women detectives successfully investigated Victorian Britain, working both with the police and for private agencies, which they sometimes managed themselves.
Shortlisted for The Wolfson History Prize 2025

For the memoir reader:

Book of Lives: A memoir of sorts by Margaret Atwood (Doubleday, 2025).

As she explores her past, Atwood reveals more and more about her writing, the connections between real life and art—and the workings of one of our very greatest imaginations.

November favorites

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 14:00:00 +0000

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict. St, Martin's Press, 11 February 2025.

London, 1930. The five greatest women crime writers have banded together to form a secret society with a single goal: to show they are no longer willing to be treated as second class citizens by their male counterparts in the legendary Detection Club. Led by the formidable Dorothy L. Sayers, the group includes Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham and Baroness Emma Orczy. They call themselves the Queens of Crime. Their plan? Solve an actual murder, that of a young woman found strangled in a park in France who may have connections leading to the highest levels of the British establishment.

May Daniels, a young English nurse on an excursion to France with her friend, seemed to vanish into thin air as they prepared to board a ferry home. Months later, her body is found in the nearby woods. The murder has all the hallmarks of a locked room mystery for which these authors are famous: how did her killer manage to sneak her body out of a crowded train station without anyone noticing?

The Magpie Oracle of Sense and Serendipity by Ciara Blume. Dolce Villa Press, 30 September 2025.

When the elusive Djinn Night Market appears under each crescent moon, it draws the lost and the searching to its shimmering alleys. Everyone arrives seeking something that’s missing, but what visitors leave with is rarely what they came looking for.

Coriander just wanted one last chance to dine with her mother, so she made a reservation at the Afterlife Cafe. Rosie desperately needs to locate the stolen grimoire that holds the key to her true power and identity. And Barzilay, keeper of memories and dragons, and a guide for lost souls, must somehow find his way home after forgetting his own story.

As a cryptic oracle floods Primrose Court with magical warnings and gossip-filled prophecies, all paths seem to lead back to the Night Market. But with time slipping away and second chances growing scarce, will three lost souls discover their role in mending not just their own hearts, but each other as well?

A spellbinding tale of healing, chosen family, and the magic that lives in small moments. It also features a sentient bookshop, literary squirrels, and the never ending quest for the perfect wedge of cheese.

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds by Alison Brennan. MIRA Books, 17 June 2025.

Mia Crawford is responsible to a fault. She has to be. Between her high-demand job and taking care of her grandmother and her cats, she has little time for anything else. What time she does have, she pours into reading. Mysteries, romances, thrillers…books filled with women who are far more impulsive than she would ever dream of being. Now, forced into
taking a long-overdue vacation, she finds herself on a luxurious private island where she just might have a chance to reinvent herself—for a little while, anyway. She can explore the island. Flirt shamelessly with a cute bartender. Have a vacation fling. Live like a heroine in one of her favorite novels.

Or she can curl up with a good book on the beach. Turns out reinventing yourself is easier planned than done. But when gossipy notes written in the margins of an old book turn out to be clues to the disappearance of another guest, Mia finds herself diving headfirst into a dangerous adventure. With everyone at the resort hiding secrets of their own, she’ll have to solve this real-life mystery before she becomes the next target.

Wexford Carole (Imogen Durant Mysteries #2) by Janice MacDonald. Ravenstone Books, 22 October 2025.

After all the drama during her last trip, Imogene Durant is looking forward to spending some time in the Irish countryside, visiting with an old school friend and working on the edits for her new book. With good food, friends and lots of comfy sweaters, her idyllic surroundings are rudely interrupted when a young woman with a bright future is found dead and worse, Imogene’s friend’s daughter is accused of the crime.

Witches of Dubious Origin by Jenn McKinlay. Ace, 28 October 2025.

Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her quaint New England town. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to the library, Zoe has a strange feeling the tome is somehow calling to her. She decides to consult the Museum of Literature, home to volumes of indecipherable secrets, some possessing dark magic that must be guarded.

Here, among their most dangerous collection, the Books of Dubious Origin, Zoe discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches and this little black book is their grimoire. Zoe knows she must decode the family’s spell book and solve the mystery of what happened to her mother and her grandmother.

With assistance from the eccentric staff of the Books of Dubious Origin department—including their annoyingly smart and handsome containment specialist, Jasper Griffin—Zoe must confront her past and the legacy of her family.

A Resistance of Witches by Morgan Ryan. Viking, 15 July 2025.

Stubborn, plain-spoken and from an unimpressive family, Lydia Polk never expected to be accepted into the Royal Academy of Witches. Now, with Hitler’s army rampaging across Europe, the witches of Britain have joined the war effort, and Lydia is key to the cause: she must use her magic to track down magical relics before Hitler and his sycophants can. When a Nazi witch infiltrates the Academy with heart-breaking consequences, the coven is left shaken, exposed and divided. The elder British witches have no interest in further loss of coven life in service of a government that has forced them into hiding for decades, no matter the consequences to the world. But with the discovery of the Grimorium Bellum, an ancient book that leaves a trail of death and destruction wherever it goes, Lydia knows her mission has never been more urgent.

Alone and woefully outnumbered, Lydia makes her way to the heart of occupied France, where she finds allies in Rebecca Gagne—a fierce French resistance fighter chockful of secrets—and Henry Boudreaux—a handsome Haitian-American art historian with a little magic of his own. Together, they traverse the country, stalked by the natural and supernatural alike, in search of the grimoire. But, as Lydia soon discovers, finding the book is only half the battle—the Grimorium Bellum has a dark agenda all its own. Lydia must subdue it before the Witches of the Third Reich can use it—but first, she’ll have to survive the book herself.

Funny Friday - Hallowe'en Edition

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Speed Bump by Dave Coverly

- originally published 27 October 2025

Funny Friday

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Fri, 24 Oct 2025 13:00:00 +0000

- originally published in The Guardian, 7 July 2025

Funny Friday - Banned Books Week Edition

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Speed Bump by Dave Coverly

- originally published August 7, 2023

Looking for Alaska

noreply@blogger.com (MarlynB) — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 13:00:00 +0000

Looking for Alaska by John Green. (Dutton Books for Young Readers, 3 March 2005).

John Green's debut novel is the story of Miles Halter, who is fascinated by famous last words—and tired of his safe life at home.

He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.”

Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young, who will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Awards and accolades include:

Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award
A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
A New York Times Bestseller •
A USA Today Bestseller
NPR’s Top Ten Best-Ever Teen Novels
TIME magazine’s 100 Best Young Adult Novels of All Time
A PBS Great American Read Selection

Looking for Alaska has been banned and challenged since its publication over 20 years ago. Reasons include: depictions of “alternate sexualities” and “gender ideology” (despite the absence of LGBTQIA+ characters); containing sexually explicit encounters in detail; bad language; and normalizing dishonesty, hazing, underage drinking, and smoking.

To see Unite Against Book Bans' Book Résumé for the book, click here.

Stuff and Nonsense

Poem of the day

Rumi(Translated by Coleman Barks)

Poem of the Day

Funny Friday

March Favorites

February Favorites

Just finished reading...

Just finished reading...

January favorites

Just finished reading...

Funny Friday

Funny Friday

My favorite literary fiction of 2025

Mystery Monday - My 2025 favorites

Funny Friday

Just finished reading...

My favorite historical fiction of 2025

Kaye's favorites

Funny Friday

Farewell to the mass market paperback

But I don't read fiction...

November favorites

Funny Friday - Hallowe'en Edition

Funny Friday

Funny Friday - Banned Books Week Edition

Looking for Alaska

Rumi
(Translated by Coleman Barks)