#BookThreads #booksky ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ“š #bookstodon TCL's #SomethingDifferent Sunday #28 - New Year's Bookish Resolutions! No bread, pottery, or stained glass today. Instead I bring you a new #Booktag, brought to you by @TStrawberryPost - a new blog for me! Only 13 questions, about our 2026 reading goals.

http://tcl-bookreviews.com/2026/02/01/tcls-somethingdifferent-sunday-28-new-years-bookish-resolutions/

TCLโ€™s #SomethingDifferent Sunday #28 โ€“ New Yearโ€™s Bookish Resolutions!

Yes, Iโ€™m still baking my own bread, but instead of updates on that, or my Pottery and my Stained Glass classes, Iโ€™m doing a new TAG! This TAG is brought to you by The Strawberry Post, wโ€ฆ

The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog

#BookThreads #booksky ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ“š #bookstodon TCL's 7th My Life in Books (aka Life According to Literature) Tag - 2025 Version - on my #bookblog here. Thanks to @annabookbel and @bookdout for these fun prompts/questions and this lovely yearly #booktag!

http://tcl-bookreviews.com/2026/01/15/tcls-7th-my-life-in-books-aka-life-according-to-literature-tag-2025-version/

TCLโ€™s 7th My Life in Books (aka Life According to Literature) Tag โ€“ 2025 Version.

I started doing this book tag in 2019 which was called โ€œLife According to Literatureโ€ with different prompts. These were done by Bronaโ€™s Books, ANZ LitLovers LitBlog, and Veronica @ Theโ€ฆ

The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog
#๐•ฅ๐•™๐•–๐•๐•’๐•ค๐•ฅ๐•“๐• ๐• ๐•œ๐•š -๐•”๐•™๐•’๐•๐•๐•–๐•Ÿ๐•˜๐•–

Itโ€™s been a good while since I answered a tag, so here goes

แด›สœแด‡ สŸแด€๊œฑแด› ส™แดแดแด‹ ษช โ€ฆ

โ€ฆ ๊œฑแด›แด€ส€แด›แด‡แด…
Silja Sillanpรครค, Pasi Pitkรคnen: Haltiakรครคrme

โ€ฆ ๊œฐษชษดษช๊œฑสœแด‡แด…
Joona Keskitalo: Tunturi, joka ulvoi

โ€ฆ ส™แดแดœษขสœแด›
Silja Sillanpรครค, Pasi Pitkรคnen: Haltiakรครคrme
Siri Kolu: Varjoliitto

โ€ฆ ส™แดส€ส€แดแดกแด‡แด…
David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken: Third culture kids: growing up among worlds

โ€ฆ ษขแด€แด แด‡ ๊œฑแดแดแด‡แดษดแด‡
Antoine de Saint-Exupรฉry: The Little Prince

โ€ฆ ส€แด€แด›แด‡แด… 5 ๊œฑแด›แด€ส€๊œฑ
Satu Tรคhtinen: Langennut herttua ja muita pulmia

โ€ฆ แด…ษชแด…ษดโ€™แด› สŸแดแด แด‡
Jyrki Korpua: Tolkien ja Kalevala

โ€ฆ แด…ษด๊œฐโ€™แด…
Kimmo Ohtonen: Kuiskaajien kilta

โ€ฆ ส™แด€แดกสŸแด‡แด… แดส แด‡สแด‡๊œฑ แดแดœแด› ๊œฐแดส€
J.S. Meresmaa: Noidanlanka

โ€ฆ แด€แด…แด…แด‡แด… แด›แด แดส แด›ส™ส€
Siri Kolu: Varjoliitto

#thelasbooki #booktag #bookchallenge #bookish

Book Review: Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

Harjoโ€™s poetry is deeply rooted in her ancestral roots and the intergenerational trauma of colonisation. Her collection is a profound meditation on the lives, struggles, and resilience of all indigenous peoples.

Rating: ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ๐ŸŒŸ

Genre: Poetry, Non-fiction, Native American Literature

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Review in one word: Transcendental

Joy Harjo is an internationally renowned poet, writer, and musician of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She served three terms as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate. Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings is a powerful and essential collection of poems and prose from Harjo.

The book is not a linear narrative but a lyrical journey that weaves together personal memory, ancestral stories, and sharp political commentary to paint a vivid picture of Indigenous existence in the modern world.

The trajectory of the collection follows the profound cycles of life, loss, and survival. Harjo begins by emphasising the importance of passing down traditions from one generation to the next, a sacred act of cultural preservation.

Poems and short vignettes traverse time and geography, drawing on imagery and stories from ancestral knowing in North America, from Alaska to Hawaii to her own Cherokee lands.

The centrepiece poem, from which the collection takes its title, serves as a powerful axis for the bookโ€™s themes. In it, Harjo contrasts the worldviews of Native peoples and white Americans, particularly in their approaches to conflict, land, and spirituality.

Harjo critiques a colonising mindset that would build a casino on sacred land, contrasting it with the Indigenous preference for resolving conflict and expressing identity through art, music, poetry, and oral tradition.

Thereโ€™s a lot of thematic focus on the Blues as a musical style and lifestyle and her prose is incantatory, blending the rhythms of traditional song and oral storytelling.

I loved this collection of elegiac and hopeful poems there is so much affinity I feel for her and her experiences seeing as I am indigenous as well. This is a moving and essential collection of poetry. Harjo is a genius for the ages!

Content Catnip

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#AmericanHistory #art #BookReview #bookTag #BookReview #books #Colonisation #History #indigenous #JoyHarjo #JoyHarjo #literature #Native #nature #nonFiction #Philosophy #poems #poetry #storyteller #storytelling

Der Herbst ist da, die Spooky Season, der goldene Herbst und damit auch der #herbstbooktag.

10 buchige Fragen mit Herbstthema habe ich mit Manga, Comics und Romanen beantwortet.

https://youtu.be/h3Ec3Jmxg5A?si=aA3pgi1kzzK1QgFD

#booktag

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

๐•„๐•š๐••-๐•ช๐•–๐•’๐•ฃ ๐•“๐• ๐• ๐•œ ๐•—๐•ฃ๐•–๐•’๐•œ๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•ฅ๐•’๐•˜

Book count by the end of June: 27

๐ŸŒž ๐™ฑ๐šŽ๐šœ๐š ๐š‹๐š˜๐š˜๐š” ๐šœ๐š˜ ๐š๐šŠ๐š›
Heather Fawcett: Emily Wildeโ€™s Eancyclopaedia of Faeries

๐ŸŒž ๐™ฑ๐šŽ๐šœ๐š ๐šœ๐šŽ๐šš๐šž๐šŽ๐š•
Heather Fawcett: Emily Wildeโ€™s Map of the Otherlands

๐ŸŒž ๐™ฝ๐šŽ๐š  ๐š›๐šŽ๐š•๐šŽ๐šŠ๐šœ๐šŽ ๐™ธ ๐š‘๐šŠ๐šŸ๐šŽ๐š—'๐š ๐š›๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š ๐š‹๐šž๐š ๐š ๐šŠ๐š—๐š ๐š๐š˜
Joona Keskitalo: Tunturi, joka ulvoi

๐ŸŒž ๐™ผ๐š˜๐šœ๐š ๐šŠ๐š—๐š๐š’๐šŒ๐š’๐š™๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ๐š ๐šž๐š™๐šŒ๐š˜๐š–๐š’๐š—๐š ๐š›๐šŽ๐š•๐šŽ๐šŠ๐šœ๐šŽ ๐š˜๐š ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿถ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿป
โ–ช๏ธJ. S. Meresmaa: Noidanlanka
โ–ช๏ธS. K. Rostedt: Mustan tulen laulu

๐ŸŒž ๐™ฑ๐š’๐š๐š๐šŽ๐šœ๐š ๐š๐š’๐šœ๐šŠ๐š™๐š™๐š˜๐š’๐š—๐š๐š–๐šŽ๐š—๐š
Emily St. John Mandel: The Glass Hotel

๐ŸŒž ๐™ฑ๐š’๐š๐š๐šŽ๐šœ๐š ๐šœ๐šž๐š›๐š™๐š›๐š’๐šœ๐šŽ
Saara El-Arifi: Faebound (Veren erottamat)

๐ŸŒž ๐™ต๐šŠ๐šŸ๐š˜๐š›๐š’๐š๐šŽ ๐š—๐šŽ๐š  ๐šŠ๐šž๐š๐š‘๐š˜๐š›
Ulla Onerva, J. S. Meresmaa, Heather Fawcett

๐ŸŒž ๐™ฝ๐šŽ๐š ๐šŽ๐šœ๐š ๐š๐š’๐šŒ๐š๐š’๐š˜๐š—๐šŠ๐š• ๐šŒ๐š›๐šž๐šœ๐š‘
Wendell Bambleby from the Emily Wilde series

๐ŸŒž ๐™ฑ๐š˜๐š˜๐š” ๐š๐š‘๐šŠ๐š ๐š–๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ ๐š–๐šŽ ๐šŒ๐š›๐šข
Vehka Kurjenmiekka: Jouka Lumisalon ihastumisoppi

๐ŸŒž ๐™ฑ๐š˜๐š˜๐š” ๐š๐š‘๐šŠ๐š ๐š–๐šŠ๐š๐šŽ ๐š–๐šŽ ๐š‘๐šŠ๐š™๐š™๐šข
Rebecca Thorne: Canโ€™t Spell Treason Without Tea

๐ŸŒž ๐™ผ๐š˜๐šœ๐š ๐š‹๐šŽ๐šŠ๐šž๐š๐š’๐š๐šž๐š• ๐š‹๐š˜๐š˜๐š” ๐šข๐š˜๐šž'๐šŸ๐šŽ ๐š‹๐š˜๐šž๐š๐š‘๐š ๐š๐š‘๐š’๐šœ ๐šข๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š›
Mark Lawrenceโ€™s The Library Trilogy books, and Heather Fawcettโ€™s Emily Wilde books are some of the prettiest new aquires

๐ŸŒž ๐™ฑ๐š˜๐š˜๐š”(๐šœ) ๐™ธ ๐šœ๐š๐š’๐š•๐š• ๐š ๐šŠ๐š—๐š ๐š๐š˜ ๐š›๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š ๐š๐š‘๐š’๐šœ ๐šข๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š›
Everything on my TBR and all at once!

Howโ€™s your year looking?

#midyearbookfreakouttag #booktag #booksbooksbooks #bookmap #bookish #2025reads

Book Review: The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard

The Ghost Cat, a curious little novel about a spectral cat haunting an Edinburgh townhouse over several generations โ€” is sometimes enchanting, sometimes discombobulating and overall quite uneven

Rating: ๐ŸŒŸ

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Animals, History.

Review in one word: Confusing

The premise of this book sounded enchanting. A cosy historical fantasy novel set in Edinburgh from the perspective of a cat! I mean this sounded like a book made especially for me. To say I was excited was an understatement!

The novel begins in the early morning in 1902. At a handsome home in Edinburghโ€™s New Town on the street of Marchmont Crescent, Grimalkin is snuggling next to his beloved human companion, housekeeper Eilidh. It will be his last day as a living cat. Sooner after he is plunged into a feline netherworld where he meets Cait-sรฌth who grants him eight additional lives. โ€œFor three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays.โ€

The novel follows Grimalkin as he witnesses the worldโ€™s changes for the next 120 years. This book starts off with an enormous amount of promise and the first few chapters are really engaging.

I donโ€™t know what I was expecting but the tone of the novel seemed a bit silly. The narrative felt cheapened by fast-paced vignettes of the lives of people living in the home. Instead itโ€™s a mash-up of key events and figures from throughout the past 100 years who all seem to converge on the one house over that period of time. So itโ€™s a whistlestop tour of the The Blitz, the moon landing, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, the 2008 financial crisis and so on. After a while in the same mode it all felt a bit repetitive and stale.

The individual vignettes donโ€™t linger long enough for the reader to meaningfully connect with the characters who live in the house or to care what happens to them. At the end of each vignette set in a particular period, the author felt it necessary to explain the characters and the historical context of the vignette. This unconventional move of explaining a vignette after itโ€™s told seemed like lazy writing and also seemed condescending, as though the audience needed to be given historical context in order to understand. There is also a confusing addition of which monarch was reigning after each vignetteโ€”to anchor the reader in time. These flourishes, rather than enriching the narrative, came across as being self-conscious and condescending.

On a positive note the main character of Grimalkin the cat is engaging and amusing in a snooty, feline way. The stories themselves were sweet and amusing but also at times discombobulating and lacking in meaning and depth.

The Cat-Sith, a kind of Grim Reaper figure who grants Grimalkin eight additional lives is a towering figure in the book who commands a lot of attention in the beginning, it would have been good to hear more from him.

As cat lover and devotee of all things feline I just couldnโ€™t like Grimalkin much as a character. Each time he enters into a new era he finds so much to moan and complain about. Thereโ€™s a sense that heโ€™s a Luddite and technophobic Boomer (in cat form) who rails against any new changes in the world and spends a lot of time grumbling about new things and longing for the good old days. Some will find this charming and this belligerence rather cat-like, I just found it annoying.

Iโ€™m not sure if I would recommend this book, itโ€™s a strange and surreal read with not much satisfying depth to it.

Content Catnip

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#AlexHoward #animals #book #BookReview #bookTag #BookReview #books #cats #Edinburgh #fantasy #fiction #History #review #Scotland #ScottishHistory #storytelling

Before you continue to YouTube

Es gibt ein neues Video von mir. Ich beantworte die Fragen zum Frรผhlings-Book-Tag und habe dafรผr einige Titel im Gepรคck. Wenn ihr mitmachen mรถchtet, findet ihr die Fragen in der Videobeschrwibung.

https://youtu.be/Q0N-h_1A8yk?si=DtvNFDx2OQNrxuhQ

#frรผhlingsbooktag #booktag

Frรผhlings Book Tag - Bรผcher, Comics und Pollen #frรผhlingsbooktag

YouTube
Valentineโ€™s Day Book Tag - chasing destino

Welcome to the Valentine's Day Book Tag! A few days ago, I went to the library and happened to see their book sale. It was the sweetest thing that I had seen all week. There were a few books that caught my attention. Hopefully, I will have more time on the next visit to actually

chasing destino - music, books and free mom hugs