Reviews with TLC

Black Box Poems by Frank X. Walker transported me to a place I both recognized and didn't recognize while expanding my understanding of the human condition. Family dynamics combined with life experience create a glimpse into country life and city life as well as juxtaposition of the simplicity of living complex lives and the complexity of living simple lives. Walker writes with a clarity that uses symbolism and bluntness in perfect harmony to drive home a point or to provoke thought. I'm always entranced by poetry that reminds me that we all share at least some commonalities in a world that works so hard to convince us all that to allow our differences to divide us rather than complement our efforts at living better lives. Reading Black Box Poems felt like taking a trip home and going into a strange land all at once.

Murder on Nob Hill by Shirley Tallman explores class, inequality, greed, and hypocrisy in Victorian San Francisco. When Sarah Woolson convinces a law firm that thinks women shouldn't be practicing law to hire her, she lands in the middle of a murder case her superiors are determined to push aside assuming the worst about the main suspects in the case. As Sarah, in an attempt to best represent her client, uncovers secrets her upper class society would rather not disclosed, she finds herself not only battling for her right to practice law but her life. Tallman creates characters that at once inspire and infuriate in a story that reminds the reader disclosed secrets are often blamed for destroying lives when, in fact, it is the action of doing things one feels the need to hide that destroys lives. Murder on Nob Hill examines the dangers of inequality fueled by greed and self-righteousness.

A Floating Woman Poems by Leonard Orr floats into the consciousness and takes up residence. I felt drawn to the poems and their lyricism. The romance of forbidden love and the despair of lost love woven into Orr's poems allows for an emotional journey that feels at once voyeuristic and universal. As I savored these poems over a few weeks, I looked forward each day to that day's poems to be read and after reading them hesitantly put the book aside to await the next day's reading. At times, Orr's poems feel symbolic of a larger message about the world and our place in it with a reverence for the interconnection we all share that shows how our actions affect one another even when we pretend they don't. A Floating Woman speaks to being inside all of us that longs to float into freedom...

Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by Bell Hooks approaches feminism from a perspective of inclusiveness as indicated by the title. Hooks explores the idea that everyone benefits from the pursuit of equal rights for women. Interspersed in her essays is the idea that feminist leaders are sometimes guilty of playing into the patriarchy's hands by pitting those who should be joining together against one another. She explores the use of racism and classism, sometimes unconscious, as instrumental in keeping feminism from making the strides it could make. Hooks points out that when equality comes to our society everyone benefits in a stronger community filled with productive citizens working together for the betterment of all. She goes on to explore how the upper and even middle classes use inequality to exploit others for their own benefit often while not even seeing how the very lives they live are built on the services of other people. Hooks explores inequality and its ...

I was excited to read All the Stars in the Heavens by Adriana Trigiani based on reading some of her earlier work. That said, I'm always a little hesitant to read work that assigns fictional possibilities for the events in real people's lives, so I felt a little uncertain about reading All the Stars in the Heavens . It's nice to imagine what might have been the circumstances of a situation, but fantasy never changes reality. Trigiani's writing immersed me and allowed me to suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy the story in spite of the moments when I felt uncomfortable with the portrayals of real people. All the Stars in the Heavens inspired me to research the historical people the characters were based on because at the end of the day All the Stars in the Heavens felt both too real and too much like a fantasy all at once. All the Stars in the Heavens is a well written, fictional account of a historical event that also manages to examine the mores of a period of tim...

Prodigal New and Selected Poems: 1976-2014 by Linda Gregerson pushes the reader to think through use of creative and provocative language. Many poems that feel simple on the surface hold an underlying complexity. The poems reminded me that often speaking in seemingly straightforward language can push readers to think beyond the words presented. There's a reverence and an irreverence woven through the poems in ways that connect the unconnected demonstrating just how connected the world truly is. Prodigal lives up to its name in that it examines how reckless and wasteful human beings can truly be but also demonstrates there is hope to find our way again.  

The Inflectionist Review: Anthology of Poetry celebrates words in a way that immerses the reader into the minds and souls of the myriad poets within its pages. The poetry offers a journey through life, nature, and human nature in a way that both nurtures and provokes thought. While some poems spoke to me more loudly and more clearly than others I enjoyed the book tremendously. The art included portrays a fluidity that invites the reader to rest and float through the pages of images on the way to the next journey of poetry without ever losing its poetic feel. The Inflectionist Review: Anthology of Poetry presents poetry that manages to be bold, inspiring, and comforting all at once.