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Mailbox Monday #326

June 8, 2015 by

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

1. A Week at the Lake by Wendy Wax; this is the second copy I received and will pass this on to a friend.

Twenty years ago, Emma Michaels, Mackenzie Hayes, and Serena Stockton bonded over their New York City dreams. Then, each summer, they solidified their friendship by spending one week at the lake together, solving their problems over bottles of wine and gallons of ice cream. They kept the tradition for years, until jealousy, lies, and life’s disappointments made them drift apart.

It’s been five years since Emma has seen her friends, an absence designed to keep them from discovering a long-ago betrayal. Now she’s in desperate need of their support. The time has come to reveal her secrets—and hopefully rekindle their connection.

But when a terrible accident keeps Emma from saying her piece, Serena and Mackenzie begin to learn about the past on their own. Now, to heal their friendship and their broken lives, the three women will have to return to the lake that once united them, and discover which relationships are worth holding on to.

2.  Mistaking Her Character by Maria Grace for review.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh is prepared to be very generous when it comes to medical care for her sickly daughter, Anne – generous enough to lure noted physician Dr. Thomas Bennet to give up his London practice and move his family to Rosings Park. But his good income comes with a price: complete dependence on his demanding patroness’s every whim.     Now the Bennet family is trapped, reliant on Lady Catherine for their survival. Their patroness controls every aspect of the Bennet household, from the shelves in the closet to the selection of suitors for the five Bennet daughters. Now she has chosen a husband for headstrong Elizabeth Bennet– Mr. George Wickham.

But Lady Catherine’s nephew, Fitzwilliam Darcy, is not so sure about his aunt’s choice. He is fascinated by the compassionate Elizabeth who seems to effortlessly understand everyone around her, including him. Lady Catherine has other plans for Darcy, though, and she forbids Elizabeth to even speak to him.   As Anne’s health takes a turn for the worse, Darcy and Elizabeth are thrown together as Dr. Bennet struggles to save Anne’s life. Darcy can no longer deny the truth – he is in love with Elizabeth Bennet. But Lady Catherine will do anything to stop Darcy from marrying her – even if it means Elizabeth will lose everything she loves.

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: , , ,

308th Virtual Poetry Circle

June 6, 2015 by

Welcome to the 308th Virtual Poetry Circle!

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

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s book 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.

Today’s poem is from Jack Kerouac:

Some of the ones read:

After the shower
among the drenched roses
the bird thrashing in the bath.

No telegram today
only more leaves
fell.

Early morning yellow flowers,
thinking about
the drunkards of Mexico.

Nightfall,
boy smashing dandelions
with a stick.

What did you think? I must be on a Jazz kick!

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle Tagged With:

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

June 5, 2015 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 48 pgs
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, is a collection of some of the most recognizable poems, including William Carlos Williams’ The Red Wheelbarrow, for readers ages 6-9. Most of these poems are short and fit the theme of each season — winter, spring, summer, fall — but even younger readers will enjoy these poems as they are read aloud by their parents. The illustrations are colorful, and the vibrant images perfectly capture the mood of the season.

While some of the concepts in these poems are a little above where my own daughter may be cognitively, she still enjoyed listening to me read them aloud.  I also made sure to denote which season was depicted by each of the poems in the section, and had her point to images in the poems that she found in the illustrations, which kept her attention focused.  For instance, for Raymond Souster’s poem, “Spring,” the illustration depicts the roots of the flower and the beets on the page and the flower and leaves above.

Spring

Rain beats down,
roots stretch up.

They'll meet
in a flower.
The Island

Wrinkled stone
like an elephant's skin
on which young birches are treading.

elephant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For “The Island” by Lillian Morrison, my daughter looked for the elephant talked about in the poem, and quickly found that he was the island with the trees on top. It became a word game for us, and while some poems don’t lend themselves easily to these kinds of games to keep a toddler’s interest, my daughter also loves the sounds of words, so she would often just sit and listen to me read the poems.

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, contains not only those well-loved and classic poems from Williams, Dickinson, and Frost, but also poems from more contemporary poets, like Ted Kooser, Hughes, and Crapsey. Such a wide variety in a collection of poems about the seasons offer a great deal of teaching tools for young readers, from learning new words and how language works to what happens in each season scientifically.

***I first saw this book reviewed at Rhapsody in Books.***

About the Editor:

Paul Bryan Janeczko is an American poet and anthologist. He has published 40 books in the last 30 years, including poetry compilations, non-fiction guides for young writers, and books for teachers.

About the Illustrator:

Melissa Sweet has illustrated nearly 100 children’s books from board books to picture books and nonfiction titles. Her collages and paintings have appeared in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Madison Park Greetings, Smilebox and for eeBoo Toys, which have garnered the Oppenheim and Parents Choice Awards.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, children's fiction, New Authors Challenge, poetry, Poetry Reading Challenge, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Young Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer by Lisa Pliscou

June 3, 2015 by

Source: Author Lisa Pliscou
Paperback, 188 pgs
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Young Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer by Lisa Pliscou is an unusual biography in that it is written from the perspective of a young girl, the now famous Jane Austen.  In the introduction the author said she has created a “speculative biography” because there is so little known about Austen’s younger years.  She includes a time line for the biography and a list of sources, as well as a delightful annotated version of the biography in the back of the book.  Annotations help provide context to the well crafted narrative of young Jane’s early life.  An overarching theme in this biography is what makes a writer become a writer?  Are they born as such? Does it require simply a fondness for words or an observant nature and does it need to be nurtured just by the individual or by their own support system?

“But people aren’t born writers; they become writers.  They’re shaped by the circumstances of their lives — their personality, their interests, their experiences, their family and friends — and it’s never a certain thing that a talent with words, no matter how abundant, will find its full expression in both accomplishment and recognition.”  (pg. 141)

With this thesis in mind, Pliscou sets about illustrating how this may be true for Jane Austen, called Jenny by her family.  In many respects, she was not considered the writer of the family, and many in her family also wrote, including her mother.  And again, like most writers will tell you, reading can shape your craft as a writer, and as Jane read more and more, she began to use her knowledge to pick apart novels and other writing to learn how it functioned.

“Like Mama ripping apart an old gown of Cassy’s, only to put it together in a different way, creating a new gown for Jenny, Jenny was going to rip apart everything she had read.”  (pg 75)

Pliscou does touch upon the limited options available to women of Jane’s time, even in her transitions between different parts of the book.  At the heart of this biography is a strong young lady who sees an opportunity to become more and to be fulfilled in an unconventional way.  Had she different parents or siblings, perhaps there would have been no famous novelist.  But thankfully, that was not to be.  Young Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer by Lisa Pliscou is delightful, and would make a great introduction to young writers still toying with words on the page.  It demonstrates a young lady’s life as it is shaped by the world around her and the words on the page, and it also includes delightful illustrations.

About the Author:

Lisa Pliscou is an acclaimed author of both fiction and nonfiction — funny, thought-provoking, educational, inspiring — for adults and children, with a highlight on the coming-of-age experience.

Her work has been praised by the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, the Associated Press, The Horn Book, and other media.

 

Filed Under: challenges, New Authors Challenge, nonfiction, Read in 2015, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Ohio Violence by Alison Stine

June 2, 2015 by

Source: Poet Alison Stine
ebook, 80 pgs
I am an Amazon Affiliate

 

Vassar Miller Prize winner Ohio Violence by Alison Stine, which I received long ago from the poet (forgive my tardy review — as this was long before I had an e-reader and the file was lost in my inbox), juxtaposes the quiet, pastoral landscape of the Midwest United States with hinted at depravity, overt violence, and speculation.  Her narrator in “Ohio Violence” will tell you a story that is not hers to tell, and while this story begins with dismembered deer parts, but its really about the power of murderous jealousy and violence: “We measure our places in blood,/ bones in weeds, the buried well./ Each brick brought a message in her/ fifteen-year-old fist.” (pg. 18)

Stine’s lines often build from small pieces — whether tiny pieces of an image or situation or emotion — into a crescendo that will hammer the reader when they are least expecting it.  These surprising lines and poems will never be far from the reader’s mind, especially as they continue with the poems that follow.  Each of these poems looks at violence and the secrecy of violence in a new way.  There are missing women, there are violated women, there are those slight indications of inappropriate intimacy, but at the root is the unexpected nature of the violence and the cover-ups that fail to hide the damage done.

School

All winter we sat blind, I next to the girl   
who loved her scabs, the blood shields   
her head gave up, her face a sun of blank   
amazement. She drew. This means love:   
a circle with a line through it. More work:   
a cross. More crosses. Ice sloughed   
through fields. Ice river, the pages   
of our notebooks. Outside: limbs and roads   
and wires. Outside cracked with force   
and turning. Our poems filled with salt.   
He took me to his bed.   
The writer never speaks. The writer speaks   
in details, the sateen lining of my coat,   
the star point of tongue kissing. The winter   
speaks in the whip. Runoff nixed   
with ash. I spilt water on my notebook.   
Words went back to ink; paper back   
to ruffle, pulp. You smell like dog, the girl   
said. You will be left like the winter.   
Little sputter in the car’s craw. Little   
crevice in the pavement. Ice reminder.   
He took me to his bed, saying: Ali,   
Ali, tell no one. I told the girl, a sore   
gathering, another skin to pick and worry.

Ohio Violence by Alison Stine carries with a heavy burden, but it is a burden that is borne well and with tenderness and homage to those who have been victims.  But do not be fooled that these poems are all tender in content because there is a brutal-ness to the images presented, searing heartbreak and horror into the minds of the reader.  They shall never forget the tales Stine is telling.

About the Poet:

Alison Stine is a 2008 winner of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship. She was born in Indiana and grew up in Ohio. A former Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, she is the author of the chapbook Lot of My Sister, winner of the Wick Prize. Her poems have appeared in such journals as The Paris Review, Poetry, and The Kenyon Review. This is her first book. She lives in Athens, Ohio.  Her new novel, Supervision, was released April 2015.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: ARC, challenges, New Authors Challenge, poetry, Poetry Reading Challenge, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Mailbox Monday #325

June 1, 2015 by

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia at To Be Continued, formerly The Printed Page, has a permanent home at its own blog.

To check out what everyone has received over the last week, visit the blog and check out the links.  Leave yours too.

Also, each week, Leslie, Vicki, and I will share the Books that Caught Our Eye from everyone’s weekly links.

Here’s what I received:

1.  The Essential Ginsberg edited by Michael Schumacher for review from Harper.

Featuring the legendary and groundbreaking poem “Howl,” this remarkable volume showcases a selection of Allen Ginsberg’s poems, songs, essays, letters, journals, and interviews and contains sixteen pages of his personal photographs.

One of the Beat Generation’s most renowned poets and writers, Allen Ginsberg became internationally famous not only for his published works but for his actions as a human rights activist who championed the sexual revolution, human rights, gay liberation, Buddhism and eastern religion, and the confrontation of societal norms–all before it became fashionable to do so. He was also the dynamic leader of war protesters, artists, Flower Power hippies, musicians, punks, and political radicals.

The Essential Ginsberg collects a mosaic of materials that displays the full range of Ginsberg’s mental landscape. His most important poems, songs, essays, letters, journals, and interviews are displayed in chronological order. His poetic masterpieces, “Howl” and “Kaddish,” are presented here along with lesser-known and difficult to find songs and prose. Personal correspondence with William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac is included as well as photographs–shot and captioned by Ginsberg himself–of his friends and fellow rogues William Burroughs, Neal Cassady, and more.

2. A Week at the Lake by Wendy Wax for review.

Twenty years ago, Emma Michaels, Mackenzie Hayes, and Serena Stockton bonded over their New York City dreams. Then, each summer, they solidified their friendship by spending one week at the lake together, solving their problems over bottles of wine and gallons of ice cream. They kept the tradition for years, until jealousy, lies, and life’s disappointments made them drift apart.

It’s been five years since Emma has seen her friends, an absence designed to keep them from discovering a long-ago betrayal. Now she’s in desperate need of their support. The time has come to reveal her secrets—and hopefully rekindle their connection.

But when a terrible accident keeps Emma from saying her piece, Serena and Mackenzie begin to learn about the past on their own. Now, to heal their friendship and their broken lives, the three women will have to return to the lake that once united them, and discover which relationships are worth holding on to.

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: , , ,

307th Virtual Poetry Circle

May 30, 2015 by

Welcome to the 307th Virtual Poetry Circle!

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

Keep in mind what Molly Peacock’s book 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.

Today’s poem is from Langston Hughes:

The Weary Blues

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
     I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
     He did a lazy sway . . .
     He did a lazy sway . . .
To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
     O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
     Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man’s soul.
     O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan—
     “Ain’t got nobody in all this world,
       Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
       I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
       And put ma troubles on the shelf.”

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more—
     “I got the Weary Blues
       And I can’t be satisfied.
       Got the Weary Blues
       And can’t be satisfied—
       I ain’t happy no mo’
       And I wish that I had died.”
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.

What do you think?

Filed Under: virtual poetry circle Tagged With:

How Tiger Says Thank You! and How Penguin Says Please! by Abigail Samoun, illustrated by Sarah Watts

May 29, 2015 by

Source: Sterling Children’s Books
Hardcover, 22-24 pgs
I am an Amazon Affiliate

How Penguin Says Please! and How Tiger Says Thank You! by Abigail Samoun, illustrated by Sarah Watts, are both part of the little traveler series of board books for ages 2-4. Kids love learning new words and why should learning a foreign language be any different.  At this age, kids are sponges ready to absorb anything they can get their hands or ears on, which also can spell trouble if you’re not careful when filtering your own behavior.  These little board books contain not only colorful illustrations of Penguin and Tiger’s travels, but also maps that illustrate the routes they took around the world.

Although there is no storyline per se, tiger and penguin are teaching kids and parents how to say Please and Thank You — which are some of the most important words in teaching children manners — in different languages, ranging from Chinese to Russian and Indian.  Tiger not only thanks a flight attendant, but also a balloon vendor, a market merchant, and others on her journey, while Penguin says please to an airline ticket agent, a bakery clerk, someone who takes her picture and others.

How Penguin Says Please! and How Tiger Says Thank You! by Abigail Samoun, illustrated by Sarah Watts, offer a great place to start learning new languages for kids.  They make travel to other countries less frightening, and make it easy for parents to pronounce the foreign words with the a key on each page for sounding out the words.  My daughter and I had fun with the travels and we talked about each country and what information I could provide in addition to the please and thank you word pronunciation aspect.  She loves books with maps and different cultures, soaking up all the information she can.  She is full of questions, and I cannot wait to hear her start trying to pronounce these words right alongside their English counterparts.

Filed Under: challenges, children's fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2015, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

The Book of Goodbyes by Jillian Weise

May 28, 2015 by

Source: Academy of American Poets membership benefit
Paperback, 88 pgs
I am an Amazon Affiliate

The Book of Goodbyes by Jillian Weise, recipient of the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award in 2013 and the 2013 James Laughlin Award, is a collection of poems that highlights the power of goodbye and how it can free us from limitation.  Whether those limitations are self-imposed or imposed upon us by others or the outside distractions that keep us locked in place.

There are several poems in the collection about laws against the disabled being seen in public and the societal burdens that come with those medical miracles — prosthetic legs, for instance — and how those “norms” are meant to weigh down the potential of those human beings. While these “norms” must be recognized to be overcome, it is a big obstacle to overcome, especially when those limitations or “norms” become self-imposed limitations on the self. Saying goodbye to those can be a hard process to perform and a distance that can be difficult to maintain, but there is an inherent power in saying goodbye to those things.

Goodbyes (pg. 50)

begin long before you hear them
and gain speed and come out of 
the same place as other words.
They should have their own
place to come from, the elbow
perhaps, since elbows look
funny and never weep. Why
are you proud of me? I said
goodbye to you forty times.
I see your point. That is
an achievement unto itself.
My mom wants me to write
a goodbye poem. It should fit 
inside a card and use the phrase,
“You are one powerful lady.”
There is nothing powerful
about me though you might 
think so from the way I spit.
I don’t want to say goodbye
to you anymore. I heard
the first wave was an accident.
It happened in the Cave 
of the Hands in Santa Cruz.
The four of them were drinking
and someone killed
a wild boar and someone else
said, “Hey look, I put my hand
in it. Saying goodbye is like that.
You put your hand in it and then
you take your hand back.

Weise touches upon the hardships and the freedom of goodbye, but she also talks about its empowering nature. There is a willfulness to when we choose to make those breaks, and there are many of those moments in this collection.  The Book of Goodbyes by Jillian Weise, recipient of the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award in 2013 and the 2013 James Laughlin Award, offers a great deal to discuss, and would be an interesting selection for a book club discussion.

About the Poet: (Photo credit: Guillermo Morizot Hires)

Jillian Weise was born in Houston, Texas, in 1981. She studied at Florida State University; the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she was the Fred Chappell Fellow; and the University of Cincinnati.

Weise is the author of The Book of Goodbyes (BOA Editions, 2013), which received the 2013 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets, which recognizes a superior second book of poetry by an American poet. Her debut poetry collection, The Amputee’s Guide to Sex, was published by Soft Skull Press in 2007.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: challenges, New Authors Challenge, poetry, Poetry Reading Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, purchased, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

The Snowman by Jo Nesbø

May 27, 2015 by

Source: Public library
Hardcover, 383 pages
I am an Amazon Affiliate

The Snowman by Jo Nesbø, which was the May book club selection, is the 7th book in the Harry Hole detective series and translated by Don Bartlett.  The translation is wonderfully descriptive and never feels stilted, which is perfect when reading a mystery novel.  In fact, the clipped sentences read to me more like the pace of a mystery/thriller should be, while at the same time being descriptive, evocative, and creating an appropriate emphasis (if sometimes, over-emphasis) on the cold.

Oslo police investigator Harry Hole has solved a serial killer case before, and as his fame makes the rounds in Norway, he garners the attention of a young detective and a killer.  Mothers across the country are disappearing, and statistics reveal that about 20 percent of children are not related to the fathers they live with.  This story involves not only so called mommy issues, as one book club member stated, but also the power of genetics and survival of the fittest theories.

From the creepy snowmen that pop up after the disappearance of mothers across the city to the highly suspicious female detective Katrine Bratt, Hole has his work cut out for him in trying to solve these disappearances and murders.  As the mold is sought out in Hole’s apartment, the case has uncovered a series of ailments from Raynaud’s syndrome to scleroderma and noctambulism and other parasomnias.  These conditions play a significant role in how these characters act, react, and interact with one another, and they often lead to confusion of the facts in the snowman case.

Hole is a prototypical police detective consumed by his work, and like others, his obsession with solving his cases leads him to have a very solitary life in which alcohol plays a significant role.  What’s done really well here is the twists and turns in the case, hampered by the various ailments of the players, but also the dialogue.  It’s purposeful and witty, which can make the errors in judgment all the more ironic.

“‘I’m in the office and have had a look at what you’ve found.  You said all the missing women were married with children.  I think there could be something in that.’

‘What?’

‘I have no idea.  I just needed to hear myself say that to someone.  So that I could decide if it sounded idiotic.’

‘And how does it sound?’

‘Idiotic.  Good night.'” (page 113)

The Snowman by Jo Nesbø, translated by Don Bartlett, was a thrilling read and well written.  Hole may be an anti-hero, but he’s one you’ll want on your side to bring you justice, even if his own dysfunction can derail him.  Although this is a 7th book in the series, there was enough back story that readers would have no trouble following Hole.  Some readers may prefer to see the character’s evolution from start to finish, and for those, like myself, I recommend starting at the beginning.

What the Book Club Thought:

There were two members, including the one who nominated the book, who did not finish, and one member who skimmed through quite a bit of it.  Those who finished the book did have some issues with the set up of the narration, which shifted quite a bit between main and little used characters.  Overall, some of the crimes were intriguing, and downright gruesome, which some members enjoyed, but there was one scene in which a body was found in such a way that another member said it seemed cliche or recycled from his other book, The Son.  There were a few who rated the book 4 stars and several others rated it about three stars.  This one got mixed reviews, but for those who enjoyed it, they had no issues with the novel’s pacing or the narration.  One member found the narration to be choppy, which they thought might be due to translation, while another member thought it was the author’s style and the need to emphasize the cold.

About the Author:

Jo Nesbø is a Glass Key award-winning Norwegian author and musician. As of March 2014 more than 3 million copies of his novels have been sold in Norway, and his work has been translated into over 40 languages, selling 23 million copies.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, fiction, New Authors Challenge, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , ,