While waiting for summer, we explore the arts in full–
I picked this up from the library yesterday and working through a partly sleepless night, I read this through the wee hours with the half moon peering through my window. I love this book – I am so grateful for our reading adventures as they bring me so many places. The book is about an
Juniper Street by Joan Frank — a lovely novel by a detail-oriented writer. She mentions details in Late Work and I appreciate seeing her take on them in Juniper Street. The story is about two childhood friends Mary and the unnamed narrator and their lives in Sacramento. They go on great adventures together and explore
Get your hands on this book and read it. Especially if you like reading about writing – and reading about reading. Frank is authentically honest and, pun intended, Frank in her words (I hope she doesn’t think this is too clever). This book of essays is one of those that you want to keep dipping
Plath’s poem ‘Words Heard, By Accident, Over The Phone’ was so powerful–full of raw anguish–that it motivated me to learn more about her life. Clark’s biography is over 900 pages long, so it took me quite awhile to finish it. This tome may contain too much detail for some readers. The biography kept me interested
I picked this up from the poetry section at the Woodland Public Library last Saturday. I love that she has a section written from a cruise ship. I love the introduction giving advice to poetry writers about how best to approach the craft — classes, community and focusing on form are a few nuggets of
Another fine story by Keegan, deeply humane. This time the story is written from the point of view of a married father of five girls. Both Foster and Small Things Like These are set in Ireland, by the way, and Small Things is about 2 hours long, so a little more to enjoy. The time
Ada Limón’s poetry is storytelling by stanzas. This book is broken up into the four seasons, which helps orient the reader. Limón’s poetry is accessible, readable and likeable. This book reflects the height of the pandemic, by this I mean the public engagement with COVID-19 and its related isolation and loss, grief. Many poems feature
This novella is 96 pages or, in the case of the eaudiobook which was the format I borrowed from the library, 1.5 hours long. I heartily recommend it. Poignant, that’s the word for it, I think. You’d have to have a cold heart not to love the young girl who tells this brief tale of
Well, without counting the kid books, I’m 539 pages deep into winter reading after finishing The Pale King. Reading this novel/memoir felt like reading many books at one time. I appreciated the variance across chapters and the depth of discussion through dialogue. Towards the end of the book there’s a 50 page happy hour scene
…of so many books. This is a small sampling of what I’ve just picked up off the floor to give you a sense of volume. Consider The Babies and Doggies Book was read at least 4 times in succession the other night. I have no idea how many pages but I’m definitely reading. I’m nearly
Open Arts Spring 2023 