A Book for You?

May 29, 2026May 29, 2026 / still a dreamer / 7 Comments

Please check out the last six of my April book purchases. While I managed to find six from my list of “hopefuls” at the Annual Library Book Sale, there were still quite a few I wanted. So I headed over to Thrift Books.

See anything you like?

We have two Japanese women authors, recommended through Instagram if the viewer liked Haruki Murakami:

Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi – a Tokyo café offering its customers a chance to travel back in time.

The Memory Police – Yoko Ogawa – “A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss.” (goodreads)

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio – A possible murderer released after ten years, revisits the circumstances of young Shakespearean actors that led to one’s death.

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen is a Pulitzer Prize Winner. “A gripping spy novel, an astute exploration of extreme politics, and a moving love story” (goodreads) – a young man’s story told now, in the chaos of 1975 Saigon.

And now … The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker is exquisite historical fiction, taking place on the Lower East Side in 1899. It is one of my top favorite books of all time, and I bought it for my “permanent” bookcase for books I would read again.

The Hidden Palace is the sequel Wecker wrote seven years later, with the golem and the jinni still the main characters as their intertwined tale evolves. I bought this to read, and cannot wait.

Anything for you? Check your library and/or visit Thrift Books – what will keep you up into the night is there.

It’s Just Change

May 27, 2026May 27, 2026 / still a dreamer / Leave a comment

That makes change sound so simple, so casual, right? Yet just the word ‘change’ can have some of us already feeling anxious, because we so often associate change with something negative.

Photo: towfiqu-barbhuiya / unsplash

But what if we could look at change from a different angle, and consider that all change is ultimately good for us in some way. What if we could take that a step further, and consider that everything is always working out in our favor?

That’s a concept that I would have likely disagreed with a couple years ago. I’ve since changed my mind. However, it does take an intentional shift in perspective. Every experience we have contains within it the opportunity to grow, and to find/be something better.

We can sit and stew and whine and complain about something that’s happening or … we can step back and look at it, and say, `what’s here for me to learn? How can this change benefit me?’ You might be surprised at what you find.

Photo: Ellis Garvey / unsplash, Instagram @ellisgarvey

This doesn’t discount the fact that change is sometimes painful. There is no growth without discomfort or pain. But if we can make that shift in perspective, and be willing to look at the bigger picture?

We can grow and find more happiness, more contentment, in our lives. In whatever time it takes, in the end? It’s just change, and you and I are strong enough to handle it.

When Music Finds Me

May 5, 2026May 5, 2026 / still a dreamer / 13 Comments

I never really know how music finds me when it does. It just does, and I’m always grateful. The song and video below are what inspired me to write this poem.

I’m pretty sure I saw Gladiator a long time ago, but I don’t recall the storyline. It doesn’t matter. It is this music and these visuals that called me to write these words.

The song, played by 2CELLOS and the London Symphony Orchestra, is Now We Are Free, from Gladiator, written by Hans Zimmer.

This was my inspiration:

Colosseum photo by Chris Flxxx / pexels

Poetry – Day 12

April 12, 2026April 17, 2026 / still a dreamer / Leave a comment

April is National Poetry Month; the second poem posted. I am so moved by the way some people are able to share their feelings through words so simply, yet words which linger so intently in my heart, as if I had invited them in to stay.

I Am Offering This Poem

I am offering this poem to you,
since I have nothing else to give.
Keep it like a warm coat
when winter comes to cover you,
or like a pair of thick socks
the cold cannot bite through,

I love you,

I have nothing else to give you,
so it is a pot full of yellow corn
to warm your belly in winter,
it is a scarf for your head, to wear
over your hair, to tie up around your face,

I love you,

Keep it, treasure this as you would
if you were lost, needing direction,
in the wilderness life becomes when mature;
and in the corner of your drawer,
tucked away like a cabin or hogan
in dense trees, come knocking,
and I will answer, give you directions,
and let you warm yourself by this fire,
rest by this fire, and make you feel safe

I love you,

It’s all I have to give,
and all anyone needs to live,
and to go on living inside,
when the world outside
no longer cares if you live or die;
remember,

I love you.

–Jimmy Santiago Baca

Please read about this poet, Jimmy Santiago Baca, to learn about his background and the life that inspired his writing.

Photo by Order Luck/Pexels – @outxforder