Literature and Poetry Reviews, Home of the Virtual Poetry Circle
Congrats to my recent winners:
The Healer of Fox Hollow by Joann Rose Leonard goes to Nan.
As Always, Jack by Emma Sweeney goes to Laura Hile of Jane Started It!
I hope everyone enjoys their books. If you like short stories go on over and enter the Enchantment by Thaisa Frank giveaway before it ends on Aug. 1, 2012.
On Friday, July 20, I reviewed a short story collection from Thaisa Frank of Heidegger’s Glasses-fame, and the collection entitled Enchantment was by turns fanciful and dark. Check out my review.
These stories made me think, and when I was contacted by the author about doing a discussion on the blog of a short story, I was excited to offer Savvy Verse & Wit as a forum for that discussion.
In September, I’ll be holding a discussion of “The Mapmaker” story in the collection, which is actually a series of stories. I’m hoping that the 4 of you who win a copy of the book will join us.
I’ll post the discussion post Tuesday, Sept. 18, which should provide others with enough time to get their own copy of the book and for those of you that win it to at least read the one short story.
To enter the giveaway, you must be willing to participate in the September 18th discussion of “The Mapmaker.” And, in September, we’ll let one lucky discussion group member pick the October story for discussion.
Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment on this post by Aug. 31. US/Canada residents, who are age 18+ only.
Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch. This month’s host is Mrs. Q Book Addict.
The meme allows 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. Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton, which I won from Peeking Between the Pages.
2. Eyes, Stones by Elana Bell, which I received from the American Academy of Poets and which won the Walt Whitman Award.
3. Wayne of Gotham by Tracy Hickman, which I received from the Harper Collins for review.
What did you receive?
Welcome to the 159th 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.
Also, sign up for the 2012 Fearless Poetry Reading Challenge because its simple; you only need to read 1 book of poetry. Please visit the stops on the 2012 National Poetry Month Blog Tour.
Today’s poem is from Elana Bell’s Eyes, Stones, which recently received the Walt Whitman award:
Tomorrow in the Apricots (page 13) They are hoping we will forget. Forget afternoon in the cool of our courtyards, the bulbul's song undressing the marble-- Do you forget the curl of your daughter's hair? Or the weight of it in your hands as you braided it for school? What about the first lie she told looking you dead in the eye?
What do you think?
Enchantment by Thaisa Frank, author of Heidegger’s Glasses (my review), is a collection of short stories that offers a variety of perspectives on the real and imagined, and some stories have a more other-worldly feel to them than others. Each story wears a mask of beauty and fantasy in which characters themselves take journeys or dream of traveling to cover up the heartbreak and dissatisfaction with their lives.
Frank’s prose is beautiful and mysterious, and her characters are genuine and real, even the vampire from “The Loneliness of the Midwestern Vampire.” Each story has an undercurrent of longing as each character searches for a connection to something or someone, and in some cases, there is a longing to repair even broken connections as a means of regaining some of that lost sense of wonder that most of us feel when a connection is first made.
From “The White Coat” (page 147 ARC)
“She remembered almost nothing of her life back home–the cramped little alcove where she did translations, their sprawling city apartment–everything vanished in this air of limitless depth.”
Starting out the collection are some more fanciful stories, like “Thread,” “Enchantment,” and The Girl with Feet That Could See,” but further into the collection the stories are less fanciful and less playful and more realistic, like “Henna” and “Postcards.” However, the real gem of the collection is the collection of stories within the collection — a series of stories — that make up “The Mapmaker.” These stories or vignettes told from a single point of view focus on one family and its most intimate secrets, like who made the map that hangs in the father’s study and was it really the narrator’s grandfather. There is even a story that touches on the manipulative nature of children when adults have a secret they don’t want others to know and of course, there is the overarching story of families and communication and how broken it all becomes. In this section of the collection, it is clear that Frank is a novelist and in many ways, these stories could become their own full fledged novel.
Enchantment by Thaisa Frank straddles the world between the real and the imagined as her characters try to capture some of that awe that we often feel as children about life and to connect with others in the deepest way possible. Frank is a talented writer with a firm grasp of characterization and storytelling, and while not all of the stories feel complete, they all will transport readers to another world, another time, and another place in the hope that they will once again become captivated with their own lives.
About the Author:
Thaisa Frank grew up in the Midwest and the Bronx, the granddaughter of a Presbyterian theologian and a Rumanian Chassid, who consulted each other about Aramaic texts. Her father was a professor of medieval English and her mother a director of small theater groups. She earned an honors degree in philosophy of science and logic from Oberlin College, studied graduate linguistics and philosophy at Columbia and worked as a psychotherapist before becoming a fulltime writer. She has traveled extensively in France and England, and currently lives in Oakland, California.
Today, Beth Kephart’s latest young-adult novel, Small Damages is released. As many of you know, I adore her poetic prose and how her characters and their homes leap off the page, envelop you, and pull you into their worlds. Her writing most closely resembles the writing I know I have the potential to achieve, and I don’t begrudge her my failings to achieve it. In fact, I celebrate her care and concern for the perfect word or phrase in each of her books. I praise her and adore her and her poetry because it is all out there, on the bookshelves — virtual and otherwise — to enchant readers.
I have had her latest book on my shelf for many months, and I’ve been tempted by it each time I walk by the shelf; it calls out to me. I’ve held off reading it because it was too far in advance so readers would be forced to wait for it to hit shelves and I’ve gotten busy with other books and family things, but Small Damages has been there, in the back of my mind, waiting for me to be ready with its glowing oranges, the fruits of Beth’s labor.
I’m ready now.
I have one solitary day off at the end of the month in which I do not have to toil over my day job, and while I will still have to care for my daughter, who is growing well, I plan to sit and immerse myself in Beth’s beautiful writing…to have her transport me to Spain, a country I’ve loved from afar and in my studies and a country close to my ancestors’ homeland of Portugal. I want to be absorbed — to fall into Kenzie’s world and her problems and find the beauty that I know is there.
Would I have found Beth without Amy of My Friend Amy? Possibly, but I still thank her for the introduction to this lovely woman and her poetry. In the meantime, while you wait for my thoughts on Beth’s book, please feel free to check out some of these other wonderful reviews and to stop by Beth’s blog:
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of The Shadow of the Wind, is like many other authors these days in that he is pumping out short stories for digital devices. The Rose of Fire is one such story, but this story tells the tale of how the Cemetery of Forgotten Books was born at the time of the Spanish Inquisition in the fifteenth century. The labyrinth of books is an intriguing idea, and Zafón’s prose is at once lyrical and absorbing, transporting readers into another time and place.
As fear and suspicion are around every corner, many Spaniards keep to themselves in the hope that they will be spared the wrath of the church. Raimundo de Sempere, who knows too many languages to stay outside the church’s suspicion, is a printer who is asked to translate a mysterious notebook found on Edmond de Luna, the only surviving man of a ship left battered and adrift near Barcelona just after a plague has ravaged the city.
“Edmond de Luna could see himself reflected in those eyes that resembled huge pools of blood. Flying like a cannonball over the city, tearing off terrace roofs and towers, the beast opened its jaws to snap him up.” (ebook)
Zafón has created a tantalizing back story for his series of books about the library, and for those who have not read his previous books in the series, The Rose of Fire serves as an introduction to that fantasy world he’s created in which magic and nightmares come alive. While the story is enchanting and absorbing, it is likely to leave readers wanting more in the way of character development that would likely come with a longer piece of work. In many ways, this ebook release achieves its goal of ensuring the reader will look for more of the author’s work, but it seems to be a means to an end only, rather than a well developed short story. With that said, Zafón is a talented author who creates believable worlds full of adventure and conflict.
About the Author:
Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a Spanish novelist. Born in Barcelona in 1964, he has lived in Los Angeles, United States, since 1994, and works as a scriptwriter aside from writing novels.
This is my 53rd book for the New Authors Reading Challenge 2012.
The Great Lenore by J.M. Tohline, published by Maryland-based Atticus Books, is loosely based upon F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (my review — no, you don’t have to read Fitzgerald to enjoy Tohline’s novel), but it’s also part Edgar Allan Poe(m)-inspired.
Richard Parkland takes up his friend’s offer of using his summer home on Nantucket during the winter to write his next novel, and he soon comes in contact with the Montanas, who live in an ornate home much like that of Gatsby in Fitzgerald’s novel. Richard parallels the narrator of Gatsby, Nick Carraway, while Lenore is the female lead here and is not as insipid or self-absorbed. Many of the elements are similar in that the Montana’s are a rich family and that their members are embroiled in drama, particularly the brothers Maxwell and Chas. There are great loves and there are mistresses, but there is much more in these pages than a replication of Fitzgerald or any other writer.
“We stopped looking at him, and he drifted through the house like an orange blob inside a lava lamp, with a cold glass of whiskey glued to his hands.” (page 53 ARC)
The dialogue between the characters is reminiscent of Fitzgerald’s Gatsby as they tiptoe around what they really want to say to one another or shout uselessly in anger and frustration because of the situations in which they find themselves. These characters are acting and reacting to one another in a vacuum in which no one else matters, not even Richard. He’s a sounding board more than once, and he’s meant to just listen — he’s the outsider, the observer, the recordkeeper. But one of the clear gems in the novel is the setting of Nantucket, which is a small, exclusive island. It comes alive under Tohline’s talent creating a deep sense of other-worldliness and isolation.
“Clouds of frustration and anger and betrayal eddied off behind me, and the same clouds lay before me. The same clouds wrapped their cold, iron claws around me, scraping over my veins and shuddering through my nerves.” (page 116 ARC)
Tohline addresses the waffling nature of humanity, our fear of making decisions and our fear of the decisions we’ve made and the regret that comes with choosing the path we’re on. In more ways than one, Lenore becomes mythical, she is no longer a real person until her untimely death. At this point in the story, readers would expect the “prefect” Lenore to take on an even more ideal hue, but Tohline has a different experience in mind. He breaks down her character through the eyes of others, and as secrets are revealed about her relationships with Chas, Maxwell, and others, Lenore becomes like the rest of us — fallible. The narration allows the reveal to come gradually, providing the reader with a faster paced page-turner than expected from a piece of literary fiction.
The Great Lenore by J.M. Tohline is a literary debut from an author whose prose is at times poetic and suspenseful, but always hovering on the edge of the mysterious. His novel is a testament to the inevitability of choices we make and the inability we have to change them even if we have the desire and opportunity to change them. It’s about the idealizing the past and those we love and the journey it takes to realize that the reality of those times and people was not at all what our minds remember. Tohline’s novel is one of regret and hope for a better future, but there also is a hopelessness reminiscent of Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms.
About the Author:
JM Tohline grew up in a small town just north of Boston and lives in a quiet house on the edge of the Great Plains with his cat, The Old Man And The Sea. He is 26 years old. The Great Lenore is his first novel. Check out his Website and this Atticus Books interview.
This is my 52nd book for the New Authors Reading Challenge 2012.
The Healer of Fox Hollow by Joann Rose Leonard is a story of change, struggle, and perseverance in the great Smoky Mountain town of Fox Hollow between the 1960s and 1970s (around the time of the Vietnam War). Layla and Ed Tompkin live a hard life, carving it from the mountains that surround their home without a feminine hand to guide or support them. Layla spends parts of her day during the week with the Yeagleys, who tend to take the Bible and its teachings literally, while her father works to keep them clothed and fed. After a tragic accident, Layla is rendered mute and must find her way once again in the face of adversity.
“Looking at the gaunt, unshaven face of her sister’s husband, sapped of its usual outdoor burnish and as vacant as an abandoned house, Avis could barely breathe. She retrieved a hankie from her pocket, pressed each eye and gave her nose a vigorous, head-clearing blow. In an attempt to squeeze her crumbling composure back together, Avis clutched the balled-up fist of one hand with her other and began again.” (Page 15 ARC)
Layla’s accident renders her different from her fellow classmates and neighbors and her father’s decision to keep them out of church on Sunday, further separates her from the community, until she is seen as a healer. The community is very willing to turn to her in times of ailment or crisis, even when they have their own community doctor available, but they continue to see her as an outsider. It’s almost as if the community is using her, and she’s almost too willing to help. However, as Layla grows up and becomes a woman, it is clear that she becomes more conflicted about her role in the community and while she enjoys providing comfort, even she is not convinced of her powers.
Leonard’s prose is folksy, which is appropriate given the community she is describing and the situations she is portraying. Layla is a quiet and unassuming girls swept into a role that she has little control over until she becomes an adult. Given the choice, she relies on the teachings of her father to weigh the pros and cons of her decision and choose what is best for her upon her high school graduation. In a community where God plays a large role and where struggles are the norm, Layla must face her fair share and more of these troubles, but through her gifts, she discovers the power of empathy and connection as a way to heal herself and others.
As Layla comes in contact with the severely injured and broken — soldiers of the Vietnam War — she must contend with feelings she never thought would be hers to feel or to dream about. Leonard does well portraying the maturation of Layla while maintaining her naivete about certain things, and she easily demonstrates the psychological and physical pains of soldiers from the Vietnam War. However, when Damian appears into Layla’s life, it is out of the blue and would have been better choreographed in another way, especially given his connection to the community doctor’s son, Brian. Despite this minor flaw of a “convenient” meeting and what it stirs up in Layla, The Healer of Fox Hollow by Joann Rose Leonard is heartfelt tale of adaptation, survival, and love filtered through the heat of the sunset over the Smoky Mountains.
About the Author:
Wisconsin born JOANN ROSE LEONARD was Texas-raised and has chigger bite scars to prove it, theatre-trained and frostbitten at Northwestern University, and worked as an actress in New York. She studied mime in Paris with Marcel Marceau while dubbing films into English to earn her daily baguette; raised 9 kids (2 human, 7 goats) in State College PA, where she was founder and director of MetaStages, the youth theatre program at Penn State University, and, with her husband, Bob, a retired professor and theatre director, has relocated to CA to be nearer their sons, Jonathan (DJ Child, an award-winning music producer and founder of the multi-media company, Project Groundation) and Joshua (actor/filmmaker including The Lie, Higher Ground and The Blair Witch Project.) Joann is author of The Soup Has ManyEyes: From Shtetl to Chicago; One Family’s Journey Through History, “From Page to Stage,” a chapter in Holt Rinehart Winston’s Elements of Literature and two collections of multicultural plays, “All the World’s a Stage Volumes I & II” (Baker’s Plays). In her research for The Healer of Fox Hollow, Joann discovered that the truth the novel is based upon is infinitely stranger than the fiction she wrote.
For more info on Joann and her work, please visit her Website.
This is my 51st book for the New Authors Reading Challenge 2012.
***To win a copy of this book, you must be a resident of the United States or Canada and be over age 18.
Leave a comment on this post by July 21, 2012, at 11:59PM EST.
Mailbox Mondays (click the icon to check out the new blog) has gone on tour since Marcia at A Girl and Her Books, formerly The Printed Page passed the torch. This month’s host is Mrs. Q Book Addict.
The meme allows 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 Healer of Fox Hollow by Joann Rose Leonard for a July TLC tour.
2. The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch, which I won from Peeking Between the Pages.
3. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, which I got from the library sale for 50 cents.
4. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte, which I got from the library sale for 50 cents.
5. Beneath a Marble Sky by John Shors, which I got from the library sale for 50 cents.
6. Travels With Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck, which I got from the library sale for 50 cents.
7. Ines of my Soul by Isabelle Allende, which I got for $1 from the library sale.
8. The Sesame Street Library Volume 7, which I got for Wiggles for 50 cents.
9. The Sesame Street Library Volume 9, which I got for Wiggles for 50 cents.
10. The Sesame Street Library Volume 14, which I got for Wiggles for 50 cents.
11. I Can Count to Ten and Back Again, which I got for Wiggles for 50 cents.
What did you receive?
