1940, Harper & Brothers Muriel Lester was born into a privileged English family of Baptist Protestants. Her religious and social convictions led her to give up her comfortable surroundings to live among and serve the poorest working-class people of London. She later became a pacifist and a friend to Gandhi, traveling around the world to speak against war and encourage peace. Learn more about her here . Dare You Face Facts? , published under the approaching bombs of WWII, dare

2023, Random House My brother says Prince Harry is annoying and entitled, but I've always found him kind of cute. I once purchased a mask of his freckled face, and wore it on a visit to my son at his UK university, hoping to get a laugh. I didn't. "Is that guy in the royal family?" was all he had to say. Undaunted, I added a Meghan mask to my collection and went out for tea in London with a friend. The other customers pretended not to notice us, but we could see they were sec

2009, Penguin Kamal Markandaya This book is beautiful in a subtle way. The writer is soft and gentle with her characters as they try to live their lives in the midst of difficulties and changes. The main characters are a couple who love each other, but don't see the world in the same way. The husband is desperate to help his wife who is ill, but for him help equals going to a doctor in a hospital. The wife prefers to seek wellness in traditional methods, like religious offer

The Bronzes from San Casciano dei Bagni 2025, Exhibit at the Staatliche Museum of Berlin This exhibit really was a sensation for me. In 2022 and 2024 a large group of bronze statues and other finds were unearthed from the mud of a thermal spring basin at the center of an ancient healing sanctuary dating back to the 3rd century BC in southern Tuscany, Italy. The exhibit doesn't let you see the statues right away. You have to wait. First are photographs of the bronzes still in

Berlin has lots of bear statues, so I wanted to take photos of Hubert in front of every one we walked by. After several bear photos, Hubert could barely bear it, so I had to take some photos of Hubertless bears. After four Hubears and three Hubertless bears, it was high time for one Kellephant.

2025, James Simon Galerie in Berlin This small exhibit of wool and cotton tapestries, and a few batiks, showcases artists from the Ramses Wissa Wassef Cultural Center in Harrania, Egypt near the great Pyramids of Giza. Ramses Wissa Wassef (1911-1974), an architect, potter, weaver, and designer, founded the center in the 1950s as a school and training center for children and young people from the nearby village. His goal was to revive traditional arts like weaving, that were d

Jamaicain reggae singer Jimmy Cliff died yesterday, age 81. I'm thankful for his music. Incredible performance of Many Rivers to Cross Mix "Music can give people purpose..., highlight awareness...and people can take some kind of action to better the situation." - Jimmy Cliff Cliff's Vietnam was reportedly called "the best protest song ever written" by singer Bob Dylan

French title: Et j'ai cessé de t'appeler papa 2022, Editions Jean-Claude Lattès This book is by the daughter of a French woman, Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged by her husband for many years so he could abuse her sexually, and let many other men do the same, while she was unconscious. Pelicot courageously insisted on a public trial, saying she wanted to " make sure it was the perpetrators – not the victims – who carried the sham e." ( full article here ) Gisèle's daughter, Car

Regarding Untitled, To Post or Not to Post , one of my fav fans Jessica suggests I post only when I feel like it, and not try to make it perfect. Here it is. Time used: 0 minutes (already written awhile ago) This crazy book has a really nice romantic story at the beginning but then lives up to its title when the protagonist, afraid to tell the woman he loves her, instead heads off to the middle of the jungle with some archeologists and discovers some beings which are half man

Hello friends and other readers, I haven't posted in awhile and am having trouble deciding if I should continue or not. However, I have a pile of books on my desk which I can't put away without posting something about them. I don't know why, maybe it's an obsession, but I just can't. So I'll post them before deciding. But first, here is why I may stop: Reason 1 Each post takes too long because I have to make sure it sounds readable and try to avoid all errors, add italics, l

2024, Doubleday, Winner of Pullitzer Prize 2025 Spoiler alert: details about the ending of the book are included towards the end of the...

2022 In How to Stand Up to a Dictator , Nobel Peace Prize Winner, journalist Maria Ressa, reveals how social media is used in many...

2016 Am I exaggerating if I say, in the USA, we have a king? No, not the President, but Money . Cash i s king. Amidst the comforts of ...

2023, Hogarth In Solito , author Javier Zamora invites us to accompany his 9-year-old self on his journey from El Salvador to the United...

2015, BCP Literary, Inc. Hi friends, I'm far behind in book posting, but I'm still here, reading! I know my book posts aren't as popular...

In the recent post What Makes You Joyful? only one answer to that question, collected from you the readers, wasn't included. It's in...

A few weeks ago (or maybe more, it seems everything is taking me a long time these days), I had a conversation with friends about joy...

First published 1928 "These pages have the same meaning as a painted surface." - Chagall, My Life I read the French version of this book, translated I assume from Russian (he wrote it in Moscow) by Chagall's wife, muse and love of his life Bella. It's a beautifully original autobiography, the only book Chagall wrote, describing the years of his youth in a Jewish neighborhood in Witebsk, Russia, through 1922 when he starts his career as an artist. His illustrations, along wit

After experiencing a few days of despair at the current crazy and divisive state of politics in the United States, I realized I needed to...

Where has the time gone? Months ago, I over-optimistically promised I'd post several books before transforming into Gramma. But it...