I have done SO much reading the last couple weeks, and I LOVE it. This week has the potential for more reading as I am home recovering from minor surgery and have no agenda apart from reading and sleeping. It’s going to be a great week.
Practically all of the books I have finished lately were NertGalley ARCs, THANK YOU NetGalley and all of the publishing houses for giving me this opportunity. I have read books in genres I don’t normally read (i.e. True Crime) and have learned so much. I love doing this kind of stuff. I have a lot to share, so without further ado…
Poppy State by Myriam Gurba: (3 stars) I found this book to be very meandering. Gurba ultimately brings her wandering stream-of-consciousness thoughts full circle, but this book reads like a maze of ideas. While Gurba’s writing is very good, parts of this book felt like they didn’t quite fit the narrative she was presenting, almost as they were written as afterthoughts. The style overall reminded me of Maria Popova’s book “Figuring,” exploring different people and times to support the main focus of the book (Maria Mitchell for Popova, Gurba herself for this book). I won’t say that I did not like this book, but I feel that it is one that needs revisiting so a reader can fully appreciate all that Gurba is saying, and understand what she doesn’t say in text, but alludes to.
They Will Tell You the World is Yours by Anna Mitchael: (5 stars) “Why do we seek? Why has the world convinced us that a better version of ourselves is waiting to be found? Why should we think anything “out there” is better than the spirit we have lying in wait, in our own heart?” -Anna Mitchael
I absolutely loved this book. It feels like Mitchael wrote this book to speak to me directly, holding my hand as we walked through every stage of a woman’s life from birth to girlhood to adulthood, weathering heartbreak and celebrating success, hurting, healing, laughing, loving, and longing every step of the way. In these pages Mitchael feels like the friend you have known all your life, is someone you have shared secrets with and have spent countless hours talking to, drinking gallons of tea over dozens of years, that one person that truly knows you because she shares the same sentiments, dreams, and fears: “They will not tell you the important things can be measured, but you will figure it out soon enough.” You learn to question your worth by how well you perform in relation to others. And when you do succeed, you are reminded that you still haven’t done enough: “They will say what’s good can always be made better.”
One day, though, Mitchael reminds her readers, you will realize you are worthy, you will stand up and proclaim your worth to others: “The choice is clear, it has always been clear–their way or the highway. […] you thank them for their time and start moving toward the door, willing yourself to keep walking so you won’t be tempted to turn and take the title […] when your boss says ‘…we will find money for the raise, too’.”
Mitchael reminds us to relish small joys: making pancakes for a friend, celebrating our birthday in our own way, a perfectly chilled glass of white wine, the warmth of your partner’s hand in yours.
“They Will Tell You the World is Yours” is a beautiful book, one I will return to again and again. There is so much to be found in it, and it encourages us to pay attention to the details in our own lives that we may miss.
Bookends of Life by Sonja Koch & Dalys Finzgar: (1 star) This volume reads like a children’s book; each poem is made up of short little rhymes that feel very juvenile to me. I do not know what the focus group for this book is. If it is adolescents beginning an exploration of the Pagan or Wiccan path it may be a good introduction. For adults, it is too childish and saccharine.
In a Riptide by Ronna Bloom: (3 stars) “I thought of the four people the Buddha met in his travels sick person, old person, dead person, happy person with nothing. And I felt like all of them.” –Ronna Bloom
This brief volume is a moving exploration of the emotions we experience and encounter as we move through our days. I feel that the author may have experienced a great deal of grief and writing this was part of her healing process. My favorite poem of this collection “One Night” reminds us that change is inevitable: “In one minute, I slept a whole night./ In one night, I slept a whole minute./ The world changed completely/ while I was gone.” She crafts such beautiful lines: “[…] you could be a lesson or a letter/ or an orphaned joy carried on the wind;” and “[…] the birds are flying through me/ in their beautiful green and blue birdsmaids’ dresses/ singing our song.”
One line in particular has stayed with me, and I will probably pin it to my vision board: “I need to write closer to the truth, not the wished-for truth.”
I have not read any of Ronna Bloom’s other books; I see on Goodreads that she has several others. Bloom is a writer I will be seeking out to learn from, both as a writer and as a student of the world. Until then, I will “unperson,” and perhaps find peace with myself.
Vellum Leaves and Lettered Skins by Colleen Anderson: (5 stars) I absolutely love this book. Colleen Anderson has woven a tapestry of greed, love, longing, desire, despair, and magic. We are held captive in the tower with Rapunzel breathing in air dusty with books and fragrant with bouquets of appeasement. Anderson uses Rapunzel’s tower as an allegory for depression and the confines sufferers of this illness experience. All her life Rapunzel longs to break free from the tower, to escape and feel the fullness of a life lived free and discover who she is. “What am I when I stop growing,” she wonders; “will she cultivate a golden treasure/ consume my songs and aspirations/ or see me as an unsightly weed?” If Rapunzel can’t see herself as a whole person, will anyone? “My feet are nothing/ but stone, sediment,” Rapunzel says. She is frozen, fixed in place within the prison of the tower.
My favorite poems in the collection are “Gorgon” and “Sedna,” modelled on two mythical women ill-used by man but refusing to be victims. Their anger fuels their power, punishing sinners in their wake.
“Forgotten Language” reads like an enchantment being cast: “[…] mouse beetle butterfly bee/ learn to speak in ancient tongues/ scribe the language with stone and nail/ […] we breed in wild green, flowers/ seeds, live free, move mostly unseen/ winds serenade, leaf litter/ trees, hives hold our homes/ […] we speak with you/ a shade to the outside world/ you might never be free/ but we will listen/ to your plea”
The witch’s words in “Let Me” build walls within the tower’s walls: “I will bring you bouquets, a feast for your eyes/ […] I cherish you too much/ […] I will bring you a cornucopia of fruit, colors, flavors: you will never want.” Except for her freedom. When Rapunzel is finally free of the tower, she is still lost, struggling to survive: “My way was lost/ before I ever found it […] I’m a leaf adrift on the wind/ will I stay afloat or drown/ spiraling beyond reach”
After much trial and suffering, Rapunzel finds solace in the familiar, wondering if everything she lived through was worth it. “The wheel turns,” she realizes, “as I stand still.”
It is not easy to escape the tower. As someone living with major depressive disorder, I recognize the struggle to find fulfillment, to realize I have escaped the tower, only to find myself enclosed once more. In her Dedication of this book, Colleen Anderson states “Those who are stuck in the towers of isolation cannot always reach out.” Often, we don’t even recognize we are held captive. However, like Rapunzel, we must find the strength to keep going.
Colleen Anderson has written a brilliant, beautiful, painful book that should be cherished by everyone who reads it.
When the Night Agrees to Speak to Me by Ananda Devi, Kazim Ali (Translator): (4 stars) At the start I was reminded of “The Descent of Alette” by Alice Notley. The use of language, painting surreal vignettes of haunting images is captivating and elegant. In Poem 1 we “slip down the bank/ Foggy with pleasure/ In the silver tracks/ Of trampled snails/ […] (Your) ears strain to hear/ The voices of those absent/ Until the night at last/ Agrees to speak to you.”
Poem 3 reminds us of the fleeting nature of time, asking us to consider “That my tomorrow be a yesterday/ Since nothing is left to accomplish/ Nothing to build of destroy/ Nothing has already become: Never”
Devi speaks of the struggle to accept oneself, flaws, anger, and all that we are made of. “The one who sowed in me/ So many doubts so much craziness/ So much struggle so much anger/ So many barricades so much innocence/ It’s me, he says/ It’s just me.” She reminds us of precious things that should never be forgotten such as soft winds, petrichor during rainfall, a kiss.
Ananda Devi writes of finding the courage to free ourselves from our own limiting beliefs and that we can replace lost faith. She unflinchingly describes the suffering of those living in what the willfully ignorant consider “Paradise,” blind to the needs of its citizens.
“When the Night Agrees to Speak to Me” sears your psyche. It forces readers to confront loss and acknowledge their faults. It strikes at the heart of false perception and demands that we open our eyes and our hearts and feel what it means to be alive.
A History of Women in Piracy by Roxanne Gregory: (2 stars) I found this book to be somewhat disappointing. I love reading about the golden age of piracy, and Roxanne Gregory includes plenty of information regarding the world of piracy: it’s society, customs, privateers versus pirates, and much, much more. I think a more accurate title would have been History of Piracy,” as there is more information about piracy in general than females pirates in particular. As well, the women that Gregory highlights in the text are the famous women pirates that are well-known; I had hoped there would be some new personalities to meet.
Altogether, this was well-written, just not what I expected it to be about.
Briggs Dictionary of Fairies by Katharine Briggs: (4 stars) This is an absolutely charming volume, and for writers of fantasy or faerie tales a solid reference book. It’s not a collection of faerie stories, but is exactly as the title states, a dictionary (or perhaps more of an encyclopedia) of the fair folk and the legends surrounding them. I found references to children’s rhymes that I had never known were developed from British faerie stories (including one I was sure the children’s musician Raffi had written), beasties that make kelpies look friendly, and ways to both welcome and ward off the fae folk. If you are looking for a collection of stories, this is not necessarily the book you may want to read (though there are some stories within this volume). As a lover and writer of fantasy, I think this is an excellent addition to my book collection!
Temporary Beauty by Myles Katherine Coleman: (2 stars) I did not care for the style in which this book was written; the narrative goes in fits and starts, pieces seem to lack a connection. That being said, Coleman gives an honest presentation of living with crushing anxiety and panic disorder. I cannot imagine carrying such a mental weight, and yet Coleman faces each day and each challenge with a clear-eyed determination to succeed. I sincerely commend her bravery. I would like to see more from Coleman; perhaps her writing style will shine in another format.
Marie Antoinette by Melanie Burrows: (4 stars) I really enjoyed this biography of Marie Antoinette. I have read a couple other books about her, both well-written and researched, but I feel Melanie Burrows’ book gives the best impression of Marie Antoinette as a person. The woman herself comes through the text, giving readers a deep look at the queen. I felt that book gives readers the history of Marie Antoinette herself, rather than the history of France told through Marie Antoinette. Very informative and enjoyable book (if one can say such a thing about a book ending with execution…) [NKP: note the discrepancy in the Author’s name; on Goodreads and in NetGalley she is credited as Melaine Burrows]
Ode to Women by Silver Phoenix (1 star): This is categorized as poetry and verse; however it’s actually a small collection of brief stories with a handful of poems at the end. I didn’t find this to my liking; the writing style feels very juvenile to me, even in the sections titled “Love Stories and Poems for Middle-Aged Women.” I suppose an appropriate adjective to parts of this book would be “cute.” Not my style at all.
The Ballad of Innes of Skara Skaill by Faulkner Hunt; (1 star) I could not get into this book. I will admit that I do not read a great deal of fiction, mostly because I really need it to catch my attention right off the first page. Unfortunately, this book did not do so, and I was unable to focus on the story because I was uninterested in the characters and their lives. I feel there was an attempt at a mystery/adventure in this story, but it didn’t come to the fore; really as I was reading, I kept wondering when the author was going to finally get to the point.
Burn by Barbara Hamby: (3 stars) Barbara Hamby’s “Burn” is a collection of odes that discuss the ups and downs of life: its loves, losses, light moments, and times of despair. They are odes on what it means to be human, and how to be human. In “Ode of Being a Little Drunk at Parties,” she writes: “Oh, I get it, it’s hard to feel sorry for humans. We’re a hot mess,/ and by the time some of us figure it out,/ we’re playing our endgames;” and in her “Ode to Juno” she asks, “[…] how do I circumnavigate/ this ragged world, because the roads are rippling with brigands/ and fools, nymphs and satyrs playing possum,/ so where is the magic, my queen, where is the party, wine flowing/ and no one afraid of being turned into a snake?” I think my favorite poem in this collection is “Ode to My Old Kitchens.” Hamby speaks of everything I love about my own kitchen. It is a beautiful reminder that the kitchen truly is the heart of the home. I greatly enjoyed this collection, and I am interested in reading more of Barbara Hamby’s work.
I am going to finish this massive post here. I still have SEVEN more book reviews to share with you; that will come later this week. I feel I have inundated you enough for one day! Thank you for reading, and for your continuing interest in the stuff I do, it means the world to me. All images are from Goodreads, and all books were ARCs granted through NetGalley.
This is the Mask 