Wow! I'm impressed.

Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted sentences of all California death row prisoners to life in prison without parole.

@bookstodon This morning, after finishing the prequel, I started "The French Illusion." I've read a little over half of it, and it's the usual Grisham effort, a continuation of why I like his legal thrillers.

#books #reading

"The Law Student (The French Illusion #.5)" by John Grisham. My rating: 4 out of 5 stars. Published in 2026.

Book description: In this prequel to his upcoming thriller, "The French Illusion," John Grisham introduces his next hero in a shortstory of family, ambition, and the pursuit of justice. As a college football player in small-town North Carolina, Stuart Nash has always followed the path others expected him to take. But one life-changing decision—and one family’s heartbreaking struggle for justice—sets him on the road to law school and the legal career that will shape his future.

#fiction #shorts tory #books #reading @bookstodon

"Winter in the Morning: A Young Girl's Escape from the Warsaw Ghetto" by Janina Bauman. My rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Published in 2026.

Book description: Janina Bauman was a year older than Anne Frank when the Second World War broke out. When Hitler's decree forced her family into the Warsaw Ghetto, bright, lively Janina suddenly found herself in a cramped flat hiding with other Jewish families. At first, the curfews and casual cruelty meted out by the German occupiers could not dim her passion for books, boys and romance. Then came the raids, and Janina with her sister and mother, had to keep on the move, hiding in the ruins of the ghetto to avoid being one of thousands rounded up every day and deported to the camps. Their escape to the 'Aryan' side was followed by two years in hiding, taking shelter with those willing to help them and living in constant fear of betrayal, told through her teenage diaries.

I expected this book to be similar to "A Diary of a Young Girl, but this story is much different in perspective, and I loved it every bit as much, and the story does not end there, but continues on after the war. I highly recommend this book.

#nonfiction #memoir #history #Holocaust #WWII #persecution #jews #Books #reading @bookstodon

Anyone made cornbread in their rice cooker? I have a notion to try this in my small rice cooker. I need to get some milk, first, but I think I will try this.

Introduction: I love books and reading. As a youngster, I told anyone who would listen that, when I retired, I was going to spend my days reading books or reading about them. I'm not sure anyone believed me then, but this is exactly what I do now that I am retired. 📚

A few years ago, I chose to use my iPhone for all tech tasks, including reading. At the time, I didn't connect the dots, but that decision was a result of an over all turn toward minimalism as a lifestyle. 📱

I read mostly nonfiction, with other genres mixed in, from time-to-time, and I boost posts about books, reading, current events and human rights.

I'm also a minimalist when it comes to the use of generative AI, and believe AI should be regulated.

I welcome diverse points of view and respectful discussion, and appreciate book suggestions, as I like to discover new authors.

Happy reading!

Time I add Sally Rooney to the list of authors I want to experience. #books #reading @bookstodon

I'd like to see more books about regulating billionaires--yes I would.

#books #reading

The BBC is reporting that bestselling author and former politician, Jeffrey Archer, has died, at age 86.

#books #reading @bookstodon

In all sincerity, I have to say I'm struggling to read Virginia Woolf's TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. I think I'm beginning to enjoy it, and then it just seems so monotonous once again. I really want to like this book. 🤷‍♀️

#books #reading

Happy new book release Tuesday for readers in the United States. Several great nonfiction titles out today, some of which I have added to my digital library and to my TBR list.

Happy reading to all. 📚

#books #reading

Wishing @jmillerbiblio a very happy Birthday. I hope it's a great one.

I wonder if I could manage a whole year of reading only nonfiction? Something to think about for 2027. 📚

Wishing @Thatmermaid_J a very happy Birthday! 🎂 Hope you have an awesome one.

Quick note: I’m shifting this account to mostly posts with my book reads/updates and replies to followers, instead of daily life updates. Still here, just more book‑focused, at least for a while. 🥰

#OTD: On August 24, 1941, Adolf Hitler ordered the official suspension of Aktion T4, Nazi Germany’s so-called “euthanasia” program—the systematic murder of institutionalized people with mental and physical disabilities.

The program began in 1939 and involved murdering patients through gassing, lethal overdoses, starvation, and neglect. Between January 1940 and August 1941, approximately 70,273 people were killed at six centralized gassing facilities, according to the program’s own records.

Public awareness and protests contributed to the suspension. Catholic Bishop Clemens August von Galen delivered a widely circulated sermon condemning the killings on August 3, 1941. Hitler’s order stopped the centralized, openly organized phase of T4, but it did not end Nazi mass murder of disabled people. Decentralized killings in hospitals and institutions continued through the war, and many T4 personnel were later transferred to help conduct mass murder in occupied Eastern Europe.

Thus, August 24, 1941, marks the official suspension—not the true end—of the Nazi euthanasia killings. Estimates for the total number of people murdered in the broader disability-killing program, including its covert continuation, reach roughly 200,000 or more.

I know people get annoyed with me every time I say these things or even mention them, but that doesn't change what could be coming.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Tech companies are taking out trillions of dollars in debt

To invest in AI, data centers

Mostly done in secret, through shell companies

to hide the fact that they're borrowing

far more than they're bringing in in profits

This incl Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon

And who holds the debt?

Hedge funds, equity firms, banks

But also Insurance companies, Pension funds

Which will have to be bailed out by taxpayers

Huge job losses

Major recession

Seniors suddenly losing their source of income

Wage growth, already negative vs inflation, becomes far worse

therealnews.com/economist-bake…

Sometimes, I really consider making a list of say 150-200 books I want to read, during the coming year, so I can go right down the list, when I'm not sure what I want to read next. It isn't something I'd use carved in stone, but I think it would save me a lot of time figuring this out.

#books #reading

"Parable of the Sower (Earthseed, #1), by Octavia E. Butler. My rating:5 out of 5 stars. Published in 2012.

Book description: Lauren Olamina and her family live in one of the only safe neighborhoods remaining on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Behind the walls of their defended enclave, Lauren’s father, a preacher, and a handful of other citizens try to salvage what remains of a culture that has been destroyed by drugs, war, and chronic shortages of water, gasoline, and more. When fire destroys their compound, Lauren’s family is killed and she is forced out into a world that is facing apocalypse. With a handful of other refugees, Lauren must make her way north to safety. .

At first this book appears to be about a different take on religion, but I urge everyone to go deeper, because it is a much deeper written work than that. It is about survival and meeting people where they are, while keeping hope alive in a hostile and unforgiving world, not much different than the United States is in 2026. I highly recommend this book. I plan to read the sequel, but also will revisit this book. I know it has much more to show me.

#fiction #ScienceFiction #books @bookstodon

#OTD: On July 27, 1974, the House Judiciary Committee recommends that America’s 37th president, Richard M. Nixon, be impeached and removed from office. The impeachment proceedings resulted from a series of political scandals involving the Nixon administration that came to be collectively known as Watergate.