Reviews with TLC

Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear by Mosab Abu Toha is an immersive, honest, and intense book of poetry. By the time I finished it I needed to remind myself that poetry, even when based on one's life experiences, is only a snapshot of the moments it details not a memoir. This was another book of poetry that while short took me a long time to read because I wanted to think about and feel each poem after reading it. T hings You May Find Hidden in My Ear reveals gems of language, nuance, and beauty even while detailing atrocities, personal pain, and loss in the larger picture of living. Abu Toha's poems constantly reminded me that while we have many differences in our lives across the world, we share the experience of being human. Abu Toha ends the book with a particularly impactful poem that speaks to both resilience and hopefulness. While laced with the realities of living under occupation, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear imparts an unexpected hopefulness. Currently R...

A Gift of Fire: The Light-Bringer Series by Stephanie Stamm, the third and, apparently final, book in Stamm's trilogy picks up where A Gift of Shadow left off. This trilogy pulled me in and refused to let go even when I questioned the characters choices. I initially felt uncertain about how some of the relationships changes throughout the trilogy, but by A Gift of Fire , I was fully on board and cheering on the relationships as they developed. Lucky, her friends, and her family find connection, lose connection, and fight to rediscover their connection as they battle forces bent on destroying all the worlds in existence. I really enjoyed the play on expectations with good, evil, light, and darkness repeatedly proving that life is far more complicated and nuanced than we often see. The choices the characters, especially Lucky, faced about choosing how to use their powers made my heart pound and left me a little bit more aware of the potential consequences of the choices I make. Sta...

She Had Some Horses by Joy Harjo starts with a cover that invites motion into the conversation and is filled with poems that move the mind and the heart. Harjo delves into the intricacies of life and living with a deft hand that always feels in motion. I read one poem a night because I wanted to savor each poem and give myself to feel it and think about it. Harjo connects humanity to the earth and the earth to all its inhabitants in a way that reminded me of the just how interconnected everything on the earth is with both celebration and a call to action. She Had Some Horses moves through the imagination like horses in motion. Currently Reading: The January 6th Report The Gift of Fire   by Stephanie Stamm Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza  by Mosab Abu Toha Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History  by Nur Masalha Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links meaning if you click on those links and make a purchase, I earn a commission at no additional...

Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine by Noura Erakat approaches the Palestinian struggle for freedom by delving into how legal maneuvers are used to manipulate politics and political maneuvers are used to manipulate the law to justify the oppression of the Palestinian people. Erakat's explanations had me repeatedly wondering how people can be so cruel and why they choose to be. Erakat demonstrates and examines how the wording in multiple documents including the Oslo accords left loopholes and contributed to the subjugation of the Palestinian people while leaving room to make vague claims of a mirage of progress that falls apart with the smallest amount of investigation. An undercurrent throughout Justice for Some is that oppressors make laws the oppressed are expected to live by keeping the oppressors in power and the oppressed under control. Justice for Some explains much of the law that often gets cited in media and other analysis used to justify the dehumanizat...

Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd is a lyrical, intense, raw, honest book of poetry. The beauty of Rifqa, El-Kurd's grandmother, shines through in his detailing of her resilience juxtaposed with her tenderness. El-Kurd made me miss my own grandmothers through poetry that shines a light on the humanity within each of us that connects us in some way even when we think connection is unimaginable. I saw Rifqa's struggle and El-Kurd's struggle through his words but even more so I saw the beauty of Palestine through both their eyes. The longing for home and the need for connection weaves throughout his poems exposing the occupier through the eyes of the occupied. The use of the Arabic language dotted throughout the book looks beautiful on the page and had me reaching out to my husband for translation enhancing the experience. Rifqa reminded me how the arts can bring us closer to understanding each other in ways that are revolutionary and inspirational. Currently Reading: The January 6t...

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe came highly recommended by several sources. After I watched a few interviews with Pappe, I finally found the book available and immediately ordered it. It is a fascinating, must-read book for anyone who wants to better understand how Israel came into existence on land inhabited by Palestinians and known as Palestine. Pappe is an Israeli historian who used Israel's historical documents to expose the history that has been obfuscated and manipulated to manufacture a narrative more palatable to much of the world than the truth. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine explores the atrocities of the Nakba and the years leading up to the Nakba as well as the invention of Zionism. Pappe explores and explains attitudes, behaviors, and decisions made by those in charge using their own diaries and official records in a way that brings the people of the time and the moments they experienced to life. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine is well-research...

The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010  by Lucille Clifton (edited by Kevin Young and Michael S. Glaser) brought all the feelings to the table. Clifton's poems have a sophisticated simplicity that lends beautifully to the complex issues she covers in this wide-ranging book of poems. Some of the more personal poems felt almost voyeuristic but left me wanting to know more. Clifton made me think and feel in poems that pulled me into the world from her point of view. As with any collection, some of Clifton's poems resonated with me more deeply than others. I enjoy poems that make me question what I think I know and challenge me to feel things beyond my experience. The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010 certainly accomplished both. Currently Reading: The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine  by Ilan Pappe The January 6th Report  Rifqa  by Mohammed El-Kurd Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links meaning if you click on those links and make a purchase, ...