BOOK OF THE DAY

From celebrated writer Robert Macfarlane comes this brilliant, perspective-shifting new book – which answers a resounding yes to the question of its title.

At its heart is a single, transformative idea: that rivers are not mere matter for human use, but living beings – who should be recognized as such in both imagination and law. Is a River Alive? takes the reader on an exhilarating exploration of the past, present and futures of this ancient, urgent concept.

The book flows first to northern Ecuador, where a miraculous cloud-forest and its rivers are threatened by goldmining.

Then, to the wounded rivers, creeks and lagoons of southern India, where a desperate battle to save the lives of these waterbodies is under way.

And finally, to north-eastern Quebec, where a spectacular wild river – the Mutehekau or Magpie – is being defended from death by damming in a river-rights campaign.

At once Macfarlane’s most personal and most political book to date, Is a River Alive? will open hearts, spark debates and lead us to the revelation that our fate flows with that of rivers – and always has.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR CONSERVATION WRITING 2025

BOOK OF THE DAY

Life

Pope Francis

In this unprecedented memoir, the late Pope Francis shares the story of his remarkable life. Reflecting on eight decades of tumultuous and transformative global events, he offers his frank assessments, personal insights, and vital guidance for approaching our world today. A New York Times bestseller.

Publisher Description

POPE FRANCIS’ DEBUT MEMOIR · A moving, deeply human account of the life and legacy of one of the bravest and most visionary leaders in modern history—A must read for all generations in a world yearning for hope and change

For the first time, Pope Francis tells the story of his life as he looks back on the momentous world events that have changed history—from his earliest years during the outbreak of World War II in 1939 to the turmoil of today. An extraordinary personal and historical journey, Life is the story of a man and a world in dramatic change. A champion for the oppressed and marginalized—and the future of our planet—Pope Francis has inspired all of us to take action to alter the course of history toward a more loving and humane trajectory.

With eloquence, passion, and humility, Pope Francis recalls his life through memories and observations of the most significant occurrences of the past eight decades. The book opens with three-year-old Jorge in the kitchen with his mother in Argentina as World War II breaks out, and he goes on to witness several historic events:

The fall of the Berlin Wall

Videla’s coup in Argentina

The moon landing in 1969

And even the 1986 World Cup in which Maradona scored the unforgettable “hand of God” goal.

Here are the frank assessments and intimate insights of a pastor reflecting on the Nazi extermination of the Jews, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the 2001 terrorist attack on America and the collapse of the Twin Towers, the great economic recession of 2008, the Covid-19 pandemic, the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI, and the subsequent conclave that elected him Pontiff.

The “pope callejero” recounts these world-changing moments with the candor and compassion that distinguishes him and offers important messages on major crises confronting us now, including social inequalities, climate change, international war, atomic weapons, racial discrimination, political unease, and the battles over social and cultural issues. An innovative change agent and a profoundly empathetic leader, the late Pope’s words and vision live on in this unforgettable account of a religious and humanitarian legend.

“We must learn from our elders what our planet has experienced, so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past.”—Pope Francis

BOOK OF THE DAY

"Delightful." --People, Pick of the Week

*Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by Katie Couric Media, the CBC, the Globe and Mail, BookBub, POPSUGAR, SheReads, Women.com and more!*

Natalie Jenner, the internationally bestselling author of The Jane Austen Society, returns with a compelling and heartwarming story of post-war London, a century-old bookstore, and three women determined to find their way in a fast-changing world in Bloomsbury Girls.

Bloomsbury Books is an old-fashioned new and rare book store that has persisted and resisted change for a hundred years, run by men and guided by the general manager's unbreakable fifty-one rules. But in 1950, the world is changing, especially the world of books and publishing, and at Bloomsbury Books, the girls in the shop have plans:

Vivien Lowry: Single since her aristocratic fiance was killed in action during World War II, the brilliant and stylish Vivien has a long list of grievances--most of them well justified and the biggest of which is Alec McDonough, the Head of Fiction.

Grace Perkins: Married with two sons, she's been working to support the family following her husband's breakdown in the aftermath of the war. Torn between duty to her family and dreams of her own.

Evie Stone: In the first class of female students from Cambridge permitted to earn a degree, Evie was denied an academic position in favor of her less accomplished male rival. Now she's working at Bloomsbury Books while she plans to remake her own future.

As they interact with various literary figures of the time--Daphne Du Maurier, Ellen Doubleday, Sonia Blair (widow of George Orwell), Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and others--these three women with their complex web of relationships, goals and dreams are all working to plot out a future that is richer and more rewarding than anything society will allow.

BOOK OF THE DAY

THE 'MASTERPIECE' COMPLETE ORAL HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC BOMB - BY A PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST

'Magisterial...A stunning account that brings to the fore the nuclear saga's surreal combination of ingenuity, fate, and terror.' -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

'If you are an intelligent person, or at the very least think you are, you have to read The Devil Reached Toward the Sky...This period in history has never been more relevant and frightening than it is today.' -James Patterson

'Comprehensive and engrossing...Excellent oral history.' -Kirkus Reviews

From the New York Times bestselling author of When the Sea Came Alive and The Only Plane in the Sky, a sweeping and comprehensive oral history of the atomic bomb's creation and deployment, marking the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

April 12, 1945. Less than three months into his vice presidency, Harry Truman is catapulted into the Oval Office following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. As he recites the oath, he learns a chilling secret known only to a select few: the United States is on the verge of deploying a weapon of unimaginable power. This weapon could end the war but also herald a new age of global fear and uncertainty.

Drawing from over twenty-five oral history archives across the US, Japan, and Europe, Graff has masterfully blended the memories and perspectives from key figures like Harry Truman and J. Robert Oppenheimer, the crews of the B-29 bombers, Enola Gay and Bock's Car, the rescuers who bravely faced the destruction, and the haunting stories of those at ground zero in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including the experiences of the hibakusha - the 'bomb-affected people'.

Enriched by memoirs, diaries, letters, official documents, and news reports, this is an immersive and deeply human account of the Manhattan Project through the end of World War II and the dawning of the Cold War, offering a vivid, multi-dimensional view of events that reshaped the world forever.

*New York Times #7 on the Hardcover Non-Fiction Chart, week of August 25th, 2025.

BOOK OF THE DAY

‘True happiness comes not from comparison, but from accepting who we are.’ The young Princess of the Sea wants to be like her friends―strong like a mountain, sweet like a river, or full of life and colour like a tree. But with each change, she faces new surprises. With the turn of seasons and shifting forms, she learns a gentle lesson: you shine brightest as yourself. A magical, thoughtful tale about nature, change and self-acceptance, this charming chapter book is the ideal introduction to the imaginative world of Sudha Murty.

ODISHA LITERARY FESTIVAL 2025

BOOK OF THE DAY

📖 Book Summary

The World Beyond Your Head by Matthew B. Crawford is a thought-provoking exploration of attention in the modern age. Crawford argues that in a world overflowing with distractions, our ability to focus is under constant assault. The book challenges us to reclaim our attention, engage deeply with the real world, and find meaning by mastering skills and being fully present in our experiences.

✨ Top 5 Lessons from the Book

Attention is a resource – what you focus on shapes your reality.

Distraction is costly – scattered focus weakens creativity and fulfillment.

Mastery requires presence – deep engagement leads to skill and satisfaction.

Freedom isn’t escape—it’s focus – true autonomy comes from directing your attention wisely.

The real world grounds us – meaningful living comes from active participation, not passive consumption.

👉 Get Book Here: https://amzn.to/47l5nDj

#TheWorldBeyondYourHead #FocusAndAttention #DeepWork #MindfulLiving #SkillMastery #MatthewCrawford #PersonalGrowth #LifeWithPurpose

BOOK OF THE DAY

*Blue Highways is an autobiographical travel book, published in 1982, by William Least Heat-Moon*

In 1978, after separating from his wife and losing his job as a teacher, Heat-Moon, 38 at the time, took an extended road trip in a circular route around the United States, sticking to only the "Blue Highways". He had coined the term to refer to small, forgotten, out-of-the-way roads connecting rural America, which were drawn in blue on the Rand McNally road atlases of the time.

He outfitted his van with a bunk, a camping stove, a portable toilet and a copy of *Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and John Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks*. 

Referring to the Native American resurrection ritual, he named the van *"Ghost Dancing"* and embarked on a three-month soul-searching tour of the United States, wandering from small town to small town, stopping often at towns with interesting names. The book chronicles the 13,000-mile journey and the people he meets along the way, as he steers clear of cities and interstates, avoiding fast food and exploring local American culture.

*Stories that arose from Least Heat-Moon's research as well as historical facts are included about each area visited, as well as conversations with characters* such as a Seventh-day Adventist evangelist hitchhiker, a teenage runaway, a boat builder, a monk, an Appalachian log cabin restorer, a rural Nevada prostitute, fishermen, a Hopi Native American medical student, owners of Western saloons and remote country stores, a maple syrup farmer, and Chesapeake Bay island dwellers.

*Grateful thanks to Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia* 

*From Amazon:*

*About the book*:

Hailed as a masterpiece of American travel writing, Blue Highways is an unforgettable journey along our nation's backroads.

William Least Heat-Moon set out with little more than the need to put home behind him and a sense of curiosity about "those little towns that get on the map-if they get on at all-only because some cartographer has a blank space to fill: Remote, Oregon; Simplicity, Virginia; New Freedom, Pennsylvania; New Hope, Tennessee; Why, Arizona; Whynot, Mississippi."

His adventures, his discoveries, and his recollections of the extraordinary people he encountered along the way amount to a revelation of the true American experience.

*About the author*:

*WILLIAM LEAST HEAT-MOON, pen name of William Trogdon*, is of English, Irish, and Osage ancestry. 

He lives in Missouri on an old tobacco farm he’s returning to forest. His first book, Blue Highways, tells of a 13,000-mile journey around America on back roads and was *on The New York Times bestseller list for 42 weeks*. 

His second work, PrairyErth, is a narrative exploration into a corner of the great tallgrass prairie in eastern Kansas. River-Horse gives an account of his four-month sea-to-sea voyage across the United States on rivers, lakes, and canals. In Roads to Quoz, Heat-Moon sets out for a half-dozen American destinations that have long intrigued him.

*Here, There, Elsewhere* brings together a collection of his shortform reportage about places around the world. 

His most recent book, *Celestial Mechanics: A Tale for a Mid-Winter Night*, has been described as a Blue Highways of the mind. It is his debut novel.

Over 56 million books available!

https://www.bookswagon.com/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22704543531&gclid=CjwKCAjwk7DFBhBAEiwAeYbJsYeTh0sGwSsxkayrtuB-F3g5OVgC5pMiPlWku1ndIZqbgq_P7UF_uRoC_SkQAvD_BwE

BEST FREE ANDROID EBOOK APPS

Source: Pixabay archive copy at the Wayback Machine
available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
Via WIKIMEDIA COMMONS 

BEST FREE ANDROID EBOOK APPS

widely recognized for offering excellent access to ebooks at no cost:

Libby, by OverDrive

Borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free from local public libraries.

User-friendly interface with offline reading and syncing across devices.

Project Gutenberg

Contains over 60,000 free public domain ebooks.

Great for classic literature lovers with downloads available in multiple formats.

Wattpad

Features free original stories and ebooks from a global community of writers.

Good for discovering new fiction and serialized stories.

Google Play Books

Free classics library and occasional free promotions.

Syncs books across devices with cloud storage.

Amazon Kindle App

Access thousands of free ebooks alongside paid titles.

Supports personalized reading experience and extensive ebook catalog.

Aldiko Book Reader

Supports EPUB and PDF formats with customizable reading options.

Includes access to public domain and freely licensed books.

These apps cover a wide range of genres and reading preferences while being completely free to use. Depending on whether a user wants to borrow from a library, read classic literature, or discover new authors, they can pick the best app suited for their interest.

Popular additional apps mentioned in other sources include:

• Moon+ Reader: Known for wide format support and customization.

• PocketBook Reader: Supports multiple ebook and audiobook formats plus cloud syncing.

• ReadEra: Free offline reader handling many formats.

• Lithium: Lightweight, ad-free EPUB reader.

These apps cover various ebook formats, reading styles, and free access approaches for Android users. Your blog provides a solid set of recommendations for readers looking for diverse content and excellent reading experiences on Android devices.

Grateful thanks to PERPLEXITY AI  for help and support in creating this blogpost and Pixabay and  WIKIMEDIA COMMONS for the image