I am a writer of poetry and fiction and an avid reader. Here, I think 'out-loud' about books, movies, stories, writing and other fictions.
I lost the whole site at one point and am rebuilding old posts from my backups.
In this graphic adaptation of Ms. Atwood’s unforgettable novel, is a succinct reminder of how politicians can use the influence of false narration to grab power and oppress. The story is as relevant today as the dystopian future written a quarter century ago. Beware demagogues who use outrageous lies to blame the plight of the masses on rivals.
A delightful whodunit staring Myrtle Hardcastle, the daughter of the local prosecutor in an English town. Her next-door neighbor died, and no one will listen to Myrtle when she says the woman was murdered. Between her governess, her cat, her father, and a woman who might be trying to become Myrtle’s stepmother, the mystery takes a circuitous route to the solution.
Williams’ manifesto of the imagination. Two of his best-known poems; “Spring and All” and “The Red Wheelbarrow” appeared first in this volume. He alternates between an examination of how the imagination works in prose and poetry, then shows us an example in poetry.
His musings on the work on the imagination and letting the mind produce are inspiring and can be read over and over with benefits for a writer in each reading.
The sequel to The Golem and the Jinni – both characters, Chava and Ahmed, are now regarded as regular citizens of Little Syria in New York. Only their relationship is rocky at best. Theirs is not the only story. In addition to women affected by the Jinni and the evil wizard from the original book, we are introduced to a girl who becomes central to the story, Kreindel, who helped her father create another golem, Yoselle. All of this happens while the world runs into war.
A marvelous, fantastic book. I could tell ten percent into it that it deserved the Pulitzer. Ms. Erdrich has a complete mastery of storytelling and language. Her subject matter, though placed in the 1950’s is as relevant today as it was then. Her characters show us perspectives of how the government has gone back on its word to Native Americans time and again. She has certainly thrashed them like a field.
Straub shows he is a master of horror in the simplicity of a tale. He tells the story of a man who seeks enlightenment by visiting a guru in India with a German friend. As he reaches the village where the guru lives, he is asked to touch a dying boy, who immediately becomes better. Then he touches a wall which glows neon where his fingers trail. But the guru does not tell him what he expects.
The first novel in an epic about the colonization of Mars. The first hundred people to become Martians and their vision of a non-political, non-economics-based society. Temper this with the reaction of an overpopulated Earth needing a place to bleed-off their starving masses and the natural tendency of people to not change. Amazing advances in applied science to transform the face of Mars and the collision of competing forces drive an outcome that should be predictable. The outcome is both natural and surprising.
An East Asian Canterbury Tale
Chih, cleric of Singing Hills and their birdlike companion, Almost Brilliant, go into the Riverlands, walking with other travelers, telling and listening to tales. They have the fortune to travel with marshal arts masters, and the misfortune to need them. Just when it seems their enemies are too many to overcome, and old man surprises everyone.
The Singing Hills Cycle is a joy to read, the stories within the story are wonderfully done, making for a quick and satisfying read.
An intriguing fantasy in a new world with great characters and cultures. Where people who grew-up in different places travel far and find new magic in a changing world.
Watch the author's site for news about the release of this book: AKHauser.com
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (2022) Doubleday
Kelly Barnhill steps out of her typical genre for kids and
writes a wonderful satire on our patriarchal societal restrictions from the
40's through today. If a woman you know,
dragoned (metamorphosed into a dragon) how would you handle it? Could you pretend it didn't happen? Would that change anything? And what would you do when it reached a
tipping point? Ms. Barnhill ponders
these questions and provides good answers too.
Footnote: Ms. Barnhill suffered a concussion (her third) and
worries about writing again. I say,
don't worry it, let the idea and the words come. Because when they do, you write them down
beautifully.
Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire, Illustrated by David Litchfield (2022) Candlewick Press
A beautiful book wherein the title character, Cress, and her
family move one night from their warren after her father does not come
home. They move into the Broken Arms,
where the landlord is an owl. In
addition to her brother, Kip, getting sick, and her mother weaving to make a
living, Cress makes friends with squirrels, meets Tunk, a bear, a skunk who is
glamorous, at least in her own mind, a chinchilla, a hen, and Nasty, another
rabbit. She gets chased by Reynard, a fox. And worries about being eaten by the Final
Drainpipe, a snake. But the best advise
in the book is for writers and is told by the hen who suggests that Cress make
a story.
“I don’t know how to make a story,” said Cress.
“It’s like making an egg, I think?” said the hen. “Just sit there until it comes out.”
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (2023) Flatiron Books
Galaxy Stern returns in a story about the Lethe house at
Yale. This time she is going to try to
get her mentor back from hell where he was trapped by his traitorous professor
in charge of the house. But she can’t do
it by herself. Her new Praetor and her sponsor
don’t want her to mess with any more arcane attempts. They want to count her Virgil as simply
lost. But Alex doesn’t know how to give
up.
Ms. Bardugo weaves a tight tale of self-recrimination and
magnificent effort that keeps the reader guessing all through the story.
Watercress by Andrea Wang, Illustrated by Jason Chin (2021) Neil Porter Books (Caldecott 2022)
A beautiful book that will tug at the heartstrings about
tradition and loss. Ms. Wang writes a
tightly woven text that says so much in few words. Mr. Chin’s art perfectly compliments the
story. No wonder it won the Caldecott and garnered a Newbery Honor.
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo (2020) Tor.com
Our favored monk, Chih is back and recording more stories,
this time without Almost Brilliant. She
finds herself stopped just short of her destination aboard a mammoth for the night by a set of Tiger sisters. After a desperate run for shelter, Chih starts telling stories to the tigers, who keep telling her
what is wrong with the stories and correcting them. They promise to let the mammoth go if Chih
will record the correct version of the stories, if they don’t eat her.
An engaging storytelling that keeps you turning the page.
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo
A very satisfying book.
We get the tale through the careful listening of a monk who wishes to
record the history of a dwelling at a magical lake. Tales are told by a former palace servant. The empress had been exiled once she
bore the emperor an heir. But she was
from the north where they raise their girls to be fierce.
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo (2016) Candlewick Press
The first of three books about a trio of fatherless girls in
Florida. Raymie concocts a way to get
her father to come back home. She meets
Louisiana, who wants to rescue her cat, and Beverly who is fierce and unafraid
of anything. But nothing is as it seems,
even with three girls who become friends.
Ducks by Kate Beaton (2022) Drawn & Quarterly
A graphic autobiography of the years when a college graduate,
unable to find a job to pay off her student loans turned to the Oil Sands of
Alberta to make money in clerical jobs.
It covers the horrors of abusive harassment and rape prevalent not only
to the girls working there, but the First Nation women too. Take a camp of 95% men, add a few young, naïve
women and working organizations that turn their eyes away and this is the
result. I hope her book gets the
attention of those who can make a difference.
Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo (2018) Candlewick Press
Part of a trio of books about girls without a father. Ms. DiCamillo weaves a story about identity,
loss, and the story of a life that isn't real. We listened to this on audio,
the reader was exceptionally good with voices and attitude of each of the
characters. Raymie (from the first book)
even has a small role. It's worth the
read or the listen.
The Poet by Michael Connelly (1996) Little Brown, & Co.
A new lead character appears in this novel, Jack McAvoy, a
journalist in Denver. His specialty, murder
stories, becomes ironic when his twin brother, a homicide detective, kills
himself. Jack decides to write the story
to cope with his grief. Researching the
issue of homicide cops committing suicide, he discovers a disturbing fact – those
who had a seemingly unsolved case, all had something in common, a suicide note
that simply quoted poems by Edgar Allen Poe.
Is this really the work of a suicide killer? And can Jack expose the truth without
becoming a victim himself?
Weights and Measures by Jodi Picoult (2011) in Stories, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, Harper Perennial
Miss Picoult’s poetic, ability to move the reader comes into
full force here over the tragic loss of a seven-year-old daughter and the
heart-rending attempt of parents trying to get past the grief. And the extreme effects that can happen in
the imagination come to life.
I read this out loud so Margaret could hear it. Her response was that from now on, whenever
someone says her stories are too sad, they should read this story.