Nancy Pearl
@nancybooklustpearl.bsky.social
Reader, writer, and librarian. Author of George & Lizzie: A Novel; the Book Lust series, and The Writer's Library (with Jeff Schwager)
Done & dusted. “Springtime in Paris,” another 1000-piecer from @galison.bsky.social. Great fun: all those teeny tiny boats! I listened to John Lanchester’s terrific novel Capital. Highly recommend puzzle and novel
December 16, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Done & dusted. “Springtime in Paris,” another 1000-piecer from @galison.bsky.social. Great fun: all those teeny tiny boats! I listened to John Lanchester’s terrific novel Capital. Highly recommend puzzle and novel
Just finished listening to John Lanchester’s terrific novel Capital, read by Colin Mace, which describes a cross-section of Londoners leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. By now the characters feel like old friends.
December 9, 2025 at 7:51 AM
Just finished listening to John Lanchester’s terrific novel Capital, read by Colin Mace, which describes a cross-section of Londoners leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. By now the characters feel like old friends.
This is the poem I used as an epigraph to my novel George & Lizzie. I am ever-grateful to Terence Winch for writing it and so happy that I read it long before either George or Lizzie came into existence.
December 9, 2025 at 4:29 AM
This is the poem I used as an epigraph to my novel George & Lizzie. I am ever-grateful to Terence Winch for writing it and so happy that I read it long before either George or Lizzie came into existence.
“It has always been evening
and now you know”
Perfect
and now you know”
Perfect
December 8, 2025 at 4:07 AM
“It has always been evening
and now you know”
Perfect
and now you know”
Perfect
Howard Norman's 2024 novel Come to the Window has everything his novels are known for-lovely writing, quirky characters and plots, and satisfying endings. This is now my favorite of his, probably recency bias, since his 1994 novel, The Bird Artist, is just about perfect.
December 7, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Howard Norman's 2024 novel Come to the Window has everything his novels are known for-lovely writing, quirky characters and plots, and satisfying endings. This is now my favorite of his, probably recency bias, since his 1994 novel, The Bird Artist, is just about perfect.
“And as for you, you could be anyone
Who’s done, who’s said, the things you’ve said and done.”
What an amazing poem: Poem without Metaphors by Matthew Buckley Smith
Who’s done, who’s said, the things you’ve said and done.”
What an amazing poem: Poem without Metaphors by Matthew Buckley Smith
December 5, 2025 at 12:35 AM
“And as for you, you could be anyone
Who’s done, who’s said, the things you’ve said and done.”
What an amazing poem: Poem without Metaphors by Matthew Buckley Smith
Who’s done, who’s said, the things you’ve said and done.”
What an amazing poem: Poem without Metaphors by Matthew Buckley Smith
Done & dusted. “Garden Party,” another great 1000-piecer from @eeboo.com - I love doing these colorful puzzles on these rainy, grey (and grayer) November days
December 4, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Done & dusted. “Garden Party,” another great 1000-piecer from @eeboo.com - I love doing these colorful puzzles on these rainy, grey (and grayer) November days
"Someday I'll wake and hardly think of you;
You'll be some abstract diety, a myth--
Say Daphne, if you knew her as a tree."
Oh, I really love this poem so much
You'll be some abstract diety, a myth--
Say Daphne, if you knew her as a tree."
Oh, I really love this poem so much
December 3, 2025 at 3:52 AM
"Someday I'll wake and hardly think of you;
You'll be some abstract diety, a myth--
Say Daphne, if you knew her as a tree."
Oh, I really love this poem so much
You'll be some abstract diety, a myth--
Say Daphne, if you knew her as a tree."
Oh, I really love this poem so much
"Not everything that happens // is a learning experience. Maybe nothing is."
I do love this John Ciardi poem, which I read long ago in the New Yorker (I can tell by the typeface.)
I do love this John Ciardi poem, which I read long ago in the New Yorker (I can tell by the typeface.)
December 1, 2025 at 3:04 AM
"Not everything that happens // is a learning experience. Maybe nothing is."
I do love this John Ciardi poem, which I read long ago in the New Yorker (I can tell by the typeface.)
I do love this John Ciardi poem, which I read long ago in the New Yorker (I can tell by the typeface.)
Done & dusted. “The World of Oscar Wilde.” Challenging 1000-piecer from Laurence King, w/huge amount of info on Wilde’s life and work both incorporated in the puzzle as well as in additional material. I listened to John Lanchester’s novel Capital while I was working on the puzzle
November 25, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Done & dusted. “The World of Oscar Wilde.” Challenging 1000-piecer from Laurence King, w/huge amount of info on Wilde’s life and work both incorporated in the puzzle as well as in additional material. I listened to John Lanchester’s novel Capital while I was working on the puzzle
"It is possible that things will not get better
than they are now, or have been known to be" - Robyn Sarah "Riveted"
than they are now, or have been known to be" - Robyn Sarah "Riveted"
November 20, 2025 at 1:05 AM
"It is possible that things will not get better
than they are now, or have been known to be" - Robyn Sarah "Riveted"
than they are now, or have been known to be" - Robyn Sarah "Riveted"
Who remembers Nancy Drew’s father’s name ? What about the name of their housekeeper?
November 16, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Who remembers Nancy Drew’s father’s name ? What about the name of their housekeeper?
Done & dusted. The painting itself was done by an unknown artist sometime in the 16th century; it depicts the “First Meeting of Rostam and his Grandfather, Sam” from the Iranian national epic, the Shanama (Book of Kings) by Firdawsi (c934-c1020.
November 16, 2025 at 3:49 AM
Done & dusted. The painting itself was done by an unknown artist sometime in the 16th century; it depicts the “First Meeting of Rostam and his Grandfather, Sam” from the Iranian national epic, the Shanama (Book of Kings) by Firdawsi (c934-c1020.
Jane Haddam's Act of Darkness-"She was a single-minded machine for the operation of triumphant narcissism, and that narcissism had a nasty edge of envy to it.(She) was one of those people who was happiest not when she won but when she could watch other people losing."
I know someone just like this
I know someone just like this
November 10, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Jane Haddam's Act of Darkness-"She was a single-minded machine for the operation of triumphant narcissism, and that narcissism had a nasty edge of envy to it.(She) was one of those people who was happiest not when she won but when she could watch other people losing."
I know someone just like this
I know someone just like this
From Jane Haddam's mystery Festival of Deaths: "Café Blasé was one of those vaguely French restaurants that decorated all its food with flower petals, so that a perfectly respectable piece of fried chicken breast arrived at the table looking as if it had been drowned with Ophelia."
November 7, 2025 at 3:32 AM
From Jane Haddam's mystery Festival of Deaths: "Café Blasé was one of those vaguely French restaurants that decorated all its food with flower petals, so that a perfectly respectable piece of fried chicken breast arrived at the table looking as if it had been drowned with Ophelia."
Another quotation from my notebooks, this one from Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian mystery Glass Houses:
"Hell was a place where mediocrity reigned day by day, without the relief of outright awfulness."
"Hell was a place where mediocrity reigned day by day, without the relief of outright awfulness."
November 4, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Another quotation from my notebooks, this one from Jane Haddam's Gregor Demarkian mystery Glass Houses:
"Hell was a place where mediocrity reigned day by day, without the relief of outright awfulness."
"Hell was a place where mediocrity reigned day by day, without the relief of outright awfulness."
Done & dusted. Another winner from @galison.bsky.social - Dog Gallery is just the right amount of crazy-making 1000 pieces. While I worked on this I listened to Natasha Pulley’s Hymn to Dionysus with great pleasure
November 2, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Done & dusted. Another winner from @galison.bsky.social - Dog Gallery is just the right amount of crazy-making 1000 pieces. While I worked on this I listened to Natasha Pulley’s Hymn to Dionysus with great pleasure
I was looking through my notebooks of quotes and found this, from The Half Life of Valery K by @natashapulley.bsky.social. It gave me chills
October 27, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I was looking through my notebooks of quotes and found this, from The Half Life of Valery K by @natashapulley.bsky.social. It gave me chills
Done & dusted. Perfect 1000-piecer, just what I always expect (and get) from @eeBoo. This one is Alchemist’s Orchard
October 25, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Done & dusted. Perfect 1000-piecer, just what I always expect (and get) from @eeBoo. This one is Alchemist’s Orchard
Done & dusted. “Serenity Meow”-a terrific 1000-piecer from @galison.bsky.social. While I worked on it I listened to Patrick Ryan’s Buckeye with much enjoyment
October 13, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Done & dusted. “Serenity Meow”-a terrific 1000-piecer from @galison.bsky.social. While I worked on it I listened to Patrick Ryan’s Buckeye with much enjoyment
Absolutely loved Mimi Pond's Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters and Me. Her drawings complement the biographical details to a tee, and the bibliography is filled with other interesting titles about the family. You go, Decca!!!
October 8, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Absolutely loved Mimi Pond's Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters and Me. Her drawings complement the biographical details to a tee, and the bibliography is filled with other interesting titles about the family. You go, Decca!!!
Another favorite poem, this one by Katha Pollitt - Wisdom of the Desert Fathers:
“Before they knew it, it was too late to go back:
the farm had gone under, cancer had taken Mother,
everyone was married. Even the demons
hardly came round anymore
with their childish bribes of money and sex.”
“Before they knew it, it was too late to go back:
the farm had gone under, cancer had taken Mother,
everyone was married. Even the demons
hardly came round anymore
with their childish bribes of money and sex.”
October 7, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Another favorite poem, this one by Katha Pollitt - Wisdom of the Desert Fathers:
“Before they knew it, it was too late to go back:
the farm had gone under, cancer had taken Mother,
everyone was married. Even the demons
hardly came round anymore
with their childish bribes of money and sex.”
“Before they knew it, it was too late to go back:
the farm had gone under, cancer had taken Mother,
everyone was married. Even the demons
hardly came round anymore
with their childish bribes of money and sex.”
“Praise the odd, serendipitous world.” I really wish I had interviewed Stephen Dunn so I could tell him how much I loved his poetry. This one, especially
October 4, 2025 at 4:07 AM
“Praise the odd, serendipitous world.” I really wish I had interviewed Stephen Dunn so I could tell him how much I loved his poetry. This one, especially
I love @tomgauld.bsky.social’s work
September 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
I love @tomgauld.bsky.social’s work
"Say Daphne, If you knew her as a tree."
Midcentury poet Howard Moss is one of my favorites, and this poem, Shorelines, is one of my very favorites of his.
Midcentury poet Howard Moss is one of my favorites, and this poem, Shorelines, is one of my very favorites of his.
September 28, 2025 at 10:01 PM
"Say Daphne, If you knew her as a tree."
Midcentury poet Howard Moss is one of my favorites, and this poem, Shorelines, is one of my very favorites of his.
Midcentury poet Howard Moss is one of my favorites, and this poem, Shorelines, is one of my very favorites of his.