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Young Jane Austen: Becoming a Writer by Lisa Pliscou

June 3, 2015 by

Source: Author Lisa Pliscou
Paperback, 188 pgs
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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
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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: , , ,

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
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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
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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
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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: , ,

Crossfades by William Todd Rose & Giveaway

May 26, 2015 by

tlc tour host

Source: Hydra and TLC Book Tours
ebook, 129 pgs
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Crossfades by William Todd Rose is a novel that hovers on the borders of science fiction and horror, as Chuck Grainger navigates the Crossfades to usher souls out of a purgatory to where they should be.  This limbo is the moment when one’s life is ending and a fantasy reality take over before the soul moves on, but in some cases, souls can be tricked into believing the fantasy is reality.  Chuck is a Whisk who must guide these trapped souls through a maze of changing landscapes without becoming detached from reality himself.  Through the help of Sleepers, those who are in a coma, Chuck can remain tethered to reality as long as his emotions remain in check.

“Drawing a deep breath through his nostrils was like snorting a line of decayed flesh.  The stench watered his eyes and infected his sinuses, seeping into his saliva and immersing his mouth in the rancid tang of decomposition.  His diaphragm hitched in protest, expelling tainted oxygen through retches that left his throat lining feeling as though he’d belched fire.”  (From the eARC)

Chuck is a lonely man, and this loneliness is something that threatens to pull him over into the abyss even as he knows the Crossfades around him are not real.  Whether trying to convince a little girl that her reality is long gone and that she must move on or finding an emotional connection with a frightened young woman, Chuck is tested.  Rose clearly defines this ephemeral world and makes it real and mutable at the same time, and his characters are seeping with powerful emotion.  Some readers, however, may find that this format — the novella — is too short to really connect with Chuck and his plight.  In many respects, readers are kept at a distance because he does have to remain detached, at least until the last chapters.

Crossfades by William Todd Rose explores the notion of purgatory and limbo really well, and examines what it would be liked to be trapped by one’s own fantasies — good or bad.  Rose has created a world that can be manipulated by the individual soul and by a mastermind who seeks to take over the alternate world.

About the Author:

William Todd Rose writes dark, speculative fiction from his home in West Virginia. His short stories have been featured in numerous anthologies and magazines, and his work includes the novels Cry Havoc, The Dead & Dying, and The Seven Habits of Highly Infective People, and the novella Apocalyptic Organ Grinder. For more information on the author, including links to bonus content, please visit him online.

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Filed Under: ARC, challenges, fiction, giveaway, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2015, reviews, tlc book tours Tagged With: , ,

Lost and by Jeff Griffin

May 22, 2015 by

Source: NetGalley
eBook, 170 pgs
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Lost and by Jeff Griffin, published by University of Iowa Press, feels more like a scrapbook than a poetry collection, and while there were poems included, most everything in the book are scraps he gleaned from his travels into the desert. Some of these pieces are lists, photos, and other scraps, including a letter from a woman to her alcoholic partner. While these items may reflect communities that have once thrived in the desert and are now abandoned, the collection is not what most readers would expect and there is little to link these pieces together.

From GoodReads:

Ever since he was a child sitting in the back of his parents’ car, Jeff Griffin has been taking explorative journeys into the desert. In 2007, as an art student, he started wandering the back roads of the Mojave Desert with the purpose of looking for a place to reflect in the harshly beautiful surroundings. What he found were widely scattered postmodern ruins—abandoned trailers and campers and improvised structures—whose vanished occupants had left behind, in their trash, an archaeological record.

While Griffin’s efforts to create an artistic rendering of these emptied communities, trailers, and lives, the pieces could have been better tied to one another with some text, explanation, or other commentary from Griffin. In many ways, the collection could have benefited from a demonstration of how Griffin was influenced or inspired by these pieces to create his own art — though the book itself is his modern art from those journeys into the Mojave Desert. Lost and by Jeff Griffin, published by University of Iowa Press, just didn’t work for me, but perhaps I’m not the target audience for this one.

About the Poet:

Jeff Griffin is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and an associate at Griffin Moss Industries, Inc., and he operates the publishing house Slim Princess Holdings. He lives around Nevada.

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

Pride & Prejudice: Retold in Limericks by Seamus O’Leprechaun

May 21, 2015 by

Source: Borrowed from Diary of an Eccentric
eBook, 65 pgs
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Pride & Prejudice: Retold in Limericks by Seamus O’Leprechaun is a retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice in Limericks! Yes, you read that correctly.  When Anna told me she had something I could read for 24-hour Read-a-Thon, I was all over this one.  I LOVE Limericks!

O’Leprechaun, which clearly has to be a pen name, captures the wit and tension between the characters so easily in just a Limerick.  It was highly appropriate that I read it for the read-a-thon and National Poetry Month.

From "Chapter Six":

Now Darcy has altered his drive.
What haunts him? A pair of dark eyes.
     The girl he rejected
     Now leaves him affected
Liz Bennet - he years for this prize.

From "Chapter Seven"

Jane Bennet, meantime, has caught cold,
Through a rain-soaked contrivance most bold.
     Now she must stick around
     At the Bingley compound,
Where Liz waits as the symptoms unfold.

The machinations of Mrs. Bennet to ensure that her daughters are married off before her husband dies, and her anger at Lizzy for turning down Mr. Collins also come off as ridiculous as Austen intended.  O’Leprechaun uses his skills well in these poems to flesh out the novel in poetic form.  Many of these poems will make readers laugh out loud, giggle, and shake their heads in amusement.

From "Chapter Fifteen"

But this Collins has come for a wife -
Either Lizzy or Jane will suffice.
     And as Jane is bespoke,
     Looks like Lizzy's up, folks,
To be wed by a blockhead - that's life.

Pride & Prejudice: Retold in Limericks by Seamus O’Leprechaun is just so much fun, and totally worth the short time spent reading it, reliving the best moments of Austen’s book. Also, it’s a great way to celebrate poetry.

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, classic fiction, Events, national poetry month, New Authors Challenge, poetry, Poetry Reading Challenge, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck

May 20, 2015 by

Source: Penguin Random House
Hardcover, 416 pgs
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The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck is word portrait of Sophia Peabody and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s courtship, marriage, and family, as well as the tensions that arise from two artists balancing their passions with their family.  Spoken in the voice of Sophia Peabody, readers are given a glimpse of her passionate painting and love of life despite her debilitating headaches before she meets Nathaniel, an aloof writer who feels the inadequacy of his words on paper.  From the 1830s to the U.S. Civil War, readers are taken through their early romance and their marriage.  While readers will find Sophia passionate about her work, she still finds joy and love in being a wife and mother, though she does miss her painting.  Despite the vacillation between poverty and moderate wealth, the Hawthornes are a family unit that loves deeply and remain loyal to their friends.

“One hand is open, overflowing with an abundance of joy and vitality; the other is a fist, clutching a void so desperately that the nails dig holes in the skin.” (pg. 247)

Like many artists there are period of abundance and times when the land is fallow, and this is true in terms of both writing and painting artistry as well as the funds they earn.  Sophia is a headstrong woman, but she quickly learns how to navigate her husband’s moods and comfort him in the best way she can for a reserved man.  Nathaniel is an enigma, but we get to see him through Sophia’s loving eyes, which can help soften some of his more anti-social behavior that others may see as mean or aloof.  It is wonderful to see the circle of friends the Hawthorne’s have and how those relationships evolve over time, particularly in light of the coming Civil War between the North and South.  From the drifting away from the Emersons to the effusive complements of Melville, the Hawthornes remain a tight knit family and rally around each other in times of loss and suffering.

“Our country simmers like a covered pot over the issue of slavery, and while Nathaniel and I do not approve of owning slaves, we cannot imagine what a division or even a war between the Northern and Southern states would do to our young nation.” (pg. 264)

The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck is a stunning narrative that illuminates the often overshadowed life of Sophia Hawthorne and demonstrates how two artists can live together and build a life despite their differences and their own need for solitude and succor.  The novel raises questions of self-identity, self-expression, compromise, and the desire to create and have it all.

About the Author:

Historical fiction writer, book blogger, voracious reader. Erika’s first novel, RECEIVE ME FALLING was self-published. Penguin Random House published HEMINGWAY’S GIRL, CALL ME ZELDA, FALLEN BEAUTY, and a short story anthology to which Erika contributed, GRAND CENTRAL: ORIGINAL STORIES OF POSTWAR LOVE AND REUNION. Her forthcoming novel THE HOUSE OF HAWTHORNE will release on May 5th, 2015.

Erika writes about and reviews historical fiction at her blog, Muse, and is a contributor to fiction blog, Writer Unboxed. She is also a member of the Historical Novel Society, the Hemingway Society, the Millay Society. and the Hawthorne Society.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: 2015 War Through the Generations - Read Any War, challenges, historical fiction, New Authors Challenge, Penguin, Publishers/Publicists, random house, Read in 2015, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Double Jinx by Nancy Reddy

May 19, 2015 by

Source: Milkweed Editions
Paperback, 96 pgs.
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Double Jinx by Nancy Reddy is a curious exploration of figurative and literal transformations from adolescence into adulthood, and it examines the malleability of our identities.  Many poetry readers have witnessed the retelling of fairy tales, like that of Cinderella, but not many poems — if any — deal with Nancy Drew and her identity, particularly in “The Case of the Double Jinx” (pg. 6) and the doppelgänger.  Nancy is hot on the case and observing this imposter has her doubting herself and her value.  Even though she knows that this imposter is not like her, she still fears she could lose Ned and her edge.

Reddy explores standing on the outside and the envy that can engender in “Understudy” (pg 10).  “You’re the other//woman, stranded just offstage,/mouthing the words you’ve learned/by heart.  At dress rehearsal you were costumed/as your better self.  Now she’s the critics’ darling and you’re//a cast-off prop,” the narrator says.  This persona takes on more and more of the starlight’s mannerisms, make-up rituals, and more until she mirrors that star in the hope that by becoming other than herself, she will be seen.

As the collection progresses, the poems seem to take on a less literary and artsy subject matter to look at the average person’s identity and how that changes over time.  “Big Valley’s Last Surviving Beauty Queen” (pg. 18) explores the effects of aging on a former beauty queen and how that effects her own perception of herself.  The accolades she sees and experiences are false to her when she returns home.

Genealogy (pg. 39)

My father's father was a woodstove.  He snapped and
  roared.

He crackled in the basement.  They fed him
so they wouldn't freeze.

While these perceptions of identity are explored again and again in a number of contexts, Reddy also explores the perceptions of men. But these perceptions of men also can affect how women identify themselves.  There are a number of these poems, which explore violence and addiction.  Double Jinx by Nancy Reddy is fascinating and multi-layered in its examination of identity and perception, particularly among young women and adult women.

About the Poet:

Nancy Reddy’s poetry has been published in 32 Poems, Tupelo Quarterly, and Best New Poets of 2011(selected by D.A. Powell), with poems forthcoming in Post Road and New Poetry from the Midwest. She lives in Madison, where she is a doctoral candidate in composition and rhetoric at the University of Wisconsin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Looking for Potholes by Joe Wenke

May 13, 2015 by

Source: Meryl L. Moss Media Relations
Paperback, 93 pgs
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Looking for Potholes by Joe Wenke explores the changing fluid world in which live and the fluidity of the relationships we have with one another.  Like in “Then and Now,” it starts off simply discussing how when we are young, we can shoot baskets and drink soda, but when we age we cannot.  But he goes deeper to suggest that as we age we tend to close ourselves off to new experiences and relationships, but also to even those relationships and experiences we already find ourselves in.  “You used to keep going./Now you stop.//We’re here for the moment./No one knows/how long you stay open,/when you close.”  (pg. 3)

Life is full of potholes, those moments where things are thrown off track.  Wenke is adept at twisting subtle insults and jabs into something that can be admirable, like being considered “Choosy” which means the narrator had the fortitude to choose the partner he’s with and calling him choosy.  Wouldn’t you want some who is discerning pick you?  Many of these poems lack a sense of regret, but applaud the sense of acceptance and living in that moment and making it the best.  “Lying Liars” is a poem steeped in irony, with the liars continuing to spin their tales to your face and behind your back because that’s all they know how to do.  But the rub is that the people they speak to don’t believe them, and the liars end up deceiving themselves.

The Stranger (pg. 33)

Last night
we saw each other
for the first time
in years.
My fears
of an epic confrontation,
an ugly conflagration
sparked by a chance encounter -- 
the accidental meeting
of two people
who once loved
but then profoundly
hated each other --
were unfounded.
You look at me
for just a moment 
with no change in expression
or sign of recognition
that I could see.
Then you turned away
from me
and walked on --
as if you were
a total stranger.

Looking for Potholes by Joe Wenke is a little bit more serious than Free Air, but these poems are still infused with wit and satire.  The turns of phrase can sometimes catch readers off guard as well, but these poems are well worth the read.

About the Poet:

DR. JOE WENKE, an outspoken and articulate LGBT rights activist, is the owner and managing partner of Xperience, a multi-million dollar marketing communications and production company with offices in New York, Boston and Detroit. He is also the founder and publisher of Trans Über, a publishing company with a focus on LBGT rights and promoting freedom and equality for all people.

He began his career as an editor at the Foundation Center in New York City. He was a speechwriter at Avnet for Tony Hamilton, the founder of the global electronics distribution industry, and wrote speeches for George Conrades, the head of IBM US. As a senior vice president at Caribiner International he served as the company’s lead communications strategist and head of global accounts.

Wenke received an M.A. in English from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Connecticut. He is a regular columnist in the Huffington Post. His books look into the religious underpinnings of LGBT discrimination in America, including YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING! The Cultural Arsonist’s Satirical Reading of the Bible. His next book, PAPAL BULL: An Ex-Catholic Calls Out the Catholic Church, will be published later this Fall. He is also author of “Mailer’s America” about the lifework of Pulitzer-prize winning American author Norman Mailer.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: challenges, poetry, Poetry Reading Challenge, Read in 2015, review copy, reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Sound of Glass by Karen White

May 12, 2015 by

Source: New American Library
Hardcover, 432 pgs
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The Sound of Glass by Karen White, published today, embarks on a journey that will leave readers slowly unraveling the interconnected lives of Mrs. Heyward in the late 1950s and the Mrs. Heyward in the new millennia.  Edith Heyward is a woman who lives a closed life in her attic where she makes wind chimes out of sea glass, but she also lives a large life inside those tiny, humid walls.  She tiptoes around not only her husband, but also her son and one of her grandsons, but even after they have left her home, she still closes herself off from the outside world.  Meanwhile, Merritt Heyward, who married Edith’s grandson Cal, has taken the chance and given up her life in Maine to come to Beaufort, S.C., where a home she’s inherited as Cal’s widow lays out its secrets in a methodical way.

“She’d barely slid from her stool when the sky exploded with fire, illuminating the river and the marshes beneath it, obliterating the stars, and shooting blurry light through the milky glass of the wind chime.  The stones swayed with shocked air, singing sweetly despite the destruction in the sky behind them.  Then a rain of fire descended like fireworks, myriad balls of light extinguished as soon as they collided with water into hiccups of steam.”  (pg. 2 ARC)

While much of Edith’s pain is in secret, except to her immediate family, her sense of justice and right will push her to investigate the mysterious plane crash above her home in South Carolina.  As she works on this case in secret, she’s simultaneously balancing the need for family calm and the desire for change within the family dynamic.  What ultimately drives her family to separate will also bring it back together and resolve a nearly 50 year old mystery.

“‘She always said that only fools thought all glass was fragile.'” (pg. 31 ARC)

Fast-forward to the present day, and Merritt find herself trying to curl up into a ball on her own, only to realize that Southern manners will not allow it.  On top of her new well-meaning neighbors, she also must confront a brother-in-law she never knew about and adjust to life with her step-mother and younger brother Owen.  As Merritt learns the traditions of Southern living, she also begins to realize that like drinking Coke with peanuts, you have to take the bitter with the sweet in life.  While she may have found love with Cal, she also knew there were wounds that would never heal, and some that hovered below the skin’s surface that she was unaware of.

The Sound of Glass by Karen White is a multi-layered story about family, their secrets, and the innocuous connections that can lead to lasting relationships and memories to be cherished.  What breaks us can only make us stronger, and in some cases, some of us are unaware that we are broken and in need of fixing.  Denial can be a powerful drug, as can self-protection, but family bonds and love are the only true healing power in this story and in our own lives.  White is a successful writer of Southern, women’s fiction for a reason, and once readers buy one book, they’ll be addicted and buy the rest!

***Another contender for the 2015 Best List***

About the Author:

Known for award-winning novels such as Learning to Breathe, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance 2009 Book of the Year Award finalist The House on Tradd Street, the highly praised The Memory of Water, the four-week SIBA bestseller The Lost Hours, Pieces of the Heart, and her IndieBound national bestseller The Color of Light, Karen has shared her appreciation of the coastal Low country with readers in four of her last six novels.

Italian and French by ancestry, a southerner and a storyteller by birth, Karen has made her home in many different places.  Visit the author at her website, and become a fan on Facebook.

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Filed Under: ARC, fiction, historical fiction, Read in 2015, reviews Tagged With: , ,