Bookish Quote of the Day!!

 

Top Ten Tuesday - Books With Nationalities In The Title

 

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Top Ten Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Below are ten books I've read and reviewed here on my blog. Click on the links provided below to read my review for each book.

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

2. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer 8 Lee

3. My Japanese Husband Thinks I'm Crazy by Grace Buchele Mineta

4. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka

5 An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

6. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

7. The Story of English in 100 Words by David Crystal

8. Secrets of the Spanish Playing Cards: Fortune Telling Using La Baraja Española by Kara Janssen

9. The Greatest Gambling Story Ever Told: A True Tale of Three Gamblers, The Kentucky Derby, and the Mexican Cartel by Mark Paul

10. An American Sunrise: Poems by Joy Harjo

Announcing 'The Accursed' Spooky Season Read-Along!

Welcome to the Shadows: Announcing 'The Accursed' Spooky Season Read-Along!

Get ready to dive into one of the most wildly ambitious, darkly atmospheric historical fantasies of modern literature just in time for Spooky Season. From October 1 through October 31, 2026, Marianne @ Let's Read and I are teaming up to tackle Joyce Carol Oates’s epic Gothic masterpiece, The Accursed—and we would love for you to join us!

Set in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1905–1906, the novel weaves real historical figures—like Woodrow Wilson, Grover Cleveland, and Upton Sinclair—into a chilling, surreal Gothic mystery. When a supernatural "curse" overtakes the elite families of the town, society crumbles under the weight of mysterious abductions, demonic visions, and long-buried hypocrisies.

At over 600 pages, it is a dense, feverish read—which is precisely why reading and discussing it together over the 31 days of October will make it so much more fun.

October Reading Schedule

We will break the novel down across the four weeks of October (roughly 150–170 pages per week) so we can all finish together right on Halloween night:

Timeline	Assigned Reading	Key Themes / Focus
Week 1 (Oct 1–Oct 8)	Book 1 (Chapters 1–4)	The curse descends on the Slade wedding; Woodrow Wilson's strain
Week 2 (Oct 9–Oct 16)	Book 2 & Book 3	Historical cameos; the eerie Bog Kingdom; social satire
Week 3 (Oct 17–Oct 24)	Book 4 & Book 5	Hysteria spreads; moral decay of the Princeton elite
Week 4 (Oct 25–Oct 31)	Book 6 to End	Climax, resolution, and unpacking the narrator’s reliability

How to Participate

• Weekly Discussion Posts: Every Friday in October (Oct 9, 16, 23, and 30), a new post will go live right here on the blog with guided discussion prompts, character trackers, and space to share your thoughts.

• Comment Section: Drop your theories, favorite quotes, and reactions in the comments of each weekly post as you read along with Marianne and me at your own pace.

Grab your copy, dust off your reading chair, and drop a comment below if you're joining us this October!

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

 

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

 

Therese Raquin by Emile Zola

 

I have been wanting to read a novel written by French novelist, Emile Zola, off and on for decades now. This year, I finally made it happen when I decided to listen to the unabridged audio version of Therese Raquin by Emile Zola. Therese Raquin is nicely narrated by Traci Svensgaard.

Therese Raquin by Emile Zola is an interesting novel, but slow in parts. Because of this, it took me longer to read this short novel than anticipated. Therese Raquin takes readers to the darker, seedier side of humanity and it isn't pretty. As the publisher's summary below highlights, "Zola’s novel is not only an uninhibited portrayal of adultery, madness, and ghostly revenge but also a devastating exploration of the darkest aspects of human existence." 

Therese Raquin explores the psychological (and physical) terror that takes place after a heinous crime is committed by two of the main characters. These two main characters think life will be different after the crime they commit occurs. Little do they know that their lives are negatively altered in ways they could never imagine. For me, Therese Raquin exemplifies the atrocities one endures in the aftermath of the crime they've committed.

I found the pacing for Therese Raquin to be uneven. Some parts of this novel were slow, which left me wondering where the storyline was headed. Other times, the flow and pacing were great, which had me fully engaged in the plot details. All in all, I was happy to have read this French classic.

Below is the publisher's summary for Therese Raquin by Emile Zola, which I discovered on Chirp's website:

In a dingy apartment on the Passage du Pont-Neuf in Paris, Thérèse Raquin is trapped in a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille. The numbing tedium of her life is suddenly shattered when she embarks on a turbulent affair with her husband’s earthy friend, Laurent. But their passion for each other soon compels the lovers to commit a crime that will haunt them forever.

Thérèse Raquin caused a scandal when it appeared in 1867 and brought its twenty-seven-year-old author a notoriety that followed him throughout his life. Zola’s novel is not only an uninhibited portrayal of adultery, madness, and ghostly revenge but also a devastating exploration of the darkest aspects of human existence.

I am giving Therese Raquin by Emile Zola a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

The Prelinger Library in San Francisco, California

I've never heard of the The Prelinger Library before watching the above video found on YouTube. The above video is very short.

Since I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'd like to visit this library some day.

Below os more from The Prelinger Library from there about page:

The Prelinger Library is an independent research library located in San Francisco’s South-of-Market neighborhood. It is open to anyone for research, reading, inspiration, and reuse.

The library is primarily a collection of 19th and 20th century historical ephemera, periodicals, maps, and books, most published in the United States. Much of the collection is image-rich, and in the public domain. The library specializes in material that is not commonly found in other public libraries. Read more about the collection here.

The library was co-founded in 2004 by Megan Prelinger and Rick Prelinger. Read more about our history here. It is also part of a community of local and international artists, writers, activists, and other makers. It is visited by as many as a thousand people every year. Many of these people, and many organizations and institutions, have contributed to the library and helped to make it what it is. Read more about our community here.

Have you visited any libraries recently?

Bookish Quote of the Day!!

 

Bookish Quote of the Day!!!

 

AI Companies Are Buying and Destroying Antique Books!

 This is horrifying news via Forbes!! Checkout this very short YouTube video.