Chris

New Year's Eve
champagne flutes
still sticky with hope
of sanity's return,
how can we be
barreling toward
November???

Copyright 2025 by Nikki Grimes.

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"...still sticky with...return," Love this so much! Such a powerful description of what many of us hope for

Read through poems by a 10th grade class, circled favorite lines–from kids who don't usually write poetry: "Hope is a compass made of fire/ pointing through fog; Time..hard for me to make sure it doesn't flee/ like a criminal; Desires are the fires/ that ignite purpose." Wow. The young give me hope!

I love it when I learn something unusual while reading a novel. While the beginning of this book is sad and powerful, the concept of burying a fig tree before winter was fascinating! Looked it up and it is a 'thing' to help the tree survive winter weather. My fig didn't survive squirrels.
#booksky

Thank you!!

I've no idea at this time. I've several other books on the side (trying to read some of those nominated for the Booker prize) as well as other things.
The other thing I found telling was how we are given almost a list of things her parents don't think through before the trip. Nice touch

Oddly enough, the focus on the leather luggage was such an odd, yet interesting, choice for the author briefly focus on

And thanks for your feedback! Certainly an nudge to continue reading on.

I just finished Goldfinch so I suppose it isn't fair to Flashlight that I am subconsciously looking for the same style and/or character growth. The slow development of the actions of the characters has me a bit impatient but that's picking up now. .

Yes, several times. I've family there.

Flashlight by Susan Choi
Am wondering if anyone on here has read this book and if so, thoughts? I'm just over 100 pages and am waiting for that sweet spot of being caught in the story.
#booksky

I am late to the game on reading this book but sure am glad I did! Fantastic writing, strong settings, and the characters!! Boris is hands down my favorite. An expansive story that follows the life of a boy who becomes tangled with art, antiques, and drugs during his journey to adulthood.
#booksky

Massachusetts in all its glory.

Luscious! Legacy is one of my favorite books, I won't lie. The paperback was gorgeously produced, on paper that feels as substantial as the poets and artists in this collection. I could not be happier!

Still needs a hood, fenders, headlights, a horn, a dash. And I have to rework the fuel filler because that did not work.

Mail! Letters & poetry from a 10th grade teacher and his class, in a Christian academy in Alabama, made me weep. Bronx Masquerade was their inspiration. You send work into the world and pray it will touch hearts, then receive confirmation that it has! A beautiful circle not to be taken for granted.

A Kindle device displaying the cover of R.F. Kuang's novel Katabasis sits next to a glass of beer on a dark bar-like surface. To the left is a graphic for 'Banned Books Week' that reads 'LET FREEDOM READ DAY' with a link: bit.ly/LetFreedomReadDay.

Happy #LetFreedomReadDay! 🍻 Celebrating with a beer and diving into R.F. Kuang's Katabasis. Nothing beats reading what you want! #BannedBooksWeek #BookSky 💙📚

Please add me! A retired elementary school librarian who is saddened by the state (TX) and school district's attempts to censor and ban books.

Looking forward to this discussion with Michael McFaul @mcfaulmike.bsky.social, former U.S. ambassador to Russia, author of the soon-to-be published "Autocrats vs. Democrats".

Cambridge, MA, Thursday, October 30th...

Details and tickets here: www.harvard.com/event/michae...

We believe in the power of stories that teach us the importance of inclusivity and empathy—and we believe in protecting them. #BannedBooksWeek #FreedomToRead

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One of the ugliest "B" words in the English language. You know which one I mean.

A little message from our CEO and founder @andyhunter777.bsky.social ahead of Anti-Prime:

I see pieces like this a lot, often w/ a spin of lamenting cultural degeneration, but reading is a LABOR issue, it’s declined because so many people are working overtime or two jobs & employers expect after hours work. France has Earth’s highest reading rate b/c long lunch breaks & labor protections

Future Tense,
the land I live in.
Time to go away
on a brief holiday
to breathe in the land of Now.

Glad you liked it! Will reread it after I finish the Goldfinch.

A friend shared an Annie Dillard quote about the importance of taking time to notice the world around us. Her last words will reverberate in my head & heart for awhile. Explaining why we are meant to notice even the smallest shell, she writes "Otherwise, creation would be playing to an empty house."