Quantcast

73rd Virtual Poetry Circle

November 27, 2010 by

Welcome to the 73rd Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

The Thanksgivings by Harriet Maxwell Converse

Translated from a traditional Iroquois prayer

We who are here present thank the Great Spirit that we are here
to praise Him.

We thank Him that He has created men and women, and ordered
that these beings shall always be living to multiply the earth.

We thank Him for making the earth and giving these beings its products to live on.

We thank Him for the water that comes out of the earth and runs
for our lands.

We thank Him for all the animals on the earth.

We thank Him for certain timbers that grow and have fluids coming
from them for us all.

We thank Him for the branches of the trees that grow shadows
for our shelter.

We thank Him for the beings that come from the west, the thunder
and lightning that water the earth.

We thank Him for the light which we call our oldest brother, the sun
that works for our good.

We thank Him for all the fruits that grow on the trees and vines.

We thank Him for his goodness in making the forests, and thank
all its trees.

We thank Him for the darkness that gives us rest, and for the kind Being of the darkness that gives us light, the moon.

We thank Him for the bright spots in the skies that give us signs,
the stars.

We give Him thanks for our supporters, who had charge of our harvests.

We give thanks that the voice of the Great Spirit can still be heard
through the words of Ga-ne-o-di-o.

We thank the Great Spirit that we have the privilege of this pleasant
occasion.

We give thanks for the persons who can sing the Great Spirit’s music,
and hope they will be privileged to continue in his faith.

We thank the Great Spirit for all the persons who perform the ceremonies on this occasion.

Let me know your thoughts, ideas, feelings, impressions.  Let’s have a great discussion…pick a line, pick an image, pick a sentence.

I’ve you missed the other Virtual Poetry Circles.  It’s never too late to join the discussion.

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 25, 2010 by

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!  I’ll be offline visiting with family for the next few days, so I hope you all have a great holiday.

Don’t eat or shop too much!

Filed Under: announcements Tagged With:

Heidegger’s Glasses by Thaisa Frank

November 23, 2010 by

Thaisa Frank’s WWII novel, Heidegger’s Glasses, combines philosophy, mystery, war, and more, woven with crisp, no-nonsense dialogue and just enough detailed description to tantalize the reader to continue the journey.  The story centers on Operation Mail, Briefaktion, a Nazi program to entice Jews to volunteer for relocation by sending letters from their taken relatives.  The letters are actually written by a group of Scribes pulled from the lines of people being relocated, who have special language skills.  A special set of orders, possibly from Goebbels, are sent to the Compound for a philosopher to answer Heidigger‘s letter to his Jewish optometrist Asher Englehardt, who was sent to Auschwitz and is probably dead.

“Hans Ewigkeit had originally planned to line the mine with thick brick walls.  But even before losing Stalingrad, the Reich was pinched for money.  So instead of brick walls, the Compound had thin pine walls covered with a single layer of plaster.  Workers had added five coats of paint.  But the Compound was a flimsy shell:  Scribes put their hands on their ears when they wanted to think.  Mueller had worn earmuffs.”  (page 81)

Enter Elie Schacten, a woman with two lives and names.  She writes some of the letters, but most importantly has permission to be outside after curfew and uses that to her advantage to save those she can from the oppressive Nazi regime.  She is caught between her lies and the ambitious Stumpf who considers himself in charge of the Compound as well as her affection for Lodenstein, the leader of the Compound.  Will the orders to write a response to Hiedigger’s letter expose the Compound for its lackadaisical work and Elie’s operations to rescue Jews, or will the orders be another means of saving helpless souls?

“Light snow began to fall — swirls of white on grey.  The streets widened, narrowed, widened again, expanding and contracting, as though they were breathing.  Nothing felt quite real to Elie — not the sky, or the air, or a coffeehouse where customers drank from incongruously large cups of ersatz coffee.  People hurried by, surrounded by pale grey air — the only thing that seemed to hold them together.  Elie passed a muddy street with a chain-link fence followed by a row of prosperous houses.  The town was breaking up, and she felt she was breaking up with it.  It began to snow thickly, surrounding everyone in white.  We’re bound by veils, Elie thought, fragile accidents of cohesion.” (page 95)

Heidigger’s Glasses is more than a philosophical journey, it takes a look at how the ordinary can become extraordinary.  Each object can have a hidden meaning or take on the life of a memory that will have to serve as a lifeline in the most dire of moments.  Like Hiedigger’s glasses help the philosopher “fall out of the world,” each character must find that moment in time when they fall out of the reality they fear and into the reality that they create.  Frank has taken the time to weave a complex story during a tumultuous time in history, and her novel accomplishes that goal and more.  Her characterizations are unique and dynamic, and the plot is unraveled slowly by the reader who takes an unexpected journey to discover the mettle of even the most ordinary individual.

About the Author:

Photo by Chris Hardy; www.chrishardyphoto.com

Thaisa Frank has written three books of fiction, including A Brief History of Camouflage and Sleeping in Velvet (both with Black Sparrow Press, now acquired by David Godine). She has co-authored a work of nonfiction, Finding Your Writers Voice: A Guide to Creative Fiction, which is used in MFA programs.  Her forthcoming novel, Heidegger’s Glasses, is coming out this fall with Counterpoint Press.  Foreign rights have already been sold to ten countries.

***Thanks to the author, TLC Book Tours, and Counterpoint for sending me a review copy. ***

Please check out the other stops on the tour.

Giveaway information:  1 Copy for 1 lucky reader in the U.S. or Canada

1.  Leave a comment about what historical period you love to read about most.

2.  Blog, Tweet, Facebook, etc., for a second entry and leave a link in the comments.

Deadline Dec. 3, 2010, 11:59PM EST.

This is my 57th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: giveaway, historical fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2010, review copy, reviews, tlc book tours Tagged With: ,

Mailbox Monday #106

November 22, 2010 by

Mailbox Mondays (click the icon at the right to check out the tour) has gone on tour since Marcia at The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Julie of Knitting and Sundries .  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received:

1.  The Tapestry of Love by Rosy Thornton, which the author sent for review in January 2011.

2. Daring to Eat a Peach by Joseph Zeppetello, which I received unsolicited from Atticus Books, a local D.C.-area publisher.

What did you receive in your mailbox?

Filed Under: mailbox monday

Chronicle Books Haul-idays

November 21, 2010 by

Chronicle Books has the best holiday giveaway I’ve ever seen going on — $500 in books for 1 blogger and $500 for 1 blogger’s reader for a total of $1,000.

As a blogger, you know I love books, but you also know I love to give away books.  Chronicle Books is giving these books away to a blogger or blog reader who lives in the United States and is 18 years or older.

All you have to do is check out the publisher’s Web site and make a list of books up to $500.  Check out their list.  Winners will be announced Dec. 13, 2010. Also check out this video:

Here’s my selections:

1. Fast, Fresh & Green by Susie Middleton which will help you make greens tasty; I’m always looking for new ways to make vegetables since I find them tough to eat.

2. Cupcake Kit by Elinor Klivans provides you with the tools necessary to make great cupcakes and decorate them like professionals.

3. Art of the Slow Cooker by Andrew Schloss is just the book for me because working early morning hours and waiting for a husband to come home from work, slow cookers save my life and allow me more time to read. While I have a number of soup recipes, this book can provide me with much more.

4. New Vegetarian by Robin Asbell would make a great gift for my vegetarian cousin and her girls. I’m sure she’s looking for new recipes. I’d love to get this one for her.

5. A Simple Plan by Gary Soto is a collection of poems by a poet I have not heard of before, but I’m always looking for new poets. I’m in luck because they have two other books by this author, though I’ll save those for after reading this one.

6. Werewolves by Paul Jessup for my husband who loves these illustrated comic-type books.

7. The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Gross Junior Edition by David Borgenicht, Nathaniel Marunas, and Robin Epstein, which The Girl would adore!

8. The Ivy and Bean Secret Treasure Box by Annie Barrows for my niece.

9. Ivy and Bean Boxed Set 2 by Annie Barrows for my niece.

10. Ivy and Bean: What’s the Big Idea? by Annie Barrows also for my niece.

11. Ivy and Bean Mini Notes by Annie Barrows for The Girl.

12. The Little Books Boxed Set by Amy Krouse Rosenthal for the young learners. I’ve got a nephew in mind for this one.

13. Creature: ABC by Andrew Zuckerman, another one for young learners.

14. Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls: How to Start a Band, Write Songs, Record an Album, and Rock Out! for The Girl.

15. Haikubes by Forrest-Pruzan Creative.

16. The Ultimate Metallica by Ross Halfin, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett.

17. Michael Jackson: Before He Was King by Todd Gray.

18. Wine Wars: A Trivia Game for Wine Geeks and Wannabes by Joyce Lock for a friend’s husband who loves trivia.

19. Foodie Fight: A Trivia Game for Serious Food Lovers by Joyce Lock for that same friend’s husband.

20. Subway Art: 25th Anniversary Edition by Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant.

21. Manuel Alvarez Bravo: Photopoetry.

Interested in winning the books (total of $499.34) I’ve selected, please leave a valid email address and let me know whether you would keep all of the books or give some away. You can read all the official rules here!

Filed Under: announcements, giveaway Tagged With:

72nd Virtual Poetry Circle

November 20, 2010 by


Welcome to the 72nd Virtual Poetry Circle!

Remember, this is just for fun and is not meant to be stressful.

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s books suggested. Look at a line, a stanza, sentences, and images; describe what you like or don’t like; and offer an opinion. If you missed my review of her book, check it out here.

Returning to our theme for the month of Veterans and/or war, let’s check out this contemporary poem from George Borden:

Poet Warrior

To witness death as day-by-day
and marvel at the choice of God;
who lives or dies, maimed, scarred or whole –
the poet warrior… watches.

To witness brave stand face-to-face
and boney death exacts its toll;
where timid souls like gophers grub –
the poet warrior… watches.

To witness youth with child-like smile
and in a day, a hardened glare;
what sudden change from boy to man –
the poet warrior… watches.

To witness men of faithless guile
and wrongful deeds with words obscene;
when turned to prayer as life was spared –
the poet warrior… watches.

To witness war as one presides
and strive to fathom humankind;
why choose they strife instead of peace –
the poet warrior… wonders.

Let me know your thoughts, ideas, feelings, impressions.  Let’s have a great discussion…pick a line, pick an image, pick a sentence.

I’ve you missed the other Virtual Poetry Circles.  It’s never too late to join the discussion.

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle

Tipping Point by Fred Marchant

November 19, 2010 by

Tipping Point by Fred Marchant is a collection of poetry broken down into five parts and published by Word Works after winning the 1993 Washington Prize.  Readers may wonder what a former Marine Corps Lieutenant and one of the first honorably discharged conscientious objectors would have to say about the Vietnam War, especially having only served two years.  This collection is a journey through the memories of childhood, adulthood, and military service, and beyond.

From Vietnam Era:

“. . . The papers
+++++ you heaved you imagined
grenades, and that the porches they
+++++ landed on the burst into flame,” (page 21)

Hard slaps and punches to his mother’s face from his father, feeling outcast in school being overweight, and a number of other adolescent anxieties scream from the pages.  But the most poignant lines of loss and anguish and even anger occur in his poems of the Vietnam War.  However, many of these poems are about inner turmoil and dealing with that struggle on a daily basis.

From Elephants Walking:

“On the news there was the familiar footage:
+++++ a Phantom run
ending in a hypnotic burst of lit yellow napalm.
+++++ I knew the war
was wrong, but that was why, I claimed, I should go,
+++++ to sing the song
of high lament, to get it into the books.”  (page 28)

From Tipping Point:

“and trousers which were not
+++++ supposed to rip, but breathe,
+++++++++++ and breathe they do — not so much
of death — but rather the long
++++++ living with it, sleeping in it,
+++++++++++ not ever washing your body free of it.”  (page 35-6)

Whether Marchant is discussing family history, struggles with illness, or his service in the Vietnam War, images leap off the page, billowing the smells of sweat into readers noses and making them squirm in discomfort. It is this discomfort the poet wishes for readers to feel as the narrators struggle with their own moral discomfort and struggle to come to terms with their decisions and situations beyond their control. Overall, Tipping Point by Fred Marchant reveals the dilemmas each of us deals with regarding personal, social, and political events, but it also teaches that individuals have a “tipping point” when principles must be take precedence or be set aside.

© Leslie Bowen

About the Author:

Fred Marchant is the author of Tipping Point, which won the Washington Prize in poetry. He is a professor of English and the director of creative writing at Suffolk University in Boston, and he is a teaching affiliate of the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Social Consequences at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

This is my 14th book for the Clover Bee & Reverie Poetry Challenge.

This is my 12th book for the 2010 Vietnam War Reading Challenge.

Filed Under: 2010 Clover Bee and Reverie Poetry Challenge, poetry, purchased, Read in 2010, reviews, Vietnam War Challenge 2010 Tagged With: ,

Giveaway: Rick Yancey’s Monstrumologist, Curse of Wendigo

November 18, 2010 by

I have a special treat for the young adult in you or living with you, especially if they are interested in supernatural adventures.  Rick Yancey’s The Monstrumologist, which won the 2010 Michael L. Printz Honor Award, and the second book in the series, The Curse of the Wendigo, are up for grabs for two winners in the United States or Canada.

The Monstrumologist begins with the diary of Will Henry, orphan and assistant to a doctor with a most unusual specialty: monster hunting. In the short time he has lived with the doctor, Will has grown accustomed to his late night callers and dangerous business. But when one visitor comes with the body of a young girl and the monster that was eating her, Will’s world is about to change forever. The doctor has discovered a baby Anthropophagus—a headless monster that feeds through a mouth in its chest—and it signals a growing number of Anthropophagi. Now, Will and the doctor must face the horror threatening to overtake and consume our world before it is too late (from Simon & Schuster).

Please check out the Monstrumologist Web site and the first chapter of the book.

The Curse of the Wendigo:  While attempting to disprove that Homo vampiris, the vampire, could exist, Dr. Warthrop is asked by his former fiancé to rescue her husband from the Wendigo, a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh, which has snatched him in the Canadian wilderness. Although Warthrop also considers the Wendigo to be fictitious, he relents and rescues her husband from death and starvation, and then sees the man transform into a Wendigo. Can the doctor and Will Henry hunt down the ultimate predator, who, like the legendary vampire, is neither living nor dead, whose hunger for human flesh is never satisfied? This second book in The Monstrumologist series explores the line between myth and reality, love and hate, genius, and madness (from Simon & Schuster).

Please read the first chapter of the book.

Also check out this trailer:

About the Author:

Rick Yancey is the author of The Monstrumologist series (Book #1 of which won the Michael L. Printz Honor Award in 2010) as well as the critically acclaimed series Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp. He has also written several novels for adults including The Highly Effective Detective and A Burning in Homeland. He earned a BA in English from Roosevelt University in Chicago, and worked as a field officer for the Internal Revenue Service before turning to writing full time in 2004. Rick lives in Florida with his wife Sandy, three sons, two dogs and one lizard. Visit his Web site.

To Enter:

1. Leave a comment about why you want to win this series.
2. Spread the word via Blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. for a second entry.

Deadline Dec. 3, 2010, at 11:59 PM EST

***Thanks to Big Honcho Media and Simon & Schuster for sponsoring the giveaway. Look for my review later in the year.***

Filed Under: giveaway, Publishers/Publicists, Simon & Schuster Tagged With: , ,

Guest Post: Richard Vnuk Talks About the Vietnam War

November 17, 2010 by

Today at War Through the Generations, Author Richard Vnuk discusses the Vietnam War and his book, Tested in the Fire of Hell, which he wrote after 40 years of silence.

I hope that you will hop on over to check out this author and his book and what inspired him to finally write about a war that he had kept silent about for a very long time.

Also, please remember to vote in the WTTG poll on what war should be covered in 2011.  There are three options: 1 year of American Revolution; 1 year of American Civil War; and 6 months each of the American Revolution and the American Civil War.

The poll will close on Nov. 22, and we will post the results after Thanksgiving.

Also, if anyone has some recommendations for books on either the Civil War and the American Revolution, please feel free to send them to warthroughgenerations AT gmail DOT com

Filed Under: announcements, guest post, Vietnam War Challenge 2010 Tagged With: , ,

Fatal Light by Richard Currey

November 16, 2010 by

Richard Currey‘s Fatal Light is an unusual novel in which an unnamed narrator provides readers with an inside view of what it is like to be a draftee before, during, and after the war.  Beyond the bullets, the Viet Cong, the mines, and the brutality of war, soldiers had to navigate a culture they didn’t understand, malaria, injury, and unexpected relationships.  The prose is sparse and the chapters are small, but each line, each chapter can knock readers over or back into their seats after putting them on the edge.

The unnamed narrator’s family is dispersed between West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio, and the tranquility of the Ohio River and its surrounding landscape acts as the backdrop for the later contrasts of Vietnam’s jungles and the war.

“The festival queen and her court rode into view on a float garlanded with tissue flowers, gliding across the horizon of Main Street like a mirage, small-town madonnas sliding past waving their downy arms dreamily, their eyes the eyes of soft animals turned heavenward from thrones of blossoms and crepe, their faces all a magnificent promise, the romance at the end of the world passing so slowly in those long moments of perfect quiet, like the air over the river, the light and stillness inside the world at daybreak, like a held breath.”  (page 12)

There is a deep sadness in Currey’s prose as the narrator spirals further into the darkness of the jungle and of his memories as he recovers from injury and malaria.  But beyond the sadness and memory, the soldier lives on in grief, denial, and anger.  His anger rises at the military establishment, but his connection to his grandfather and those war stories still grounds him in reality.

“Mist filtered, smoke and constant drip. In the distance, the hoarse choke of approaching helicopters.

‘Choppers coming,’ I said. ‘We’re on the way.’

‘Gonna bleed the rest of my life,’ he hissed. ‘Gonna be coming right out of my bones all the rest of my life. You hear what I’m saying?’

I looked at him and the sound of the helicopters grew closer. ‘I hear what you’re saying,’ I whispered.” (page 80)

Unlike other war novels, Fatal Light is less graphic in describing wounds, battle, and recovery but the emotional connection between the narrator’s feelings and the readers are intertwined as they are drawn into each immediate, vivid observation.  While the observations are descriptive, they are not journalistic or clinical.  Currey’s prose is captivating, but realistic and gritty.  Overall, Currey’s slim novel is a memorable, twisted tale of a Vietnam soldier.

***If you missed my earlier recap of Currey’s reading in Bethesda, Md., check it out.  I purchased my copy of the book at the reading.***

Photo by Vivian Ronay

About the Author:

Richard Currey was born in West Virginia in 1949, was raised there and in Ohio, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Canada. Drafted in 1968, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was detached to the Marine Corps, trained as a combat medic, and assigned to various infantry and reconnaissance units. He began publishing poetry after his discharge in 1972, and he drew upon his military experiences in Crossing Over: The Vietnam Stories. His first novel, Fatal Light, became an international bestseller published in 11 languages. Fatal Light received the Special Citation of the Hemingway Foundation as well as the Vietnam Veterans of America’s Excellence in the Arts Award. Currey’s second novel, Lost Highway, looks at the impact of the Vietnam War on an American family and was called “a rich, incisive American fable” by the Boston Globe. Currey’s short stories have received O. Henry and Pushcart Prizes and have been widely anthologized. A former military book reviewer for Newsday, he is now a contributing editor for The Veteran. A recipient of National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in both poetry and fiction, Currey has also received the D. H. Lawrence Fellowship in Literature and the State of West Virginia’s Daugherty Award in the Humanities.

This is my 11th book for the 2010 Vietnam War Reading Challenge.


This is my 56th book for the 2010 New Authors Reading Challenge.


I hope you enjoyed this latest Literary Road Trip with Washington, D.C., author Richard Currey.

Filed Under: historical fiction, New Authors Challenge, purchased, Read in 2010, reviews, The Literary Road Trip, Vietnam War Challenge 2010 Tagged With: ,

Help War Through the Generations Decide on the 2011 Topic

November 15, 2010 by

I bet you’re wondering what the new war topic is for 2011!

Well, Anna and I decided to put that question the participants or anyone interested in joining the new challenge.

So, if you want to provide us with your input by voting in our poll, please do so at War Through the Generations.

We want to make the site as interactive as possible, and not to worry, those Vietnam War reviews are still coming…along with additions to the reading list.

Filed Under: announcements Tagged With:

Mailbox Monday #105

November 15, 2010 by


Mailbox Mondays (click the icon at the right to check out the tour) has gone on tour since Marcia at The Printed Page passed the torch.  This month our host is Julie of Knitting and Sundries .  Kristi of The Story Siren continues to sponsor her In My Mailbox meme.  Both of these memes allow bloggers to share what books they receive in the mail or through other means over the past week.

Just be warned that these posts can increase your TBR piles and wish lists.

Here’s what I received:

1.  The Complete Edgar Allan Poe Tales complete and unabridged published from Chatham River Press from the library sale for $1.

2.  Jack London collection published by Longmeadow Press from the library sale for $1.

3.  Mark Twain collection published by Longmeadow Press from the library sale for $1.

4.  Seamus Heaney Selected Poems 1966-1987from the library sale for 50 cents.

What did you receive in your mailbox?

Filed Under: mailbox monday