Reviews with TLC

Above the River: The Complete Poems by James Wright is a collection of poems that span life's ups and downs. Wright makes the mundane poetic with some beautiful turns of phrase. Above the River includes poems that are immersive and approachable as well as poems that feel just beyond reach in a way that made me reach for them. Wright's poems often feel incredibly personal and other times just as impersonal. At times, it was hard to discern the truly personal from Wright's observations of other people's lives. A group of translations in the middle of the book were interesting but still my least favorite part of the book. Some of the prose pieces in the latter part of the book left me wanting more and others were a struggle to get through. I was initially drawn to Wright's work because of Wright's connection to the Ohio River because I grew up on the Kentucky side of the Ohio not too far from the river, and was thrilled to see poems about the region as well as re...

Write for Life: Creative Tools for Every Writer by Julia Cameron works off the same principles as The Artist's Way . I opted not to do the exercises as prescribed because I do my own version of self-care to handle my writing life. I think this is the important thing to take away from this book. YOU have to find your own path. This was Cameron's path and she finds it satisfying. Yours might look very different. When I tried Morning Pages years ago when I read The Artist's Way , I found they stifled my creativity. I have a few problems with this book. The first is there is an underlying message throughout that if you don't do it Cameron's way, you can't be successful. Another is the underlying implication that everyone who has ever tried her method is successful. There's also her insistence that all successful creativity should be credited to a higher power and all failure is the fault of the artist. While Write For Life overall didn't work for me, I did...

The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook: A Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength, and Thrive by Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer is an interesting and inspiring workbook that reiterates that self-compassion is a way of life not a goal to be met. Neff and Germer gently remind the reader that to be self-compassionate is to constantly notice where one needs self-compassion many times in the book. The exercises in this workbook pushed me to think about events in my life and accept my feelings about those events with compassion instead of judgment but also to approach my judgment with compassion. As I worked through the exercises, old issues I'd thought long resolved resurfaced and reminded me that suppressing isn't the same as dealing with things. Facing these with self-compassion rather than judgment was a helpful exercise. That said, I also found it hard to relate to some of the exercises and felt like I just worked through them without much depth because they felt...

Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an immersive short story filled with emotional moments that are as messy as the human experience. Filled with love, loss, and family issues, Zikora wraps a frayed ribbon around the ties that connect human beings. I felt Zikora's pain and disappointment as well as her passion and kindness. I longed for her to find her voice and her footing even as her insecurities and waffling decisions brought consequences beyond her control. Adichie created complicated characters that were alternately hard to love and hard to hate making them all the more human including Zikora herself. Zikora reminds us all that we are products of the lives we lead and the lessons we learned from those lives. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Write for Life: Creative Tools for Every Writer  by Julia Cameron Above the River: The Complete Poems  by James Wright The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook  by Kristin Neff and Christopher Ge...

The September Letters by Maeve Binchy engaged me from the beginning. I kept waiting for what was going to be revealed, and I wasn't disappointed when it finally was. The September Letters delves into the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we tell others about our lives. Youth, growth, and the changes life brings over the years is shared in the course of a few pages as strangers share their stories by exchanging letters once a year after meeting by chance in an airport. Binchy exposes how easy it is to put forth a story we want others to believe and how easy it is to believe a story we want to be true while also demonstrating the importance of accepting reality. The September Letters is the story of shared stories, assumptions, living life, and connecting with others. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Write for Life: Creative Tools for Every Writer  by Julia Cameron Above the River: The Complete Poems  by James Wright The Mindful Se...

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood is an intriguing and engaging tale that continues the story of Gilead started in The Handmaid's Tale . The story, while offering some insight into the future of Gilead, challenged me to question assumptions I made while reading, and especially watching the series, The Handmaid's Tale . It's easy to assume bad people are all bad and good people are all good, but Atwood is a master at reminding readers that looking only at the surface doesn't allow one to find the full truth. The Testaments explains how the Aunts from The Handmaid's Tale could be convinced - coerced - into taking on the role of Aunts. Atwood also delves into the stories of the daughters of the Handmaid from T he Handmaid's Tale . The Testaments is testimony that shares the point of view from three characters, Aunt Lydia (yes, that Aunt Lydia), Agnes (Hannah), and Nicole (Daisy/Jade) with seemingly different viewpoints who find common ground and are instrumental ...