Seinfeld used to do a bit I really liked about going to the movies. Movie previews used to say, “If you see only one movie this year, make this one it!” He hated that, because if you’re only going to see one movie, don’t bother. It’s too much pressure. I’m feel that way about books. That’s part of why I read so much – it’s ok to be adventurous and move outside my comfort zone because what’s the worst that can happen? I only liked […]
He kisses—how do I explain it? Like someone in love. Like he has nothing to lose. Like someone who has just learned a foreign language and can use only the present tense and only the second person. Only now, only you.
Less – 3/5 Stars This is the novel that won the Pulitzer Prize this year, and I do like it. But it’s almost like Andrew Sean Greer tricked or taunted the Pulitizer Committee into giving him the prize since this is a novel about a slightly failed or at least merely moderately successful writer putzing around while others around him remind him of his own mediocrity or middlingness but doing things like winning the Pulitzer Prize. The novel begins with Less, the eponymous protagonist, being […]
I Am Loved
Ashley Bryan has hand-selected a dozen poems by Nikki Giovanni that cover the theme, “I Am Loved” then illustrated with their signature style artwork. Other than saying how beautiful the poems are or saying how amazing Giovanni’s words are, there is little to say about the lyricalness of them. They are classic Giovanni. They portray depth, feeling and show how much Giovanni cares about the theme and the subject. Other than saying how beautiful the illustrations are or saying how amazing Bryan’s work is, there […]
“If blood inside you is on the inside of someone else, you never want to see it outside of them.”
Another brilliant book told in verse (similar to those by Kwame Alexander), Long Way Down takes place in a single elevator ride over 60 seconds. I was doubtful that this could be pulled off successfully, but my god, what Jason Reynolds does here is extraordinarily effective. Will is mourning the sudden shooting death of his brother, Shawn. According to “the rules” of his neighborhood, Will must now plan to take his brother’s gun and shoot the boy who he thinks killed his brother. THE RULES […]
You Are Loved: Welcome Wishes for New Babies
I am not sure if You Are Loved: Welcome Wishes for New Babies by Nancy Tillman is really a book that should count towards the total. But I am writing it up anyways as it needs to be talked about! This a baby book. You the parent, guardian, grandparent or even aunt/uncle fill in the information. However, it is not just “height, weight, who visited you, etc.” but other things as well. Such as information about the parents and things around you. Yet, it […]
Depression & Other Magic Tricks
You know that a book is good when you highlight/mark something in the acknowledgements of the author. Depression & Other Magic Tricks by Sabrina Benaim is a collection of poems dealing with depression: thoughts, what she wishes others knew, conversations she had, the struggle and finally, the hope they have that they will be well someday. While the poem “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” has become the poem associated with Benaim it was her poem “On Releasing Light” that I got the “feelz” from. […]
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