Well, I am an avid reading and have read 41 books this year already. Apparently, I am not part of the above demographic mentioned in the above video.
According to writer, Rose Horowitch from The Atlantic, reading has declined by 40% in the past 20 years! Scary news for sure!
Click on the above video link to watch the CBS Morning clip featuring Rose Horowitch.
Multi-award-winning author Tom Palmer shines a light on life under wartime occupation, in a beautifully told story inspired by the childhood of Hollywood legend Audrey Hepburn.
As the brutal Second World War stretches on with no end in sight, life for ordinary Dutch people in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands is fraught with peril and hardship. There is very little to eat and the population lives under the constant threat of arrest and enslavement.
After the murder of her beloved uncle and the capture of her brother by the Germans, Edda is determined to do anything she can to help the resistance fight back against their oppressors. But what can a teenage girl do and how much risk is she willing to take?
Award-winning author Tom Palmer shines a light on the incredible work of the WWll Dutch resistance, in a story inspired by the childhood of Hollywood legend Audrey Hepburn.
This quote is so me recently!! I do a lot of scrolling when I should be reading or other tasks. Does anyone else relate to this quote?
What begins as one woman's search for her own artistic courage unravels into a stunning look into what jazz music can teach us about our search for the truest versions of ourselves.
For decades, seasoned players on the scene have spoken in whispered tones about The Blue: a mysterious meeting place for jazz history - a place where ghosts from this music's storied past spring to life for those courageous enough to enter.
When Jessie Choi's mentor Jimmy Hightower collapses at a gig and loses consciousness, she finds herself reluctantly pulled back into the jazz scene she abandoned years earlier. In investigating the music and mystery behind Jimmy's comatose state, every thread leads to the same question: is Jimmy somehow trapped in this enigma known as The Blue? In her search to save her teacher, Jessie rubs shoulders with legends, uncovers the secret history of Blue Note Records, and faces her own deepest fears.
What an interesting video on the wide world of collecting antiquarian books and documents!
The above YouTube video highlights "inside the secret world where the rarest books on Earth are bought and sold."
I am not a soccer fan, nor did I watch any of the 2026 FIFA World Cup games. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup happening, I decided to search for books that discuss soccer in some way. My hope is to inspire readers who are also soccer fans to read more books on a topic they like.
One of the books I discovered was Over the Line by Tom Palmer. Tom Palmer is a new to me author. Initially what attracted me to Over the Line by Tom Palmer was the fact that it features a large chunk of its subject matter to soccer. I soon learned that this children's/middle school novel is a work of historical fiction set in Europe during World War I. The events are inspired by real life events, which makes for good reading.
So, within a few minutes after learning about Over the Line by Tom Palmer, I downloaded and began listening to the unabridged audio version. Essentially, I finished listening to this book 2 hour, 10 minutes in one sitting.
The writing is good and so is the storyline for Over the Line. I was impressed with how much I enjoyed Over the Line. Perhaps, I'll have to give another one of Tom Palmer's novels a try in the future.
Tom Palmer has a YouTube page. I watched the following short video of Mr. Palmer reading a section from his novel, Over The Line.
Below is the publisher's summary for Over the Line by Tom Palmer found on the Goodreads website:
Based on a true story of a sporting hero's experience in the trenches. Jack is to make his debut as a professional footballer, but it's 1914 and the world is at war. Talk of sportsmen's cowardice leads to the formation of a Footballers' Battalion and Jack has little choice but to join up. Jack and his team-mates will have to survive a waking nightmare if they are ever to play again.
I am giving Over the Line by Tom Palmer a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.
Until my next post, happy reading!!
Below is the publisher's summary for When I Arrived at the Castle by E. M. Carroll:
"A castle, a killer, and prey all bound and blurred by lust and blood."I am giving When I Arrived at the Castle by E. M. Carroll a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.
Like many before her that have never come back, she's made it to the Countess' castle determined to snuff out the horror, but she could never be prepared for what hides within its turrets; what unfurls under its fluttering flags. Emily Carroll has fashioned a rich gothic horror charged with eroticism that doesn't just make your skin crawl, it crawls into it.
Last week, I made a post about discovering a 'sharing library' at the Oakland Airport. I found it very cool to see a reading library within a coffeehouse near a Southwest Airlines gate.
Since making this post, it got me thinking about whether other airports across the nation have Little Free Libraries within them. Sure enough, there are other airports that have Little Free Libraries!
Check out the following article titled, Books Fly Off Airport Little Free Library Shelves by Sarah Nelson to discover which airports contain Little Free Libraries.
I'm not a soccer enthusiast. Nor have I been watching the 2026 FIFA World Cup. However, I thought it would be fitting to make a post pertaining to books which feature soccer in some fashion.
Checkout my list below of books featuring soccer.
1. For Whom The Ball Rolls by Ian Plenderleith
2. Over the Line by Tom Palmer
3. Papers in the Wind by Eduardo Sacheri
4. Paris 75 by Billy Morris
5. The Hope That Kills Us by Adrian Searle
6. The Blinder by Barry Hines
7. Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
8. The Striker and the Clock by Georgia Cloepfil
9. Golazo by Andreas Campomar
10. How to Watch Soccer by Ruud Gullit
Are you watching the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
UPDATE: I decide to listen to unabridged audio version of Over the Line by Tom Palmer. I finished it in one sitting. Excellent read! Full review to come.
A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits, a few possessions, and the spark of god that burns hot within her. What she finds in this terra incognita is beyond the limits of her imagination and will bend her belief in everything that her own civilization has taught her.
Lauren Groff’s new novel is at once a thrilling adventure story and a penetrating fable about trying to find a new way of living in a world succumbing to the churn of colonialism. The Vaster Wilds is a work of raw and prophetic power that tells the story of America in miniature, through one girl at a hinge point in history, to ask how—and if—we can adapt quickly enough to save ourselves.
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.
With it being the 250th anniversary of the United States of America this month on July 4th, it occurred to me to promote a few American authors that need more love!
I came across this idea from a YouTuber. I decided to make my own list of underrated American authors that perhaps need more attention. Sure it's easy to list Octavia Butler, Joyce Carol Oates, Toni Morrison, Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Pearl S. Buck, Kate Chopin, and so on. But who are some other, not so well known American writers who are gems?
I had a difficult time making this list because it's difficult to come up with American authors that I have read and consider underrated gems! It's a tall order for sure. I've added links to most of my reviews for each novel below. Check out the list below.
1. The Seas by Samantha Hunt
2. Jubilee by Margaret Walker
3. The True Story of Hansel & Gretel by Louise Murphy
4. These Women by Ivy Pochoda
5. The Familiar Dark & The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
6. Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West
7. The Second Mrs. Hockaday by Susan Rivers
8. Woodworking by Emily St. James
9. His Fair Assassin Trilogy by Robin LaFevers
10. All Is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker
Have you read any of the above authors? Which American authors would make your list of underrated ones?
I'd forgotten all about taking this photo! My goal was to share it here in a blog post last month after returning home from our trip.
I thought it was super neat that this particular coffee shop offered a sharing library with books to read for those waiting to board their flights. I hope to see more airports offer either a sharing library or a Little Free Library in them.
Have you seen any sharing libraries or Little Free Libraries inside airports?
Loretta Lynn and the late Patsy Cline are legends--country icons and sisters of the heart. For the first time ever Loretta tells their story: a celebration of their music and their relationship up until Patsy's tragic and untimely death.
Full of laughter and tears, this eye-opening, heartwarming memoir paints a picture of two stubborn, spirited country gals who'd be damned if they'd let men or convention tell them how to be. Set in the heady streets of the 1960s South, this nostalgia ride shows how Nashville blossomed into the city of music it is today. Tender and fierce, Me & Patsy Kickin' Up Dust is an up-close-and-personal portrait of a friendship that defined a generation and changed country music indelibly--and a meditation on love, loss and legacy.
