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)
Muppet without a Cause
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Muppet
Demolition Muppet
February 20, 2026 at 5:44 AM
Muppet without a Cause
No idea where I found out about James Wolff’s trilogy of spy novels, but here’s a big thank you to whoever told me about them, because they’re great, some of the best spy fiction I’ve read in ages. Can’t wait for his new one later this month-
February 18, 2026 at 4:18 AM
No idea where I found out about James Wolff’s trilogy of spy novels, but here’s a big thank you to whoever told me about them, because they’re great, some of the best spy fiction I’ve read in ages. Can’t wait for his new one later this month-
One of my favorite tombstones at Washelli Cemetery here in Seattle
February 17, 2026 at 11:40 PM
One of my favorite tombstones at Washelli Cemetery here in Seattle
“Never enough courage”
February 16, 2026 at 7:04 PM
“Never enough courage”
Photo + poem are wonderful.
Whoever named them
got it right, coming just one
r short of regret.
louisiana-anthology.org/texts/kane/k...
got it right, coming just one
r short of regret.
louisiana-anthology.org/texts/kane/k...
February 9, 2026 at 4:55 AM
Photo + poem are wonderful.
From “Faint Music, an amazing poem by Robert Hass
I had the idea that the world’s so full of pain
it must sometimes make a kind of singing.
And that the sequence helps, as much as order helps—
First an ego, and then pain, and then the singing.
I had the idea that the world’s so full of pain
it must sometimes make a kind of singing.
And that the sequence helps, as much as order helps—
First an ego, and then pain, and then the singing.
February 5, 2026 at 8:45 PM
From “Faint Music, an amazing poem by Robert Hass
I had the idea that the world’s so full of pain
it must sometimes make a kind of singing.
And that the sequence helps, as much as order helps—
First an ego, and then pain, and then the singing.
I had the idea that the world’s so full of pain
it must sometimes make a kind of singing.
And that the sequence helps, as much as order helps—
First an ego, and then pain, and then the singing.
What unprepossessing letters in today’s spelling bee. They don’t have a lot to say for themselves
January 30, 2026 at 4:20 PM
What unprepossessing letters in today’s spelling bee. They don’t have a lot to say for themselves
Best sign on my morning walk. (No snow, sleet, or ice, thank goodness, but quite cold for Seattle- 24
degrees)
degrees)
January 25, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Best sign on my morning walk. (No snow, sleet, or ice, thank goodness, but quite cold for Seattle- 24
degrees)
degrees)
Reposted by Nancy Pearl
Done & dusted (all 3): forgot to post these. While I was working on these I listened to some Dick Francis mysteries. Loved the stories (which I read before) but wasn’t fond of any of the readers and, sad to say, finally gave up on them.
January 19, 2026 at 12:45 AM
Done & dusted (all 3): forgot to post these. While I was working on these I listened to some Dick Francis mysteries. Loved the stories (which I read before) but wasn’t fond of any of the readers and, sad to say, finally gave up on them.
This always makes me smile, which is an excellent thing during these parlous days
January 17, 2026 at 3:27 AM
This always makes me smile, which is an excellent thing during these parlous days
Best sign from morning walk -
January 11, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Best sign from morning walk -
Someone asked me recently if there could be a perfect novel: I'm not sure any two people could come up with the defining characteristics of one, but here are two that immediately came to mind: William Maxwell's So Long, See You Tomorrow and Ian McEwan's Atonement
January 5, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Someone asked me recently if there could be a perfect novel: I'm not sure any two people could come up with the defining characteristics of one, but here are two that immediately came to mind: William Maxwell's So Long, See You Tomorrow and Ian McEwan's Atonement
If only
It would be so cool if the United States Congress still existed.
January 5, 2026 at 1:53 AM
If only
Have always loved reading about the Mitfords, and thoroughly enjoyed talking to Mimi Pond (who, incidentally, wrote the first Simpsons episode)
“Everything from Hitler to the Black Panthers.” In a chat with Book Lust host @nancybooklustpearl.bsky.social, Mimi Pond explains why the Mitford Sisters continue to fascinate her & why their influence exceeded the political power women were allowed to have at the time. WATCH: youtu.be/CVtJCb7oEco
December 23, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Have always loved reading about the Mitfords, and thoroughly enjoyed talking to Mimi Pond (who, incidentally, wrote the first Simpsons episode)
Reposted by Nancy Pearl
"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living."
Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
December 20, 2025 at 1:51 PM
"Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living."
Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
What’s wrong with Joe Burrow? Check out The Ringer NFL show for 12/17. @sheilkapadia.bsky.social and @billygil.bsky.social discuss their theories. Very enlightening. 😀
December 19, 2025 at 6:34 PM
What’s wrong with Joe Burrow? Check out The Ringer NFL show for 12/17. @sheilkapadia.bsky.social and @billygil.bsky.social discuss their theories. Very enlightening. 😀
Reposted by Nancy Pearl
“I am a real minimalist, because I don’t do very much. I know some minimalists who call themselves minimalist but they do loads of minimalism. That is cheating.”
- Robert Wyatt
- Robert Wyatt
December 17, 2025 at 4:23 AM
“I am a real minimalist, because I don’t do very much. I know some minimalists who call themselves minimalist but they do loads of minimalism. That is cheating.”
- Robert Wyatt
- Robert Wyatt
Here's "A Great Poem" by mid-20th century poet Gavin Ewart.
A Great Poem
This is a great poem.
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
This is a great poem.
Full of true emotion.
A Great Poem
This is a great poem.
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
This is a great poem.
Full of true emotion.
December 16, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Here's "A Great Poem" by mid-20th century poet Gavin Ewart.
A Great Poem
This is a great poem.
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
This is a great poem.
Full of true emotion.
A Great Poem
This is a great poem.
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
How I suffer!
This is a great poem.
Full of true emotion.
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
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function," from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s essay "The Crack-Up,” although I’ve never thought it sounded Fitzgeraldish
"This sort of simultaneous awareness that there’s nothing that really matters to us more than literature, and at the same time there’s nothing that matters less on this sad, lonely planet than literature."
– Nell Zink
– Nell Zink
December 13, 2025 at 9:35 AM
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function," from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s essay "The Crack-Up,” although I’ve never thought it sounded Fitzgeraldish
Collective nouns, anyone? No one does it better than Bilston:
“An enjambment of
poets.”
“An enjambment of
poets.”
Here’s a poem called ‘An Invention of Collective Nouns’.
December 13, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Collective nouns, anyone? No one does it better than Bilston:
“An enjambment of
poets.”
“An enjambment of
poets.”
Goethe
We look back on our life as a thing of broken pieces, because our mistakes and failures are always the first to strike us, and outweigh in our imagination what we have accomplished and attained.
Goethe
Goethe
December 13, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Goethe
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.
