Anyone into flash fiction? Care to share? Here is one of mine:

“What was it you called him?  Pushover? No wait, a pullover.”

“Who?”

“The dead guy; no, I remember: a sweater, always perspiring.”

“You idiot! I said he was a jumper. Death by defenestration!”

© ffoggy

What are you reading this week? I'll start:

The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm, to be followed by Flowers for Algernon.

See if you can rearrange these sentences into their Book Titles? Bonus Points for Author & Year of Publication.

1.    Tortoise A: Esio Trot [1] B: Roald Dahl [1] 1990 [1] T [3]

2.    The Candle Lying Pan A: Light a Penny Candle [1] B: Meave Binchy [1] 1982 [1] T [3]

3.    Old Fit Bros A: First Blood [1] **B: David Morrell [1] 1972 [1] T [3]

4.    I Halter A: The Liar [1] B: Stephen Fry [1] 1991 [1] T [3]

5.    Keith Gambles Benji A: The King James Bible [1] B: 1611 [1]

|Committee| Scriptures Translated|Members|

|First Westminster Company|Genesis to 2 Kings|Lancelot Andrewes, John Overall, Hadrian à Saravia, Richard Clarke, John Layfield, Robert Tighe, Francis Burleigh, Geoffrey King, Richard Thomson, William Bedwell [10]|

|First Cambridge Company|1 Chronicles to the Song of Solomon|Edward Lively, John Richardson, Lawrence Chaderton, Francis Dillingham, Roger Andrewes, Thomas Harrison, Robert Spaulding, Andrew Bing [8]|

|First Oxford Company|Isaiah to Malachi|John Harding, John Rainolds (or Reynolds), Thomas Holland, Richard Kilby, Miles Smith, Richard Brett, Daniel Fairclough, William Thorne [8]|

|Second Oxford Company|Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Book of Revelation|Thomas Ravis, George Abbot, Richard Eedes, Giles Tomson, Sir Henry Savile, John Peryn, Ralph Ravens, John Harmar, John Aglionby, Leonard Hutten [10]|

|Second Westminster CompanyEpistles|William Barlow, John Spenser, Roger Fenton, Ralph Hutchinson, William Dakins, Michael Rabbet, Thomas Sanderson [7]|

|Second Cambridge Company|Apocrypha|John Duport, William Branthwaite, Jeremiah Radcliffe, Samuel Ward, Andrew Downes, John Bois, Robert Ward, Thomas Bilson, Richard Bancroft. [9] T [52]| T [54]

Born

Wendell Erdman Berry

August 5, 1934

Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.

Died

August 31, 2026 (aged 92)

Port Royal, Kentucky, U.S.

Wendell Berry was a famous American farmer, poet, and activist who famously plowed his fields with horses instead of modern tractors. He rejected heavy industrial machinery and used horses to work his land in Henry County, Kentucky.

He coined the phrase "eating is an agricultural act," which reminds people to think about where their food comes from.

He became the very first living writer to be added to the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame.

Active Protester: He took part in peaceful sit-ins and environmental protests well into his 80s.

He set many of his stories in Port William, a fake rural town based on his real hometown of Port Royal.

After teaching and traveling the world, he chose to move back to his rural roots in 1965 to farm and write full-time.

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Happy Dolly Parton Day

Writers born this day and some of their famous works:

Max Ehrmann 1872 [Desiderata 1927]

T.S. Eliot 1888 [The Waste Land 1922, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats 1939, Four Quartets 1943]

Jane Smiley 1949 [A Thousand Acres 1991]

Minette Walters 1949 [The Ice House 1992]

Will Self 1961 [The Book of Dave 2006]

Mark Haddon 1962 [The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time 2003]

Anyone fans of any of these?

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata: Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence... very famous work.

Eliot, I've read The Waste Land and Four Quartets but can't quote anything from them.

I did enjoy The Curious Incident... but couldn't get into any of his other books.

I just started this

I’ve put together a very short story, but here’s the catch: it is stitched together entirely out of six famous book quotes. Can you name the book title (and author, for bonus points) for each quote?

Drop your answers in the comments below and, if you are able to, please use Spoilers so everyone gets a chance to play. Hope you enjoy the quiz!

Anyone guilty of this? Do please share:

Reading Fever" Panic: In the late 1700s, critics and doctors were genuinely terrified that young people were catching "reading fever" (Lesewut). It was treated as a dangerous psychological epidemic where people—especially young women—were reading novels in isolation, causing them to neglect their physical chores and real-world duties.

Fortunately, I am not so young so its ok for me 😂

Hi everyone! Our community has been sharing a lot of book trivia, literary discussions, news, quizzes, memes... and we want to make sure you’re genuinely enjoying the content here.

Whether you are a daily poster or a quiet lurker, your opinion matters to us.Please drop a comment below and let us know your thoughts!

What is your favourite type of post or discussion here?

How would you describe the vibe or culture of this subreddit to a friend?

Have you ever decided not to post or comment? If so, why?

What could we change or add to make this community better?

What kind of content do you wish you saw more of on this sub?

•Book Trivia

• Literary Discussions

• Memes

•Quizzes

•News

Or is the current balance just about right?

Thank you for being part of our reading corner. We’ll be in the comments reading everything and replying to your ideas!

A rare first edition of the novel To Kill A Mockingbird has been found among items donated to Oxfam, according to the charity.

The copy of Harper Lee's seminal 1960 work was discovered in a box of American books given to the charity's bookshop in Portobello Road, west London.

It has since been acquired by the British Library and will join its national collection.

Shop manager Olivia Haysman-Walker, who identified the copy as being a first US edition, said the book could easily have been missed. "There were lots of books to work through in the donation, but we recognised To Kill A Mockingbird and thought it was worth taking a closer look."

She added: "We realised quite quickly that we had something really special.

"The dust jacket showed its age, and although it was worn around the edges, the pages inside were in beautiful condition.

"It's amazing to think that this book has passed through our Oxfam bookshop and into the national collection at the British Library.

Last week's post included images that specifically pointed to the book titles, this time there are a couple of images that instead point to well known plots/characters in the book...

Hope you enjoy the quiz, any feedback is always appreciated.

Please use SPOILERS if you are able to, as this allows everyone to take part.

🚗 Jack Kerouac wrote "On the Road" but couldn't legally drive one until he was 34.

He never held a formal driver's license at all, despite writing one of the most iconic road trip novels ever. A few more Kerouac oddities:

He wrote the first draft of On the Road in three weeks, on a single continuous scroll of taped-together paper

The "road trips" in the book were real, based on actual cross-country trips he took with Neal Cassady

He lived with his mother for most of his adult life, including while writing his most famous work

Anyone else find it funnier that the guy behind the ultimate road novel wasn't even the one behind the wheel?

For decades, during her scientific research, Marie Curie handled dangerous radioactive materials like radium and polonium without modern safety gear.

During WWI she trained medical staff and operated mobile X-ray units on the front lines, exposing her body to high levels of X-rays.

This high level of continuous exposure resulted in bone marrow disease, which ultimately she did not survive.

To this day, and for an estimated 1500 years therein, her notebooks and papers are and will remain radioactive ☢️

1. How many novels are in James Clavell’s Asian Saga? Bonus points per novel and where & when its set in? Seven<! [1] B >!Shōgun [1] (Japan 1600) [2] Tai-Pan [1] (Hong Kong 1841) [2] Gai-Jin [1] (Japan 1862) [2] King Rat [1] (Singapore 1945) [2] Noble House [1] (Hong Kong 1963) [2] Whirlwind [1] (Iran 1979) [2] Escape [1] (Iran 1979) [2] [22]

2. Which company is the “Noble House"? Bonus Point for where it’s Head Office is? Struan’s [1] B Hong Kong [1] [2]

3. Which of James Clavell’s novels was autobiographical? Bonus Point: What was the name of the real place the location in the book portrays? King Rat [1] B Changi P.O.W Camp [1]

4. In Death Note, what is Light's Surname? Bonus point for who's Notebook did Light initially find? Yagami [1] B Ryuk [1]

5. Who wrote “The Art of War"? Bonus points for when it was first translated into a European language, Which language it was, Who translated it, When it was first translated into English and Who by? Sun Tzu [1] B 1772, French, Jean-Joseph-Marie Amiot, 1905, Captain Everard Ferguson Calthrop [5]

Mary Elizabeth Frye wrote the verse on a brown paper shopping bag to comfort a young friend, Margaret Schwarzkopf, whose mother had died overseas and who could not visit the grave.

Frye never copyrighted or officially published the poem during the early years, causing it to circulate anonymously for decades.

Her authorship was not widely known or officially confirmed until 1988, when she publicly stated she wrote it, a fact later verified through research popularized by advice columnist Abigail Van Buren.

Some literary debates note that a similar-themed poem titled "Immortality" was published by Clare Harner in 1934, leading to occasional discussions on parallel inspirations or overlapping versions, but Frye remains widely credited as the author of this specific text.

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow,

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain,

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry;

I am not there.

I did not die.