Reviews with TLC

The Tradition by Jericho Brown is an unapologetic exploration of tradition and the breaking of tradition in human lives.  The Tradition is as good as the other books of Brown's poetry I've read. His word choices feel intentionally designed to immerse the reader in his poems in ways that can elicit tears, smiles, squirms, fears, and joy sometimes within the same poem. Brown's use of language, observations on society, and life experience to illustrate both connection and disconnection spoke to both my heart and my mind. The Tradition speaks to the experience of being human in a world that doesn't always value humanity. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography  by Dominic Streatfeild Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style   by Kurt Vonnegut and Suzanne McConnell How to Fly (In Tend Thousand Easy Lessons): Poetry  by Barbara Kingsolver Reviews will be posted as I finish these books. Disclosure: This blog

We Want Our Bodies Back: Poems by Jessica Care Moore is filled with poems that reminded me that every body is beautiful even when that beauty is obscured, denied, or unseen. Moore details the joys and the abuses the body encounters throughout life with an unassailable emphasis on the bodies of women, the bodies of people of color, and particularly women of color. We Want Our Bodies Back is sometimes a plea, sometimes a demand, sometimes a celebration in this collection of poetry that balances strength, beauty, and vulnerability in its calls for justice and acceptance and sometimes just to be seen. Moore reminds us that every unique body has things in common with every other body. We Want Our Bodies Back is a strong, beautiful statement of rebellion in a world where people's bodies are overpoliced, overlooked, and overexposed. Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Cocaine: An Unauthorized Biography  by Dominic Streatfeild Pity the Reader: On Wr

  The Gift of Shadows by Stephanie Stamm continues the story of Lucky and her friends from The Gift of Wings . Stamm weaves mythology into a story that is at once exciting, enlightening, emotional, and engaging. The Gift of Shadows illustrates how the truth lies in how power and knowledge are used rather than power being clearly good or bad. Stamm gently challenged my resistance to the changes Lucky was going through and had me alternately cheering her on and chastising her. New characters come into play further challenging Lucky's perception of who to trust and what her role is in the battle between good and evil.  The Gift of Shadows pits good against evil while subtly demonstrating that what appears good isn't always good and what appears evil isn't always evil. I finished reading The Gift of Shadows and immediately felt an urge to read book three... Hopefully, it'll be coming soon... Check back soon for my thoughts on other books I'm reading including: Cocai