Tracy K. Smith – Cannonball Read 17

I’ll begin our story with that afternoon, we hadn’t spoken for a year…

Sunshine State by Sarah Gerard

Wit's End by Karen Joy Fowler

The Warmest December by Bernice McFadden

Ordinary Light by Tracy K Smith

Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler

Unfinished Business by Vivian Gornick

Thick and Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom

Rosa Parks In her own Words by Susan Reyburn

July 22, 2020 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

Sunshine State: 2/5 Stars A collection of essays ostensibly about Florida by Sarah Gerard, known for her previous novel Binary Star. Most reviewers (or at least the ones less impressed by this book) seem to land on the idea that the biographical essays are strong while the others are not. I think I fall in the other direction. The book is made of two-three kinds of essays: autobiographical/memoir pieces that range from quite impressionistic and meditative to more story-driven and then nonfiction profile pieces that also […]

Always a question Bigger than itself

Duende by Tracy K Smith

December 13, 2019 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

If we’re directly translating the word duende, it comes up something like a “quality of passion and inspiration” and in that sense, a collection of poems is the perfect vehicle express this idea. There’s a secondary definition of a “spirit” which also works. So when I think about these terms, what comes to mind for me is something ineffable and non-representable, in the sense of a kind Lyotard understanding of representation. So what do you capture then when you write a poem about something completely […]

“Everything that disappears / Disappears as if returning somewhere.”

Life on Mars: Poems by Tracy K. Smith

April 6, 2019 by Halbs Leave a Comment

April is National Poetry Month! If you want to celebrate and aren’t sure where to start, consider Tracy K. Smith’s Life on Mars. Here are three reasons why: This book won a Pulitzer Prize. The cover art is an awesome photo of space. My friend Deandra recommends this book. The themes of Life on Mars are wide-ranging. Existence, love, death, the future, our ephemeral nature – it’s all here, with a cosmos-minded sci-fi flavor. You’ll find a lot of references to the stars, as well as […]

One of the women greeted me. I love you, she said. She didn’t Know me, but I believed her

April 29, 2018 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

What is the poet laureate in the time of Trump? I recall thinking back very clearly about this question when Amiri Baraka wrote “The Day they Blew Up America” an interesting, inflammatory, and sometimes hateful poem that “cost” him his job as poet laureate of New Jersey. If memory serves, he said no when they asked him to resign. I forget what happened next, but this would have been when Democrat John Corsine was governor. So now, we have Tracy K Smith as poet laureate […]

I’ve Not Read Poetry Since High School

July 15, 2017 by ASKReviews Leave a Comment

Best for: People unsure about poetry but looking for a way in. In a nutshell: Collection of poems about life. Not just on mars. Line that sticks with me: “I didn’t want to believe What we believe in those rooms: That we are blessed, letting go, Letting someone, anyone, Drag open the drapes and heave us Back into our blinding, bring lives.” Why I chose it: There’s a poetry square on the summer reading BINGO I’m playing, and I figured, why not start with something […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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