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Spell the month in books: May 2026

Posted on May 11, 2026 by WordsAndPeace

#SpellTheMonthInBooks

Spell the month in books:
May 2026
Click on the logo to join

📚 📚 📚

I discovered this meme thanks to Marianne @ Let’s read.
“The idea is to spell the month using the first letter of book titles”,
and there’s an accompanying theme.

Actually, Jana hasn’t been active for several months. I saw on Facebook she just got a baby, so that could be the reason.
So I came up with the theme myself.

MAY:
Flower or plant on the cover

Monet: Itinerant Of Light
A l’ombre des jeunes filles en fleurs
Yotsuba&! volume 1

Click on the covers to access my reviews
or more info on the books

A bit of an explanation here:
This is the 2nd book in Proust’s series In Search of Lost Time.
There;s nature on the cover, and the word flower is in the title – inlcuding in one of the English translations: In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower

Have YOU read
or are YOU planning to read any of these?
Please leave the link to your own post,
so I can visit.

If Jana doesn’t answer me, I will host this meme starting in June

Book review: Dom Casmurro

Posted on May 4, 2026 by WordsAndPeace

Dom Casmurro,
by Machado de Assis
Dom Casmurro
was first published in 1899
Translation from the Portuguese by
Robert Scott-Buccleuch
Brazilian literary fiction
2016
224 pages
Read for Classics Spin #43

Machado de Assis (1839–1908) was born near Rio de Janeiro into a very modest family. He worked as a journalist and office worker while writing, and he became what is widely considered the most important writer in Brazil.

He left behind a remarkably rich body of work — novels, more than 200 short stories, plays, poetry, essays, and articles — though he is still too little known outside Brazil. Among all his books, Dom Casmurro is generally regarded as his masterpiece.

Click to continue reading

Six degrees of separation: Owls

Posted on May 2, 2026 by WordsAndPeace

#6Degrees

Six degrees of separation:
Owls

This fun meme is hosted by
Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest
(see there the origin of the meme and how it works
– posted the first Saturday of every month)

Today, we are supposed to start from Wild Dark Shore, by Charlotte McConaghy.
I haven’t read it, but am definitely planning to, as I so enjoyed an earlier book by her – see below.

Click on the titles to access my reviews

Owls

I had to start with the other book I read by Charlotte McConaghy:

1. Migrations, by Charlotte McConaghy
MY VERDICT:
Both beautiful and heart-wrenching. And of course, a must for all birders.

Migrations focuses on arctic terns. So I went next with a book I just finished on another type of bird:

2. What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds, by Jennifer Ackerman

I haven’t found the time yet to review it, but this is the most fabulous book on owls!

And as I have read several books with the word owl in the title, I’ll go on with these:

3. The Owl, the Duck and – Miss Rowe! Miss Rowe!, by John Cowper Powys
MY VERDICT:
A startlingly modern 1930 short-story. Funny, strange, and quietly profound. Yes, imagination and kindness can be more powerful than any official system.

4. Owls and Other Fantasies, by Mary Oliver
Beautiful poems on birds

5. The Secret Life of the Owl, by John Lewis-Stempel
MY VERDICT:
Everything you didn’t know about owls: their science, and their place in art and symbolism. Fascinating.

6. Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, by David Sedaris
Part of my review:
In this book, you will travel all over the world, not only to France, but also to Australia, to China and Japan, etc. I really enjoy his style, his views always right on target, with love and humor, and the way he knows how to suddenly give a final twist you were not expecting at all.

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