I came across an interesting video on YouTube put out by the BBC Global. It features Katty Kay interviewing John Grisham for part of the video.
It is during this video I learned that between 2003 and 2023 reading rates declined by 40%! People aren't reading as much anymore. The above finding was published in a study in August 2025 by the University of Florida.
Katty Kay and John Grisham discuss the decline of reading. Additionally, they discuss Grisham's writing process.
Take a look at the interview in the video above!
They say the truth will set you free, but what if it kills you first?
Leine Basso eliminates terrorists for a living. After a routine assassination almost gets her killed, she chalks it up to a fluke. Her lover and fellow assassin, Carlos, has another idea altogether. He thinks their boss is setting them up for a fall.
When Carlos goes missing and a bombing thwarts another mission, Leine suspects the stakes are far higher than she could ever imagine, and wonders if the man in charge might have it in for her after all.
A Killing Truth is the chilling start to the award-winning Leine Basso thriller series of crime novels. If you like no-nonsense heroines, page-turning plots, and twists you won’t see coming, then you’ll love D.V. Berkom’s tension-filled series.
I recently watched a documentary called Banned Together. It's about a group of public school students that ban together to protest removing certain books parents deem inappropriate for students under the age of eighteen.
Banned Together is excellent and documents the struggles to keep books in schools.
In addition to seeing students speak up about their right to read freely, we also hear parents, teachers, authors, and politicians speak up about the removal of books from public schools.
I highly recommend Banned Together. It's gives a lot of information about what's going with regards to book banning in schools.
I accidentally discovered the above video on YouTube. As an avid reader, the title of the video is what captured my attention straight away.
Apparently, neurotypical brains do not have the innate ability to read. From an evolutionary stand point, our brains haven't had enough time to develop a 'dedicated' reading brain according to what I learned from watching this video.
To learn more, watch the above video. It's fairly short at nearly six minutes.
From Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Elephant in the Room comes the first inside account of the Westminster Dog Show—America’s oldest and most beloved dog show—following one dog on his quest to become a champion.
Tommy Tomlinson was watching a dog show on television a few years ago when he had a sudden thought: Are those dogs happy? How about pet dogs—are they happy, too? Those questions sparked a quest to venture inside the dog-show world, in search of a deeper understanding of the bond between dogs and humans that has endured for thousands of years. Dogland shares his surprising, entertaining, and unforgettable adventures.
Tomlinson spends three years on the road and goes behind the scenes at dozens of dog shows across the country, where he is licked, sniffed, or rubbed up against by dogs of nearly every size, shape, and breed. Like a real-life version of Best in Show, Dogland follows one champion show dog—a Samoyed named Striker—and his devoted entourage of breeders, handlers, and owners as he competes in the Westminster Dog Show, the oldest and most famous dog show in America. Tomlinson brings the dog-show circuit to life as he witnesses teams scrambling from town to town in search of championship points and colorful ribbons. Along the way, he also speaks to scientists who have discovered new insights into how dogs and people formed their bond—and how that bond has changed over the centuries.
Engaging, charming, and informative, Dogland is an irresistibly appealing read for pop culture followers and animal lovers alike.
Although, I've never read any books written by author, Sophie Kinsella, it's still sad to learn she passed away from brain cancer!
Have any of you read her 'Shopaholic' series?
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| My husband standing at the entrance to Muir Woods National Monument. |
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| This photo (if I recall) was taken of the stream at the first bridge. |
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| My husband standing at one of the large trees near the Bohemian Grove. |
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| The beauty of nature! The walking paths were almost completely empty upon our arrival. |
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| Large coastal redwoods are so gorgeous! |
A modern retelling of the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley classic that addresses issues of belonging and assimilation
An unnamed paralegal, brought back to life through a controversial process, maneuvers through a near-future world that both needs and resents him. As the United States president spouts anti-reanimation rhetoric and giant pharmaceutical companies rake in profits, the man falls in love with lawyer Faustina GodÃnez. His world expands as he meets her network of family and friends, setting him on a course to discover his first-life history, which the reanimation process erased. With elements of science fiction, horror, political satire and romance, Chicano Frankenstein confronts our nation’s bigotries and the question of what it truly means to be human.
Yes, readers are discerning! Interesting topic for a video though. Click on the above link to watch.
I use to annotate my textbooks a lot back in college to help me study new material and remember key concepts.
However, I rarely annotate books I read today. If I do annotate any books I read, it's usually some sort of nonfiction book. For instance, I may annotate a diet book or other health related book, self-help books, a cookbook, or perhaps, even a language learning book, etc.
The above, short video is one of many videos on annotating books.
Let me know in the comments section below if you annotate your books while reading them.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt sounds like a good book to add to my reading wishlist.
Check out the above, short video to see all of the book recommendations Bill Gates makes.
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.
It's always a bummer to read books by authors that are not very captivating. The following books didn't hit the mark for me this year.
1. Riven Rock by T. C. Boyle
2. Earthbound by Richard Matheson
3. The Encantadas by Herman Melville
4. Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald's Assassin by Danny Fingeroth
5. Pride and Prejudice Untold Trilogy by P. O. Dixon
6. The Coffee Killer by A. J. Shaw
7. The Horoscope Writer by Ash Bishop
8. Savannah Sleuth by Alan Chaput
9. She Had Glass Eyes by C.S. Schiavone
10. We Had to Remove This Post by Hanna Bervoets
I've added links to my reviews for nine of the books listed above.
I received the paperback version of The Flip Side by Jason Walz for FREE through the Goodreads Giveaway program. Below is my honest, unbiased review of this young adult, graphic novel.
First off, I absolutely loved the artwork for The Flip Side. In fact, the artwork was probably my favorite thing about this book. The Flip Side is also a very quick read, which is one of the things I enjoy about graphic novels.
The Flip Side by Jason Walz is a novel geared towards teens. The focus of The Flip Side is on the loss of one’s best friend, loneliness, fear, grief, and how one’s life can feel like it has turned upside down after the loss of one's best friend.
The Flip Side by Jason Walz showcases how to two teens, Theo and Emma, overcome the obstacles of fear, loneliness, and grief together.
Below is the publisher's summary for The Flip Side by Jason Walz from the author's website:
This breathtaking, page-turning graphic novel is a supernatural survival story in which a grieving teen finds himself in a haunting alternate reality—the frightening embodiment of his depression.
Theo’s best friend has died, and he can’t pull himself out of his sadness—a sadness that those around him don’t seem to respect or even notice. And then something even more disconcerting happens: His town literally flips upside down and everyone disappears, except for a threatening, shape-shifting monster and a snarky teenage girl who knows her way around this flipped world. Is Theo doomed to spend the rest of his life in this scary state?
Tremendously unique and suspenseful, The Flip Side tackles grief and depression in a fascinating and affecting way.
I am giving The Flip Side by Jason Walz a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.
Until my next post, happy reading!!
