TheLibrarian

Love books with great characters, lots of emotions, surprising plot twists and hidden gems. Love multiple-layered storytelling. Read all genres. Am a librarian. Ook 🇵🇸 Free Palestine

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My Taste

The Wee Free Men (Discworld, #30; Tiffany Aching, #1)

Travels with Charley: In Search of America

Reading...

Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs

56%

We Call to the Eye & the Night: Love Poems by Writers of Arab Heritage

63%

76%

Post from the Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs forum

TheLibrarian

Thoughts from 57% (page 116)

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Ninareads

Thoughts from 6% (page 29)

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Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs

Jeffrey Boakye

56%

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rybear

Thoughts from 50% (page 194)

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Musical Truth: A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs

Jeffrey Boakye

Music can carry the stories of history like a message in a bottle. Lord Kitchener, Neneh Cherry, Smiley Culture, Stormzy . . . Groundbreaking musicians whose songs have changed the world. But how? This exhilarating playlist tracks some of the key shifts in modern British history, and explores the emotional impact of 28 songs and the artists who performed them. This book redefines British history, the Empire and postcolonialism, and will invite you to think again about the narratives and key moments in history that you have been taught up to now. Thrilling, urgent, entertaining and thought-provoking, this beautifully illustrated companion to modern black music is a revelation and a delight.

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Alivia

Thoughts from 44% (page 218)

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Post from the We Call to the Eye & the Night: Love Poems by Writers of Arab Heritage forum

TheLibrarian

Edited

Thoughts from 66% (page 161)

From poem Finding Myself in the Direct Messages of Someone I Do Not Know Is in Kuwait by Tarim Luthun

it is my mother’s doing: her aging pride would like grandchildren. Maybe

it is our elders, that they seek a youth their bodies can no longer

possess. Or maybe, our bodies seek to possess a youth that keeps us

from becoming our elders. Each evening erupts a fight between my family

I think this perspective is not often represented.

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Universe Quest: Discworld

Platinum: Finished 20 Main Quest books.

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moski

Edited

Thoughts from 66%

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TheLibrarian

Thoughts from 36% (finished Part 1)

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TheLibrarian

Thoughts from 87% (Shipwreck chapter)

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Lottaa

Book storage ideas

Bit of a interior design question here, for people with many physical books: I just moved into a new flat, and need to find some creative storage ideas for my books. As I assume some of you may have encountered the problem of too many book in too small a space, but absolute unwillingness to get rid of any of them, I ask for ideas for storage with the following parameters:

I already have a large simple book shelf on one wall (think IKEA Billy style)
I don't have another free wall for another simular shelf or a library style wall
I would love the backs of the books to be visible, so no closed spaces

Any ideas are welcome!!

TheLibrarian wrote a review...

TheLibrarian

Jan 18, 2026

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0

🌊

🍰

🏝️

The author uses storytelling in a really engaging and attention grabbing way. When setting the scene, she focuses on places and objects and what they mean to people and comes back to them to further the story later. This makes the story deep and meaningful. For example, the titular black cake recipe takes centre stage in the main heroine story and is a clear connection she has with her children who she is telling the story to. I also particularly liked the connection to water, something that is used to signify childhood whimsy but also determination against all odds and ultimately freedom. Overall, the book is very well researched and masterfully told. The author mentions at the end that she was aiming for a more fable like tale rather than realistic narrative and I could definitely feel how the narrator created this almost legend out of her life and the life of her friends and family from the century before. I’m so glad this was included in the reading challenge.

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Black Cake

Charmaine Wilkerson

We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become? In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves. Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever? Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

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Tiny but Mighty Nonfiction 💡🌎🤏

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Classics to modern nonfiction, all under 300 pages.

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If Cats Disappeared from the World

Genki Kawamura

Our narrator’s days are numbered. Estranged from his family, living alone with only his cat Cabbage for company, he was unprepared for the doctor’s diagnosis that he has only months to live. But before he can set about tackling his bucket list, the Devil appears with a special offer: in exchange for making one thing in the world disappear, he can have one extra day of life. And so begins a very bizarre week . . . Because how do you decide what makes life worth living? How do you separate out what you can do without from what you hold dear? In dealing with the Devil our narrator will take himself – and his beloved cat – to the brink. Genki Kawamura's If Cats Disappeared from the World is a story of loss and reconciliation, of one man’s journey to discover what really matters in modern life. This beautiful tale is translated from the Japanese by Eric Selland, who also translated The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide. Fans of The Guest Cat and The Travelling Cat Chronicles will also surely love If Cats Disappeared from the World.

Post from the We Call to the Eye & the Night: Love Poems by Writers of Arab Heritage forum

TheLibrarian

Thoughts from 58% (page 141)

Poem Love and Strange Horses-Intima’ by Nathalie Handal

This is one of the longest poems in the book. It is beautiful and I especially like this stanza:

I knew he was different by the way he ran— without pause without grace without distraction without ease. He was told how to move in the world and resented it. He knew he would never own anything.

There is something about horses that screams freedom, I think it’s always been a theme in stories and poetry. Maybe it’s the fact horses allow humans to take their freedom.

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