Querencia Press
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Let me begin by expressing my sincere thanks to NetGalley and all of the Publishers for the opportunity to read all of these books. I am truly grateful and love writing these reviews. I’m just rather lax in uploading them promptly. (Actually, that’s not entirely true; they are posted on NetGalley and Goodreads relatively quickly.…
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Jen Schneider’s On (Pantry) Stock & (Kitchen) Timers is a unique collection of a stream-of-consciousness essays and poems that you wouldn’t think would work but does in an enchanting, eye-catching, made-you-look kind of way. Schneider’s words are a collage of thought that walks readers through a maze of sensation/emotion/confusion/questing. This collection deserves a re-read to…
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Some of the poems in Alix Perry’s collection Tomatoes Beverly flow beautifully, creating scenes in the mind’s eye. Others are somewhat disjointed and difficult to follow. This may be intentional; poetry is art, interpreted differently by the creator and the reader. Perry opens with a sage reminder for their readers: “Things I should know by…
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Mexican Bird by Luis Lopez-Maldonado tells a heart-rending, painfully beautiful story. It is a reality I as a white heterosexual woman will never experience; Lopez-Maldonado’s pain, hope, desire, sorrow, and need come through every line, illustrating the life of a beautiful soul, often marginalized and misunderstood, but wholly worthy of reverence.
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Editor Shilo Niziolek has curated a collection of poetry, prose, and artwork that is a choir of voices. Each piece is as carefully selected as a soloist in an opera, showing readers a look into each contributor’s imagination. Readers walk through realms of experience and vision. Each piece made me think of wandering a house…
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Mimi Flood’s amazing, powerful book Provocative is a Girl’s Name is a commanding, painful book. Flood’s words are raw, shocking, and truthful. There is anger, there is rage, and hatred, and there is love as well: love for who she is, love for her fellow women. As a sexual violence survivor, this was a hard…
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Jessica Drake-Thomas’ Bad Omens is on my list of best books for the year. This poetry collection is steeped in mystery and folklore, with a dash of mythology and a hint of history. In other words, Drake-Thomas has managed to fit all of my favorite themes into her book. This is a very late posting…
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Buffy’s House of Mirrors by Kim Malinowski was a walk through unfamiliar territory for me. I did not watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer so I was not familiar with the character references, which I think helped me to approach these poems objectively. Malinowski imposes real-life emotion and need onto the fantasy world of demon-slaying, attaching…
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Domestic Bodies by Jennifer Ruth Jackson. This is the poetry I want to write. Poetry that hits you in the center of your chest, the words seeping into your bloodstream and becoming part of you. Jackson’s language speaks to you as if in tongues, you read the words, hear them, feel them in your soul.…
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In Survivalism for Hedonists, Dylan McNulty-Holmes has done something brilliant (I wish I had thought to do this). They have used their own words as inspiration, pulling quotes and thoughts from notebooks written over a nine year span. They have turned their innermost thoughts into art and shared that vision with readers.We are invited to…
This is the Mask: A Book Blog 