Monthly Archives: December 2025

And the 2025 lists begin

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The staff of the New York Times Book Review choose the year’s top fiction and nonfiction titles. “The envelope, please: After a full year spent reading hundreds of books and meeting regularly to bicker — er, converse — about their … Continue reading →

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Travel is the only way we have of feeling that we are somewhere.

Posted on December 10, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“Travel was once a means of being elsewhere, or of being nowhere. Today it is the only way we have of feeling that we are somewhere. At home, surrounded by information, by screens, I am no longer anywhere, but rather … Continue reading →

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Is Iceland Real

Posted on December 9, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Last month, Icelandair launched a social media campaign that takes a tongue- in- cheek look at whether Iceland is  “real”  as opposed to AI-generated. The “Expedition Iceland” campaign was developed by social-first agency Kubbco in partnership with Icelandic agency Hvíta … Continue reading →

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Paris, 1964

Posted on December 8, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I’ve always been a big fan of Dionne Warwick and a fan of Burt Bacharach & Hal David tunes. So what a treat to stumble upon this YouTube clip of Dionne singing her Bacharach hit “Walk On By” on the … Continue reading →

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Fables for the Frivolous

Posted on December 7, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

One of the earliest works by the American parodist Guy Wetmore Carryl, this collection of fables are adapted from Jean de La Fontaine’s Aesop-style originals from more than 200 years earlier. Carryl’s light-hearted re-tellings are rendered in verse, each ending … Continue reading →

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It Goes On

Posted on December 6, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

by Lyn Lifshin  

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Either you get the bear, or the bear gets you

Posted on December 5, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

In a surprise move, the U.S. State Department has issued a safety warning for parts of Japan, a country that has long been considered one of the safest in the world to visit, because of an increase in bear attacks in the … Continue reading →

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Monks Month Madness

Posted on December 4, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Like many countries, Japan uses a 12-month calendar. The names are very simple. January is literally “Month one” 一月, February is “Month two” 二月, etc. However, before the Meiji Restoration (mid-1800s) it was common to use an older 12-month system. … Continue reading →

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Every Metro Needs This

Posted on December 4, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Metroteka is a concept that is both simple and exciting for readers and book lovers. Warsaw Poland’s Metro now houses more than 16,000 books in an accessible free lending library exclusively for transit passengers. Separated into reading zones for adults … Continue reading →

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Autumn in Japan

Posted on December 3, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

へたっぴ写真家                    

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