Reviews with TLC

Verseweavers: the Oregon Poetry Association Anthology of Prize-winning Poems Number 29/2024 is an enjoyable collection of the poems that won the OPA's 2024 poetry contests. The book is divided by contest category and includes comments from the judges. I enjoyed the vast majority of the poems and found the commentary of the judges interesting. The thought-provoking and emotion-provoking poems reminded me how our life experiences can serve to bring us together or drive us apart depending on how we interact with both our experiences and each other. I look forward to receiving my copy of Verseweavers every year because the poems are always an interesting compilation of thoughts, attitudes, emotions, and experiences. Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States  by Howard Zinn   Disarming the Narcissist: Surviving & Thriving with the Self-Absorbed  by Wendy T. Behary Parable of the Sower  by Octavia E. Butler Dear Future  by Jennifer Richter Discl...

If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose by Refaat Alareer starts its emotional impact with the cover and continues it page after page. Alareer weaves emotion with intellect through beautiful phrasing whether writing poetry or prose. If I Must Die examines the experience of Gazans through the eyes of a family man, poet, and scholar. The prose takes the reader into the moments of despair, moments of hope, and moments of resilience while living under bombardment and occupation. The poetry dips into the reader's heart and lifts humanity a little higher like a kite flying above inhumanity. Alareer consistently reminds the reader that history is the present and the present is history by demonstrating the connections of family and land that reach through generations. If I Must Die is a stark but inspirational reminder that holding on to hope isn't a luxury but a necessity in the struggle for liberation. Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States  by Howard Zinn   Disarm...

The Bookstore Family by Alice Hoffman is a sweet story that focuses on Violet, the daughter of Sophie from the previous books. When the story started, I felt a twinge of trepidation about how a grown up Violet would be. I soon settled into the story liking Violet more with each paragraph. Throughout Violet's time in Paris, I was torn between my heart cheering for Violet to go home and pushing for her to build a life in Paris. When she finally feels like she's making a connection, the call that finally pushes her home comes. Hoffman writes Violet's story in a way that had me rooting for her and wishing for her to have both home and adventure. At home, she reconnects with her family and community and even the connection she left behind. The Bookstore Family is a beautiful short story that feels almost magical about love, connection, exploration, and family. Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States  by Howard Zinn   If I Must Die: Poetry and Prose  by R...

How To Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking by Sönke Ahrens read like a college dissertation. I first listened to (or at least started) How To Take Smart Notes as an audiobook while on a road trip. I didn't feel like I quite got it, so I immediately read the paperback version when I arrived home. While I understood Ahrens's point about the slip-box and its potential usefulness, I kept waiting for a depth into the process that never seemed to develop. How To Take Smart Notes felt repetitive beyond simply being consistent. Ahrens does a decent job of explaining his point, but I never felt excited about what the slip-box or its potential to change my productivity. Having read many, many books about writing techniques, this certainly felt like an option among many options including ones that already work for me. Ahrens claims that the slip-box is the only way to be productive several times and alludes to it even more putting my skepticism...

Pretty Is As Pretty Does by Alison Clement took me on an unexpected journey. Clement lured me into what I thought was going to be a light read only to deftly weave in some heavy issues after I'd gotten comfortable. The main character, Lucy is hard to like, but she's also intriguing enough that I wanted to like her more than I did. At times, her attitude towards other people was infuriating but her seeming naiveté about life, especially beyond her small town, was refreshing in an unexpected way while at the same time being disturbing. I often wondered if Lucy was really as oblivious as she seemed to be because she could certainly be manipulative. Still, my heart often ached for her as she navigated the circumstances of her life and longed for something different. Lucy's family was all too reminiscent of small town families I've known all my life, and I found myself wincing at harmful attitudes, words, and actions. Lucy's seeming detachment from the consequences her ...

We The Gathered Heat: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poetry, Performance, and Spoken Word edited by Fanny Choi, Bao Phi No'u Revilla, and Terisa Siagatonu is a beautifully diverse collection of poetic works that stretched the imagination and grounds the emotions. We The Gathered Heat weaves together differences and commonalities in a tapestry of humanity that serves as a reminder that both our diversity and our commonality offer us the opportunity to build a stronger society and a better world. We The Gathered Heat celebrates both the diversity and the unity of the human experience by sharing myriad voices, points of view, and cultures. Throughout the works by a wide variety of authors, the common thread of humanity never frays. We The Gathered Heat covers human experiences that feel like a trip around the world and back again often exploring the role of colonialization from the point of view of the colonized. Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States ...

Combating Cult Mind Control: The Guide to Protection, Rescue and Recovery from Destructive Cults by Steven Hassan is an interesting and somewhat disturbing book. I rarely listen to audiobooks and even more rarely review books I listen to as audiobooks because I often don't feel like I can do an audiobook justice. However, Combating Cult Mind Control stuck with me. Hassan's story of becoming indoctrinated into a cult, the Moonies, his experience in the cult, and his eventual deprogramming is fascinating. Combating Cult Mind Control offers insight into the methods cults use while seeming to miss similarities to some groups not considered cults. Hassan tells his story and the story of helping others with a level of compassion and insight that reminded me of the fear of cults and the lack of compassion for the indoctrinated during my teenage years. I had never questioned where those fears or the lack of compassion came from, but Combating Cult Mind Control pushed me to revisit ...

On Zionist Literature  by Ghassan Kanafani (Translated by Mahmoud Najib)is an intense and insightful look at the impact of literature on public opinion and governmental policy. Kanafani examines how movies, books, and other works of art have been used to elicit sympathy and support for Zionist ideology. On Zionist Literature examines not only the stereotypes of the Palestinian people but also the stereotypes of Jewish people that are woven through Zionist literature creating a situation to excuse the oppression of the Palestinian people. Kanafani demonstrates how those stereotypes often harm Jewish people, especially those unwilling to embrace Zionism.  On Zionist Literature is a reminder that literature can be used to influence people all over the world for better or worse illustrating the responsibility people creating literature hold to be mindful in their message and that consumers of said literature need to be mindful of the influence literature can have. Currently Read...

The Guided Meditation Handbook: The Complete Guide To Writing, Leading, & Recording Guided Meditations by Max Highstein is an easy and enjoyable dive into creating meditations. Highstein breaks down the process of writing meditations complete with examples and explanations of those examples. The Guided Meditation Handbook covers many aspects of creating meditations for personal use, to lead, and to record, and to upload to meditation sites. Highstein made writing, recording, and sharing meditations feel feasible. I felt excited about attempting to write a few meditations, recording them, and sharing them by the time I finished reading The Guided Meditation Handbook . Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States  by Howard Zinn   On Zionist Literature   by Ghassan Kanafani We the Gathered Heat: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poetry, Performance, and Spoken Word   by Franny Choi, Bao Phi, No'u Revilla, and Terisa Siagaonu (editors) Disclosure: T...

A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg by Elaine Sandberg answered several questions that had arisen after friends introduced me American Mah Jongg recently. Sandberg explains the tiles, the game, and strategies well with a bit of levity that made the information feel more accessible. A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg contains quizzes and exercises to aid in learning. I took all the quizzes and discovered I'd already done some of the exercises, but I think it would be advantageous to work through all the exercises. I also think I might take the book along next time I play since everyone in the group I'm playing with is relatively new to the game. Sandberg's approach helped me feel less intimidated. A Beginner's Guide to American Mah Jongg is a well written, informative resource for anyone getting started playing American Mah Jongg. Currently Reading: A People's History of the United States  by Howard Zinn   The Guided Meditation Handbook: The Com...

Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer changed the way I see moss. Before I started reading Gathering Moss , I jokingly told my husband that by the time I finished the book I would probably never let him clear the moss from our yard again. Turns out it was no joke. Kimmerer examines, explains, and describes mosses in a way that had me increasingly appreciating the role they play in our ecosystems. I felt like Kimmerer took me into the forest, the bog, and the river with her as she researched myriad mosses. The microecosystems living within the moss fascinated me while the resiliency of the mosses gave me hope. Kimmerer also shines a very bright light on the destructiveness of people and how that destructiveness is sometimes wrapped up in what are expressed as good intentions.  Gathering Moss brought me to a place of appreciation for the mosses on my trees, in my yard, and on my porch by making Kimmerer's research feel relevant to my life....

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad explores the attitudes of the West toward other people and other nations in language, particularly Middle Eastern nations, that is brilliant in its simplicity. El Akkad doesn't sugarcoat the message about how powerful people strive to hold onto power and expand that power at the expense of those who they see as powerless but also deem dangerous. One, Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This exposes how the media and various governments push the agenda of the powerful until the damage is done and can't be reversed before they pivot to talk about how horrible things were and then seek out quotes to prove they were always against the atrocity even when the body of evidence proves otherwise. El Akkad had me nodding along with his assessments, wincing at his observations, and blinking back tears at his descriptions. He weaves the past with the present and the personal with the societal in ways that demon...

Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein presents an observation on the world that I desperately wanted to not make as much sense as it did. I didn't want to see the parallels between the beliefs I hold dear and the ones I absolutely abhor. Yet, Klein reminded me of something I've long preached to others - that we need to see each other to understand each other to make any real change. Much of what Doppelganger examines also proves that the issues we face are far more nuanced than we think and how that lack of nuance sends us to our own corners repeatedly. Klein weaves a narrative that demonstrates how easy it is for people in power to sow divisiveness by creating doppelganger ideologies that have us seeing each other as the problem instead of seeing the power of unity. Klein uses her own experience of being confused with Naomi Wolf repeatedly to illustrate her point and to explain what motivated her to look into the mirror world and find all these doppelgang...